Chapter 3: Overestimating One’s Own Abilities
The racing track rest area was thick with tension.
Just then, a girl in a tight bodycon skirt and heavy makeup came hurrying over in high heels.
She was Evelyn's college classmate, Lauren.
Lauren pulled Evelyn aside, shot Ethan a contemptuous look, and whispered in her ear.
"Oh my God, Evelyn, has your brother lost his mind? Doesn't he know who Mason is? An ex-con fresh out of prison, and he dares to talk back to Mason like that? Is he trying to get us all killed?"
Hearing Lauren's words, Evelyn bit her lip and glanced at Ethan, who was confronting Mason. She also felt Ethan had gone too far.
"Maybe... Ethan spent too long in prison and picked up some violent tendencies. He's not used to civilized society yet."
Evelyn said quietly, even thinking it might be good for Ethan to learn a hard lesson here. Only by seeing how harsh reality could be would he drop that inexplicable arrogance and live a normal life.
So Evelyn simply shut her mouth and said nothing more.
Mason and his buddies burst into laughter.
"Race? Are you kidding me?" Mason acted like he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world, pointing at Ethan. "But since you want to die, I'll make it happen!"
A few minutes later, they were both at the starting line.
Mason climbed into a red Ferrari with top-tier modifications.
In front of Ethan sat an old, beat-up secondhand Ford Mustang with paint peeling off in chunks.
This was clearly an extremely unfair race—the two cars' performance levels were worlds apart.
As the countdown ended, the hot grid girl swung down her flag.
ROAR—
The Ferrari launched instantly, shooting forward with a massive roar, leaving behind a cloud of choking exhaust.
Due to the huge performance disadvantage, Ethan was left far behind right from the start.
Mason looked in his rearview mirror at the Ford Mustang getting smaller and smaller, his face full of arrogant laughter, as if he could already see Ethan kneeling before him, begging for mercy.
But inside the Ford Mustang, Ethan's eyes were terrifyingly calm.
After the transformation from that mysterious serum, his neural response speed had already surpassed human limits.
In his eyes, the rapidly retreating scenery around him seemed slowed down countless times. Every curve's arc, every point of tire-to-ground friction—all of it was calculated with perfect precision in his brain.
Mason, who had been far in the lead, suddenly saw in his rearview mirror that beat-up Ford catching up at an impossible speed.
"How is this possible?"
Mason's eyes widened, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
The distance kept shrinking. He could even clearly see that mocking cold smile on Ethan's face.
A wave of intense humiliation and rage surged through him.
Mason's eyes instantly turned ice-cold and vicious. "Go to hell!"
Ahead was a hidden corner with a blind spot, with a hard concrete wall on the left.
Mason saw his chance and jerked the steering wheel, trying to use his heavy rear wheels to ram the Ford's fragile front end, planning to crush Ethan against the wall!
But the instant the Ferrari came at him, Ethan didn't dodge. Instead, his arms suddenly exploded with terrifying strength. He locked the steering wheel with one hand, slammed the gas pedal, and rammed right back with the hardest part of his car's side skirt!
A deafening crash.
Accompanied by Mason's desperate scream, the Ferrari was forcibly shoved off the track. After flipping twice in the air, it crashed into the guardrail with a thunderous impact. Mason rolled his eyes back and passed out on the spot.
Complete silence fell over the venue.
Everyone stared in shock at the smoking Ferrari, unable to believe their eyes.
That ex-con had actually driven a piece of junk and sent Mason flying?!
Ethan pushed open his car door and walked straight toward Evelyn without even glancing at the unconscious Mason.
"The race is over. Come with me. Stay away from trash like that." Ethan's tone left no room for argument.
But Evelyn ran straight to the wrecked Ferrari instead.
"Mason! Are you okay!" Evelyn turned around and glared at Ethan angrily. "Ethan, you've gone too far! You almost killed him!"
Ethan laughed bitterly. "Did you see clearly? He tried to hit me first!"
"Evelyn, don't listen to his nonsense!"
Lauren immediately chimed in with a sarcastic tone.
"I saw everything clearly. It was obviously Ethan who couldn't handle losing and deliberately crashed into Mason! What wouldn't a violent maniac fresh out of prison do? We can't just leave injured Mason here!"
Looking at Evelyn's stubborn face, showing no trust in him whatsoever, a flash of disappointment crossed Ethan's eyes.
"Whatever you want." Ethan sighed, too tired to waste more words on these two foolish women.
He turned around, his back to Evelyn, and walked out of the racing track without looking back. "Call me immediately if anything happens."
After leaving the smoky racing track, Ethan decided to walk for a bit and breathe some fresh air.
But just as he reached a secluded alley two blocks away, he heard some commotion.
"Bitch, where can you run to now?"
Ethan frowned slightly and looked toward the sound.
He saw three men covered in tattoos with bulging muscles cornering a woman against a wall.
She was a woman with an incredibly hot figure, wearing a wine-red silk fitted dress. The deep V-neckline outlined breathtaking curves, and the slit in the skirt revealed a pair of long, straight legs.
At that moment, the woman's face was dark, staring coldly at the thugs in front of her, trying to stay calm, but a trace of panic still flashed in her eyes.
Clara Foster!
Ethan recognized her immediately.
His former senior at MIT, who had been very kind to him back in school.
Not only beautiful and kind-hearted, but her figure was every male student's dream.
"Get away! Don't touch me!" Clara snapped coldly, slapping away a man's reaching hand.
The man got angry and raised his large palm to slap Clara's delicate face.
Clara closed her eyes in despair.
But the expected pain never came.
With a dull thud.
Those three massive bodies flew backward ten feet, landing in a heap, knocked out cold.
Clara slowly opened her eyes. When she saw clearly the tall, upright figure in front of her, her beautiful eyes instantly burst with incredible joy.