Derek Su opened the box and checked its contents.
Inside were the land deed for the Recycling Yard, the business license, keys, and a bank card with a password sticker.
The Recycling Yard was Mr. Liang's life's work—Derek had no intention of selling it. But once he left Jiangcheng City, he'd have no time to run it.
Fortunately, Jiangcheng had more than one recycling yard; he could just apply to the city government to temporarily suspend operations.
He didn't plan to touch anything inside the box. Mr. Liang had already helped him and Stella far too much. Derek still owed him money for a Module—how could he possibly dip into Mr. Liang's savings? He would return everything once he found him.
"Stella, I need to go to city hall. Can you stay home and keep watch?"
Derek Su patted her head, worry flickering in his eyes. He wasn't sure if it was safe to leave her home alone.
After all, Stella was just a girl with seemingly no strength to fight back—but they also couldn't leave the Recycling Yard unguarded at night.
"Master, it's already eight. Does city hall still work this late?" Stella blinked, wiping her nose on Derek Su's sleeve out of habit.
"They close at ten." Derek wiped the snot back onto Stella's face.
Government departments in this world were the ones he respected most—true role models in their field.
He remembered the night Mr. Liang took him to get his ID; dozens of bald officers in uniform gleamed at him under the lights. Anyone seeing that would feel instant sympathy.
"Okay, Master, go! Watermelon Baby and I will miss you!"
Stella grabbed a small watermelon lying nearby, quickly drew a cute smiley face on it with a marker, and held it up proudly.
The fresh, sweet scent drifted through the air.
Derek Su: "..."
"But are you sure you'll be okay alone?"
"What could happen?" Stella tilted her head—then saw the worry in his eyes and instantly understood.
"Master, are you afraid bad guys will break in to steal my ice cream?" Hands on her hips, she flashed a fierce grin. "This genius Mecha Girl will make sure they can't even touch it with one hand or two feet! Not a chance!"
Then she stomped her foot.
BOOM—!
And grabbed a watermelon, smashing it against her head. CRACK! The fruit burst apart instantly.
Derek Su felt his brain buzz—his skull vibrated, the entire building shaking, almost knocking him over.
"What the hell are you doing at night?!"
"Don't you people rest?! Are you insane?!"
Angry shouts rose from the nearby apartment buildings.
Derek looked down—and saw Stella's foot embedded deep in the floor, cracks spreading out like a spiderweb.
Holy crap.
He'd forgotten that although she looked harmless, Stella's combat power was absolutely monstrous.
"O-Okay… I'm heading out…" Derek swallowed hard.
He hurried to leave and get back fast—terrified that if a thief did break in, Stella might accidentally kill them with one punch.
...
Although the Knox Rally had ended, its impact was still spreading. The footage of Derek Su and Stella's cornering techniques had been edited into highlight reels and was now mandatory study material for club coaches everywhere.
Traditional speed-reduction cornering methods were suddenly under scrutiny.
People were beginning to pay attention to this new style of cornering—using tire lock and chassis correction.
Of course, not everyone embraced it. Some criticized their method as flashy, unpredictable, and dangerous—unsuitable for other drivers and Mecha Girls.
Their tunnel wall-hugging overtake drew even more controversy.
Some drivers treated it like gospel; others called Derek Su a reckless lunatic with no regard for his or his Mecha Girl's life.
VVC Club—
"I told you—be careful of that Derek Su and Stella." Caio Yang lounged on the sofa with his legs crossed, one hand picking his teeth, the other scrolling through short videos. Justin Kim and Cloud Leopard sat opposite him, heads hanging like defeated roosters.
"Captain, I underestimated him."
"Tsk~ Forget it. Even if you'd listened to me, you wouldn't have caught him anyway." Caio Yang shot him a glance, smiling. "From here on, stay steady. Work your way toward the Panlong Mountain Circuit. You need to learn Derek Su's techniques. Cloud Leopard is a high-performance Mecha Girl—she shouldn't lose to Stella. The problem is you, the driver."
Justin Kim: "..."
Captain always used the gentlest tone to deliver the harshest blows—and it worked perfectly.
"Derek Su and Stella will definitely aim for the provincial tournament. You'll meet them again. Don't lose next time."
"Yes, Captain."
"I prepared Modules for you two." Caio Yang pushed a box toward them. Inside, a purple glow shimmered—clearly a valuable, high-tier Module.
Carrot and stick—Caio Yang had mastered the art.
New recruits had been hard to manage lately; everything fell on the captain's shoulders.
"Captain, this… this is?" Justin Kim and Cloud Leopard stared in disbelief.
They thought losing third place meant losing all rewards—but Caio Yang was giving them a purple Module as encouragement.
