DTTM 71

Chapter 71: A Perfect Ending

The “little guy” roared and pounced on us. Just before I was about to throw the “hammer,” the car suddenly veered to the side, making an “Z” shape.

Due to inertia, the hammer slipped from my grasp prematurely and flew off in a direction completely unrelated to the sand-fish.

I knew this attack was bound to miss, so I decisively gave up and quickly crouched down to get back into the car.

“Bang!”

The sonic bomb exploded behind the car. The sand-fish, which was halfway through its attack, was startled by the sudden loud noise and instinctively fled backward. Upon discovering that it was unharmed, it flew into a rage, turned around, and lashed its tail, which was as thin as a steel whip, against our car.

“Did it fail?” Zong Yanlei asked in a hoarse voice.

As time passed, his lips lost all color, they turned as pale as paper. Yet the remaining bloodstains on his face were bright red, making him appear even paler, like a lifeless snow sculpture.

“Missed it.” I didn’t say anything more and just bought another sonic bomb.

My helmet, Zong Yanlei’s, and my spare helmet were used up. Now I could only use fireproof hood to wrap the bomb as bait. But this made it too light and it couldn’t be thrown far. I needed to be more precise in controlling the timing of the throw.

“It’s my fault…”

Zong Yanlei’s eyelids drooped. To stay awake, he shook his head vigorously, which caused the steering wheel to wobble slightly from side to side.

“How much money do we have left?”

“Twenty million,” I reported the balance.

“Buy another adrenaline.”

I was stunned. Adrenaline could indeed force a heart on the verge of stopping to beat again like winding up a toy. But in this situation where he lost a lot of blood, administering a second injection in a short period of time was tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst.

“No, you’ll die.”

The surge of adrenaline would make his heart beat even faster than the first time, but there wasn’t enough blood in his body. This could easily cause ventricular fibrillation or cardiac arrest. I knew this was the metaverse, where contestants would get ejected if they lost consciousness, but no one could guarantee what terrible side effects such excessive consumption would have on the real world’s body.

“I won’t die.” Zong Yanlei gasped for breath, he glanced at me before slowly bringing the car to a stop. “I want to win, and you want to win too… don’t you?”

Our protective shield would last for a while, so we were not afraid even if a sand-fish chased after us.

“Give it to me.” He reached out for the electronic screen.

As the effects of the medication wore off, his hands began to tremble again. His fingertips shook as if they were out of his control.

I looked at him for a moment, knowing I couldn’t change his decision, so I could only sigh and buy another first-aid kit from the store.

After opening it, I quickly took out the pre-charged adrenaline pen, which was both a lifesaver and a death sentence, and stared at him,”Whether to buy it or not is up to you, and when to inject it… is up to me.”

Zong Yanlei withdrew his hand, a small smile playing on his lips: “I’ll listen to you.”

There was still a little bit of the high-energy drink left, so I gave him a few more sips. Then, using the same straw, I drank the last few sips from the bottle, crumpled the empty bottle into a ball, and threw it into the trunk.

Full Throttle’s car had long since disappeared, and the sand-fish they had attracted had now changed targets, relentlessly attacking our protective shield. Fortunately, the shield was well-charged, and although the vehicle was shaking from the impacts, it did not suffer any substantial damage.

However, maintaining distance was key to implementing the hammer throw tactic again.

After catching his breath, Zong Yanlei shifted gears and stepped on the gas. He kicked up a cloud of dust as the car sped forward.

At full speed, the car gradually widened the distance between itself and the sand-fish. As I had done before, I activated the sonic bomb, leaned out of the sunroof from the seat, grabbed the bandage, and swung the bait, then released it three seconds in advance.

This time, the bait flew in front of the sand-fish. I held my breath and didn’t immediately retreat back into the car, but stared nervously at the strange, rabid fish behind me.

The black figure dove in the sand, and ignored the blood-stained bait. My heart sank; I thought we were going to fail again.

But then, the dark shadow burst out of the sand, opened its huge mouth full of sharp teeth, and swallowed the bait along with a large handful of yellow sand.

“Boom!”

The ten-second countdown ended, and the bomb detonated in mid-air, blasting half of the monster’s head, which hadn’t even had time to close it mouth, into a bloody mess.

It was a success!

“Take care, Daddy won’t miss you.” I grinned at it, but before I could finish speaking, the car suddenly lurched, and I almost got thrown off the roof.

I quickly steadied myself, my first thought being that Zong Yanlei’s condition had worsened again. The next moment, I realized that two cars had somehow gotten close to our vehicle on either side. One was Full Throttle’s main vehicle, and the other was the main car from Western Fantasy.

