Chapter 175: Arrogant and Reckless
Samantha couldn't argue Zack out of it, so she finally agreed.
The moment they stepped out of the hotel, a bone-chilling wind slammed into them with a temperature that felt like it could freeze the blood in their veins.
They all shuddered instinctively.
Samantha, wearing thick fur-lined gloves, pushed Zack's wheelchair alongside Isabella.
Beneath their feet lay thick layers of snow. Though snowplows came regularly to clear the streets, the snowfall here was so heavy that within half an hour, a fresh blanket would accumulate.
Joseph reached out to help Samantha push the wheelchair.
In such brutal cold, no one felt much like chatting.
Only Olivia, seeing snow for the first time, was bursting with excitement, running ahead gleefully.
Samantha exhaled heavily. Her breath condensed instantly in the frigid air, forming a white mist like crystallized ice.
"Kids really do have boundless energy. The rest of us can't exactly go bouncing around in the snow."
Even the slightest extra movement felt like an excessive drain on their bodies.
Isabella shivered from the cold. "Why does it feel so much colder this year than last time I was here?"
Perhaps too much time had passed—Isabella had forgotten just how brutal Canvia's winters could be.
Samantha shook her head lightly. When Olivia came running back, she reached out and grabbed her hand.
"It's not your imagination. This is Canvia's coldest winter in fifty years. The temperature's already dropped close to negative forty degrees Fahrenheit."
Just ten minutes outside and they could all feel their bodies reaching their limit.
Their heavy clothing was both a lifeline and a burden.
"I checked the forecast for race day," Samantha continued. "It won't be much better than this. The race itself is going to be brutal."
They'd encounter all kinds of problems.
Even a marvel of industrial engineering like a car could develop issues in extreme cold.
Samantha tilted her head back, gazing up at the snow still falling in endless flurries.
Her mood grew heavier, filled only with worry for Isabella and Joseph.
Zack, besides his down jacket and fur-lined pants, was wrapped in an Arctic fox blanket Samantha had specially prepared.
Without mobility, he was the most vulnerable among them.
"You have to be careful—don't let your guard down for a second. Snake Racing won't take kindly to our pre-race popularity surpassing theirs. They'll probably try to sabotage you."
With anyone else, Samantha might believe in fair competition. But Snake Racing had always been a pack of shameless scoundrels.
Zack sitting right there was proof enough of that.
"Isabella, that hotpot thing from Aetheria is pretty great," Zack suddenly spoke up, easing the tense atmosphere and pulling both Samantha's and Isabella's attention away from the race. "Maybe tomorrow we could get some ingredients and make it ourselves in the room."
Worrying too much about things that hadn't happened yet before the race wasn't good for any of them.
"There's a grocery store not far ahead." Samantha jerked her chin forward.
This little town was famous because every winter, people from Aetheria would flock here for skiing vacations.
It had boosted the local economy to some extent and gradually changed the residents' way of life.
They'd just finished discussing Snake Racing when, the moment they entered the supermarket, they ran into some familiar faces.
Snake Racing's team captain, Wayne, walked at the front.
He was roughly Zack's age and had been team captain since before Isabella's retirement.
His green eyes, like a serpent's pupils, locked onto them, radiating boundless malice that seemed to coil around them.
"Well, well, look who it is—my old punching bag, Zack!" Behind Wayne stood Zachary Baker, Snake Racing's current lead driver.
Zachary had joined Snake Racing in the season right after Isabella retired.
He was known throughout the racing world for being flamboyant, reckless, and insufferably arrogant.
He was also the one who'd crashed into Zack and left him in his current condition.
Seeing him, Isabella couldn't help clenching her fists.
If he hadn't played dirty, what right did he have to beat Zack?
Before the accident, Zack had been ranked number one in the world.
Samantha let out a cold laugh. "You mean your savior, Zack. If our captain hadn't shown you mercy back then, you'd probably be in some cemetery right now instead of standing here."
The two teams had always been bitter rivals, so their words cut straight to the bone.
Every sentence aimed directly at the other's weak spots.
Joseph yanked off his gloves, clenching both hands into tight fists.
"I was planning to settle the score with you when I got back home, but I guess you've saved me the trouble by showing up here! A team like Snake Racing that only wins through cheap tricks—what gives you the right to stand on the Canvia Championship track?"
This place demanded courage, not a bunch of cowards who relied on running their mouths to win.
Zachary, equally hot-tempered and competitive, turned beet red at Samantha's and Joseph's taunts. He raised his fists, ready to take a swing at Joseph.
Just then, Zack suddenly reached out and stopped Joseph.
He looked at Wayne and his teammates with perfect calm.
So composed, in fact, that he seemed to harbor no ill will toward them at all.
"I'm getting old. I'll be retiring next year. If your only accomplishment is comparing yourselves to a retiring driver... well, that's pretty pathetic."
Zack didn't curse them outright—just delivered his sarcasm in an even tone.
His words also served as a reminder to everyone standing behind him.
Beyond the Canvia Championship, he had no regrets left in his career.
Getting into a brawl with Snake Racing before the race wasn't a wise move.
It would only invite even more vicious retaliation.
Zack's mockery only stoked Zachary's jealousy further.
Racing was a sport where only the strong reigned supreme.
Zack was clearly a has-been. Why did so many people in his team still rally around him?
What qualified him to remain captain of Romantic Racing?
"You people must be delusional, still clinging to past glory," Zachary sneered. "So what if you've got that woman Victoria back? Times have changed. Our team will grind you into the dirt, and Romantic Racing will be disbanded from the league for good!"
After he finished, Zachary lifted his chin in an exaggerated display of contempt.
The provocation was unmistakable—and it ignited fury among the Romantic Racing crew.