Who Says Dragon Country Has No Great Generals?

"Wow! The Dragon Country won the first match without even sending Yinglong! It seems they're implying that Yinglong isn't the only strong warrior in the Dragon Country, is that right?!" the host exclaimed excitedly. "Now, both sides' Mutant will return to the rest room to adjust, and then we'll arrange the participants for the second match!"

Yue Feng, Li Xue, and Qin Weize returned to the athletes' rest room and checked their injuries.

Apart from Yue Feng, Li Xue and Qin Weize only suffered minor superficial injuries, which did not significantly affect their mobility.

Only Yue Feng suffered numerous injuries on his back due to consuming the Black Witch's magic and enduring the first round of attacks from the three opponents. He had burns, abrasions, and some internal organ damage.

At this moment, members of the Special Response Department delivered the "medical supplies" used in this competition, which were the legendary healing potions. The crystal-clear green liquid swayed in the bottle and looked like apple-flavored Mirinda.

"The 'White Robe,' a healing Mutant from the United Nations," Cui Man explained. "He can infuse the life force extracted from others into the injured, helping them heal their injuries. It's very effective at treating damage to muscles, internal organs, bones, and other tissues, but it cannot treat diseases or old injuries, nor can it regenerate limbs."

"What about the people whose life force he extracted?" Ye Wanqing asked with some concern.

Cui Man smiled, "It's the same principle as drawing blood. As long as too much life force isn't removed, there won't be any problems. This life force starts accumulating after the competition is set, and because the quantity is limited, it's generally only used in emergencies. For example, fatal injuries, or injuries that cause the competition to be interrupted."

Yue Feng took the healing potion, opened it, and drank a large gulp. His burns healed at a visible speed. He sighed, "Ah--! All healed! I'm going to keep fighting in the next match!"

"No." Cui Man decisively rejected him. "We need to give others a chance to gain experience. Winning the first match is great. That way, even if we lose the second match, we'll have 'Yinglong' as insurance. So, we can go all out in the second match."

As she spoke, Cui Man turned to Zhang Ming, An Xiuru, and Han Tianyu: "You three newcomers will be in charge of the next round."

An Xiuru and Han Tianyu looked a little nervous, while Zhang Ming readily nodded. "Leave it to me!"

"I know this is your debut battle, but don't worry," Cui Man patted them on the shoulder and smiled, "Just fight freely, Yinglong is your backer. Use this match to gain experience."

Zhang Ming, An Xiuru, and Han Tianyu Special Response Department relatively late, and after joining, they were constantly undergoing training, so they almost never had the opportunity to participate in formal missions.

Therefore, this can be considered the first real-world training exercise for these three as newcomers to the Special Response Department.

"Go into battle, protect yourselves, and familiarize yourselves with your Superpower," Cui Man gave them her final instructions before they went on stage. "Winning would be great, but it's okay if we don't. With Yinglong around, we can definitely secure a point."

Xiao He, standing to the side with his arms crossed, nodded. "That's right, don't feel pressured."

"Okay, okay..." Han Tianyu looked like he was about to faint, and his speech became incoherent.

But Xiao He couldn't blame him. After all, he was just an eighteen-year-old boy, and anyone would be nervous making their debut in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators... including Yinglong.

"Phew--! I can do it, I can do it..." An Xiuru encouraged herself.

Only Zhang Ming acted naturally, and even seemed a little eager to try.

When he arrived at the stadium and the cheers of the audience created a powerful wave of sound, Zhang Ming's movements instantly froze.

However, the enemy they were facing this time was very strong.

The combination of "Scorpion" Scott, Iron Man, and Black Witch is troublesome. Iron Man can provide a strong physical barrier, while Scorpion and Black Witch are both powerful ranged attackers.

The Black Witch was also seriously injured before, so his ability to return to the field so quickly clearly indicates that he had taken a healing potion.

"This is getting a bit troublesome..." Xiao He sighed, looking at the three people on the field.

