The Sovereign Engine was ready to use again?
Derek Su froze.
Why?
Then it hit him.
Boost Charge, 180... That stat had always been closely tied to the special skills of top-tier Mecha Girls.
Could it be that Boost Charge, rather than Endurance, determined how many times a skill could be used?
No.
A sudden realization flashed through Derek Su's mind.
Boost Charge probably determined the cooldown of a special skill.
Take Leon Li's Mecha Girl, Snowpeak. The reason she could use her skill repeatedly might be because her skill worked through stored charges, meaning it came with a certain number of uses already stockpiled.
Once he thought of it that way, everything suddenly made sense.
Didn't that mean Stella could use Sovereign Engine indefinitely?!
Derek Su sucked in a breath.
He stared at the girl who had activated [Sovereign Engine] once again, her entire body wrapped in starlight, and clicked his tongue in amazement.
Well, that settled it.
She really had become the king of acceleration.
ROAR—!
The strange, restless roar of the engine paused for only an instant before surging back to life.
At that moment, Stella's entire performance panel was decorated with a silver glow, and even the numbers had transformed into characters shimmering with starlight.
Then Derek Su noticed something else.
The description of Stella's special skill had changed, with a long block of additional information appearing beneath it.
[Sovereign Engine: For 30 seconds, Acceleration increases by 0.5x and Boost Charge increases by 1x.
Current Stability is above 80 (95). Engine module blowout rate: 20%. Each additional point of Stability reduces the blowout rate by 2%. 50% - 15 × 2% = 20%.
Sovereign Engine · Rage: Sovereign Engine can be activated continuously. Trait - Cylinder Burn: Endurance consumption increases slightly, while the blowout rate stacks with each use, increasing by 2% each time. Increasing Stability further can reduce this side effect. Current blowout rate: 22%.
Sovereign Engine · Beyond Limits: Sovereign Engine can be stacked. Trait - Overload: Blowout rate rises dramatically, while Endurance consumption increases significantly. Each additional stack raises the blowout rate by 30%. Increasing Stability further can reduce this side effect.]
Sovereign Engine could even be stacked?!
Derek Su was stunned.
It could be stacked, sure, but there was no way he dared to try it.
Stella had only used Sovereign Engine · Rage just now. She hadn't used Sovereign Engine · Beyond Limits.
Perhaps Stella could sense it herself. If she activated Sovereign Engine · Beyond Limits, there was a very high chance her engine would blow.
The updated information on Sovereign Engine also finally made Derek Su understand exactly what Boost Charge and Endurance did.
Boost Charge determined the cooldown of a Mecha Girl's special skill.
Endurance, on the other hand, was essentially a stamina bar. Driving, collisions, and using special skills all consumed Endurance, and Endurance determined the overall limit on how many times a special skill could be used.
Other drivers couldn't see a Mecha Girl's stats the way he could.
Their understanding of Endurance and Boost Charge was therefore fairly vague.
But Derek Su could apparently use a Mecha Girl's stats to determine how often her special skill should be activated, allowing him to make the fullest possible use of her Endurance throughout a race.
Even while thinking all this through, Derek Su never lost focus on controlling Stella.
Her speed began climbing again.
At this point, the two of them had to drive together and share the flood of information. Relying on Derek Su alone was no longer enough for him to handle this speed comfortably.
He had to devote his full attention to the track.
As time passed, Eternity and Stella, the two Mecha Girls racing at terrifying speeds, gradually approached the hardest part of the first section of Panlong Mountain.
The Panlong Pillar section.
True to its name, Panlong Pillar was a secondary peak of Panlong Mountain.
Despite being only a secondary peak, it was undoubtedly the most treacherous part of the entire mountain.
The peak rose like a wolf's fang, piercing high into the clouds like a pillar driven into the sky.
Upon entering the Panlong Pillar section, racers first had to climb a continuous series of Z-shaped hairpin turns all the way to the summit. From there, the track spiraled back down around Panlong Pillar itself.
After that came the final section.
Longmen Pass.
The sprint toward the summit of Panlong Mountain.
As the racers at the very front, Lucy Luo and Eternity-01 were naturally the first to enter the Panlong Pillar section.
Even though Lucy Luo had prepared herself mentally, the sight of the endless Z-shaped hairpins climbing sharply upward still sent a chill down her spine.
Panlong Mountain stood at an elevation of 4,768 meters, and the terrain was brutally steep.
If they went over the edge, even the fastest rescue response might not be enough to save them.
Before entering the first hairpin, Lucy Luo finally pressed the brake.
The speed display at the entrance to the Panlong Pillar section recorded Eternity-01's instantaneous speed.
687 km/h.
This time, Eternity-01 said nothing about slowing down.
She knew that against a continuous series of hairpins, this speed was already the absolute limit of Lucy Luo's ability.
If they could maintain this pace through the entire Panlong Pillar section, their result would be even more impressive than Tania's had been back then.
Eternity-01 glanced at the rearview mirror and noticed that Lucy Luo didn't look well.
Perhaps she was frustrated.
Perhaps she was upset at the limits of her own ability.
Or perhaps she was simply afraid of the danger.
All of those reactions were perfectly natural.
Eternity-01 spoke softly to reassure her.
"Master, don't worry about it.
"This is the hardest section of the entire Panlong Mountain Circuit. Even The Magician and Stella will have to slow down here."
Lucy Luo pursed her lips and nodded gently.
But a question still surfaced in her mind.
That man.
The man known as The Magician.
Would he really slow down here?
Lucy Luo didn't know.
Her thoughts were immediately drawn back to the track rushing toward her.
Accurately processing every piece of information Eternity-01 provided and making the correct decision in the shortest possible time was the only thing that mattered now.
She could already see the summit of Panlong Mountain rising above the sea of clouds.
No matter what happened next, the finish line was close.
...
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