The sudden appearance of the Trumpchi surprised everyone and left many puzzled about how it actually caught up, but that wasn't the only reason it caught everyone's attention. Everyone had their eyes glued to the screen without blinking, for just like the Wolf King in his Porsche, Xiao Luo chose to use the inner lane at the Devil's Corner, and on top of that, he had gone into the drift at a significantly higher speed than the Porsche. If the Trumpchi wasn't equipped with the NOx injection system, as many had speculated, it would undoubtedly lose control due to the absence of centripetal force.
Losing control at this speed meant that the car would roll over the side and crash, and if that happened, then there was a hundred percent guarantee that people were going to die!
"He's a lunatic! What is he trying to do, is he trying to commit suicide?"
Lei Shijian, behind the Porsche's wheels, was absolutely shocked and horrified with Xiao Luo's reckless actions.
Shen Qingyan took a fleeting glance at the Trumpchi from her rear mirror as she steered her Maserati through the drift. "Xiao Luo, you fool, hurry up and reduce your speed already!" she cursed.
"Xiao Luo!"
Su Li screamed and went completely pale as she lost all control of her emotions. There was no way she could remain calm, knowing that her younger brother was also in that Trumpchi.
However, none of their screams would matter. The Trumpchi charged into the inner lane at a speed of more than two hundred kilometers per hour. After initiating the drift, the rear end of the SUV swung forward and skidded laterally, precisely as Lei Shijian's Porsche had done earlier, but compared to him, Xiao Luo was driving a lot closer to the inner lane's edge. The distance between the front of the car and the inner lane guardrail was less than fifty centimeters apart.
They were pushing the inner lane drift to the limits, and just like that, it was back to a three-car race!
"Would you believe it... the Trumpchi has also made the drift from the inner lane... and, h-he... he drifted through the Devil's Corner at a speed of more than two hundred and ten kilometers an hour! The distance between the car bumper and the guardrail was no more than the width of a palm. Oh, my God, this is way too extreme, and it didn't roll over! That's right, you are not dreaming, that's exactly what I said—and it's not even equipped with a nitrous oxide injection system. Wow! How did he drift across the Devil's Corner at speeds much faster than the Wolf King, and still keep his car under control? Is something funny going on here... is he cheating, somehow?"
The commentator's voice trembled as he described the scene. He was overwhelmed by the Trumpchi's performance, and so deeply shocked was he by Xiao Luo's audacious maneuver that it stirred his soul.
Entering the Devil's Corner at that speed was undoubtedly going to cause the car to flip over from loss of traction and excessive centrifugal force, but how was it that the Trumpchi sustained a controlled drift? This was simply going against the laws of physics...
All the racing fans viewing from the foot of the mountain and forums had their hearts in their throats. Suddenly, there was dead silence as all eyes were on the black Trumpchi. The proverbial Dark Horse had turned up, fighting its way through, getting everyone's support, and drawing all the attention to itself.
The Devil's Corner stretched for more than two hundred meters, but it didn't take too long for a car to drift that distance. Although the exhilaration of the Trumpchi's drift was only short-lived, it was good enough to send shockwaves and leave a lasting impression on everyone.
When the drivers came out of Devil's Corner, the positions had changed drastically—and, Queen, who was initially in front, had dropped back to the last place, while the Trumpchi, which was last, was currently in second place, and leading the pack, was the Wolf King.
The current positions in the race were unbelievable, no less a miracle!
The silent crowd slowly began stirring at first, and soon loud cheers broke out as the people got fired up once again. Their reactions this time were even more intense than the first two laps, inspired by the romping exploits of the two unknown underdogs riding in the lowly-rated Trumpchi SUV. In fact, many of the fans now were squarely behind them, supporting and cheering them on.
"Unbelievable, this domestic car is simply unbelievable! It looks like it's going to do God's work!"
"Hey, it's already doing God's work!"
"This Trumpchi is like a ghost, and I'm rooting for it from now on, do your best, Trumpchi!"
Rousing cheers for Xiao Luo's Trumpchi were beginning to be heard among the crowd, one after another, and it didn't seem like it was about to stop any time soon. While, in the forum, a deluge of posts regarding the Trumpchi had already exploded, with countless messages flowing in rapidly like bamboo shoots sprouting after a spring rain. It was a compelling "David versus Goliath" match-up, and being able to catch up with the two modified supercars instantly cemented the Trumpchi's status as a "Godly Car."