Cui Man chimed in, "As long as they can protect themselves, winning or losing doesn't matter. The key is to give them some experience. Although Mutant have Superpower, they are still just humans. And combat is essentially about making the right choices, but the time allotted for those choices is very limited. That's why we need 'experience' to speed up our decision-making process."

After a pause, Cui Man turned to Xie Haining, "Of course, Candle Dragon is an exception."

With the commentators' introduction, the two teams officially began their battle.

As soon as the start of the match was announced, Scorpio Scott immediately hurled a Rock Arrow Rain at Zhang Ming and his two companions, while Iron Man shielded him and Black Witch, who safely hid in the back to gather his strength.

An Xiuru stepped forward and waved her hand, causing the flying pebbles to crash into an invisible wall and shatter into pieces. In fact, An Xiuru had Hardening the air in front of her, turning it into a shield to block the flying spikes. Han Tianyu seized the opportunity to write the characters "Strength," "Speed," and "Defense" on all three of them.

Zhang Ming finally came to his senses and began to act on the field, but his movements were very stiff, showing that he was very nervous. He broke away from An Xiuru's protection and then circled around to Black Witch and Scorpio Scott behind Iron Man.

Iron Man snorted coldly, leaped forward, and stood in front of Zhang Ming.

"Where are you going, you stinking rat?" Iron Man sneered, throwing a punch at Zhang Ming.

With a deafening roar, dust erupted, but Zhang Ming slid past Iron Man and threw several throwing knives at the Black Witch behind him.

Once the game officially starts, all your attention is focused on the match, and there's no time to be nervous.

"What's the use of taking out this toy!?" Scorpio Scott raised his hand towards the throwing knives, and a stone wall rose from the ground to block them.

"Wow! It's a fierce battle right from the start!" the host exclaimed excitedly. "There's not even a moment to catch your breath! The two sides are constantly attacking and defending; who will be the first to win a round... Oh my god—"

Before the host could finish speaking, Zhang Ming was hit squarely by the Black Witch's fireball.

The flames instantly engulfed Zhang Ming's figure. Zhang Ming screamed and fell into the flames, rolling around on the ground.

"Hmph, hurry up and call the paramedics." The Black Witch laughed smugly, but the next moment she looked down in shock, seeing a dagger protruding from her chest. "This... this is..."

Scorpio Scott was also somewhat surprised. He turned to look behind the Black Witch, where a figure slowly emerged—it was Zhang Ming, who had been engulfed in flames. Scott then looked at the ball of flame: there was nothing inside, just flames burning.

"Cough cough... Ah--!" The Black Witch spat out a mouthful of blood, clutched his chest, and collapsed to the ground convulsing.

Zhang Ming's figure slowly dissipated and disappeared into the darkness once more, leaving only the Black Witch twitching on the ground.

"What exactly is this guy's Superpower!? Invisibility?" Scott frowned and muttered to himself, "But anyway, you're still here, right? In that case, let's go all out..."

As Scorpio Scott spoke, he placed his hand on the ground, and concentric circles of earth spikes pierced outwards from him. Zhang Ming's true form appeared more than twenty meters away from Scorpio Scott.

"Stay close to me and don't run around!" An Xiuru instructed, then raised her hand the instant the spikes rose up beside them. The spikes bounced off them as if they were made of jelly.

However, the next moment, Iron Man's enormous figure fell from mid-air, clasping his hands together and slamming them down on the three of them.

An Xiuru raised her hands and caught Iron Man's wrist. The heavy blow caused a visible shockwave, but An Xiuru withstood it with her slender body.

The scene erupted in uproar: such a slender woman catching the full force of Iron Man's attack, which was 2.5 meters tall, created a strong visual impact.

An Xiuru's Physical Strength is actually only LV3, but she can greatly increase her strength by improving her muscle resilience. In short, human strength is determined by the resilience of muscle fibers. In addition, by strengthening her bones, An Xiuru is fully capable of withstanding forces exceeding LV3.

