Stella came out of the warehouse with a wicked grin on her face, only to look up and see Derek Su charging out the door.
She walked into the meeting room and asked in a daze, "What's up with Master? He ran out like he was doing a hundred-meter sprint."
"He went to find Imperial Scale."
"To find Imperial Scale?"
"Yes. If I'm not mistaken, the DL-02 model Mecha Girl came to duel Imperial Scale. Boss was worried, so he chased after them." Absolute Shadow helplessly pinched the bridge of her nose, her head aching. "He didn't even think about it. With those two human legs of his, he couldn't catch up to two Mecha Girls even if he ran hard enough to kick up sparks."
A Mecha Girl duel!
That was bad!
What if Derek Su stood nearby watching and got clipped by the shockwave from their fight? Wouldn't he be finished?
"I'm going after Master!"
Anxious, Stella quickly set the things in her hands on the table, turned, and ran out.
Absolute Shadow watched Stella's back and breathed a sigh of relief.
With Stella there, things were much better. Stella was a speed-type Mecha Girl, so she would definitely be able to catch up to Imperial Scale and DL-02. She could also protect Boss from the aftermath of Imperial Scale and DL-02's fight.
There was nothing else to worry about now. She had plenty of confidence in Imperial Scale's strength.
All she had to do was wait for Stella, Imperial Scale, and Boss to come back. Still, she could not help wondering how DL-02 had gotten out so quickly.
Could she have been bought on the very first day of the exhibition and auction?
Absolute Shadow's question did not last long, because her gaze was soon drawn to the item Stella had just placed on the table.
It was a box of cigars.
And it happened to be her favorite brand.
"I didn't expect Stella to be so considerate." Absolute Shadow's lips curved slightly as she skillfully opened the package and took out a cigar.
She took out her lighter.
Lit it.
Hiss.
She took a blissful puff.
Before she could properly savor the mellow vanilla fragrance in the cigar, a thick blast of mustard shot straight into her head.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Absolute Shadow choked so hard that "glass water" sprayed from her eyes.
"Damn it! There's something wrong with this cigar!" She tore open the box, dumped out every cigar inside, and examined them carefully. Every single one showed signs of tampering. One cigar had a crooked little message written on it: "Smoking is harmful to your health." Behind it was a pink-haired grimacing face, giving the impression that Tunbao was the culprit. It was exactly like what she had encountered at the Xiangshan Advanced Race.
However...
Absolute Shadow narrowed her eyes.
These cigars, just now, seemed to have been taken out by Stella, right?
And just now, Stella seemed to have been in the warehouse, right??
A bad feeling rose in Absolute Shadow's heart.
The club's shared supplies were usually kept in the warehouse.
Of course, some of her cigars were also stored in the club warehouse for easy access.
She pressed her lips together, got up, and walked into the warehouse. There, she found that all five full boxes of cigars had already been opened. Although they had been made to look brand new, now that she was deliberately checking them, the clumsy disguise was painfully obvious. At the same time, her blood pressure started rising.
Holding back her temper, she opened every box of cigars.
When the cigars were piled together, the smell of mustard had nowhere left to hide.
Every single one of these cigars had been tampered with!
In the corner of the warehouse, she also found several empty mustard bottles.
Then she remembered how wronged and confused Tunbao had looked after getting beaten up.
Case closed. The case was finally closed.
"Stella!"
Absolute Shadow gritted her teeth, the hand holding the cigar box trembling slightly.
When Stella came back tonight, she absolutely had to beat her backside until it bloomed.
Derek Su would not be able to stop her!
...
Tianyuan City, the pier.
The dim yellow light of the setting sun covered the edge of the pier, and cargo ships gradually drifted into the distance.
Water rippled in the wind, and one or two water birds hopped along the dock.
Suddenly.
VROOOOM!
A violent engine roar approached from afar like muffled thunder.
The peace of dusk shattered. The water birds took flight in panic and quickly fled.
The next second, two similar black off-road vehicles tore through the glow of the sunset and sped past.
DL-02 looked at Imperial Scale, who was trailing behind her, and a hint of mockery flashed in her eyes.
"The first Mecha Girl of the Imperial Family, and this is all you can do?"
Imperial Scale, who was chasing from behind, said nothing.
She had only one goal. Catch up.
Even though she had failed to do so the entire way.
Because DL-02 really was faster than her. DL-02 had not activated any special skill, so Imperial Scale did not activate one either.
This was the purest contest of performance between them.
"Heh. Forget it. You won't be able to catch me...
"Then let's see how good you are in a fight!"
The moment she finished speaking, DL-02 released her deployment mode.
She landed from a backflip. The inertia from her high-speed movement sent her sliding backward, but she soon came to a stop.
She raised her eyes, and those strange blue pupils locked onto the figure ahead, who had also released deployment mode and was pouncing toward her like a cheetah.
Whoosh!
A sharp whip kick grew larger in her vision.
DL-02 raised her arm to block, turned sideways to disperse the force, and closed in on Imperial Scale at a speed that did not lose to hers.
The two Mecha Girls' figures overlapped in the sunset, flickering as they weaved and shifted.
Their shadows tangled together on the ground.
Bang, bang, bang!
The heavy sounds of their fight merged into one.
In just a few breaths, they had already exchanged dozens of blows.
Imperial Scale gritted her teeth, her rose-red eyes filled with killing intent.
DL-02's arrival had surprised her, but it was also within her expectations.
Back when she left the World Wall, she had already known that a top-tier AI Core, just like her, had chosen to inherit Derek Su's knowledge.
In the end, that other core had also become a Mecha Girl whose model was strong enough to establish an entire lineage.
Her model was DL-02, but in truth, she should have been DL-01, just like Imperial Scale.
It was only because Imperial Scale had been born one step earlier than DL-02.
The chances of this happening on Mecha Island were extremely low. Top-tier AI Cores were already rare to begin with. For two of them, while still unconscious, to simultaneously choose to inherit Derek Su's knowledge, both succeed, and end up with almost no difference between them was practically like winning the lottery.
But that was exactly what had happened.
The instant she exchanged blows with DL-02, Imperial Scale knew the Mecha Girl before her would be very difficult to deal with.
Her opponent had strength and resistance to impact similar to her own, and her speed was even higher.
But being born first meant being born first. Becoming Derek Su's Mecha Girl first was her luck.
So DL-02 had to accept it. And she could forget about disturbing Imperial Scale's current life!
As Imperial Scale thought this, DL-02 bent forward and stepped back.
Her agile body compressed like a spring, then snapped upward. Immediately after, she threw an uppercut.
The force of the punch stung Imperial Scale's face. She did not dare take it head-on and immediately bent backward, tilting her head to dodge.
She saw those strange blue eyes flash before her, their shining light like drifting flames.
Deep in those blue eyes, beneath the coldness, a trace of mockery and ridicule surfaced.
Then they vanished right in front of her.
She was unbelievably fast.
That punch had only been a feint.
DL-02 took half a step back, spun around, stepped in, and delivered a back kick.
The kick came from Imperial Scale's blind spot, leaving her with nowhere to dodge.
Imperial Scale felt a burst of intense pain in her waist as a tremendous force sent her flying. Her blurred vision spun wildly until she crashed to the ground and rolled all the way to the edge of the pier, nearly falling into the water.
"That's it?"
DL-02 walked slowly up to Imperial Scale.
Standing above her, she looked down at the loser.
"Give up your place, Imperial Scale!"
"Forget performance. You can't even protect Derek Su..."
She announced coldly, "I'm the one best suited to be his Mecha Girl!"
...
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