"Lin?"
"I don't think there's any Lin family in Oceanport that's actually famous or powerful, is there?"
"I know there's one in Jinnan, but it's just a second-rate clan, nothing special. Could he be from there?"
A bunch of people stared at Evan Lin, whispering among themselves—most of it full of contempt.
In this circle, you only hang out if you've got the credentials to play.
If you don’t have any real backing, in their eyes Evan Lin is just some lucky loser—a toad picked out by Yvonne Zhu with her eyes shut.
A toad trying to mooch off the Zhu clan is bound to get talked about and have everyone pointing fingers at him.
"Could he be from that Beijing Lin family...?"
Someone in the crowd muttered softly, almost to themselves.
The moment that was said, the chatter in that part of the crowd froze for a few seconds. Then someone quickly shook their head: "No way. People from that clan all act like their noses are in the clouds. No way they'd act like him."
For a moment, the gossip was flying.
Right in the middle of all that, the roar of engines echoed from the mountain road.
Moments later, a gray Aston Martin came tearing up the winding mountain road, moving so fast it kicked up gusts of wind as it passed.
The license plate started with the Oceanport prefix, followed by all 1’s.
Someone recognized it right away.
"Keene No. 2 is here!"
"I thought Keene No. 2 wouldn’t get here for a while. Didn’t expect him to show up this fast!"
"Now this is going to be good!"
As soon as that car rolled in, everyone’s eyes lit up with excitement.
Yvonne Zhu’s face changed slightly, Faye Zheng raised an eyebrow, and Selina Shi turned to look at the car, her eyes thoughtful.
"That kid's just asking for it today," Leo Li sneered coldly.
"He must've skipped checking his horoscope. Keene No. 2's obsession with Yvonne Zhu is borderline scary," Gavin Guan said with a smirk, eyes full of glee.
He'd already texted Butcher Tu, but it would still take time for the Guans to get from home to Phoenix Mountain.
Now that Keene No. 2 had shown up, a head-on clash with Evan Lin was basically guaranteed—the exact drama Gavin wanted to see.
The Aston Martin screeched to a halt. The door swung open and a man stepped out.
He wore a black trench coat, lit a cigarette as he got out, and crunched down the road in limited-edition handmade leather boots—each step landing with a heavy thud.
Keene No. 2 stood a solid six-foot-one, all rugged edges. He scanned the crowd once, then strode straight toward Yvonne Zhu.
He flashed a wide grin. "Yvonne, how come you never tell me when you go out to play?"
"Like I'd bother telling you."
Yvonne Zhu's brow furrowed—she clearly had way more annoyance than affection for Keene No. 2.
She brushed him off, but Keene No. 2 just shrugged it off. He turned to Evan Lin, eyebrow raised, eyes sizing him up with a mocking glint. "So I heard you went all the way to Jinnan and picked up a boyfriend?"
"This kid right here?"
Keene No. 2 clicked his tongue, pure disdain in his voice.
Yvonne's expression shifted; she shot a glare at Victor Zhu.
Victor Zhu just laughed. "That's right, Keene. This is my sister's new boyfriend. What do you think? Not bad, huh?"
"He came all the way from out of town just for my sister. Gotta say, that takes guts!" Victor grinned.
Victor Zhu let out a hearty laugh and reached over to clap Evan Lin on the arm.
But the moment his hand touched Evan's shoulder, he jerked back like he'd touched a hot stove, face twisting in surprise—must've thought it was static electricity.
"Ignore them. Let's go sit over there for a bit."
Yvonne stepped forward, grabbed Evan's hand, and started to pull him away.
Keene No. 2 smoothly stepped forward, blocking their path.
"What exactly do you want? My business has nothing to do with you!" Yvonne Zhu snapped coldly.
"Nothing much. Aren't we all just here to have fun? Since we're all out here, let's make it exciting." Keene No. 2 grinned, then glanced at Evan Lin. "Since you came to Phoenix Mountain, you should know what this place is all about."
"Phoenix Mountain is basically one big racetrack. Anyone here is here to race."
"I see you're Yvonne's boyfriend. If we were anywhere else, maybe I'd just have someone rough you up. But I'm in a good mood today, so how about this—race me. If you win, everything's cool. If you lose, I won't touch you, but you get lost right now. Deal?"
Keene No. 2 kept grinning, his eyes locked on Evan.
"Keene No. 2 is the second fastest on this track. His best time is eleven minutes, just about a minute slower than the freakish 10:05 record set by someone from the He family. That's already insane speed."
"Besides, with all those crazy twists and turns, lose focus for a second and you'll end up in pieces. That kid wants to race Keene No. 2? He probably won't even see the guy's taillights!"
"Does that kid even know how to drive? That's what I'm curious about, haha!"
The crowd burst out laughing at Keene No. 2's words.
"He can't be dumb enough to actually say yes, right?" Faye Zheng frowned.
She did resent Evan Lin, but she didn't want him dead—just a lesson, nothing more.
"I bet he'll do it. That kid loves putting on a show, always acting like nobody's worth his time. Sooner or later, he'll get himself killed." Leo Li snorted, remembering the terror of Evan Lin wielding that chair leg—which made him shudder.
"Racing Keene No. 2? That's suicide." Gavin Guan spat, then glanced at Selina Wu. "Selina, I kept my promise—I haven't laid a finger on that kid."
"But if he wants to get himself killed and crashes out against Keene No. 2, you can't blame me for that."
Gavin laughed, eyes glinting.
"Can you stop this?" Selina Wu frowned, clearly worried.
"No way. If Butcher Tu were here, maybe I'd have some pull, but without him, I've got nothing." Gavin shook his head.
"Besides, going up against Keene No. 2 for that kid? Not worth it."
Honestly, he was hoping Keene No. 2 would finish Evan off for him.
That would finally let Gavin vent all his pent-up anger.
"What's wrong? Planning to hide behind a girl and stay quiet?" Keene No. 2 stared at Evan, growing more annoyed at his silence. "If you won't speak up, just admit defeat and roll down the mountain yourself. I'll even let you off easy!"
Yvonne Zhu was getting anxious.
Evan Lin stayed calm. "Sure, I'll race. But those stakes? Way too one-sided."
"If I lose, I roll. If you lose, you roll."
"Remember—down the mountain. Roll."