Era of Mist

This kind of advantage wouldn’t show in a professional race, since they rarely reach such high speeds. An illegal street race, however, was a completely different story. No professional track could have a straightaway as long as this main artery leading into Tokyo, but this one was wide open.

And on this long straightaway, Ah Fei could boast with complete confidence: "Forget nitrous boosts. Even if those other custom bikes push their engines ’til they explode, it’ll be fucking useless!"

Sure enough, the on-screen feed showed Shi Tiexin shift gears slightly, and then—he vanished. By the time the scrambling camera operator managed to find him again, all that was visible was a defiant red taillight.

VROOOM. Smooth. Incredibly smooth. Dominating. Absolutely dominating.

Shi Tiexin’s motorcycle lacked the frantic, vein-popping desperation of the other bikes. It just accelerated steadily, steamrolling the competition with incredibly stable control over its frame.

’A glance at the speedometer... whoa, we’re already past two hundred without even realizing it. I can barely feel a thing, and it’s already closing in on three hundred.’

Two seconds later, a racer appeared ahead, his exhaust pipe spitting flames.

The rider was plastered to the frame of his bike, terrified that sitting up even an inch would get him torn off by the wind. His bike trembled and swayed—not by much, but at an extremely high frequency. He was pushing himself to the absolute limit, living on the edge of life and death.

Just as his eyes grew bloodshot and his head began to spin, an unconscious flicker in his peripheral vision caught a big guy in sunglasses pulling up beside him. The man’s form was so steady, he looked like he could be balancing six spinning plates on a pole while he rode.

The racer’s eyes went wide.

Shi Tiexin glanced at the racer. Feeling it was a bit awkward for them to just be staring at each other, he opened his mouth and offered a greeting. "Hey."

The next instant, as if he’d just seen a ghost, the racer’s hands jerked, and his motorcycle immediately tipped over.

The crowd watching the livestream screamed, but it was too late. The tumbling motorcycle had become a steel grinder, cartwheeling down the road with a deafening roar and shedding a spray of twisted parts. Before it could even come to a stop, it erupted in a massive fireball—BOOM—and became a blazing wreck still hurtling forward at incredible speed.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"AHHHHH—!!!"

Shouts of shock and horror pierced the night sky.

Then, a steady voice cut through the screams. "Stop your wailing. He’s not dead."

The racer stared in terror at the wreckage, then realized he wasn’t dead. Someone was holding him up! He looked and saw it was the big guy. In that split second, he had reached out and snatched him from his bike!

The big guy was now holding him with a single hand, while his other steered the motorcycle, steadily slowing down and pulling to the side of the road. The arm gripping him was like cast iron, not even trembling. A glance at the bike showed its form was still perfect. This level of control was absolutely insane!

With a soft thud, the racer was set down on the ground.

The racer, still in shock, gasped for breath. Without another word, Shi Tiexin gunned the engine and was gone in a flash. Only a moment later did the racer snap out of his daze.

’Black Venerable didn’t have to save me, but he did.’

’Snatching someone off a moving bike at that speed... how unbelievably dangerous was that? But he did it anyway.’

’Saving me cost him a huge amount of time. He might have lost the race because of it. But he still chose to save me.’

The racer glanced at the burning wreckage behind him, then at the taillight rapidly shrinking in the distance. He ripped off his helmet. Not caring whether Shi Tiexin could hear him, the man roared, "Black Venerable! Win or lose, you have my respect!"

The spectators at the various checkpoints buzzed with discussion when they saw this. Even in such chaotic times, human nature is still drawn to those who protect others. Black Venerable’s rescue demonstrated both incredible skill and a sense of honor, instantly changing many people’s opinions of him—especially since Ah Fei’s earlier trash talk had drawn a lot of hate.

"But after that diversion, it’ll be tough for Black Venerable to catch up."

One of Death Fire’s lackeys immediately shot back, "Venerable? What a joke. The winner is king and the loser is scum. A bet’s a bet. He’s going to lose, which means he’ll have to change his name to Black Pig!"

Not far away, Ah Fei gave a look, and one of his guys immediately moved closer, planning to beat the crap out of those trash-talkers as soon as the race was over.

As for the race itself, Ah Fei was still full of hope. Even though saving someone had cost a huge amount of time, he knew his big bro would have no problem.

’Do you have any idea what a big-bore, eight-cylinder engine can do?’

’No need to explain it twice. Just look at the speedometer—huh? It’s already hit three hundred and fifty kph without me even realizing it.’

WHOOSH—!

A piercing shriek tore through the air, and the camera operators along the road all flinched back, watching in terror as the massive motorcycle rocketed forward at an insane speed.

The speed was terrifying—far faster than a Shinkansen bullet train. At such extreme velocity, the slightest bump or wobble would guarantee a fatal crash. If he hit anything, it would be a scene of mass carnage.

This level of extreme speed would make anyone’s heart seize up in terror. Even inside a well-protected cockpit, you would feel like death was imminent, let alone on a completely exposed motorcycle. It didn’t matter what kind of protective gear you wore; unless you had a psionic energy shield, it was utterly useless.

But Shi Tiexin just kept blasting forward, overtaking one racer after another.

To him, the other racers were like stationary trees on the roadside—there one instant and gone the next, little more than a blur. None of them dared to get in his way; in fact, they all scrambled to the sides to let him pass. Their support teams were screaming in their earpieces that at this speed, even a slight graze meant instant death. There was no competing with a madman like this.

And so, Shi Tiexin blazed a path down the long straightaway, shooting from the back of the pack all the way to eighth place in the blink of an eye. His speed was terrifying.

"He’s entering the city district!"

"Lady Pe is still in first!"

"Tokyo Wolf is second."

"Death Fire has dropped to fifth. His skills really are a bit lacking."

"Look, Black Venerable is already up to seventh! He’s coming off the straightaway, check his speed—a hundred and eighty? He’s entering the city at one-eighty? Am I still asleep?"

"At this rate, could Black Venerable still take first place after stopping to save someone? That’s fucking insane!"

"Black Venerable! Black Venerable! Black Venerable!"

The wild race tore through the streets of Tokyo.

In fifth place, Death Fire was gritting his teeth and pushing forward desperately. This race involved more than just his bet with Black Venerable. All sixteen racers were gang leaders, each with their own tangled web of alliances and old grudges. On top of that, the stakes in the outside betting pools were enormous. Death Fire absolutely could not afford to lose.

His skills really weren’t up to par.

But he had made other preparations in advance.

"Tell them to get to work!" Death Fire ordered through his radio headset, a vicious smile spreading across his face.