Chapter 298: Chapter 248: Song Tianyun: Bring Me My Sword
"Wang Jun is Vice Commander Wang’s son?" Gao Neng froze. He nearly spat blood. Eastern Capital Military Academy was under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Capital Military District, after all.
So his challenging Wang Jun now was basically the equivalent of blockading the gates of the Eastern Capital Military District, right?
How thrilling!
...
「Fifteen minutes later.」
Gao Neng and Fang Tangtang left the dormitory together and arrived at the main gate of Eastern Capital Military Academy.
As he had expected.
The challengers at the gate had all dispersed.
In fact, over the past ten days, the number of challengers had been dwindling daily. Not everyone was a fool; some could see there was an issue.
In a little over ten days, he had earned a total of two billion.
This figure alone showed that he wasn’t earning as much in the latter days as he had in the beginning.
Gao Neng didn’t mind, though.
He only accepted two challengers per day, so he couldn’t have handled too many more anyway. All he needed was a small group to keep playing along with him.
This was a kind of gambler’s mentality.
Outsiders could easily see through it, but once you were in the game, it was hard to notice. After all, people have a blind sort of confidence; they never think they’re the ones who are incapable, just that their luck is a bit off.
Of course, the shills deserved some credit for this too.
If Fang Tangtang hadn’t arranged for some shills to stir things up in the crowd, these scions from prestigious families and Sect Disciples might not have continued to play his game.
"Gao Neng is here! Can you share your thoughts on falling out of the Dragon List’s top 300?" The challengers had all left, but some reporters were still lingering at the gate.
"Sure." Gao Neng nodded magnanimously, then continued, "I’m heartbroken about falling out of the top 300. There’s definitely something shady going on!"
"Shady?!" The reporters’ interest was immediately piqued.
"Gao Neng, can you tell us what you think this shady business is?"
"Yeah, do you think the Federation Government is deliberately targeting you?"
"Please share your thoughts!"
"Heh heh..." Gao Neng chuckled softly.
He had mentioned something shady.
He had only said it to capture the reporters’ interest. As for what it was, he wouldn’t say more, of course. After all, he wasn’t an idiot.
Freedom of speech was one thing.
But openly slandering the higher-ups was just asking for trouble.
Gao Neng didn’t dwell on the topic, instead looking straight ahead. "What’s shady or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m going to shatter this ’shady business’ right now!"
"Shatter it? How are you going to do that?" the reporters asked immediately.
"By proving with my strength that I belong in the Dragon List’s top 300," Gao Neng said with a small smile.
"So, you’re heading out to issue a challenge?"
"Who is your target? Is it Cao Qing, who’s currently ranked 300th? We heard he’s severely injured. Are you planning to challenge him, just like you did with Wang Nanlin at Beihai Military Academy?"
"We heard Cao Qing is in the hospital right now, and a lot of people have already gone over. Gao Neng, what makes you so sure Cao Qing will accept your challenge at a time like this?"
The reporters fired off a barrage of questions.
Gao Neng wasn’t in a hurry. He waited for them to finish before speaking again. "The person I’m planning to challenge this time isn’t the severely injured Cao Qing!"
"Not Cao Qing? Then who is it?"
"Is it Lin Fei? Or Jiang Baibai, who’s ranked 299th?"
"..."
The reporters continued to ask.
"Neither." Gao Neng shook his head, then tilted his gaze upward, looking into the distance. "The person I’m going to challenge is ranked in the top 200 of the Dragon List. The man who just defeated Cao Qing—Wang Jun!"
"What?!"
"He’s actually going to challenge Wang Jun?"
"But Wang Jun just defeated Cao Qing, who had broken through to Tier Six!"
"That’s right, Wang Jun is at Tier Six Early Stage!"
"Gao Neng, isn’t it too risky for you to challenge Wang Jun now? After all, you’re only at Tier Four Mid Stage, right?"
The reporters couldn’t believe it.
Gao Neng didn’t explain further. He needed the reporters’ curiosity, so of course he wouldn’t reveal that he had already broken through to Tier Five.
Hearing this, Fang Tangtang quickly shot a meaningful look at a few shills in the crowd.
The shills understood immediately.
"Wow, this is huge! A first-year from Eastern Capital Military Academy, a Tier Four Mid Stage expert named Gao Neng, is going to challenge a Tier Six Early Stage expert, Wang Jun! This is definitely big news!"
"Yeah, this is headline-worthy news!"
"Where’s Wang Jun now?"
"I think he’s in the Eastern Capital Military District. We need to hurry over and witness this battle of the century!"
The shills shouted with great enthusiasm.
The reporters reacted instantly.
’That’s right!’
’This is huge news!’
’Gao Neng challenging Wang Jun—this fight will be explosive!’
"Get this on the front page, now!"
"Editor-in-chief, yes... this is Li Anan. I’ve got a huge story. Gao Neng from Eastern Capital Military Academy is going to challenge Wang Jun of the Eastern Capital Military District... It’s absolutely true, he said it himself... Understood, I’m heading over immediately!" One reporter was already on the phone, reporting to his editor-in-chief.
The other reporters scrambled into action.
Without even waiting for Gao Neng to leave, they began running toward the Eastern Capital Military District. They needed to grab a good spot at the entrance.
’Such dedicated reporters!’
