An official was carefully measuring the distance between the rear wheel and the finish line. A momentter, the conclusion was announced. J''s car had crossed the line by exactly three centimeters.


    "J''s result is valid! The winner of this race is J, representing Orient Country!"


    The only remaining mystery was how J had managed to cross the finish line with such precision and escape the car just moments before it exploded. As other countries began to question the result, the racemittee, following protocol, yed the footage from the dashcam.


    On the video, J could be seen pushing the car to its limits the moment the fire started. This reckless eleration caused the fuel tank to overheat, which would lead to an explosion, but it also generated a massive increase in thrust, making the car faster than a normal eleration would allow. In essence, the fire itself was propelling the car forward.


    As for J''s escape... all the other racers leaned in, their eyes glued to the screen, not wanting to miss a single detail. Ten seconds before the final explosion, J had done the unthinkable. J had cut the brake lines, using the resulting loss of hydraulic pressure to counteract the force of the throttle. One wrong move and it would have elerated the explosion. But this was J. In the final seconds, J controlled the steering perfectly, calcting the exact moment the car would cross the finish line. Then, J kicked open the door and rolled out onto the asphalt. The instant J hit the ground, the car blew up in a plume of smoke and fire.


    When the footage ended, the racers in the room were speechless. A madman''s n could only be executed by a madman. Anyone else would have given up out of fear. But J had gambled with life, and J had won. They had to admit, they werepletely and utterly outssed.


    "Where''s J?" the racers finally snapped out of their stupor, looking around. "And Melvin''s gone too."


    "Are there any further objections to the race results?” an official asked.


    "Yes," Ghoul spoke up, his face grim. "We have reason to believe that the injuries sustained by our driver, Kurt, and the malfunction of his vehicle were the result of malicious


    sabotage Therefore, Orient Country. officially requests a full investigation of all security footage from the circuit."


    Malicious sabotage? At his words, all eyes in the room turned toward the Ynja. ?ountry team. Everyone had seen them try to box in J during the race They had the most to gain from Orient Country''s loss. Besides, Yatania Country had a history of foul y. It wouldn''t be surprising if they''d resorted to their old tricks.


    The blond driver clenched his fists but maintained a calm expression. Let them investigate. They wouldn''t have made a move like this without covering their tracks. They had paid a top-tier hacker a fortune to infiltrate the surveince system and alter the footage. No ordinary expert would be able to spot the tampering. To restore the original video, the organizers would need to bring in someone from Cybeic Shadows or Binary Oracle.


    ...


    As the organizersunched their investigation, Juniper, still in her racing suit and helmet, was walking toward the lounge. She hadn''t gone far when she saw Shanley striding towards her, his face dark and a chilling aura radiating from him.


    "Yikes", she thought. "He looks really... mad." But then again, he probably couldn''t recognize her in this getup, right?


    Just as she was feeling smug, Shanley suddenly opened his arms and pulled her into a tight, crushing hug.


    Juniper froze.