The pant leg was rolled up, revealing the jet-black carbon fiber prosthetic limb edged with golden lines radiating a sense of mastery.

The abundant sunshine of Karlskrona poured down, making the golden signature "Gu Sheng Sam" on the prosthetic limb shimmer brilliantly.

The helmet was slowly taken off.

On the young face was a vibrant smile, warm like the gentle sunlight itself.

Standing straight, the young man raised his hand high toward the viewing platform and gave a thumbs-up.

And in the next moment!

On the split-screen of the big screen at the scene, Gu Sheng also stood up from the viewing platform, his eyes slightly red, raising his thumb in the young man’s direction.

Just like before, they greeted each other through the livestream screen.

The warm sunshine on the Baltic coast traced the smiles of the two, and in their silent understanding, both of their eyes shimmered with a glistening light.

Indeed!

This crazy, lively young man, the mysterious Pilot operator, was none other than the legendary Golden Wind player who had set the Titanfall world record with two grenades, later immortalized in the APEX biography as a named hero, and the first worldwide to clear the Peak Eight Events challenge in Peak Kingdom, crowned the King—

Octane!

Boom!!!

It must be known, there were no shortage of players on site.

Especially recently, the Peak Eight Events in Peak Kingdom had become wildly popular beyond the circle.

Many were moved by the stories of Octane and SuperCat.

Now, one of the story’s protagonists was present at the scene, making a grand appearance this way.

For a moment, the roar of screams and applause surged like a tidal wave, blasting straight into the heavens!

Meanwhile, in the domestic and international livestream chats, all the players were in uproar—

‘OHHHHHHHHH—!!!’

‘Octane! Octane! Holy shit, it’s really Octane!’

‘Power Kid has arrived, I’m blown away! Ahhhhh—!’

‘Wow—century meeting! I don’t think Old Thief and Power Kid have ever met before, right?’

‘Old Thief looks like he’s about to cry.’

‘Wow—this is overwhelming. That guy who used to be in a wheelchair is now wearing the prosthetic limb you gave him to surprise you!’

‘Oh man… I can’t take it… my eyes are leaking…’

‘Goosebumps all over. The key is their hand gestures…’

‘[Trust me]’

‘Ah—what are you doing? Just when I finally forgot, you get stabbed again, boohoohoo.’

‘Awesome! Old Thief awesome! Power Kid awesome!’

…

Amidst the jubilant cheers!

The host Joe excitedly said:

“Now, with the warmest applause, let’s welcome Golden Wind Vice President Mr. Gu Sheng and Tiansi Bull CEO Mr. Xu Zhixing to the finish line, together with our legendary player Octane, to announce today’s winners!”

That’s right.

As the overall controller of the event, host Joe actually knew Octane’s identity.

Because before the event started, Golden Wind CEO Shen Miaomiao had personally approached him, adding this segment into the cue sheet and made him keep it a secret, absolutely not letting Gu Sheng know beforehand.

“So you kept this from me alone?”

Breathing out, Gu Sheng’s excited heart still couldn’t calm down. He blinked hard and looked at Little Nezha, who was smiling brightly with small white teeth.

“Hehe, surprise!”

Shen Miaomiao raised an eyebrow, then patted Gu Sheng’s arm:

“Hurry up and give out the awards!”

Under the warm winter sun, Shen Miaomiao’s smile blossomed like a cluster of radiant flowers.

She always kept everything in her heart and waited for the right moment to cleverly bring him surprise and emotion.

“Well then, let’s go.”

Thinking so, Gu Sheng also extended his hand, making an inviting gesture.

“Ah?”

Shen Miaomiao was stunned, because originally she wasn’t supposed to be part of this segment.

But after a moment, she smiled gently, helped Gu Sheng stand up by holding his hand, and naturally hooked her arm around his.

Cheers and screams followed them all the way.

Like a tide of applause and cheers, Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao turned and walked down from the viewing platform.

Then, Xu Zhixing, who had come down with them, nodded and smiled in greeting. Together, they stepped into the canopy sightseeing car prepared in advance by the staff and moved forward under everyone’s watchful eyes!

“Wow—what kind of divine event is this!”

“Laughter, tears, and sweetness all in one!”

