Secret Item No. 118

Military vehicles entered the area, each displaying the flag of its respective country.

Southeast General Manager Li Dawei personally attended the event.

"Mr. Brewster, welcome to Jiangnan Base City."

He extended his hand and shook hands with the elderly man in the United States military uniform in front of him.

Unexpectedly, he will personally lead the team in this International Special Forces Competition. He is a well-known figure from the Great Nirvana period.

"Mr. Li, it's a pleasure to meet you."

It's not difficult for martial artists to learn several foreign languages, so unless it's a very formal occasion, they usually choose to adapt to local customs for the sake of communication.

Li Dawei greeted everyone for quite a while.

Athletes from various countries lined up in the stadium.

An older soldier looked at the United States troops and paused, then asked, "That guy, why is he still Warrior Level?"

Zhu Zhen asked in confusion, "Li He, who are you talking about?"

Li He gave a wry smile, "Sean Bruch, that's the guy who won three championships last year, including Close-quarters Combat."

"Ah?"

Several gasps of surprise rang out.

A person's name, a tree's shadow.

Under normal circumstances, the candidates selected are the strongest group of people, and their physical qualities are also the closest to the warrior level. Therefore, the candidates selected each year rarely repeat, because barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will all successfully advance to the warrior level within a year.

And Sean, as a standout performer from last year's competition, is naturally no exception.

But how come this brown-haired United States is still at the Warrior Level?

Hearing their conversation, Lin Yan couldn't help but glance curiously at the burly, brown-haired man who had said in an interview last year that other countries' opponents were too weak. He seemed to have noticed their discussion and gave them a provocative smile.

Meanwhile, Li Dawei's secretary whispered a few words to him.

Li Dawei nodded, indicating that he understood, without showing any unusual behavior.

As is customary, he delivered a speech, announcing the official start of the 2056 International Special Forces Competition.

Fireworks shot into the sky, transforming into colorful ribbons.

Li Dawei looked at Brewster and the other representatives from various countries and said with a hearty laugh, "You have come from afar, and as the host, I must treat you well. Please follow me."

Brewster said, "Mr. Li, you're too kind. We are very interested in the results of this competition, so there's no need to go to so much trouble."

Li Dawei advised, "Sitting here and waiting won't let you see the specific details of the match. In my conference room, you can watch the live broadcast, which is much better than here."

The others exchanged glances and agreed that this was indeed a better approach. The representative from the Rakshasa Country said, "Very well, then we will follow Mr. Li's arrangements."

Led by Li Dawei, they and their respective security personnel arrived at the conference hall.

They sat around the conference table, each serving tea.

Li Dawei smiled and said, "This is a famous tea produced by tea trees in Wuyi Mountain in our country. I rarely get to drink it. This was specially sent by Councillor Jia. I wonder if you gentlemen like it."

They all took a sip and felt refreshed and clear-headed.

"Good."

After exchanging pleasantries with them for a while, Li Dawei suddenly said, "Since everyone is here, there's something I have to bring up again."

Brewster guessed what he wanted to say, and his cloudy eyes brightened.

"Regarding the Secret Item No. 118 we unearthed during the Earth Alliance period, after the Great Nirvana period, we originally agreed that each country would take charge of it for five years in sequence."

"I would like to ask Mr. Brewster, why has the delivery of our secret item, which should have been handed over three months ago, been delayed?"

Brewster remained calm.

The representatives of the other three major countries exchanged glances, clearly unaware of the matter.

European Union Country representative Mark asked in an unfriendly tone, "Mr. Brewster, is this true?"

Although the secrets of this Secret Item No. 118 have remained unsolved, its implications are far-reaching, and the United States's attitude has made them somewhat sensitive.

The representative of the Rakshasa Country also stated. "The plan for the disposal of Secret Item No. 118 has been agreed upon by all countries. Your attitude of wanting to break the agreement will affect our cooperation in many aspects."

Brewster calmly replied, "That's true."

"However, there is an additional clause regarding the disposal of Secret Item 118. We had previously agreed that whoever could win 13 first-place awards in the International Special Forces Competition and obtain the Solar Star Medal would be determined as the owner of Secret Item No. 118."

"We already have the right person."

"Therefore, to avoid unnecessary trouble caused by the rapid exchange of secret items, we decided to retain them for three months to await the final result of this competition."

Li Dawei was not angry when he heard his explanation.

Instead, he remained calm, pointing to the live video feed on the screen and asking, "Mr. Brewster, are you referring to this soldier named Sean?"

