Chapter 87: Extremespeed
Xia Fei had installed two fuel injection systems to the energy input unit and had widened the inner diameter of the injection nozzle by 0.4 millimeters previously. This emergency setup he had done was usually kept shut, but once it was opened, the injection system would be working at full capacity, providing the engine with even more horsepower.
However, the burden of the entire machine would also be raised past the limit it could bear.
Xia Fei, who did not have the materials on hand to replace the damaged pressure pipe, could only grit his teeth as he proceeded with directly connecting the pressure pipe to the engine. Indubitably, the risk of driving the hovercar had increased yet again; without the aid of the pressure control system, all the pressure would be vented without reservations.
Xia Fei had no other choice. If he wished to continue participating in this race, he had to take an even greater risk. Of course, the thought of giving up the race had never even crossed his mind.
Taking a deep breath, Xia Fei’s hand turned on the switch in the fuel injection system, closed the hood, and hopped into the cockpit.
“Oh, wow! Xia Fei has really repaired his hovercar by the looks of it, and he should be intending to get back in the race!” gasped the red-haired commentator in disbelief.
“While such tenacity is worth admiration, he’s unfortunately used up four minutes fifteen seconds of his time repairing the hovercar. Xia Fei is now ranked last, and Twin Dragons’ hovercar 0 is just about to complete an entire lap over his,” said the bespectacled commentator in a regretful tone.
Over by the staff area, Moon Song, Chen Dong, Beihai, and Manjun all had their eyes glued to the screen, each of them already a bundle of nerves.
“Xia Fei, are you still able to continue the race?” asked Chen Dong anxiously.
Xia Fei’s communicator was connected to his helmet, and because he had taken it off when he was repairing the hovercar, Chen Dong and the others were unable to establish any communication with him despite their worries, which was why Chen Dong had so urgently asked the question after Xia Fei was done with his repairs and donned on his helmet again.
“I’m fine; we’re continuing the race,” answered Xia Fei calmly. His fingers very quickly activated all the various systems of his hovercar.
“Do you have a bone to pick with Bai Ye? He looked like he wanted to hit you with his hovercar earlier,” wondered Chen Dong.
The instant Bai Ye’s hovercar brushed past Xia Fei, everyone in the control room could feel their hearts in their throats. This was especially so for Moon Song, who had flipped over a table in a fit of anger, like a mother tiger that had its cubs threatened, and nearly sent the computer crashing to the ground.
“We’ll talk about everything after I get back,” replied Xia Fei. “Just give me a report of the first level right now.”
Beihai, who was the one in charge of the first level, reported at once, “The first level is safe. All the other racers have already made it through.”
Xia Fei pushed the engine activation button and floored the accelerator. The fiery-red hovercar let out an angry growl, then went zipping off.
Upon fully activating the dual-injection system, it became apparent that the sound and the exhaust of his hovercar were very different from before.
The originally blue flame now had a tinge of green to it, and it made exploding sounds from time to time.
The hovercar flashed past the stands.
An explosive noise rang, and those people on the stands all covered their ears as they gazed at Xia Fei in horror before he disappeared into the distance. They were all uncertain about what had just happened.
“That deflagration Xia Fei’s hovercar is ejecting is really too dangerous. Just what modifications did he make to his vehicle such that the engine would make such a deafening noise?” wondered the red-haired commentator. That thunderous sound had given the director, cameramen, and commentators in the live studio quite a scare.
That middle-aged commentator pushed up his glasses and explained, “A deflagration occurs when a vehicle is experiencing too great a pressure as the fuel gets injected to the engine. The engine is unable to break down so much fuel in a time, so a portion of the trace fuel will be discharged into the air. As the combustion is insufficient, the explosion we now hear and see is what happens when the trace fuel ends up meeting air.”
“Doesn’t that mean that driving Xia Fei’s hovercar 99 is very dangerous?” inquired the young red-haired commentator nervously.
“Very dangerous, indeed. Increasing the pressure inside the fuel tank can result in the engine receiving a lot more fuel, giving it an explosive boost in performance, but it can also very easily cause the engine to fall apart due to the immense strain. If I wasn’t mistaken, Xia Fei installed a fuel injection system to hovercar 99,” explained the experienced middle-aged commentator.
The red-haired commentator urgently pulled out the information on hovercar 99 that they had gotten from the inspection team and cried in bewilderment, “Senior, Xia Fei did indeed install a fuel injection system to his hovercar, and it’s not just one but two, giving twice the pressure. Even the injection nozzles themselves have been widened by 0.4 millimeters.”
The middle-aged man was startled, exclaiming, “WHAT?! DUAL-INJECTION SYSTEM? That’s too insane… Only a madman willing to throw away his life would do something like that!”
The effect of turning on the injection system was apparent. The speed of Xia Fei’s hovercar had reached 3800m/s, and it was still climbing.
Xia Fei had emptied his mind of stray thoughts and had entirely focused on the track ahead, his two feet interchanging between the accelerator and brakes.
