Race Toward the Sun: The Qualifiers

("Is fate deliberately reaping the rewards from powerful drivers?" Ginny speculated. "Let more people participate in the World Cup, after all, only the World Cup can truly and completely kill a driver. Even for drivers who possess immortality, the description of surviving is only a possibility.")

("Maybe, but perhaps more so for the sake of giving those foreign players who disappeared from the World Cup a chance to shine," Harry said. "Like Brett and Joe before, they clearly didn't want to participate in the World Cup, but fate compelled them to participate and they won third place.")

("Then why is it that for Inheritors like Ron, the older the better?" Ginny continued, "While the Eternity Protagonists are clearly stronger in newer forms.")

("The performance of the car itself," Harry said. "For the Eternity protagonists who have lived from the very beginning to the present, the performance of their cars is naturally inferior to that of the advanced mini-cars of the later era. Their strength lies entirely in themselves.")

("But if we compare them to themselves, with the same drivers, the newer, more technologically advanced form will naturally be stronger.")

("And the Inheritors are the drivers who inherit the [Soul Fragment] of the Mini Racing cars from a more advanced era of technology.")

("The technology that [Soul Fragment] bring, which is transformed into Soul of the Car Technique, is naturally inferior to the technology that the vehicle soul itself possesses.")

("Relatively speaking, the older the [Soul Fragment], the more powerful it is.")

Although they were born to the same mother, Ron had never considered these issues.

His focus was completely different. "I was wondering why I hadn't seen Chizuko participate in any competitions. Turns out she was preparing for the Super Cup National Competition Challenge."

"But why is it still called the National Games? Wasn't it renamed the World Cup?"

"In the script Chizuko only officially participated in the competition during the summer season preliminaries," Dr. Tsuchiya said. "However, both her and Chizuko's cars were destroyed by the air cannons of the [Primal War God] team, so they didn't finish the race and were unable to participate in the summer season."

"As for the name issue, it's a consequence of the World Cup disappearing and being combined with national competitions."

"There are preliminary rounds?" Ron asked in surprise.

Magneto and his two companions were also surprised. Isn't this common sense? What's so surprising about that?

"You didn't know?" Dr. Tsuchiya asked in surprise. "I've put all the relevant information on websites that Informed One can access."

"Some information that I think can be made public - such as the fixed rankings for the spring, summer, autumn and winter seasons and the corresponding drivers."

"Only two people finished the race in the summer competition: Okita Kai in first place and Hoshikage Gō in second place."

"Was this written in the script?" Magneto asked. "I'm not talking about the rankings, I'm talking about the sentence you mentioned earlier."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be just two people," Dr. Tsuchiya said. "The script will make concessions under a higher level of rules. Regardless of the original script, the top three teams in the spring, summer, autumn and winter seasons must be the maximum number."

"Therefore, the Summer Split has left you with a glimmer of hope."

"Winter Tournament!" Ron's eyes suddenly widened. "In the script Acheng is the first place winner in the Winter Tournament, so who are the second and third place winners? Who took the spots?"

"He Wang from the Dragon Country team and Yeli from the German national team," said Dr. Tsuchiya.

"What about Haier?" Magneto frowned.

Haier is the captain of the German national team and is known as the "unbeatable legend".

"You'll see him in the Super Bowl World Series Challenge," Dr. Tsuchiya said. "He only wants to be number one, so the rankings in that tournament aren't fixed. But that's all there is to it."

"Will the original top three— Aji, R, Kurosawa, and Kondō Gen— still be selected?" Katy asked. "Will Kurosawa and Kondō Gen still share a spot? Or..."

"We're still sharing one spot," Dr. Tsuchiya raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning to participate in the World Cup?"

"I'm personally instructing you, not sending you to your deaths."

"The World Cup is the graveyard of the strong."

"No, it's us." Magneto chose to lay his cards on the table directly; with Ron around, they were destined to be unable to hide their intentions.

"Don't overestimate our strength. If we don't have the belief in winning, how can we master the indestructible power and live our lives as racers?"

"Is that so?" Dr. Tsuchiya said. "But don't underestimate yourselves. I don't think you'll only master the power of immortality Super Cup National Competition Challenge. If I'm not mistaken, Katy, you should have reached the Perfect state, just like Erik."

"And you, Susan, your compatibility with the car hasn't improved, but your Soul of the Car and Soul of the Car Power have made significant progress."

"Ron, the worst among the four of you, isn't lagging behind in progress."

