Ruan Shiqing couldn't help but worry about Luther.
Practicing driving at a garbage dump is completely different from such a brutal and intense competition.
Yet the game still goes on.
Luther avoided Larkin's malicious attempt to cut him off. He moved sideways, accelerated suddenly, and overtook Larkin who had been leading the car by a large margin, and took the first place.
The black shuttle with a blue star pattern on it rolled up the metal debris in the garbage dump and began its second lap.
“Larkin hit him!”, “Larkin hit him!”
The situation changed in an instant. The roars of Larkin's supporters in the audience were continuous. The gamblers who had placed their bets on Larkin pounded the armrests of their seats with bloodshot eyes and roared furiously.
Larkin, who was half a car space behind, made an OK gesture to the audience, suddenly pulled down the joystick to speed up, and crashed straight into the rear of "Gaia".
The cockpit shook violently, and Luther saw from the rearview display that Larkin raised his middle finger and smiled at him viciously.
The audience roared like a tsunami: "Overtake him!", "Larkin overtakes him!"
Luther gritted his teeth, tried his best to stabilize the car body, pulled down the joystick and rushed forward like mad.
Suddenly, someone threw a stone at him from somewhere in the audience. The high-speed shuttle car hit the stone, and a large part of the car body was dented.
The body of "Gaia" froze.
Larkin took advantage of this opportunity to overtake and took the lead again.
There was a sudden cheer from the audience, and supporters shouted "Larkin must win".
No one cared about the stone that fell from the audience.
The kids were so angry that they clenched their fists and said to Ruan Shiqing: "They attacked by surprise!"
Ruan Shiqing's expression was also very ugly. He was about to contact the organizer to question the fairness of the competition, but he heard Xiong Fangfang say: "In shuttle car competitions, some minor fights are normal. As long as it is not too excessive, the organizer will not intervene to stop it."
At every shuttle race, there are always radical spectators who bring stones or metal blocks to attack the contestants they don’t like.
The organizers and the players are well aware of this, but this is an illegal competition to begin with, and these minor evil deeds not only went unchastised, but also became the highlight of the competition.
Because sometimes racers are unlucky and get hit on the head or important parts, resulting in shuttle car accidents.
Blood can sometimes stimulate the audience's emotions better.
Ruan Shiqing fell silent, and the kids stopped shouting slogans.
The little dragon cub clutched the morning glory loudspeaker and said angrily, "What an unfair competition! We won't come again!"
"Okay, I won't come anymore." Ruan Shiqing responded softly and touched his head.
The chase on the field became more intense because of this incident.
Although Larkin got rid of Luther, Luther was still following him half a parking space behind and he couldn't get rid of him no matter what.
Two laps, three laps… seven laps, eight laps.
At this moment in the race, the contestants can no longer hear the sounds from the audience. The blood in their bodies is rushing upwards, and their vision and hearing are highly focused on the field and the cars behind them.
There are two laps left to decide the winner.
Sweat dripped from Lajin's forehead. He looked at the red warning light on the display and gritted his teeth.
He bought this car at great expense, and he ran eight laps in a row without stopping to change parts. He thought that this alone would allow him to be far ahead of other players. But he didn't expect that when other players had to go to the repair shop for temporary repairs because their engines overheated and parts burned out, Luther kept following him closely.
He remembered that his subordinates had tipped him off before, saying that Luther's car had been severely modified, and asked him to be careful, but he sneered.
"Damn it!" Lakin's eyes were fierce. If he had known earlier, he should have asked someone to break the boy's legs.
He looked back, gritted his teeth, and suddenly sneered.
But it’s not too late now.
He deliberately slowed down, and just when Luther was about to overtake him, he suddenly pressed a red button, and the high-speed spiral blade hidden at the bottom of the shuttle cabin immediately stretched out and instantly cut through Luther's engine.
The engine was damaged and the car body began to vibrate violently.
The display screen was filled with bright red alerts.