Soon, Xia Fei had caught up to the hovercar trailing at the end of the pack, and it was barely putting up a fight as it was left far behind by the other hovercars ahead.
This section of the track was a straight path, which stretched over twenty-two miles. Xia Fei put pedal to metal and whizzed through as fast as he could, his top speed going well over 4000m/s.
Speed was king when overtaking on a straight track.
One, two, three…
Xia Fei had already left six other hovercars eating his dust in that one stretch, and before him was a soft turn. He gritted his teeth and had his left foot hovering over the brakes, not stepping on it.
Taking a turn at a speed beyond the means of most hovercars, the severe tilt threw Xia Fei’s body to the side. Gritting his teeth, he bore the enormous centrifugal force he was under as his two hands firmly grasped the steering wheel, making micro-adjustments to stabilize the vehicle.
The hovercar shuddered violently, almost as if it were about to flip over. The alloy frame was shaking as if it were experiencing an earthquake.
It managed to complete a beautiful, high-speed cornering maneuver and exploded out in flight.
“Xia Fei’s mad. He’s really gone raving mad. To think he’d attempt a high-speed cornering while maintaining a speed of almost 4000m/s. High-speed cornering is the hardest maneuver to pull off when racing with a hovercar as it requires the driver to constantly adjust the steering wheel where even the slightest mistake can be catastrophic. That cornering Xia Fei just did was perfect and could be even faster than Twin Dragons’ car,” shouted in an almost hoarse voice by the red-haired commentator, his face flushing.
“Oh, heavens. 4487m/s… The new speed record that Xia Fei’s stock model extreme racing hovercar has just achieved is actually faster than Twin Dragons’ professional racing hovercar. Just how did he do it?
“Xia Fei has jumped from the last place to two hundred ninety-seventh after covering one hundred twenty-five miles of distance. That’s just too incredible. We’re only five laps in; could Xia Fei make it into the Top 100 before this race ends?”
From that lap, Xia Fei had achieved the fastest speed, with five minutes fifty-nine seconds in the fourth round, by averaging a speed of 3700m/s. That beats the top speed of the star region champion, Twin Dragons. A new record has been made!”
The young commentator was in a state of mania, standing up and excitedly cheering despite still doing the live broadcast.
After the fifth lap was over, Xia Fei reached two hundred fifty-sixth place.
Being able to overtake forty-one other racers in just one lap was a very shocking performance.
By the end of the sixth lap, he was on two hundred nineteen.
By the end of seven, one sixty-five.
This was a truly inconceivable race; it was already a miracle that his hovercar could be repaired in time, but Xia Fei just had to repeatedly create a new record during the race as his rank increased by leaps and bounds.
Moonlit Bay Race Circuit was in a state of jubilation.
Everyone was yelling Xia Fei’s name, knowing that they were witnessing a miracle before their very eyes.
“Break a leg, Xia Fei! You’re definitely not going to lose!” Avril was so tense that she had forgotten to ruin her plushies as usual. Her two hands were clenched in front of her chest as her eyes shone brightly with determination.
Conversely, Moon Song was suffering in the command room. With her personality, she ought to be hollering wildly, yet that was not what she was doing now.
Chen Dong, Beihai, and Manjun were all staring, transfixed, at the screen, as they reported the situation on the third level of the track to Xia Fei. If Moon Song yelled and created a ruckus at this time, she might very well affect their work.
Moon Song was doing her best to endure the agitation in her heart; she was hugging herself as she rocked her body to forcibly keep her mouth shut. Her pretty face had already swollen to the point that it was a little purple.
Not letting this girl with a fiery temperament speak was basically a form of inhumane torture to her.
But for some unknown reason, Moon Song did manage to endure it. Could there be a sort of high stakes in play here which made her willing to pay?
Xia Fei’s preparation before the race was in full display at this moment. Every time he overtook a competitor, the command room would report the position of the next racer; if there was anyone ahead of him who was closeby, he would consider their distance and position, then if he judged that he could overtake them, he would do so at once.
The most important factor when overtaking a hovercar was the precision of the competitor’s surroundings. If Xia Fei planned to overtake someone, he could only do so by taking a risky route, and if he found another hovercar ahead after doing the overtaking, he would be in quite the pickle.
As the race continued, Xia Fei’s control of his hovercar improved, and with every lap done, his speed increased.
Xia Fei had already forgotten how many racers he passed at this point.
There was always a target in front of him. As long as there was a hovercar ahead, then he knew he needed to overtake it.
It was easy for anyone to slip into a trance when they focused on just one thing; Xia Fei could feel himself slowly becoming one with his red hovercar.
Every action he took became unbelievably natural, not even needing to think once. His intuition was directing him to make the most appropriate move, and the correct choice felt like it came naturally to him.
“This great race has entered its twenty-first lap, and Xia Fei’s name has climbed all the way to the eleventh position!” said the red-haired commentator excitedly. “He’s currently taking a shot at being first, and it looks like he can actually pull it off!”
