On the track, as Li Bao began to accelerate, the scene instantly transformed.
The four contestants who had been closely following Su Feiren immediately broke into a sprint, running at the fastest pace of their lives.
Their speed, as amateurs making up the numbers, was now comparable to professional athletes.
This was especially true as Li Bao's figure drew nearer.
Even though they knew Li Bao wouldn't harm them, the fear in their hearts was beyond their control.
While running, they even shouted.
"Hey, I'll be damned!"
"Oh my god!"
"Ah..."
It wasn't just them; Su Feiren was no different. The primal fear of wild beasts lurking deep within the human soul erupted at this moment.
His only thought was to get as far away from the creature behind him as possible.
This scene, when witnessed by the spectators, instantly amused them.
"Hahaha, why are they so scared?"
"Exactly, the animals at Xihong Zoo are known to be friendly."
"Knowing that is one thing, but if you had such a beast chasing you, you'd probably run even faster."
"This fear is ingrained in our human genes, passed down from our ancestors."
"It signifies that our ancestors were once prey to these large felines."
"I bet if they released a tiger, they'd run even faster."
"Look, Su Shen seems to be picking up speed."
...
Under the gaze of countless eyes, the speed of the five human athletes, including Su Feiren, increased.
Just as they were about to cross the finish line, a dark shadow suddenly darted past them and crossed the finish line at a speed beyond their wildest imagination.
Simultaneously, the timer beside it displayed its time.
8.43.
A time that human athletes could never achieve.
And just after Li Bao crossed the line, Su Feiren followed closely behind.
His time was fixed at 8.98.
As for the four behind him, although significantly slower, even the slowest among them achieved a time of 9.75.
With the release of all the contestants' results, both the crowd at the venue and those in the live stream were in an uproar.
Because these times were simply too outlandish. While Li Bao's recorded time was 8.43, everyone knew that its actual time would be about 3 seconds less than that.
In other words, it had completed the 100 meters in just over 5 seconds.
This was nearly double the speed of the human limit.
Of course, this result did not come as too much of a surprise, as leopards and cheetahs are renowned for their speed, and their bodies are naturally built for running.
What truly surprised everyone were the five human athletes, especially Su Feiren, who had achieved a terrifying time of 8.98.
The current world record holder's 100-meter time was 9.58.
And for over a decade, no one had been able to break this record, which was hailed as the limit of human speed.
Yet, today, three people had broken this human limit.
Su Feiren, in particular, had run a phenomenal 8.98, a record that would likely remain unbroken for the next hundred years, let alone ten.
This meant that Su Feiren had broken a world record, which had stood for over a decade, in this informal competition.
"Damn, is this timer broken? Three world record breakers in one race, and five sprinters breaking the 10-second barrier?"
"Good heavens, I actually witnessed the birth of a world record."
"Finally got to see the legendary speed of a leopard, still leading human athletes even after starting half a step behind."
"Learned a lot, learned a lot, leopards are truly fast."
"8.98, tsk tsk tsk, the position of the world's fastest sprinter might have to be relinquished."
"That's unlikely, as this wasn't a formal competition, so the times probably won't be officially recognized."
"Whether it's recognized or not, the human speed limit has been reset by Su Shen today, no arguments, right?"
"I admire those guys behind him; they must be amateur runners, to achieve such times."
"If I were them, I'd brag about this for the rest of my life."
"More than bragging for a lifetime, I'd have the race video made into a QR code and engraved on my tombstone so people could scan it."
"Damn, I knew I should have signed up for this competition too. Not only could I run with Su Shen and a leopard, but I could also break a world record."
"My mistake, my mistake. I think if I were being chased by a leopard, I might break a record too."
"It's over, Su Shen might have a psychological setback after this."
"Su Shen: I tried my best to run, but I just can't find that feeling anymore."
"Perhaps he'll find a new training approach in the future."
"What? Run inside a cage at Xihong Zoo? With a piece of meat tied behind you?"
"Win and live, lose and die?"
"I suggest running with the lion king for better results."
...
While the audience marveled, Su Feiren, who had just broken the record, looked at the timer beside him with disbelief, as if he couldn't believe this was the time he had run.
"Am I dreaming? I actually ran under 9 seconds!"
"Is this really the speed I can achieve?"
At this moment, Su Feiren was questioning his life. It was now harder for him to improve his time by even 0.01 seconds than to ascend to heaven.
Not only him, but the other four human athletes, who were exhausted and lying on the ground like dead dogs, couldn't help but smile foolishly at the timer.
Even though they knew these weren't their true times, so what? As long as they had run them, they didn't care how.
If they had their phones on them, they would have dialed their friends and family immediately and sent this news to all their group chats.
As they were reveling in their moment of glory, Li Bao, who had just finished the race, calmly walked past them at a leisurely pace.
His contemptuous gaze seemed to say, "I gave you a chance, and you blew it."
As the race concluded, news and videos of Su Feiren breaking the world 100-meter record spread like wildfire.
Even the actual creator of the 100-meter record, upon hearing the news, couldn't help but cast a glance at the Doberman pinscher owned by his neighbor.