"I am number 1, so I should be in Group 1. There's definitely no way I'll run into the two of you in the preliminaries," Neo showed his number and said.
Because when drawing the numbers, all the contestants' numbers had already been checked by the referees and entered into the computer, there was no need to report their numbers now.
Soon, all the contestants finished drawing numbers, and the huge screen placed on the wall suddenly lit up, with the list of opponents for each group member appearing on it.
Neo swept his gaze across the screen. Sure enough, the very first name in Group 1 was his own, while Son Goku's name was prominently displayed first in Group 3, and Krillin's was a bit further down.
At the same time, Neo also saw a familiar name on the list for Group 2: Yamcha.
"I didn't expect that guy to actually participate in this year's World Martial Arts Tournament."
However, Yamcha didn't catch Neo's attention; instead, a name called 'Jackie Chun' in Group 4 caught his eye, and a dangerous arc immediately appeared on his lips: "As expected, Master Roshi has also entered anonymously. This really is a great opportunity to beat him up."
Looking at the list in front of him, Krillin's originally tense expression instantly relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief: "Great, I'm in Group 3! I don't have to fight Big Brother Neo!"
Even Master Roshi had suffered setbacks at Neo's hands, and he certainly didn't want to cross paths with such a freak.
However, the next second, when he saw that Son Goku's name was also in Group 3, he instantly let out a miserable wail: "Ah—! Why? Why is Goku in Group 3 too! I don't want to fight him either!" During training, he had witnessed Son Goku's freakishness with his own eyes, and he knew he definitely couldn't win.
Neo looked at Krillin's timid expression and smiled, "You don't have to worry too much. The two of you have numbers far apart. According to the tournament schedule, you shouldn't run into each other, which means you can both just take the two advancement spots in Group 3."
"Really? That's great!" Hearing this, Krillin immediately cheered up again.
Just at that moment, the referee's voice was amplified through the microphone and entered everyone's ears, interrupting the commotion in the hall: "Alright, the match list has been finalized! All contestants, please mind your order and keep quiet. Now, we invite the number one and number two contestants of Group 1 to enter the arena... Contestants of Group 2 (minor roles omitted)... Contestants number 69 and number 70 of Group 3 to enter the arena, Group 4 (minor roles omitted)..."
Hearing his own name, Son Goku looked shocked: "Ah~? Big Brother Neo and I are going up right at the very beginning?"
Krillin took a deep breath, waved his arms fiercely, and shouted loudly: "Go for it! Big Brother Neo! Goku!"
Neo didn't say much, simply waved at Krillin, and walked up to their respective rings with Son Goku.
Neo was at Ring 1, while Son Goku was at Ring 3.
This surprised Neo slightly. It seemed a bit different from the original story, as they were actually dividing it into four rings to hold the preliminaries simultaneously.
Son Goku's opponent was a hulking, sumo wrestler-like man; whereas Neo's opponent was an upright-standing dinosaur, its thick hind legs supporting a heavy body, a pair of fleshy wings short yet unusually well-developed, with sharp claws extending from the tips of the wings, flashing with a chilling, heart-palpitating cold light under the lights.
The preliminaries were not open to the public but were internal screenings. If no winner was decided within a strict one-minute time limit, the referee would determine the victory or defeat based on performance, making the pace extremely fast.
As soon as Neo stepped onto the ring, the dinosaur opposite him looked down at Neo's slender figure with a condescending and mocking expression: "Pipsqueak, with your height and build, you aren't even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth as a snack. Better hurry up and surrender obediently to avoid physical suffering. After all, if I accidentally trample you to death, it wouldn't be very good, and I'll be disqualified!"
Listening to the other party's taunts, Neo couldn't be bothered to respond and simply ignored him. He was just a clown jumping around, not worth getting angry over at all.
"Begin!"
Following the referee's command, Neo's figure moved instantly. Without any fancy starting stance, he simply took a single step out, and his figure vanished from the spot instantly, transforming into an afterimage that was difficult for the naked eye to capture. In a flash, he appeared right in front of that dinosaur contestant. Before the opponent could even react, Neo had already slammed a fist into his soft abdomen. With a muffled 'bang', a dull sound exploded, and terrifying energy pierced right through the dinosaur's abdomen.
The arrogant expression on that dinosaur's face instantly froze, and in an instant, it let out a short, miserable 'uh' sound. Its eyes bulged abruptly, the eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets, its pupils instantly dilated, its huge body trembled violently a few times, and a large amount of white foam and blood overflowed from its mouth.
Then came the sight of this behemoth, as if all its bones had been drawn out, collapsing forward onto the ground with a loud thud, slamming heavily onto the flooring with a 'bang', kicking up a cloud of dust and completely knocking it unconscious.
The entire audience fell into dead silence.
The referee hadn't even had time to press the timer before the outcome was decided.
"So strong!!!"
Krillin down below saw this scene, his eyes widening instantly. He had anticipated that Neo would be strong, but he hadn't expected him to be this strong, instantly taking down that terrifying dinosaur-man with a single move.
"Ring 1, winner, contestant number 1!"
As the referee's voice fell, an uproar immediately sounded all around.
"Wow! That's amazing!!!"
"He defeated that dinosaur-man in an instant!"
After recovering from their shock, the surrounding onlookers and contestants all began to applaud. Only the contestants at Ring 1 wore bitter, miserable expressions; the stronger Neo was, the higher the chance they would be eliminated.
Now, the first spot was definitely out of the question, so they could only strive for the second spot.
"Damn it! Why is he here too?!" Under Ring 2, Yamcha heard the exclamations coming from Ring 1, couldn't help turning his head to take a look, his pupils contracting and his eyes instantly widening.
Ever since he was counter-robbed by Neo, he had become penniless. He had originally thought about making some spending money at the World Martial Arts Tournament, but he hadn't expected to run into Neo again. Truly, it was bad luck to step out today!
At Ring 3, Son Goku, who had just been entangling with his opponent, saw Neo instantly finishing off his opponent with a single blow. He lost all thoughts of playing around or probing, his expression turning abruptly serious. Leaping to dodge the opponent's attack, upon landing, he instantly performed a vaulting somersault and then kicked his opponent squarely in the back. With a single 'bang', his opponent was already kicked flying out of the ring, winning easily.
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