Tokyo Drift Arc (19)

Chapter 49: Tokyo Drift Arc (19)

Zhang Heng saw Takeda Tetsuya again during the last ten minutes before the race began.

The latter and the short man were standing by the highway, their expressions grave. Besides them, Zhang Heng also saw Ameko. The girl was in a blue Toyota Voxy, her hands and feet bound, her mouth taped shut. When she saw Zhang Heng, she struggled, but the person next to her quickly closed the car door.

"Mr. Tsuchiya, we've shown you your daughter as you requested. Can we begin now?" the short man said.

Tsuchiya Yosuke didn't say a word and got into the Dodge Viper beside them. The short man smiled and said to Zhang Heng, who had just arrived, "You asked me how many people were participating in tonight's race, where it was, and what the rules were, right? I'll tell you now. The three of us will be participating in the game tonight. The location is here, on this stretch of highway, and the rules are for a death race. Since you might not know about what happened twenty-two years ago, I'll explain it to you again.

"We three will be driving in the opposite direction on this highway. The fastest person to reach the finish line is the winner. Of course, if it were just that, it would be a bit too boring, so I've decided to add a small, additional condition. The windshields of all three cars have been treated with a frosted finish, and they cannot be opened freely."

As the short man spoke, he picked up a large wrench and smashed it forcefully onto the front of the Nissan 180SX.

"I've always felt that headlights are useless, better to remove them." As soon as he finished speaking, the headlights of the L300 and the Dodge Viper were also smashed. Then, the short man opened the car door and grinned at Zhang Heng, "Lastly, if you need to go to the restroom, you'd better hurry, because once you get in the car, the doors will be welded shut. They can only be opened again when we reach the finish line."

Actually, Zhang Heng had already made similar guesses when he was in the factory, but when the answer was finally revealed, he still felt that the short man had gone mad. Especially when he sat in the driver's seat of the L300 and found that the windshield in front of him was blurry, and he couldn't even see people two meters away clearly.

The people outside the car had already started welding the doors shut, and even the Nissan 180SX driven by the short man was no exception. His voice came through the walkie-talkie in the passenger seat, "How is it, Mr. Tsuchiya? Does it bring back any pleasant memories?"

Although the latter didn't reply, his breathing indicated that he wasn't as calm as he appeared. After a moment, Takeda Tetsuya spoke, with just a simple sentence, "Keep up with me."

Zhang Heng knew that sentence was directed at him. In this environment, the person leading the way was undoubtedly the most dangerous. The current conditions were probably even worse than twenty-two years ago.

However, Takeda Tetsuya hadn't touched a steering wheel for over twenty years due to his vow. His condition was definitely not comparable to his peak twenty-two years ago.

In fact, just three minutes after starting, Takeda Tetsuya grazed an oncoming Buick. Fortunately, he held the steering wheel steady, and the Dodge Viper didn't flip over. However, less than half a minute later, he almost hit the guardrail on a curve.

The short man's mocking laughter came through the walkie-talkie, "What's wrong, Mr. Tsuchiya? Are you already struggling? We haven't even covered a tenth of the distance yet."

Takeda Tetsuya didn't speak. He didn't even have the luxury of speaking at the moment. Sweat dripped from the tip of his nose onto his jeans.

Visibility was terrible. It was already late at night, and there were no headlights. Everything looked blurry through the frosted windows. He could only judge the position of oncoming cars by their headlights, which was incredibly taxing. In just a moment, his eyes and brain were already at their limit.

Takeda Tetsuya didn't know how much longer he could last. Just as his breathing became increasingly erratic, the L300, which had been following behind him, suddenly accelerated and overtook him.

Zhang Heng's voice came through the walkie-talkie, "Let me take the lead. You rest, and we'll switch again in four minutes."

Takeda Tetsuya wanted to refuse, but he was too exhausted. Zhang Heng's calm voice sounded exceptionally reliable in this crazy race.

He wasn't just stepping up to show off. In these conditions, it tested the driver's reaction time and observational skills. In this regard, the younger generation undoubtedly had an advantage.

More importantly, luck was probably on his side tonight.

Zhang Heng took the Lucky Rabbit's Foot out of his pocket and hung it on the rearview mirror.

In terms of driving skills, he might have been the worst of the three, but in this type of race tonight, luck truly played a decisive role.

For a full two minutes, Zhang Heng didn't encounter a single car.

Just then, the short man's voice came through the walkie-talkie again, "Mr. Tsuchiya, back in that race, did you always just hide behind your teammates like this?"

Hearing this, Takeda Tetsuya's eyes showed a hint of shame. Zhang Heng saw the yellow Dodge's body start to sway from side to side in the rearview mirror, indicating that Takeda Tetsuya, who was driving, had lost his composure.

The fish shop owner gave a wry smile, "If you want revenge on Asano Naoto, you should have come at me directly. Why involve others?"

The short man snorted, "Didn't your feud with Asano Naoto back then also involve others?"

Zhang Heng's heart stirred. The question that had been lingering in his mind was finally answered at this moment.

"You... you're not here to avenge Asano Naoto at all, are you? You're here for Kobayashi, aren't you?"

The other end of the walkie-talkie fell silent.

After a moment, the short man's voice sounded again, "Not bad, you actually guessed my intentions."

"You disguised yourselves as Onitō and kidnapped Ameko just to force him to participate in this race. There were more than just three people who knew about that race back then. Did Kobayashi tell his mother about it? No, that's impossible. No one would tell their mother about something like this, so it must have been his sister... What's your relationship with his sister?"

The three modified cars sped down the highway. At two minutes and forty-two seconds, Zhang Heng encountered the first oncoming car. He turned the steering wheel, swung the tail of the car, and the L300 narrowly drifted past the other vehicle.

In that moment, Zhang Heng's mind was exceptionally calm. He thought of an absurd possibility, "Wait, you... you're Kobayashi's sister?"

The first time he saw the short man, Zhang Heng felt something was off about him. Besides his almost feminine height and build, it was also because he was the only one who didn't expose his tattoos. These people had put a lot of effort into disguising themselves as Onitō. The reason the short man didn't show his tattoos like the others was because he was more afraid of people noticing that he didn't have an Adam's apple.

As for the voice, it was the simplest thing. They were all wearing masks, and it was just a matter of a voice changer.