With the constant reassurance of Uru and the knowledge that he didn't have to win the race, Jing was actually quite relaxed when the race began. When the countdown hit zero, announced by the angel he saw on the sphere earlier, he hit the gas and started driving up towards the ramp. While the ramp was certainly terrifying as it rose into the sky, it was actually quite wide in the beginning and Jing felt no difficulty making the first few turns.

"I wonder what he's doing"

Jing glanced in the rearview mirror, noticing that the other car seemed to be keeping distance behind him without trying to overtake at all.

"I'm not sure, but I guess he might just be trying to keep it close?".

After about thirty seconds, Jing had already raised several hundred feet above the ground. It was at this point when Jing finally some some activity behind him. The car shone with a dull light, before suddenly accelerating.

"Looks like he's finally hit the gas" Jing then pulled the wheel to the left, gently moving to the side of the path, giving Max plenty of room to overtake.

He a roar, the sound of an engine roaring very close behind him. Jing checked the rearview mirror and noticed that the other car was driving straight into him! He cranked the wheel over to the right, and Max's car whizzed passed by the driver side. In that moment, Jing and Max locked eyes. Max's eyes were clear, a complete opposite look of the drunken mess he seemed to be earlier.

"What the fuck is he doing?!" Valencia screamed at the screen.

"What the fuck is who doing?" The door opened showing a blond haired youth. He wore a stereotypical punk outfit, with multiple chains hanging off of his leather clothing.

"That idiot Max! Adam, did you drug him while getting him drunk?"

"The hell? Naw, I stuck to the plan. Mans an angry enough drunk anyways". Adam looked up at the monitor, showing a replay of Jing dodging Max. "But he's not that angry of a drunk".

"This was supposed to be simple, They'd race and then say we didn't promise anything for the race".

"Do you think he figured it out?"

"There's no way. He was basically falling over when I saw him earlier"

"Well good thing you didn't see him then"

Valencia and Adam turned to the door, to see an elderly Chinese man. Despite his old face, he stood tall and strong. Behind him were a small group of people, mostly attendants. The other people behind him appeared to be guards, wearing black suits and earpieces. One of the guards, an especially young looking Asian man, approached with the elderly man, joining him in the room while the rest waited outside.

"Hello Lord Huang, we did not know you were arriving, otherwise we could have prepared a better welcome" Valencia clasped her hands respectfully but spoke through gritted teeth.

"Its alright young Valencia, I've only come to watch the surprise show and maybe make a deal" The old man seemed unbothered by her hostility.

"Our leader isn't here at the moment, so I hope that you can return at a later date" Valencia continued to struggle to speak politely in her anger.

"Oh that's not an issue, especially because i know that everything that's going on here has been your personal decision. Did the leader know that you were to re-audition Max for membership?" Lord Huang said with a smile.

"Sir I made no commitment to either you or Max this race" Replied Valencia with some confusion.

"Maybe not yet you haven't, but I think I heard something funny on the way into the room"

"What the fuck is he doing?!" Valencia's voice rang through the room again, but appeared to come from the mouth of the bodyguard by Lord Huang's side.

Right then, the bodyguard began shifting, until after a moment, a perfect copy of Valencia stood next to Lord Huang.

Valencia stood in shock looking at her doppelganger.

"Now now, there's no need to make our hosts uncomfortable Bian, just use the form you used when you went drinking". Lord Huang waved at the doppelganger.

Valencia's doppelganger skin shifted and clothes shimmered until another familiar face appeared.

"Max?!"

"Then who's racing?" Valencia and Max both looked up at the monitor.

"Oh don't worry, we followed all rules, and Max certainly stayed the challenger" The old man chuckled again, relishing in Valencia and Max's confusion.

"Honestly, the hardest part was not trying to mess up my acting after drinking so much" The doppelganger's face went from sober to completely flushed and back.

Adam flinched, and looked up at the monitor with great anxiety.

"Anyways, as I was saying, I'd just like for you to honor the terms of this farce of a race" Lord Huang chuckled. His previously unbothered demeanor was being broken by how much he was clearly enjoying his younger adversaries' suffering.

"I promised Max nothing old man. This is just a recreational race" Valencia growled at him. "Besides, the leader isn't here right now, he can schedule Max's rematch some other time."

"Do you think I'm a fool? I'm fully aware that you have the authority to handle something like an audition race" The old man laughed at her before his face became cold. "But I really don't appreciate being lied to whether I know it or not." He spoke into his wrist "Do it again."

On the racetrack

Jing's heartrate had barely settled before he began cussing.

"What does that idiot think he's doing?" he yelled as he finished his tirade.

Max had driven ahead of him, but seemed to maintain a similar distance as before, slowing down and speeding up when Jing did. Jing wanted to try possibly turning around but there was no way to turn around without stopping, and there was no way he was going to let his car be still with that maniac on the track with him.