Compared to the driver of the Trumpchi, Lei Shijian and Shen Qingyan both appeared dull and lifeless in the fans' eyes. The fact that a domestic car could catch up to their supercars was every bit a sharp slap across their faces. This was as good as admitting that, had Xiao Luo been driving a supercar, he would already have been streets ahead of them.
"Where did this b*stard come out from? This is way too ridiculous!"
Lei Shijian had a bad feeling about this, and his earlier self-confidence had all but disappeared. His opponent had caught up with him just by driving a Trumpchi; if he had not witnessed something like this with his own eyes, he would have refused to believe such a thing was possible, even with a gun pointed at his head.
"Boss, you can't have a breakdown now. If you lose, you'll have to compensate five million dollars to that man," his co-driver said.
"Scr*w your mum! If you say something that unlucky again, I'm going to throw you out of this vehicle while going at full speed!"
Lei Shijian fumed when he heard those comments, for he was rather superstitious, and there were many things that you couldn't say to him before or during a race. To mention something as bad as this was basically a jinx as far as he was concerned.
The man shut his mouth immediately.
Trailing in the Maserati, Shen Qingyan looked at the tail lights of the Trumpchi, still in shock. "I've underestimated this jerk once again. Li, your man, is not a simple guy. If you have a chance, you should properly investigate him," she said, "The first time I saw him, I knew he was different, and I even heard that Yang Hongzhi is now mentally unstable and going crazy. I don't know what the reason might be, but you never know, it could be related to him."
Su Li didn't say anything, and she stared right in front without blinking, deep in thought—he possessed unbelievable basketball skills, had mastery over four foreign languages, and now he had just displayed god-like driving skills; no matter how one looked at it, there was no way Xiao Luo was an ordinary person. Su Li suddenly felt that she hardly knew anything about Xiao Luo and realized that whatever she knew about him was merely the tip of the iceberg.
In the Trumpchi, Su Canye's face was as white as a sheet, he looked terrible, and he felt even worse. Being a competitive racer himself, he should already have gotten used to drifting at high speeds, but in the little time that he had spent riding in this Trumpchi with Xiao Luo, he finally had to admit that he couldn't handle it at all. To be more precise, it wasn't that he wasn't used to drifting, but rather, it was the death-defying way that his brother-in-law, Xiao Luo, drove that he couldn't get used to, and his head was in a perpetual spin.
There was no way Xiao Luo could catch up to Lei Shijian and Shen Qingyan on the straight course, but on the winding roads of Wild Wolf Mountain, the Trumpchi was like a dragon entering its domain. There was no let-up in speed, whether Xiao Luo was driving on a straight course or driving on the winding road sections, and he seemed to completely ignore the principles of centripetal force and traction.
Terrified, Su Canye endured the harrowing ride and kept himself from vomiting. "Brother-in-law, you're practically a monster!" he said as he stole a glance at Xiao Luo.
"Shut up!"
Xiao Luo scowled and looked straight ahead, not wanting to be distracted.
...
"Alright, folks... we're heading towards the serpentine bend now, a tricky, continuous S-shaped section of the course, so let's see what kind of performance this Dark Horse can put up," the commentator said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please do not blink, because, at the upcoming S-shaped course, we can see for ourselves how the Trumpchi was able to catch up earlier. Okay, let us all stay alert and have a good look..."
The commentator, a tall and skinny young man, was now suddenly giving more attention to the Trumpchi. For, like everyone else, he was extremely curious how this Trumpchi had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and how it was able to catch up despite falling so far behind in the early part of the race.
Everyone had their eyes on the large screen, paying full attention to the race and hardly daring to breathe or blink an eye. They had a strong hunch that this Trumpchi would reveal its true potential soon and would charge all the way to the finish line.
"Keep dreaming, as long as I drift towards the inner lane every single time, he can forget about overtaking me!"
Lei Shijian was getting updates through his co-driver's phone and was aware of everyone's sentiments. The posts were coming in fast and furious, and he wasn't pleased with what he heard. As a right turn came up, Lei Shijian immediately took the right lane to initiate his drift, thereby negating any chance Xiao Luo had of overtaking him.
...
At Lei Shijian entered the turn, his primary intention was to prevent the Trumpchi from taking the inside lane. He moved his Porsche to the right lane and changed down, locking his rear wheels momentarily to initiate the drift. But, before Lei Shijian could even get back on the gas to power through the drift, Xiao Luo instantly made use of the split-second opportunity to pass the Porsche on its left.
