Chapter 23: Race Against Death 09 (Inverted V Start)

Chapter 23: Race Against Death 09 (Inverted V Start)

Hearing the neighboring room's door close, Lu Zai Chuan slowly got up from the ground, examining his wound. He had never encountered someone like this.

Biting like that, was he a dog?

He treated the wound, realizing it was too deep, exposing the bone. To wrestle the gun away, he had been ruthlessly extreme. It was clear, this was a formidable person. His judgment wasn't wrong.

His skills were not those of an ordinary person, more akin to a police officer. In JC, players with criminal investigation backgrounds tended to rise to prominence more easily.

After bandaging with a tourniquet, he hoped it wouldn't affect his performance in tomorrow's race.

As he pondered, a notification popped up on the screen. Tonghu, seeing his bandage, exclaimed in surprise, "Lu Shen! What happened to you?"

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing, I've seen it! There's a video of you guys fighting, and it's been leaked. Lu Shen, this is too much. People online are bashing him."

Lu Zai Chuan frowned, wondering how this had been recorded. Being famous always attracted prying eyes. He clicked on the video, which showed him pinned to the ground by Pei Yi. Without that handgun, the scene looked quite ambiguous. The exposed waistline, without a jacket, was dangerously attractive, like a perilous drug, only to be admired from a distance.

The comments below were mixed, though mostly negative.

"This Pei Yi, aside from fighting, doesn't seem to have any other talents. He's gone too far."

"He should just drop out of the race. I really don't want to see him anymore!"

"Just looking at him disgusts me. I bet he won't last till the main race!"

Lu Zai Chuan ignored these, glancing over them until he saw a comment praising Pei Yi, "This newcomer has a great body, that waist looks so strong. I wouldn't mind being pinned down by him."

"The line of his waist is so sleek, perfect for wearing sleeveless high-neck vests. So sexy. Drooling..."

Lu Zai Chuan: "…………"

Meanwhile, Pei Yi, also browsing, focused only on the negative comments. Enraged, he threw his handgun away.

After a moment, not wanting to lose money, he reluctantly picked it back up. Upon inspecting, he found real bullets inside. Why did Lu Zai Chuan have a handgun? He had checked the JC marketplace before, and there were no guns for sale.

This man's identity was highly suspicious.

Coming back to it, anyone would be annoyed with a gun pointed at their forehead. This little rascal, daring to treat him like this.

Unacceptable, he paced back and forth in his room.

Winning against Lu Zai Chuan in this "Race for Life and Death" seemed unlikely. He had already lost by six points in the first quiz round, and the gap was significant in the second round too.

The only thing he could do now was to prove him wrong. Hadn't he said that Pei Yi couldn't make it to the main race, that he definitely wouldn't qualify?

He had to achieve all of that! He must give his all in the upcoming races to strive to surpass him.

The next day, as Pei Yi stepped out, he saw Lu Zai Chuan, and they both entered the elevator together.

Silent throughout the ride, they reached the race venue. By eight o'clock, the place was already bustling. At eight-thirty, fifty people from Group A would compete in the third qualifying race.

[Area A, Group A, Third Qualifying Race, Theme: "Chase Racing"]

[Game Rules: Players will pair up and jointly drive a flying car. They will engage in a chase game lasting twenty minutes. During the race, players can engage in gunfights, car crashes...]

[Victory Conditions: The last surviving team will enter tomorrow's main race. Other victorious players will also receive corresponding points rewards.]

[Current Survivors: 50/50. The draw will start in one minute.]

A flying car game?! They're playing with them. But it's still on theme with life and death racing, and even includes gunfights. Isn’t this every boy's favorite game?

Yet, it's also very dangerous – driving and shooting simultaneously. Such a high demand on a person's skills. They were all just ordinary people.

Chen Mo said, "Brother Pei, it would be great to be in the same team as you."

Not just Chen Mo, many others also looked his way, wanting to team up with Pei Yi. Not to mention shooting, Pei Yi was fast at driving, a key to racing.

[The draw is complete. Please check your groupings and prepare, then proceed to your respective tracks in ten minutes.]

There were twenty-five teams, with one getting a bye. This was the luckiest team. It turned out to be Chen Mo and another player teamed up. Everyone looked at them with envy. The remaining twenty-four teams were paired off into twelve pairs, each divided into the chasing team (red) and the chased team (black).

Pei Yi checked his watch for the information, his team was number five, and his teammate was—

"..." Damn. Speechless.

Pei Yi lazily lifted his eyelids; how could he possibly cooperate with this person? It was impossible.

While others were already huddled together strategizing, the two of them stood apart.

In the blink of an eye, they found themselves in a neon-lit modern city with colorful graffiti on the walls and tattooed thugs...

A police car was already parked by the street. They were the chasers, the police (red team). Their clothes had also changed to police uniforms. It felt like being in the thick of it.

[The game will start in one minute, lasting for twenty minutes. If the red team fails to catch the black team within the time limit, the game is lost. Players, please manage your time.]