"Hey Jing be careful." Uru warned

"Is he going to try again?" Jing anxiously replied.

"I think so. We'd better try to make sure we get away the next time he tries."

What happened next nearly made Jing's eyes pop out of his face. The car in front of him screeched and spun around facing him dead on.

Jing locked eyes with Max, who only shrugged before mouthing the words "Sorry, its business", before his car rocketed towards Jing's.

Jing swerved to the left to get out of the way, but he realized that the edge of the track was too close and hesitated. At this moment, Max's car screeched again and was now perpendicular to Jing's and the roaring sound came again as Max's car was headed directly for Uru's right side.

"Oh HELL NO" Uru screamed as Jing felt the car accelerating beneath him. Jing's body was pressed into his seat as he felt himself flying forward to dodge Max's car.

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This time, however, Max seemed to be ready, and managed to make an adjustment so that he would hit Uru on the back right side. Jing tensed as he awaited for the impact, but instead felt a strange flinging sensation as Uru was knocked forward, barely stable.

With his heart pounding and his vision narrowed from panic, he could barely see a silver wrapping around Uru. Something had protected him!

Back in the control room

"Oh ho! He owns an artifact already. That means you've gone and given them something important!" The old man cheered at the failed attempt at murder on the screen.

"And what a familiar one that is, the Silver Tortoise bracelet! Someone worth protecting then!" The old man's face beamed with excitement. "Lets get back to the negotiation then shall we?"

"L-Lord Huang I must ask that you stop this madness" Valencia said with much less force than she had said before.

"Not until you promise to uphold exactly what this race was supposed to promise." Bian retorted, his current form as Max gave him an imposing stature and voice

Valencia hesitated for only a moment before Lord Huang spoke into his wrist again "Keep hitting him until I tell you to stop".

Valencia began to protest before a pressure appeared in the room. Everyone except Valencia, Adam, and Bian collapsed from the old man's pressure.

"You know little girl, that letting civilians race in the Left is a crime right?" The old man's eyes glinted with faux rage. "This could have been a conversation between two professionals, a negotiation! But now you've gone and shown an impossibly delectable weakness. That poor boy is going to die without cause in an accident because of your actions." Despite his words, his face betrayed the enjoyment of making Valencia suffer.

Back to the track...

The situation on the track was becoming dire.

After the first near dodge, Max had shown incredible precision in his ability to collide with Jing and Uru. Max's car effortlessly slid around the track illogically. Sometimes ramming him in the side and sometimes hitting him while driving backwards. Each time he got close, Jing could see Max, the only emotion in his opponents eyes was pure focus.

"I think I liked him better when he was an angry drunk" Jing grumbled as once again, he was protected by the shimmering light.

"Jing how much longer is your bracelet thing going to protect us for?"

"Uhh Its about halfway empty"

"We have maybe five hits left in us Jing. We gotta get outta here somehow"

Jing grimaced as he looked at the track in front of him. It was maybe another few winding miles of road that was twisted like taffy, and Frontline City shown in the distance, several hundreds of meters below him. The only reason that Jing hadn't struggled with driving here was Uru had been supporting him and they were driving at a relatively low speed. Without speeding up, there'd definitely be no way for him to escape Max. However, he'd certainly die if he fell off the track. He he no clue if the bracelet could protect him from a fall of this height, let alone Uru.

The bracelet continued to dim as he was continually struck by Max. Finally, there was only one dimly lit turtle left on the bracelet.

Max was a measured distance behind Jing once more, but stopped his onslaught all of sudden.

Back to the control room

It was only after Jing was struck nine times when Valencia spoke out against the massive pressure.

"STOP! STOP I PROMISE"

The pressure in the room immediately disappeared. Valencia and Adam were drenched in sweat, the surrounding technicians seemed to be in a slightly better condition as they were further away, even the doppelganger seemed to be slightly tired.

Valencia's eyes were firm as she said "I decree that this race will be held with the authority of the Oligarchs as the audition race, as lined in our prior contract with Max".

A glint appeared in Lord Huang's eyes as he prepared to leave. "Excellent work, now let's go meet Max at the finish Line".

Valencia spoke to the retreating old man "This goes against the will of our Master. It doesn't matter what schemes you have in place".

Lord Huang paused and moved to speak, but Bian responded more quickly

"Even your great Master can't stop Lord Huang's mechanisms anymore! I bet that he doesn't even have half the strength he had during the unification! That useless old man won-"

Bian was cut off he was sent flying into the wall, breaking into pieces.

Adam stood where Bian had just stood, his fist shone with a light as if it were on fire.

Bian's pieces formed together, forming back together into the appearance he had when he came in, while there were no physical signs of damage, his eyes and face showed incredible pain.

"Enjoy your recoil asshole" He said, spitting blood onto the ground.