"This is the [Vortex Dragon 1] Module. It boosts acceleration but reduces collision resistance and endurance. Cloud Leopard is too balanced—its strengths and weaknesses both show because of that. Vortex Dragon 1 is a perfect fit. Train hard."
Caio Yang patted Justin Kim's shoulder, stood up, and headed for his room.
"Captain, is it true you'll be competing in the national tournament?"
"Heh, you sure hear things fast." Caio Yang chuckled.
"Captain, be careful out there!" Justin Kim said sincerely, eyes glowing with admiration.
"Relax. With Comet around, I won't die."
He waved casually and walked into his room. As soon as the door closed, he leaned back against it with a long exhale.
The first track of the national tournament—Death's Breath: Grivin Desert Circuit—was a 4,000-kilometer nightmare. Drivers had to endure ten-plus hours of scorching heat, dry storms, and brutal natural obstacles, from dusk till dawn. It tested a driver's endurance, a Mecha Girl's stamina, and their ability to survive fierce, wolf-like competitors.
As the chief of VVC Club, he carried all their hopes. The pressure was suffocating.
"Damn it! That bastard Caio Yang!" Comet's furious voice echoed from the bathroom. "How can someone go through five pairs of underwear in a single day?! What is he, incontinent?!"
"Hehe~"
Hearing her angry rant, Caio Yang instantly relaxed.
With Comet around, that pressure didn't seem so unbearable anymore.
...
SSC Club—
Miles Wang's mood finally improved as he admired his newly acquired Mecha Girl.
Absolute Shadow had terminated her contract and left SSC, but thankfully, his dad had money. He immediately bought him an even better Mecha Girl.
The JF-12 Mecha Girl named Hurricane cost ten million in transfers, poached from another club. She had already competed in the Knox Rally and qualified for advanced tournaments.
In his father's words, with this Mecha Girl, he could win the Knox Rally with his eyes closed—and provincial circuits wouldn't be an issue either.
"Starting today, you're my master. Please take care of me."
Dressed in a pristine white racing suit, Hurricane extended her hand. Pale blue curls draped over her shoulders. At 185 centimeters tall, she stood a half-head taller than Miles Wang. Her gentle smile instantly won favor.
Miles took her soft hand. In that moment, every lingering thought about Absolute Shadow vanished, replaced by smug satisfaction.
"Absolute Shadow… did you really think I would crumble without you?"
A Mecha Girl of her level would surely compete in the provincial tournaments. When they met again, he'd show her what "out of your league" really meant.
And Derek Su and Stella?
He'd train new techniques with Hurricane—copy Derek's path until Derek had no path left.
At the Panlong Mountain Circuit, he'd show them what a true top-tier racer looked like—what over a decade of foundational training meant.
...
Mecha Island—
In a vast underground chamber, a massive crystal wall was filled with dense rows of AI cores.
Sorted meticulously by model, these cores belonged to Mecha Girls already activated but not yet fully "born." Even so, they could already absorb knowledge from the outside world.
A screen before the crystal wall played footage from major races over the past ten years.
Among them was the recently concluded Knox Rally. Right now, the clip showed Derek Su executing stylish cornering with Stella.
Each time Derek drifted, the AI cores flickered wildly.
Most Mecha Girls could only absorb fragments and forgot them soon after—but some cores shone constantly, brimming with energy, recording every frame of every race. They analyzed the movements of driver and Mecha Girl alike. When they encountered something beyond their understanding, they memorized the name of the driver or Mecha Girl responsible.
Among them, a single black AI core quietly recorded the name:
Derek Su.
...
Tianyuan City, Underground Black Market—
In a cramped room filled with rusty parts and discarded Modules, thick with the smell of engine oil, only the flickering glow of a small old TV lit the darkness.
Curled before the screen was a Mecha Girl.
Shoulder-length gray curls hid half her delicate face, revealing only a single amethyst-like eye.
She stared at the screen without blinking, emotions swirling within—envy, anger, pain… all tangled together.
On the screen, Kool Kenny was interviewing Derek Su.
Derek gently patted Stella's head.
"My Stella will definitely become a world-class Mecha Girl."
"Tch! Disgusting." the Mecha Girl spat coldly.
Yet her gaze drifted back to Stella's blissful smile.
As if possessed, she reached under the bed, pulled out a grimy phone, and snapped a picture of Stella's radiant face on the TV. She stared at it for a long, long time.
After a while, she tried to delete it in frustration—but her fingers hovered, eventually opening the photo album instead.
She slumped back against the wall, knees pulled to her chest, eyes growing empty—like a broken puppet.
Silence lingered until a rough voice shouted from outside:
"Hey! Purple Lightning, your turn today!"
"Okay." she replied softly, hurriedly shoving the phone back under the bed.
Only then did she reach out with her scarred hands to turn off the TV, put on her patch-covered clothes, and drag her exhausted body out of the room.