That bespectacled commentator silently shook his head. Due to his colleague’s excitement, it had been a long time since he managed to get a word in edgewise.
“No, Xia Fei’s speed has decreased from before, and he’s gradually pulling away from the tenth place right now. Could another problem have cropped up in his hovercar again?” The bespectacled commentator rubbed his chin.
Because of the limited view the audience on the platforms had, they could only rely on the screen to grasp what was going on in the race, and everyone slowly realized something was off after hearing that comment made.
“No, Xia Fei’s hovercar can’t be damaged again.”
“Xia Fei, you need to hang on!”
Without even realizing it, the audience at the venue and those watching the broadcast had been influenced by Xia Fei’s madness and his unyielding attitude.
They were all caught up in their excitement, standing up to root for Xia Fei as if they were the one driving hovercar 99.
Xia Fei was perfectly sane as he sat in the cockpit, there was not even the slightest hint of frustration on his face.
His hovercar had pretty much reached its limit as he continued to drive it at high speeds; a faint white smoke had even begun to drift from its hood at this point.
Xia Fei knew that this was a sign that the engine was overheating, and if he were to continue pushing his hovercar this way, all his efforts thus far would have been in vain, and it could even cause his hovercar to experience a mechanical failure.
Xia Fei was not flustered. He slowly lowered his speed and let the overheated engine slowly recover.
“Xia Fei, are you able to carry on?” Chen Dong’s anxious voice came through the communicator.
Xia Fei chuckled. “Don’t worry. The race isn’t over yet; everything is possible.”
The communicator was silent for a while. Chen Dong had no idea what to say. From the start of the race until now, everyone knew that Xia Fei had already given it his all.
Even if Xia Fei did not win this match, he could still hold his head high afterward.
Closing his eyes, Xia Fei spoke in a low voice. “What I can do for now is to wait patiently. If my calculations are correct, I can start my final push from the twenty-sixth lap.”
“You don’t have to push yourself so hard; no one’s going to blame you if you don’t win,” said Chen Dong stiltedly.
“When have you become so sentimental?” Xia Fei very casually ribbed as he focused on driving. “Enough nonsense; just do as I instructed.”
Xia Fei’s tone was adamant. No one could sway him otherwise.
The speed of his hovercar continued to drop, and Xia Fei carefully listened to every sound coming out of his engine. The engine overheating was not the only problem; more importantly, he heard a sound similar to air bubbles escaping from the liquid.
This signified that the energy conversion system was also starting to have problems, and it could very well mean that the sealing valve had loosened up.
The engine overheating was already a big headache for Xia Feil, and now that even the energy conversion system was in trouble, he could not help but reevaluate the plan he had in mind.
*Whoosh*
The hovercar in twelfth place accelerated on the straight track and overtook Xia Fei’s, pushing him on the twelfth spot, instead.
Xia Fei’s forehead creased, but he did not say a word.
Soon, when he was taking that twenty-sixth lap, Xia Fei’s name dropped to twenty-third place.
“Xia Fei, it’s already the twenty-sixth lap,” reminded Chen Dong through the communicator, though his tone did not sound like he was blaming him at all.
“I know. There’s another problem with the mechanical component. In order to play it safe, I’ll have to delay the plan by another round before I go all out,” replied Xia Fei gravely.
“Roger that. Even you know what’s the best course of action.” Chen Dong set down the communicator and leaned back, heaving a big sigh. “That guy really doesn’t know how to admit defeat.”
“Did he just say that there were other problems? You should persuade him to back out of the race. The hovercar might be in a very dangerous state,” said Moon Song worriedly.
Chen Dong shook his head, helpless. “You guys can go ahead and try; I won’t be the one to say those words to him.”
Moon Song was speechless, but she already knew, in the time she had spent getting to know Xia Fei, that once that man set his mind onto something, even a person with authority over him would be unable to convince him otherwise.
The audience was all sighing. Just when everyone thought that Xia Fei would create a miracle, he stopped his charge and gradually fell from the rankings, instead.
They were all disappointed, their emotions very clearly etched on each of their faces.
“Why is the speed of Xia Fei’s hovercar becoming slower and slower? Why isn’t he accelerating anymore?”
“Xia Fei is now entering the twenty-seventh lap, but he’s already fallen to twenty-fifth place. With the race about to end, did Xia Fei’s miracle rebound perhaps run out?” The red-haired commentator was grabbing his head in frustration, a very unseemingly action to do for a live broadcast.
The bespectacled commentator evidently could do nothing about it, shaking his head as he sighed.
All of a sudden, their eyes sparkled. The moment Xia Fei’s hovercar went past that yellow line, he began accelerating once more as he tackled the twenty-seventh lap.
The fiery-red hovercar had regained its vitality from before; its engine roared sans any restraint, leaving behind a series of deafening explosions, as the car crazily sped ahead.
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