Chapter 356: The Incredible Man in Hot Summer!
Just a kilometer after Echizen Takumi sped off, the red Ferrari's engine roared to life like a dormant beast suddenly awakened.
Vroom—!!!
With the fierce, primal roar of its V12 engine, the scarlet supercar tore through the starting line, chasing after the white AE86 like a blazing fire determined to consume everything in its path.
The night air of Mount Akina was shattered by the sound of pure mechanical violence.
The distance between them rapidly shortened!
One thousand meters!
The Ferrari was a red spectre in the rearview mirror, growing larger with every heartbeat.
Nine hundred meters!
Eight hundred meters!
...
One hundred meters!
Fifty meters!
In just a few minutes, the red Ferrari was neck and neck with the AE86. The difference in horsepower was simply too vast. It was like a fighter jet chasing a prop plane; no matter how skilled the pilot of the prop plane was, the technological gap was an insurmountable chasm.
[Location: Mount Akina - Summit Viewing Platform]
Watching this scene through the high-definition drone footage projected onto the large screens, the many spectators were deathly silent.
The atmosphere was heavy, suffocating. They were almost all Sakura Country locals, street racing enthusiasts who worshipped the legend of the "Ghost of Akina." They all hoped, prayed even, that Echizen Takumi would win. They wanted to see the underdog miracle, absolutely not wanting to see him lose to a wealthy outsider from Yanxia.
But reality was cruel. They didn't expect such a large advantage—a full kilometer head start—to be erased in just a few minutes.
Fujii Yusuke, the leader of the Speed Stars team, stood with a cigarette dangling loosely from his mouth. The ash was long, ready to fall, but he was too frozen to notice. He looked solemn, his brows furrowed deep enough to trap a fly, but he still said, trying to convince himself as much as the others:
"Takumi-kun still has a chance!"
He took a nervous drag, the cherry of the cigarette glowing bright red in the darkness.
"I admit, in terms of pure racing performance, straight-line acceleration, and torque, even the modified AE86 is slightly inferior to that monster of a Ferrari. That Italian machine is built for speed."
Fujii Yusuke pointed at the screen, his finger trembling slightly.
"But the reason Akina Mountain could become one of the Holy Lands in the hearts of racers worldwide is not because of its straightaways. It is because of the terrifying, continuous deadly turns that lay ahead. The Five Serial Hairpins!"
The terrifying mountain road, with a gradient dropping sharply at over sixty degrees, had jagged cliffs waiting on one side and a deep drainage gutter on the other. It consisted of four continuous, perilous, steep, S-shaped deadly turns followed by a sharp hairpin.
Countless racers had crashed here. It was a graveyard for horsepower.
"Even the top professional racers have to slow down here," Fujii Yusuke analyzed, his voice gaining a shred of confidence. "Physics dictates it. If you enter those corners too fast, centrifugal force will throw you off the cliff. You will be destroyed, and you will die!"
Previously, Fujii Yusuke lost to Echizen Takumi precisely because he was left far behind in these four deadly turns. Takumi's ability to maintain momentum through the corners was supernatural.
"That Yanxia man... he is driving a supercar. It's wide, it's heavy. On these narrow mountain passes, a Ferrari is a clumsy beast." Fujii Yusuke narrowed his eyes. "He believes that no matter how crazy that man is, he would have to slow down significantly to navigate the S-curves."
"And that moment of braking... that is Echizen Takumi's victory!"
...
However, reality often slapped imagination in the face.
At this moment, on the mountain road.
Screech—!
The tires of both cars screamed in agony as they tore across the asphalt.
Inside the red Ferrari, the cabin was a sanctuary of luxury. The leather seats hugged Shen Anyu's body, and the dashboard lights glowed with a futuristic hum.
Despite the terrifying speed of over 200 km/h, Shen Anyu appeared as if he were taking a leisurely Sunday drive. He held the steering wheel with one hand, his expression relaxed.
He glanced to his left. The white AE86 was right there, its engine straining, its chassis vibrating violently.
Shen Anyu did something that defied the laws of racing sanity.
He rolled down the window.
Whoosh—!
The wind noise was deafening, a hurricane force blasting into the cabin, but Shen Anyu used his Internal Energy to shield his voice, projecting it clearly over the roar of the engines.
He smiled at Echizen Takumi, a smile that was dazzling, charming, and utterly terrifying.
"I gave you a thousand meters, but unfortunately, you didn't seize the opportunity."
His voice was calm, contrasting with the chaotic violence of the race. It was the voice of a god judging a mortal.
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Echizen Takumi is unhappy. His mental state is fracturing. Plundering +6666 Destiny Points!]
...
Inside the AE86.
Echizen Takumi's face instantly turned ugly, twisted into a mask of rage and desperation. Veins bulged on his forehead, throbbing in time with the revving engine.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
He gritted his teeth so hard they felt like they might crack. But he still said coldly, shouting over the noise of his own car:
"I will win... I will definitely win!"
