"Cooperation?"
A hint of anger appeared on Ye Qiu's delicate face, and his voice became noticeably louder.
Bang.
From behind came the sound of something hitting the door, followed by Xu Lei's furious roar through the door: "Ye Qiu, get downstairs now..."
Ye Qiu opened his mouth, then quickly left as he heard the eerie laughter...
...
May was already quite warm, and the sunlight felt warm and comfortable on the skin.
Ye Qiu walked on the cobblestone path of the campus, looking at the school he'd attended since returning from the United States. It had been a year already. Thinking of the upcoming college entrance exams and soon leaving, his heart was filled with nostalgia and a bit of reluctance.
Ye Qiu and his mother grew up in the United States, with an abnormal enthusiasm for racing since he was young. At 10, he was selected by the Professional Racing Alliance in the United States, becoming the youngest top pick.
This caused a huge sensation at the time, as Ye Qiu, having an Asian face, faced much exclusion in the Western countries of the United States.
But due to Ye Qiu's talent in racing and his own efforts, in just a few years, he achieved impressive results in the Professional Racing Alliance of the United States, the world's strongest alliance where countless racers from all countries aspired to join, breaking numerous records.
Moreover, at just 14, he led his team, the "Highway Hero" team, the strongest team in the Western Division among 30 teams in the United States Professional Racing Alliance, to win the league championship, and later won the intercontinental championship at the intercontinental tournament.
But what no one expected was that Ye Qiu would then lead his team to win the world championship again in the World Championship.
Breaking countless records, leaving countless people deeply amazed.
At the time, many media outlets praised Ye Qiu as the "Chosen One" of the racing world, with the potential to create a racing legend of his own.
But no one expected that just the following year, as Ye Qiu had achieved success and fame, and was once again striking for his second career championship as the defending champion, intending to establish a dynasty.
Just when his fans and countless media around the world were preparing to report on this young genius creating a miracle, Ye Qiu made a mistake in controlling the car during the final championship race.
Not only did his own car have problems, but he also caused his teammates to crash off the track.
Ye Qiu was unconscious at the time, but this incident shocked the world. Subsequently, the media began to report wildly, and rival teams started to publicize extensively.
While lying in the hospital, Ye Qiu naturally became the culprit. Not only was his own team dissatisfied with him, at that moment it seemed the whole world had abandoned him. Fans burned the racing suits bearing Ye Qiu's number to vent their anger...
...
"Sigh..."
Leaning under the shade by the basketball court, Ye Qiu recalled all he had been through before. His slightly immature face couldn't help but show a hint of grievance.
Only he knew what he went through that year, but luckily, he had someone standing by his side then...
Touching his lips, Ye Qiu remembered the feeling that night and couldn't help but smile.
"In the blink of an eye, it's been a year since I returned. I wonder how Xirou is doing now?"
Looking at some couples hugging by the basketball court, Ye Qiu sighed. Just then, the voice that had been silent spoke up again inappropriately: "If you really like her, you can't sink like this; otherwise, you'll drift further away from her."
Ye Qiu, interrupted in his thoughts, felt a fire in his heart. Before he could speak, the voice interjected, "I know you're angry at me, angry that I started merging with you during your race, causing you to lose your genius aura and be insulted by everyone, but I didn't have a choice then."
"No choice?"
Ye Qiu was furious: "You didn't merge with me sooner or later, but chose to during my final race. Wasn't it on purpose?"
"Ahem, I really couldn't help it at the time,"
The voice was somewhat awkward, acknowledging its mistake, and apologized: "But didn't I apologize to you? Ever since I fully merged with you and could communicate with you, I've been apologizing since you returned to Huaxia..."
"Is an apology enough to settle it?"
Recalling the grievances endured, Ye Qiu's emotions became agitated: "Do you know what it's like when the whole world criticizes, blames, and curses you, yet you don't know why? Is this something an apology can solve?"
"This... ahem, I..."
"I don't want to hear you anymore..."
Ye Qiu sat on the ground by the tree trunk, weakly saying, "At that moment, I saw everything clearly, so I gave up. I swore I wouldn't touch racing anymore, I just wouldn't..."
"No matter what you say, if you want to leave and find others, then go. I don't need your so-called Car God System to help me; even if I want to drive, I'll use my own hands and never seek external help."
As he spoke, Ye Qiu took off a necklace shaped like a light blue steering wheel, about the size of an egg, from his neck.
Clenching it in his hand, he looked at this culprit that had caused him to lose everything and, most importantly, brought him despair, with anger flashing in his eyes.
"Even if you're some advanced technology from another realm, capable of making me the world's strongest racer, I don't care..."
With that, Ye Qiu threw the necklace in his hand forcefully and left without looking back.