The car body began to shake uncontrollably. Luther had no time to worry about anything else. All his attention was focused on stabilizing the car.
Larkin took the opportunity to pass him again, raised his middle finger to him, and mouthed, "Victory will only belong to me."
Luther gritted his teeth, but knew that this was not the time to be angry. He barely managed to steady the shuttle that was about to hit the metal garbage, and rushed to the maintenance depot at the fastest speed.
Larkin was already there, and the maintenance personnel in the repair shop were replacing the burned parts for him.
He looked at Luther, who was one step behind, with an arrogant look.
The maintenance personnel surrounded the "Gaia" and looked at the huge gap in the engine. After checking the inside, they said with regret: "The internal damage is serious. By the time it is repaired, the race will be over."
After saying that, he glanced at Larkin and said with a chuckle, "It looks like Larkin is going to win the championship again."
Currently, only the two of them are far ahead, having already run eight laps, while the other players are still struggling in the sixth and seventh laps.
Larkin glanced at Luther, whose face was flushed, with contempt, and urged him, "Hurry up, I want to break the record this time."
The live broadcast of the maintenance depot was projected onto the big screen.
Countless people shouted Larkin's name as if he had won the championship.
As for the scene where Larkin used the spiral blade to attack the Gaia engine, no one noticed it because Larkin was at the far end of the field and was concealed. Or maybe they noticed it, but no one cared.
After all, it was not a fair competition, but a gamble mixed with blood and interests.
Ruan Shiqing frowned as he watched the live broadcast on the central virtual screen.
He knew the car he had modified himself best, and he trusted Luther's driving skills. Such a large area of damage was definitely not normal.
"I'll go to the maintenance garage and see if I can help." Ruan Shiqing gave the instruction and lowered the seat.
Only after I fell to the ground did I remember that Snowball was still in my arms.
But time was running out and he couldn't afford to waste any more time, so he could only rush to the maintenance depot with Snowball in his arms.
In the maintenance warehouse, Luther was arguing with the maintenance personnel: "You are too slow."
At this time, Larkin's red racing car was almost finished with maintenance.
"We have always been at this speed." The maintenance worker frowned and began to scold him: "If you are not satisfied, you can fix it yourself."
Luther clenched his fists in panic, but there was nothing he could do.
"Then we'll fix it ourselves." Ruan Shiqing stepped forward and looked down at the maintenance personnel squatting at the bottom of the engine, his expression cold and indifferent.
The maintenance personnel had naturally heard of his bad reputation, so they no longer dared to act arrogantly. They crawled out from the bottom of the engine and retreated timidly to the side.
Ruan Shiqing took off the smart computer on his wrist, put the smart computer and the puppy on the cabinet beside him, and told him not to run around. Then he asked Luther to help him and took full charge of the maintenance work.
In order to save time, he didn't even change his work clothes. He went straight to the bottom of the engine, asked Luther to hand him tools, and began to quickly repair the damaged parts.
At this time, Larkin's car had been repaired. He jumped into the shuttle cabin and waved to Luther: "The goddess of victory will eventually favor me."
Luther had no time to get angry with him. He held the tools and handed them to Ruan Shiqing one by one. He did not urge him because of Lajin's provocation.
Ruan Shiqing's arrival made him feel reassured, and his previous anger and resentment subsided.
He believed Ruan Shiqing.
Rong Heng squatted on the cabinet and watched Ruan Shiqing, regardless of the dirt, put half of his body into the engine.
The engine had just run for eight laps at high speed. Although it had stopped running, the high temperature inside had not yet dissipated. However, he ignored the possibility of scalding himself with the high temperature and wrapped his palm with a cloth to quickly check the internal parts.
Occasionally, when he asked Luther to hand him the corresponding tools and parts, his voice was steady and powerful.
Although he still has the immaturity and youthfulness of a teenager, he is already someone that no one dares to underestimate.
Rong Heng's eyes showed approval.
Perhaps if there is a chance in the future, he should use his real identity and get to know Ruan Shiqing again.
is a trustworthy partner and a sincere friend.
