251: Chapter 251 Go back!

A beast-like low growl rolled out of Marcus's throat.

His two-hundred-plus-pound body twisted violently, his hands gripping Li Li's work boots tightly, and with a sudden burst of power from his core, he managed to flip Li Li over.

Li Li slid backward half a meter, his feet nailing themselves back onto the ice.

Marcus scrambled up, spread his thick arms, and lunged directly at Li Li.

Rule 8 of the competition: Participants must not beat or injure other participants.

Marcus didn't dare throw a punch, so he could only use basic wrestling moves, trying to push Li Li into the minus 180-degree white mist. The two became entangled, pushing and pulling at each other.

The scene was incredibly comical; there was no blood or bone-crunching violence, just the tugging and pulling of elementary schoolers.

[Hahahaha! Captain America vs. the Eastern Power Bandit, they've turned it into a clumsy brawl!]

[Isn't this just a remake of the Three Kingdoms struggle between Japan, Korea, and North Korea earlier?]

[Dean Li: I just love how you can't stand me but also can't get rid of me.]

Marcus grew more and more alarmed as they fought. His absolute strength, of which he was so proud, couldn't gain any advantage at all against this Eastern Power man who was a size smaller than him.

Li Li's balance was absurdly steady. No matter how much force Marcus applied, his opponent didn't even wobble, and could even spare the time to occasionally drive a knee into his thigh's pressure point.

The extreme cold was draining Marcus's stamina. His movements slowed visibly, his teeth chattered with a dense clicking sound, and the white mist he exhaled plastered onto his eyebrows, forming ice crystals.

The rolling white mist on the side was pushed aside, and two frost-covered figures trudged over with difficulty.

They were Taylor and Chloe from Team USA.

Taylor, this former NFL linebacker, was a size wider than Marcus, a veritable human bulldozer. Covered in a shell of ice, he spotted the melee on the ground.

"Marcus?!" Taylor roared at the top of his lungs.

Marcus screamed, his throat nearly frozen, "Taylor! Help me! This guy is going to wear me out here!"

Taylor's protective instinct ignited. He kicked off the ice, ignoring Chloe's shrill cries of "Don't get involved, let's just go," and charged straight at Li Li.

A two-hundred-plus-pound professional football player sprinting at full speed had terrifying kinetic energy.

Li Li had no intention of taking the hit head-on. He released Marcus's collar, tapped his toes on the ground, and slid two meters to the side and back.

Taylor missed, then hurriedly reached out to grab the frozen Marcus.

"The hibiscus... has bloomed..."

The nursery rhyme stopped abruptly.

The three of them froze in place.

Li Li stood with one hand in his pocket, his posture relaxed, not even panting. Marcus leaned against Taylor, his legs shaking like a sieve, struggling just to stand straight. Taylor maintained a defensive sprinting posture, staring daggers at Li Li.

The countdown on the giant electronic screen ticked: [08:00].

The main group behind finally reached the Liquid Nitrogen Zone.

Dozens of people surged forward, braving the minus 180-degree cold, wailing and howling as they desperately inched toward the finish line.

Yin Ruoying, wearing sneakers, her lips purple from the cold, trudged through the white mist with difficulty. As she turned her head, she came face-to-face with the standoff between the three people ahead.

Li Li turned his head, tilted his chin at her, and spat out two words: "Go around."

Yin Ruoying tapped her bright red nails against her pant seam, snorted coldly, and without hesitation, took a wide turn, rushing forward while hugging the edge of the cliff wall.

She didn't need to worry about Li Li. This man, who could fight his way in and out of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong, was merely using "dimensional reduction" tactics to deal with two brainless American influencers. Her only thought now was to get out of this hellhole as fast as possible; staying one more second would cause her face, which she spent a fortune maintaining, to crack from the cold.

"The hibiscus... has bloomed..."

The cheerful nursery rhyme started again.

Li Li moved.

He ignored the massive Taylor entirely, pushed off with his feet, and charged straight at Marcus, who had just caught his breath.

Marcus turned and ran outside the red line.

Taylor roared, lowered his center of gravity, and slammed hard into Li Li's side.

Li Li suddenly stopped short, grabbed Marcus's collar tightly with his right hand, and used the momentum to pull off a silky turn.

Positions swapped.

Marcus's two-hundred-plus-pound body was forcibly pulled by Li Li in front of him, becoming the perfect meat shield.

"Bang!"

Taylor couldn't brake at all and slammed solidly into Marcus.

The two collided with a teeth-gritting thud.

Marcus didn't even have time to scream; the impact lifted him off his feet, sending him flying out of the Liquid Nitrogen Zone and crashing heavily onto the dirt outside the finish line.

His head hit the ground, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

Li Li brushed the ice shards off his hands and turned to Taylor.

Seeing his good brother sent flying by his own collision, Taylor turned red with rage and lunged at Li Li, roaring.

The two fell into another struggle at the boundary between the Liquid Nitrogen Zone and the finish line.

"The hibiscus... has bloomed..."