Knowing this, a high-tech device capable of modifying a racer's Physical Ability, Spirit, Intelligence, Strength, Agility attributes, and exchanging super parts for vehicles, was casually thrown away, would probably send others into a frenzy...
...
After throwing away the necklace, Ye Qiu seemed to be in a much better mood. However, just as he reached the teaching building, a voice sounded behind him again: "You really are ruthless, I was almost run over by a car just now!"
Ye Qiu paused, turned around, and looked at the necklace he had just thrown away. As if he had experienced this situation many times, he said without any surprise, "Can you stop following me? Go find someone else. I'm really not going to race anymore."
"If I could find someone else, do you think I'd lower myself to hang around you, let you get mad and throw me away, and then come back like a leech?"
The blue necklace thought to itself but didn't say it out loud. Instead, it shook in mid-air and said towards Ye Qiu's back, "Do you really not want to race anymore?"
Ye Qiu was unmoved, his expression still calm as he walked forward.
"Are you really giving up your racing dreams?"
"Dreams?"
Hearing the voice from the necklace behind him, Ye Qiu shook his head with some disdain and continued to walk away...
The necklace fell silent, and after a long while, just as Ye Qiu was about to disappear from its sight, it suddenly spoke: "Are you really going to watch Lin Xirou, the girl you love, lie in someone else's arms and become someone else's bride?"
Having reached the entrance of the teaching building, ready to enter, Ye Qiu suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned around sharply, and stared fiercely at the blue necklace, his eyes filled with killing intent.
After pondering for a long time, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "You win..."
...
"Tell me, what exactly are you?"
In a hidden grove at school, Ye Qiu, convinced by the necklace, asked the necklace he held in his hand.
The blue light on the blue necklace flickered and stopped joking with Ye Qiu; it knew this moment was precious. It had spent a year convincing Ye Qiu, and if he changed his mind now, it would be in tears. At this moment, it could only try to make Ye Qiu aware of its power: "You don't need to know about my origins for the time being because knowing them would be pointless."
Ye Qiu rolled his eyes: "Stop wasting words!"
The necklace said, "As for why I chose you, the truth is I had no choice. You bought me, and I consider it fate."
Ye Qiu nodded. He had indeed bought the necklace, thinking it looked nice and planned to give it to Lin Xirou as a gift after winning his second championship. But he hadn't anticipated the series of events that followed.
"What was the cooperation you mentioned before?" Ye Qiu asked.
"It's simple. I come to help you strengthen yourself and take your skills to the next level, while you only need to achieve results and gain popularity."
"What good does gaining popularity do for you?" Ye Qiu asked.
The necklace didn't speak; instead, it floated out of Ye Qiu's hand and came to hover in front of Ye Qiu's head. Then a blue light flashed, shining on the center of Ye Qiu's forehead.
Ye Qiu froze, about to speak, but the scenes appearing in his mind left him stunned.
Car God System: Attributes Level 1 (upgradable, Super Driving Level 1)
System Mall: Level 1 (Due to insufficient system level, temporarily opening Level 1 Mall)
Looking at these scenes like something out of a sci-fi movie, Ye Qiu was astonished, then he looked inside the Level 1 Mall.
Human Structure Racing Seat Level 1 (Racer stance comfort+1) Exchange Price Required: 200 Popularity Points.
Ye Qiu nodded slightly upon seeing it; racing requires not just reliable hardware, but items like racing seats cannot be ignored.
But what are Popularity Points, requiring 200?
As if understanding Ye Qiu's confusion, the virtual screen in front of him suddenly changed.
Car God System.
Host: Ye Qiu: D-level Racer (system evaluative calculation result, cannot be equated with real world Racer Levels)
Popularity Points: 23000 (can be exchanged for system mall vehicle parts, etc.)
Experience Points: 11120 (acquired through competitions, vehicle modification, system rewards, used to enhance the five Racer attributes)
Spiritual Value: 10 (Racer confidence level)
Luck Value: 60 (Racer's degree of luck, e.g., preemptive awareness of disasters, track incidents, racing accidents)
Physical Ability Level 1 (720~1000): (long-term driving without physical fatigue)
Strength Level 1 (679~1000): (high control over vehicle handling, braking, drifting, swerving, turning, etc... The higher the value, the greater the control)
Agility Level 2 (1735~2000): judgment ability on everything.
Spirit Level 3 (2397~6000): (can maintain a high level of concentration during long-term driving, the higher the value the less fatigue)
Intelligence Level 3 (2079~6000): (sharp control and judgment over track, opponents, accidents, etc., higher the value stronger the judgment)
Comprehensive Evaluation: A driver with a natural talent for car control, but lacks physical ability, coupled with a loss of confidence in racing.
Final Score: 57 points (Fail)