Thinking of leaving, Rong Heng glanced at the intelligent computer beside him.
According to the agreement, the person arranged by Dares to pick him up should have arrived by now.
Speak of the devil and he will appear.
The intelligent computer suddenly flashed red, and Nota's deliberately low voice sounded: "Your Highness, Colonel Dares himself has arrived outside the stadium. Should we send him a location?"
Why did Dares come here in person
Rong Heng's face darkened.
While no one was paying attention, he jumped off the cabinet with the smart computer in his mouth and found a relatively hidden shelf to hide.
Just when he was about to ask Noah to send a text message and ask Dares to stay where he was and go over directly, his eyes caught the young man who was concentrating on his work.
His face was stained with black oil, but he did not look embarrassed, and his eyes were clear and determined.
If he left at this time, the boy would think that he was careless and lost him, right
He will definitely feel very guilty.
Rong Heng hesitated for a moment, and then entered the command again, which became: "Let Dares stay on standby and leave at midnight. I still have some things to deal with."
Ruan Shiqing was extremely fast. After replacing the internal parts, he found a piece of metal and prepared to weld it directly on, thus roughly sealing the gap on the side of the engine at the fastest speed.
During the process, he asked in a low voice: "The gap seems to be caused by some sharp object. What happened?"
Luther gritted his teeth and told him what happened at that time.
Ruan Shiqing's eyes gradually turned cold.
He pondered for a moment, discarded the flat piece of metal, and found two extremely hard metal plates covered with sharp iron spikes, and fixed them on the engine casing, one on the left and one on the right.
At this time, Gaia's engines are like two huge maces.
This scene was broadcasted, and the audience was talking about it. Even the commentator laughed: "Welding such a heavy metal plate, the spikes will also increase the resistance. The speed of 'Gaia' will be slowed down by at least one-tenth? Or one-eighth?"
"Does he want to use these two maces to hit Larkin? But with such a heavy body, I'm afraid he can't even smell Larkin's car exhaust."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen."
"Larkin is already halfway ahead, Luther is bound to lose."
Ruan Shiqing turned a deaf ear to the laughter from the outside arena and whispered to Luther, "'Gaia' has a speed limit. If you adjust the hydraulic system data to the highest level, the speed can be instantly increased by one-fifth of the original speed. But the speed limit will cause the engine to be overloaded, and it can only last for ten seconds at most. If it exceeds ten seconds, the engine will stop working due to overload. You have to calculate the time well."
Luther put on his goggles, nodded at him, and rushed into the arena again.
At this time, Larkin had already led most of the lap and was about to finish the ninth lap.
He even had time to wave to the audience.
Luther looked at the red dot representing Larkin on the display and calculated the distance in his mind.
Come a little closer, a little closer...
"Gaia" rushed forward like a sharp blade that had been unsealed. The cars that tried to overtake it were left far behind before they could get close enough.
And the distance between him and Larkin was gradually shortening.
Luther calculated the distance in his mind, and when the distance difference between him and Larkin was less than half a lap, he followed Ruan Shiqing's instructions and quickly pushed the hydraulic system data to the highest level. Then he leaned back and pulled the joystick hard, and the entire car pointed directly at Larkin like a black arrow.
"Gaia" almost became a shadow on the field.
The audience that had been cheering for Larkin was silent for a moment. Only the kids raised their horns again and shouted enthusiastically, "Come on, Luther!"
The host on the podium had a trembling voice. She called up the data and projected it onto the central screen, speaking incoherently with excitement: "What happened? Gaia's speed increased to 1,286 kilometers per hour in an instant!"
"This is the highest speed in the history of podracing!"
She stared at the video screen sent back: "Can Luther catch up with Larkin?"
Larkin was also thinking about a question at this time.
After a repair, his car's speed had dropped slightly compared to before, but the biggest threat was gone, so he wasn't worried about winning.
The premise is that Luther didn't suddenly drive fast.
He saw through the display screen that the black spot behind him was getting closer and closer to him.
