Chapter 85 - Trial Run (1/2)

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

The Moonlit Bay Race Circuit by the sea was around one hundred eighty miles away from the training camp. This was a popular holiday destination on Hek, and there would be a large throng of tourists staying there to sightsee every year. Whether they were there looking for a night of passion or wanted to lie on the beach and bask in the sun, anything could be sought and satisfied here.

The race track was split into three levels, covering a wide area of eight hundred fifty miles. It was a circuit of first-class standards in the star region, like a majestic dragon that occupied the space between the beach and the sea.

The race would begin tomorrow, and today was for the motor teams to test their hovercars. Xia Fei and the rest of his motor team made their way along the path of the race track.

Xia Fei was deeply shocked the first time he had laid eyes on this extreme race track.

The widest part of this concrete-paved track was over a hundred meters, while the narrowest was no more than thirty meters. Criss-crossing vertically and horizontally and interweaving like a huge spider web, he was truly amazed at how massive the constructed race track was.

Xia Fei located his red hovercar from the logistics area. In order to prevent people from cheating, the transportation of the racing hovercars had all been done by the training camp personnel sans the involvement of the various motor teams.

This fiery-red hovercar was spindle-shaped, looking like a sharp sword from afar. The body itself was thin, with its head being pointed. The number ’99’ was printed on either side of the car.

Xia Fei went over and opened the hood to check its mechanical wiring for anything out of order before he put on his equipment and entered the cockpit.

The cockpit of this hovercar was similar to that of a fighter jet; it was really cramped inside, only able to fit in a single occupant, and the dashboard was crammed full of buttons and dials.

Xia Fei gestured at Chen Dong and the others then pressed a button and activated the ion thrusters, which provided the vehicle with powerful propulsion.

A deafening roar sounded, then something metallic filled the air. The people nearby hurriedly covered their ears.

“Why is that hovercar making such a loud noise? It nearly burst my eardrums.”

“Did it not have any sound deadening parts?”

The other motor teams were all complaining about the racket this racing hovercar 99 was making; in fact, Xia Fei did install a sound deadening device, but because he wanted to save space for other parts, he decreased its size by half, which greatly reduced its effect.

Steering the hovercar into the departure grid, a race track staff member came over to Xia Fei’s side and said, “You have a total of three trial laps. We’ll be using your fastest lap as your final placing result; understood?”

Xia Fei nodded, and that worker guided him to the departure sequence.

As this was just a test run, not all of the three hundred plus racing hovercars would be starting at the same time; instead, the staff let one go at it every fifteen seconds.

Xia Fei lightly touched the controller and the hovercar went barreling past the grid, leaving a long trail of flames from its ion thrusters.

The roar of the engine filled the ears of everyone nearby. The surrounding scenery was very quickly left behind as Xia Fei’s vision narrowed to just what was in front of him, going ever on forward. Though there was no one on the viewing platform, without any fresh flowers being tossed out by the cheering crowd, Xia Fei could still feel his blood pumping from the adrenaline.

This sort of extreme speed gave him indescribable exhilaration. It was like a person who traveled by bus every day suddenly riding a motorbike and feeling the wind whipping past their face. Though both vehicles served the same purpose, the pleasure they brought was simply incomparable.

Xia Fei intentionally suppressed the thrill he was feeling inside him, then used a speed that was roughly clearing 1000m/s to move forward. The first thing he would do was find the feel for this race, familiarize himself with every turn in the track, and note even the tiniest crack on the ground.

Xia Fei tapped on a microcomputer to activate its record function even as he observed and took note of every detail around him while he continued along the track. A racing hovercar sped past Xia Fei, leaving him behind, but he did not even spare a moment of attention to these people attempting to show off and just executed what he had planned while maintaining a decent speed on the course.

Xia Fei believed that showing off at this time, demonstrating just how exceptional their driving skills were, was meaningless. Real strength ought to be saved and only unleashed during the race.

“How is Xia Fei driving so slowly that a dozen cars can easily pass him?” Moon Song pursed her lips in dissatisfaction.

Chen Dong pointed to the red racing hovercar and asked, “What are you being anxious for? Xia Fei’s there charting his path. He’ll surely pick up his speed come the second lap.”

Soon, Xia Fei was on the third level of the race track. The first and second levels of the track were around two hundred fifty miles, while the third level was about three hundred fifty long. The third level of the track was the longest stretch, and it was also the toughest.

It was a series of S-bends called the Star Region’s First Devil’s Bend.

S-bends were also called hairpin turns, and it was already fine for most race tracks to have a few hairpin turns, but Moonlit Bay’s third level actually had one hundred twenty-eight consecutive bends—hence, the name Demonic 128.

Almost every half a mile had a hairpin turn, and the consecutive turning was not only a test to a racing hovercar overall performance but also a test of a racer’s stability and adaptability.

After all, such consecutive bends would require a high-level of attentiveness, pushing both the driver and the hovercar to their extremes. As long as they were a little careless, even just the slightest loss of control could result in a disastrous wreck. After all, this was no normal race but an extreme one, which could reach the speeds of over 3000m/s.

It was simply depraved to design an extreme race track with one hundred twenty-eight hairpin turns.

Xia Fei lowered the speed of his hovercar and very calmly cleared the one hundred twenty-eight hairpin turns, getting through a long gangway before returning to the first level, ready to start his second test run.

Chen Dong, Moon Song, Beihai, and Manjun were waiting excitedly, for they all believed that Xia Fei’s first lap had only been to get used to the route. He ought to shoot up through the ranks with this second lap, right?

Just as they expected, Xia Fei did indeed speed up, but he did not increase his speed by much. Now going at about 1500m/s, he could be said to be going at half speed, and it was still quite a distance away from the limit an extreme racing hovercar could reach.

Moon Song pulled out a cucumber, took a vicious bite at it, and glared at Chen Dong. “Didn’t you say that Xia Fei would surely increase his speed on the second lap?”

Chen Dong was helpless. “How would I know? Perhaps he hasn’t familiarized himself enough with the track?”

Bai Ye’s racing hovercar 201 zipped past Xia Fei, and when he did, he suddenly did an emergency break just ahead of Xia Fei’s hovercar, then Bai Ye waited for the latter to go past him before starting his engine again and driving past the other once more.

This was simply a naked provocation, but Xia Fei continued to drive at that constant speed, completely ignoring that white racing hovercar.

Moon Song could not rein in her anger, and she grabbed a communicator to yell at Xia Fei directly. “Mister Xia, I order you to overtake Bai Ye’s car. Leave that bastard in the dust, or I will not be done with you when you get back!”

Very quickly, Xia Fei gave his simple reply to her.

When the communicator’s red light lit up, Xia Fei immediately turned it off, not even giving Moon Song a chance to complain.

Moon Song’s expression became really ugly, and she started hurling expletives at Xia Fei on the display screen.

Everybody could not understand why Moon Song seemed to dislike Bai Ye to the point where just seeing him was enough to rile her up endlessly.

When Bai Ye saw that Xia Fei had no intention of accepting his challenge, he raced off down the track, holding in his delight inside. ‘They say Xia Fei’s a madman, but I don’t see it. He doesn’t even dare to take me on despite me throwing down the gauntlet.’

Beihai pulled out the rankings for the test runs from another console. Presently, it was the racing hovercar 63 driven by Nie Wei, someone from the mechatronics division, that ranked first. His fastest lap split was eight minutes two seconds, with an average speed of almost 3000m/s.

The second and third ranks were racing hovercars 21 and 194, also from the mechatronics division, with both finishing their laps under eight minutes thirty seconds.