"Derek Su, what are your thoughts on Chloe Qin's claim that she'll trample you underfoot on the Panlong Mountain Circuit?"
Derek Su pulled the microphone away from his mouth.
He frowned, even more confused.
Chloe Qin?
Trample him underfoot on the Panlong Mountain Circuit?
Was she drunk?
Even if she'd eaten a few peanuts with her drinks, she shouldn't have gotten this wasted.
Faced with the reporter's question, Derek Su thought hard and finally gave an answer that couldn't go wrong. "What do I think? Well, of course I'll... watch while sitting down."
The reporters all froze.
Derek Su's answer left them momentarily unable to react.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, answer a question for me." Taking advantage of their stunned silence, Derek Su turned the tables on them. "What happened to Chloe Qin that made her so confident?"
Imperial Scale and he were both feeling unwell right now, so they weren't going to squeeze into the crowd up ahead.
"Miss Chloe Qin has installed the AI mechanical core 2. With the help of this AI core, her strength is now on par with yours. You didn't know?" one reporter answered instinctively.
Of course Derek Su didn't know.
He hadn't expected Torch to move that fast.
He had just left the AI Mechanical Exhibition Hall, and Torch had already produced the second-generation AI core and installed it in Chloe Qin.
With a production speed that absurd, if this were his previous life, a researcher like Torch would have been worshipped on the spot as the Cyber Saint.
Hiss. Cyber Saint. That actually sounded pretty tempting.
Just as Derek Su was wondering whether he could lure this Cyber Saint into the club, heavy footsteps rang out in front of him.
"That's right. The current me is just as strong as you."
An arrogant voice sounded, and the crowd parted.
Eight-Armed Qin walked up to Derek Su, carried forward by her mechanical arms. A cold smile hung at the corner of her mouth. "Derek Su, you really were careless. Driving skill is the most precious thing a driver has, yet you freely displayed yours to the AI-researching Mecha Girl organization from Mecha Island. Well, look at that. Now all your skills are mine!"
Derek Su nearly failed to hold back his laughter.
The skills Chloe Qin was talking about should have been the ones he had shown in front of Torch earlier.
To be honest, it was indeed impressive that the AI could copy those skills one hundred percent. They were about on the level of a top driver from his previous life. But in a real race, there were many other kinds of corners to face, all sorts of sudden situations to handle, and there might even be obstacles.
Everyone's handling of unexpected situations came entirely from their own thought process and reaction speed.
Could AI help Chloe Qin do that?
Derek Su didn't know what the future would look like.
But as far as the current AI core was concerned, the skills it had mastered were only surface-level.
To put it plainly.
Chloe Qin's current skill level was probably about the same as his during the first race of his previous life.
She had grasped the basics, but she still lacked experience and the tempering that came from the track.
Most importantly.
Chloe Qin lacked the self-driven thinking a qualified driver needed toward both the track and the Mecha Girl.
The moment she handed all that thinking over to AI,
she lost her possibilities.
She could only operate within the framework limited by the AI core.
And besides...
A driver who relied on an AI core to race.
What right did she have to stir a Mecha Girl's emotions?
In the eyes of a Mecha Girl, that kind of petty trick could never make it onto the stage. Chloe Qin could forget about Overclocking with a Mecha Girl in this lifetime.
"You're pretty confident," Derek Su said with a snort. "Do my leftovers taste that good to you?" He looked straight at Chloe Qin's face as it gradually turned livid, then spread his hands. "You came all the way over to tell me, 'Oh wow, I learned your skills.' Were you hoping I'd praise you? Or do you actually think that getting my skills through a core means you've become me?"
"Chloe Qin... you will always be you, and I will always be me."
Seeing the atmosphere between The Magician and the Track Queen, Mechanical Modification Version, become so tense, the surrounding reporters immediately raised their cameras and started snapping photos.
Derek Su's words didn't sound especially aggressive.
But in Chloe Qin's ears, they were naked humiliation.
The frequent needle-like stings from her neck forced her to take several deep breaths before she barely managed to suppress her surging fury.
"Don't get cocky, Derek Su."
She leaned closer, her gaze vicious.
"To defeat you, I didn't just accept a simple modification. When the time comes, you'll know what it feels like to find every step difficult on the Panlong Mountain Circuit!"
With that, she glanced at Purple Lightning.
The jealousy and resentment in her eyes grew even stronger as she added, "I'll repay the humiliation you brought me tenfold. And everything you took from me, I'll take it all back, piece by piece..."
Derek Su raised an eyebrow and cut in. "Send me fifty, and I'll hear out your revenge plan."
Chloe Qin's breath caught. Her fists clenched, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly. She barely managed to swallow back a string of curses. She was still a public figure, after all, and reporters were watching from all around. If they recorded her saying something vulgar, it would genuinely damage her image as the Queen of the Track.
So in the end, all her words condensed into one sentence.
"We'll see!"
After throwing down that threat, she led Viper through the crowd and left.
Viper looked back at Purple Lightning every few steps.
His eyes blinked again and again, that sorrowful look seeming to say, "Save me."
Purple Lightning was powerless to help. Viper's situation was even worse than hers and Blazing Wind's. As long as Chloe Qin didn't violate the rules, if Viper wanted to leave Chloe Qin, he would either have to pay an enormous breach-of-contract penalty or wait for Chloe Qin to go completely bankrupt and rack up massive debts. Then the agreement Viper had signed with Chloe Qin and BSC Club would be compensated to the creditors as an asset. That was the only way Viper could leave Chloe Qin.