Larkin pulled the joystick angrily, but the car failed to speed up as he expected.
At this time, Luther was already behind him.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!
Luther counted the seconds in his mind, and when he caught up with Larkin and passed him by, he suddenly adjusted the hydraulic system data back to its original position, then pulled the joystick to the right, and the entire car body swung to the left in an instant. The engine covered with hard iron spikes, with the help of inertia, hit Larkin's shuttle racing hard.
The red racing car was thrown out by the huge impact force, rushed out of the track, and knocked down several towering metal garbage piles in succession. It rolled several times before finally stopping.
The audience was silent for a moment, and then countless people stood up and slapped the table in front of them frantically, shouting and yelling: "Larkin! Get up!", "Larkin! Get up!"
With blood all over his head, Lakin pushed open the cabin door and fell out of the shuttle cabin in a mess.
He needed treatment, but the audience who had lost the bet were ignited with anger. They roared, and some even threw stones and metal blocks at Larkin, shouting at the top of their lungs: "Get up! Go and defeat him!", "You useless bastard, get up and catch up with him!"
Ruan Shiqing held the puppy in his arms, stood in front of the maintenance garage, and looked up at the huge virtual screen in the center.
Larkin collapsed on the track; Luther who had already started his last lap, and countless racers who were trying their best to catch up with him but were already doomed to fail.
There were also audience members whose heads were filled with anger and who were shouting crazily.
Everything gathered together and gradually twisted into countless swaying lights and shadows.
Every sound, every figure, like parts in an engine, are burning fanatically in this lost land.
It is a gray planet far away from the star and without any light, and it has been able to survive to this day only by relying on human fuel.
Maybe one day, at a certain moment, when everything is burned out, the planet will sink into darkness completely.
Ruan Shiqing suddenly felt a sense of suffocation.
It shouldn't be like this.
A feeling of powerlessness rose from his body. The boy holding the cub in his arms lowered his eyebrows and murmured softly: "It shouldn't be like this."
But it shouldn’t be like this, how should it be
He couldn't say it, so he could only sigh.
Rong Heng raised his eyes to look at him, his gaze deep, as if he understood why he was sighing.
He turned his head and looked at the abandoned garbage dump in the distance, with sneer in his eyes.
It really shouldn't be like this.
There are too many garbage planets like b3024. Some planets are poor in resources, have harsh environments, and have no signs of life, but they can just accommodate the garbage and waste produced by prosperous planets.
The original intention of their appearance was that the existence of garbage dumps would affect the environment of prosperous planets, so the empire began to issue laws, looking for lifeless planets like B3024, and sent out transport ships and teams of colonial soldiers. They took root on the barren planets and built energy centers. The discarded garbage was converted into energy, stored, and then transported to various planets.
On a planet like this, there should only be people sent by the government.
But no one knows when the empire began to become corrupt from the inside out. Some staff members of the energy center, for their own selfish interests, either took in criminals wanted by the empire or colluded with interstellar pirates, turning the center into a hideout for interstellar pirates...
After thousands of years of development, the energy center deceived its superiors and subordinates, and these desolate planets were gradually filled with gray populations.
But the corrupt empire knew nothing about this.
Or, in other words, knowing it, but being unable to do anything about it.
The war with the Zerg has almost drained the huge empire. The tycoons who made their fortunes from the war have gradually gained control of the empire's economic lifeline. With their strong financial resources, the power of the big capitalists has penetrated into every aspect of the empire. Countless officials have been bribed and degraded to become their mouthpieces.
Even the royal family had to be restrained by such a powerful network of forces.
His mother tried to change all this, but died on the front line.
Now, he is the only one left in the royal family and the Ymir clan.
He had to rush back and take up this burden.
Luther took the lead and completed the last lap.
"Gaia", covered with sharp iron thorns, broke through the red line, arrived at the finish line first, and took down the flag of victory.
However, apart from the little ones who were cheering hard, there were only sporadic voices cheering for him, which were quickly drowned out by waves of howling and cursing.