This was no longer just a race. This was a battle for his dignity as a man.
He had already lost his beloved childhood friend, Suzuki Natsuki. He had watched her transform from the innocent girl next door into a woman wrapped in luxury brands, a woman who looked at this wealthy villain with eyes full of worship.
He absolutely could not lose the race. Racing was the only thing he had left. It was his domain, his kingdom. If he lost here, on his home turf, he would be nothing. This was his last dignity and pride!
Vroom!
Echizen Takumi stomped the accelerator to the floor. The pedal hit the metal with a clang.
"Go! Go!" he screamed at his car.
Even on the mountain road with a gradient exceeding sixty degrees, approaching the death trap of the S-curves, he did not slow down. The white AE86 roared fiercely, its exhaust spitting flames, and its speed surged once again!
He was pushing the car beyond its limits. He was pushing himself beyond the fear of death.
However, despite his suicidal charge, Echizen Takumi showed no joy; his expression became even uglier, turning the color of ash.
Because the red Ferrari was still neck and neck with him.
No more, no less.
It was like a shadow he couldn't shake. A nightmare attached to his side.
As long as Echizen Takumi turned his head slightly to the right, he could see Shen Anyu's annoying, smiling, handsome face through the open window. That face looked so clean, so noble, so untouched by the grime and sweat of the struggle.
As soon as he saw the smile on Shen Anyu's handsome face, Echizen Takumi's eyes turned red with bloodshot veins.
An intrusive thought, sharp as a knife, pierced his concentration.
He thought of the scene where Suzuki Natsuki was holding Shen Anyu's arm earlier that day. The way her body leaned into his. The way she sweetly called him 'Master' with a voice dripping with honey—a voice she had never used for Takumi.
'Does she make that face when they are alone?'
'Does she call him Master in bed?'
The thoughts were poison. NTR images flashed in his mind—Suzuki Natsuki's flushed face, her messy hair, her submission to this man who treated everything like a game.
"AHHHH!" Echizen Takumi roared, trying to drown out the thoughts.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, his knuckles white. His right foot pressed firmly on the accelerator, refusing to lift.
Even though deadly turns were coming up, there was no sign of him slowing down.
Because Shen Anyu, that annoying Yanxia man, that bastard who took Natsuki-chan away, also didn't slow down!
They entered the first curve.
SCREECH—!!!
On the perilous and steep deadly turns, the white AE86 and the red Ferrari were neck and neck, drifting madly at speeds over three hundred kilometers per hour!
The two cars slid sideways in perfect unison, their rear bumpers inches from the guardrail, sparks flying into the night air like fireworks.
"They're crazy! Both of them are crazy! They're both doing Power-Drift (full throttle drift)!"
Watching this scene through the drone footage, countless spectators were stunned. Their jaws dropped, eyes widening to the point of pain.
The cigarette butt in Fujii Yusuke's mouth finally dropped, landing on his shoe, but he didn't even flinch. He was dumbfounded.
"This... this isn't racing. This is suicide."
He had never seen such a crazy race. On a mountain road with a gradient of over sixty degrees, on winding and perilous deadly turns, they were drifting at full speed without slowing down at all. The friction alone should have shredded the tires.
Even the top racers in the world wouldn't dare to be so reckless!
Just one blink of an error, just one degree of miscalculation in the steering angle, would mean complete ruin. The cars would tumble down the cliff, turning into balls of fire and twisted metal.
Suzuki Natsuki stood in the crowd, her hands clutching the expensive Chanel bag to her chest. Her face was now pale with fright, her pretty face ashen, and her pinkish-white lips were trembling uncontrollably.
"Anyu-kun..."
She whispered his name, her heart clenched in fear.
She didn't blink, staring intently at the screen, holding her breath, afraid that the next second the red Ferrari would be destroyed and its occupant killed.
At this moment, Suzuki Natsuki's thoughts took a selfish turn. She even started to resent Echizen Takumi.
'Why does Takumi have to be so stubborn?' she thought bitterly. 'If not for Echizen Takumi challenging him, why would Anyu-kun be involved in such a dangerous race? If Anyu-kun gets hurt... what will happen to me? Who will buy me these things? Who will take me to that high-class world?'
Her concern was for the provider of her new life, not for the childhood friend risking his life for her honor.
In reality, inside the cockpit of the Ferrari, Shen Anyu was extremely calm at the moment, still smiling.
The G-force pulling at his body was immense, enough to make an ordinary person black out, but to a martial artist with the [God-Level Steel Body], it was nothing more than a gentle breeze.
With his control, there was no way the car would be destroyed or he would die. Even if there was a one-in-a-billion chance of an error and the car flew off the cliff, he could simply kick the door open and leap to safety mid-air.
However, Shen Anyu's gaze towards Echizen Takumi held a hint of something unusual.
'Interesting.'
Echizen Takumi was just an ordinary person. He had no Internal Energy, no System, no cultivation. Yet, he was taking the turns at extreme speed without any mistakes. His reflexes were pushing the absolute limit of human potential.
