Super Soldier in the City-Chapter 1990 - 2053: Little Tricks
Orbach had never seen the true appearance of the Saint, only glimpsed her through a veil. However, he had some idea of her general figure and appearance. The primary characteristic of the Saint is her beauty, which perfectly aligns with the aesthetic standards of Europeans and Americans. In their eyes, this is what the most beautiful goddess should look like, and all these Saints possess it.
Moreover, he knew that the Saint had come to Europe, aware of her presence with the Golden Eagle in Austria, and that there was going to be a great battle between them. The two people involved could be considered sent by him, and he was aware that he couldn’t hide it from the Saint and the Golden Eagle. He was simply expressing that he was aware they were on his territory, and he hoped they would not cause trouble there.
If they couldn’t manage that, then, unfortunately, he might be very unhappy.
This was Orbach’s thought process. As for whether he had the strength to warn Li Yifei and the Saint, that was another matter.
It was only because Satan wasn’t around—having been killed by Li Yifei—that his influence in Europe wasn’t small, and was in fact quite strong. Unfortunately, upon his death, his followers scattered like birds and beasts, split into several groups, with no way to regroup.
Orbach, as the Grand Bishop in Red, was a figure of real power second only to the Pope, and his exceptional skills granted him a high status among the bishops. Such a well-traveled person, seeing the King of Special Forces hanging on a checkpoint in a challenge-based show, with the Saint below cheering for the Golden Eagle, found the scene... truly a historical moment. Orbach even laughed, not out of ridicule, but because he found the two of them hilarious.
At this moment, Li Yifei had already passed the fifth stage. A checkpoint that troubled many contestants posed no challenge to Li Yifei. He moved through unimpeded, without any real danger, with an ease far outstripping the parkour contestant from earlier.
As he reached the sixth stage, Lucy glanced at Du Bi and said, "Why not, let’s place another bet?"
"Bet on what?" Du Bi frowned, pondering how it could be possible that this person had overcome so many stages, and in a suit no less; it was absurd, yet unfolding before his eyes.
"I bet that he... will get through all ten stages, win the sapphire ring, and fulfill his declaration!" Lucy’s eyes were full of admiration, her perspective changed, believing that Li Yifei was now incredibly charismatic. Thus, she was willing to gamble big.
Passing all ten stages? Their conversation transmitted through the microphone and the surrounding audience shook their heads upon hearing it. While they were amazed that this Asian man was passing stages consecutively, they doubted his ability to complete them all. The audience knew well that the ten stages were not of equal difficulty; each subsequent stage increased in challenge. The parkour enthusiast had fallen at the later stages, and even though this Asian man performed well upfront, it did not mean he could clear the tenth stage.
The further one went, the more physical and endurance demands increased rapidly. How could he possibly get through? These were the thoughts of the people, Du Bi shared their sentiments. He didn’t believe Li Yifei could surmount the tenth stage, or the ninth, and possibly not even the eighth or seventh. He wanted to win back the stakes, but he was cautious, so he stated, "I bet he won’t make it past the ninth stage, that’s known as the Devil’s Challenge!"
Lucy gave him a charming smile, "Look at you, courage failing you, can’t you just take me straight on? I bet he can clear all, you bet he can’t, no point on the ninth stage..."
"Well... alright, what’s the wager?"
"See? My boyfriend just gave me a BMW Z4. If you win, you can drive it for a month. If you lose, then for a year, whenever my gas tank is empty, you’ll have to fill it up." Lucy looked at Du Bi with a provocative gaze.
Fill up her tank? Du Bi’s eyes twitched, fuel costs weren’t expensive, but driving continuously, a month’s worth of gas money could add up. Yet, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he nodded and agreed, saying, "Deal, I’ll bet on this. I haven’t driven a BMW Z4 before, this will be an opportunity to try it."
"Hahaha, are you so confident that your dear Golden can’t get through?" Lucy’s eyes turned into crescent moons with laughter, revealing a sly fox-like savvy.
Shaking his head, Du Bi said, "Of course, I believe he won’t make it through because it’s too hard. It’s absolutely not something a person in a suit, untrained, could achieve, especially this time. This is one of the most difficult challenges since our show started. I even think he’ll fall at this stage... er, alright, he passed." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
As he spoke, Li Yifei completed the sixth stage and without resting headed towards the seventh, almost to Du Bi’s chagrin. Du Bi felt lucky he hadn’t uttered something excessive earlier.