Only the host on the podium was still making an impassioned speech, inviting the new champion to come up and give a speech.
Luther just held the trophy and bowed in the direction of Ruan Shiqing.
He said: "I am standing here just to prove that those who discriminate against race are all idiots!"
He raised his hand and pounded his chest, his eyes firm: "Ancient humans are no worse than any other race! Not just today, I will use the rest of my life to prove it to you!"
The verbal abuse in the audience stopped, and countless people looked at him in shock.
There were also some rare ancient humans who straightened their backs, clapped their hands wildly on the table and cheered, with proud expressions on their faces.
They repeated Luther's words: "Ancient humans are no worse than any other race! Those who discriminate against race are fools!"
The noise was getting louder and louder.
Luther held up the trophy and gestured to the audience stands. He bowed deeply before jumping off the platform and trotting towards Ruan Shiqing.
This tall and strong man became somewhat at a loss in front of Ruan Shiqing. The only thing he could do was to cover his left chest with his right hand and make the most solemn promise: "Today's victory is half due to you. After the game, I will go to Sikkim. But you will always be the beacon guiding me forward. No matter when and where you need me in the future, Luther Montagu will go through fire and water without hesitation."
He lowered his head to Ruan Shiqing as a sign of respect.
"This is the honor you earned yourself." Ruan Shiqing laughed and punched him: "Keep in touch in the future. If I have the opportunity to go to Sikkim, we will meet again then."
The champion of the high-speed shuttle race will receive a pass to Sikkim and a prize of 500,000 star coins.
Luther went to collect the prize money immediately, and then transferred half of it to Ruan Shiqing.
Ruan Shiqing returned the transfer and showed him the interface of his betting, saying with a smile: "You earn much more for me than I do. If you need money to go to Sikkim, don't be polite to me. I will charge you interest."
Before the game started, Luther's odds were ranked fifth from the bottom at 20.8, while Larkin's odds were only 2.5.
This is enough to show how big the gap is.
But sometimes a huge gap also means a huge benefit. Ruan Shiqing bet 100,000 star coins at that time. According to the odds, the star coins he finally got were: +100,000=2,180,000
The Star Coins wagered increased by nearly twenty-one times.
Seeing this, Luther felt relieved and did not insist any more.
After saying goodbye to Luther, Ruan Shiqing went to the audience to look for the Xiong brothers and the cubs.
The little dragon and the little fox were lying on the shoulders of the bear brothers respectively, while the little robot 09 was pushing a cart with the mermaid cubs. The flying robots that were released to cheer for Luther had also been collected by the careful little robots.
Everyone was very excited because Luther won the final victory.
Xiong Yuanyuan rubbed her hands happily: "In order to support Luther, I also bet 2,000 star coins, and now I'm making a fortune!"
Xiong Fangfang glanced at him and showed his interface: "I bet 5,000 star coins."
The two brothers looked at each other and laughed heartily.
The little dragon cub and the little fox reached out their hands to Ruan Shiqing. After being taken by their father, the little dragon cub asked excitedly, "Is Luther going to Sikkim in the future? Can we go too?"
Nota curled his lips and said, "There are many bad people in Sikkim. We will be bullied if we go there."
Her home planet is Tutar. Tutar and Sikkim are very close, and people from Sikkim often travel to Tutar. In the eyes of the little fox, people from Sikkim are just like people from Tutar, arrogant and rude, and they are all bad people.
It would be dangerous for them to go there.
Even the little mermaid next to him let out a soft "ah" in agreement, grabbed Ruan Shiqing's sleeve, and shook her head gently.
Don't go to Sikkim.
Ruan Shiqing patted the cubs' heads and said softly, "We won't go, we'll just stay on planet B3024."
The kids had simple ideas, but he thought more deeply.
The identities of these cubs are sensitive and are not tolerated by their respective races, so they cannot be seen in public.
If he really wants to take them away from planet b3024 one day, he must be strong enough.