freenovelworld Chapter 360 Riding in Hellfire
Chapter 360 Riding in Hellfire
The party ended, and Pompey got up to return to his residence. Before he left, Kiana called out to him.
"Old man, are you really not going to consider going to the city for treatment?"
"No, girl, I appreciate your kindness. But the Fire Hell Ride is about to begin, and as the overlord, I must participate. You don't need to try to persuade me."
“Alright.” Kiana sighed, “But as a former member of the Triumphs, there’s something I hope you’ll listen to.”
"What is it?" Pompeo raised an eyebrow and asked. To be honest, he hadn't seen Kiana before.
"As the saying goes, you can know a person's face but not their heart. Some bugs should be swept away as soon as possible. Don't forgive them again and again just because you trust them."
Kiana's words were loaded with meaning, and Pompey and Lucius naturally understood the implication. After hearing Kiana's words, Pompey immediately raised his hand to interrupt Lucius. He didn't speak, but only gave Kiana a complicated look before turning around and beckoning Lucius to go back together.
At this moment, Caesar brought Zhe here, and Zhe first glanced at Pompey and the others.
"Kiana, what did you mean just now?"
Kiana didn't say anything, but silently handed a stack of documents to Caesar. Tetsuya also glanced at the contents of the documents with curiosity.
"Is this true?" Caesar asked incredulously.
"Unfortunately, it's all true."
"Wouldn't Uncle Pompey be in great danger? No! I'll go tell him right now!"
After saying that, Caesar prepared to ride his bicycle to find Pompey, but Kiana stopped him in the next second.
"It's no use for you to go there now. The old man might not listen to us, and we might even get bitten back by him."
"So, Kiana, are you just going to stand by and watch this old man be betrayed?"
"I……"
"What's wrong? Did Kiana and Caesar have a fight?"
Bernice's voice came from the side, and at that moment, the members of the Sons of Calydon also gathered around. Lucy snatched the documents from Zelda's hands and began to look at them. Then, she frowned and asked, "Kiana, are you sure the information in these documents is all true?"
"Well, that's absolutely true."
"That's really true... Caesar, let me make this clear first, I don't think this is something we should get involved in."
"Even Lucy..."
"So, what exactly happened?" Wright asked, adjusting his slightly askew sunglasses. "Why are there such big disagreements after reading this information?"
"You can see for yourselves!"
After finishing her sentence, Lucy handed the documents to Wright, then dragged Caesar back to her room for a heart-to-heart talk.
After reading the information, Wright sighed heavily and then passed the information he had on to others.
In short, this document reveals that Lucius had an affair with the city's energy company. The energy company secretly helped Lucius eliminate Pompey in exchange for him becoming the next overlord. The price Lucius had to pay was that once he became the overlord, the outer rings would also use the energy company's ether energy.
It's obvious to anyone with eyes to see what the energy companies are up to, but Lucius is willing to betray Pompey, who has been nurturing him, and even sell out the overall interests of the outer ring for the sake of a title of hegemon.
It's important to understand that the reason the outer ring can compete with energy companies backed by TOPS is that it doesn't rely on ether energy. As for energy resources such as oil, the outer ring also has sufficient reserves and the autonomy to extract them, making it impossible for energy companies in the city to penetrate the outer ring's market.
While this did slow down the development of the outer ring, it also meant that it became one of the few areas that TOPS didn't fully control. Life was somewhat frugal, but with the transportation provided by various motorcycle enthusiasts, the outer ring wasn't completely disconnected from each other.
The method that enabled Lucius to eliminate Pompey without anyone noticing and frame Calydon's son was also recorded in this document: the medicine that Lucius had previously given to Pompey.
Lucius's plan was simple: first, to have Pompey take small doses of medicine every day to ensure that Pompey's body, which was full of hidden injuries, would not survive until the day of the Hellfire Ride.
He then increased the dosage the night before the start and tried to delay Pompey on the day of the Hellfire Ride, allowing him to be corrupted by the aether and become an ether. Finally, he had the son of Calydon, who was delayed by his men, fight Pompey, who had become an ether.
