Early the next morning, Derek and Stella were fully packed and ready to go.
The Knox Rally was held on a small island off the coast, reachable only by plane. It wasn't far from Jiangcheng—just over an hour's flight. The rally's official start time was 5 p.m., and rumor said that the fastest Mecha Girl would reach the finish line right in time to see a breathtaking sunset.
The Hello Kitty battle suit had already arrived. Calling it "flashy" was an understatement. Worse still, the old man required him to wear it on the way to the airport and keep it on until the race ended. Derek felt socially dead, but the old man was the sponsor. He had no choice but to endure it.
Stella's tires had been replaced as well.
The little girl hadn't slept all night. Derek could still hear her muttering cornering formulas through her door. Now she had dark circles under her eyes, staring at everyone with a dazed, unfocused expression.
Before they left, Mr. Liang called the two of them over.
"I didn't talk to you yesterday because you were too tired, but now's still a good time."
Seeing Mr. Liang's serious expression, Derek and Stella immediately straightened up.
"You should already know the basics of the Knox Rally. The full course is 200 kilometers long with 14 challenging corners. The hardest part is the consecutive hairpin turns near the end. There are also many long straightaways. Overall, the Knox Rally track actually suits Stella quite well."
Stella blinked, raising her hands as if to applaud.
The next second, Mr. Liang dropped the "but."
"If you think the Knox Rally is only that difficult, you're gravely mistaken." He took a sip of tea, speaking calmly: "The archipelago you're headed to is in a tropical region, with unpredictable weather. One moment it's sunny, the next moment it could be pouring rain. And heavy rain doesn't just make the track slippery—it can cause landslides, mudslides, and other natural hazards. Anything can happen, and you won't be able to predict it."
Stella shrank back, tugging on Derek's sleeve and whispering, "Master… what's a mudslide? Is it tastier than last night's snowflake beef?"
Derek: "…"
"So what should we do if something like that happens?"
Mr. Liang tapped his eyes and ears.
"Keep your eyes sharp and your ears open! Also, the Knox Rally track layout is very flexible. You can move freely across different sections. Some places don't require you to follow the track at all. Doing that can both save time and avoid danger."
"Aha! UN-70X told me yesterday that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points!" Stella held up one finger, eyes sparkling. "Since the track doesn't matter, why don't Master and I run straight from the start to the finish? That way there won't be any corners… Whoa! Am I actually a genius?"
Mr. Liang: "…"
His hand trembled slightly as he held his teacup.
Derek twitched his lips, sighed, and pressed a hand to his forehead before patting Stella's head. "The Knox Rally takes place on mountains. Are you planning to climb over them all? Or smash a tunnel straight through them with your iron head?"
"Oh…"
Hearing Derek's explanation, Stella realized her idea might not work.
"Then… UN-70X was wrong?"
"No, what she said wasn't wrong," Mr. Liang said. "It's just not very applicable to racing. Shortcuts can be used, but be careful. Used well, they save time. Used poorly, they'll get you killed."
"That's all I needed to say. You two can go."
There was no fish soup today, so Mr. Liang began clearing away the tea instead.
"Mr. Liang, it's our first official race. Aren't you coming to watch?" Derek and Stella looked at him expectantly.
"Hmph. What's so interesting about the Knox Rally? I'm not going!"
…
"Holy crap, that guy's racing suit is insane~"
"There's even Hello Kitty on it… he's not gay, right? But he's so handsome, even if he is, it's fine~"
"Is the little girl in the photo on his chest his daughter? He must be really loving!"
"The Mecha Girl next to him looks super young too. Total creepy lolicon vibes just like on the news!"
…
At the airport terminal.
Derek sat rigid and proper, outwardly calm as a monk in meditation.
Inside, he was collapsing.
He knew this flashy pink Hello Kitty suit would attract attention, but he didn't expect this level of pointing and whispering.
"Derek?"
A familiar voice rang out.
Derek looked up—Jade-786 stood there staring at him in shock, surrounded by Ascend Racing Club members. They were clearly heading to the Knox Rally too.
"Holy shit—De–Derek? What happened to your outfit?" Kyle Zhang looked him up and down, disbelief turning into an amused smirk.
"You sure you're here for the Knox Rally and not some talent show?"
Seeing Derek in full racing gear stunned both Kyle and Jade-786. Neither had expected him to actually show up for the rally.
And the silver-haired girl beside him must be his Mecha Girl.
Kyle squinted at Stella, feeling she looked familiar.
Wait—wasn't that the XC-99 they'd dumped from Ascend Racing Club?
Back when he bought XC-99 for five thousand bucks, he'd been overjoyed, thinking he'd struck gold. XC-series Mecha Girls usually sold for millions. But after a few dummy tests, he'd nearly had a heart attack. He still vividly remembered that silicone dummy being torn to pieces.
He learned a painful truth that day:
When buying Mecha Girls at auction, you really get what you pay for.
So Derek was really bringing XC-99 to compete in the Knox Rally?
Damn. Savage.
"Derek, I respect you—you're a real man, bringing out a Mecha Girl like that!" Kyle finally stopped laughing and slung an arm around Jade-786, giving Derek a thumbs-up. "Remember what you said? See you on the track~" He imitated Derek's cold tone, then grinned. "We'll really meet on the Knox track. Hope you make it out alive—after all, you are my former employee!"
[Passengers bound for the Knox Islands, please note: Flight TK-8543 is now boarding…]
The announcement echoed through the terminal.
"Let's go!" Kyle called, swaggering off with Jade-786 and the Ascend Club crew, not sparing Derek and Stella a second glance.
He even felt amused at himself.
He had actually worried that Derek might cause trouble on the track.
But looking at him now, Derek was just entertainment.
"Boss, that guy and his Mecha Girl look kinda familiar…" one of the new drivers—who hadn't been assigned a Mecha Girl yet—said. "And his outfit too. Especially the photo of the little girl… I feel like I've seen it somewhere…"
"What familiar? Familiar my ass."
Kyle rolled his eyes.
"Yesterday you said Jade-786 looked like your ex. This morning you said the supermarket owner's daughter looked like your sister. Everyone looks familiar to you!"
"No, Boss, I mean it—really familiar…"
He had been watching some nearby training races recently.
Rumor said the sponsor at the Banag Valley track had made a racing suit for the training champion—some outrageous pink suit covered in Hello Kitty and the sponsor's daughter's photos. There were no pictures, only a description.
But Derek's suit… matched the description perfectly.
"Enough nonsense. He was a mechanic before this. Never even stepped onto a track. If he looks familiar, you're imagining it."
Kyle didn't take the rookie driver seriously. Derek was already scratched off his threat list.
His real opponents were the rookies from other clubs entering the Knox Rally—including several dangerous dark horses. This race was Kyle and Jade-786's shot. Kyle needed to pay off his debts; Jade-786 needed achievements. They had to focus.
Unfortunately, he'd been so busy building synergy with Jade-786 these past few days that he hadn't kept up with the local training races.
Otherwise, even without seeing footage of the Banag Valley event—where Derek and Stella barely appeared—he could've recognized Derek by his racing suit.
—Champion of the Banag Valley Training Race.
And when that title was linked with Caio Yang-Comet, the ace pilot of VVC Club, its value surpassed even the Knox Rally championship itself.
The rookie driver turned back, gaze cutting through the bustling crowd, landing on Derek and Stella. The two sat there calmly, Derek especially radiating a quiet, unreadable intensity.
For some reason…
A bad feeling rose in his chest.
He had a strange sense:
His boss was headed toward a disaster.