The race started, and Levi took the lead right away. Both cars accelerated hard down the first stretch of the track.
They approached the first corner and William's eyes widened in shock.
"Crap, what is this situation? Lionel is slowing a bit on the corner while Levi is speeding more."
One of Lionel's crew members watched with disbelief.
"This guy is crazy. Even professionals rarely attempt such risky moves. One wrong thing and the car might crash."
Lionel took a slight drift to position himself ahead of Levi, but then Levi sped up even more, matching the aggressive maneuver.
"He actually took the turn with that speed," William said in awe.
The crowd watching began to murmur excitedly.
"Such control."
"Was he trained?"
"Holy shit, this is crazy."
This guy is like ten years younger than Lionel. Where could he get the experience?"
With his new God Tier driving skills in effect, Levi dominated the race. He took corners at impossible speeds, his drifts were near perfect, and his gear shifts were flawless. At the end of the two laps, Levi crossed the finish line well ahead of Lionel.
"The new boss won. We actually have a boss who understands racing, not just money."
Levi and Lionel both got out of their cars. Levi was calm while Lionel looked impressed.
"You held back, didn't you?" Levi asked.
"You guessed that? Well, I can't take this as seriously as a real race with life and death stakes. But still, you won," Lionel admitted.
"That I did."
Lionel shook his head in wonder.
"But your car seems new. Not a single thing modified. How did you do such moves?" Lionel asked curiously.
"Hmm, I guess it was due to your clutch timing and gear shifting."
Why is he asking an amateur like me? Don't tell me he thinks I know such stuff. But I did win against him, so he must be curious.
Lionel extended his hand for a handshake.
"You sure are an interesting one. You're just four or five years younger but have such knowledge. Let's exchange contacts. Call me if you need help."
"Okay, let's do that," Levi agreed.
They exchanged contact information, but then Levi's phone buzzed with a message from Sera asking him to pick her up.
"Hey, I gotta go. Some urgent work came up."
"Why now of all times? We could do some more fun games and all. What work is it?" Lionel asked.
"Taxi driving."
Lionel chuckled at the response.
"You sure like to joke," Lionel said with a grin.
Levi left in his M9 driving to Sera's place. He reached the house and knocked on the door.
Sera opened it, her hair still wet from the shower.
"You're quick. I wasn't even ready yet," she said with a slight blush.
"Is she in here?" Levi asked still scared of Nancy's presence.
"No, she isn't today. Come in and wait while I get ready."
Levi entered and looked around. He noticed a PlayStation was on with a game paused on the screen.
"Can I play this while you get ready?"
"Yes," Sera said heading to dry her hair.
Levi started playing and a few minutes passed. Suddenly, a notification chimed from the PC.
"There seems to be a mail. It's a business one, must be important," Levi called out.
Sera was in the other room drying her hair.
"It must be nothing that important. Check it."
Levi clicked on the email and immediately felt a slight jolt.
"What is it? Why are you not speaking?" Sera asked noticing his silence.
"Uh, it says your 34DD black and red laced undergarments is shipped."
Guess I saw something I shouldn't be seeing... At least not this early.
Sera suddenly felt embarrassed, realizing what he'd read. Another chime came from the PC almost immediately.
Levi looked at the screen again.
"Ms. Sera, there seems to be another—"
Sera came running quickly with frantic movement.
"No, there's no need to—" she said but her foot was still wet from the shower.
While trying to stop Levi she slipped on the wet floor. Levi instinctively caught her, his arms wrapping around her waist. But in the process her towel fell away completely.
Levi, still focused on keeping her from falling, hadn't yet realized what happened.
"Thank god you didn't fall."
Then he saw, and she screamed.
"Aaaahhhh!" Sera shrieked, pulling the towel back on and running into the bedroom.
"Uhm, I was about to tell you it was spam, but you—"
Sera interrupted from inside the room, "Stop! It's embarrassing!"
After ten minutes, Sera came dressed beautifully. She wore a black dress with some silver jewelry.
She isn't anything less than a milf goddess, but I can't say that right.
"You look beautiful, miss. You could easily win a beauty pageant."
She smiled at the compliment.
"Shall we go then?"
"Okay," Levi replied.
They were about to leave when the front door suddenly opened. Nancy walked in, and right behind her was their mother. Levi's luck with Sera was as pitiful as always.
"Are you two done?"
Sera's face turned red.
"What are you saying? We were just chatting. And when did you get here?" Sera asked nervously.
"We came earlier, but since you closed the curtains, we didn't dare enter," her mother said with a smirk.
Nancy looked away.
"Hmph, we are considerate, okay? Not that I have any problem with you dating your student," Nancy said loudly.
Ooh, she sure changes her tone in front of her mom.
"Mom, it's not like that. I was just changing clothes."
