Chapter 88 - An Unexpected Conclusion (1/2)

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Xia Fei was not entirely confident in his hovercar as it was already nearing its life’s end; in fact, it was only a matter of time before it completely gave up.

The engine was making all sorts of noises, and he could tell from these sounds that there were more than a dozen problems with it. Logically speaking, the best solution would be to stop and check it to avoid any possible mishap.

However, Xia Fei did not do that. He had simply given the matter some thought and figured that the probability of something catastrophic happening if he continued until the end of this race was around fifty percent.

Seeing that he had half a chance to succeed, he figured it was worth the gamble; if he won, it would be the heavens looking out for him, but if he ended up losing, he would not have any regrets, either.

The hovercar zipped through the racetrack with reckless abandon, the explosive sounds from his engine were like thunderclaps, causing people to involuntarily feel frightened whenever they heard the noise.

This extremely jarring sound worked well as a weapon, too; as the racers in front of him were afraid that 99 would explode, none of them tried their best to stop Xia Fei.

Since they were unable to put up a fight against such a madman, they figured it was best to just let him past. After all, only the champion of the race would be rewarded, so it was not worth taking the risk for the so-called honor.

“Xia Fei has made it back to the eleventh place—his best result since his hovercar’s first malfunction, but with only two laps left, can he still improve his ranking?” With Xia Fei diving into the race with such insanity again, that red-haired commentator found his spirit and voice anew as he continued to report the situation to his audience.

Truth be told, it was not just him. Almost all of the viewers were ecstatic over Xia Fei’s renewed assault for the first place.

Champions would always be praised by all, but sometimes, racers who did not manage to win yet gave the audience an exciting performance would also be well-liked by people. After all, being a champion was always reserved for the few, while most would end up holding supporting roles.

“Xia Fei has made it to the sixth position! Oh, no! Twin Dragons’ 0 has managed to catch up from behind! Truly, this team lives up to its name as the five-time champion in the star region. Plenty of racers have already been lapped by them; good luck, Xia Fei; don’t be lapped by Twin Dragons!”

The red-haired commentator seemed to have forgotten his role in all the excitement and was completely biased toward Xia Fei. As a commentator, he needed to analyze the race for the audience objectively, but at this point, he had immersed himself in the race as if he were Xia Fei. Anyone unaware might even think that he was related to the contestant.

In front of Xia Fei were hovercars 73, 21, and 194; the three coordinated well with one another. Nie Wei’s 73 ran right in front, while 21 and 194 worked together to prevent Xia Fei from overtaking them.

At this time, they entered the second to the last of these consecutive hairpin turns, and it would be Xia Fei’s final one following this segment. According to the report from the command room, Bai Ye’s 201, which had already cleared these hairpin turns, was about to enter the gangway.

If Xia Fei wanted to overtake the second placer, Bai Ye, he must cover the distance between them, close in on Bai Ye, then engage the latter in a decisive battle during that last lap.

Any driver would know that overtaking during a turn was extremely dangerous and difficult; this was even more so considering that they were presently on a racetrack.

Not mentioning the fact that the hovercars ahead were all driven by experienced racers, the trio ahead had even joined forces at this time to suppress this common enemy who was hot on their heels.

The moment one revealed a space, their partner would fill it up, preventing Xia Fei from overtaking any of them.

He very calmly tailgated the trio, sticking right behind 194. He maintained a distance of just dozens of meters, searching for a chance the entire time.

Suddenly, when taking one of the turns, 194 exposed a tiny gap on the outside due to the very tight hairpin turn.

Xia Fei did not hesitate to claim that bit of exposed space. Tracing the outer lane, Xia Fei let the centrifugal force ramp up his velocity as he tackled that bend. The concrete barricade was just a hair’s breadth away, and even the slightest mistake on his part could result in a direct collision with it.

Hovercar 21 was in the fourth position; the moment the driver discovered that his partner had made a mistake, he quickly steered out of the sidetrack in an attempt to fill the exposed gap.

Once bitten, twice shy; Xia Fei was not about to give them a second chance.

Xia Fei’s hovercar hood was about to align with 21’s rear, but he did not intend to give way. Throwing caution to the wind, he continued his acceleration despite the circumstances.

Such reckless driving caused quite a fright to the driver behind the wheel of 21. No longer bothering about the gap, this person went in the opposite direction to avoid the foolhardy Xia Fei.

*Whoosh!*

Xia Fei’s 99 had finally managed to get past 194 and was now roaring right next to 21’s side.

“That’s great! Xia Fei has overtaken two cars in one move, bringing him to the fourth position. In front of him are Nie Wei’s 73 and Bai Ye’s 201, and there’s only one lap left! Will a miracle happen?” exclaimed the red-haired commentator.

Xia Fei could already see the tail lights of 73, which was no more than a hundred meters from him, after his hovercar made it out of that turn.

This gangway linked the third level to the first, and it was a straight track from that moment on. Xia Fei used his speed advantage to close in fast to 73.

Nie Wei knew deep down that he would be unable to hold off Xia Fei all by himself, so he figured it was best to just let the latter pass and have him fight it out with Bai Ye, instead; there was no reason for him to offend this daredevil.

He grimaced and shook his head, lightly steering the wheels to the side to let Xia Fei through. He muttered to himself, “This is really unlucky… Letting two freshmen overtake me this year.”

Xia Fei’s red hovercar very quickly passed by Nie Wei’s, and from the corner of his eye, Nie Wei saw the fledgling send a gesture of thanks his way.

Helpless, he waved his hand, meaning to say: ‘Just hurry along; I’m already despondent enough today as it is.’

After driving for three laps so wildly, white smoke was coming out from his engine compartment yet again, and the temperature of his ion thrusters had shot past the safe range once more.

Xia Fei looked at his back from the corner of his eye and, clenching his teeth, floored the accelerator resolutely.

He had gotten to this point of the race, so he was not about to give up. He acknowledged the overheating, but as long as the hovercar could still move, he would continue his charge onward.

In the distance, Xia Fei could finally see Bai Ye’s 201, and there was half a mile of distance between them.

Xia Fei was able to keep creeping closer to Bai Ye through his speed advantage alone.

800 meters

500 meters

300 meters

Soon, the two cars were within a negligible distance of each other, and neither was willing to let the other pass.

Bai Ye had very decent driving skills, and his grasp of the track was superb, allowing his hovercar to take the most advantageous position constantly.

If Xia Fei planned to overtake the other, he would have to put himself in a very unfavorable path, and given how thick the white smoke coming from his engine was, he was fairly certain that his automotive was not too far from giving up.

If he was lucky, he could maybe hang for two more minutes. If he was unlucky, his hovercar could very well break down in the next second.

After clearing the one hundred twenty-eight consecutive hairpin turns, Xia Fei was still lagging behind by about two body lengths.

Xia Fei furrowed his brows as his brain began working overdrive. The performance of an overheated engine would normally see a massive drop off, and he could already feel that his hovercar was steadily losing the fight with itself.

Originally, this straight gangway they were on would be the best place for Xia Fei’s hovercar to perform. After all, the speed of his hovercar was faster than Bai Ye’s, and he could beat his competitors through this superior speed alone.