Derek Su allocated all 9 remaining MP points to Purple Lightning's Stability.
Since Purple Lightning's Stability was already below 50, the 9 MP points were used to their full effect. Her base Stability rose from 41 to 50.
At present, due to the effects of her special skill, her remaining Stability was 19. With the additional 7 points from Overclocking, it reached 26.
That +7 on the display glowed a vivid, blood-red—like it had been written with Purple Lightning's very life.
This boost in Stability immediately eased her near-collapse.
"We need to finish this race quickly."
Derek Su narrowed his eyes and guided Purple Lightning through another turn.
As her Acceleration stat steadily climbed, the speedometer finally showed her surpassing Cloud Leopard in straight-line speed—and it kept rising without hesitation.
Soon, other Mecha Girls came into view ahead—second place White Feather and her pilot, Jean Yunzhao.
Jean Yunzhao was from the ESW club. While his skills and his Mecha Girl couldn't compare to ESW's ace young master, Richard Cheng, he was still a competitor from a top 300 club. His strength was solid, and his track experience was considerable.
Even so, when they saw Purple Lightning closing in from behind, both Jean Yunzhao and White Feather felt their scalps go numb.
In the rearview mirror, the purple phantom drew closer and closer.
The shriek of her engine was like a siren's cry—sharp, piercing, unmistakable.
Before they could even think of how to respond to the overtake—
Whoosh!
Purple Lightning had already shot past White Feather.
At the next corner, even a bizarre V-shaped turn, she barely slowed down. The braking sound was fleeting, and there wasn't even a trace of tire smoke on the track. Fast as a ghost—her taillights vanished in an instant.
Meanwhile, Jean Yunzhao was still staring blankly at the now-empty turn ahead.
"Master! Master?! The hairpin's coming up! Snap out of it!"
White Feather's urgent voice finally pulled him back.
He let out a frustrated sigh, slowed down properly, and pulled the handbrake into a drift.
Nothing flashy—his braking point was ordinary—but it was steady and controlled.
Yet even after exiting the turn, Purple Lightning was nowhere to be seen.
He was speechless.
"Damn, seriously? Overclocking in a training race?"
"Then what, in an official race she'll just strap a rocket on and fly?!"
White Feather pouted and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Back when you beat The Magician's time, you said The Magician had run out of tricks. And what happened? She was just holding back at the start, then casually overclocked mid-race to put on a show for all of you."
Jean Yunzhao scratched his head awkwardly.
He couldn't exactly have White Feather overclock too.
That kind of thing wasn't something you could force.
Besides, their bond hadn't reached the level needed for synchronized Overclocking.
...
What does it mean to have both Cornering and Drifting above 90?
Derek Su had never understood before—because he'd never driven a Mecha Girl like this.
But today, he finally realized just how absurd it was.
As Purple Lightning's speed continued to rise—
It felt like upgrading a 5090 graphics card from a 1080p monitor to a 4K display.
A whole new world.
A world where he could take corners with his eyes closed, where calculations were almost unnecessary, where just a touch of technique was enough to handle any turn.
A world where, even at extreme speeds, he could still maintain perfect control over the car.
Losing control? Flipping over?
Those concepts didn't exist for Purple Lightning.
No wonder technological progress in this world had stagnated.
Mecha Girls who had trained for years, equipped with top-tier Modules under their pilots' guidance—their stats eventually became so overwhelming that pilots barely needed skill at all.
So why would anyone bother improving?
The same applied to Techmasters. As long as they could drive, everything else was left to the Mecha Girl and their special abilities.
In a world like this, who still needs driving skill?
The very best were already coasting.
And could you really expect newcomers to invent new racing techniques from scratch?
Purple Lightning's speed surged past 500… and kept climbing.
Her Stability finally dropped below 10.
Crack. Crack—
Even amid the engine's roaring, the sound of something breaking rang out clearly.
Derek Su looked at the girl's stubborn back.
It must hurt.
But she clenched her teeth and didn't make a sound.
...
The race entered its final 10%.
Cloud Leopard, who had been far in the lead, had long since lost her relaxed expression.
Every time she passed a speed detector, she was shocked by Purple Lightning's rapidly rising speed.
A Mecha Girl that had started at just over 200 km/h had already broken 400 km/h mid-race.
Now she was approaching 600.
What kind of nonsense was this?
Even if you're holding back at the start, this is ridiculous!
She pushed herself to the limit, yet it changed nothing—Purple Lightning was still catching up.
She listened carefully to the wind, terrified of hearing another engine mixed into her own.
Maybe this is fine…
Just reach the finish line alone. Even second place wouldn't look too bad.
She didn't blame Justin Kim anymore.
Their opponent was simply too monstrous. There was nothing to do but accept defeat—no will to resist remained.
Hadn't she already seen Justin Kim's lifeless expression in the rearview mirror?
But no matter what she thought, reality didn't change.
The piercing scream in the wind drew closer and closer.
It was unmistakable—like a plane roaring overhead.
Cloud Leopard didn't dare look back.
A chill spread through her entire body.
That man… with Purple Lightning…
had caught up.
...
Inside Purple Lightning's cockpit.
Derek Su watched Cloud Leopard and Justin Kim getting closer, a quiet sigh in his heart.
"Sorry, man. I was hoping you'd at least lose with some dignity…"
Purple Lightning's Acceleration reached 103.
Stability dropped to 8.
Cumulative Acceleration reached 49.
The final turn.
No one could stop Purple Lightning.
And he had no intention of stopping.
At the mountain-wall corner ahead, Cloud Leopard and Purple Lightning entered one after the other.
The moment they burst out—
Acceleration rose to 104.
Stability dropped to 7.
Crack—crack—
Amid the breaking sounds, the purplish-red light wings on both sides of Purple Lightning suddenly doubled in size. The entire body seemed wrapped in cosmic starlight.
Skill Special State—Now—Rhapsody!
Activated!
A purplish-red vortex spread outward from Purple Lightning like an overwhelming aura.
Her body seemed to slip into the void, leaving layered afterimages behind as she shot straight through Cloud Leopard.
No collision.
Like a speeding ghost.
For the remaining corners—
Derek Su didn't even look.
He drove in a straight line—the shortest distance between two points.
Rock obstacles, steep slopes, guardrails…
All ignored.
As they passed through a massive basalt formation, Derek Su stared in shock at the purple spatial tunnel surrounding them.
This world really made no sense.
As long as the elevation matched, they could pass straight through.
It was practically a modified version of spatial jump.
In thirty seconds, Derek Su pushed Purple Lightning's special ability to its absolute limit.
When the Rhapsody ended—
The finish line was right ahead.
Shattered shackles.
A broken cage.
A straightened spine.
Recovered dignity.
He looked at the nearly broken girl before him, a faint smile on his lips, his eyes stinging slightly.
A clumsy fledgling has to crash and bleed countless times before it can spread its wings and soar—before it can become a ruler.
And now…
"Well done, Purple Lightning. You did it."
...
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