Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 276 - 252: UFC’s First Opponent

Chapter 276: Chapter 252: UFC’s First Opponent

Her face felt as if it had been scorched by fire as she quickly ran back to her place.

Li Li was usually so composed; this was probably the most embarrassed she had ever been in her life.

"Li Li, you..."

Tina looked toward her friend with a complex expression, clearly taken aback by her recent actions.

"Don’t get me wrong, okay?"

Li Li hastily crossed her arms over her chest, "Those people were clearly trying to step on Wu’s reputation. I just couldn’t stand by; I wanted to support him."

"He saved my brother before, so I thought I’d sacrifice a bit and help him out this time," Li Li casually remarked.

"Is that so." Tina blinked.

Li Li immediately retorted, "What’s with that tone? Are you afraid I’ll steal him from you?"

"I’m not." Tina shook her head.

"Hmph, it’s actually him trying to steal you from me. How could I possibly compete with you for him? Tina, you really don’t get the situation!" Li Li said ’fiercely.’

"You’re talking nonsense again," Tina said, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, and gently pushed Li Li.

"But it’s true."

...

"Haha, hahaha, I’m dying of laughter!"

In the studio, Chen Gang laughed unrestrainedly.

Watching Wu on the stage, he had to admit he was impressed. To have been in the United States for just a few days and already to have met two talented beauties who would confess to him in public?

Tsk, truly a role model for our generation!

...

On stage, Jia Wei’er was left speechless. They had just talked about a one-to-five ratio, suggesting that Eric had more charm, but suddenly it turned into two-to-five. And the two on Wu’s side were both of such high quality that it made people feel envious, as if Wu getting two flowers was even more desirable than Eric getting five.

Today’s interview was arranged as a live broadcast specifically to set this trap; had it been pre-recorded, Wu could have simply chosen not to participate if things went south. But with a live broadcast, that wasn’t a possibility.

As a result, because of the live broadcast, both Tina and Li Li became variables beyond the control of the production team. Despite this, they couldn’t be forcibly stopped, and had to be praised afterward.

Jia Wei’er couldn’t believe that Wu had prior knowledge of today’s situation and arranged for those two to be in the audience. It could only be chalked up to coincidence.

"He’s just too lucky."

Jia Wei’er observed Wu, emotions swirling within him.

But he never considered, if it weren’t for Wu’s strength, if he hadn’t done what he had, how could he have had such luck today?

Regardless, tonight’s carefully planned interview was a complete failure. Even if Jia Wei’er tried to steer the conversation towards Eric and subtly ignored Wu, the main topic of tonight’s live show remained Wu. The discussion that captivated viewers the most were the confessions from the two girls and their performances.

...

On October 9th, after an overnight fermentation, the content of Wu’s participation in the NBC talk show from the previous evening stirred up heated discussion online.

Dramatic scenes kept coming; Eric’s appearance garnered quite a bit of attention, and there were plenty of positive comments about the image of American soldiers online. However, the focus of the netizens’ discussion remained on Wu.

’Dodging bullets on instinct’, ’confessions from two goddesses’, ’Tina’s singing’, ’strange dancing’ – all these discussions revolved around Wu, elevating his fame in the United States to another level.

"I’ve managed to dig up a bit of information."

In the hotel room, having just returned from outside, Chen Gang sipped some water and spoke to Wu.

"What is it?"

Wu had just used a Master-level Experience Card and exhausted himself by resisting the Fist Intent provided by the system for a grueling ten minutes, which left him looking rather wilted.

Last night’s broadcast reached 1.76 million viewers in the United States, and Wu earned over a million Fan Value points. Thus, after using one Master-level Experience Card, he spent 2 million Fan Value to exchange for two more cards, leaving him with 2.05 million Fan Value remaining.

"On September 22nd, during that attack, you ultimately took out the knifeman. Before that, several officers had already died at his hands, and a group of them couldn’t handle him. Then you killed him with ease. Afterward, there were many negative comments online," Chen Gang told Wu.

"You know, here in the United States, they cherish freedom of speech. There are people who openly insult the president. That day, the police performance was not satisfactory, so some people on the internet set the tempo, claiming that American police are incompetent, or that the military is incompetent, and so forth."

Wu nodded. "So NBC deliberately promoted a young talent from the military to step on me, just to let the public know that there are people like that among the military and police in the United States?"

Chen Gang sighed, "It seems to be the case."

Wu continued, "Whose idea was it? Surely it can’t just be NBC getting carried away after a big meal, right? Could it be coming from the government, behaving so pettily?"

