The Urban Dao Child

The three people found the child very enthusiastic. Akira Hayate said, “Well, how about we first look at the product?” He became curious about the product. After all, they found out that this guy was the younger brother of Feng Yun. So he might have a good product.

Yang Dao nodded, and said, “We are about to test the product on the track. Please come along if you want to.” His tone was polite, but not too humble.

The three racers nodded, Yang Dao turned to Dillon and said, “Sir, those two cars are all to be moved to the track.” Then he handed the car keys to the young secretary, who accepted them with a nod. Feng Yun had called over earlier to plan, and the staff was enthusiastic about it. Two drivers stood at a distance and all came forward and pushed the cars inside the circuit.

Enzo D’costa glanced at the black and red car for a bit and said, “Why does this car look familiar to me? It’s just like Quinn.”

Yang Dao chuckled and said, “It is Quinn. I just had the paint changed. The black and red look better. What do you think?”

Migel Antonio asked, “You own QUINN? Damn, you are lucky. Can I take it around for a lap?’

Yang Dao said, “Only if you let me drive your Arrow.”

Migel said, “Deal.” He was excited. The four people walked inside the edifice and soon came to the pit stop. The old Crew Chief was present there. Icarus and Ray were setting up some monitoring equipment.

Feng Yun stood beside them silently. She saw Yang Dao come over and smiled faintly. The boy introduced the three professional racers to her. The three drivers became very cautious and serious while they said hello to the beauty in red.

Yang Dao spotted two people pushing the silver sports car to the track. He said, “Icarus, are you ready?”

The latter nodded and said, “I am ready but still you should do a last check yourself.” Yang Dao nodded and walked up to the car. Ray and Icarus also followed. The three checked the equipment installed in the car. After ten minutes, the three nodded and came back to the pit stop.

Yang Dao said, “Start the first test.”

Icarus nodded and pressed the enter key on the keyboard. On the track, the silver sports car started with a buzz. The surrounding people were shocked. Yang Dao sat in front of a laptop along with Ray and Icarus and said, “All the parameters are normal. Let’s start with the upper limit of 30 kph, first.”

The two nodded and pressed some keys. The car moved slowly. The staff was all shocked. Dillon couldn’t help but ask, “What is this? Remote driving?”

Feng Yun shook her head and spat out two words, “Autonomous Driving.” Her voice was calm and stable. She had the utmost confidence in Yang Dao and his abilities.

The base code of the driving system was written by Icarus and Ray while the rest was completed by Yang Dao. He also integrated the assistant system in the car. The whole thing was 65% his own doing.

Soon the vehicle on the track vanished from everyone’s eyes. Yang Dao said, “It looks good till now. Braking around the corner is fine.”

Ray followed. “The car is following a straight line. Routing system works fine.”

Icarus sighed. “We don’t know if it can avoid obstructions or traffic right now. That is the key feature, you know?”

Yang Dao shook his head and said, “Since when did you become a worrywart? Let me test the second and third features.” with that said, he stood up and walked out to his car parked on the track.

The keys were already inside, and the vehicle was ready to drive. Yang Dao sat in and put on the seat belt. He ignited the vehicle and drove off like a bullet. Icarus mumbled, “Should I have ridden with him?”

Feng Yun shook her head and said, “Your chief instructor, Laohu Bai, cried like a child when she accompanied him for a ride. Are you sure you can handle that?”

Icarus exclaimed, “Damn, thank you for the warning, Big Sister.” Well, Yang Dao told them to call her big sister, or he told Feng Yun to let them call her big sister. His wish was her command. So she followed along.

…

On the track, Yang Dao quickly caught up to the silver car. He dialed a call to Icarus. The call connected and the other side said, “You caught up?” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

The boy replied, “Seems like rear detection works fine.”

“Yup. Start other tests.” Ray’s voice sounded. Excitement was audible in his voice.

Yang Dao flickered the headlights of his car and after five seconds the silver car in front switched on the right indicator light and drove to the left. It gave the boy a smooth pass. The boy said, “Sign and road traffic calculating algorithm seems fine.”

Ray’s voice came, “Increasing the upper limit of speed to 60 kph. Dao, try to drive in front of LISA1. Test the simultaneous braking algorithm.”

Yang Dao nodded and said, “Okay.”

He drove past the silver car named LISA1, based on the artificial driving system inside the car. The silver car was now driving steadily at 60 kph. The acceleration was deliberately slowed down. Yang Dao lined up in his car and slowed down slowly. The silver car followed the pace it slowed down.

Icarus said, “The system is scanning for stop signs.” he just finished speaking when the silver car flickered the lights at Yang Dao.

The boy replied, “It works fine. Let’s do the last test. Increase the upper-speed limit and set the pit stop as an emergency spot.”

He heard some typing and Ray said, “Done.”

Yang Dao increased the car speed and the silver car followed. Soon, it was now driving at a speed of 80kph and a female voice sounded, “This is an emergency, please give way. The passenger needs medical help.”

As soon as Yang Dao gave it some space, the silver vehicle drove past with words, “Thank you for your cooperation.”

…

Three minutes later, Yang Dao drove over to the pit stop with the silver car. Icarus and Ray were cheering and hugging each other. They rushed over Yang Dao. Feng Yun also came over to congratulate along with the rest of the people. They have never seen a car drive autonomously, never expected something like this to happen tonight.

Viktor Dragunov said after everyone calmed down a bit, “Feng Yang Dao, your name will resound through time.”

Yang Dao humbled himself and said, “You glorify me, senior.” The three racers have been looking at the silver car. They came back to the crowd with strange looks on their faces.

Akira Hayate asked, “Young Master Feng, I did not spot any changes in the interior. How did you make it work? I cannot wrap my head around it.”

Yang Dao smiled and said, “You will have to wait for the press conference. Also, how about it? Is a copy of this sort of vehicle good enough to make you drive.”

The three racers nodded. Suddenly, Migel Antonio spoke up. “How do you suppose us to defeat you in that beast of yours? This is unfair competition.” his finger was pointing at Quinn.

Viktor Dragunov said, “Yang Dao will drive my car, slayer sword. That car is on par with yours. Today you realize that it is up to the driver and not the car entirely.” His words pumped up the three professionals. They were not present in the gathering a few days ago when Yang Dao made a pin curve at a high speed and they did not see him driving like a maniac on the track as well.

To them, this kid was just another fan of racing. They all were before they became pros. Soon Yang Dao and the others sat down in the cars and gathered at the starting line. Feng Yun stood at the sidelines, and her face was somber.

Dillon said, “Madam, are you worried that Young Master may lose?” His tone carried a lot of respect.

Feng Yun shook her head and said, “I just don’t want him to break their spirits. I hope he can restrain his eagerness.”

Dillon was surprised, but recalling how Yang Dao drove Quinn around the circuit, he kept quiet, even somewhat agreeing with Feng Yun.

Viktor Dragunov pressed the signal lights. The cars fired their engines.

VROOMMM…

The people heard loud revving sounds of the cars. The signaling lights turned green and the four cars shot off like bullets. Icarus said, “Senior Ray, what do you think about this race?”

Ray was doubtful. He said, “I do not know. But if he is as good as he is at cycling, I will not be too surprised to see the other three suffer.”

Viktor Dragunov chuckled as he heard these two. He said, “You do not know. Your friend is a genius.”