South First District, Pilgrim Avenue.
On Sunday night, the street was brightly lit on both sides, with towering Daxia standing in rows, various projections and screens everywhere, broadcasting popular ads, as well as promotions for different IPs.
At number 57 on Pilgrim Avenue, 'Dragon Nest Bar,' a large bar was in business, its sign featuring a dragon's head made of lights and projections. This dark red giant dragon had three pairs of sharp horns, and from its mouth fiery flames were occasionally emitted, illuminating the large square in front of the bar.
Luxurious hover cars came from the sky from time to time, entering parking lot entrances on either side of the square. Beneath this square lay a honeycomb-like parking structure, where each hover car would lock up automatically upon entering its cell, and when guests were ready to leave, they simply had to call their cars on their personal terminals, and the hover cars would automatically fly out and stop on the square for guests to board and take off.
Inside the bar, colored lights spun, various silhouettes moved, bodies shook in time with the deafening music, and the stimulating alcoholic beverages, combined with the hallucinatory sounds, immersed people in this crazy world, venting the pressures and irritations of life.
This was South First District, the most prosperous area of Jade Skirt, and also the place with the greatest competitive pressure. Youths from all over the planet came here with many dreams, hoping to find their own way in the future, whether it was to become famous, make big money, or meet their ideal other half, and so on.
But the higher the hope, the bigger the fall. South First District had salaries surpassing that of other areas, but it also faced higher living costs, and the temptations were far more numerous than in other districts.
Once-cherished values, nurtured from childhood, easily shattered under the immense pressure of profit; many things previously held sacred could now be sold for money, be it body, dignity, ideals, or anything else.
No force was needed when countless people were clamoring to oppress themselves, touting they were the cheapest, the most useful, the quickest, and so on. This place was never short of dreamers yearning to climb upwards, and as long as you had money, you could easily pick and choose anything.
Even though more money might have been made, many were not happy, for they saw others richer than themselves, or even enjoying more, and this envy turned into a drive, pushing them further down this path, while anxiety and indignation continued to accumulate in their hearts.
"I'm not much worse than him, why is his luck so good?"
"That boss is so despicable, not giving me the highest salary; is he exploiting me?"
"Those employees are really cunning, clearly incompetent at everything, messing up all the time, yet they boast about how great they are every day, making my money a total waste."
"They're all useless!"
To succeed even a second faster was agony, watching others make money so effortlessly was even worse than losing one's own money, why should it be?
The capital's lust for expansion and profit trickled down from the top, placing pressure and anxiety on everyone's shoulders, yet only the very few reaped enjoyment.
"Hey, fancy a drink, gorgeous?"
In the bar, a man dressed in a floral shirt with multicolored dyed hair hit on a blonde girl next to him; she didn't take any notice and continued drinking with her friends.
"Linda, it's so noisy here," complained the blonde girl who had just been approached.
"You'll get used to it, we're all here, Mi'er," the girl with deep cyan-dyed undercut said as she cast a glance and pointed towards several people not far away, a mix of men and women.
Among the approximately dozen sitting here, all were newcomers from Edith Academy, but even among newcomers, there were different ranks, with the loudest and most fawned over coming from the wealthiest backgrounds.
"See, Lu Ji and Somia are there, it won't look good if we leave early," her companion whispered in her ear afterward.
Lu Ji and Somia were the two students in their class who came from the wealthiest backgrounds. Many people, not daring to offend them in order to build good connections, cultivated this impression, having been instructed by their families before coming to the academy.
The blonde girl known as Mi'er fiddled listlessly with the straw in front of her, complaining weakly. Her mother was once a somewhat famous second-tier celebrity, and although she managed to get her daughter into Edith Academy through connections, she seemed rather unremarkable among students from deeply established families.
As everyone continued to agree with the few men and women in the center, a rising din grew louder and, finally, with the sound of a crashing bottle, the surrounding area became instantly quiet.
Numerous gazes converged, and even the pounding background music seemed for a moment subdued.
"You just fuckin' love to argue, huh! Come on then, let's have a match today. If you don't show, you're a coward! And don't go blabbering in front of others afterward." The words were crude, but in this bar, that was quite normal.
"A race it is, who the fuck is scared!" The others also refused to be outdone.
A chorus of instigating jeers rang out throughout the venue, as quite a few people clearly enjoyed stirring up drama.
"Yeah, knock him down, show him what he really looks like, the dog that dares to show off in Dragon Nest Bar!"
"Hit him, no dawdling, how can you tolerate this?"
"Go straight for a deathmatch, cowards who are scared of dying should get lost, don't just make noise here."
The rowdy commotion drew the attention of several students who had been gathered there.
After a short while, they learned the details from the people nearby.
It turned out two groups got into a conflict over a girl, with one side accusing the other of cuckolding a buddy. Naturally, the accused couldn't bear it and happened to run into the accusers at the bar. As insults were exchanged, the rival groups scorned each other as weaklings who were so pathetic even women would despise them.
"So, they're settling the score with a street race, right?" one of the boys asked with interest, watching the scene.
"Yes, if both sides started fighting directly, it would be easy to attract the police and then the Autonomous Unit would forcefully intervene and halt it," someone replied.
"Bar owners and managers definitely don't want a fatality on their hands, as that could lead to their license being revoked easily."
"With street racing, though, it's different. It's not considered a violent incident, so the Autonomous Unit won't respond, and in case of death, one can argue it's due to the other party's careless driving or impulsive behavior. Plus, it's not always fatal; after all, modern racing cars have increasingly better safety mechanisms."
"Furthermore, some modification companies and underground betting rings covertly support these races, as they stand to profit, which is why this approach continues to be promoted." The students from Edith Academy, true to their heritage of broad knowledge, understood far more about the realities of society than the average person did.
"Shall we go have a look?"
"Of course, it's not often we come across such an event. It would be a shame to miss out."
The students followed the crowd from the Dragon Nest Bar outside, and soon after, the two groups started gathering supporters and bringing in their hover cars. The onlookers rubbed their hands eagerly as they discussed and evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the two sides.