Chen Gang shook his head. "We can’t really find out, since we don’t have much of a relationship with the government here. But my personal guess is that perhaps some high-ranking official in the government or military police let slip some thoughts, and people below heard it, passed it down the line, and eventually it escalated into this."

"As you know, sometimes a casual remark from a senior official can make the subordinates go to great lengths to suck up, including making a big fuss. And, crucially, since we’re foreigners to them, targeting us won’t carry any burden."

Wu nodded expressionlessly. If he were American, such an incident might not have led to him being targeted specifically, but because he was from Hua Country and worshipped by many Americans, even resulting in mockery of the U.S. military and police, it was quite normal for some people to feel annoyed.

"Alas, the deal for the Seeking Martial Arts broadcasting rights is probably dead in the water; NBC was never sincere about negotiating with us," Chen Gang sighed.

He had previously been excited about this historic opportunity, but now a cold splash of reality had dampened his spirits significantly.

Wu sneered, "No worries, take your time, one day they’ll be begging us to sell."

Hearing this, Chen Gang was startled, then a surge of pride welled up in his chest.

Life had long since smoothed his rough edges, but since meeting Wu and experiencing so much together, he felt his youthful passion rekindled—an influence of Wu’s charismatic personality.

"That’s right! Who could have imagined our show would reach the heights it has today? Now Seeking Martial Arts is a phenomenon-level variety show in Hua Country; who’s to say we can’t go even further?" Chen Gang said excitedly.

"As long as your fame keeps rising in the United States, there will be loads of networks begging us for cooperation!"

Watching Chen Gang’s fervent demeanor, Wu smiled and nodded, "So we should ask UFC when my first fight is scheduled?"

Wu had signed a deal with UFC for five fights within eighteen months, and considering the timing, it seemed right to arrange his first fight, especially with his growing popularity in the United States.

"I’ll ask about it," said Chen Gang as he stood up and left the room.

...

In the UFC headquarters, office of the president, Dana White put down the phone and rubbed his temples.

He had just received a call about Wu.

Following the online criticisms of the military and police, Dana White had realized immediately that it might be detrimental to Wu, and indeed, last night’s broadcast confirmed his suspicion—how could NBC genuinely want to interview Wu if they were bringing on someone like Eric?

But the end result was an unexpected boost to Wu’s fame, a slap in the face for the other party. Dana White surmised they wouldn’t let it go easily, and sure enough, he got that call today.

It was not from some official or high-ranking figure from the military or police—after all, those circles wouldn’t usually interfere with each other, and given Dana White’s status, he didn’t have to give face to many.

Being high up, he had his own network of influential contacts. The caller held a special relation with Dana White, whose face he had to honor, thus the headache.

The caller’s message was straightforward: they did not want Wu to continue rising in popularity.

Although Dana White did not know which high-ranking official had hinted this, initially their main goal was likely to change the public’s perception of the military and police, not to bring down Wu. But since their efforts had failed and pressing Wu seemed to now be out of spite.

"Ah, so petty," Dana White could not help but share a sentiment with Wu. He had hoped to penetrate the Hua Country market through Wu, so Wu was strategically important to him; he did not want to give up easily, but he couldn’t ignore the caller’s wishes.

After some thought, Dana White made a decision.

To prevent Wu from continuing to rise, there were two methods: one was to arrange insignificant fights for him, where lost momentum would prevent him from gaining popularity; the other was to make him lose repeatedly, as no fanbase would support a consistently losing fighter.

Dana White chose the latter, as it held an additional possibility. All he needed to do was give an acceptable explanation to the concerned party, while he himself could look forward to the outcome.

That afternoon, Wu received the news: his first opponent in the UFC would be Dan Hu, ranked sixth in the lightweight category.

PS: I put a lot of effort into each Chapter of this book; I’ve never thought to pad it out—if I wanted to, just listing the data for the protagonist, the supporting characters, and various antagonists would’ve already been more than enough, far exceeding the length of a few song lyrics.

A Chapter may cost you a dime and a few minutes to read, but it takes me hours to write and revise, all in hopes that every penny you spend is worthwhile.

I can only say my abilities are lacking if I haven’t stirred your emotions, but it’s not for a lack of trying.

In fact, since the book went live, I’ve never begged for votes; my only desire is to write a good story which earns your subscriptions.

A good story leads to subscriptions, and that to me is the best healthy cycle. So don’t worry about my dedication, because I certainly want this book to become even more enjoyable to read.

The upcoming plot will follow multiple storylines, with a renewed Seeking Martial Arts. I believe it will be fascinating.

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