He didn't say anything more. He believed that the best time to stop them would be after the four of them had mastered the power of immortality.

After all, he didn't think the four of them could make it into the top three, whether it was the summer season or the autumn season.

Especially in the autumn competition, the rankings are already determined.

[Jirōmaru Special Special] Hijikata Rei's [Devil Commander] pierced his buttocks and couldn't pull it out. Jirōmaru cried out incessantly in the second half of the performance. His round eyes have become a fixed feature of every era.

And the Summer Season.

They should think about how to survive in Okita Kai's clutches.

If nothing unexpected happens, Joe should be in third place.

Last time, Brett finished third in the Spring Split.

This time, Brett should help Joe.

The Jumper is naturally good at teamwork.

As for the final opportunity— the Super Cup National Competition Challenge.

By then, the four of them should have already mastered the power of immortality.

He wouldn't allow the four of them to participate and die.

Magneto, Ron, Katy, and Susan were unaware of Dr. Tsuchiya's thoughts.

They were all full of energy, gritting their teeth, and determined to participate in the World Cup.

They all believed that the mission of this world must be inextricably linked to the World Cup.

As a result, they watched almost all the matches before the summer tournament preliminaries that Dr. Tsuchiya mentioned (Ron didn't watch the match between Aji and Ryū).

After a few months, they did realize one thing.

Only Katy and Susan gained something from watching the game.

They have all achieved true human-vehicle integration, completely absorbing the foreign parts inside their bodies.

In their daily lives, they can also vaguely see the chains of fate in the air.

Just like Magneto.

Only Ron remained almost unchanged.

As for why "almost" is used, it's because while maintaining Aji's appearance, Ron's own Soul of the Car Power is getting stronger.

He simply hasn't made progress in achieving harmony between man and machine, or in perceiving the Destiny Force in the outside world.

And so, the Summer Split qualifiers began.

"What! The qualifiers are for the Sun?" Ron pointed at the poster, his jaw practically dropping. "152 million kilometers away! This time the track distance is 167 times that of the previous one! Such a big change from the Spring Season to the Summer Season? No, this is still the Summer qualifiers."

"The poster didn't mention round trip, are we going to have to cross the entire sun for the official match?!"

He did not mention the temperature of the sun's surface.

He had witnessed it before, from the Golden Boy.

He still can't forget the feeling of being covered in pus from the Golden Boy.

"Not necessarily." Magneto shook his head. "The Soul of the Car Power required to resist the solar environment is already Astronomy. This means we won't be able to travel very fast on the sun. We might only be able to travel a few kilometers in the Corona Layer."

Their doubts were quickly answered.

A huge projection appeared in the sky above the city.

Beside the white sun in the space environment, there is a silver-white spaceship rotating around it, and Dash standing on top of the spaceship, facing the layers of charged gas and plasma.

His mouth opened and closed, and his voice appeared out of nowhere in the city.

No, the whole world.

In all areas inhabited by humans, the sights and sounds are identical.

"The preliminary round will involve you starting from your respective locations and running upwards along the runway launched from the spaceship, heading towards the sun. The finish line is the spaceship, which will be the luxury passenger ship you will be traveling on."

"If the run is not completed within 10 minutes, the luxury liner will depart."

("Ten minutes. It takes light 8 minutes and 18.5 seconds to travel to Earth," Krum blinked with interest. "It seems the Summer Race only allows cars that can reach or exceed the speed of light to participate.")

(After all, the extra resistance of the Soul of the Car Power to harsh environments will cause a decrease in vehicle speed.)

(The closer you get to the finish line on this track—the closer the spaceship is to the sun—the slower the cars become.)

"In other words, it means being eliminated in the preliminary rounds."

"Be careful, don't take the long way around, the spaceship won't wait for you!"

"Also, the World Championship Summer Tournament will be held inside the solar Corona Layer!"

"Alright, time's up, is everyone ready?"

As he finished speaking, countless Rosy Glow descended from the sky, forming an almost vertical track that landed in front of each runner.

"A runway formed of light." Susan gasped in amazement.

She glanced at Hoshikage Gō Hoshikage Kō, who were a kilometer away, and noticed that their vehicles were equipped with aluminum alloy armor, making them look extremely bulky.

("What's going on?" Through Susan's gaze, Krum noticed [Pioneer Sonic] and [Victory Rush Charge]. "[Victory Rush]'s aluminum alloy armor is blocking the tires? This makes the car faster? Is it the same principle as Ron tying chains to the rims?")

