Street Tales:'Legend Of Zui Hou R'
Sixth Gear – 'Prelude to Infinity'

ACT 1 – 1000RPM 'A New Threat'

The mind is more fragile than we think…

Several factions in different entities of the road racing scene have now gather locally in the region in particular, taking notice of the previous campaign of Zui Hou R and the rise of an all new figurehead of power. The return of the Neo-DOLLS was responded by certain retaliation from various other motorsport groups and other racing teams, though not many have come close to overthrowing them. The Neo-DOLLS were Zui Hou R's newest aces in hand, much more formidable than their side allied faction, the N-Angels. However, there was still yet another group of high level resistance and dominance, which also belonged to a section of Zui Hou R – the Divine Unit.

Route C4 had been closed off that day specifically on request due to Ling Luan's favour. The young racer battled down the tightest of courses in a rematch against Bu Xia De's Jeni. However, it was not a battle of stakes, but a battle of sport. The striped red Lancer Evo VII moderated its speed against the Skyline at such a track full of narrow and sharp corners. Jeni continued on in front, while Ling remained closely behind.

Ling was at an obvious advantage and in favour of the battle, as his LanEvo proved far more maneuverable than Jeni's GT-R on that particular course. A sharp right came up, Ling dropped the clutch, then tapped the brake with his toe, and quickly tapped the throttle slightly with his heel to keep the revs high as he turned in sharply into the corner at a more extreme angle than his opponent.

Pssshh…hsss…..

The classic corkscrew challenge of Route C4 was coming up once again. The Skyline ran up to the entry at moderate speed, as Jeni tapped the brakes, slowing down to grip the turn. Without wasting time, Ling Luan excitedly punched the throttle, sending his car onward without slowing down. The Evo launched straight past the GT-R to the side, skipping a lot of ground.
The Evo then landed almost right at the bottom of the corkscrew, while Ling Luan used the remaining power of his wheels to quickly pull him through and whip some dust in front of the GT-R.

Ling did not slow down, as he knew he was to enter the wider, higher speed section of the course, not giving Jeni any room to counterattack as her car boosted straight behind him.
At the last corner, Ling had one last thing in mind. He remembered a time several months ago, in which a legendary opponent defeated him using an unconventional tactic. Ling Luan made a high speed entry while pulling the handbrake and sent his car at an angle through the corner. He dipped his rear tyres in the sand, causing them to lose their grip while he used the power of the front wheels to countersteer back, taking him further into the corner's exit taking care not to spin out.
This was the technique used against him by the one Chuan Fu Huo himself…

At the conclusion of the battle, Ling pulled over at the side to take an unexpected phone call through his cell.
"This is S," he answered.
"Ah, General. You're the only one left. I'm sorry to have you bothered, but there is this errand…" paused Hyuga.
"The only one left? What do you mean?" asked Ling.
"General N is busy at the Auto Salon show. General W has been entered in today's drifting competition, and you're the only option I had left," explained Hyuga.
"What about the princess?" asked Ling.
"She's off duty today. Anyway, are you willing to accept?"
"Just gimme a sec, I'll do it,"

Ling had stepped out of his vehicle to say his goodbyes to his friend. He did not take as long, as business with Zui seemed higher in his priorities list. Ling was practically born a road racer. Zui Hou and Fukada Kumiko had trained him at a young age until he was lent his vehicle, the LanEvo. Hyuga saw it fitting for him to be in such a car, as Ling's father did before him who was a former C4 member – Ling Luan Sr.

