Chapter 119: Chapter 119: Firing Up the Crowd

The next day, fireworks exploded in the sky above the Imperial Flying Car Racetrack.

A massive banner announcing the opening of the event hung in the air, visible to the entire city.

Wearing a mask and holding a Federation fan stick, Jiang Qin sat in the stands with Xie An’an, her sister, and their team of bodyguards.

On the track, the Flying Car Drivers were ready.

The Federation Team’s Combat Suits were easy to spot, a combination of red and white.

To her surprise, she seemed to spot three familiar customers.

Uncle Yong Kang had introduced the three to her before. They were all scions of the Main Star’s most powerful families.

She especially remembered Bai Mufeng of the Bai family, recalling that she still owed him a favor.

When she was abducted by Fox Ear, the Bai family had helped with the search and even posted a reward.

Later, when she asked Uncle You Wei to help her contact the Bai family to repay the favor, they told her it wasn’t necessary because the Bai family had a feud with Fox Ear.

But Jiang Qin didn’t take them at their word. After all, the reward wasn’t for the head of a Fox Ear member, but for her safe return.

Uncle You Wei had analyzed that Bai Mufeng likely acted out of his duty as a soldier in the Federation Army, not wanting the Federation to lose a special female.

But a favor was a favor, regardless of his motives.

The fact remained that she had been in danger, and the Bai family’s search hadn’t just been for show.

So she had kept the matter in mind, troubled that she had no way to repay the debt.

She never expected that Bai Mufeng and the other two were actually Flying Car Drivers.

“The 38th Flying Car Race now officially begins!”

“Our three teams have now entered the arena…”

The first day of the Flying Car Race was a team relay. The first team to complete three laps would win and earn ten points.

The second day would be a 1v1 challenge.

Each of the three teams would send out one driver. The first to finish the entire course would earn three points.

Second place would get two points, and third place would get one.

Following that were other events, such as an obstacle course, a time trial, a mission race, and more.

The entire competition would last for five days.

After the announcer’s opening remarks, all the Flying Car Drivers went to their designated relay positions as instructed by their captains.

For the Federation Team, Gu Tianyou was handling the start, Lan Shaoyu was in the fifth leg in the middle, and Bai Mufeng was positioned for the final leg.

The track was very long, so spectator stands were only set up at the starting line and the finish line.

Jiang Qin and her group had purchased tickets for the stands at the starting line.

The middle sections of the race were broadcast live on the big screens via Live Broadcast Devices.

As the countdown ended…

The Empire’s pure black T900 Flying Car shot out, immediately taking the lead.

The Myriad Races’ blue T700 Flying Car followed close behind.

Meanwhile, the Federation’s red T500 was left in the dust right from the start!

As expected, the gap in the Flying Cars’ performance was a chasm that was difficult to cross.

It was just like with Fujiwara Takumi. No one thought his AE86 could beat the black R32. It wasn’t a matter of skill, but of the car’s inherent limits.

But he still won in the end.

It just goes to show that while winning is possible, it’s incredibly difficult and extremely rare.

From the other stands, people were already cheering and shouting:

“Go, Imperial Team! The championship is yours!”

“Don’t give up, Myriad Races Team!”

“Imperial Team, number one!”

“Myriad Races Team will win!”

…

In the Federation’s section of the stands…

Well, it was a little quiet.

Everyone was too embarrassed to shout any slogans, instead just waving their fan sticks frantically.

A male fan sitting behind Jiang Qin sighed. “Man, if only our Flying Car Drivers were anime protagonists.”

“Don’t lose hope. We don’t have much of a chance in the relay, but we can still try to use tactics in the obstacle course.”

“What’s the point? Even if we win the obstacle course, that’s only ten points. We’ll still be in last place.”

“I don’t want to be a downer either, but the gap is just too wide…”

In truth, everyone from the Federation knew the annual rankings for this race were manipulated by the Empire.

The Empire only sold T500-grade energy to the Federation, while selling T700-grade to the Myriad Races. It was a clear move to ensure the Federation would finish last.

This kind of stranglehold on their international standing left them completely powerless.

***

Soon, the first leg of the relay was over, and the second drivers took over.

The Empire was far in the lead.

The Myriad Races trailed behind them, but were still far ahead of the Federation.

Down on the track, the cheerleaders had come out and started a high-energy dance routine.

Jiang Qin was nervously watching the big screen when a staff member suddenly approached her. “Excuse me, are you Miss Jiang Qin?”

Jiang Qin nodded, confused.

’What’s going on? Am I in the wrong seat?’

The staff member said, “Hello, Miss Jiang Qin. The event organizers would like to invite you to sing a song from your time on *Interstellar Composer* to liven things up.

“The appearance fee is five hundred thousand Star Coins. Would you be available?”

“May I ask which song?”

“It’s the song titled *Believe in Yourself*.”

’Only a fool would turn down easy money,’ Jiang Qin thought. ’An appearance fee of 500,000 Star Coins for a single song? That’s practically free money!’

So she gladly accepted and followed the staff member away from the stands.

Shi Lichuan followed close behind her, while the others remained in their seats.

Soon, the crowd noticed that after the dancers left the stage, a familiar-looking female took their place.

She was wearing a red and white Combat Suit and holding the latest model of microphone.

“AHHH!!! It’s Qin Bao!! Why is she up there performing?”

“Whoa, what an incredible surprise!”

“Huh? Isn’t that the female from the Federation who just won the championship?

“Did the organizers invite her to perform?”

“Oh? Her name is Jiang Qin? Is she the same Jiang Qin who produced that super popular anime from last night?”

“Yes, that’s her…”

The racetrack’s sound system was incredibly powerful, its sound echoing across the sky.

Everyone, from the people on the ground to the Flying Car Drivers competing in the sky, could hear it clearly.

An exhilarating intro began to play.

Jiang Qin sang in a low, powerful voice:

“So many times I’ve sweat like rain,

Pain and sorrow filled my memory,

But I always held on to the belief,

That victory only comes through the fight…”

Hearing this song again, the crowd couldn’t help but feel a surge of motivation welling up inside them—an urge to strive, to fight with all their might.

The cheers from the crowd grew louder and louder.

“Jiang Qin! Jiang Qin!!”

“Go, Federation Team!!”

“The Empire will win!”

As Lan Shaoyu took over for the fifth leg of the relay, he heard the familiar voice and was slightly taken aback.

Then, he calmly refocused on piloting his Flying Car.

He pushed the Flying Car to its absolute limit. Even on the S-curves, he didn’t slow down in the slightest. Instead, he blazed through, scraping the very edge of the track’s boundary.

Inertia was causing it to show signs of flipping over.

But Lan Shaoyu had no intention of slowing down. Even as the car began to flip, he kept the throttle pushed to its maximum.

Through a series of overloaded maneuvers, using the car’s out-of-control roll, he closed more than half the distance to the blue Flying Car ahead!

“HOLY SHIT, THE FLYING CAR IS OVERLOADING! IT’S ON FIRE!”

“My god, are those Federation people trying to get themselves killed just to win?”

————

Happy New Year, my dears~

I’ll owe you the two bonus Chapters for the monthly tickets for now. I’m off to celebrate New Year’s! ʕᵔᴥᵔʔ

Hope you all have a wonderful time!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep