When Makarov announced the change in rules, a group of people's eyes immediately lit up. Who would pass up this golden opportunity? As long as they could punish Chen Fan, losing the race was no problem at all!
The rule change was clear: the punishment had been canceled. Now, everyone had a single objective, and that was to 'prevent Chen Fan from coming in first'.
Some of the people who knew they weren't fast runners immediately stopped. They only cared about one thing: winning the fight against Chen Fan, not the race.
"Everyone, why are you stopping?" Erza asked, bewildered. They were all still running. Jet was leading at the front, followed by Natsu, while the others were in the third group.
"Yeah! Everyone! Why did you stop?" Lucy was just as curious.
"You guys go on ahead, we'll hold Chen Fan back!"
"Yeah! You go first. We'll hold him back, even if we die trying!"
"Everyone...!" Tears shimmered in Erza's eyes. She never expected her comrades to show such great solidarity.
"Let's all run and reach the finish line together! Then we can all ask for the punishment together. We'll all be in first place!" Lucy suddenly suggested.
"Ding!" Everyone's eyes lit up. The idea was brilliant, but they shook their heads.
"No...! You have to run fast! We have to hold him back. Our hope is in you guys," some of them said, their resolve hardened.
"Let's go, Lucy..." Erza turned and prepared to continue the race.
"But everyone...!" Lucy hesitated.
"Our friends are putting their hope in us. We can't give up. We must cheer for those who are sacrificing themselves," Erza said with a heavy tone and began to run.
"Oh... is this for real?" Lucy complained.
"Run, Lucy," said Levy, no less moved.
Lucy quickly followed. The group of people lying on the road were ready to sacrifice themselves for a common goal. 'Friends, your sacrifice will not be in vain!' Lucy thought, deeply touched.
After Erza and the others disappeared, they all sat up, sighing in relief. "Great! We don't have to run. We even have the best excuse. Erza can't blame us!"
"Yeah! Just thinking about running that far is exhausting."
"Most importantly, if we actually win, Chen Fan, with his small brain, will definitely make things difficult for us."
"So we're still going to hold him back?"
"Of course! We have to do our best."
"Why, aren't you afraid of his revenge?"
"If there are many of us, he'll only remember a few, but there's only one winner. He'll definitely remember that. Chen Fan's brain isn't that great, he often forgets," they said, laughing.
"Hachoo...!"
Chen Fan, who was still jogging, suddenly sneezed. 'What's going on lately? Someone is always thinking about me. Is my charm really that amazing?'
Suddenly, a hole appeared in front of Chen Fan. He reacted quickly and jumped.
"Beep... We have detected that Chen Fan's jump distance is not the same as his stride distance," several machines announced.
"Damn it!" Chen Fan cursed. "Show me a dance that's equivalent to your steps."
"Lidas, where are you? You dare to attack me!" Chen Fan shouted.
Lidas was hiding behind a rock. He was only buying time. After all, Chen Fan was terrifying to him.
Suddenly, Chen Fan appeared from behind the rock, right behind Lidas. "Hey! Lidas, you dare to attack me? Ah... Have you forgotten my kindness to you? How I taught you?" Chen Fan said with a ferocious look.
Lidas was terrified. He turned around and ran as fast as lightning. His large body could run as fast as Jet. 'Turns out Chen Fan is very terrifying in Lidas's eyes.'
A small light appeared again under Chen Fan's feet. He jumped, on alert. The ground in front of him turned into a vortex of quicksand. "Macao! Get out of there!"
"Well...! Don't be mad, Brother Chen Fan. I was just told to hold you back. I was forced to do it," Macao raised his hands, his face relaxed.
"Why are you trying to stop me? Shouldn't you be trying to win?" Chen Fan still wanted to pretend.
"Brother Chen Fan, don't pretend. You're smart enough to know what's going on," Macao said.
Chen Fan shook his head resignedly. "Fine! Tell me who else is blocking the way?"
"I don't know, but I've been wanting to try something for a long time," Macao said.
"Try what?"
"I want to see how long I can last in front of you!" Macao said, and the sand on the ground formed a tornado.
"Damn! The worst has finally come." Chen Fan tapped his feet and ran fast. There was no time to waste. He had to be first.
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