Chapter 1120: NO.25: You're right, but your team has two Ultramen

NO. 25: You're right, but your team has two Ultramen.

After two years apart, the Triple Crown returns.

Dazhenhan still remembers the headline he once saw on Umastagram back then.

That huge banner obviously came from the authorities, namely the strong support of the URA Association.

With two consecutive generations of Triple Crown champions succeeding each other seamlessly, yet the throne remained vacant for a full two years thereafter, as the torch of the Flash Series flickered on the verge of extinction—even though new strong contenders emerge every year and every season, how could a fragmented Triple Crown ever be king?

And it was just then that she appeared.

Narita Hakujin.

The sovereign who would let the Flash Series torch blaze forth once more was truly the people's choice.

Even the URA Association, which had always been seen as opposing everyone, displayed unprecedented cooperation.

Rather, they were essentially the maintainers of the Flash Series, and in substance they were more urgent and exerted themselves more than anyone to package this new legend.

Such enthusiasm, such intensity, even made many industry insiders at the time feel uncomfortable.

They felt the association was somewhat like Fan Jin passing the imperial exam—mad with joy.

Even Dazhenhan himself heard plenty of pessimistic comments from the original trainer.

And when those words came true, and the text on the banner turned into the lament of the fallen new king, she also heard the new trainer's ill‑mannered low‑voiced curse.

Of course, she wasn't cursing the fallen new king, but cursing the URA that was desperate to quench its thirst by drinking poison.

The higher the lift, the harder the fall, but that was obviously not what the new king wanted.

Her new trainer was convinced of this, for he was well acquainted with the new king's trainer—aside from opposition, they also communicated.

Likewise, as a double‑crown bearer already burdened with many expectations, the new king candidate Dazhenhan was also entrusted to learn from this lesson and to be wary of the URA Association's propaganda maneuvers.

Even if she didn't think she would suffer such misfortune herself, this caution was understandable, and the gentle, well‑behaved girl did not resent the trainer's admonition that seemed a pessimistic warning about the future.

She merely felt a tinge of regret in her heart.

For at that time she had already encountered the former king.

Although she felt no attachment, and although she felt no love or hatred.

But as a horse girl, as an active competitor, and even more as a latercomer treading the same road, she had heard plenty from those around her about the other's legend.

The other's deeds, the other's current state, everything—even if she didn't intend to listen, it would be taken in by her overly keen ears.

Even if he is now down on his luck, Narita Hakujin remains a beacon that her generation of athletes cannot ignore.

She could not deny—

——even if those people never spoke, she had once compared herself to them in her heart.

In pursuit of faster, stronger horse girls, one is born to challenge one milestone after another; in those reckless youthful years, who wouldn't want to challenge the heights of the past?

She had also gazed at the former king's race videos, imagining where she would be when running alongside him, imagining the challenges she ought to face.

And the sense of fulfillment that would fill her whole body upon overcoming that challenge.

But such an opportunity could ultimately exist only in imagination.

That imagined delight also did not constantly linger in her heart.

Her career held more races, more confrontations, which made her blend into the crowd and gradually forget that fleeting lonely peak.

Only whenever she rested, that habitual choice would again let her see the true nature of it all.

Only regret remained, only remorse remained.

By now, her heart had long since dulled the desire for victory that rarely surfaced, leaving only the bitterness concerning her friend's present state.

Indeed, they are truly friends.

Although their interactions were few and far between, and aside from stealing moments in the busy schedule there was no other contact, Dazhenhan already regarded the other as a friend and even believed the other felt the same in heart.

Thus, when the other unexpectedly turned to her for help, she was indeed surprised, but she also agreed readily.

Moreover, at the moment when Lin Dun trainer suddenly got in touch, she recalled a rumor that had once circulated in a certain circle.

Like the Demon Runner, and such… she felt a sense of having witnessed it, yet she also looked forward more to the fulfillment of all that had passed.

All along…

Perhaps out of the former king's reserve, or perhaps from the inertia of years of running, she maintained her exercise level, kept her figure, so as not to fall too far behind even compared to her active days.

The reason for doing so, she herself does not know.

Even if she seriously considered it, she could think of many reasons, but they essentially are conclusions derived by backward reasoning from the present situation.

Any answer that cannot be spoken immediately in her heart cannot be considered a true reason.

Even at this very moment, she does not believe that her lifelong self‑discipline stems from fostering the fortunate mindset that brought about this moment.

But she is deeply grateful for the persistence she has shown over the past year and seven months, which has kept her current state still optimistically viable.

A childlike curiosity about the tale of the Demon Runner.

A regretful sigh for the King Not Seeing King.

A strong advocate for improving her friend's current situation.

A clear understanding of the shadow in the juniors' hearts.

Everything, everything, will be realized in this run.

Everything, everything, lay complete in the parallel and surpassing she saw when, upon finishing her second lap, she glimpsed the black‑haired girl of similar petite stature running alongside her.

Thus, she also felt satisfied, pouring her whole heart and soul into the present, injecting it with her violent final kick.

A wider arm swing, a more forward‑leaning torso.

By means of her supple, inhuman waist, she adjusted her overall center of gravity to a position extremely prone to causing accidents.

It seemed that only a gust of wind from the side would deform her running posture, slow her steps, and, losing balance, plunge her into the danger of that high speed.

But having already made such a plan, how could she be swayed by the gusts of others?

Dazhenhan strode forward as if flying, just as the words suggest, seeming to run upon the clouds.

The violent final leg easily overtook the obviously regressing Gechengwangpai in running condition, straight chasing the Narita Hakujin who never once looked back.

The long-held imagination did not arise at this moment.

For her brain at this moment, the very computation of that memory already is a burden that drags down bodily function, a redundancy hindering the running process.

But that awakened subconscious can still, in her field of vision, construct a feeling that is not quite real with extremely low occupancy.

Right there.

Should be there.

But it ought to be faster than that.

Because that is only her past self, a fantasy made by the still-green Dazhenhan during the period when she was still in the two-championship challenge.

And Narita Hakujin, who is still in rehab, should also be slower than the peak performance recorded in that video…

Should be?

Isn't it?

Not really?

She gazed at the scenery flashing past on both sides behind her, and in that ever-closer illusory sensation, there was not only the past she wanted to surpass, but also the past Narita Hakujin.

But at this time, but at this moment.

Not only does she surpass the past, but also that black-haired horse girl who tramples darkness, stirs up rifts, and gallops with a violent final leg not inferior to her own!

Although the distance to that figure keeps shrinking, even gradually allowing her to see the opponent's ferocious expression, that senior who ought to still be in rehab has indeed surpassed the past etched into her eyes.

And in those last few seconds—miraculously stepping out with a second burst!

However!

However, even so, she could not threaten Dazhenhan's position!

Dazhenhan has already seen the illusory projection of the finish line.

Moreover, she has already made ready the perfection that will bring the curtain down on everything past.

That will be both an end and a beginning.

But at this very moment, a crimson silver light suddenly leapt into her eyes.

As the literal meaning suggests, that finisher which makes her unconsciously narrow her left eye is truly a beam of light.