The seventh stage couldn’t cause Li Yifei the slightest pressure either, he passed smoothly, leaving Lucy very happy, and even many spectators began rooting for Li Yifei, abandoning his identity,
"...is My Mr. Jin," the Saint emphasized in her heart. At this moment, Li Yifei only had three stages left.
Once he landed, Lucy grabbed the microphone and reminded, "Golden, you have plenty of time, if you’re feeling fatigued, you should rest. Damn, you’re passing so quickly, I reckon you could take a two-minute break!"
As she spoke, Lucy glanced at the time and surprisingly saw this Huaxia person had only spent just over two minutes on the first seven stages, a speed that could be described as perverse.
Of course, if Li Yifei wished, he could pass these stages in ten or twenty seconds, but that would be too shocking, so Li Yifei remained relatively low-key.
Du Bi shook his head in disbelief, and when Li Yifei successfully passed the eighth stage, Du Bi couldn’t help worrying; if this person really passed all ten stages, did it mean he would lose a month’s worth of gas money?
Damn, how could he be so powerful? As Du Bi cursed inwardly, a familiar voice suddenly came through his earpiece, it was from the show’s director. The voice, somewhat exasperated, said, "How could you let someone win the grand prize at the start of the show? Quickly, have someone take him down, really... according to the plan, this grand prize should be retained for at least three episodes!"
"Director, I’m just a host," Du Bi said, covering his earpiece.
"Not talking to you, damn it, go, ruin the last two stages, take him down, that damned yellow-skinned monkey is going to spoil my big plan!" continued the director’s voice. Lucy heard it too, her expression stiffened, not expecting the director to say such a thing.
However, in previous competitions, very few managed to overcome such challenging stages. Even if someone did get lucky, who knew how long it took. The show set up a high reward to draw attention. If the grand prize gets claimed right at the start, then...
The truth was, the mechanisms in the latter stages could be manually operated. Usually, the frequency of these mechanisms is stable, but when someone advances too quickly, it can be altered - sped up or slowed down - to disrupt the challenger’s rhythm, dropping them into the water below to ensure failure.
Lucy opened her mouth, but refrained from objecting. Although she now sincerely hoped that the Asian could succeed in passing all stages, so she could win a month’s worth of gas money, unfortunately, it was the director’s decision, and as a host, she couldn’t defy it, perhaps even needed to cooperate.
"I suggest you take a break to adjust your stamina, the next two stages are extremely difficult, a single mistake could make you fall, you’re so close to the grand prize that you cannot afford any mistakes!" Du Bi spoke into the microphone to Li Yifei.
Though these were well-intentioned words, the intent was sinister, as he sought some time for the operators to adjust the mechanism speeds or to manipulate them – when Li Yifei approached, suddenly triggering mechanisms to alter paths, ensuring Li Yifei’s failure.
Li Yifei looked back, ignored the advice from the host, and continued forward. The first eight stages posed some difficulty but were child’s play compared to past military training. However, the last two had some challenge; one area was quite slippery and error-prone, and the mechanisms were dense, truly a step-a-mechanism challenge. The recent parkour player had fallen here.
Li Yifei leapt up, seized the first point, and without waiting for stability, swiftly moved to the second point, his actions even faster than a monkey’s, as if his body weighed nothing. It was easy for him to grasp each point.
"Damn," cursed Du Bi, hearing the director’s frantic voice over the headset calling him a pig for not stalling Li Yifei. When the operators rushed in, they found that Li Yifei was near completion of the ninth stage already.
The audience below was in an uproar. Who would have thought that the initially underestimated and even mocked Asian could easily breeze through the first nine stages, outperforming even the parkour expert previously hoped for, and with greater ease?
Timewise... My gosh, if he passed the tenth stage at the same pace, his time would shatter records, cutting them by more than half.
For a moment, spectators below cheered enthusiastically, most now cheering for Li Yifei.
As the girlfriend of the challenger, the Saint didn’t cheer as much now; a smug expression crossed her face, as many watched her as well.
Li Yifei glanced back at the last mechanism of the ninth stage. When he had just finished, he distinctly felt something off with the mechanism; it shot out swiftly, almost when his hand touched the final climbing object. Li Yifei quickly withdrew his hand to dodge, and when the mechanism retracted, he immediately grasped it again, yet the mechanism still ejected.
