There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, as though the person was weighing their options.
[Alright, don't act rashly yet. Follow him back to where he lives. That'll make it easier to collect whatever evidence he's been hiding.]
"Yes, sir!"
...
"Master, where's that Mecha Girl Comet-senpai warned us about? Why haven't we seen her the whole way?"
VVC Club's seeded driver, Justin Kim, burst out of the tunnel in the Cloud Leopard.
They'd been searching for that silver Mecha Girl all along the route. At first, Cloud Leopard kept yelling about how many seconds she needed to overtake her—but eventually even she went quiet.
That silver Mecha Girl had vanished from the track!
They'd passed a few wrecked Mecha Girls and drivers, but none were the ones they were looking for—Derek Su and Stella.
Justin Kim kept his mouth shut, brows drawn tight as a bad feeling grew in his chest.
"Master… you don't think she fell off one of those cliffs, right?" Cloud Leopard muttered. "Some parts of the Knox Rally course are super dangerous. If she went over the edge, both the Mecha Girl and the driver could just— poof, gone… Ow!"
Justin Kim pulled back his hand after flicking Cloud Leopard on the head. "Eyes on the track. We're coming up on the Z-shaped curve. And don't talk bad about others—you'll jinx yourself."
"Oh…" Cloud Leopard answered and slowed down before the Z-shaped curve as usual.
It was her first time on the Knox course, but the VVC Club had long simulated a Z-shaped curve similar to the infamous [Knox's Severed Wrist].
For her, this kind of turn was routine—the only real hurdle was the pressure of the real race.
Like the difference between a mock exam and the real thing.
"Why are there so many tire marks on this corner?"
It was only a split-second glimpse, but Justin Kim clearly saw the crisscrossing tracks—and the sense of dread in his heart grew even stronger.
"Probably some Mecha Girl whose tires slipped~" Cloud Leopard said lazily. "Master, I'm telling you—lots of drivers are too cheap to give their Mecha Girls decent tires. They think tires are consumables, so they buy some bargain-bin set or run the same set forever. Then at the crucial moment, something fails, and they turn around and blame the Mecha Girl for not running properly."
While grumbling, Cloud Leopard handled the Z-shaped hairpin effortlessly—steady as always.
From every angle, Cloud Leopard was practically flawless, and her mental composure was exceptional.
Had they already secured first place in the Knox Rally?
A final time of 43 minutes 55 seconds—faster than even he predicted.
Yet something still felt wrong.
"Too easy~" Cloud Leopard said as she folded out of her expanded form, tugging Justin Kim toward the results area. "Master, half a million in prize money! Add the club bonus, that's a full million. You have to get me a good Module, right? And hey, if you wanna use it to flirt with girls, that's fine too. A genius Mecha Girl like me doesn't even need Module support, I—"
Her voice stopped abruptly. Justin Kim felt her grip tighten so suddenly he nearly screamed—she was close to crushing his hand.
"Master! A Mecha Girl!" Cloud Leopard stammered, looking like she'd seen a ghost. "That Mecha Girl! She—she finished the race!"
Gritting through the pain, Justin Kim followed her pointing finger.
There sat Derek Su and Stella in the rest area, both with legs crossed identically, oozing a "world's number one, I'm number two" kind of arrogance.
Standing in front of them was a tall Mecha Girl, bowing deeply, saying something they couldn't hear.
...
"Derek Su, I'm sorry—really sorry! Please, give me another chance!"
Jade-786 bowed ninety degrees again, lowering herself as far as she could.
"Kyle Zhang threatened me. He said if I didn't contract with him, he'd make sure I could never race again. You know how much I want to compete, right? I had no choice."
Earlier, when two SSC Club Mecha Girls had blocked Derek Su on the track, Jade-786 thought his championship hopes were done for.
Truth was, she didn't want him to win. Derek Su's piloting and modification talent had already become obvious. Regardless of his ranking, she intended to mend things afterward. But between a tenth-place Derek Su and a champion Derek Su, the former would be far easier to sway.
And Kyle Zhang was still lying in the ICU. How things "actually happened" would depend entirely on what she said.
"You want to be Master's backup Mecha Girl?" Stella crossed her arms, giving Jade-786 a sideways look.
"Yes! Just a backup is fine—primary is still yours," Jade-786 replied with a strained smile, nodding quickly.
But in her heart, she was scheming:
Once she became Derek Su's Mecha Girl, she'd find a way to push herself into the primary position, then stir conflict between Derek Su and XC-99—convincing him to send XC-99 to the Recycling Yard.
Then all of Derek Su's tech and modification resources would be hers!