The two vehicles sandwiched us, both harboring ill intentions.

The three cars were the main cars of the top three teams in the current rankings, it was a typical “three-way battle”.

In game theory, there’s a classic model: three gunmen, A, B, and C. A has a 100% hit rate, B has an 80% hit rate, and C has a 50% hit rate. If all three fire simultaneously, or take turns firing, the only way to survive is to eliminate the other two. So, who has the highest probability of surviving?

In this model, the strongest, A, often dies the fastest. This is because, for B and C to survive, the rational optimal strategy is to join forces and eliminate A first, which is the situation we are currently facing.

Fortunately, I was prepared.

“Keep the steering wheel steady, I’ll handle it.” Back in the car, I didn’t hesitate to use the super cactus I had bought earlier.

This thing was more expensive than a sonic bomb; one cost twenty million. The description stated that its main function was to drive away sand-fish, with a small line below saying: It is also suitable for driving away competing vehicles.

Even with protective shields, if the hunting mission hadn’t gone as smoothly as we did, I doubt anyone would have been willing to pay for it.

The sunroof slowly closed, and some kind of device rose from the roof. In just two seconds, it began to rotate, producing a “whooshing” sound as it shot cactus thorns all around like a fairy scattering flowers.

A thorn about ten centimeters long isn’t very powerful; it can’t pierce a steel plate or break glass, but it’s enough to puncture a tire.

By the time the two cars on either side reacted and tried to dodge, it was too late. One of their tires was pierced by countless sharp thorns and began to slowly leak air.

“Reverse!” Zong Yanlei suddenly shouted.

Reversing a race car was different from reversing a regular vehicle. To avoid accidents caused by misoperation, there was an “unlocking” action. However, Zong Yanlei, currently using only one hand, was unable to complete such a complex operation.

I reacted instantly, I lunged towards the center console and gripped the scalding hot metal gear lever with my right hand. I hooked the unlock ring below the gear lever with my left index and middle fingers, lifted it upwards, and felt the locking mechanism spring open. Then, I quickly pushed the gear lever forward.

The second after shifting into reverse, Zong Yanlei abruptly disengaged the clutch, floored the accelerator, and escaped the attack from behind.

Even at extreme speeds of over 300 kilometers per hour, a slow leak could cause a sudden increase in friction and rolling resistance on the same side of the tire, resulting in a huge yaw moment.

Things would go out of control in just two to five seconds.

Almost as soon as our car left the middle of the two cars, Full Throttle went to the left, while Western Fantasy went to the right. The two cars didn’t even have time to correct their course before they collided.

The metal rubbed together, causing sparks to fly. They tried to separate, but the physical inertia was irreversible.

The two race cars tangled and overturned, kicking up clouds of dust. In the catastrophic rollover, glass shattered, chassis deformed, and they eventually turned into two heaps of stationary scrap metal at the bottom of a huge sand pit.

In the three-way duel, the two allies with the highest survival rate bid their farewell.

With this outcome, as long as we finished the race, taking first place in the overall standings would be a piece of cake.

The only remaining question was whether Zong Yanlei could make it to the finish line.

We shifted back into drive; we needed to catch up with Tan Yunmei and Yi You as quickly as possible. However, the effects of the first dose of adrenaline were waning, and Zong Yanlei’s vision began to blur. His eyelids dropped as if they were filled with lead. The extreme cold from blood loss penetrated to his very bones, and every muscle in his body spasmed in an attempt to resist the chill.

Clutching the spare adrenaline pen tightly in my hand, I hesitated before removing the cap.

Even if this injection allowed him to briefly surpass human limits, he could only last for a maximum of ten minutes. If Tan Yunmei and Yi You needed even longer to raise the money to buy the map, then we were destined not to reach the finish line.

Once Zong Yanlei lost consciousness and was ejected, I would also be eliminated. The Sun God team would follow in the footsteps of the other two teams, losing their main car and having to rely on their secondary car for the final race.

In that case, the question of who will win the championship will become a mystery again.

Ahead, Tan Yunmei and Yi You’s car was waiting in the shadow of a huge rock. We moved closer and stopped beside them.

As soon as the car came to a stop, before the window could even be fully rolled down, Zong Yanlei slumped wearily against the back of his seat. Insufficient oxygen in his body meant nasal breathing was no longer enough, and he began to gasp for air. I knew he was at his limit.

The passenger-side window rolled down, revealing Yi You’s relaxed and carefree face. He first gave two thumbs-ups, then pointed the fingertips towards himself, and then changed his gesture to make two “OK” signs. Seeing his smug look, I immediately understood that they had earned enough money to buy the map.

