Translator: AnubisTL
Yes.
Chen Jiang didn't treat the cane like some ridiculous balancing beam. Instead, he walked across it as if it were solid ground.
There were no earth-shattering special effects.
Nor were there any breathtaking maneuvers.
It was as if nothing had happened at all.
Chen Jiang simply strolled across!
Feeling the stunned gazes of the other players around him, Chen Jiang's lips curled into a faint smile. He remained silent, leaning on his cane and walking forward along the vine with the dignified air of a gentleman, his back ramrod straight.
Even as the vine swayed violently in the fierce wind, Chen Jiang's body remained perfectly still.
His feet were planted firmly on the vine, as steady as bedrock.
Chen Jiang glanced at the item panel for his cane, then chuckled softly, shaking his head without comment.
[Item Name: Bloodstained Gentleman's Cane]
[Item Star: Two-Star Item]
[Item Details: This slender, bloodstained gentleman's cane exudes elegance and refinement.]
[Item Effect: This item allows you to stand calmly in place, your body perfectly upright, unaffected by violent tremors beneath your feet.]
[It enables you to calmly avoid the ground-shaking effects of events like earthquakes and nuclear explosions.]
[However, it's important to note that while this item prevents your body from shaking during such events, it does not grant immunity to the other consequences of earthquakes or nuclear explosions.]
[Item Restriction: The effect only activates when the item is held in hand.]
[Item Set: This is one component of a seven-piece clothing set. Collecting four or seven pieces of the set grants additional set effects.]
[Item Description: As a gentleman, one must die standing, even in death. It's simply more dignified.]
He was right about what he said earlier.
He genuinely believed that Suville had designed the rules for this event perfectly.
Not only had they tailored the event specifically for him, but they had also extended a special invitation. To top it off, the rewards he earned during the event would be doubled!
Tsk.
This father-level treatment... Suville really designed an excellent event this time!
Chen Jiang's movements weren't particularly fast, yet he quickly reached the first echelon.
The reason was simple: everyone else was moving even slower.
Like worms inching along a vine, most players weren't concerned with reaching the other side as quickly as possible to claim rewards.
Their priority was simply surviving the crossing!
Even if it meant moving slowly, that was acceptable—as long as they lived, it was worth it!
Before long, Chen Jiang spotted Suville on the vine beside him.
Suville was gripping the vine with both hands and feet, moving swiftly and maintaining a commanding lead as the top-ranked player.
Head bowed against the howling wind, he charged forward, muttering excitedly to himself for encouragement:
"Suville, push harder! You're the best!"
"Yee-haw! Charge! Charge for me!"
It had to be said...
Suville moved with surprising speed, scrambling forward along the vine using both hands and feet.
But then—
Out of the corner of his eye, Suville suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure beside him. A flicker of confusion crossed his face; no one should have been able to keep up with him. Instinctively, he turned his head to look.
And when he did...
He froze in disbelief.
Chen Jiang had somehow appeared on the vine beside him, standing calmly against the raging wind, looking down at Suville with an air of serene detachment.
"You—you!"
Suville instinctively stopped moving, staring at Chen Jiang in disbelief. His voice rose uncontrollably. "Chen Jiang? How did you get here?"
"Good question," Chen Jiang replied with a slight nod.
Suville quickly realized he'd asked a foolish question, his expression darkening as he glared up at Chen Jiang on the vine.
Chen Jiang stood tall and upright on the violently swaying vine, leaning on a cane like a gentleman, completely unaffected by the violent shaking!
"How did you do that?" Suville asked, his face contorted with frustration, each word dripping with disbelief. "How could you ignore the violent swaying of the vine? How did you maintain your balance?"
"This is impossible! How did you manage it?"
"Another excellent question," Chen Jiang replied casually, leaning on his cane as he continued forward along the vine. He glanced sideways at Suville, who was clinging to the vine on all fours, and said, "Do you know the fundamental difference between humans and ape-men?"
"It's simple: humans are bipedal creatures, while ape-men still crawl on all fours like beasts."
With that, Chen Jiang fell silent and continued walking forward.
"Chen Jiang!" Suville roared, his face burning with rage as he glared at Chen Jiang's retreating figure. Without pausing to think, he surged forward, his pace quickening slightly.
Just wait!
Your moment of humiliation is coming!
This event isn't just about the ten-thousand-meter vine. There's much more waiting for you ahead!
"Hahahaha!!!"
In Kindling City, Li Long heard Chen Jiang's words and burst into uproarious laughter, clutching his stomach. "That's perfect! The ape-man race belongs in a zoo, not the Ten Thousand Races Arena!"
"They thought they'd designed this event to guarantee their victory!"
"But Chen Jiang slapped them in the face again!"
"Ouch! That must sting!"
"I almost feel bad for the ape-men!"
Li Long watched the scene on the screen with pure satisfaction, feeling all the pent-up frustration drain away.
"Brother Long," the junior standing beside him asked, his eyes fixed on Chen Jiang in the footage, "how do you think Chen Jiang is keeping his balance on that violently swaying vine?"
"How would I know?" Li Long retorted, rolling his eyes. "If I knew, I'd be Chen Jiang myself."
Meanwhile, beneath the world tree, Scar Dog and his companions finally relaxed completely.
"Whew!" Scar Dog exhaled, his expression easing into a wide grin. "How could I forget about Brother Jiang's item?"
"Not even violently swaying vines can stop him!"
"Even if a nuclear bomb went off, Brother Jiang would still stand there with perfect composure, dying like a true gentleman amidst the earth-shattering chaos."
"This level of shaking? Tsk tsk..."
Just then, a muffled voice came from beneath Scar Dog: "Let... let go..."
