Beyblade: You call this a four-wheel drive vehicle?

Chapter 309 New Modification Ideas
"Is the current reinforced coating enough for this kid to make it to the maintenance area?" Vatanen asked.

"Based on Nie Ming's current consumption rate, it is barely enough." Arctic Fox's technical team nodded.

"That's fine." Vatanen waved his hand. "Let him play if he wants. We'll prepare a new set of reinforcement coatings for him in the maintenance area."

"But, Mr. Vatanen, the cost of this reinforced coating... If we spend it so casually, won't it be difficult to explain to the headquarters?" the technical team hesitated.

"What's so hard to explain? Although 60 US dollars for each consumable may seem luxurious, it is just a drop in the bucket for the consortium behind the team. More importantly, compared to this price, they care more about Nie Ming's breakthrough." Vatanen said, "Otherwise, why do you think the headquarters immediately put the development of a new car on the agenda when we found that the current Aurora could not bear the load of the Burning Soul, and also helped us find the blueprint from the Soviet Union's legacy that could not be manufactured before due to the lack of breakthroughs in materials science? Isn't it for the purpose of allowing Nie Ming to break through one day earlier?"

"I understand." The technical team finally understood why Nie Ming sent the Aurora to the repair shop for the first time when he was trying the Burning Soul. The headquarters immediately sent people over to strengthen and refurbish the Aurora as quickly as possible. And then after Nie Ming sent the Aurora to the repair shop again, they took a two-pronged approach, advancing the plan for the new car and looking for ways to solve the problems of the old car.

"Do you think that the most valuable thing in the GPX team is the racing car? No, in this league, the drivers are far more valuable than the racing cars, especially drivers like Michael and Lingjun who can enter the realm of zero. The investment in the racing cars is just to keep them!" A similar conversation was also taking place at the Mercedes headquarters.

The CEO of Mercedes slammed the table and said these words when facing a group of small shareholders questioning whether his recent investment in the research and development of new cars was a bit excessive.

"All the talented drivers in GPX are heading for higher places now, but if our cars become a burden to them, it's OK in the short term, but in the long run, who can guarantee that they will renew their contracts with us? You know, those bastards from Sauber and Aston Martin are eyeing these drivers who can enter the Zero Realm! Their R&D capabilities may not be much worse than ours."

"And if our inaction becomes a stumbling block for these geniuses, do you think they will show us some mercy?"

"But... wasn't Michael trained by ourselves?" someone questioned at this time.

"Haha, do you think all these drivers are die-hard team fans like Carlo, who treats the team like his first love no matter how many times the team abuses him?" Mercedes' CEO sneered. "To be honest, the honors Michael has won for us over the years are more than enough to repay the cost of our training him. The current situation is that we are lucky to be able to train a genius of Michael's level!"

"Everyone, GPX is no longer the F1 where countless talented youngsters fought hard just for a place in the team. Although CF racing has lowered the operating threshold of racing to some extent, the requirements for drivers to win honors will only be higher! And, there is one thing I think everyone here knows very well, GPX is the ticket to the ark of mankind's future, and we have walked ahead of most people with Michael and Lingjun. I don't think you will want to give up your future for a few US dollars."

As the CEO of Mercedes finished his impassioned speech at the shareholders' meeting, a middle-aged man in the meeting room, who looked intimidating without even getting angry, applauded and said, "Well said. Compared with the countless opportunities in the future, this little investment is nothing."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and looked at the small shareholders around him: "Of course, if you feel that you can't afford such an investment, I can take care of your share."

"That's not necessary. We can still afford the current investment." The small shareholders nodded hurriedly. The man in front of them had just entered the shareholders' meeting of the Mercedes team this season, but he quickly got a lot of shares and became one of the major shareholders. His identity was extremely mysterious. Everyone present was a well-known figure in Germany, but in front of this man they were just small shrimps. Now that the big guy had spoken, they could only smile apologetically.

"I can buy your shares at a maximum premium of 50%. Are you really not going to consider it?" the middle-aged man said in a seductive voice.

"That's not necessary. We can still afford the current investment." The other small shareholders hurriedly said, handing over the shares now? What a joke, with the current development momentum of Mercedes, the benefits that humans can grab in the future in the starry sky will definitely have their share. How could this group of people give up such a huge profit prospect so easily? Not to mention a 50% premium, they would not sell even if it was a 500% premium. You know, the small shareholders whose shares he bought before now wish they could travel back in time and kill their former selves.

"That's really a pity." The middle-aged man shook his head regretfully and said with great regret.

This man's name is Karen Mankiewicz. He was a rising star in the field of German technology companies in recent years. At the same time, he has another identity, that is, he was Lin Yuan's classmate when he was studying at MIT.

He had a very good relationship with Lin Yuan, and he knew better than anyone else what level of genius Lin Yuan was. Taking advantage of this relationship, after learning about Lin's Technology's actions on GPX, he went all in and invested in the Mercedes team, which had been greatly affected by the Tai Chi War Dragon's disturbance in the F1 arena at the time. Taking advantage of the turmoil at the time, he took up a lot of shares at one time and became one of the major shareholders of the team.

Although the current investment of the team is a bit large, and the funds required for the research and development of the new car AMG-02 are in the billions, the future prospects are bright enough, so what else is there to say.

After realizing this, even some individuals who had some minor objections to the investment before no longer said much, but turned their heads quietly to watch today's game broadcast on the projection screen in the conference room.

"As for the first echelon, the Aurora is still trying, but it falls a little short every time. It seems that the performance gap of a generation ahead is not so easy to make up. When facing the attack of the Aurora, the MCL-C02 seems to be very comfortable, but the Aurora has begun to show signs of fatigue."