"The runway is discontinuous." Magneto's gaze traveled upwards.

He could see that the car track was made up of individual lines, with some sections without a track, which eventually converged outside the Earth's atmosphere to form a wide, light racing track.

He roughly understood why the Dash emphasized not to accidentally take a detour.

"This time there was almost no suppression." Ron didn't sense the familiar power of the Dash's Soul of the Car Power from the track. "Is it because the track itself is long enough and the environment is harsh enough?"

"This track..." Katy observed the blue light that made up the track.

She discovered that its properties were somewhat similar to the Soul of the Car Power.

The Soul of the Car Power?

The image of the room where the Dr. Ogami kept the racing car parts flashed through her mind.

Among them is the motor, which can replenish the Soul of the Car Power to a certain extent.

For a moment, she felt somewhat depressed because the Great Cataclysm was imminent, making further modifications impossible.

"Five seconds to go, four, three, two, one, go!"

The next second after the Dash finished speaking.

Countless streaks of light shot towards the sky.

(To most ordinary viewers, all they see are beams of light.)

(At the speed of light, everything around is blurred, and all sorts of magnificent and wonderful colors are mixed together, like an incomprehensible painting created by surrealism.)

(But soon, with the adjustment of the Soul of the Car Power, the four Champion's perspectives began to clearly show everything around them.)

(The brilliant starry sky reappears in the frame.)

(Cars detach from their individual tracks and converge on the wide racing track leading directly to the spaceship.)

Currently, none of the drivers are using any offensive Soul of the Car Technique, seemingly worried that it might affect their arrival time at the finish line, and they are all rushing forward.

At the very front is Tōkichi's new car, the "Speedy Cobra".

The Lie [Pioneer Sonic] with aluminum alloy armor on the back.

Next up are Ryū and Jirōmaru's [Triangle Arrow] and [Jirōmaru Special].

Then came the second convoy of cars that were stuck in the massive traffic jam, where Magneto and the others were.

Chizuko's "Off-Road Homerun" and Chizuko's "Flower Axe".

Magneto.

Kurosawa's "Black War God".

Okita Kai's "The Spider King".

Brett and Joe's [Jumper 1] and [Jumper 3].

They were all in the second team.

"I'm actually ahead of the [Victory Rush]!" Ron glanced back every now and then, feeling somewhat flattered.

The last one is Gō's "Victory Rush".

"That idiot Ron." Magneto, now in his racer form with his heartbeat merging with the engine sound and the car, grumbled.

He glanced warily at the Spider King and Okita Kai beside him.

He seemed to feel a sharp blade approaching his throat, and even the armor formed from the car body could not protect him.

Katy and Susan also sensed the danger.

They felt as if a Beast was staring intently at their throats, ready to devour them.

Even if Venus, like a bead sculpted with gilding, a fine work of art, appeared in their field of vision, they would have no time to appreciate it.

They probably understand why the match was so harmonious today.

They were all afraid of Okita Kai first.

Fortunately, Okita Kai did not intend to make a move in the preliminaries.

Even if he could take action against non-scripted characters during this period of script blank.

After [Triangle Arrow] overtook [Pioneer Sonic] and competed with [Speedy Cobra] for first place, [Spider King] flashed past and took first place.

"Phew~" Magneto just relaxed.

Then, the voice of the Dash rang out in the vacuum, "Oh no, the track is suddenly hit by Meteor Shower. Are the racers okay?"

"There's a problem!" Ron muttered.

He has no time to use the energy cannon to accelerate, as he is focusing all his energy on ignoring the impact and high temperature of the meteor.

Especially the cars in front of him, Chizuko's "Flower Axe" and Chizuko's "Off-Road Homerun," both of which exuded terrifying aura pressure, were forced to leave the field due to the meteor.

This put him under tremendous pressure.

"Instead of a sudden downpour, the [Primal War God] Legion's air cannons are unleashing Meteor Shower, huh?" Katy, who was in front, also noticed the two people behind her leaving.

But it was clear that she wasn't as ignorant as Ron, who was completely unaware of the details of the script.

"The next one to be eliminated is..." Katy's gaze fell upon the meteor shower that clearly carried a strong Destiny Force.

"Instead of having three members of the [Black War God] Legion leave, are they going to take a large number of vehicles with them to make up for it?"

Katy immediately slowed down.

Try your best to blend yourself into the surrounding space.