Shinjou Naoki was originally a young racer who rose to prominence in F3.
Later, he was selected by Aoi Kyouko to participate in the CF preliminaries—where he easily took first place.
Shinjou was the third racer after Hayato Kazami and Bleed Kaga to enter the Zero Realm.
In terms of technique and speed, he was absolutely not inferior to Hayato.
He was an exceptionally formidable opponent.
So when Leon drove The Tyrant onto the track, Shinjou narrowed his eyes.
He lightly turned his steering wheel and deliberately blocked the road, placing his machine right in front of Leon.
He was trying to stop Leon from advancing.
This was a move Shinjou Naoki used all the time—
he could drag a rival for an absurdly long distance like this.
If he hadn't spent his whole career living under Hayato's shadow…
Shinjou would probably have won several world championships already.
Back then, when Hayato was injured in a crash and couldn't race,
Shinjou—finally without his biggest obstacle—took the world championship.
His strength was not to be underestimated.
"Let's see what you do now," Shinjou sneered.
Aslan Drander, the so-called "Fan-Lift Maniac," relied on turbines to lift his vehicle into the air for dual-stage aerial drifting—
only through that airborne drift could he bypass Shinjou's block.
But what about Leon?
Leon turned the Tyrant's nose sharply—
and launched directly into a high-speed aggressive inertia drift!
Using the tiny remaining gap, he forced the Tyrant right alongside Shinjou's Sparian.
The two cars were nearly touching.
"Shit!!"
Shinjou was horrified.
He hurriedly adjusted his steering to avoid a collision, forcing the Sparian to the outer edge of the curve—
he had nearly crashed head-on.
At nearly 200 km/h, what would happen if the cars collided?
"He's a madman! Beyond a madman—he's a demon!" Shinjou gritted his teeth.
Leon's insane maneuver sent cold sweat dripping down his spine.
And this was only a free practice run, not even an official race.
Shinjou had no intention of risking his life.
If he destroyed his machine, he'd miss the official event entirely!
Leon's style was so ruthless Shinjou could only shout one thing:
"He's a damn wolf!"
More than reckless—wild, vicious, and unrestrained.
Because Leon was inertia-drifting at that angle, his line pushed him straight toward the edge of the track—
it looked like he was going to fly off entirely.
Shinjou's eyes lit up and he laughed coldly:
"Figures—rookies get greedy for speed. Go kill yourself!"
Just when everyone thought the Tyrant would overshoot the track—
Leon flicked the steering wheel again—
and performed a second-stage inertia drift!
The Tyrant carved through the curve perfectly.
"What—how the hell is that a two-stage inertia drift?!"
Shinjou's expression twisted.
The double-stage drift was Hayato Kazami's signature technique.
Kaga learned it later only after entering the Zero Realm.
Now Leon had mastered it too—
becoming the third racer to perform the technique.
How could someone like this be a rookie?
"Damn it! Every angle—every line—perfectly controlled.
He did it on purpose!" Shinjou slammed his steering wheel in frustration.
Just moments ago he had mocked Leon for being inexperienced—
but now he realized Leon had deliberately taken the "dangerous" outside line
just to secure the optimal exit angle.
At this speed, with cars this close—
Leon still had the calm to plan?
Shinjou felt a crushing weight on his chest, like a mountain pressing down.
This level of technique and speed was despair-inducing.
Even though this was only a free test,
his true capability was already terrifyingly clear.
Anyone who could pull off the two-stage drift couldn't possibly be a beginner.
Even Hayato—far behind them—was stunned.
He had believed the two-stage drift was his move.
He could accept Kaga learning it—after all, Kaga had the Zero Realm.
But Leon?
Without anything special, he mastered it effortlessly?
How could Hayato stay calm?
"Is he really a street racer?
I swear he's a monster grown in a test tube!" Hayato's heart pounded.
What he achieved only through endless practice and enlightenment—
Leon did casually.
A contrast like that shook him to the core.
He stared at Leon's car tail, tremors running through him.
No wonder the American chassis was so insane—
this guy was absolutely not driving a formula car for the first time!
Hayato was convinced he was right.
Unfortunately, he was completely wrong.
This really was Leon's first time driving a formula car.
But the moment he stepped onto an F1 track,
the Car God Halo activated.
Every movement felt familiar—
as if he had forged these skills through countless past runs.
His body simply moved on instinct.
A talent like that—
that was true genius.
After the curve, Momo's data feed updated instantly.
"Cornering still feels strained. Lower ride height. Adjust the diffuser and wing angle. Increase downforce circulation."
To others, Leon's performance already looked perfect.
But to Momo?
Not good enough.
The Tyrant automatically lowered its chassis until it nearly kissed the ground.
The diffuser tilted downward; the rear wing angled upward.
Air pressure surged to the optimal value.
Every track differed in surface, altitude, length—
each required precise tuning.
Otherwise, catastrophic failures could occur.
This was the purpose of free testing:
fine-tuning the configuration.
"Please enter the pit to replace optimized components," Momo reported calmly.
After one lap, she already had enough data to recommend upgrades.
Even if it was only a 0.1-second improvement,
it was still huge.
With Momo's strict standards, the modification would be significant.
The Tyrant rolled into the pit.
Front and rear systems powered down.
Leon jumped out.
A crane lifted the Tyrant while robots swarmed in,
performing Momo's upgrade plan.
The pit was a thunderstorm of machinery—
the sight left other teams' engineers speechless.
Who else would dare attempt major structural changes at a time like this?
Only Leon's team.
Fully mechanized, ultra-fast.
In under a minute, all the removed parts were off.
In under five minutes, the new optimized components were fully installed.
Everyone watching stood there gaping.
The efficiency was unreal.
That $1-billion investment into the equipment?
Worth every cent.
~~----------------------
Patreon Advance Chapters:
[email protected] / Dreamer20