Lu Zai Chuan walked straight to the car and got in. Pei Yi followed reluctantly, at least acknowledging that Lu knew to let him drive. The car had an automatic navigation system. They were currently at Xiyu Street 1, chasing the black team located at Green Street. According to the map, there were two streets in between.

Lu Zai Chuan quickly scanned the navigation and pointed ahead, "Follow my commands, drive forward."

"Follow your commands?" Pei Yi scoffed, turning his attention to the navigation.

Lu Zai Chuan immediately turned it off, "No time for that. I'll command, you drive. You don't have time to look at the navigation."

Pei Yi, annoyed, restarted it, "I prefer to check it myself; otherwise, I'm not confident. Who wants to entrust their life to someone else and just drive like a robot? Not happening."

Lu Zai Chuan couldn't help but show a vein throbbing on his forehead, "Do you realize you're wasting time? In a two-person operation, there must be a division of labor. What am I supposed to do if you're looking at the navigation?"

"Rest for a bit. I'd rather go over it myself than listen to you recite it." Pei Yi pointed to his head, "Just one look, and I can remember everything." After saying that, he started the car and extended his arm to turn on the police siren.

Then, placing his hand on the gear lever, he engaged the clutch and stepped on the accelerator, shouting "Hold on." The police car zoomed off like a flash of lightning.

It surged forward with electrifying speed.

Lu Zai Chuan gripped the overhead handle, his body thrust backward, his heart skipping three beats. "...Damn," he thought, "that's fast."

The siren blared above them as Pei Yi changed lanes with barely a glance, not even turning his head, completing each maneuver in fractions of a second. With a speed over 100 mph, he was quickly closing in on their target.

But there was another person in the car, and numerous pedestrians on the street. Though it was a simulated streetscape, any significant damage to the cityscape would definitely affect their final score. So, Pei Yi alternated between speeding up in empty stretches and braking sharply to avoid pedestrians.

Fast as it was, sitting in it was really uncomfortable. Lu Zai Chuan felt sick and even a bit nauseous, wanting to throw up. He could handle rides and had a strong endurance, but being with Pei Yi made it unbearable.

By the time they reached Greenwill Street, the black vehicle was already close at hand. Three gunshots rang out, shattering the windshield of Pei Yi's car. Both were exposed in broad daylight.

The opponent attempted to shoot again. Pei Yi, holding the steering wheel with one hand, freed the other to draw his gun and fire back.

But one couldn't overcome two, and now without a windshield, they lacked a layer of protection, making it look too dangerous.

Just then, the opponent charged at them, forcing Pei Yi to make a sharp ninety-degree turn. However, the opponent merely feinted, swiftly driving past them and fleeing.

Pei Yi pounded the steering wheel, then glanced at Lu Zai Chuan. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Aren't you a god, Lu? Why do you look like you're going to throw up? You were just sitting there motionless."

Lu Zai Chuan frowned as if trying hard to hold back, "Pull over." Pei Yi had no choice but to do so. Lu Zai Chuan pulled on the handle and said angrily, "Unlock it! I need to get out."

Pei Yi complied reluctantly. Lu Zai Chuan got out of the car and started vomiting on the roadside. Pei Yi looked at him with disdain, thinking he couldn't handle the ride. After vomiting, Lu Zai Chuan wiped his mouth with a handkerchief from his pocket, walked up to Pei Yi, and said with suppressed anger:

"Is this how you drive? Do you even consider me a human?"

"…That just proves you can't handle rides," Pei Yi stubbornly retorted.

Lu Zai Chuan sneered, "Get out."

"Why? Are you faster than me?"

"Why not try and find out?"

Pei Yi mumbled, "You have more points. It's okay if I lose this time, but not for you. Anyway, if I lose, I'll come to you." He unbuckled his seatbelt and moved to the passenger seat.

Lu Zai Chuan got into the car, fastened his seatbelt, started the vehicle, glanced at the opponent's current position, shifted gears, and the car flew off.

It was truly not bad. He braked when needed, pushed the speed to the limit while nearing the critical point before steering, sometimes even drifting. The speed was extremely fast, too much for an ordinary person to handle. There were pedestrians on the road, and Lu Zai Chuan also made sudden stops like he often did.

The difference between professional racers is minimal, all within milliseconds. In real life, it's practically negligible.

They caught up with their opponent in no time. The opponent, likely not expecting the Red side to catch up so quickly, hurried to shoot.

Lu Zai Chuan, holding a gun in one hand, stretched his arm across Pei Yi's chest to shoot from Pei Yi's window, firing two shots that likewise shattered the opponent's windshield.

Just as he was about to continue the pursuit, Pei Yi yelled, "Stop the car, stop the car."

He had been screaming earlier, saying, "It's too fast, I can't take it." Lu Zai Chuan completely ignored him.

But now, he truly couldn't endure it anymore.

As soon as the car stopped, he rushed to the roadside and began to vomit violently against a utility pole.

After finishing, Pei Yi turned back and angrily said, "Do you even know how to drive!"