A sound like a fart (seeking collections, seeking recommendation tickets)

(Roman was stunned.)

"You... you sure this isn't a joke?" Roman finally snapped out of it after a long pause, pressing urgently. "He can really beat Toretto? You don't think Toretto was just letting him win like he did with you?"

O'Conner's face darkened with a line of exasperation: "..."

Even though I pretty much know Toretto was going easy on me back then, do you have to bring it up every single time!

"He's right. Zhou Yi's skills are better than mine," Toretto chimed in with a smug grin. "Roman, step it up. I believe in you."

"Oh no!" Roman covered his face in despair after getting the confirmation straight from Toretto himself. "Someone go slap the me from ten minutes ago!"

Over on Zhou Yi's side, after hanging up the phone, he chuckled and pulled out his laptop.

What he needed to do was simple to say, but hard to pull off—simple and difficult at the same time.

Hackers weren't omnipotent, and Zhou Yi was entirely self-taught. Sure, with his learning ability and speed, he'd already mastered a lot, but to fully control an entire city's traffic lights... he'd need a little internal support. Something like a USB drive plugged into the traffic control center's internal computer, directly connected to the server, loaded with a Trojan Horse program tailor-made for this job.

Luckily, for him, that was just as simple.

"Bought him off?" Zhou Yi waved over one of his men and asked.

"Bought and lightly threatened," the subordinate replied. "Just to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Good." Zhou Yi nodded, pulled the USB drive with his custom Trojan from the computer, and handed it to the man. "Have him plug it in, give him his money, and that's all he needs to know."

"Yes, sir."

"Everyone ready?" Zhou Yi pressed his earpiece and asked.

"Ready."

"No problem."

"Good to go."

...After everyone gave their confirmation, Zhou Yi nodded. "I'll handle real-time route adjustments and traffic light control. If anything unusual comes up, adapt on the fly."

Once everyone confirmed again—

"Go!"

Because Zhou Yi had stepped in directly from the start, Toretto and the others never got exposed from buying supplies or anything like that. Zhou Yi's men had even moved them to a more hidden location.

So there was no Hobbs-versus-Toretto one-on-one manly showdown in an abandoned factory, philosophizing about life. Hobbs was still at his base, lying low, waiting for satellite surveillance to successfully track down Toretto and the crew.

But compared to the original story, where all his teammates who'd fought and bled with him died, Zhou Yi figured this outcome was a lot better.

As for the armored vehicle meant to draw fire?

On the road, one car grabbed everyone's attention.

No help for it—this thing looked like an armored vehicle, and on top of it sat a massive gun mount!

Sure, guns were common in Rio, but heavy weapons like a Gatling gun were practically unheard of!

Because a weapon that could spit out thousands of rounds a minute, nearly capable of wiping out an army single-handedly, was overkill for urban combat—like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

The car didn't drive far, just a few blocks, before the cops could even react. It swung right, smashed through a barrier, and crashed straight into the Police Station!

That's right. Zhou Yi had his men rent a big warehouse a few blocks from the police station, then used a cargo truck to move everyone inside. For days, Toretto and the crew had been prepping there—a true case of hiding in plain sight!

Whether it was Rio's cops, Reyes's men, or Hobbs's team, all their search efforts were focused on Rio's slums or abandoned factories.

Human nature. Unless you had a god's-eye view, who would ever guess that a bunch of fugitives were holed up in a big warehouse just a few blocks from the police station, planning a crazy heist to steal a safe holding a hundred million US Dollars?

Just like no one would think a wanted fugitive could spend thirteen years as an actor in Hengdian, appear on TV multiple times, become a well-known actor nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and only get caught when a cop on duty accidentally recognized him! [Ji Shiguang]

That's the thing about hiding in plain sight—sometimes it's not that people are stupid, it's that no one dares to think that way, and no one does.

Habitual thinking is a terrifying thing.

The police station had plenty of officers on duty, but nowhere near enough.

The armored car charged through a hail of bullets into the garage, gunning it straight for a wall!

A deafening crash, and the wall burst apart. Zhou Yi's modified vehicle was more than capable of that effect!

And after smashing through that wall, they arrived right where the safe was—the police station's archives!

Technically, this was the most secure spot in the whole station. To break in from the front, Toretto and the crew would have to fight through countless checkpoints and a swarm of heavily armed cops.

But the garage...

Subconscious bias made them overlook it. Who'd rob a garage? For what, police cars?

Rigid thinking led to inflexibility. They subconsciously assumed walls couldn't be breached—or they just never imagined Toretto and the others would be reckless enough to smash through a wall and come face-to-face with the prize. And—

"Click!" ×2

Toretto and O'Conner hooked one end of pre-prepared steel cables to the safe, while the other end was firmly fastened to their two cars.

"Pfft pfft pfft!!!" A rapid series of sounds like a string of farts rang out (feel free to look it up).

Just now, the armored vehicle was driven by Zhou Yi's men. After crashing through the wall, they backed it out, letting Toretto and O'Conner connect the steel cables to the safe while they operated the vehicle, activated the Gatling gun mounted on it, and began intercepting the police trying to rush in!

That ultra-dense fart-like sound was exactly the noise the Gatling gun made when it chanted, "Namo Gatling Bodhisattva, six pure great barrels, three thousand six hundred revolutions per breath, great mercy and compassion to ferry all beings!"

Instantly, bullet casings ejected outward like rain, the ammunition belt rapidly retracting into the gun barrel as if a massive, real gold-devouring beast lurked inside, but Zhou Yi's men showed not a shred of stinginess, nor any fear or excitement—their hands didn't even tremble.

Ridiculous—they'd played with this stuff back in the day until they were sick of it!

But now, after years apart, reliving it again seemed pretty nice, didn't it?

Guess what the next world and class will be?