"Yes yes, you both were just changing clothes."
"Levi, you do remember about the birthday, right? Bring some good gift or they'll call you a poor kid clinging to an older woman," Nancy said teasingly.
"Nancy," Sera scolded.
"Yeah yeah, I'm going."
Levi looked at Sera.
"Shall we leave too then?" he asked.
"Of course. Let's get out of here quickly."
They reached the class reunion destination after an hour of driving. Sera got out of the car.
"Call me if you need a ride back."
"Okay," Sera said, waving goodbye.
Guess I've reached at least a good amount of trust with her, Levi thought as he drove away.
He decided to check his phone for any interesting events in the city. The group chat he'd joined—consisting of rich guys and top people of the city had posted a message about an auction happening that evening.
Should I check it out? But do I even have a pass or something?
He called one of the guys he knew from the group.
"Hello, I want to attend that auction tonight."
"Really, sir? You're going to join? For the entry, all you need is 150,000Z," the guy replied.
"Okay, I'll send it to you."
"Okay, sir. Any questions?" the guy asked.
"Is there any dress code?"
"No, it's a casual hotel auction, so you can come as is. It's mostly jewelry."
"Got it."
The call ended. Despite the casual dress code, Levi decided to buy a decent black shirt and pants to look presentable. He wanted to make a good impression at the auction.
At the auction venue a staff member welcomed him at the entrance.
They have a staff for each person. It's cool.
"Please follow me, sir."
Levi nodded and followed. The staff guided him to the main auction location.
The staff spoke to an auction worker, "This is sir Allencraft. He's one of our VIP guests."
"Good evening, sir. Please enter," the worker said gesturing him inside.
As soon as Levi entered he could hear the bidding sounds resonating through the hall.
"Three million once, three million twice, thrice... sold to number sixty-seven," the announcer called.
Levi walked slowly, taking a look at the people present. Most were older, wealthy individuals who seemed very comfortable throwing around massive amounts of money.
"So it's already started. It's pretty lively in here."
The announcer's voice boomed through the hall.
"Our next item is a watch model LVR49K from the collection of Henry Louise. It's a global limited edition, comparable to Patek Philippe. Each bid raise will be 500,000Z."
Levi saw the watch on display and immediately recognized its value.
So it's only ten million at start. In a few years, it will raise as high as thirty million. It'd be a crime not to take it.
He raised his paddle.
"Fifteen million."
Another bidder immediately responded.
"Sixteen million," came the counter-bid.
"Sixteen point five million," Levi raised again.
"Seventeen million," another bid came in.
People around the hall began to stare at him.
"Who is this youngster? Does he have such money?"
"Is he dumb? Why waste so much money only on a watch?"
"Isn't he the Levi guy you were talking about?"
The bidding continued intensely. Finally, Levi won at 19,500,000Z.
As soon as the final gavel came down, two well-dressed guys approached him. They both looked like they belonged in the fashion magazines Levi had seen in stores.
"Hey man, nice to meet ya. I'm Sunny Billcan," the first one said.
"Hey, I'm Will Runan."
So these are the rich models I see on TVs. It's crazy to see them in real life. But now he wasn't any less good-looking than a model himself.
"I'm Levi. Levi Allencraft."
Will looked at him with interest.
"Actually, bidder number nine was bidding for me. I didn't know there was another watch collector here," Will said.
"I'm not some enthusiast. It was my first pricey watch. Just wanted to buy something cool."
Will patted his shoulder.
"Hahaha, you're fun. Spending nineteen million for your first time? A spender like you, how come we've never met? How old are you?"
"Oh, I'm new to this city. I'm from the Orion District, and I'm only twenty-one," Levi replied.
Will's eyes widened. "Only twenty-one? When I was your age, I didn't have such balls."
Will and Sunny exchanged glances.
"We should hang out sometime," Sunny suggested.
"Okay, sure," Levi agreed.
The two left him with their contact information, and Levi headed toward the VIP room that had been assigned to him. But as he walked down the hallway of his floor, he encountered someone familiar.
"Huh, Angela?" Levi said surprised.
Angela's eyes widened when she recognized him.
"You.... you're from the other night," Angela said with a mix of recognition and embarrassment in her voice.
Levi smirked.
"Right. Getting cash to spend time with a beautiful woman who I just happened to gift something priced. What a night."
"You little punk," Angela said but there was no anger in her voice.
Levi pulled her by the waist. "I've got a room here. Care to join me?" he asked with a grin.
Angela licked her lips with a subtle smack eyes showing interest.
"Why not? I've had enough of the drinks here."
But just as they were about to move, a man's voice rang out from behind.
"You... stop right there. What do you think you're doing to my woman?" a guy came running with anger on his face.
Levi froze, his hand still on Angela's waist.
"What?"