When it was announced that the relay race was on, the audience was a bit puzzled.
After all, unlike normal running, the relay race had an additional baton-passing step.
Could the animals handle this?
This was the common question on everyone's mind.
In their view, to complete the baton pass, wouldn't you need hands for that?
But soon, they realized they were being too shallow.
As the countdown began, human and animal athletes started to take their positions.
When the crowd saw the team representing the West Rainbow Zoo, they were completely stunned.
Because the West Rainbow Zoo had sent out four completely different animals.
Leading the pack was a monkey with fiery red fur, clearly not a native Dragon Country monkey.
For this monkey, the audience could still accept it, as it had hands and wasn't too different from humans.
But the animal that followed this monkey was quite outrageous.
No matter how you looked at it, it was a big, black, fat pig.
"This is too much! How could the West Rainbow Zoo send out a pig?"
"Finally, the mystery is solved. I've always wondered what event pigs could participate in, and now they're in the relay race."
"I never expected this."
"Of course, after the Great Sage, there must be the Second Brother. What kind of Journey to the West combo is this?"
"Laughing to death, the West Rainbow Zoo really knows how to entertain. Who came up with this genius idea?"
"I can't stop laughing. Surely no one can't even beat a pig, right?"
"The director must be looking at the previous matches where animals won and decided to give humans a break this time."
"Sending a pig to run? This isn't just giving a break; this is flooding the game."
"Isn't that the Picasso Pig from the West Rainbow Zoo? He's usually holding a paintbrush, but this time he's here to pass the baton. Seems reasonable, right?"
"I bet the next one will be a horse, probably that zebra. If they really send out a zebra, then the animals still have a chance to win."
"I think so too. After all, it's the Journey to the West combo."
But just as everyone thought the next animal would be a zebra, a massive figure appeared on the track.
Seeing this figure, the crowd fell silent.
Their guess was half right; the creature was indeed a horse, but it was a hippopotamus with a big snout.
Seeing this hippopotamus, the crowd finally couldn't hold back their laughter.
"Laughing to death, what kind of combo is this? Monkey, black pig, and now a hippopotamus mixed in."
"If it were a triathlon, I think this team would have an advantage, but for a relay race, it's just pure entertainment."
"Well, a hippopotamus is still a horse, isn't it?"
"I guess the director is doing this for the show. Can't let humans keep losing, right?"
"The director understands the art of compromise. He's giving humans a point."
"I just don't believe it. Could the director be so kind?"
"Let's see what the fourth animal is first."
......
As the audience laughed, the fourth animal finally revealed itself.
In the spotlight, a soft and adorable little cutie appeared on the screen.
Seeing this little cutie that seemed to have wandered into the wrong place, the audience in the stadium and the viewers in the live stream felt completely melted.
Its snow-white fur with patterns, a round big head, and its height of less than 30 centimeters made everyone worry it might burp a milk bubble at any moment.
Complete silence.
"It's over, the director is cheating. How can such a little one be sent out? How will it run?"
"Exactly, even a tough guy like me can't move when I see such a cute little thing."
"The little one hasn't even been weaned and was sent out to compete. Is Sister Flower, the stepmother, really willing?"
"Distraction, this is pure distraction."
"Hahaha, I strongly suspect the little one will run off the track."
"What kind of weak and sick combo is this? My goodness."
"Humans finally have hope."
.....
With the appearance of the little tiger cub Da Mi, the audience's reactions varied, but one thing was certain: this round was clearly a gift from Yang Lin to the humans.
Looking at the four contestants from the animal side, none of them seemed like strong runners.
However, despite knowing this, the audience still couldn't hide their excitement for the upcoming race.
After all, who could resist seeing a cute little tiger cub running on the track?
And as the audience waited with bated breath, the referee announced the start of the race.
The red monkey, the Great Sage, took the first baton for the animal team, with the black pig, the Second Brother, taking the second, the hippopotamus the third, and the little tiger cub Da Mi the fourth.
All eyes were on these four unique animals.
Everyone wanted to know what kind of performance this strange team could deliver.
The next moment, the referee's starting gun sounded.
At the sound of the gun, a red figure shot out first.
At first, everyone thought it was a human athlete, but when the camera zoomed in, they saw it was the Great Sage.
At that moment, the Great Sage looked like a human, with two hind legs on the ground, one front leg holding the baton, and the other supporting its body.
In no time, it left the human athlete far behind.
Such an impressive performance left the audience in shock.
"It's okay, maybe it's the fastest and was placed in the first position. I don't believe the Second Brother in the second position can run that fast."
At this point, the audience could only comfort themselves with this reasoning.
But soon, they realized they were wrong.
When the Great Sage handed the baton to the Second Brother in its mouth, the Second Brother instantly burst out with a speed that exceeded everyone's expectations.
It charged forward like a black whirlwind, rushing towards the next baton exchange.
In this moment, everyone's stereotype of pigs was completely overturned.
In everyone's fixed impression, pigs were the epitome of fatness and laziness, but they had forgotten that pigs were once fierce beasts in nature.
Especially this Dragon Country native black pig, which was closest to wild boars.
In no time, the black pig handed the baton to the hippopotamus in third place, leaving the audience in stunned silence.
The hippopotamus in the third position also gave the audience a harsh lesson.
It handed the baton to the little tiger cub with a speed that was nearly a full lap faster than the human athletes.
By this point, the outcome of the race was no longer in doubt.
Even if the little tiger cub was distracted and occasionally ran off the track with the baton in its mouth, the huge lead established by its three predecessors allowed it to easily surpass the human athletes and finally crash into the red line that had been specially lowered.
Here are the running speeds of different animals:
Cheetah 125 km/h
Springbok 88 km/h
Tiger 80 km/h
Wild donkey 70 km/h
Dog 64 km/h
Horse 60 km/h
Giraffe 60 km/h
Zebra 60 km/h
Lion 58 km/h
Rabbit 56 km/h
Wild boar 56 km/h (short-distance extreme speed)
Domestic pig 50 km/h (short-distance extreme speed)
African red monkey 50 km/h
Black bear 50 km/h
Brown bear 48 km/h
Hyena 45 km/h
Elephant 40 km/h
Hippopotamus 40 km/h
Human 36 km/h