Stella hurtled toward the rock face at incredible speed.
As the wall rushed closer and closer, she felt no fear at all.
Because she trusted the man behind her unconditionally.
"I truly cannot understand why our racer Derek Su would make a decision like this." On the big screen, Kool Kenny let out a regretful sigh, then turned and told the race organizers' support and medical teams to get ready. If Stella Club's support crew couldn't reach them in time, they were to move in immediately.
Under countless gazes, some confused, some regretful, and some filled with anticipation, Stella "crashed" into the rock face.
But the devastating collision everyone expected never happened.
She had struck a section of rock that sloped diagonally down toward the track.
The rock face formed a natural ramp beside the road, and Stella was already tilted onto two wheels. She met the slope almost perfectly along its tangent, allowing her tires to transition onto the surface without any actual collision.
That slanted rock face became her launch ramp.
With her tremendous speed behind her, Stella flew into the air, tracing a parabola over the heads of the two combat-type Mecha Girls!
Many spectators shot to their feet, staring at the scene in disbelief.
Chloe Qin was completely stunned. Her mouth hung open as strange choking sounds escaped her throat.
"He used the slanted rock face beside the track as a ramp? But at that speed, how did he even see it? And how did he calculate the distance between Stella and the rock face so precisely...? Impossible. No human could possibly have reflexes like that!"
Chloe Qin's AI Core forcibly calmed her down.
With its help, she managed to analyze the situation rationally.
Even if Derek Su and Stella had somehow gotten absurdly lucky and pulled off that miraculous jumping overtake, things still didn't look good for them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable!" Kool Kenny said in a grave voice. "As you can see, Derek Su and Stella successfully used the rock face to launch into the air. However, because Stella's vehicle body was tilted when she took off, she lost her balance at the moment of launch and is now rolling through the air...
"In other words, if Stella has trouble with the landing, the two of them could still be injured!"
The moment he said that, the hearts of many spectators who had just breathed a sigh of relief tightened once again.
They had noticed the problem too.
If Stella couldn't land safely, there were still two semi-trailer-type combat Mecha Girls right behind her. Those two racers were obviously there to block her on purpose. If they saw an opening, they certainly wouldn't let it go. They would simply ram straight through Stella!
But their worries were unnecessary.
Another driver might lose all sense of control while spinning through the air.
Derek Su would not.
By the time Stella was about to touch down, he had already brought the dizzy Stella back under control and stabilized her vehicle body.
BANG—!
All four tires hit the ground first, and the impact immediately sent Stella into a skid.
But even that was within Derek Su's calculations.
He turned the controls and used the skid to carry them neatly through a corner.
"See? This is why vision is so important~"
Remembering the old days when he used to play jungle with his roommates at internet cafés, Derek Su couldn't help feeling a little nostalgic.
Once they exited the corner, everything was back to normal except for Stella, who was still dizzy.
Derek Su silently took over track information processing and floored the accelerator.
ROAR—!
Azure flames burst from Stella's rear exhaust pipes as she tore through the air and vanished into the distance.
In the blink of an eye, the two sluggish combat-type Mecha Girls behind them disappeared from sight.
...
Derek Su might have handled the whole maneuver with complete calm, but the stands had erupted into chaos.
Everyone was discussing how that miraculous overtake had even been possible.
Even Kool Kenny himself wanted to know.
Fortunately, as the host of a provincial race, he at least had the authority to call up a replay.
Something this good deserved to be shared, so he brought up the footage on the big screen, slowed it down to one-tenth speed, and watched it along with the audience.
The replay showed that after the two semi-trailer-type Mecha Girls moved inward and opened up the track on both sides, Derek Su immediately began his unusual maneuver.
And fifty meters in advance, he had already spotted a section of rock sloping diagonally downward.
There were plenty of similar rock formations nearby, but only this particular section could accommodate all four of Stella's tires while providing enough contact area and friction for her to complete the jump.
Looking hundreds of meters ahead or behind it, there wasn't another "ramp" nearly as suitable.
Kool Kenny sucked in a breath.
At this point, he couldn't even tell whether Derek Su had anticipated everything or had simply gotten unbelievably lucky.
If it was luck, then Derek Su's luck was outrageous.
But if it was skill...
At that speed, forget how Derek Su had managed to clearly see a rock face fifty meters ahead that was rapidly approaching. Even assuming his eyesight was extraordinary enough to manage that, how could he make the judgment in a fraction of a second, calculate Stella's speed and distance, and then commit without hesitation to driving straight at it?
Wasn't he afraid at all?!
Kool Kenny didn't know the answer.
So he held the microphone toward the expert beside him.
"Expert Zheng, what do you think of Derek Su's spectacular maneuver?"
It wasn't until the microphone was practically shoved into his mouth that the dazed Expert Zheng finally snapped back to reality.
"Unbelievable!" Expert Zheng cried out. "I've analyzed races for years, and I've never seen an overtaking technique this absurd! You're telling me he isn't a Techmaster? Then I say No. 57 concrete should be eaten with chocolate screw egg tarts!"
Kool Kenny gave him a polite smile, pulled the microphone back, and turned toward the staff behind him.
"Take the expert for treatment. He got too excited and his delusions are acting up again."
The expert was carried away, but the discussion surrounding Derek Su and Stella continued throughout the stands.
Chloe Qin's expression was ugly, but there was nothing she could do.
She turned toward Viper and spoke solemnly.
"That settles the first section of the provincial race. Our club's racers should still manage a decent result. The second section will be up to you and me.
"On the second section of the Panlong Mountain Circuit, we'll defeat Derek Su fair and square!"
Chloe Qin clenched her fist, or rather, her mechanical arm, with a grave expression.
Looking at Chloe Qin's righteous and solemn demeanor, Viper opened her mouth.
She badly wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but she didn't dare.
In the end, she could only lower her head and remain silent.
She had no idea when her days of being ruled by that old bastard Chloe Qin would finally end.
...
The first section of the Panlong Mountain race was already halfway over.
Meisel had enjoyed an almost unobstructed run thanks to Thunder-01's special skill, the Magnetic Storm Electric Field.
Whenever they encountered other racers, whether those racers posed any threat to him or not, he would hit them with it.
Watching those racers become disoriented, lose control, or even plunge off the cliff filled him with satisfaction.
"Jessica, where do Thunder-01 and I currently rank in speed?"
Meisel called the control tower.
He felt that even if they weren't the fastest pair on the track, they should at least be in the top three.
[Meisel, you and Thunder-01 are currently ranked fifth in average speed.]
The voice coming through the radio made Meisel's expression change instantly.
"How is that possible?! Who's ahead of me?!"
[First place, Eternity. Second place, Stella. Third place, Shay Guang. Fourth place, Silver Mirror. And... Stella in second place is about to be two full minutes faster than you!]
Two minutes?!
Meisel's heart jolted.
He had started as number 19 in Group 4.
Stella and Derek Su had started as number 27 in Group 6.
Hadn't they started exactly two minutes apart?
Didn't that mean Stella and Derek Su were about to catch up to him on the track?!
The thought had barely entered his mind.
ROAR—!
A sharp engine howl erupted behind him.
Meisel glanced into his rearview mirror.
A silver phantom burst out of the corner and rapidly closed the distance.
It was The Magician!
He was here!
...
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