Chapter 141: Fall of the Stars

With the arrival of Guanmie, all the drivers were fully assembled.

Mo Shu could not be bothered to watch Guanmie show off any longer; he turned around and returned to Wang Yu's office to stream the live race.

The camera panned across the audience, showing racing fans throughout the stands standing up and applauding.

Sensing that a major racing legend was about to appear, Mo Shu picked up the schedule from the desk and scanned through it item by item.

As it turned out, the driver preparing for the race was none other than the German grandmaster racing driver known by the title "Eternal Star," Elton Fischer. Dressed in a brilliant silver racing suit, it was his universally recognized personal trademark in this world.

"Eternal Star" was an honorary title bestowed upon this god-like driver by the world's most authoritative automotive and motorcycle sports weekly magazine.

It was meant to praise Elton's emergence, which had ushered in the most dazzling and glorious era for the German Grandmaster Race.

Elton Fischer, a three-time Grandmaster Race annual champion, held the dazzling record of twenty-three consecutive heat victories.

He was also the youngest and most handsome super British hunk among the Heavenly Sovereigns of the Six Realms.

His fan base was predominantly female, spreading to every corner of the globe.

At this moment, the audience—especially the female fans—could no longer contain their cheers and shouts, and Elton Fischer's name echoed through the skies.

Since it was only a preliminary match, Elton looked completely relaxed and casual. He waved repeatedly at the grandstands, acknowledging every fan and supporter cheering for him.

Meanwhile, the other driver competing against Elton on the track was a young driver from southern Huaxia named Fan Yu.

This sounded almost like a girl's name; very few parents would choose the single character "Yu," meaning jade, for a boy in their family.

Yet when one looked at Fan Yu's appearance, it was worlds apart from his name.

With dark skin and earnest eyes, his whole person exuded a simple and honest vibe, making it impossible to associate him with warm, delicate jade.

With an ordinary appearance coupled with a lack of fame, when the on-site commentator introduced Fan Yu's personal profile, boos and jeers inevitably rang out from the stands.

Fan Yu, however, seemed unfazed. He walked straight toward his racing car, opened the door, and climbed inside.

Soon, both drivers were ready, and a seemingly one-sided match was about to begin.

Compared to the Heavenly Sovereign of the Six Realms, obviously no one favored Fan Yu.

Mo Shu felt the same way, figuring this was just another boring race. He stood up and left, intending to go downstairs for a short break.

Unfortunately, there were simply too many employees taking the elevator, and Mo Shu had never been one to crowd with others.

Thus, he chose the relatively quiet stairwell and strolled leisurely down toward the first floor.

Descending fifteen floors of stairs still required a bit of physical effort.

Just as Mo Shu walked out into the first-floor lobby with numb legs, he heard a series of gasps and exclamations coming from the direction of the grandstands. The sound did not resemble a celebration of victory; rather, it carried an aura of utter disbelief.

Could another accident have happened on the track?

Mo Shu's heart tightened. He hurried back to the lobby, found a computer capable of receiving the live broadcast, and switched it on.

By the time the image loaded, the camera lens was no longer focused on the track. Elton and Fan Yu had already stepped out of their cars and were preparing to give interviews to reporters.

Oh, good, the kid is fine. A stone dropped from Mo Shu's heart.

In truth, he had originally been quite worried about the appearance of members of the Heavenly Sovereigns of the Six Realms. After all, who among those sovereigns could claim to have no ties to the Vermin family?

It was impossible for Vermin not to know about this event; they could only hope that those people sat so high up that they would look down upon these homegrown "local" races.

As long as he was safe, it was fine. Mo Shu was just about to leave his seat when the content on the screen startled him once more.

He saw Fan Yu facing the camera interview with a calm and composed expression, while the subtitle banner at the bottom of the screen clearly displayed the shocking information.

What the hell! Mo Shu rubbed his eyes and looked again closely, making sure he was not hallucinating.

Indeed, that row of Chinese characters was solid, clear, and unmistakably showing that Fan Yu had won. Furthermore, the broadcasting team rarely made such low-level mistakes.

Good grief!

How could this be?

Elton lost the match and was eliminated in the first round?

Just what on earth had he missed?

Mo Shu frantically manipulated the mouse, clicking wildly across the screen as he tried to find a replay of the race.

Alas, it was nowhere to be found; this was a live broadcast, not a recorded video playback.

"Quick! Tell me how I can replay that last match!" Mo Shu grabbed a passing staff member and asked for professional advice.

"Uh, I'm sorry, Master Mo, because it's a live broadcast, you'll have to wait until today's races are over and ask the broadcast team for a backup copy," the staff member replied, looking apologetic.

Since he couldn't watch the footage, he would just have to ask around.

Anxious, Mo Shu rushed out of the organizing committee's office building and began questioning passersby along the way.

"Could you please tell me what happened in that last race?"

"Sorry, Master Mo, I was busy working and didn't get a chance to watch. I only heard that Elton seemed to have lost."

"Alright, thank you..."

Maybe he should go over to the track area and ask around; finding a spectator there was bound to yield results.

Mo Shu jogged all the way to the front of the stands and discovered that most of the audience still recognized him.

"Master Mo, congratulations on your lightning-fast win!"

"Can I get an autograph, Master Mo?!"

"Please, take a picture with me, I'm begging you!"

A commotion broke out in the stands, leaving Mo Shu with no opportunity to ask his questions.

"Everyone, quiet down please!!! I have something I want to ask you all!!!"

No one paid any attention to him; everyone was solely focused on paying their respects to Mo Shu.

"Master Mo, my daughter is pretty, sensible, generous, and quiet. Would it be convenient for you to reveal whether you currently have a significant other?"

"Master Mo, do you always go to that racing restaurant in Nanshan City? When you have time, let's bump into each other there!"

Damn it! Why was it so hard just to ask a simple question?

With a bitter expression, Mo Shu could only wave at the crowd and turn to leave.

Feeling as though his running legs were about to snap, Mo Shu finally returned to the pit lane area—the vehicle maintenance and tuning zone closest to the track. Surely, he couldn't fail to get news about the race here, right?

Whose garage should he ask? After all, this was a restricted area for racing teams. Every pit garage had its doors tightly shut, and many teams guarded their proprietary racing technologies closely, making it inappropriate for Mo Shu to simply push his way in.

Just as he was hesitating, a voice sounded from behind him.

"Excuse me, pardon me."

Ah, so he was blocking the way. Mo Shu quickly stepped aside to let them pass.

To his surprise, this passerby turned out to be none other than Elton Fischer himself. With the person directly involved right here, he was guaranteed to get firsthand information.

Elton glanced at Mo Shu with an expression that suggested he half-recognized him but couldn't quite place him.

Just as they brushed past each other, however, Elton suddenly halted his steps, turned his head, and probed, "Mo Shu? The apprentice of Ruxlein?"

Ha, so he was that famous after all. A wave of smug satisfaction washed over Mo Shu.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you know me."

"Mm, I saw a picture when I went to visit Ruxlein."

"Oh... Is he doing well?"

"How should I put it? His complexion is decent, but after all, he's locked up in a cell, so it can only be so good."

"Yeah, what a pity."

"Ain't that the truth? We all feel regret for him too."

After a brief, awkward chat, Elton looked ready to leave.

Mo Shu grew anxious. How should he phrase his question properly? He had to be considerate of the other man's feelings, after all.

Unexpectedly, Elton pulled back the step he had just taken and asked with a serious expression, "Mo Shu, what are your thoughts on that driver named Fan Yu?"