Flying Skateboard Kid

The two people inside the flying cars had no idea what was going on, but Huoding and Knight, watching the screen in the Training Department office, had seen everything clearly.

The instant the Flying Skateboard exploded, Xilin used the force of the blast to propel himself toward the Crimson Flying Car. He slapped the rear of the car, then used the force of that slap to kick himself toward the bright yellow flying car beside it.

In the blink of an eye, both flying cars were sent crashing down—one slapped out of the air, the other kicked away.

What shocked Huoding and Knight wasn't whether Xilin had managed to knock the cars down or kick them away. It was how precisely he had timed everything.

He'd used the blast from the overloaded Flying Skateboard to propel himself. A moment earlier, and he wouldn't have been able to use the force; a moment later, and the shock wave would have injured him. After launching himself with that momentum, he'd landed precisely on the Crimson Flying Car, then used another burst of force to kick the yellow one away.

Knight pointed at Xilin, who had landed safely on the screen. "How could someone like him be unknown?"

Huoding didn't answer. Instead, he exclaimed, "As expected of someone under Old Master Mo's protection! But when did the Daongs Family produce someone like him?"

Anyone could see that someone like Xilin was a seasoned veteran, not some fresh-faced rookie. Even from this brief clip, Huoding could tell the kid acted with decisive confidence and not the slightest hesitation.

In the vast green woods, two heavy crashes rang out as the vehicles hit the ground. Xilin slowly walked over to the Crimson Flying Car. Its body was badly deformed, and some of its internal components had scattered around it, with others strewn farther away. The flying car's power system was well protected and hadn't exploded. The person inside had been shielded by the car's safety pod and wasn't badly hurt, but he was clearly still in shock. His eyes were vacant, his body trembled nonstop, and his teeth chattered.

After looking at the man, Xilin took his backpack from inside the car and checked what was in it. He clicked his tongue. The man had actually eaten some of the pastries he'd bought.

Xilin yanked off the safety pod and shook the man by the face. Only then did the man slowly focus on him. His already pale face turned even whiter, and he stammered, "D-don't... don't kill me... I'll give your backpack back. How much do you want...? I'll pay you..." He was truly terrified; he'd never experienced anything like this. The moment the car had been knocked out of the air, it had felt as though despair had engulfed him.

"You make me sound like a robber." Xilin took out his Electronic Notebook, scribbled on it, then showed it to the man. "Your misdeeds have caused me serious losses, so you need to compensate me. It's only right. Here, I've listed all the details. One Flying Skateboard, 2,000 Star Coins. The energy cell I used, 500. You ate three of my pastries, five Star Coins each—that's 15—but they were from the Trade Zone, and I can't go all the way back there to buy more now, so let's call it 30. Then there's 10,000 for emotional distress. Of course, most importantly, this whole thing wasted my time. You know time is worth more than gold, so I'll take the loss and charge just 10,000..." Xilin listed a few more items, then summed up, "Altogether, that's 50,000 Star Coins. Any objections?"

The man no longer had the presence of mind to think. He could only nod and shake his head.

"Good, then. Put your fingerprint here." Xilin held the Electronic Notebook out to him.

The man tremblingly pressed his fingerprint onto the Electronic Notebook.

"Your card?"

The man fumbled out a Qiyao Card.

"Oh, it's orange. What year are you in?"

"S-second..."

Just then, the Security Team's alarm sounded.

The man inside the car, whose eyes had been full of terror, suddenly brightened as if he'd spotted a lifeline.

The Security Team had arrived with a whole fleet of vehicles. Usually, they'd be lucky to send even one car for an incident like this. Today, they were taking it very seriously.

Gerard had led the team himself. On the way, the monitor in his car had displayed only three rapidly moving markers. It was easy to tell which one was a flying car and which was a Flying Skateboard, since both were equipped with tracking signals on Qiyao. But Gerard had no idea what had actually happened. So when he saw the Flying Skateboard's marker disappear from the monitor, his blood ran cold. This is bad. How am I supposed to explain this to Old Master Mo?

Although the two flying cars had crashed, their bodies hadn't been destroyed and their tracking signals were still active. Gerard saw their markers make a strange movement, then stop. He urged the Security Team to hurry. But when they finally reached the scene, the officers were dumbfounded...

Both flying cars had crashed? What on earth had happened?

Gerard was only concerned about Xilin. Huoding had already sent him Xilin's information, so as soon as Gerard arrived and saw him, he headed straight over.

"Are you Daongs Xilin? I'm Gerard, captain of the Security Team." Gerard smiled warmly. When he saw that Xilin was all right, he finally relaxed.

Xilin leaned against the car and looked at Gerard as he approached. He was sure he didn't know the man, but before he could answer, the person still sitting in the car let out a scream. "Help!" He shouted as he struggled to pull himself out of the flying car, then charged toward Gerard, whose uniform bore the Security Team insignia.

Gerard handed the man who came running over to the officers behind him. He didn't have time to deal with him just then.

"We received a report of a flying car robbery at the Train Station in the Trade Zone. We need to find out what happened..."

"Captain Gerard, thank you and the rest of the Security Team for coming to uphold justice. But we've already reached an agreement and settled this privately."

That was for the best! Gerard cheered inwardly. He had no desire to get involved in a dispute between the scions of powerful families. Still, thinking of Old Master Mo, he recorded a demerit against the man who'd stolen the backpack and deducted Credits.

"Captain Gerard, do you have a card reader? Could I borrow it? I'd like to make a transfer."

"A transfer? Uh, I have one in my car."

Gerard led Xilin over. When he watched Xilin swipe his card, make the transfer, then calmly return the card to its owner, he couldn't help thinking that perhaps there had been no need for them to come at all.

Based on his experience, Gerard could guess what had happened from the scene. He couldn't help thinking more highly of Xilin. At first, he'd only shown him respect for Old Master Mo's sake, but now he acknowledged Xilin's abilities.

The person from the other flying car, the bright yellow one, was brought over as well. His condition was much the same as the man from the Crimson Flying Car. He was trembling so badly that the Security Team officers practically had to carry him over.

After taking care of the main matter, Gerard had his people deal with the aftermath and left with Xilin and the other two in one of the team's vehicles. Xilin got out near the edge of the City That Never Sleeps, though. He still wanted to take a look around the city.

After Xilin got out, one of the officers beside Gerard exclaimed, "Captain, is that kid made of King Kong?"

Chasing flying cars on a Flying Skateboard? It was hard to imagine. And taking down two flying cars with nothing but a Flying Skateboard powered by an ordinary energy cell wasn't something just anyone could do. Even Gerard wouldn't have dared guarantee that he could pull it off.

At the same time, a video made its way onto Qiyao's internal network, and "Flying Skateboard Kid" began making the rounds across Qiyao.