Iron Man's attack was blocked, and he immediately followed up with a punch to An Xiuru's abdomen. "Clang!" The sound of metal clashing rang out.

"What's wrong with you, woman?!" Iron Man looked at An Xiuru in astonishment. His fist had actually been blocked by An Xiuru's abdomen! Not only did it not cause any injury, but An Xiuru's clothes weren't even wrinkled!

"You're still too soft to get into my body," An Xiuru teased, then punched Iron Man in the chin with her backhand. Iron Man grunted and staggered back several steps, a large piece of metal falling from his chin.

At this time, Han Tianyu rushed out from behind An Xiuru, reached out and wrote the word "bind" on Iron Man's legs. Iron Man's feet were immediately tied by ropes made of black ink.

"You wretched rat!" Iron Man angrily lunged at Han Tianyu, but Han Tianyu nimbly slid past him, circled behind Iron Man, and once again wrote the word "slow" on his body.

Iron Man roared, his speed suddenly slowing down. He clumsily tried to turn around, but An Xiuru mustered all her strength and punched him between the legs.

The men at the scene all let out a gasp of horror.

However, at this critical moment, the rocks on the ground suddenly transformed into two arms, grabbing An Xiuru's arm. Iron Man narrowly escaped death; otherwise, if he had been hit by that attack, he would probably have been half-dead.

"Damn it, we really need to take care of that guy first." Han Tianyu turned to Scorpio Scott behind him and said, "His abilities are really too troublesome if left unchecked!"

"Let's take him down together!" Zhang Ming nodded to Han Tianyu, and the two sped up and rushed forward.

Iron Man's speed was slowed down, making it difficult for him to keep up with the two of them, not to mention that An Xiuru was dragging him along.

"Hmph, without Yinglong, you're nothing!" Scorpio Scott roared, raising his hands into the air, with sand and stones swirling around him before flying towards Zhang Ming and Han Tianyu.

Han Tianyu wrote the word "broken" and pushed it out. Once the gravels touched the word "broken", they disintegrated into small stones. Han Tianyu and Zhang Ming also accelerated towards Scorpio Scott.

"You think you can defeat me with this much?!" Scott sneered, adjusting the angle of the flying stones to bypass the word "shatter" and attack Han Tianyu and Zhang Ming. The overwhelming sand and stones made it impossible for them to avoid.

"I'll cover you, go get him!" Han Tianyu ordered Zhang Ming, then wrote the word "wall" and pushed it out, "You'll be safe if you hide behind the 'wall', come on!"

"Can you stop ordering me around?! I have my own plan!" Zhang Ming said irritably, but he still did as he was told. He charged toward the "wall" that Han Tianyu had set up, while Han Tianyu kept writing new "walls" to provide cover for Zhang Ming.

The two advanced rapidly, closing in on Scott behind them, but then something unexpected happened...

"Hey, what's next!? Cover me!" Zhang Ming turned to complain to Han Tianyu, only to find a sharp spike piercing Han Tianyu's abdomen from behind. He froze on the spot.

Scott scoffed, "If we take him to the emergency room now, he might survive, but if we delay any longer, things might get complicated."

"I'll kill you!" Zhang Ming roared as he charged at Scott.

"Utterly foolish..." Scott sneered, and several spikes shot up from the ground, knocking Zhang Ming away. Then, a spike protruded from the ground, piercing through Zhang Ming's abdomen in mid-air and pinning him to the ground.

"My God!" the host exclaimed, "That's too ruthless! This has gone beyond the bounds of 'competition'!"

"Tsk, so these are the Mutant from the Dragon Country? In the end, besides Yinglong, there's no one else who can fight, is there?" Scott looked at Zhang Ming, who was impaled on the ground spikes, with disdain and mocked him.

"Oh? Is that so?" A mocking laugh came from behind.

Scott was startled, then felt a chill on both arms, and the next moment his arms went numb.

He turned his head blankly to look at his arms, which had been completely severed starting from the shoulders.

