99: Chapter 99: Renowned Throughout the World, the Number One Genius of Great Xia!

3:00 AM.

Canglan City, the provincial capital of the Southeast Province.

In a rented apartment, a young man wearing black-rimmed glasses was staying up late, scrolling through his phone.

His name was Zhang Ming, and he was an intern editor for the Canglan Daily, specifically responsible for the late-night shift. In reality, this just meant staring at major social media platforms to see if there were any trending topics he could capitalize on.

Tonight was very boring.

The beast tide had been erupting for nearly two months, and the buzz had long since died down. He worked hard every day to put together some beast tide videos, but hardly anyone watched them.

Zhang Ming yawned and prepared to make a cup of instant coffee.

Just then, a message popped up in the bottom right corner of his computer screen.

[Video Share: Great Battle in Jiangcheng! Nineteen-Year-Old Youth Fights a Fifth-Rank King-Class Fierce Beast Solo!]

Zhang Ming scoffed.

Another clickbait title.

Nineteen years old and fighting a Fifth-Rank solo? Why don't you say a three-year-old is fighting a Ninth-Rank?

He was just about to close it, but his finger clicked on it as if possessed.

The video footage was very shaky; it was clearly filmed on a phone.

Firelight. Ruins. A giant ape the size of a mountain was roaring crazily.

Then—a bolt of golden lightning flashed by.

Zhang Ming's pupils contracted sharply.

His hand stopped in mid-air, he forgot to make his coffee, and his eyes were glued to the screen.

He saw that golden figure weaving between the giant ape's palms, saw that blade cut open the giant ape's scales, saw that hundred-meter-tall beast being led around in circles, and saw those fierce beasts falling in droves like cut wheat.

He saw that youth standing in front of the giant ape, his body wreathed in golden lightning, like a god of thunder!

The video ended.

Zhang Ming sat there, stunned and motionless.

After a long while, he looked down at the view count.

3,247 views.

He looked at the upload time again.

3 minutes ago.

Zhang Ming's hands began to shake.

He took a deep breath, reposted the video to his own account, and added a caption:

"I think I just witnessed history."

Then he continued to stare at the screen.

10 seconds later, the first comment appeared.

"Fake video, right? Photoshopped?"

30 seconds later, the second comment appeared.

"Is this Jiangcheng? Is that giant ape real?"

1 minute later, the third comment appeared.

"Holy crap, this guy is nineteen? You're telling me this is something a nineteen-year-old can do?!"

3 minutes later, the comments started flooding in.

5 minutes later, the view count surpassed 100,000.

10 minutes later, the view count surpassed 1,000,000.

Zhang Ming's phone started vibrating frantically.

Colleagues calling, friends calling, his boss calling.

He didn't answer a single one.

He just stared at the screen, watching that number jump upward like crazy.

1 million. 5 million. 10 million. 50 million.

Dawn broke.

View count: 300 million.

…

7:00 AM.

The trending lists of all major social media platforms in Great Xia were dominated by the same trait.

#Jiangcheng Lin Mo#

#Third-Rank Fights Fifth-Rank#

#Great Xia's Number One Genius#

#Thunder Dharma King#

#Jiangcheng's Guardian Deity#

In the backend of a certain video platform, a technician stared at the data curve on the screen, his face pale.

"Boss, the server can't take it anymore!"

"What's the situation?"

"The number of concurrent viewers for that Great Battle in Jiangcheng video has already surpassed 90 million!"

The technical director rushed over, looking at those frantically jumping numbers, completely bewildered.

"What... what is this?"

He had been in the industry for fifteen years and had never seen data like this.

Just then, the curve on the screen suddenly cut off.

The website crashed.

The technical director opened his mouth.

"Restart! Restart quickly!"

Thirty seconds later, the website recovered.

Concurrent viewers: 72 million.

It crashed again.

Restart again.

Concurrent viewers: 110 million.

It crashed again.

Restart again.

Concurrent viewers: 180 million.

The technical director gave up.

He leaned back in his chair, looking at the flickering lights on the ceiling, and muttered to himself:

"It's over, I'm going to lose my job... Why did it have to drop the ball at such a critical moment!"

…

Meanwhile, in an office building in Yanjing City.

The morning meeting had just begun, and the boss was about to speak.

An employee suddenly raised their phone.

"Boss! Look at this!"

The boss frowned.

"What is it?"

He projected the video onto the big screen.

Three minutes later.

The morning meeting was canceled.

Everyone in the company was watching that video.

…

In a middle school classroom.

A teacher was giving a lecture.

Suddenly, he noticed no one was listening.

Everyone was looking down, staring at their phones.

"What are you all doing?!"

A student looked up, their eyes startlingly bright.

"Teacher! You have to look at this! Third-Rank soloing a Fifth-Rank! It's fucking insane!"

The teacher was so angry his face turned red.

"Watching videos during class—!"

He didn't finish his sentence; his eyes had already caught a glimpse of the phone screen.

That bolt of golden lightning flashed by.

The teacher froze.

Three seconds later.

He took out his own phone.

"Send me the video link."

…

At a nursing home.

A group of seventy or eighty-year-old men and women were huddled together watching a phone.

"Who is this young man?"

"I don't know, but he's incredibly powerful!"

"Look at this lightning; I've seen an Awakener when I was young, but it wasn't this exaggerated!"

"Old man, lend me your phone to take a look!"

"Don't you have one yourself?"

"I can't watch it on mine, it's out of battery!"