"Oh, my, oh, my God! What do we see here? The Trumpchi has overtaken the Wolf King from the outside! The driver deliberately took the left lane and shot past Wolf King, but he's pretty close to the exit point, so I'm not sure if he's in a good position to initiate the drift safely. Can he still make it in time now, or will the rear end of his car bump into the outer guardrail?"
The commentator, a tall and skinny young man, raised his voice in excitement as he described the action. But, anxiety was written all over his face knowing the precarious position the Trumpchi was in coming into the right turn.
The crowd viewing the race from the giant screen broke into a cold sweat as they watched the Trumpchi passing the Porsche without initiating drift. The point that Wolf King had chosen to slide into the drift was undoubtedly the optimum spot, as he sustained the drift through the corner, making sure that he wouldn't lose control of the car. Had he done it any time earlier or even later, there was a good chance that he would not be in full control of the car resulting in a possible crash. The Trumpchi had passed the optimum point to initiate the drift, and with that, exposed itself to a very high risk of not making a proper entry at the exit point.
"I'll change my last name to his if he doesn't roll over this time!"
Shen Qingyan was incredulous and, at the same time, furious at Xiao Luo's reckless actions, for it went against everything that she knew about racing here in Wild Wolf Mountain. Forget the Devil's Corner earlier on, for what he was doing now was next to impossible to pull off, and it completely ignored the principle of centripetal force. How could he expect to get away with it every time?
Right after Shen Qingyan said that she saw the Trumpchi power-slide into a drift. It did so without reducing its speed at all, and in a low gear, the rear wheels were loaded up, spinning hard, and momentarily losing traction to power the car through sideways. Xiao Luo modulated the throttle and counter-steered the wheel to keep the drift going. It was like a beautiful skating performance on the ice, and the Trumpchi strained to hold its drift position on the outer lane as the oversteer pushed it wide, and the back bumper kept getting closer to the guardrail.
"1 meter, 0.5 meters, 0.3 meters...
"20 centimeters, 15 centimeters, 10 centimeters, 5 centimeters..."
There was tension and dread in the commentator's nervous voice as he gripped his microphone tightly with his eyes peeled onto the huge screen. He was paying close attention to the distance between the back of the Trumpchi and the guardrail, for, the moment they bumped, it wasn't hard to imagine what would happen considering the speed the vehicle was going at right. It was very likely that the Trumpchi would spin out of control and crash, breaking up into hundreds of pieces.
From the crowd at the Wild Wolf Mountain to the online forum's followers, everyone watched the action without blinking an eye, reluctant to miss such an epic moment. The atmosphere was thick with anxiety and a lingering sense of foreboding.
As Lei Shijian was mid-way through the drift, counter-steering and keeping the nose of the Porsche toward the exit point, he glimpsed at his rear mirror to check on the Trumpchi, which had only now initiated its drift. As a racer himself, Lei Shijian was fully aware of the Trumpchi's predicament and knew this was a matter of life and death.
"Oh, my God, I'm never ever racing again!"
In the Trumpchi, Su Canye shut his eyes in fear and screamed wildly as his mind went blank. While people raced for thrills and excitement, his brother-in-law, Xiao Luo, pushed the envelope and seemed to be living life on the edge, putting the lives of people at stake. Each time the Trumpchi powered into the drift, Su Canye felt like the car was about to flip over, and every single time it almost did. Su Canye could take no more, the psychological toll it was taking on him was wearing him down, and he was losing it.
Xiao Luo kept his cool and his eyes on the bend. He had powered in and went into shift lock mode to initiate the drift, quickly counter-steering to keep the nose in line as the high torque helped to sustain the slide into the exit point. Xiao Luo's hands and feet working instinctively to prevent the car from fishtailing into the guardrail.
"Oh, no, the Trumpchi has scraped the rail! The back of the Trumpchi had knocked into the guardrail!"
The commentator screamed into the mic, and as his voice carried across the foot of the mountain, everyone's heart thumped with trepidation. Some looked away from the large screen or had their hands over their eyes, unable to bear watching the Trumpchi crash to its fate. Their minds were already playing out the crash and the casualties as a result of it.
Everyone cringed in dread as they waited for the imminent crash, but, lo and behold, the Trumpchi did not smash into the guardrail. Instead, Xiao Luo had powered the SUV into the drift, causing massive oversteer, but he counter-steered and balanced the throttle smoothly to keep it under control. And, as the rear wheels gained traction once more, he gassed the pedal to correct the slide into the exit point and steadily completed the drift out of the bend. The Trumpchi was now in the first place!