"At this time, while the two were fighting, the cars of Mercedes, DRS, Ferrari and the No. 02 car of the Arctic Fox team also closed the distance by relying on long-distance acceleration. Are they planning to challenge MCL-C at this time?" said Li Bing.

"It seems that they don't have such an idea." After seeing that everyone just followed Mueller and Nie Ming after closing the distance with them and had no intention of joining the dispute, Li Bing continued, "Now we are only 20 kilometers away from the maintenance point. After accelerating for so long, everyone has consumed a lot of energy. If we start to risk our lives here, the risk is really too high."

When they were about to reach the maintenance point, the strengthening coating of Nie Ming's Aurora was exhausted, and the body began to become unstable. Yuri saw this and rushed forward to take it down. MCL-C02 entered the maintenance area first with a 500-meter advantage. "In this way, the McLaren team won a big victory in the first half of the game. It seems that the improvement brought by this new car in Muller's hands is really terrifying. So, in the second half of the game, can he continue the current hot state?" After seeing the first echelon entering the maintenance area one after another, Fei Ge said.

This was the first time they had such a big advantage. There was laughter and joy in the McLaren maintenance area. However, in the cockpit of the MCL-C02, Muller had a serious expression. The real geniuses in this race had not yet begun to exert their strength. Not to mention Lin Che who was able to enter the Mingjing Zhishui stage and Xiao Hao whose Burning Soul was more complete than Nie Ming, Michael and Carlo also used a running method that conserved their strength in the first half. It was still a bit too early to open the champagne now.

"It seems like everyone took a long time to draw this time's maintenance. Isn't it said that the tire changing time of GPX is generally around 3 seconds?" Su Fan looked at the busy scene in the maintenance area, somewhat puzzled.

"After all, this is a special case. Running 200 kilometers at one time consumes more than just the tires. Each team should want to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the vehicles. After leaving here, there will be no opportunity for replenishment until the finish line." Brother Fei explained to Su Fan.

"The McLaren team that arrived first was also the first to set off. This time, they directly changed to medium tires? Wasn't the first half of the race on hard tires the full strength of this car?"

After changing its tires, MCL-C02 was the first to start from the maintenance area. After starting, Muller started the thrusters immediately, and MCL-C02 began to accelerate extremely rapidly, trying to further widen the gap before its opponents started one after another.

However, compared to the situation at the beginning of the game, this time, it is obvious that Lin Che and Michael will not let Muller take the lead anymore.

After replacing the tires and completing maintenance, the Four Emperors' teams set out again and gradually revealed their hidden cards.

Mercedes' turbocharger, Ferrari's Apollo aerodynamic components, and the thrusters of Tai Chi War Dragon and Aurora all began to explode at this moment. Although none of them could catch up with the MCL-C02, which was currently leading by a large margin, Muller's plan to expand his advantage had completely failed.

"The pace of the race suddenly became faster in the second half." Li Bing said after taking a look at the situation on the field. After the drivers who had conserved their strength in the first half began to exert their strength, McLaren's advantage was gradually shrinking.

At this time, in the chat group started by Lin Che in the Zero Domain, Muller also challenged the people behind.

"If you're not serious about it, I'll gladly accept the title of this competition." When Muller said this, his mental focus was always on Lin Che, as if these words were meant specifically for Lin Che.

"It seems that I have been underestimated," Michael laughed at this, "The performance advantage of your new car is not as great as you think."

Michael and Hijikata opened the turbocharger system to the maximum and also activated another secret weapon installed on the car. The two AMG-01s driving side by side suddenly moved closer, and the airflow of the two cars merged into one at this moment. After reaching the limit, the speed of the AMG-01 began to climb step by step.

"Is it similar to the technology used by the Iron Wolf?" Lin Che laughed after seeing this scene. "Using two cars to create complementary airflows, the acceleration effect can reach 1+1>2, and the weakness of the turbocharger's slightly insufficient explosive power is also compensated."

"If you want to win the championship, have you asked me?" Carlo and Okita Kai also maxed out the power of the Apollo aerodynamic components. At the same time, the body of the Pegasus also underwent subtle changes. The rear wheels that were originally fixed were switched to a set of connection devices at this time. When the Pegasus was turning, it actually used a four-wheel steering method. In this way, the turning angle of the Pegasus became more tricky, and the turning speed on the curve was no worse than the Lifting Turn.

On this winding road in the old city, Tianma was the first car to catch up with MCL-C02.

"No, why are all the modification ideas like this?" Li Bing was shocked. The reason was simple. No matter whether it was Mercedes or Ferrari, the new methods they showed in this game were all modifications that would sacrifice stability. This was completely different from the new technologies he had seen before.

"What about you? Your new car should have more features than these." Lin Che asked in the chat group of Zero Domain at this time: "If your new car is just about stability as it has shown so far, then you are on the wrong track in this arms race."

That's right, after seeing the strength of these talented drivers, the researchers from each team basically let themselves go when developing new technologies. Compared to the improvement in speed, the researchers from the top teams had surprisingly consistent ideas in terms of stability. Since these drivers have such strong control over the cars, it seems that some skill points can be lost in this area and added to other areas!

"Of course not," Mueller said with a smile, "C02's stability is just a disguise before it really shows its full strength."

"Gordon, unlock the thruster performance lock and activate the over-limit mode." Muller pressed a button on the steering wheel in the cockpit, "Thrusters, start!"

MCL-C02 once again displayed its thrusters, but this time, after the tail wing was opened, circles of red lights lit up on the thruster jet tubes exposed to the air. The next second, flames that were countless times more violent than before gushed out from them.

(End of this chapter)