“Laba Garlic! Laba Garlic!”

“It’s time for my favorite sugar intake again!”

“Have you considered CEO Xu’s feelings, Bull?”

“CEO Xu: I should be under the car, not here… Hahaha, never felt this song fit so well.”

“The ridiculous ideas of silly netizens always blow my mind.”

“Can you not mess with such an exciting scene, haha…”

“Sure enough, players who can play Golden Wind games all have a few screws loose.”

“Stomp, glare, waiting for the light, waiting for the light—”

“Now approaching us are the Laba Garlic Couple from Golden Wind and the Under-Car God of War CEO Xu from Tiansi Bull!”

“How the hell do these things connect?”

“Who says text can’t convey sound? The barrage actors really need to stop, haha…”

Amid the touching and laughter!

The canopy car arrived at the finish line.

Once off the car, Shen Miaomiao, like a dog owner releasing her pet, tactfully let go of Gu Sheng’s hand.

Gu Sheng did not disappoint her. Though not like a wild runaway dog, he hurried forward excitedly in long strides and gave Octane an intimate hug!

Octane was even more emotional:

“Saaaaaaaaam—! Hahaha!”

He took over Shen Miaomiao’s place, sticking crazily close to his Sam, grinning ear to ear.

Sigh…

Shen Miaomiao was speechless.

She smiled and chatted amicably with Xu Zhixing, while inwardly grumbling:

“Why did he bring me here? Turns out it’s to make me act as a tool to communicate with the partner, while he goes to cuddle with his international bestie! Old Gu, old Gu, you really are a dog!!!”

Bustling and lively!

The New Year’s atmosphere seemed to become even more festive because of this unprecedented challenge.

In the joyful atmosphere, after completing interviews with Gu Sheng and Octane, Joe handed the final winners list to the four guests.

Of course, the soapbox car challenge awards were actually not that important.

After all, everyone gathered here just for fun.

So various fancy awards kept appearing, and everyone received something.

“…Alright ladies and gentlemen, friends in the venue and online livestream audiences! The fun challenge is temporarily over!”

Amid the cheers, Joe’s voice sounded.

At this moment, in all the livestream chats, the barrage of “Unforgettable Tonight” was already streaming.

With the awards ceremony ending,

this unforgettable challenge event seemed to be drawing to a close.

Although reluctant, the saying goes: every feast must end.

The major companies had a blast, the audience enjoyed watching, and everyone talked excitedly, looking forward to the next event.

It had been a nearly perfect event.

However!

The next second.

Joe’s voice was heard:

“Now next! The truly unprecedented peak challenge is ready!”

“At an altitude of 7,620 meters! Aik Garcia, the extreme skydiver from Florida, USA, is fully prepared to bring everyone an unprecedented, eternal—”

“Challenge beyond death!!!”

Ah—???

Stir!

The moment these words came out!

From the scene to the livestream, even Shen Miaomiao among the award group was shocked!

What? Another event?!

In disbelief,

Joe raised his hand, pointing toward the end of Seventh Avenue where the sky met the endless blue Baltic Sea!

On the big screen appeared a temporary facility standing on the sea surface!

This temporary facility was composed of four dense alloy poles firmly embedded into the sea.

The spacing between the four poles was almost equal, supporting a large net in the middle.

The net was black, reflecting a fluorescent glow, with what seemed to be an orange and white pattern.

However, because the camera angle was from the side, it was hard to clearly see the exact pattern.

“This entire large net is 50 meters by 50 meters, totaling 2,500 square meters,”

In the curious silence, Joe introduced:

“I believe the audience must be absolutely curious about this net now—”

“What exactly is it for catching?”

At this,

all eyes converged on Joe.

He pointed to the sky:

“To catch a person, our ultimate warrior today—Aik Garcia!”

“That’s right!”

“Next, you will witness an unprecedented—”

“no-parachute descent from 7,620 meters above!”

With Joe’s voice,

the big screen displayed a 3D schematic—

“Our plane has taken off,”

“After meticulous calculations and wind speed measurements,”

“Aik Garcia, under the protection of two professional skydiving instructors and recorded by a professional skydiving photographer,”

“will leap from the predetermined point, jumping out of the plane,”

“then free-fall at a speed of 180 kilometers per hour,”

“after a terrifying 7,600-meter fall, he will precisely land on our pre-prepared net,”

“This is an unprecedented extreme challenge, a supreme challenge against death itself,”

“Everyone!”

“Our plane is about to reach the set position. In five minutes and twenty seconds,”

“Aik Garcia will complete his record-breaking—”

“astonishing leap!!!”

Silence.

A silence as deep as death!

After Joe’s introduction, the audience faces exchanged looks of disbelief!

In those questioning gazes, they seemed to seek an answer—

an answer that would say ‘I misheard.’

However,

the fact was, when they looked at each other, they saw the exact same shock and disbelief mirrored in their counterparts’ eyes!

Clearly,

this was real.

The next second.

Boom!!!

The scene erupted!

“Heavens! My God!”

“No-parachute descent?! Isn’t this… just free-falling?”

“My god, this is insane…”

“So this is the ‘extreme’ part of this challenge competition?”

“But… this is way too extreme!”

“This is basically suicide!”

“7,620 meters… my God… if he tilts even a little…”

“The consequences are unimaginable…”

“Even the Baltic Sea can’t save him.”

“This is madness. This is fucking madness…”

And when the plane with the Golden Bull logo appeared on the big screen!

When viewers saw the challenger organizing gear and the instructors and photographer preparing!

The two major livestream platforms, Mouse Platform and Shark Platform, instantly exploded!

“Holy shit!!!”

“No-parachute descent! Are you serious?!”

“Not… I mean… soapbox racing isn’t exactly extreme, but this is just too extreme at once!”

“Damn! Old Thief really dares to sponsor! This is basically the same form as parachuting into Swallow Cave!”

“Someone’s really trying to replicate the Peak Eight Events in real life?!”

“I’m… just… speechless—”

“This is truly invincible below the immortals!!!”

“This is ridiculous.”

“The big one’s coming.”

…

The audience was in uproar! Livestreams were in a frenzy!

Originally, a skydive over 3,000 meters was already called extreme high-altitude skydiving.

After all, during this long freefall, skydivers must resist the extreme cold of the high-altitude climate and maintain proper falling posture to ensure safe parachute deployment.

Moreover!

During such terrifying skydiving, air turbulence won’t warn you in advance.

If a “death tumble” occurs, opening the parachute becomes a nightmare. Even if the parachute pack is luckily opened, the terrifying turbulence will toss the skydiver like a leaf in a storm, wildly tumbling without control and quickly entangling with the parachute.

And now!

This warrior named Aik Garcia was going to forgo the parachute pack entirely, free-falling from 7,600 meters!

He was entrusting his life fully to a 50 by 50 meter high-strength net!

Whether it was the turbulence in the air, deviation of flight path, or tumbling caused by exhaustion…

If there was the slightest mistake!

Not even the Baltic Sea could save him.

Not even the sea of the King of Heaven could save half his life!

An unprecedented no-parachute descent combined with a terrifying height of 7,600 meters!

For a moment, everyone’s hearts seemed to tighten as they watched the plane on the big screen!

And the next second!

From the huge speakers at the scene came Aik Garcia’s voice:

“Ground, ground, I am ready and feeling good.”

On the crowded Seventh Avenue, silence fell like a pin drop!

“Received, received, ten seconds to designated position.”

“Ten… Nine… Eight…”

Sweat surfaced on everyone’s palms as their eyes fixed on the big screen.

The plane door opened, and all skydiving team members got ready!

“…Three… Two… One!”

Whoosh!!!

At the final count, Aik Garcia, surrounded by three skydiving members, dressed in a gold and red jumpsuit with Golden Wind and Tiansi Bull logos, leapt from the skydiving cabin door!

And after a mere twenty-eight seconds!

Suddenly, from the tense, deathly silent scene, someone screamed!

“Quick! Look! Look at the sky!!!”

Upon hearing this,

everyone looked toward the clear sky above!

There,

far on the horizon, three scarlet smoke trails arched around a golden yellow smoke trail!

The smoke bloomed magnificently!

Like a flower of courage blossoming high in the heavens...

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com