After thinking it through carefully, Derek Su realized that within the BSC Club, no one except Chloe Qin would have any reason to target him.
Giant Tech was BSC Club's backer, their protective umbrella. Under those circumstances, tampering with the tires to give their own rookie ace an advantage was entirely plausible.
Thinking back to the staff members and that so-called Manager Zhang with his hypocritical smile, it was obvious this hadn't been a spur-of-the-moment decision. They had planned it long ago. Most likely, the moment Stella Club's name appeared on the entry list, they had already started preparing in the shadows.
"So it was Chloe Qin, right?" Tunbao erupted in anger.
A puff of white smoke shot nearly a meter into the air from her head.
She had crossed paths with that arrogant woman once before.
Back then, she had only thought Chloe Qin lacked self-awareness. She never imagined she was this malicious.
"Where is Chloe Qin? I'm going to twist her head off!"
Tunbao rolled her wrists, her voice icy and murderous, scanning the surroundings. But Chloe Qin was already preparing at the third relay point and wasn't anywhere nearby.
"If you really twist Chloe Qin's head off, you'll be the one sent back to the furnace," Lucy Luo said lazily, covering her mouth as she yawned, her eyes still half-lidded. "Right now, the priority is to race properly and claw back as much time as possible. There's another tire change later in the stage, and we absolutely have to inspect them carefully then. Honestly, tire changes should be handled by your own logistics team—especially in a training race like this. Since it's not officially organized, those tycoons will dare to do anything."
Derek Su fell silent.
Stella Club had only just been established. They didn't have a logistics team at all.
Without one, the race organizers handled everything, and Mr. Xavier's people had no way to get involved.
"Master, I'm sorry… I didn't do well. That's why the time gap is so big now."
Stella lowered her head. One hand hooked around Derek Su's finger, while the other clenched her racing suit, crumpling it into a mess. Her bangs fell over her eyes, hiding everything except her tightly bitten red lips.
She was still stuck on what had happened earlier.
Why hadn't she endured the discomfort in her foot back then? If she had just pushed through and not gone back to change the tire, her speed might have dropped a little, but it surely wouldn't have fallen this far behind.
"Stella, this has nothing to do with you," Derek Su said gently, patting her head to reassure her. "The tire had to be changed. Luckily, you noticed it in time. If we'd only discovered the problem in a dangerous section, we'd have been stuck—unable to go forward or back. Turning around then would've wasted even more time."
"Ahhh!" Hearing their exchange, Tunbao completely lost it. She stomped the ground hard and roared toward the sky, "Damn it! Are we really just going to let Chloe Qin get away with this?"
"How could we?" Derek Su's eyes were cold as ice as he turned to Tunbao, his voice calm and indifferent. "That's why your task is critical next. We need to reach the third relay point at almost the same time as the BSC Club racer. Only then can I start together with Chloe Qin."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Without another word, Tunbao hoisted Derek Su onto her shoulder and sprinted straight for the starting area. At the same moment, the BSC Club racer was just setting off.
"Being in a hurry won't help. They haven't even called our name yet."
Derek Su was speechless and tried to struggle.
But Tunbao's arms were like iron clamps. He couldn't move at all.
All he could do was wave back at Stella and shout, "Stella, be good. Go wait for me at the finish line!"
"Master… you and Tunbao, good luck…"
Stella lifted her hand, then let it fall again.
She stood there blankly, watching Derek Su get carried away by Tunbao.
Her heart was a tangled mess.
Self-blame, helplessness, regret…
She couldn't tell which emotion weighed the most. They all mixed together, like cold desert wind rushing into her nose, leaving it aching and sour, making her sniff involuntarily.
It wasn't that she felt threatened because Derek Su now had another Mecha Girl.
She just felt that she was supposed to lead Derek Su to victory. Instead, everything had fallen apart. Tunbao and Imperial Scale even had to help share the pressure. As Derek Su's primary Mecha Girl, she hadn't fulfilled her role.
Being the primary didn't just mean being the first Mecha Girl on the field.
It also meant being the core of the team.
The core didn't only go first. While consuming more resources, she also had to watch everything, listen to everything, and take care of every aspect… almost like a homeroom teacher.
But she wasn't like a homeroom teacher at all.
She was more like a little girl who relied on Derek Su.
If only she had noticed the tire problem before leaving the repair station. Or even if she'd noticed it right after leaving. But she hadn't noticed anything. At that moment, all she could think about was accelerating.
Surpassing Eternity .
She wasn't some crash-proof king, not an acceleration queen, not some "pineapple king." She was just an ordinary Mecha Girl—one who would blow the engine if she used her special skill, careless and scatterbrained.
Her head was full of dreams.
But she lacked the ability to realize them…
Her performance came from Derek Su's mysterious power.
Without that, she was nothing.
Maybe she had been… a little too arrogant.
...
"Hey! Your name is Stella, right?"
Lucy Luo waved a hand in front of Stella's face.
She had already sensed that something was off with this Mecha Girl's state.
"I—I am…" Stella wiped her eyes, lifted her head, and forced a polite smile. She saw Lucy Luo half leaning against Eternity, her face bright with confidence and vitality.
"So, how about it? Want to go to the third relay point to see your master?"
Of course she wanted to.
But…
"I can't," Stella shook her head.
The organizers' helicopters would transport relay-finished Mecha Girls to the finish line, but they wouldn't take them to other relay points just because they asked.
She couldn't exactly deploy and run all the way to the third relay point. Her endurance was already nearly gone. If she collapsed in the desert, she'd only cause more trouble for Derek Su.
"How could you not go?" Lucy Luo pulled out her phone and dialed a number, her tone lazy. "Hello? Yeah, yeah—get over to relay point Two and pick me up. Be quick. You've got ten minutes. Late, and your pay gets docked."
She hung up, grabbed Stella's hand, and smiled like an old fox. "Our GPC Club has its own helicopter. Want to come along with your master? The perks are great. Just remember to whisper a little more in his ear during your private meeting tonight."
Private meeting… what was that?
Stella saw the unmistakable suggestiveness on Lucy Luo's face.
For some reason, this blonde, domineering woman seemed to be hinting at something very dangerous.
...
In less than five minutes, GPC Club's private helicopter arrived.
Lucy Luo and Eternity boarded first. Then Lucy Luo shifted aside, making room, and waved at Stella. "What are you standing there for? Get in! Don't you want to see your master? When he comes off the track, you'll be right there at the third relay point to surprise him!"
Stella took three seconds to rule out the possibility of being kidnapped by Lucy Luo. Then she thought about how, at the very least, she could hand Derek Su a bottle of water when he came off the track.
Even if she was a clumsy Mecha Girl, she wanted to do a little more.
So she pressed her lips together and sat down beside Lucy Luo, looking slightly shy.
...
Meanwhile, at the starting point.
Derek Su was already seated in Tunbao's cockpit as the countdown to launch began.
"Tunbao, how many seconds are we behind the BSC Club racer now?"
"Thirty-seven seconds," Tunbao replied, tilting her head slightly.
Derek Su lowered his gaze.
The countdown display in front of him had entered the final three seconds.
The crimson numbers rolled down rapidly.
"Overtake her."
He spoke coldly.
He pulled the handbrake and slammed the throttle to the floor.