It was unclear how many saboteurs were in this group, but after the six competitors, two more people showed up to hinder Tan Rouâs progress. These two individuals didnât worry Tan Rou at all; she frequently changed lanes and managed to confuse them so thoroughly that they eventually gave up attacking her and turned to attack others instead.
Tan Rouâs actions made many competitors realize something was amiss with this race, and they kept their guard up while running. As soon as someone approached them, they would quickly switch lanes. By the end of the race, there were still quite a few of them left.
âPhew,â Tan Rou breathed out, and then grabbed a towel to wipe off her sweat, âHow was my speed?â
Zhuang Liu had been timing Tan Rou, and when he heard her ask about her performance, he immediately replied, âCompared to your usual speed, you were about a minute and a half slower this time. But thatâs not your fault; you ran on the outer track too much, and the frequent lane changes naturally affected your performance.â
Tan Rou pursed her lips, âOkay, I thought that increasing my speed would make up for the time lost on the outer track. But it seems it didnât.â
âIâve checked your results, and you are currently the fastest. As long as no one surpasses you later, first place will be yours,â Zhuang Liu said.
Tan Rou smiled, âMy speed was so slow, and yet I still could win first place?â
Zhuang Liu replied, âAlthough you werenât as fast as usual, you were faster than the average person. If you participated in a professional competition, you could definitely place well. But I think you should not participate anymore; it pains me.â
âGot it.â Tan Rou handed the towel back to Zhuang Liu, âI wonât participate in such competitions anymore, itâs exhausting.â If not for Professor Yi asking her to come, she wouldnât have bothered with this hassle.
The competition wasnât over yet, and the remaining two races still had unforeseen events due to the special circumstances that occurred during the second race. The last two races drew a lot of attention from many people, not just in online discussions, but intense debates also erupted offline, and some grew heated directly on the field.
âI told you someone hit me, and you didnât believe it,â a contestant who had been eliminated exploded from the stands. âNo way, you must explain this to me, or I wonât leave!â
With him making a scene, other eliminated contestants couldnât sit still either, and they all demanded an explanation from the committee.
The committee had no choice but to stop avoiding the issue and sent someone to make a statement, coincidentally it was the pockmarked-faced man who had spoken to Wu Hao before.
The pockmarked-faced man stood at the judgesâ stand, cleared his throat, and said, âAccidents occurring in these competitions are quite normal. Even in the Olympics, accidents happen. Itâs just that we had more people this time, and things got a bit chaotic. Things got tense, and then some of you were eliminated. I really can understand your feelingsâ¦â
âYou understand nothing!â a tall man stormed up to the stand, holding a sports shoe in his hand. Before he even got close, he threw the shoe at the pockmarked-faced man, âThis sports event definitely has problems!â
The pockmarked-faced man was terrified, âSecurity! Where is security?â
The security guards were inside the field maintaining order and hadnât anticipated someone rushing the stand. So they were stunned when they saw someone charge and didnât react immediately.
The intruding man pushed the pockmarked-faced man down, grabbed the microphone, and shouted, âMy nameâs Chen Feng, and I was also a contestant in this long-distance race. I thought I was going to win, but on my tenth lap, someone suddenly knocked me down. At first, I thought it was an accident, but then I saw that many potential contestants were also knocked down, and those disrupting the race were sent by the committee!â
The pockmarked-faced man got up and argued, âThis contestant is delusional from his loss; donât listen to his nonsenseâ¦â
âGet lost!â The man pushed the pockmarked-faced man down again, âYou donât want me to speak, so Iâll speak even more! I donât know about the other contestantsâ intentions for participating, but I can tell you mine. I came to this long-distance race because the prize is an apartment with three bedrooms and two halls in the Capital city!â