CHAPTER 392: CHAPTER 236: BLUE ARC AND MU LONG, DAY OF VENGEANCE (PART 1)_2

Even at an award ceremony aimed at seniors, the mayor had to comply with the association’s request to find an opportunity to specifically mention the newcomers, leveraging the event’s popularity to increase their media exposure as much as possible.

However, amidst this environment, Blue Arc’s popularity continued to soar, which was truly shocking, justifying the title of "National Hero."

Black Cocoon yawned, unwrapped the restraint belt covering his right hand, pulled out a phone, and curled up inside the giant cocoon to play Minesweeper. After a while, just as he accidentally triggered a mine on the number field, the mayor finally reached the key point:

"Based on the Mutants’ influence and overall achievements in various fields, the association has decided on the ’Mutant of the Year’ at this 20th-anniversary celebration..."

At this moment, the crowd gathered below the stage held their breath, not making a sound, but their expressions grew more excited and fervent. Some raised support signs with Blue Arc drawn on them, while others widened their eyes and covered their mouths.

In the dead silence, they all awaited the name about to roll off the mayor’s tongue.

The old mayor pretended to be mysterious, adjusted his reading glasses, glanced at the audience, then back at his speech, broke into a smile, and shouted hoarsely:

"Without a doubt, this year’s Mutant of the Year is — ’Blue Arc’!"

Before the crowd could erupt in cheers, a deafening roar suddenly drew everyone’s attention away.

"Whoa..."

Black Cocoon finally showed some interest, looked down, and saw a deep blue electric arc shooting frantically from outside the city center, slicing through streets and crowds like a storm and lightning, finally landing at the venue.

"My gosh, what a flashy entrance, even tackier than the macho Ghost Bell... Bro, can’t you just use your superpower less flamboyantly and make a humble entrance? If you accidentally hit an audience member, today would turn into a damn car crash."

Watching the scene, Black Cocoon mumbled and then sighed while rubbing his forehead.

In fact, ever since he saw the straight path deliberately left open in the middle of the audience area leading directly to the podium, he knew Blue Arc would make his entrance this way.

Though he knew this entrance style was arranged by the officials to hype the atmosphere, Gu Wenyu would always sigh for his brother, thinking that no matter how famous, mutants were still just workers, and commercial activities were unavoidable.

In an era where traffic measures value, a figure like Blue Arc, who embodies both strength and popularity, naturally couldn’t escape a heap of commercial activities.

Gu Qiye didn’t really mind this. Ever since their father left home, he wanted to earn more to prepare for unforeseen circumstances, otherwise, if one day the funds suddenly stopped coming, they wouldn’t even have the funds for his younger brother and sister’s university fees.

So, in the first two or three years after debuting, he took advertisement and marketing activities diligently, forming a win-win situation with the Mutants Association, and only started to tone it down this year mainly to adapt to the official’s rookie cultivation intentions.

But according to official data, Blue Arc’s merchandise accounted for a large portion of the Mutants China Chapter’s revenue.

In recent years, the association’s marketing team just needed to send orders to manufacturers to stockpile Blue Arc-themed items in warehouse and then sit in the office waiting to reap the rewards.

They might even have to hold periodic Blue Arc memorials and sell related items if he accidentally died in battle one day.

The booming noise faded away. Like a hurricane, the moist air was torn apart by an electric blue arc remaining in the air, replaced by a faint burning smell, as if the morning breeze was scorched open by the dazzling electric light.

Black Cocoon closely observed, seeing a faint and barely visible trace of black hidden within the deep blue electric arcs.

As he predicted, after the auction incident, the color of Blue Arc’s lightning had changed slightly.

Many online also noticed this anomaly, but mostly rabid frame-by-frame analyzing fans, and only a minority cared about it.

"The question is, could this be a sign of superpower evolution?" Black Cocoon wondered, "Sometimes I wish I had bottlenecks to share the experience with Comrade Blue Arc."

In the dead stillness, thousands of LED screens on the square focused on the stage. At this moment, the figure clad in teal armor slowly halted, lifted his head to nod at the mayor, then took the microphone from him, turned, and with his usual confident smile, faced the cameras.

Once again, the audience erupted into cheers that drowned the world.

However, just as Blue Arc took the microphone and was about to speak, a sudden exclamation rang from the crowd: "What is that—?!"

Blue Arc froze for a moment, then looked up to see a figure clad in a gray cloak and medieval knight helmet appear atop a tall building at the back of the venue.

The unending chilly wind swept through his figure high above the city.