"Control tower! How far ahead are Eternity and I right now?"
On the spiraling downhill track of Panlong Pillar, Lucy Luo picked up her walkie-talkie. She could clearly see pale tire smoke rising from the stretch of consecutive Z-shaped hairpin turns. A silver phantom flickered in and out of sight through the smoke. It was Stella.
Without her realizing it, Derek Su and Stella had already closed in behind them!
The other end of the radio fell silent for a moment.
Only after a long pause did a strained voice finally answer, "Miss Luo, you're not ahead anymore. You and Eternity-01 are currently neck and neck with Derek Su and Stella... ummm, now you're one second behind. No, two seconds."
Lucy Luo froze. "You've got to be kidding. Are you sure?"
"I'm sure..."
"Then tell me this. What was Derek Su and Stella's instantaneous speed when they entered the Panlong Pillar section?"
The number that came over the radio left both her and Eternity-01 speechless.
That man hadn't slowed down.
It was as if his brakes didn't exist.
"Lucy Luo, I'm sorry. I misjudged the situation."
Eternity-01 sighed, breaking the silence, but Lucy Luo clenched her teeth and shook her head. "No. I'm simply not as good as he is."
As much as she hated to admit it, when it came to racing skill, she truly wasn't a match for that monster, Derek Su.
Even her nerve fell far short of his.
"We still have a chance." Eternity-01 stared down the descending track and took a deep breath. "After the Panlong Pillar section comes Longmen Pass. It's a five-kilometer straight acceleration stretch that runs all the way to the summit of Panlong Mountain. We can still make back the lost time there."
There was nothing to worry about on a straightaway. They could bring out the full advantage of Path of Glory. Even pushing things a little and running at the full 790 km/h would be fine. They might really be able to recover the time they had lost.
Lucy Luo nodded and was just about to respond when Eternity-01 suddenly swerved hard.
A burst of cracking noises rattled across the roof.
"What happened?!" Lucy Luo exclaimed.
"Falling rocks." Eternity's voice was grave, her lips trembling.
That had been close.
Far too close.
A boulder nearly half a person's height had almost smashed directly into her.
The wind pressure and vibrations generated by a Mecha Girl traveling at high speed could easily trigger rockfalls.
Although Eternity had avoided the first wave, she didn't relax for a second.
Once a rockfall began, it could easily set off a chain reaction.
The track ahead might already be unsafe, but every following stretch was hidden behind the bends. Without a clear line of sight, there was no way to predict what lay ahead.
Lucy Luo's face had gone pale. She was still shaken.
Just as they were about to enter the next turn, Eternity called out the road ahead.
"Master, left turn in one hundred meters! Falling rocks are blocking the center of the track!"
At a downhill speed approaching 700 km/h, Eternity was the only one of them who could still make out the condition of the track.
With human eyesight, simply identifying whether there was an obstacle ahead was already nearly impossible.
Even if a human could see it clearly, there was no chance of reacting in time.
And Lucy Luo already had exceptionally fast reflexes.
"We won't make it..." Her voice trembled as she yanked the control stick to the right.
Lucy Luo and Eternity maneuvered the vehicle together, trying to avoid the rock.
But by the time they spotted it, they were already too close.
The boulder had been hidden in the blind spot beyond the corner. Abruptly changing their line was already the most they could do.
BANG!!
"Ah!"
Eternity cried out in pain as the entire vehicle jolted violently.
The feeling of losing control sent ice through Lucy Luo's veins. Her instincts screamed at her to shut her eyes.
But she knew she couldn't.
She couldn't let her mind go blank either.
"Eternity, are you okay?" Lucy Luo forced herself to steady her nerves.
As she hauled the vehicle back from the edge of the cliff, her eyes tracked Eternity's figure.
One corner of the windshield had shattered. The gale pouring through the opening cut like knives, carrying crimson liquid that splattered across Lucy Luo's face.
Flames flickered along the left side of the hood.
Then she saw Eternity's left side hanging limply, her long silver-white hair spilling over one shoulder.
Crimson liquid ran down through her hair and pooled by her feet.
"Eternity!"
Lucy Luo instinctively started to release the control stick.
But Eternity, who had gone silent in front of her, pushed herself upright.
"I'm fine. Keep going." She raised her right hand to wipe her temple, her voice perfectly calm.
Through the rearview mirror, Lucy Luo could see the wounds on Eternity's face. Her voice shook. "You're hurt this badly. How can you still...?"
"Lucy Luo."
Eternity raised her eyes, her mismatched irises meeting Lucy Luo's gaze.
Her expression was stern and cold.
"No matter what happens, never forget your goal or the direction you're heading."
"I'm the Mecha Girl. You're the pilot."
"Are you really going to face your sister with your head hanging?"
"Panlong Mountain is nothing. This is not where we stop!"
She smiled, and the severity in her gaze softened.
"I told you I'd take you to victory."
The special skill Path of Glory had been interrupted.
The light that had spread across the entire track gradually faded away.
But the radiance surrounding Eternity only grew brighter. Her protection concentrated around the cockpit, shielding Lucy Luo from the knife-like freezing wind.
Lucy Luo met Eternity's gaze and clearly saw her own reflection in those eyes.
Her face was streaked with tears, bedraggled like a child who had never truly grown up.
She knew that everything she had now came half from her sister and half from Eternity.
Every time she wanted to run freely on her own, the moment a storm came, she would instinctively retreat into the shelter cast by Eternity and her sister.
If she kept going like this, how could she ever stand at the pinnacle of the world?
"I understand.
Eternity, I'm sorry..."
Lucy Luo wiped away her tears. Resolve returned to her eyes as both hands tightened around the control stick.
"We're going to win!"
A trace of relief flashed through Eternity's eyes.
She turned back toward the track, and the light surrounding her spread toward Lucy Luo.
Now was no time for discouraging words, Lucy Luo.
The race wasn't over yet!
The two of them were bathed together in brilliant light.
Overclocking!!
A pair of wings made of light unfurled from both sides of Eternity's chassis.
A brand-new Path of Glory appeared on the track ahead, extending in only one direction.
Straight toward the finish line.
Eternity's body seemed forged from golden radiance. Like a shooting star, she tore down Panlong Pillar and surged onto Longmen Pass.
Along the cliffside straightaway with no guardrails at all, she raced toward the finish line at the summit of Panlong Mountain at breathtaking speed.
A number flashed across the speed detector at Longmen Pass.
801 km/h.
...
[Mr. Su, watch out for falling rocks on the spiral track ahead. Eternity-01 already ran into them.]
"Got it." Derek Su answered Absolute Shadow and immediately raised his guard.
Stella had excellent Impact Resistance and stability, but at this kind of speed, it was still best not to collide with anything. Force worked both ways. The rocks might shatter on impact, but Stella certainly wouldn't enjoy it either.
So when they entered the spiral section, Derek Su didn't have Stella activate the Sovereign Engine again.
They soon reached the rockfall zone.
Stella was surprised to see what looked like debris from a Mecha Girl's chassis scattered near the bend ahead.
Did Eternity get hit here?
She immediately reached a conclusion.
"Master, careful! There could be something unexpected beyond the turn!"
The left turn less than a hundred meters ahead was upon them in the blink of an eye.
The instant they swept around the bend, Stella saw several head-sized rocks scattered across the track.
It was already too late to warn him.
All she had time to do was concentrate all of the vehicle's protection around Derek Su.
And yet...
The car suddenly tilted.
Using the tremendous centrifugal force generated by the downhill turn, the chassis lifted off the ground and skimmed right over the head-sized rocks.
"What the hell?!"
Stella stared wide-eyed in disbelief, then looked into the rearview mirror.
In the reflection, Derek Su calmly unscrewed a bottle of mineral water.
With perfect composure, he poured some into the cap and took an elegant sip, completely unshaken.
Noticing Stella staring at him, the corner of his mouth curled into a roguish smile.
"Don't fall for me. I'm just a legend."
S-So handsome!
Ah~♥
Master is amazing!
Stella was practically bursting with delight.
So this was what it felt like to be piloted by a top-tier pilot?
She was just about to shower Derek Su with praise when Absolute Shadow's voice came over the radio.
[Enough with the legend act, Mr. Su. Stella. Eternity-01 has made up the lost time!]
...
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