Gao Neng watched the dispersing reporters and gave them a mental thumbs-up.
...
「In ten minutes.」
The news of Gao Neng’s challenge to Wang Jun had spread to every corner of the City of Hope.
The power of the press was terrifying. They spread the news among their circles, and major websites and media outlets all made it their top headline.
Gao Neng was already the most talked-about person on the Dragon List.
Now that he was issuing a bold challenge to Wang Jun, ranked 200th on the Dragon List, how could it not go viral?
Reporters who had been staked out elsewhere immediately rushed to the Eastern Capital Military District. No one wanted to miss this earth-shattering battle.
Gui Zian, naturally, also heard the news very quickly.
"Holy crap?! This guy either does nothing, or he goes for the ultimate move... Challenging Wang Jun? What the hell is he thinking? Wang Jun is one of ours, from the Military Department!"
"Gao Neng is challenging Wang Jun!"
"Heavens, Wang Jun is ranked even higher than Lin Ying!"
Eastern Capital Military Academy exploded with commotion.
Principal Song Tianyun was so shocked he bolted out of his office. He had thought Gao Neng might aggressively challenge someone with a high rank.
But he never imagined the person Gao Neng would challenge was Wang Jun!
Because Wang Jun was from the Military Department.
"Gui Zian, where is Gui Zian?"
"Principal Song, I’m here..."
"Where’s Gao Neng? Where did he go?"
"I just got off the phone with him. That guy is on his way to the Eastern Capital Military District right now. He should reach the main gate in about half an hour!"
"Then what are we waiting for? We have to go now! No, I have to go too! That Wang Jun is Vice Commander Wang’s son! That kid Gao Neng could have challenged anyone, why did he have to pick him?" Song Tianyun’s face had turned pale.
"Probably because Wang Jun was injured a while ago..." Gui Zian naturally knew what Gao Neng was up to. Kicking a man when he’s down—it was his usual move.
"..." Song Tianyun was speechless for a moment.
A while ago, because Gao Neng had challenged Wang Nanlin of Beihai Military Academy, he had ended up getting into a brawl with Beihai Military Academy’s Principal Wang at a restaurant.
This time, Gao Neng was going to challenge Wang Jun.
He didn’t even need to imagine the consequences.
’You people at Eastern Capital Military Academy are really trying to defy the heavens, aren’t you!’
’You don’t pick fights with the sects or the prestigious families, you just specialize in backstabbing your own people, is that it? And this time, you’re targeting the Eastern Capital Military District! Your method of education is truly something else!’
Sweat beaded on Song Tianyun’s forehead.
"Bring me my sword!"
...
「Federation Government Office Building.」
"Breaking news! Gao Neng is going to challenge Wang Jun!"
"Wang Jun? The Wang Jun ranked 200th? Are you sure you read that right? This Wang Jun is from the Military Department, and from the Eastern Capital Military District, no less!"
"Absolutely. Gao Neng said it himself at the gate of Eastern Capital Military Academy!"
"That’s right, all the major websites are reporting it now. And Gao Neng and Fang Tangtang are already on their way to the Eastern Capital Military District. There’s no mistake."
"Hiss... This Gao Neng is truly unpredictable!"
"Team Leader Zhang, what do you make of this?"
Everyone’s gazes once again focused on Team Leader Zhang.
"As shameless as ever. Or perhaps... cowardly!" Team Leader Zhang reached up to adjust his glasses, then looked out the window.
"Cowardly? But he’s challenging Wang Jun, who’s ranked 200th. Why would you say he’s cowardly, Team Leader Zhang?" The others looked over, confused.
"If he were challenging ’Song Jian,’ ranked 201st, instead of Wang Jun, I wouldn’t call him a coward. But he specifically chose to challenge the recently injured Wang Jun. If that’s not cowardly, what is?" Team Leader Zhang retracted his gaze, then added with a tone of deep disappointment, "He clearly has the strength to fight a tough battle, yet he still chooses this kind of tactic. It seems he’s only capable of these opportunistic tricks. If I’m not mistaken, after he fights Wang Jun, he’ll immediately refuse all other challenges!"
"Refuse challenges?"
"Yes. Because once he reaches this rank, the challengers will be much stronger. He won’t accept any more challenges. Rank 200... that’s probably his ultimate goal!"
"..."
...
「Half an hour later.」
The main gate of the Eastern Capital Military District was already completely surrounded by a massive crowd.
The guards responsible for the gate were all on high alert. The scene before them was simply too massive, even more terrifying than a high-ranking official’s motorcade.
A few days ago, Cao Qing had also come to the Eastern Capital Military District to issue a challenge.
But how many people showed up for that?
At most, there were only a few dozen reporters. This time, however, a single glance revealed a dense crowd of several hundred reporters, as well as all sorts of onlookers who had heard the news and rushed over.
Several thousand people were blocking the entrance.
"Back up, back up! Do not cross the security line!" the guards shouted, trying to maintain order. Sweat dotted their foreheads.
"Hello everyone, I’m reporter Da Yun from Eastern District TV Station. I’m currently at the entrance of the Eastern Capital Military District, and behind me are its main gates... This is a live report from our station’s correspondent!"
"Gao Neng’s here!"
"Gao Neng’s here!"
"..."
ROAR!
The crowd boiled over, parting to either side.