"Worry about yourself, cuz I'll do it again if you talk about the Master like that" Adam responded confidently.

Before Bian could reply again, the air distorted, rippling until there was a black void floating in front of Adam. Everyone in the room took a step away from Adam, even Lord Huang didn't seem very comfortable about the presence of the dark hole.

After a moment, a wooshing sound appeared from the hole, sending out a blast of energy into Adam, who stood without resisting. The force of the blast pushed him several feet back, leaving drag marks on the ground. After delivering the strike at Adam, the ripples and dark hole simply disappeared as if they were never there.

Lord Huang's attendants began pulling Bian out of the room as Lord Huang began exiting the building. On his way out, he spoke into his wrist "Negotiations are complete, win the race"

back to the race

Before Lord Huang's message made it to Max, Jing and Uru had been at a loss on how to escape from Max. Neither of them were confident that they could escape from a car that could move so illogically on the track. Their attempts to speed up were matched perfectly by Max, and there seemed to be no way to shake him off.

After a few more seconds, Max's car made one more dash forward towards Jing and Uru.

"Here he comes!"

Jing attempted to dodge one more time, but as Max approached, his car's angle changed and Jing was struck on the back right side of his car. The bracelet made a groaning sound as it finally shattered, with its metal fragments flying through the air as Jing's car was sent into a spin. Jing and Uru both were screaming as the car approached the edge more than once, and slipping over the edge would lead to death. As he yelled, a fragment of the metal entered his mouth, and a surprising but familiar sensation appeared. A rushing wave of calm filled his mind, and spread throughout his body. As the fragments of the bracelet dissolved inside of his mouth, he felt an incredible rushing sensation. Unlike the rock he had eaten earlier, the feeling of energy didn't surge inside of his body. Instead he felt like lightning was traveling across his skin.

"Jing are you okaaaaeeuuuuuuu-wow" Uru was cut off as she felt the same energy pass through Jing and into the seat, eventually showing a shimmering light around Uru.

"How much faster do you think?"

"More than enough"

"Faster than?"

"He wont get close"

"Pass me control?"

"Its yours captain"

Jing grabbed the wheel and suddenly he felt more connected to the ground that he was driving on than ever before. He could tell that whatever was going on, he was definitely more sensitive, but he could now feel exactly how much support Uru was giving him just a moment ago. Turning the wheel felt like he was spinning a metal plate at the gym, and the pedals in the car began resisting him much more as he pressed in them. In exchange for the massive increase in weight, Jing now felt like he was able to control the car as he pleased.

"Uru?"

"Mhm?"

"Music."

"I know exactly what to play"

From his car speakers came the percussive trumpet intro as Jing made a small smile.

"Let's give them a show."

In the Plaza

After some initial hype about another race being broadcasted, many of the initial viewers had actually gone back to what they were doing.

"At this speed they aren't going to be any issue. Let me know when the race is over, I'm hungry. There's no fun watching a pro bully a noob." A giant seal covered in stones and spikes made its way away from the sphere.

"yeah sure, grab me a drink would you?" responded a man who looked more avian than human "I have a bet riding on how long this kid lasts so I wanna watch it."

"Hm? Oh it looks like the newbie has a trick up his sleeve!"

On the orb, a silver shine appeared around Jing's car, leaving a slight sparkling trail behind him. After he had been sent into a spin, he was very far away from Max, but suddenly began closing the gap, navigating the tight turns and loops with no difficulty.

"Hey! come back! I think they've finally stepped on the gas!" The feathered man called to his seal companion.

"About damn time, also that's a new color. I don't think we've seen a silver aura like that recently" The seal commented

"Naw not since the revolution. I think they wer-" The avian man was cut off by a flipper hitting him in the face "Ah yeah, its been a while" he continued bashfully.

"It looks like Max isn't going to let him win so easily. Finally we have a real race!"

on the track

Jing's ears thundered with the sound of the road beneath him as well as the sounds of the bass guitar as he mouthed the first words of the song.

I think it's time we blow this scene.

The drums and guitar continued to ramp as Jing instantly accelerated, immediately reaching the ludicrous speed he had first moved at when he had driven across the bridge yesterday. This time, Jing felt far more in control, his sharpened senses allowing him to control the car with far greater ease than he had ever felt in his life before.

In the ahead behind him, he saw a red glow. After only a second, Jing pulled alongside Max, who had shown a look of disbelief on his face. His eyes had a single burning question: "How?"

Get everybody and the stuff together

Jing only shrugged. If he tried opening the window the the roaring wind and engines would undoubtedly cover any sounds he could make. Instead, he pointed forward and started counting down with his fingers.

3, Jing held his hand with three fingers out to Max

2, He then lowered his thumb

1, Last, he lowered his pointer finger as he flipped Max the bird.

Let's Jam

To the sound of the saxophones, Jing floored the gas pedal and rocketed away in a silver beam.