My tense shoulders and back immediately relaxed, and I let out a long breath: “That’s great…”

Relieved, I gestured to him to ask if he could reach the finish line within fifteen minutes.

Yi You frowned, turned around and exchanged a few words with Tan Yunmei, then turned back and gave me an affirmative “OK”.

Before he could even lower his hand, I had already jabbed the adrenaline pen into Zong Yanlei’s outer thigh.

The long needle, designed specifically for emergency treatment, pierced his racing suit, injecting the medication entirely into his muscle layer. In just a few seconds, like a drowning person finally getting oxygen, he sat up from his seat and took a deep breath.

“Ha… Ugh!!”

His pupils dilated to their maximum size, and the capillaries in his eyes ruptured due to the sudden surge in blood pressure, turning the whites of his eyes blood red. His nasal cavity, ears, and even gums began to bleed, announcing the final frenzy before his body collapsed.

He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and saw fresh blood on it. Instead of pain, his face lit up with an excited smile.

“I’m alive.”

At first glance, his slightly ferocious appearance certainly lived up to his nickname as the “Demon King”.

“Hold on tight, Jiang Man,” he said as he shifted gears. He gripped the steering wheel before launching off.

Amidst the extreme acceleration, the car window slowly rolled up, and this time we were no longer driving aimlessly.

In follow mode, the navigator should have been virtually useless. However, since Zong Yanlei couldn’t shift gears with one hand, we ended up cooperating with each other in a different way for the last leg of the journey.

“Up…up to sixth…” On flat desert terrain, in order to squeeze out all the engine horsepower and push the speed to over 300km/h, the gear needed to be shifted to the highest.

“Downshift! Downshift again!” If it was a sand wall tens of meters high, if the gear was too high, the car would run out of power halfway up and you must downshift at the moment of the climb to let the wheels spin and dig through the sand to climb up.

“Down to third…”

It was as if our roles had been reversed; I became the one following orders.

The race car plunged down the sand dune. I remembered that, due to gravity, to prevent the engine from idling and causing a blowout, we needed to shift up at that point.

“Up…” Zong Yanlei was halfway through his sentence when he noticed that I had already shifted up the gears, and gave me an approving glance. “Looks like you’ve already learned it…”

“Because I have an excellent teacher,” I said with a smile.

Tan Yunmei’s time estimation was very accurate; she said she would arrive in fifteen minutes, and she arrived exactly fifteen minutes later.

In the thirteenth minute, the majestic stone gate at the finish line finally appeared ahead. However, Zong Yanlei’s body was once again pushing him to his limit. Each time he coughed, he spat out a mouthful of bloody foam onto the dashboard. But his remaining right hand was like an iron claw welded to the steering wheel.

I forced myself to look away and stare at the gear shifter, and precisely performed each upshift and downshift for him.

I never thought that ten kilometers or so could be so long.

When the car finally broke through the stone gate and slid for a while before coming to a slow stop, my first reaction was not to celebrate, but to make Zong Yanlei eject immediately.

“Finally, we’ve reached the finish line…” He slumped in his seat, his body and face stained with blood, his gaze gradually unfocused. “It’s a pity… I can’t stand with you on the podium…” With a smile, he finished speaking in a weak voice, closed his eyes, and vanished from the car.

I immediately ejected. Deafening applause and cheers instantly filled my ears. The neuro-navigation pod slowly opened, and the light of the real world pierced my eyes.

I turned around and saw Zong Yanlei unconscious in the seat next to me.

My breath hitched, and I rushed over to check his carotid artery. The pulse I felt under my fingertips was rapid but still strong. After confirming that he hadn’t suffered cardiac arrest, my knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the cold metal floor.

Medical staff quickly arrived and lifted Zong Yanlei onto a stretcher. Seeing that I was still kneeling, they asked me if I needed treatment.

I waved my hand to decline their offer, and braced myself against the wall to step out.

“Sun God! Sun God! Sun God!”

“Jiang Man! Jiang Man! Jiang Man!”

“Congratulations to the Sun God team for regaining the top spot in the standings! Winning the overall championship!” The host’s roar echoed throughout the stadium.

We finished the competition in less than an hour. The sky in the center of the venue was a beautiful purplish-red, somewhere between day and night.

We won.

Looking at the fiery sunset overhead and facing the overwhelming cheers that belonged only to the champions, I suddenly felt a little dazed.

This wasn’t just a victory in a game; for me, the “god-making” plan had come to a perfect end.

Next, it’s time to choose a good time to send this newly crowned “god” on his way.