Cosmic Professional Gladiator

A few days after his return to Mingyue City, Li Miaomiao also returned from Binhai City. All her daily necessities had been moved to their new place; it was a detached villa in the suburbs of Mingyue City. Although the location couldn’t compare to his parents’ old house, it was much larger.

The basement of the villa was 200 square meters, and Xu Jingming converted it into a professional training room.

The villa yard was 800 square meters, and some of the areas were made into an open-air martial arts arena. For example, a huge, 40-centimeter-thick, 3-meter-long wooden stake was erected in the yard—a meter underground and two meters aboveground.

Xu Jingming wore a singlet and a pair of berms, and his feet were bare. He took a step forward and slapped his palms on the large wooden stake.

When he stepped forward, his speed increased sharply, raising his entire body’s speed immediately. He was like a tiger that had suddenly flared up, and his palms slammed into the large wooden log.

Bang!!!

The 40-centimeter-thick wooden stake trembled violently from the impact.

After taking a step back, Xu Jingming took another step forward. With one step, he unleashed his strength and struck the wooden log with both palms again. After ten strikes, he switched moves, slamming it with his shoulder, back, elbow, etc.

Every collision caused the wooden stake to tremble violently.

“Jingming, let’s have dinner at my parents’ tonight.” Li Miaomiao wore a pair of virtual glasses and walked to the living room door. She leaned against the door and looked at Xu Jingming, who was training in the yard.

“Sure,” Xu Jingming replied. “But when do you plan on moving over?”

“Why? Can’t stand being alone at night?” Li Miaomiao glanced at Xu Jingming with a faint smile and teased.

“It’s quite lonely with just me here.” Xu Jingming stopped practicing and looked at Li Miaomiao.

“Aww, look at how pitiful you are.” Li Miaomiao smiled and said, “It’s only been a few days since I returned to Mingyue City. I want to spend more time with my parents,” Li Miaomiao said. She couldn’t stay by her parents’ side 24 hours a day either; it would be excruciating. Young people also needed personal space.

She spent the day at their new house and slept at her parents’ place overnight to chat with her mother.

“My parents will be sick of me in a few days,” Li Miaomiao said. “I’ll move here when that happens.”

“Okay.” Xu Jingming nodded. “Oh right, I’m accompanying Grandpa to the hospital tomorrow. I probably won’t be here during the day.”

“Then, I won’t be coming over tomorrow.” Li Miaomiao walked back to the living room and immersed herself in the metaverse.

Xu Jingming also continued his practice.

Suddenly—

Li Miaomiao—who was sitting on the sofa in the living room—revealed a look of surprise. She carefully read the news posted in the metaverse.

“Jingming! Jingming, something big has happened!” Li Miaomiao exclaimed in the living room.

Bang!

Xu Jingming—who had smashed the wooden stake with both fists—was shocked by his girlfriend’s scream. He stopped and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Then, he walked into the living room.

“Look.” Li Miaomiao stood in the living room and waved her hand. In the living room, a projection appeared in midair with a playing video.

“All 195 countries of the world will be simultaneously making an announcement at a press conference that will be held three days later, July 21, 9 p.m. Beijing time. All 195 countries around the world will broadcast the press conference simultaneously.”

“9 p.m. Beijing time, 8 a.m. New York time, 1 p.m. London time, 10 p.m. Japan time… The entire world isn’t in the same time zone, but everyone is simultaneously holding a press conference! It has to be a big deal, a very big deal. The last time something this big happened was when the 195 countries in the world formed the Earth Alliance.

“No information has been leaked about this press conference. The more confidential it is, the more important it is.”

Short video clips slid across the screen one after another.

The entire Internet was in a frenzy because of this sudden piece of news. Countless netizens shared their views.

“It’s definitely something major!” Xu Jingming said seriously. “It’s very likely to be a major event that will affect the fate of all humans in the world.”

“There are so many countries worldwide.” Li Miaomiao nodded as well. “To have all 195 countries make the announcement simultaneously is to show how important this is! The last time something this serious happened was the establishment of the Earth Alliance and the Mars Project.”