The P.A. system boomed across the ground, and the commentator was ecstatic. "Oh, my God, it didn't crash... this is absolutely exhilarating! The Trumpchi made the drift and did not bump into the guardrail, missing it with barely a few centimeters to spare. Unbelievable, is this 'The God of the Mountain' himself driving the Trumpchi? What a driver!" he screamed.
All the fans were so immersed in the race that they cheered heartily. Whether at the Wild Wolf Mountain or in the forum, everyone was filled with an indescribable sense of euphoria.
On the huge screen, the Trumpchi maneuvered itself like a ghost in the middle of the night—drifting, skidding as it fought to align itself, and powering through the exit point of the right-bend. It entered the bend like a tiger and exited like a dragon, flying down the road with no hesitation or any signs of slowing down. As a result, the Trumpchi had widened its distance with the Porsche and Maserati.
When everyone suddenly realized that the Trumpchi was now leading the race out of Devil's Corner, another rousing cheer went up. They watched in awe as it managed to catch up by making use of the multiple sharp turns in the Wild Wolf Mountain, and, what a supreme effort it was, making small gains after exiting each bend. Eventually, the Trumpchi caught up by the time they had reached Devil's Corner. As there were many more bends up ahead, everyone backed the Trumpchi to widen its lead.
"He's the 'God of Racing,' this guy is a god!"
"What they say is true, you can't judge a person by their appearance, just as you can't measure the sea with a pint pot. Who would have thought this guy would be this formidable—he caught up with Wolf King and Queen, and he was just driving the Trumpchi. This kind of driving ability is super cool!"
"Is there anyone who can tell me what that guy's name is? I want to be his apprentice!"
The image of the Trumpchi's superb drifting technique passing through countless bends had been firmly imprinted into the minds of the fans, and everyone was interested and curious to know more about Xiao Luo, and some even worshipped him.
Lei Shijian and Shen Qingyan were completely stunned as their supercars suddenly seemed insignificant compared to the Trumpchi.
"It's over, we'll have to compensate the five million dollars!"
The co-driver of the Porsche cried out, looking dejected and even appeared to be losing his voice. "That guy pretended to be weak just to take advantage of us, to think that he could overtake us when he's just driving a Trumpchi. We're bound to have to compensate this time around," he croaked.
"You don't know sh*t, it's not like all the roads of Wild Wolf Mountain are filled with corners like this. There's a straight road up ahead that is two kilometers long, and that's more than enough for me to overtake him!"
Lei Shijian snarled, but inwardly, even he was very worried. It was undeniable that Xiao Luo's driving skills were above both his and Shen Qingyan. If Xiao Luo had been driving a supercar, he would have already won the race by now. Even driving a Trumpchi, it was still hard to determine who was going to win it.
Desperately, Lei Shijian glared at the taillights of the Trumpchi right in front of him, and as it started weaving through the bends and was about to leave his sight, he scowled: "Bloody, who the hell is this kid? That is way too odd!"
In the Maserati, Shen Qingyan was equally baffled and regretted her earlier words. "F*ck looks like I've to change my surname to his now," she said.
Su Li looked pale as she sat quietly in her seat in a state of shock, though her eyes glinted when she saw how capable Xiao Luo was at competitive racing. It was simply unbelievable, but wasn't he previously just a worker at Jiangcheng? Lots of questions started to pop up in her head!
"Ah, forget it, I'm going to ignore that jerk for now. I can't afford to lose to Lei Shijian no matter what!"
Shen Qingyan stopped thinking about Xiao Luo and put her mind back into winning the race. She had to find an opportunity to overtake Lei Shijian.
....
"Oh, wow, the Trumpchi's performance at Devil's Corner was incredible. He has increased the distance between himself and Wolf King, but this is a three-lap race, so there's still a way to go to the flag. The question is, can the Trumpchi maintain its lead right through to the end? Up ahead, there's a straight road that is two kilometers long. Can he withstand the pressure from the supercar with that engine of his?" the commentator said.
God of Racing! God of Racing!! God of Racing!!!
Loud cheers broke out at the Wild Wolf Mountain, as everyone raised their fists and cheered for the Trumpchi. The underdog had completely won over the crowd, and many of them mentioned that they were going to go back, get a Trumpchi and try driving in the Wild Wolf Mountain race with it.
...