"Then watch mine!"

Seven old men and women squeezed in front of one phone.

On the screen, that golden figure was weaving between the giant ape's palms.

An old woman suddenly cried.

"This young man... he saved Jiangcheng..."

Another old woman patted her shoulder.

"Don't cry, he's fine, look, he's still fighting."

…

In a small village in a remote mountainous area.

The signal was very poor.

A young man held up his phone, searching for a signal all over the mountain.

Finally, the video loaded.

He watched for three seconds.

Then he ran down the mountain and rushed into the village.

"Dad! Mom! Come quickly and look!"

"What is it?"

"A Third-Ranker is leading a Fifth-Rank fierce beast around!"

The whole village gathered around, squeezing in front of that tiny phone screen.

No one spoke.

There was only the sound of the wind and the occasional exclamation.

…

Jiangcheng, temporary Command Headquarters.

Li Chengxi was sleeping.

He had been busy until 4:00 AM last night and had only just lain down.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

With his eyes closed, he fumbled for the phone and pressed answer.

"Hello?"

"Brother!"

Li Zhaoxue's voice exploded from the receiver, making his eardrums ache.

"Brother—! Have you seen it yet! Lin Mo's video! The whole internet is exploding!"

Li Chengxi groggily held the phone ten centimeters away.

"What video?"

"The video of Lin Mo leading the giant ape around! Someone filmed it and posted it online! The view count is already—"

She paused, seemingly checking the number, and then let out a scream:

"Ah, it's already 1.4 billion! 1.4 billion, brother! That's more than the total population of Great Xia!"

Li Chengxi woke up instantly.

"How much?!"

"1.4 billion! On average, every person in Great Xia has watched it more than once!"

Li Chengxi opened his mouth, his brain still not catching up, and the other side of the phone had already started a new round of bombardment:

"Brother! Are you in Jiangcheng? Can you see Lin Mo? Are you very familiar with him?"

"Brother! My good brother! Dear brother! The best brother in this life!"

"Can you help me get Lin Mo's contact information? WeChat is fine! Phone number is fine! Address is fine!"

"Brother! Say something, brother!"

Li Chengxi sprang from the bed and ran outside barefoot.

"Brother! Don't run! Did you hear me!"

"Brother! If you don't help me, I'll tell Mom you stole her money to buy spicy strips when you were little!"

"Brother! I even know where you hide your secret stash of money!"

"Brother—!"

Li Chengxi hung up the phone.

The world was finally quiet.

He stood at the entrance of the Command Headquarters lobby, barefoot, his hair as messy as a bird's nest, and a button on his pajamas buttoned wrong.

Everyone in the lobby looked up at him.

Silence.

Three seconds later, Liu Jianguo silently handed over a pair of slippers.

"Put these on, the floor is cold."

"What are you all looking at?!"

Li Chengxi didn't have time to put on the slippers because he noticed everyone was holding their phones, scrolling through the video.

Zhou Zhiyuan, as well as those staff officers, adjutants, and soldiers, all had the same expression on their faces.

What was that expression called?

Li Chengxi thought for a long time.

Shock? Awe? And a sense of pride as if it were their own glory.

He leaned over and took a look at Liu Jianguo's phone.

On the screen, that golden figure was weaving between the giant ape's palms.

A flash of a blade.

A cut opened in the giant ape's scales.

The barrage comments flooded past:

"Holy shit holy shit holy shit!"

"This is a Third-Rank?!"

"Thunder Dharma King is awesome!"

"Jiangcheng's Guardian Deity!"

"From today on, Lin Mo is my idol!"

"May I ask, does he have a girlfriend now?"

"Wake up, upstairs, you're a man."

"So what if I'm a man? True love doesn't distinguish by gender!"

Li Chengxi: "..."

He silently took out his own phone and opened the video website.

Homepage featured image: Great Battle in Jiangcheng Full Version! Third-Rank Youth Fights a Fifth-Rank King-Class Fierce Beast Solo!

View count: 1.47 billion.

Comment section:

"I've watched it ten times, and every time my blood boils."

"Has anyone counted? How long did he lead that giant ape around?"

"Damn, I'm a Fourth-Rank, if I had to fight that giant ape, I wouldn't last three seconds."

"That's why he's a Third-Rank and you're a Fourth-Rank; the gap is right there."

"That hurts."

"This figure radiating golden lightning is just too cool!"

"+1 to the person above! I've already screenshotted it for my wallpaper."

"+2"

"+10086"

"+ID number"

Li Chengxi finished reading and silently put down his phone.

He looked at Liu Jianguo.

"Captain Liu."

Liu Jianguo looked up.

"Hmm?"

Li Chengxi pointed at the number on the phone.

"It's 1.5 billion now."

Liu Jianguo was stunned for a moment.

Then he smiled.

"That kid... is now a national idol."

…

War Zone Command Headquarters.

Li Kui stared at the image on the screen, silent for a long time.

The staff officer beside him spoke cautiously:

"Army Commander, this Lin Mo..."

Li Kui raised his hand, interrupting him.

"I remember, that kid Chengxi, is brothers with him?"

The staff officer flipped through the files.

"Yes, Li Chengxi is his direct superior, and the two have a very good relationship."

Li Kui smiled.

"Good lad, he has better judgment than his father."

He stood up and walked to the window.

"Pass down the order to protect the safety of Lin Mo and his sister with full force. Also—"

He paused.

"Find out for me who posted that video; it was posted well, they can be rewarded."