The Urban Dao Child

Yang Dao sat down in the car he was provided by Viktor Dragunov. The boy felt the comfortable interior matched with the modern consoles. He sighed and mumbled, "Sure enough, Slayer is a good automobile company."

He started the car and revved it along with the three professional drivers. His eyes were calm as they were fixed at the signal lights. Just as the lights turned green, the cars galloped. Yang Dao and the others were neck to neck. Soon a light curve appeared in front of them, Yang Dao was at the outer edge. If he slowed down, then the rest will take a lead.

The others also had to slow down a bit, but the boy just did not slow down and made a small drift along the outer edge. His car was as if skidding along the edge of the track. Now he and Akira Hayate were in the lead, while Migel Antonio and Enzo D'costa fell behind because of their slight precautionary breaking.

...

Icarus and Ray stood with their mouths wide open in the pit stop, as their eyes were fixed on the monitors displaying how Yang Dao just overtook two of the world's finest race drivers. Viktor Dragunov said, "I knew my car could do a drift but I did not know it could look this easy." his tone was indifferent as if it was something normal.

The two boys looked at him with an even more strange face. Feng Yun had a smile on her face. She knew something like this would happen.

...

Yang Dao quickly maneuvered his vehicle in the front to block Enzo D'costa. The track got narrower after the curve. This forbade the others from overtaking the leaders with ease. Although they could still try and squeeze in the car and get ahead, it was easier said than done. At least not everyone could do that.

Akira Hayate was tied with Yang Dao on the track. He tried many times to lose the boy with his skills but Yang Dao was following him as if he was his own shadow.

...

Ray watched the scene and he glanced at Icarus. The two spoke in unison, "SKILL STEAL."

Their voice was not low by any means. Viktor Dragunov asked, "What do you mean?"

Ray replied to him, "He is a member of the university cycling team and is better than even the third-year captain. In his first-ever encounter with our team, he was on par with the captain, but then he slowed down, matched the captain in everything, his breathing and rhythm. The next thing we knew was he changed those skills to his own needs and won the race. So, after the second time. We named his technique, Skill Steal." his voice was filled with reverence.

Icarus said, "I did not know that you would do this in the car as well. May, God bless Akira Hayate."

The people compared Yang Dao's cycling prowess with his other skills while the race continued at full throttle.

...

The racers entered the twist and turns of the circuit. Akira Hayate was confident that he would get rid of Yang Dao on the sharp and tricky turns. He sprinted at the outer edge as Yang Dao stayed on the inside. But as soon as the sharp U-turn began and he slowed down a bit, in came Yang Dao with a semi drift blocking his line of driving.

It was a complete block from then on, Yang Dao drove the turns as if he owned them. His car slid, rushed. Everything was perfect.

...

Dillon said, "What is the best time Slayer Sword had on the track?" his sudden question attracted a lot of attention.

A technician at the side picked up a logbook and searched for the entry. Viktor Dragunov said, "Nine minutes, thirty-five seconds. That too on downwind. The car has one big issue, the body is too long for the sharp turns in the later sections."

He was an experienced racer and trainer. His observation was not doubted by anybody present inside. If he did not know about the timing of his own car, then what good was he?

Dillon said, "Young Master Feng may bypass that flaw, Old Chief." his voice was confident and calm.

...

The cars were roaring on the track. Yang Dao and Akira Hayate changed the lead position several times in just a few turns. Inside the car, while Akira had his forehead laced with sweat, Yang Dao was chilling. He had a rock and roll song playing on the stereo.

Yeah, he was enjoying his race to the ultimate extent. If the other three knew this, they would be shocked, scared. At such a high speed, it was not advised to sway your head to the music. Soon the race entered the last stretch. Now they were going to run a course of three hairpins in a succession and then a straight sprint to the finish.

It was mostly the person who led the hairpins who won the final sprint as well. Yang Dao drifted the car inside the hairpin turn. The vehicle was four-wheel drive, which also allowed better maneuverability, but the body was too long and lagged in the hairpin turns. Akira Hayate exploited this and took the lead.

Not only him, even Enzo D'costa and Migel Antonio did the same. They were professionals, and also opportunists. Yang Dao had to break more than them because of his car's body. It was shaped like a sword to thrust forward. So how could it turn quickly?

...

Viktor Dragunov said, "Young Secretary, you were half-correct. This boy got the time down but the defect cannot be bypassed so easily. I feel bad for limiting his skills." he regretted giving him his own car despite knowing the limitations.

Feng Yun replied before Dillon, "Nothing is final before the end, and if he lost. It will be good for him to learn how it feels to lose." she was sincere with her words. After all, Yang Dao was a teenager, although he does not have any bad traits in his nature. He might get too ahead of himself. So losing will not be a problem.

...

Yang Dao was just milliseconds behind the other three. He stepped on the accelerator hard, quickly shifted the gears, and stopped just one gear before the top one. The car was very low and lean. It galloped with the streamlined body. It really was like a sword. In just a few seconds, Yang Dao caught up with the three of them.

The track widened and now there was only half a kilometer before the finish. They were all top brand supercars. Engines roared, breaking the silent darkness of night. None of them wanted to give up even an inch. They all had the honor of a racer and a man. They were all involved in fair competition and pushed to do their best, so how can they hold back in the end?

As soon as Yang Dao caught up to the rest, he shifted to the top gear. The car picked up speed, rushing to the finish line.

...

The technicians in the pit stop rushed outside with the cameras and mobiles. They wanted to record this moment. Everyone else followed them. Viktor glanced at the cars rushing to the finish line and he suddenly said, "Huh, why is my car so high from the ground?"

Dillon glanced at him and asked, "What do you mean?"

Viktor did not reply, and just asked a technician to focus his camera on the chassis of the car. The technician did as he was told to. Soon, the drivers crossed the finish line. Under everyone's applause, they slowly stopped to the side.

Akira Hayate took the first, Yang Dao came in second and the last two were tied. They chatted and congratulated each other for the performance. Feng Yun just placed her arm around Yang Dao's shoulder who chatted with Icarus and Ray about the launch of Lisa1 car assistant.

Then they left the circuit to prepare for the event. Viktor Dragunov sent them off with the racers. As the two cars vanished in the distance, Akira Hayate said with a sigh, "This kid sure is a genius, I almost lost."

Enzo D'costa and Migel Antonio nodded. Old Viktor, however, shook his head and said, "You did not win."

Akira Hayate would have gone ballistic if this statement would have been made by someone else. But who was Viktor? So he asked politely, "Why do you say that old chief."

Viktor gave him a stinky look and said, "That kid drove my car in the normal settings. Do you know my car has a racing mode where the chassis is even lower by a few millimeters? Not only that, even the transmission time is improved by milliseconds. Yet that kid just drove in the normal settings. He probably did was not familiar with this feature as it was released just a few days ago. It is a bloody software update for the car's driving settings."

His words shattered Akira's and the other two's hearts. They almost let out tears from their slightly wet eyes. They knew how millimeters and milliseconds can affect the outcome of the race.