Everyone stared intently ahead, finally seeing a corner appear down the passageway, but unfortunately, it was still far away from them.
So far that none of them, except Li Zheng, believed they could make it there.
"Hold on!"
Li Zheng's voice remained steady, as if the intense running earlier had not affected him at all.
Chaikefu's eyes, hidden beneath his hood, flashed with a strange color—this man nad Li Ruizhou was far stronger than he had imagined!
His stamina was way beyond everyone else's!
Such terrifying endurance—what would his power rating be before entering the special room?
Star Shining?
Or...
King Level?
Chaikefu dared not think too much, quickly suppressing the question, afraid that his divided attention would affect his performance.
His power was strong, and he could be considered the strongest among the players, aside from Li Zheng.
"It's too far!" Carol spoke with difficulty, "I can only hold on for another minute at most. I'm afraid I can't reach it."
Yet, at their speed, it would take at least five more minutes to reach that corner!
His tone was full of unwillingness.
After cautiously navigating the Matrix for nearly seven days since entering, he had finally obtained a Gold Level item to develop his Genetic Ability on the eighth day while exploring, carefully improving himself to survive until now.
Was he really going to die in a randomly selected dungeon now?
He was unwilling.
Unwilling to die so obscurely.
But...
What could he do?
The Terminal gave him no choice.
Every player selected was forced into this special challenge room, with no option to refuse.
"I'm about the sa..." Eerbatu barely said a few words, then could only produce the sound made when bellows are pushed and pulled, the result of him inhaling and exhaling forcefully.
His heart was pounding madly, as if it might explode any mont.
"Huff~ huff..." Feng Bujue breathed heavily, showing exhaustion beyond compare, lacking the strength to utter a word, with his legs stiff, only survival instincts driving them to chanically swing forward.
"Don't give up!" Li Zheng loudly encouraged them: "Victory is right in front of us; do you really want to fall here? Think about it, we can outrun this big tal ball; as long as we maintain our pace, we'll escape soon enough..."
"Can we really escape?" Li Minshun, who had been trailing behind the team, spoke in despair: "Has anyone said that the crisis will end after we turn? Who can be sure the tal ball won't follow the turn?"
To the surprise of most teammates, this rather unlikable guy was in a state only slightly worse than Chaikefu.
At this mont, everyone understood why Li Minshun initially opposed Wang Xiaoshan so boldly—because he believed his strength was not weak, giving him confidence.
"Don't speak demoralizing words at such a ti!" Li Zheng loudly countered Li Minshun's discouraged speech: "Can't you see? This passage is designed so extrely, it's the Terminal leaving us a glimr of hope! Think about the na of the task we're part of this ti?"
"Challenger Task!" Li Zheng asserted: "All those traps and checkpoints are for us participants to challenge our limits, not for the Terminal to toy with us and watch us struggle till death!"
"So, at a ti like this, we have to run strongly, persisting until the mont of victory!"
"Li Ruizhou's right!" Wang Xiaoshan, pushed along for a while, finally regained so strength, thanks to his extraordinary physique, and imdiately echoed Li Zheng's words: "We will overco this crisis! Boss, go help the others; I can finish the remaining path myself."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah! I've recovered quite a bit. If I grit my teeth and hold on a bit longer, it shouldn't be a big problem."
Receiving Wang Xiaoshan's reply, Li Zheng didn't assist him further, letting go and activating 'I Can Run Fast' to catch up with Feng Bujue and Carol ahead, supporting them by holding their backs.
'I Can Run Fast' accelerates movent speed, but it also consus more stamina when speeding up.
In short bursts that require quick movent, this ability is undoubtedly useful.
But in this situation, which requires a long-distance run, except for initially creating distance with the ball, everyone used it sparingly afterward.
Only when absolutely necessary was it activated quickly.
As a result, the tal ball had closed the distance with them considerably.
Li Minshun could even feel the threat from the spikes clearly without looking back; this threat indicated that even with an extraordinary physique, getting pierced would undoubtedly be fatal, with no compromise.
Perhaps due to having Li Zheng's help, the team soon grew calr, the seven of them rhythmically running swiftly down the passage.
Except for the sound of panting, footsteps, and the rolling tal ball, no one spoke.
"How are you?" Li Zheng, after towing Feng Bujue and Carol for a while and noticing so recovery, went to help run with Eerbatu for a stretch, then dropped back to Li Minshun's side and asked: "Do you need to carry you for a bit?"
Li Minshun stubbornly shook his head, his expression unseen: "No need, I can manage!"
From his opponent's defiant words, Li Zheng could tell Li Minshun was gritting his teeth fiercely, toughing it out with sheer will.
This was dangerous, and Li Zheng dared not interrupt it.
It's possible that a well-intended hand could break his resolve, causing Li Minshun to collapse completely, unable to rise again.
"Then hang in there, and call when you can't hold on anymore." Li Zheng glanced back; the tal ball was now less than a hundred ters away, but with their current speed, as long as nothing unexpected happened, they should all make it past that corner.
Just like that, another three minutes went by, the corner now right before their eyes.
At the sa ti, the tal ball was less than ten ters behind them.
"Charge!"
Li Zheng shouted, and at his command, everyone simultaneously activated 'I Can Run Fast,' squeezing out their last ounce of energy.
Zoom~
Bang!
Chaikefu was in the best shape, fastest, and to ensure his speed didn't drop, he even simultaneously activated "I Can Jump High," leaping up and planting a foot sideways, propelling himself off the wall on the right, shooting toward the corner.
In the joy of surviving, Chaikefu's kick used full force, even leaving fine cracks in the hard wall, dislodging a couple of unnoticed small rocks.
The stones rolled happily to the ground without attracting anyone's attention.
From Eerbatu to Carol and Feng Bujue to Wang Xiaoshan and Li Zheng, they all crossed over the stones and naturally turned the corner.
Finally, the stones ca to a stop, and Li Minshun, running last, happened to step directly onto them.
Those unassuming small stones were exactly what disrupted his balance, painstakingly maintained for nearly four minutes. All the strength in his legs suddenly drained, causing him to pitch forward, slamming hard into the wall at the passage's end.
His head tilted, and he fainted.
"Danger!"
Wang Xiaoshan braced his knees, panting heavily, heard the commotion behind him, turned, and saw the scene. Without a second thought, he spun around, grabbed Li Minshun's clothes, and pulled him backward with force.
Boom!!!
The tal giant ball rcilessly crashed into the passage's end, its imnse force pulverizing the wall, embedding the ball halfway into the wall before stopping.
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