Scar Dog's brow furrowed slightly as he glanced down at the woman's head pinned beneath his butt. With a look of annoyance, he pulled out a shotgun and shoved the barrel into her mouth, silencing her completely. Only then did he nod in satisfaction.
"Li Hao, what do you think Suville's feeling right now?"
"No idea."
Li Hao shrugged, grinning. "But I have to admit, Suville really outdid himself with this event. It's practically handing the rewards to Brother Jiang on a silver platter."
"Brother Jiang mentioned that Suville specifically nominated him to participate, forcing him into the event."
"Talk about shooting yourself in the foot, huh?"
"After all, if Suville hadn't insisted on Brother Jiang joining, he might have actually taken the top ranking himself. And the rewards are for the first hundred participants to reach the other side of the vines."
"This reward was clearly designed for the 100 ape-man race players."
"Too bad Brother Jiang will probably snatch the lion's share now."
Chen Jiang had walked about two thousand meters when he suddenly stopped.
Dark clouds had suddenly gathered overhead, and a torrential downpour descended in an instant.
The vine stretched high above the ground swayed violently, while icy, damp raindrops soaked his clothes. Yet the fabric remained spotless.
His fashion items, except for the bloodstains that couldn't be washed away, repelled all dust and dirt.
Just then—
Suville, clinging to the vine with all four limbs, caught up, panting slightly. He looked up at Chen Jiang, who stood motionless, and grinned triumphantly. "What's wrong? Why'd you stop?"
"Too slippery to move, huh?"
"From here on, the next five thousand meters are all drenched in this storm!"
"And these vines get even slicker when wet. I'd love to see how you manage to keep going now!"
"Chen Jiang, the final victory can only be mine!"
"It's a bit unfair, I admit, but what fairness exists in the Ten Thousand Races Arena, anyway?"
"..."
Chen Jiang tilted his head, giving Suville, who was delivering his long-winded threats, a slightly odd look. For a moment, he didn't know how to react.
In truth, the vine had become considerably slicker after being soaked by the rain, offering no grip whatsoever. A slight slip would send anyone plummeting from a height of ten thousand meters.
But what did that have to do with him?
No matter how slippery the surface beneath his feet, his body remained perfectly steady.
Even if he walked barefoot through flames, his body wouldn't waver. Of course, that would probably hurt quite a bit.
A gentleman is still a gentleman, but that doesn't mean he's immune to injury or pain.
Chen Jiang withdrew his gaze from Suville, said nothing, and continued forward along the vine, leaning on his cane.
His body showed no signs of wavering.
It seemed... no different from before. The rain-soaked, slippery vine had no effect on him whatsoever.
In fact, his pace was steadily quickening.
"How is this possible?!"
Suville stared ahead in disbelief at Chen Jiang's retreating figure, whose speed not only hadn't slowed but was actually increasing. He couldn't fathom how Chen Jiang was managing this.
In truth, Chen Jiang's item wasn't difficult to obtain.
He acquired it as a reward for completing the first stage of the "Big Brother Top Rank" achievement.
The first stage of the "Big Brother Top Rank" achievement required securing the top ranking in a global event.
In other words, anyone who achieved the top ranking in a global event could complete the first stage of the achievement and obtain this staff!
This explained how Chen Jiang could walk across the vine as if it were flat ground.
Unfortunately, in the several global events held so far,
Chen Jiang had consistently secured the top ranking.
As a result, this staff remained the only one of its kind in the Ten Thousand Races Arena.
Other players not only lacked the item but were completely unaware of its existence.
Even the mechanical race remained ignorant of this fact.
They only knew about the major events publicly announced during the last Ten Thousand Races Arena. Information about achievement rewards like the "Big Brother Top Rank" was never widely publicized, so it remained unknown.
Soon,
in no time at all,
Chen Jiang successfully traversed the thunderstorm zone and reached the final two thousand meters.
"Sigh."
He sighed softly, shook his head slightly, and remained silent.
To be honest, this dungeon was quite exhausting.
The vine stretched ten thousand meters, and he had already walked eight thousand.
For Chen Jiang, walking 8,000 meters was indeed a significant physical exertion.
He suddenly thought of designing a global event.
He could create a global marathon and exhaust all the other race players to death.
Or perhaps a "Ten Thousand Races Hip-Hop" competition, where those who couldn't rap would face immediate elimination.
Turning around, he could no longer see Suville behind him.
Clearly, even for an ape-man, navigating the violently swaying vines in this torrential rain required unwavering focus, naturally slowing their pace.
This stormy vine passage served as a means for the ape-man race to filter out other races.
This ensured that all 100 reward slots would be claimed by their own kind.
Of course, the top ranking with the most rewards was already his.
Moreover, since Suville had forcibly dragged him into this, his rewards were doubled.
Chen Jiang shook his head, said nothing more, and continued casually walking along the vine, leaning on his cane.
Finally,
under the incredulous gazes of all the spectating race players,
Chen Jiang encountered no further mishaps and effortlessly stepped onto the platform at the far end, his expression relaxed.
[Ding! Congratulations to Human Player Chen Jiang for being the first to complete the event "Ten-Thousand-Meter Vine."]
"Elapsed time: 49 minutes and 27 seconds."
The voice echoed simultaneously in the ears of all participating and spectating players.
"Whew."
Chen Jiang let out a slight sigh of relief, stretching his body with a hint of resignation. He couldn't deny that this event had been a grueling physical ordeal.
He turned to glance at the vine behind him, still unable to spot any other figures.
To be honest, the difficulty of this event was considerable.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it seemed unlikely that players of races other than the ape-man race would survive.
After patiently waiting on the platform for about ten minutes, he finally saw Suville's silhouette emerge from the darkness, appearing on the vine.
Clinging to the vine with all four limbs, Suville looked utterly exhausted as he slowly inched his way toward the platform.
(End of the Chapter)
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