The music stopped.

Taylor gripped Li Li's arms tightly, freezing in place.

The music started.

The two continued to wrestle and push.

The music stopped.

The two froze again.

[Hahahaha! Is this a tango?!]

[The competition organizers are stunned! These two turned a battle royale into turn-based combat!]

[Dean Li's tactics are so disgusting; if I can't kill you, I'll wear you out!]

While wrestling with Li Li, Taylor screamed at the top of his lungs toward the outside of the line: "Hunter! Mia! Come help! Get him out of here!"

Outside the line, Hunter and Mia from Team USA stood far away, not even intending to take a step.

Hunter spread his hands and replied loudly: "Sorry, buddy, we've already crossed the line. If we go back in and get hit by a tranquilizer gun, we'll lose all our points. Hold on!"

Taylor was so angry his lungs ached.

Chinese and American netizens completely tore into each other in the comments.

[What do you call this, Americans? Plastic brotherhood! Bragging to the high heavens earlier, but acting like cowards when it counts!]

[Fuck! This No. 001 is too shameless! Come at me one-on-one!]

[One-on-one? Didn't you see Marcus getting kicked around like a soccer ball earlier? Li Li is taking on two, and your Team USA doesn't even dare to make a peep!]

The countdown approached the final three minutes.

Of the 465 teams and 930 people, only about 300 successfully crossed the finish line. The rest were all fast asleep in the mud pits, spray areas, and the Liquid Nitrogen Zone.

The red-clad NPCs pushed stretchers, mechanically shuttling back and forth on the track to collect the "bodies."

Gu Zeyan's pant legs were still encased in a hard shell of cement, his whole body purple from the cold, as he scrambled out of the Liquid Nitrogen Zone.

His meticulously styled Korean-style bangs were now covered in ice shards, plastered to his forehead, looking absolutely pathetic.

Gu Zeyan gasped for air, and as he looked up, he happened to see Li Li and Taylor repeatedly struggling at the edge of the red line.

This top idol's brain calculated rapidly.

His ranking had long since fallen out of the top 300, and he wouldn't get a single point. Since he couldn't get anything, he wouldn't let others have it easy either. These Americans dared to push Chu Lingfeng earlier—did they really think Eastern Power people were easy to bully?

Gu Zeyan climbed up from the dirt, dragged his heavy, cement-caked legs, and lunged directly at Taylor's back.

Before Taylor could react, Gu Zeyan grabbed him tightly around the waist, pressing his entire body weight onto him.

Taylor stumbled, lost his balance, and fell to his knees in the dirt.

Li Li broke free from the struggle, stepped back half a step, and shook his wrists.

Gu Zeyan, still pinning Taylor, said nothing. He let go and scrambled over to the unconscious Marcus nearby. He grabbed Marcus's ankles with both hands and, using every ounce of his strength, forcibly dragged the two-hundred-plus-pound beast back into the Liquid Nitrogen Zone!

[Holy crap! I give this move by top idol Gu a perfect score!]

[Gu Zeyan: If I can't get points, Team USA won't get them either! Mutual destruction!]

[This is the real dark side! Dean Li handles the frontal assault, and Gu Zeyan handles the backstabbing!]

Marcus's back was scraped by the dirt, and the intense pain woke him up.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he realized he had been dragged back to the edge of the minus 180-degree white mist.

Despair.

Marcus kicked his legs frantically, slamming a foot into Gu Zeyan's chest. Gu Zeyan groaned and fell backward onto the dirt, landing on his back.

Just as Marcus was about to be completely dragged into the white mist, he saw a dark shadow ahead.

"Bang!"

A figure rushed out from the side, bringing with it a fierce gust of wind, and slammed solidly into Li Li's side.

It was David from Israel.

He had been lurking in the Liquid Nitrogen Zone for a long time, waiting for this strike. He had calculated that Li Li's attention was entirely on Taylor and Marcus, and he had also calculated that Gu Zeyan's interference would disrupt Li Li's rhythm.

Li Li lost his balance and fell toward the ice.

David didn't give Li Li any chance to get up; he lunged forward, locked his arms tightly around Li Li's right leg, and dragged him in place.

David pressed against Li Li's knee and whispered a string of low-voiced English: "Alpha-1, caught you."

Li Li paused upon hearing this CIA internal wanted codename.

David took the opportunity to lock his joints tightly.

"Run!" David roared at Marcus.

Marcus scrambled to his feet and sprinted toward the finish line like a madman.

The red letters on the giant electronic screen flashed frantically.

[00:10]

The final ten seconds.

Marcus reached a position just five meters from the finish line.

He stopped, turned around, and looked at Li Li, who was being held tightly by David. He grinned with his frozen, cracked lips and roared: "You can't stop me! Devil of the Eastern Power! I won!"

Marcus turned, ready to cross the red line.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar erupted from the crowd behind the finish line.

A tower-like mountain of flesh burst through the crowd, sprinting in reverse, crossed the red line, and slammed his head into Marcus's chest.

"Get the hell back!"