The reporters were clearly more interested in the more newsworthy Chloe Qin, and they all followed the wildly flashy Queen of the Track as she left. The street grew quiet again.
"Make every step difficult for me on the track?"
Derek Su carefully mulled over Chloe Qin's words.
Clearly, aside from the AI core, Chloe Qin had prepared other methods aimed at him. But right now, Chloe Qin was in the dark while he was out in the open. For the moment, he couldn't figure out what kind of trick she intended to pull.
Even so, he wasn't arrogant enough to think he was invincible. Chloe Qin's words had already sounded an alarm for him. Once he spent the next few days relaxing with the Mecha Girls, he would go back and make targeted improvements to Stella and Purple Lightning.
To become a Techmaster and rescue Mr. Liang.
The Panlong Mountain Circuit had to be foolproof!
"Alright, there's nothing left to watch. Let's head back."
Derek Su was thinking that he should hurry back and get treatment for himself and Imperial Scale. Just as everyone turned around, they saw Absolute Shadow standing not far away with the medical team, waving toward them.
The sense of security shot up instantly.
Seeing this, Derek Su couldn't help feeling a little moved.
Stella Club was becoming stronger and more complete. Before he even realized it, it had gradually grown into an indestructible safe harbor.
It seemed he really had no need to worry too much.
He was no longer alone.
A mere Chloe Qin...
What right did she have to shake the giant ship he was steering?
...
Luxury Hotel on Vacation Island.
Zane stared at the tightly shut door in front of him, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Just like last time, Gray Castle had shut herself away!
After this Mecha Girl's leg was healed, she locked herself in the room and refused to come out no matter how he called for her. The key issue was that the hotel was fully booked, and he couldn't get another room. He couldn't exactly spend the whole night outside, could he?
Forget anything ambiguous happening between him and Gray Castle. Right now, he only had one request. Not getting sick from the cold night air!
"Gray Castle, come on out. What obstacle is there that we can't get past?"
"We still have chances later. There's still a long time before the provincial race. We can train properly, and we can slowly look for Modules that suit you~"
"Gray Castle, say something!"
After coaxing her for ages, Zane was starting to get a little angry.
"Gray Castle! Do you think it's polite to leave your driver outside?"
"Open the door! That's an order!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the room door opened.
Joy appeared on Zane's face, but before he could say anything,
Gray Castle bent down and stepped out from inside, her expression ugly.
"Gray Castle, you finally..."
Before he could finish, Gray Castle shoved the bewildered Zane into the room, then slammed the door shut with a bang. She hugged a pillow, sat down against the door, and continued shutting herself away.
Zane's anxious and helpless voice came from inside the room.
"Gray Castle, it's cold outside. Come in and sleep!"
"No, seriously, do you just have to find somewhere to shut yourself away?"
"Gray Castle, let me out!!"
Bang, bang, bang!
Hearing the pounding on the door, Gray Castle frowned.
"Tch." She took out a pair of over-ear headphones and put them on.
What she didn't hear couldn't bother her.
There were about three months left before the provincial-level Panlong Mountain Circuit opened.
At that time, the race would be divided into two stages. Different Mecha Girls would take the field for the first and second stages to handle different situations. Zane planned to put her in the second stage. If they encountered obstacles, she would simply smash through them in the most direct and brutal way.
The task of gaining time would be left to the Mecha Girl in the first stage, Shay Guang.
The top-tier Mecha Girl, Shay Guang.
Piloted by Elton Chen, the second ace of ESW Club.
That driver, just like his Mecha Girl, was an odd-tempered guy.
But one thing was beyond doubt.
Elton Chen and Shay Guang were extremely strong.
Strong enough that Zane, as an ace himself, could confidently hand the first stage over to them and believe they could easily pull ahead of the other Mecha Girls.
Only...
Even if they beat Stella Club that way,
it still wouldn't wash away the shame of the HB-model Mecha Girls.
She would still be a failure. If she met the other seniors of the HB model, she wouldn't even be able to lift her head.
Listening to the gentle music in her headphones,
and staring at the ceiling lights in the hotel corridor,
Gray Castle's eyes grew more and more lost.
Track glory...
Why did Mecha Girls always have to chase after that world-class qualification?
After reaching world-class... what came next? Why did the Mecha Girls and drivers who became world-class gradually disappear from people's sight?
"Sigh."
...
There were still many activities to enjoy on Vacation Island.
What Derek Su found even more absurd was that Stella might have told the others some funny stories from the haunted house.
Now, every Mecha Girl in the club had somehow developed the idea of going through the haunted house for themselves.
And every single one of them specifically demanded that he, their driver, go with them!
Who the hell could withstand that?
But as the club's owner, he had to be responsible. He had to give the Mecha Girls a sense of security.
Fortunately, scares of the same type had a tolerance threshold. As he entered the haunted house more and more times,
he grew less and less afraid of those NPCs.
Or rather, he had gone numb.
As a result, the time he spent on Vacation Island with the Mecha Girls stretched from the original three days to five, or even six.
Just as Derek Su was suffering without exactly enjoying himself,
Stella Club.
Zane, whose body had already recovered, received an experimental invitation from Zuanka Technology.
And this time, he had made far more preparations than before. No matter what, he was determined to dig up some intelligence!