"I want to know, can you still use your Superpower without hands?" Zhang Ming said smugly, flicking the blood off the knife.

Scott let out a heart-wrenching scream. He collapsed to the ground, struggling desperately like an earthworm. He looked up at Han Tianyu and Zhang Ming, who had been pierced through, but there was no one there, only two bare spikes.

"Hey, Scott!" Iron Man was locked in combat with An Xiuru, called out anxiously, momentarily distracted.

"Look where you're looking, big guy!" An Xiuru scolded, crouching down and sweeping Iron Man's leg, forcing him to kneel on one knee. Then, she lightly leaped onto his leg and slammed her right elbow into Iron Man's head.

With a sharp clang, Iron Man screamed and curled up on the ground, clutching his head.

"The match is over!" After the referee checked the situation, the host shouted from the stage, "What a brutal battle! The fighting was far too bloody! Is this really a friendly match where 'friendship first, competition second' is the motto?!"

However, right after the host announced the winner, Scott's hands "grew" back up, completely unharmed. Even the Black Witch lying behind him, unconscious from blood loss, had his chest wound disappear, and the blood on the ground was nowhere to be seen.

It was as if everything was just a dream.

"Truth is illusion, illusion is truth..." Zhang Ming laughed smugly, tossing the long sword in his hand into the air and catching it, but the long sword immediately disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place. "Who says the Dragon Country has no great generals?"

"Oh my god--!" The host was immediately excited. "This is simply... I don't even know how to describe it! What exactly happened in this match! What did we see?! I think no one but 'Mirage Dragon' can know!"

The audience erupted in applause and cheers, praising him: "Not bad, kid!" "Didn't expect you to be so capable!"

Zhang Ming, on the other hand, proudly spread his arms and blew kisses to the surrounding audience.

"Tsk, brat, getting too cocky..." Xiao He muttered irritably.

In fact, the illusion Zhang Ming created had obvious flaws, but the people present didn't notice them. This was partly because Scott was too confident in his abilities, and partly because it was Zhang Ming's first appearance and no one knew about his Superpower.

The first flaw is the detail that the ground spikes pierced through Han Tianyu and Zhang Ming's bodies.

Given the physical strength of Mutant, how could earth spikes penetrate their bodies so easily? This isn't a gore movie; it's a gross underestimation of the strength of human bones. If someone were actually hit by those earth spikes, they would be thrown back, not penetrated, unless they were held in place by something.

The scenes in movies where a falling cabinet or a high-speed fan can decapitate a person are complete nonsense.

The second flaw is that Zhang Ming severed Scott's arms.

Zhang Ming also wanted to show off, so he only appeared behind Scott alone. However, he only had one knife, which was not enough to cut off both of Scott's arms at the same time. This is not a martial arts movie.

If it were Xiao He, he would have Han Tianyu join him in severing Scott's arms from both sides, which would have been more logical.

Zhang Ming's Superpower put it simply, is to deceive the enemy's brain. Of course, whether the scene that appears is reasonable or not is not important, as long as it can fool the opponent. Even if it does not conform to reality, as long as it is realistic enough, Zhang Ming can make the opponent's brain believe that the "injury" is real and make the opponent feel a sufficiently intense pain.

"I am Yinglong's future successor!" Zhang Ming solemnly announced to the audience before leaving the stage.

"That brat who got killed twice by Yinglong in a minute really dares to talk like that," An Xiuru sneered from the side.

"What did you say?!" Zhang Ming was instantly enraged.

"How can you say that?!" Han Tianyu frowned in displeasure. "Yinglong only 'only' killed him twice because he held back!"

Zhang Ming: "..."

(The main character has slightly less screen time in these two chapters. After all, in a global competition of the strongest, other Mutant definitely need some screen time. But I'm still a little worried about whether this arrangement is appropriate. What do you all think? If you think this arrangement is not good, I will adjust it later and briefly mention the battles of other Mutant.)