“When humans first landed on Mars, countries frantically developed all kinds of space technology and rushed to establish a base on Mars. In the end, all 195 countries established the Earth Alliance and jointly developed Mars.” Xu Jingming nodded. “Establishing the Earth Alliance to develop Mars was the biggest thing in the past few decades. I wonder what it will be this time.”

“There are many discussions on the Internet, but no information has been leaked. It’s in a state of complete secrecy.” Li Miaomiao also paid attention to the news.

The level of confidentiality is very high. Xu Jingming looked forward to it. “Let’s watch the live broadcast in three days.”

******

The entire world was stirred by this press conference. Most of the talk on the Internet was about the upcoming press conference since such a major development only happened once in the past century—the establishment of the Earth Alliance.

What would it be this time?

Time passed day by day until it was July 21st. At 8:55 p.m., Beijing, China.

“The live broadcast is going to begin soon.”

“I wonder what’s so important.”

In Xu Jingming’s new house, Grandpa Xu, Xu Jingming’s parents, Li Miaomiao’s parents, Xu Jingming, and Li Miaomiao were gathered in the living room. The projection was already on the global live-stream page.

…

Beijing, at Liu Hai’s residence.

“Dad, do you know what this global live broadcast is about?” A large number of family members had gathered at Liu Hai’s residence. They were also waiting for the global live broadcast to air.

“I’m not sure either. The level of confidentiality is very high,” Liu Hai sat there and said, “Don’t worry. It will be officially announced in a few minutes. We’ll know once it’s announced.”

Although Liu Hai didn’t know, he had heard it from the top: “The National Patronage List is related to the global live-stream conference on July 21.”

…

“What’s going on with the global live broadcast?”

The Cheng family was also gathered. They consisted of the family head—Cheng Liwei—his wife, the family of Cheng Zitao, their eldest son, and their second son, Cheng Zihao.

“Dad, you don’t know what this press conference is about even with your network?” Cheng Zihao ate a banana on the sofa with his legs crossed.

His father, Cheng Liwei, helmed the Tiger Shark Group, a megacorporation with a market capitalization of five trillion yuan. His influence could very well be greater than the heads of some small countries. It was obvious that a secret that even he didn’t know had extremely high confidentiality.

“I don’t know,” Cheng Liwei said seriously. “I’ve asked around. It’s said that all 195 countries will do a joint release, but in fact, most heads of state don’t know what it is about. Only the 32 members of the Alliance know the secret.”

The Earth Alliance’s Five Council Members decided on most matters. Even if it was a major matter that decided the fate of the world, just 32 member countries could make the decision. As for the smaller countries? They only had representation in the alliance with no say in any matters. They only had the right to follow the alliance’s decisions.

“If it affects the fate of humans worldwide, it will also affect the fate of our Tiger Shark Group,” Cheng Liwei said. “Pay attention to the press conference.”

Cheng Zitong and Cheng Zihao also watched attentively.

The Tiger Sharp Group benefited from the increased exchanges between countries back when the Earth Alliance was established. It allowed them to establish branch offices all across the globe.

A powerful corporation needed to keep its finger on the pulse of the world and follow it.

…

At this moment, in China, EU, the United States of America, India, Japan, and many other countries around the world—be it day or night, wealthy or poor, more than half the world’s population was tuned into this live broadcast.

All entertainment on the Internet had been halted. All the live-streaming platforms, video platforms, and all the official media outlets only had one program no matter how one switched channels: this global live-streamed press conference!

Even the big screens and billboards on the streets were broadcasting this press conference. It was very difficult for people living on this planet not to know about this live broadcast.

“It’s about to begin!”

Xu Jingming, Li Miaomiao, and the rest of the family sat in the living room and watched the live-stream.

The live broadcast showed all 195 national representatives seated. Sitting at the head of the table was Angus, the current secretary general of the Earth Alliance.

“I’m very honored today to be able to host this press conference because it will be one that will enter the annals of human history,” Secretary General Angus said with a smile. He spoke in English, but every media in China broadcasted in Mandarin.

For Japan, it was Japanese…

Every country heard their lingua franca.