Stella's top speed reached 785 km/h.
When Derek Su saw the number on the dashboard, even he was stunned.
If not for the unique construction of a Mecha Girl's vehicle body, there was no way his ordinary human body could have endured the forces generated at that speed.
Fortunately, the road during the initial acceleration didn't have any particularly sharp corners, and Derek Su managed to adapt to Stella's speed within just a few seconds. Otherwise, the instant she accelerated, they might have gone straight into a rock wall.
Before, everything in his vision had rushed toward him like a blizzard, and he had to focus carefully just to make anything out.
Now, what he saw was more like a raging storm.
He could no longer rely on his eyes at all.
He simply couldn't see clearly.
Derek Su closed his eyes.
And looked with his mind.
As the track took shape inside his head, the value of Zane and Mr. Liang's training became clearer than ever.
He had no idea what he would be doing now without the special training methods the two of them had developed.
Forget reading the track. He might not even have been capable of driving Stella at this speed.
Stella's special skill placed extremely high demands on her.
At the same time, it demanded just as much from her driver.
Could this be some kind of safety mechanism built into XC-model Mecha Girls? A way to prevent drivers from activating the special skills of top-tier XC-model Mecha Girls before reaching a certain level themselves?
Derek Su had no idea whether such a theory existed.
He only knew one thing.
Stella was happy.
He could feel exactly how she felt right now!
The wind screamed past his ears, stretching into a piercing howl that merged with the roar of the engine.
Outside the windows, light and shadow streaked by at impossible speed.
It felt as if the two of them were racing through time itself.
This was speed pushed to its absolute limit.
"Master! Left hairpin in 300 meters!"
They already had to call out track conditions three hundred meters in advance.
Anything within that distance was hardly worth reporting, because to Derek Su and Stella, three hundred meters vanished in the blink of an eye.
A flood of track information poured into their minds.
And Derek Su displayed a level of information processing that ordinary people could barely comprehend.
Even without seeing the track, Stella's guidance alone was enough for him to execute every kind of cornering maneuver.
Three hundred meters disappeared in an instant.
"Master!"
Before Stella could even finish relaying the track information, Derek Su had already reacted.
"Focus on driving."
The corner of his mouth lifted.
Handbrake up.
Controls left.
Handbrake down.
Accelerator.
At this speed, Stella was little more than a silver blur.
There was no longer such a thing as an optimal braking point.
There was no optimal corner entry either.
The only goal was to get through the corner without losing control.
That was all.
Stella was constantly teetering on the edge of losing control. The slightest hesitation or miscalculation could send her vehicle body completely out of control.
SCREECH—!
The sound of braking lasted only an instant.
Stella snapped into a drift from the inside line and swept through the hairpin like a bolt of silver lightning.
Her cornering speed appeared on the giant screen at the starting area.
751 km/h.
The moment the crowd saw the number, the entire grandstand erupted.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is insane! A cornering speed of 751 kilometers per hour! I can guarantee that in the entire history of racing at Panlong Mountain, no driver has ever taken a corner at such an unbelievable speed! I cannot even begin to understand what kind of driving skill it takes to keep something moving like an aircraft from losing control!"
Kool Kenny's face had gone red as he screamed himself hoarse.
"Maybe this is exactly why we call him The Magician!
"Every race he drives is a spectacular magic show!!"
The Mecha Girls from Stella Club erupted in cheers.
Inside the helicopter, Chloe Qin was grinding her teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
Far ahead on the track, Lucy Luo and Eternity-01 were equally shaken when they heard the race broadcast.
"Control tower, how far ahead are Eternity and I?"
A stammering voice from Glory Peak's support team came through the radio.
"Uh... Miss Lucy Luo, you're currently ahead by four minutes and forty-one seconds. No... it's already down to four minutes and forty seconds. They're catching up, and they're moving very fast."
Lucy Luo understood exactly what the number meant.
If Derek Su somehow managed to pull forty-one seconds ahead of her, that really would be unbelievable.
Even so, Derek Su and Stella's speed was putting enormous pressure on both her and Eternity-01.
"Master, increase our speed. We can't afford to underestimate them."
Eternity turned her head slightly, glancing at Lucy Luo from the corner of her eye.
"But if we go any faster, it'll be extremely dangerous with my driving ability."
Lucy Luo bit her lip.
Eternity-01 was currently hovering between 710 and 720 km/h.
If they ignored the danger completely, Eternity-01 could reach around 790.
But Lucy Luo didn't dare drive her that fast.
Even at their current speed, she was already struggling badly.
She could barely see the track, much less keep up with all the information Eternity was feeding her.
"I can assist you," Eternity-01 said calmly. "I told you before. I will make sure you win this race."
She didn't want to see Lucy Luo clutching that photograph and crying again.
Whether it was for glory on the track, for the honor of being the strongest speed-type Mecha Girl, or for Lucy Luo herself, Eternity-01 could not lose this race.
A little risk meant nothing.
There was no such thing as racing without risk.
"All right!"
Lucy Luo bit her red lip and nodded firmly, determination filling her eyes.
"Then together...
"we'll break through the wind!"
She pressed the accelerator harder.
ROAR—!
The engine grew even more violent.
Eternity-01's speed continued climbing.
The shriek of her engine made the surrounding forest tremble. Her tires struck loose stones on the track, throwing sparks as the pebbles shot away like bullets.
Meanwhile, farther back on the track behind Lucy Luo and Eternity-01, the thirty-second acceleration period of the Sovereign Engine had already ended.
Stella's speed gradually began to fall.
"Control tower."
Derek Su picked up the radio.
"How far behind Eternity-01 are Stella and I?"
[Thirty seconds.]
Absolute Shadow held her headset and replied calmly.
[If you and Stella can make up those thirty seconds, you'll take first place in the first section!]
"Still thirty seconds..."
Derek Su sighed helplessly.
Absolute Shadow made it sound simple.
But Eternity-01 had actually accelerated even further.
Stella had already used her skill.
Making up another thirty seconds against Eternity-01 would be extraordinarily difficult.
Almost impossible.
Absolute Shadow seemed to understand that as well.
After hearing Derek Su sigh, she pursed her lips and said nothing.
Then, at that moment, Stella, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.
"Master."
In the rearview mirror, she raised her large, star-bright eyes and looked at Derek Su.
The visual effects of the Sovereign Engine still hadn't faded.
Starlight continued to envelop her vehicle body.
Derek Su saw the slight smile at the corner of Stella's lips.
Her deep blue eyes were filled with confidence and composure.
It was the gaze of a king.
"Sovereign Engine..." Stella said with a smile.
"It's ready again."
...
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