Golden light flickered faintly in Shen Anyu's eyes as he activated the [Tianji Observation Technique].
He looked at Echizen Takumi's head through the windows of the cars.
Above the AE86, invisible to the naked eye, aura clouds vigorously churned. A golden dragon of luck swirled around the car, protecting it. Wisps of this golden energy permeated into Echizen Takumi's body, sharpening his senses and stabilizing the vehicle against the laws of physics.
Clearly, he was protected by [Destiny Qi Luck].
Shen Anyu's expression twitched slightly.
'Good heavens, I can only say that the Child of Destiny is covered by a protagonist's halo, and it's really not easy for him to die.'
This was the power of the narrative. Unless his [Destiny Value] runs out and his Destiny Halo shatters, or Shen Anyu, this Destined Villain, personally takes action to sever the karma, the Child of Destiny basically cannot die. Even if he drove off a cliff, he would likely land in a tree and survive.
Compared to a cockroach, the Child of Destiny's vitality is immeasurably more robust.
'Too bad you ran into me.'
Shen Anyu smiled playfully, a cold glint in his eyes.
As long as he used [God-level Telekinesis], a gentle flick of his finger could burst Takumi's tire or lock his steering wheel. He could make Echizen Takumi crash and kill him instantly.
However, that would mean wasting precious [Destiny Value].
Shen Anyu was a farmer, and Takumi was the crop. He was still planning to plunder the last wave. Otherwise, why bother proposing a race? He could have just crushed Echizen Takumi directly with a slap.
He needed to destroy Takumi's heart, not just his body.
What Echizen Takumi cared about most were his childhood friend Suzuki Natsuki and racing.
By targeting these two points, he could be shattered completely!
"You think you are fast?" Shen Anyu murmured, his voice low. "It's also time to let you know what a God-level Old Driver is!"
They were approaching the final, sharpest hairpin. The "Five Serial Hairpins" finale.
Shen Anyu narrowed his eyes.
He suddenly released the brake.
And at the same time, he stomped on the accelerator.
The Ferrari's engine screamed in protest. The vehicle instantly slid sideways, its nose pointing towards the inside of the curve—directly towards the drainage ditch that ran along the mountain.
"He's going into the gutter!" Fujii Yusuke screamed at the screen. "Is he insane?!"
But he wasn't crashing.
The front tire of the Ferrari hooked into the drainage ditch like a claw.
BANG!
Accompanied by the fierce roar of the engine, the red Ferrari's speed surged again. Using the ditch as a rail to counteract the centrifugal force, Shen Anyu defied physics.
He drifted with his tail out, the rear of the car hanging precariously over the cliff edge, but the front was locked in.
From being neck and neck, the Ferrari instantly surged past the white AE86 in the blink of an eye!
It was like a teleportation. One second he was there, the next he was gone.
It turned out that before, Shen Anyu wasn't even at full speed! He was just pacing Takumi!
"NANI?!"
Echizen Takumi's eyes were about to split open. His pupils trembled violently.
He saw the taillights of the Ferrari pull away.
He desperately stomped on the accelerator, wanting to catch up, screaming until his throat was raw.
"NO! NO! DON'T GO!"
But he could only watch the red Ferrari getting further and further away, opening up a desperate distance.
Ten meters. Fifty meters. Two hundred meters.
On the winding deadly turns, the red Ferrari moved like a red lightning bolt. It took the turns at extreme speed, sweeping past the deadly turns with an unimaginable arc from the drainage ditch.
It was a display of driving so perfect, so dominant, that it made Takumi's skills look like a child playing with a toy car.
VROOOM!
The Ferrari burst through the finish line at the bottom of the mountain!
The wind from its passing blew the hair of the spectators back.
A while later.
Echizen Takumi's white AE86 also crossed the finish line.
The time on the board flashed. He had broken the previous Akina Mountain track record significantly. It was the race of his life.
But no one cheered in the entire venue.
The Sakura Country spectators all fell silent. The silence was heavy, like a funeral.
They lost!
Their legend, their Ghost, had been exorcised.
"Lost..."
Fujii Yusuke's expression was complex, filled with disappointment and regret. He dropped his cigarette and crushed it under his boot.
"Such a speed on the Akina Mountain track... if he had done this alone, it would be sensational news in the world of racing. He broke the record."
"But now... it means nothing."
Because that Yanxia man was faster. Even more incredible! He didn't just break the record; he shattered the concept of what was possible on this mountain.
The white AE86 rolled to a stop in the parking area. The engine ticked as it cooled down.
"I lost, I lost..."
Echizen Takumi sat blankly inside the white Toyota AE86. He didn't unbuckle his seatbelt. He didn't turn off the car.
His expression was dazed, his pupils losing focus. Tears streamed down his face, mixing with the sweat.
It was as if something in his heart—his pride, his love, his reason for existing—had shattered into a million pieces.
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