He himself would remain hidden behind the scenes, concealing his achievements and waiting for the opportune moment to seize all the spoils. He would then eliminate all the sons of Calydon, who were severely wounded in the battle with Pompey, and finally pin the blame for Pompey's murder on Calydon's sons. At that point, all the glory would belong to Lucius, and the matter of the energy company would be left to the other party to handle as they pleased.
Everyone fell silent as they looked at the documents in their hands. Although they didn't know where Kiana had learned about Lucius's collusion with the city's energy company and his plans, this matter had undoubtedly seriously affected the interests of the outer ring itself.
However, this matter is an internal issue for the Triumphs, and as outsiders, they do not have a legitimate reason to interfere, since they need to prove the source of the information before reporting it.
Judging from Kiana's previous persuasive attitude, it's clear that the source of this information is not clean, which may be used by the despicable Lucius to bite back.
Kiana has already done all she can do, and any further intervention would be overstepping her bounds. The Sons of Calydon also don't have much authority to intervene, since Caesar is not a hegemon now, and rashly intervening would only be seen as someone deliberately causing trouble.
“No wonder there are so few teams participating in the Hellfire Ride this year, now I understand!” Wright said.
Wright had found it strange from a long time ago. In previous years, there were quite a few teams participating in the Hellfire Ride, but this year only a handful of teams participated.
It now seems that those teams that didn't participate were either threatened or bribed—in short, Lucius used various methods to persuade them to withdraw. Even the remaining teams that did participate may have been bribed to delay the Son of Calydon's advance and to help spread rumors afterward.
In any case, this is indeed a difficult situation. Now we can only hope that Caesar can be persuaded by Lucy and that Lucy can come up with a solution.
The next day, Caesar appeared before everyone looking radiant and full of energy, a far cry from his anxious appearance the day before. On the contrary, Lucy exuded weakness, her face was pale, and her dark circles were so severe that they couldn't be covered up no matter what she did.
"Have you figured it out?" Kiana asked, leaning against the wall.
“Yes, Lucy is right. We shouldn’t get involved directly in this matter. The best way is to stop his scheme head-on on the day of the match. And I can sense that Uncle Pompey also hopes that I can have a fair and square duel with him.”
"In that case, the captain, Zhe, and I will do our best to help you," Kiana said, getting up and dusting herself off.
"Why did you just agree to it for me without my permission?" Zhe complained helplessly.
"It's not like you wouldn't help."
"How could that be? I did accept their commission, so I'll help them no matter what."
"What about the captain?"
Faced with Kiana's question, the captain simply shrugged and said, "Since you've put it that way, how can I refuse?"
“Very good!” Kiana nodded, then turned to Caesar and asked, “Speaking of which, do you still have my old car?”
“Of course! Don’t worry, I’ve taken good care of it there, and I guarantee it will look exactly the same as before!” Caesar said.
Upon hearing their conversation, Lucy suddenly realized what was going on.
"So that car is yours, Kiana? You should have said so earlier. I just gave it a quick and easy service and left it there."
"Caesar~"
Kiana looked at Caesar with her eyes half open, while the latter took a step back guiltily.
"Well, I'm the leader of the Sons of Calydon now, right? Shouldn't the maintenance of motorcycles be left to my subordinates?"
Seeing Caesar frantically trying to explain himself, Kiana burst out laughing.
"Alright, I understand your personality, it's already pretty good that you remember to take care of my car. Okay, enough of that, where's the car?"
"It's still in the same place. Do you need me to take you there?"
"No need, I'll go by myself."
After saying that, Kiana walked towards a garage not far away. A moment later, the garage door was opened, and sunlight shone into the garage through the doorway.
In the center of the garage stood a dark red motorcycle, with a dark red handlebar decoration on the front and two wing-shaped nozzles on either side of the rear wheel.
Kiana stepped forward and stroked her motorcycle, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes.