"You outclass me now," admitted Jeni.
"It was just for fun. Too bad I'm not as good in BG3 though, haha,"
"Nah, you'll probably rip me in that too. Anyway, wanna have dinner later?"
"I'm sorry, the Emperor just called and he says I got a mission lined up. Maybe some other time…"

Ling returned to his car, threw his jacket onto the other seat and shut the door. He picked up his cell and continued to discuss with Hyuga, "So what is it I am to do?"
"It's rather simple really. I want you to go to Dreadnaught," asked the Emperor kindly. "Meet with their leader, ask him about…"
"Oh, I see…" cut off Ling. "I'm on it right away…"

Several moments later, Ling had loyally followed Hyuga's order, or rather to him, it was more like a request. Ling drove down town during the evening, cruising through the intersections and eventually stopped to fill some gas and buy some pre-paid credit. Leaving without hurry, Ling had decided to contact Dreadnaught's frontman himself, Gallard Raide.

"I'll be there in a couple of minutes. Sorry about the short notice," said Ling over the phone.

He continued across town, as storm clouds had seemed to close in and quickly started to pour heavily. The rain crashed down noisily that you could barely hear anything at all. He made his way past another few intersections and finally found his way to a medium sized building, with several huge garage doors on the side and a warehouse over behind it. One of the garage doors began to open for Ling as he drove in patiently, while being welcomed by Raide in person.

Ling stepped out of his car and took a quick look around the room. The place was full of tools, parts, and kits all over the place. Typical garage, as Ling thought.

"Good evening. What can I do for one of Zui Hou's Generals here tonight?" greeted Raide politely.
"It's been a while Raide. Where's Hokuto?"asked Ling.
"Oh, I'm the only one here. We're actually closed for tonight," explained Raide. "So you came here on your own? Or were you sent by Emperor Zui?"

"A bit of both," said Ling. "Anyways, I was sent here to discuss about the deal you had several months ago with Chuan Fu Huo,"
"Oh, I see. So you've eventually figured it out, huh,"
"Yeah… it seemed that he confessed… just before his demise."
"Unfortunately, I cannot do him the honour of giving you the information you need…"
"What do you mean? What did you do with the KYOKO blueprints? And the pills he sold you?"

Raide began to shut the garage slowly. He walked around Ling's car, staring him down as he began to pull out a chair and sat down at the table nearby. "You know, you had a lot of courage coming here by yourself," he said, "Have a seat."

"I'll stand. Anyways, I am here to take back our property. Zui Hou will cover your refunds. It would be much easier if you hand us back our project," explained Ling.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, even if I wanted to," explained Raide, "You see, when Chuan Fu Huo came here to us, he demanded a fifty grand price on KYOKO and the pills as well as an exact duplicate of the system itself. Of course, I wanted to take the offer, but lacked the funds to seal the deal with him,"

"And then?"
"I had not really begun to process our findings and start our own project with your system, due to the lack of funds. So recently, we had been insisted the assistance of an outside individual, who did possess the funds and resources to back our project. He basically bought us off, before we could pay off Fu Huo's deal, but since his death, we decided to cancel it and keep KYOKO for ourselves,"

"That's fine. So you haven't created the copy yet?"
"I'm not really sure. You should ask our leader," explained Raide.
"Your leader? I thought you were?" confused Ling.
"Not anymore. That individual who bought us off and in exchange for his resources was a man called Emperor Bao Fu. I had accepted him as the new leader for Dreadnaught Racing ages ago. He is from another region though. But he is a powerful man indeed. He will be arriving to our town sometime soon, and by then, a new Dreadnaught will be born."

"Emperor Bao Fu? I have not heard of him before…"
"He is foreign," explained Raide. "He is coming here to take over our project. I assume that you wish to intercept him?"
"I have not received the order. But most likely if he knows where the blueprints are, then we are after him. Zui Hou R is indeed a more powerful organization. You are aware of this, are you not?"

"Haha… Emperor Bao Fu may prove just as well…" warned Raide. "Possibly even more than your Emperor Hyuga."
"Hmph… We shall see."

Ling Luan had no patience left with the conversation. He then stepped into his vehicle, as Raide began to open the door. Though his objectives are not completed, he knew that he had to report his current progress to Hyuga, as well as the new information that he had just been told. Who is Emperor Bao Fu? If he were as powerful as Hyuga, surely I would have heard of him. Could Raide be lying?