Perfect plan!!
"Ah? Derek Su is Knox Champion now—and the driver of the world's cutest, most talented, Mecha Girl, Stella. Do you understand how prestigious that is? If you want to be Derek Su's backup Mecha Girl, shouldn't you show something?" Stella said with perfect seriousness, baffling Jade-786 as she raised three fingers.
"One: Your breach fee with the Ascend Club isn't something Derek Su should pay for you.
Two: Since you want to join Derek Su, you should prepare a 'dowry,' right?
Three: A Mecha Girl is her driver's image. You'll need to pass an assessment before becoming Derek Su's Mecha Girl. No objections, right?"
Derek Su had been smiling at first, but the more he listened, the more wrong it all sounded.
Oh no—Stella wasn't actually trying to recruit Jade-786… was she?!
He was doomed. Other people's little cotton jackets might let wind in, but his was practically built to invite wind through!
"Hey, Stella, I think—"
Stella turned to him, winked, and gave him a look saying, Just leave everything to me.
Seeing that, Derek Su swallowed his protest.
Jade-786 lowered her head, thinking. The breach fee with Ascend Club? Not an issue.
After trailing Kyle Zhang these days, she'd already gotten all his bank passwords and drained the remains of his savings. A Mecha Girl's breach fee—club plus mech—was triple her original "dowry," her auction price. Kyle Zhang hadn't spent much buying her anyway.
So paying it wasn't a problem.
Giving Derek Su an additional "dowry" for applying wasn't impossible either.
But she still had to pass an assessment. If she failed, all that money would vanish.
Thinking that, she looked up at Derek Su with tearful, pleading eyes.
Meanwhile, Derek Su was staring at the seagulls circling overhead, thinking only about enjoying Mr. Liang's delicious fish soup tonight.
"Hey! Aren't you two going too far?! So what if you won Knox? Does being champion mean you get to bully a Mecha Girl?!"
"Cloud Leopard, we don't even know the situation yet—why are you charging in? What if it's a misunderstanding?" Justin Kim tried to hold her back, but she was too strong. She practically dragged him across the ground. Justin Kim had no choice but to shoot Derek Su and Stella an apologetic smile.
They'd already confirmed the results at the terminal.
First place: Stella and Derek Su.
Second: Miles Wang–Absolute Shadow from SSC Club.
Third: Justin Kim and Cloud Leopard.
The moment Cloud Leopard saw the results, she'd nearly exploded.
She'd dragged Justin Kim over to ask how Derek Su and Stella managed to take first—only to see them ganging up to bully a Mecha Girl.
Demanding she pay her own breach fee, provide an extra "dowry," and then pass an assessment?!
And if she failed—no refund on the dowry?!
Rejecting even a subsidized Mecha Girl? That was downright insulting!
Stella took one look at Cloud Leopard and rolled her eyes. "Who are you? Do I know you?"
"Me? Who am I?!" Cloud Leopard's fury shot straight to her skull. "I'm the Mecha Girl of VVC Club's rookie seed driver Justin Kim—model TYB-65! Do you know how much the club paid for me at auction?!"
"Don't know you. Don't care. Don't want to."
Stella's cold-triple-response left Cloud Leopard completely defenseless.
"And besides," Stella went on, "whether Master accepts another Mecha Girl—and how he accepts her—is entirely up to him. Our standards may be high, but she can always choose another driver, right?" She gestured at Jade-786, who stood with her head down, pale and pitiful.
"You…" Cloud Leopard couldn't refute it—Stella was right.
She turned toward Jade-786, still stewing. "Hey, since you made it onto the Knox track, that means your debut run is complete. If you pay the breach fee yourself, my master and I are willing to accept you as a backup Mecha Girl. No assessment. No extra 'dowry.'"
Then she shot Derek Su and Stella a deliberately smug look, tugging at Justin Kim's sleeve to make him speak.
Justin Kim took in Jade-786's tall, elegant frame and striking features. Her sorrowful expression really was heartbreaking.
And on top of that—she was basically a free Mecha Girl. Either way, he wouldn't lose anything. Pity (or maybe desire) stirred.
"Jade-786, Cloud Leopard speaks for me. Become my Mecha Girl. Even as a backup, I'll make time to bring you to competitions."
He said it with perfect seriousness.
He expected Jade-786 to throw herself gratefully at him—but instead, she just bowed her head even lower and stayed silent.
Derek Su and Stella said nothing either—just stared at Justin Kim with strange expressions.
(Next Chapter: Jade-786 wants to challenge Stella in a cornering duel??? Loading...)
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser