Chapter 243: Thunderstruck

Han Yuanming’s smile froze on his face when he saw Gao Peng on the computer screen in front of him.

He had seen Gao Peng’s picture before and was able to recognize him immediately.

His own son was the one who had replaced Gao Peng on the team. That day, when Zhang Xingxing had told him on the phone that the deed was done, Han Yuanming had thought that he wouldn’t need to worry about anything else, since the boy named Gao Peng had been put in his place.

It had to be noted here that not many people tended to leave a deep impression on Han Yuanming. After all, he was the mayor of Jinling city. He was much too important a person to go around remembering the names of every person he had ever met.

Didn’t this kid retire from the tournament? Why is he out there right now as a referee?!

Han Yuanming wasn’t a fool. If he was, he wouldn’t have become mayor in the first place.

Talent and background were the two most important requirements one needed to meet in order to become a referee. How on earth had a nameless orphan managed to achieve both?

Han Yuanming took a deep breath. The only possible explanation he could think of was that Gao Peng had fed all of them false information about himself.

However, what he really should have been worrying about was his own son. As one of the referees of the tournament, Gao Peng could intentionally trip Han Lei up.

Han Yuanming picked up the phone and said in a low voice, “Put me through to Director Chen of the Monster Trainer League.”

The call was put through almost instantly.

“Mayor Han,” said a mature female voice on the other end.

“Director Chen, can I speak to Gao Peng immediately?”

There was silence for a moment, then the woman chuckled. “Mr. Gao is currently busy refereeing the first match of the tournament. Could you call him back after the match?” The woman then hung up.

Han Yuanming slammed the phone back on the receiver, stone-faced.

…

Gao Peng made his way to the ring and positioned himself between the two contestants. His expression was inscrutable. He only gave Han Lei a glance.

Han Lei’s heart began thumping hard on his chest. I can’t believe Gao Peng is our referee! What the hell was that look he just gave me? What should I do now?

Lucas didn’t know who Gao Peng was. However, he was slightly taken aback by Gao Peng’s youthful appearance. At first glance, he had thought that Gao Peng was only a high school student.

Most of the audience were stunned by this as well.

Isn’t he a bit too young to be a referee?

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Near the eastern corner of the stands, the cheer squad from Yuzhou University’s student council could be seen holding up various signs, on which were written slogans like “You Can Do It, Jun Moyi!” or “You’re The Best, Wu Jianyu!”

“Is… is that Gao Peng?” one of them stammered.

“Probably not same the Gao Peng we know,” said a second-year, chuckling. He blushed when he remembered that they had just talked about Gao Peng retiring from the tournament not too long before.

The ones who were most surprised by this development were the other participants representing the Huaxia region. All of them knew that Gao Peng had retired from the tournament. However, they hadn’t paid it any mind. After all, Gao Peng hadn’t even made it to the top five. It wouldn’t have affected the team at all.

Never would they have imagined that he would actually become one of the tournament’s referees.

Gao Peng shook his head, adjusted the microphone set beside his lips, and said into it, “Silence! I’m only eighteen this year, but I can assure all of you that I am without a doubt worthy of being one of the referees chosen to judge today’s tournament,” said Gao Peng firmly.

Ji Hanwu burst out laughing in front of his television. “Haha, that’s my grandson!”

In Yuzhou University’s, Xu Qingzhi rubbed her eyes. “Why is my boss out there refereeing today’s tournament?”

The audience’s surprise soon turned to suspicion. You’re only eighteen? The minimum age required to sign a blood contract is eighteen years old. How did a pipsqueak like you manage to become a referee for such an important tournament?

In an instant, the whole place descended into chaos as everyone started calling for Gao Peng to step down.

Gao Peng’s expression remained unchanged as he snapped his fingers. Dumby stepped out from behind Gao Peng and let out a deep roar from the depths of his throat.

It threw out its right fist, releasing a powerful burst of wind that shredded the top half of its black robe into pieces. It then stamped his foot on the ground, sending its Lord-tier aura rippling out in every direction.

Silence fell over the arena.

No one dared question Gao Peng’s authority anymore. A Lord-tier familiar was the best proof of his legitimacy as a referee.

The more boisterous ones in the stands were quickly cowed into submission.

In the waiting area, the contestants of every region were stunned by what they had just seen.

Most of the foreign contestants let out sighs of relief. “Thank god he’s just a referee. There’s no way I could beat that,” said someone.

“He’s only eighteen, and he already has a Lord-tier familiar… The guy must be cheating somehow,” said someone else.

Han Lei was the most unnerved by this. Dumby was already a Lord-tier Ghoul-type familiar, while his familiar was only a Commander-tier Ghoul-type familiar.

Dumby’s incredible display of power had agitated his Skeletal Rhinoceros so much that it was now shaking uncontrollably.

If Gao Peng wanted to trip him up, he could just order his familiar to release another burst of its aura in his direction and send the Skeletal Rhinoceros running off in fear.

“Here are the rules: both of you will be fighting within the confines of the field. Stepping out of the boundaries of the field is forbidden. There are no restrictions on the battle techniques you use. However, directly attacking your opponent is forbidden. The match is over when one of you admits defeat or when one of your familiars is unable to continue fighting,” said Gao Peng before ordering Dumby to move back to the edge of the field. He glanced at the time and announced, “If there are no further questions, let the first match of the tournament begin!”

There was just something off about hearing the rules being uttered by such a young person.