58: Chapter 58 The Olympics Open! They Call This "Participation is Key"?

"Taken away to be sliced up for research?"

On the other end of the phone, the Director of the General Administration of Sport heard Coach Liu’s tearful report. Far from being nervous, he let out a burst of hearty laughter.

"Old Liu! You're confused!"

"How is this trouble? This is clearly a monumental cause for celebration!"

"Have you forgotten the [Sky Screen System]? Forgotten how Elder Chen ‘rejuvenated’?"

"With Mr. Lin here, what are you afraid of?!"

"Listen to me! From now on, treat the [Body Strengthening] liquid like food! Drink it like water! Train as hard as you possibly can!"

"When you get to the Olympics, don't hold anything back! Give it every ounce of strength you have!"

"Our goal is no longer just the gold medals!"

The Director's voice suddenly became incredibly passionate.

"It's to let the whole world see what true 'Dragon Kingdom Speed' really is!"

"Our slogan has changed, too!"

The Director paused, emphasizing every word.

"Before, we were 'Friendship first, competition second.'"

"Now, we are—'The focus is on participation, and incidentally sweeping all the gold medals'!"

...

One month later, Paris.

The world-renowned Olympic Games officially kicked off.

However, the atmosphere of this year's Olympics felt exceptionally eerie.

During the opening ceremony, when the Dragon Kingdom delegation marched into the stadium with uniform steps that were filled with a sense of explosive power...

The tens of thousands of spectators in the arena and billions of television viewers worldwide all felt a suffocating sense of pressure washing over them!

Every single member of the Dragon Kingdom delegation, regardless of gender or event...

Their eyes were as sharp as cheetahs!

Their muscle lines were as perfect as ancient Greek sculptures!

Their bodies radiated an intimidating aura of confidence known as 'strength' that people didn't dare to look at directly!

"My God! These... these are Dragon Kingdom athletes? Are they here to compete, or to occupy Paris?"

"Every one of them looks like their body fat percentage is below 5%! Are they even human?"

"Why do I feel like Eagle Nation's 'Super Soldier' program was secretly realized by the Dragon Kingdom instead?"

Athletes from various delegations watched the Dragon Kingdom team as if they were gods descending to earth, their faces turning pale and their fighting spirit vanishing.

The Eagle Nation delegation in particular looked at the group of 'monsters' from the Dragon Kingdom and felt like a bunch of mere mortals coming to a fight between gods.

The competitions had not yet begun.

But the outcome already seemed decided.

The first day of competition was Track and Field.

The Men's 100-meter dash final.

Eight athletes stood at the starting line.

Among them was the famous Dragon Kingdom sprinter.

The starting gun fired!

"Whoosh—!"

A streak of black lightning tore across the track!

When the Dragon Kingdom athlete crossed the finish line in a crushing, almost humiliating manner...

The other seven athletes, including the former world record holder, the Eagle Nation star 'Lightning' Bolt, had only just reached the sixty-meter mark!

The entire stadium fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone stared blankly at the screen, at the number that would be etched into history.

[7.99 seconds!!!]

Humanity had, for the first time, broken the 8-second barrier!

"No! This is impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

'Lightning' Bolt looked at that glaring result and let out a roar of breakdown.

"He's on drugs! He must be on drugs! Performance-enhancing drugs! I want to report him!"

"Yes! It has to be drugs!"

"This is a flagrant insult to the spirit of sports!"

Coming to their senses, media and coaches from various countries responded one after another, issuing strong protests!

The officials of the International Olympic Committee were also grim-faced.

They immediately initiated the most urgent and strict drug testing procedures.

Half an hour later.

The test results came out.

The person in charge of the testing was a white-haired, highly respected anti-doping expert from France.

He walked to the press conference with the test report in hand, his expression looking worse than if he had eaten filth.

Reporters from all over the world pointed their lenses at him.

"Sir! What are the test results? Did you find some new type of drug we don't know about?" an Eagle Nation reporter asked impatiently.

The French expert took a deep breath and looked at the Dragon Kingdom athlete sitting nearby as if he were looking at an alien.

Then, with a trembling voice, he announced the result that had shattered his worldview to the entire world.

"The test results... are all normal."

"We used the most advanced mass spectrometer to analyze every molecule in his blood."

"We found no known or unknown performance-enhancing drug components."

"On the contrary..."

The expert paused, his tone filled with endless confusion and fear.

"His blood sample... is healthy to an... inhuman degree."

"His red blood cells' oxygen-carrying capacity is five times that of an average person!"

"His muscle fiber strength is comparable to the highest grade of Kevlar!"

"His neural reaction speed has already surpassed the theoretical biological limit!"

"So..."

The expert pushed up his glasses and spoke slowly, in a tone as if delivering a death sentence.

"I can only come to one conclusion."

"This Dragon Kingdom athlete did not use any performance-enhancing drugs."

"He..."

"He is simply a monster!"

"Or rather..." The expert looked toward the Dragon Kingdom delegation's resting area, his eyes filled with despair.

"They all are!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire venue erupted in an uproar!

The whole world lost its voice!

At that moment, the Eagle Nation reporter remained relentless. He pointed his microphone at the Dragon Kingdom athlete and asked in an extremely tricky tone.

"Sir! Since you didn't use drugs, then please explain how you were able to run at such a speed?!"

"The whole world wants to know, what exactly did you people from the Dragon Kingdom eat?!"

Facing this provocative question, the Dragon Kingdom athlete just gave a simple, honest smile.

He pulled out a bottle of drink from his pocket with the words [Body Strengthening] printed on it.

Then, in front of the whole world, he unscrewed the cap and took a large gulp, 'glug, glug.'

He wiped his mouth and spoke to the camera in a matter-of-fact tone.

"We didn't eat anything special."

"It's just that when we get thirsty during daily training, we drink a bit of this."

"In our country, we all drink this like water now."

"Wait... don't you have this?"