Under the night sky, the blue sports car swept rapidly along the mountain road like a constantly flickering phantom, leaving only scattered moonlight in its wake.
O'Deen stared intently at the road ahead, his peripheral vision catching the blurred shadows of trees flashing by. Before he could even swallow the saliva in his mouth, he felt the sports car beneath him slowing down again, finally coming to a steady stop back at their original starting point.
"Huff—"
Xiao He rotated his neck, feeling a faint ache, then unbuckled his seatbelt and got out directly: "Thanks, bro, but I need to head back now."
Xiao He had already familiarized himself with the complete route of this island's ring road back when he was riding motorcycles, so this time driving with O'Deen, he didn't hold back his speed at all, circling the entire island in one go and satisfying his craving for the limited edition sports car.
However, it was getting late, and Director Zhuang's motorcycle was still parked by the roadside. Although there probably weren't any thieves on this island, for such expensive equipment, Xiao He thought it better to return it early.
"Wait a moment."
O'Deen called out to Xiao He again.
"On behalf of our club, I'd like to invite you to participate in next month's European GT3 Endurance Race held in Mengla, Italy (fictional)."
"The European GT3 Endurance Race?"
Xiao He turned his head to look at O'Deen.
Actually, this kind of racing knowledge wasn't originally within Xiao He's driving skill set, but since he had acquired the ability, he had learned a bit about it beforehand.
To explain this kind of competition in terms laypeople could understand, it's basically a bunch of car manufacturers getting together, modifying their production sports cars into non-civilian GT3 racing cars, then competing on professional tracks to see who can go faster and last longer.
Simply put, it's these car manufacturers advertising themselves and building connections.
As for endurance races, as the name suggests, they test endurance. They're divided into many categories, basically meaning several people form a team, take turns driving on the same track until time runs out, and whoever covers the longest distance wins.
"I can't really be considered a professional race car driver. I don't understand the point of your invitation."
Xiao He shrugged, speaking quite frankly.
This type of competition always attracts high attention, and various car manufacturers, seeking fame and profit, would naturally prefer capable teams. Although O'Deen could be somewhat self-centered, he genuinely had skills. His team, including his own abilities, were quite famous throughout Europe, so Xiao He didn't think they'd be short of drivers.
"That's exactly why we want to invite you to participate in this competition's Pro-Am category."
"Pro-Am?"
Pro refers to professional drivers, while Am refers to gentleman drivers, meaning amateur drivers.
The Pro-Am category is a combination of professional drivers and amateur drivers.
This combination has gained relatively high external attention in recent years. After all, the organizers mandatorily established such a diverse amateur combination precisely to attract more outside attention, lower the barrier to racing, give more ordinary people a sense of participation, and thereby expand the competition's scale and influence.
Interestingly, over the years, this combination has indeed produced various impressive performances. For example, amateur players using clever rule exploits to overturn numerous professional players and take first place, or like when a certain American celebrity artist came to compete, bringing along fan economy, boosting fan engagement for regular race car drivers, turning an ordinary driver into a star driver.
Ever since discovering Xiao He's exceptional abilities, O'Deen had already been getting excited.
"Don't worry, if you can compete, we can help resolve both the appearance fee and issues with your production team here."
As he spoke, O'Deen very confidently patted his car window.
Xiao He's gaze fell on the Ferrari O'Deen was sitting in, his eyes lighting up: "Your sponsor is them?"
"Mhm."
O'Deen smiled slightly, revealing neat, white teeth: "So the appearance fee definitely won't shortchange you."
The biggest sponsor of this competition is Europe's largest vehicle lubricant brand, with a total prize pool of 5 million euros.
Additionally, if a team can rank first in total points for this station's competition, they can obtain the brand's regional sponsorship rights for the following year.
This region covers markets in five European countries, valued at approximately 3 million euros.
But achieving this ranking is actually very difficult. Because it's based on total points, it requires not only their high-level platinum category not dropping the ball, but also the other categories not dragging them down, striving for top positions to accumulate more points.
It's equivalent to the entire participating team's drivers not slacking off, everyone having to deliver their best performance to possibly challenge the overall rankings.
Even though O'Deen's team usually ranks at the front and O'Deen is the team's ace, he wouldn't dare confidently guarantee that his team would definitely take first place this time.
Moreover, he'd heard that this time there's also the young master of some car manufacturer family, who loved racing since childhood and dreamed of being champion. To fulfill this dream, he specifically poached top drivers from two established teams.
These two drivers have been famous for a long time; in these kinds of competitions, they've always been like unbeatable monsters in the professional category. This time, however, they're accompanying this young master to compete in the Pro-Am category, which gives a glimpse into this young master's background and strength.
Probably once on the road, other teams wouldn't dare bump into him, afraid of offending the young master.
But—this prize pool is really tempting! Who wouldn't be tempted?
However, being tempted is one thing; not everyone can win against those two ace race car drivers over there without fearing offending the young master—unless that person is Xiao He.
Xiao He comes from China, his main job is acting, he's not from the racing circle. Even if he offends the young master, he can just dust off his hands and leave, completely unaffected. Plus, his driving skills are superb, absolutely crushing other competitors.
As for other conditions, Xiao He also fits very well.
Let's not mention license levels for now. Although Xiao He's domestic license level is too low for international use, if he wants to participate, this is the easiest problem to solve. Their team can directly help Xiao He handle the license, getting him to meet the basic participation threshold for amateur race car drivers.
As for not having participated in purely professional category events within three years, that's even simpler. After all, Xiao He doesn't even have a foreign license, let alone participating in foreign professional category events.
So when O'Deen returned to his team and explained the situation, both the team's coach and manager were very tempted.
Yet Xiao He still shook his head: "Sorry, I don't have the time."
Then he put on his helmet, ready to ride away.
"Hey hey, wait, wait—"
O'Deen immediately moved his car forward a bit, using the front to block Xiao He's path: "We can offer this much for the appearance fee!"
He held up five fingers toward Xiao He.
Xiao He could only stop again, looking at O'Deen: "Fifty thousand US dollars?"
"It's five hundred thousand US dollars!"
O'Deen emphasized seriously: "You are a Chinese star after all, how can your appetite be so small? The appearance fee definitely won't shortchange you!"
Xiao He's eyelid twitched.
Wait, how much did you say?
Xiao He had originally been planning to squeeze through the gap beside him to get out, but upon hearing the bomb O'Deen dropped, he firmly planted his heels.
"Ahem, but then again."
Xiao He cleared his throat lightly.
All that gibberish earlier, so much nonsense—he should have just gotten to this key point directly! Had to drag him through all that irrelevant talk.
Who cares about the competition details!
Although Xiao He's ambitions lie in the entertainment industry, if he can make money... ahem, fight for passion, then it's also his bounden duty.
"I can go to the competition, but I don't guarantee wins or losses. Your side handles negotiations with the production team; it can't affect the filming schedule. And if the production explicitly refuses, I won't participate."
Xiao He instructed seriously.
"Don't worry!"
O'Deen immediately excitedly honked the horn.
"Then I'll head off first, I'll go contact Director Zhuang right away."
Then, as if afraid Xiao He would change his mind, that blue Ferrari whooshed out in an instant.
Xiao He: ...This kid, why is he more anxious than me.
Never seen someone so eager to give money away...