Ling accessed his cellphone and began to contact his authority. He somehow began to regret about how insufficient his findings were. Nevertheless, his job was not finished.

"This is General S…" said Ling.
"Ah, Ling. So what happened?"asked Hyuga.
"Raide says he is not aware of the whereabouts of the plans and would not cooperate. He told me to contact a man named Bao Fu,"
"Who? Never heard of him. Did he give you the contact details?"
"No… he does not have them, but claims that Bao Fu himself would arrive here at our region. He'll then contact us directly, as Raide claims."
"Then we have no choice but to wait for him and confront him. Can you take on this job?"
"Of course. But for the mean time, shouldn't I try to investigate more around Dreadnaught?"
"No need. We don't have to snoop around other people's stuff at the moment. But if you see something suspicious about them, let me know," ordered Hyuga.
"Yes, sir. Shireishou S out,"

Not only did she keep much focus on her racing department and kitchen mastery, the young Kouda Minako had also worked on her performances, using her sister Maya's cafeteria as a basis. The scene was more of a karaoke bar-like feel, as Minako performed in the background while others ate, gambled, drank, and played. Singing for Minako was also a way of stress-relief.
One day, if she had earned the money, Minako would use her funds to support her singing career as a back-up plan should she end up in retirement from the road-racing scene along with her sister.

It was a warm and quiet night at the karaoke bar, the customers were calm and relaxed and thankfully, riot-free. Outside were the usual customer parking, with the same familiar vehicles out at the front. At the rear, the staff vehicles of N-Angels were located alongside Maya's Impreza and Minako's NSX-R.

Maya continued to work around the kitchen at a rather busy pace, leaving her sister on stage to perform. Minako wore her silk indigo dress and her newest pair of black sandals. Since then she had slightly turned to a more Fukada Kumiko-like fashion sense, though nowhere near as revealing. However, the jewels around her neck were strictly her department.
Minako never really wore any make up, nor did she ever need to anyway as her natural beauty brought birth to a little grooming laziness. She had the kind of beauty that still retained a pretty face even after waking up out of bed. She had also recently toned down her hair colour, from the blonde to a darker shade with a pinch of burgundy only seen in the light. Either with image or in persona, Minako has surely gone through some changes.
She remained on the stage and sang 'Gentle Words' – Koda Kumi, enchanting people with her dazzle and taming them with her voice. She could perhaps end up being a bigger icon than Fukada Kumiko herself one day.

Minako and her NSX-R were featured on various other magazine covers such as Auto Salon, Hot4's and Import Tuner. It was these little steps that really lead Minako into Kumiko's picture. However, Minako had no interest in modeling. Not much information had been given out about the KYOKO system in the magazine articles though. It has always been Maya who had been interested in modeling alongside Kumiko back in the day, though had not much of a chance due to her business.

'sora wo miagete
sukoshi tameiki tsuku
sunao ni iezu "Hello! Hello!"'

Minako pretty much enjoyed what she was doing. She never really dreamed of being such an icon like her mentor, but nevertheless, she would not mind. She moved gracefully on stage, holding the microphone with her fingertips as her facial melancholy blended in with the song.

'aenai hibi ga
tsudzuku kara tokei no
hari wo sukoshi dake modoshite'

Though she had never really rehearsed as much, Minako knew how to move. No choreographs, nothing. However, if she were to sing a fast-paced song, she surely had enough energy and precision to sing and dance all night due to fatigue-resistant experience on the many times she spent on road racing.
Unlike most of the road racers she knew about, Minako was probably one whom had more to her life other than driving itself.

'futatsu no kage ga hitotsu no toki e…
hikareau futari no Love
mijikaku awai toki no naka
yasashisugiru kotoba ga
watashi no fuan wo sasou'