Although their past in this world was simulated by the Imaginary Tree, the emotions that Kiana extracted and implanted into their memories were not fake.
Therefore, upon seeing this motorcycle, Kiana was overwhelmed with a mix of emotions, and related memories surged back.
Kiana still remembers how much effort she put into modifying this motorcycle. After all, in order to support its long-term operation in the cave, Kiana spent several months using all means to obtain Fiber enamel from Weifeidi as the outer shell material.
Not only that, Kiana replaced the internal engine with the most powerful engine available at the time, and an exhaust pipe was also added.
Most importantly, the two pairs of wings that are most decorative are not just for looks. The dragon head in front is actually made by Kiana using the most durable material and reinforced with luminous porcelain, and it also has a certain degree of attack power.
In particular, the wings on the rear wheels can cut off the lowest part of the skeleton in half when the speed reaches its maximum.
After reminiscing about the past, Kiana retrieved the key from the wall beside her. She paused for a moment when she glanced at the scratched baub decoration on the keychain.
He then smiled with relief, inserted the key into the ignition, and gently turned the engine, which started with a low rumble.
After pushing the motorcycle out of the garage, Kiana put on her helmet, then sat on it, and with a slight twist of the handlebars, the engine roared to life.
Hearing the long-unheard roar, the neighbors peeked out and saw the motorcycle, which hadn't been ridden for years, being started again, and they all showed expressions of nostalgia.
Then, just as they remembered, the motorcycle transformed into a dark red lightning bolt in the next second, carrying its owner as it sped along the highway.
Immediately afterward, another motorcycle leaped out and quickly caught up with Kiana's motorcycle; that was Caesar's motorcycle.
After Caesar reached Kiana's side, he gave her a look full of fighting spirit, then twisted the accelerator to the floor and accelerated sharply, instantly overtaking Kiana.
Kiana naturally understood Caesar's meaning and didn't mind having a long-awaited match with her. After all, despite Caesar's nonchalant demeanor, she was still concerned about Pompey's safety.
Kiana's previous outburst was intended to invite Caesar to a long-awaited cycling race, and also to help her vent her frustrations.
The two rode on until they reached the Hollow, which was their agreed-upon turnaround point. From here, they would turn around and head towards Wildfire Town.
Caesar's motorcycle ran out of fuel halfway through the race. It seems that because the fuel was already low and the race came so suddenly, Caesar forgot to refuel, which led to the fuel running out halfway through the race.
On the contrary, Kiana's motorcycle had just been serviced, and Lucy had kindly replaced and filled it with new fuel, so it didn't have to be forced to shut down due to running out of fuel.
However, the two were not in a hurry to go back, so they tacitly began to push their respective motorcycles along the road.
The two chatted and reminisced about the past as they walked, until the sun gradually rose overhead and the temperature began to rise. Only then did they realize that they had been out for quite a while.
Kiana then took out her phone and contacted Pai Pai to come and pick them up. After that, the two leaned against their respective motorcycles and continued chatting to pass the time, until Pai Pai arrived at their location in a truck she named Big Steel Teeth.
Of course, the location coordinates were provided by the accompanying captain. After all, you can forget about asking Kiana to describe where they were, especially since the outer ring road was a desolate wilderness with no landmarks at all.
When everyone returned to Wildfire Town, it was lunchtime. To thank Kiana and the others for their help to Wildfire Town over the past few days, they had another sumptuous meal.
Wildfire Town remained peaceful for some time afterward, and nothing unexpected happened. Caesar also finally understood what he needed to do.
And so, the day arrived when the Hellfire Ride officially began.
On this day, Kiana finally put on the uniform of the Son of Calydon, which was of course newly made, since the original uniform had long since become too small for her.
The new uniforms were rushed out in the last few days, but they still feel comfortable to wear.
As the host introduced the participants of the Fire Hell Cycling event, they arrived at the track one after another. Then, after the countdown ended, everyone went all out and charged towards the finish line located in the hollow - the Burning Crystal Fire Lake.