"Blaze, your fights need to be more frequent for the time being.
You used to fight once a day. Starting now, it's twice a day."
The black market boss was a middle-aged man with a sharp face and shifty features, dressed head to toe in expensive designer brands.
Unfortunately, his bearing and appearance did not match the outfit, making him look like he was wearing knockoffs instead.
Crimson's expression changed when she heard that. Her bloodless lips trembled slightly. "Isn't that a bit too much? After one match, my body hasn't even recovered. There's no way I can keep fighting like that… And if I'm forced to fight while I'm still injured, my performance won't be good either."
"No choice. That's what the higher-ups want," the black market boss said impatiently. "Besides, it's not just you!" He pointed at the other Mecha Girls in front of him. "You're all the same. One match every two days is now one match a day!"
"Boss, why? Then I won't even have time to rest," one Mecha Girl complained softly.
"Why? Because we bought you. You signed the agreements yourselves. Every one of you did it voluntarily. Besides, it's not like this is permanent. You'll just have to work a little harder this week… Don't try to negotiate with me. That's final!"
The boss waved a hand, ignoring the pitiful looks on the Mecha Girls' faces.
If he had full control over this underground black market, he really could have gone a little easier on them.
But the true owner of this black market was Boss Yang of the Crown Club, and this place was only one of the many black markets under Boss Yang. If he failed to follow Ethan Yang's orders, his position as black market boss could disappear at any time.
As for why the Mecha Girls' workload had suddenly increased, the reason was simple.
Ethan Yang had spent a sum of money, so he needed to earn it back from somewhere else.
The Crown Club had plenty of money in its accounts. Ethan Yang was simply having one of his obsessive episodes.
When the boss had a problem, the ones who suffered were naturally the employees beneath him.
"But boss, if every Mecha Girl is taking part in tournaments more often, where are we supposed to find that many opponents?" Crimson could not bear to watch those Mecha Girls suffer. She herself did not matter. Her status was sensitive, and she would probably never leave the black market in this lifetime. But these Mecha Girls were different. If a pilot took a liking to them and paid off the amount stated in their agreements, they still had a chance to return to the racetrack one day.
Some of the Mecha Girls here had retired from the Crown Club.
Because their agreements were still in effect, they could not leave due to the penalty fees. All they could do was find a way to pay them off.
Others had been sold here cheaply by their pilots, which was essentially a low-price transfer of their agreements.
Such transactions were illegal under the laws of the Human Federation and Mecha Island, but the existence of laws could not stop them from happening. Especially when a giant like the Crown Club loomed over ordinary Mecha Girls, protecting their own rights became even harder. And that was without even mentioning Ethan Yang, a member of the Techmasters' Alliance.
Ethan Yang was also an extremely shrewd man.
His underground black market only accepted ordinary Mecha Girls.
He refused all high-performance and top-tier Mecha Girls. Of course, almost no one would send high-performance or top-tier Mecha Girls to a black market in the first place.
She, Crimson, was indeed a top-tier Mecha Girl, but her situation was extremely complicated.
Compared to ordinary Mecha Girls, what had happened to her would be far more likely to draw Mecha Island's attention.
But she did not dare reveal her identity. As "Blaze," she could scrape by in the underground black market, and perhaps she might still see Julian Ziliang again in this lifetime. But if she appeared as "Crimson," she would be the [errant] Mecha Girl who had tried to assassinate a Techmaster. The Techmasters' Alliance would never tolerate her existence, and Mecha Island, because of what she had done, would have no way to protect her.
Because in the end, judging by the nature of the race, Ethan Yang had not killed Julian Ziliang's son. It was merely a normal accident during the competition.
Races were dangerous by nature, and direct clashes between competitors were normal.
Ethan Yang was a Techmaster. When facing Julian Ziliang's son, Charles Ziliang, was he supposed to avoid using special skills? For the sake of so-called fairness?
As for Charles Ziliang's death, the Techmasters' Alliance, Ethan Yang and his Mecha Girl, and Mecha Island had all expressed regret.
But Julian Ziliang's revenge afterward, in the eyes of most people who did not know the truth, was a crime. An unreasonable outburst.
Only Julian Ziliang and Crimson knew that there had been a conflict between Charles Ziliang and Ethan Yang, and that Charles Ziliang's death had been orchestrated entirely by Ethan Yang.
But Julian Ziliang was not a Techmaster. He could not fight Ethan Yang, nor could he fight the Techmasters' Alliance behind him.
He also could not fight a legal system biased in favor of Techmasters. None of his appeals could reach the top. In the end, rage and grief pushed him into taking a desperate gamble.
Sometimes, fate does not side with justice, nor does it armor the brave.
At first, quite a few pilots and Mecha Girls who had been oppressed by Techmasters spoke up in support of Julian Ziliang.
Later, under the Techmasters' Alliance's mix of suppression and appeasement, those voices disappeared.
Julian Ziliang became a criminal, and Crimson was sentenced to the Recycling Yard.
In secret, Ethan Yang hypocritically submitted a reconciliation agreement to the judge and bought Crimson back from the Recycling Yard at a bargain price.
And of course, that reconciliation agreement could be withdrawn at any time.
With only that faint, fragile hope left to cling to, Crimson finally chose to work in Ethan Yang's black market, swallowing the humiliation and enduring it all.
...
After hearing Crimson's words, the black market boss looked completely unconcerned.
He had already thought about the problem of not having enough fighters.
"Are we the only black market in Tianyuan City?" He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and said lazily, "If our black market can't handle all the matches, then we can fight together with a few other black markets. Isn't it popular these days for clubs to hold exchanges with each other? Our black market may not be presentable, but we can still hold exchanges among ourselves. That way, we'll attract more spectators and maximize profits, right?"
The Mecha Girls looked at one another, their faces filled with worry.
They did not understand profit or anything like that. They only knew the coming week was going to be exhausting.
Crimson had no reason she could use to refute the black market boss's decision, so she could only grit her teeth and accept it.
"All right, I only called you here today to announce this. I've already settled which black markets we'll be holding exchange matches with, so I'll give you the day off to rest!
The exchange matches start tomorrow. Work hard, everyone. If I earn more commission, I'll get you more nutrient solution too."
The boss waved his hand, signaling that the Mecha Girls could leave.
Crimson clenched her fist and glanced at a document on the desk.
It listed the names of several black markets.
Civilization Black Market, Haitang Black Market, Black Gold Wrench, and more. Dozens of them in all.
By the time this was over, she figured that even if she was not sent back to the Recycling Yard, she would not be far from being scrapped.
Her Stability had been dropping all this time.
Once it fell to a certain point, even if she did nothing at all, her core would automatically separate.
Would she still have a chance to see her master in this lifetime…
Crimson walked out of the office and stared into the surrounding gloom, her eyes full of helpless confusion.
...
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