"He seems to be the champion from last year."

In the picture, Sean stands in the arena, having defeated his opponent, and looks quite arrogant.

Brewster responded, "That's right, we didn't originally intend to do that. After all, the Secret Item No. 118 is beyond our technological comprehension, and it's perfectly fair for us to take turns managing it."

"However, Sean took the initiative to say that he wanted to obtain the Solar Star Medal and was willing to stay at the Warrior Level for a year to master the skills of all thirteen competition events. Every young person's ideals are worth encouraging, and we agreed to his approach."

"He worked very hard, and his hard work has yielded beautiful results. His achievements are the most outstanding among all the participating soldiers. We have great confidence in him and that he will be the first person to receive the Solar Star Medal."

"This honor will stay with him for the rest of his life."

Brewster saw Sean, who was unbeatable in Close-quarters Combat during the live broadcast, and fluently uttered these words.

His new opponent looks weak.

However, failure is not necessarily a bad thing for young people.

He smiled, but the smile quickly froze on his face.

Looking at Sean, who was lying unconscious on the ground in the video, Li Dawei suppressed the urge to laugh and said, "It seems that luck has not favored this hardworking young man, and this honor does not want to accompany him for the rest of his life."

"Mr. Brewster, I think you need to consider handing over the Secret Item No. 118 to us as soon as possible."

He looked serious.

Brewster stared intently at the young soldier on the screen who had defeated Sean, his eyelids twitching involuntarily.

Sean truly deserves his title as the champion of the Close-quarters Combat event in the previous International Special Forces Competition.

His physique is well-suited for Close-quarters Combat, and he has clearly put a lot of effort into it. His skills even show traces of various fighting styles, which he has mastered.

They don't participate in all events; each side will send seven people for the Close-quarters Combat event.

Of all the events, Close-quarters Combat is the one Sean is most confident in. In the previous competition, he had the biggest advantage in Close-quarters Combat among the three events in which he won first place, and he has made significant progress this year.

"Does anyone want to challenge me?"

"It will be all right."

He provocatively said this from the sidelines.

Although this was unreasonable according to the schedule, he took the initiative to propose it, and no one stopped him.

Two soldiers from the Peacock Country and the Rakshasa Country stepped forward to challenge them, but both were easily defeated.

Zhu Zhen said, "I'll try out his approach."

His Close-quarters Combat record was the best besides Lin Yan's. He stepped into the ring, but he could only barely hold on against Sean's offensive. After fighting for two minutes, he was finally punched hard in the face and passed out.

Lin Yan immediately stepped forward to help him up and examined his injuries. His forearm was swollen high, and he also had fractures in his cheekbone and nose. He looked up and frowned at the brown-haired man in front of him. "You could have controlled yourself at the last moment, why did you have to be so ruthless?"

Sean didn't try to evade the question, but instead said, "What, new recruit, are you going to pray that the enemy won't be ruthless on the battlefield?"

Lin Yan smiled and said, "What you said makes sense. It's good that you have this awareness."

He gestured to his teammates to take Zhu Zhen to the hospital, then looked at Sean and said, "I'll take your place."

Sean chuckled as if he'd heard something funny, "You can have your teammates take him to the hospital later, since they can bring you along too."

The United States contestants burst into laughter.

There's nothing more ridiculous than this young recruit wanting to compete with Sean in Close-quarters Combat.

Lin Yan said calmly, "You probably don't have that ability."

He had plenty of Soul Power, and he had leveled up his S-rank fighting technique Military Killing Fist, to the maximum level a few days ago. Although he hadn't spent much time studying it, it was more than enough to deal with Sean.

After the referee announced the start, the two began to fight.

Sean's fighting style is very fierce, but Lin Yan's fighting style is even more ruthless.

The sounds of their blows clashing echoed continuously. Both men moved swiftly and decisively, aiming straight for each other's vitals, creating a dazzling spectacle.

The one-sided outcome that everyone had imagined did not occur.

No, it's happening in the opposite direction.

Sean was clearly at a disadvantage; his fighting techniques were completely ineffective against Lin Yan, while Lin Yan's attacks made him secretly suffer.

Lin Yan made a quick grab, dislocating his arm, and Sean's face turned pale.

Cold sweat poured down his face.

An elbow strike to the chest sent him reeling, and he lost consciousness.

Lin Yan looked at Sean's teammates, who had long since stopped laughing.

Lin Yan asked in a friendly tone, "Our team member shouldn't have gone far. Should I ask them to wait for you to take him with you?"