"Stella!"
"Don't run!"
The moment Absolute Shadow and Tunbao saw Stella, they were like two enraged female leopards.
Absolute Shadow's movements were still fairly graceful. She charged out through the front.
Tunbao simply sprang up, smashed through the club's floor-to-ceiling window with her head, and lunged outside, trying to cut off Stella's escape route from the front.
Derek Su was stunned. With Stella's straight-line Acceleration, even without entering deployment mode, an ordinary Mecha Girl would never catch her. She could disappear from sight in just a few steps.
He quickly rushed out to stop Absolute Shadow and Tunbao.
But Imperial Scale was even faster than him.
In a flash, she appeared beside Tunbao, hoisted her up by the waist, then turned toward the main entrance and blocked Absolute Shadow like an iron wall.
Seeing that her pursuers had been stopped, Stella also came to a halt. She hurried over in a few steps and hid behind Derek Su for protection.
"Imperial Scale, don't stop me! I have to beat Stella's butt red today!"
Absolute Shadow had already lost half of what little anger she had once Imperial Scale blocked her.
Tunbao, however, was still struggling wildly on Imperial Scale's shoulder. She twisted her head around, craned her neck, and bared her teeth at Stella with a red face. "Stella, you dog! You framed me! Come out from behind Boss Su if you've got the guts! Come out here and compensate me! Pay me back with all your novels!"
"Stella, what's going on?" Now that the situation was somewhat under control, Derek Su silently sighed at how reliable Imperial Scale was while quickly asking for the reason.
"I don't know," Stella said, clutching Derek Su's arm. She pouted, her eyes darting away as she put on a pitiful look. "I don't even know what happened. I just got back and felt this murderous aura. It scared me to death!"
"If you don't know what happened, why did you run?!" Absolute Shadow's face darkened as she clenched her fists and roared, "What are you afraid of if your conscience is clear?!"
"Exactly, exactly!" Tunbao shouted, cheering her on.
She was about to say more when, in the next second...
Smack. A heavy slap landed on her butt.
At the same time, an icy aura locked onto her.
"Wuu..." Tunbao instantly wilted, her body going limp as she collapsed over Imperial Scale's shoulder.
One look at Stella's expression was enough for Derek Su to know she was definitely hiding something.
But she was still his club's starting Mecha Girl, so of course he was going to be a little biased toward her.
Now that Tunbao had calmed down and Absolute Shadow's anger seemed to be under control, it was time for him, as the club owner, to step in.
He cleared his throat, took two steps forward, and said with a smile, "Everyone, let's talk this through properly. Sit down and discuss it calmly. There's no need to get angry. Once I understand the whole story, as the owner of Stella Club, I'll make sure everyone gets a fair and impartial result."
Absolute Shadow calmed down when she heard that.
She could refuse to show respect to anyone, even Imperial Scale.
But she would definitely show Derek Su respect.
...
Ten minutes later.
All of Stella Club's main Mecha Girls had gathered in the conference room.
That included the captain Mecha Girls of the logistics and medical teams.
Derek Su sat in the main seat, with Absolute Shadow and Imperial Scale seated on either side. The other Mecha Girls sat in two rows to the left and right, while the "suspect," Stella, sat at the very end.
Now facing judgment, Stella lowered her head and pouted, looking as if she might start crying at any moment.
"I already understand the full sequence of events!"
Derek Su sat upright, his face serious. "Stella played pranks on Tunbao by putting chili oil in her nutrient solution, and she added mustard to Absolute Shadow's cigars. This caused two Mecha Girls of our club, Absolute Shadow and Tunbao, to suffer a serious decline in quality of life recently. It even resulted in the blame being shifted elsewhere, causing Tunbao to get beaten up!"
Stella lowered her head even further.
She let out a wronged little whimper like a small animal.
"That's right! I'm the one the trouble got shifted onto!" Tunbao pointed at herself and nodded with great seriousness. "For Stella's behavior, I believe she should be dealt with severely. Punish her by banning her from eating pineapple for three days! And she has to let me borrow her novels whenever I want!"
"And my cigars." Absolute Shadow pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed helplessly. "I can accept Tunbao hiding my cigars. After all, with that pig brain of hers, I can find them no matter where she hides them.
But Stella directly adding mustard into the cigars... That's just ridiculous. Without rules, there can be no order. Boss, I think she should be punished severely. No pineapple for a week."
Tunbao: "..." She felt personally attacked.
Derek Su's mouth twitched.
He thought, Are you two serious about calling that a severe punishment?
"Stella, do you have anything else to say for yourself?"
Derek Su lifted his chin toward Stella, wanting to see what she would say.
In his impression, Stella could be mischievous from time to time, but she should not have done something that would make people hate her this much unless there was some reason behind it.
Stella puffed out her cheeks, raised her slightly reddened eyes, and quickly glanced across Derek Su, Absolute Shadow, and Tunbao's faces. Only after a long while did she mumble, "Because... because smoking is bad for your health..."
That explanation clearly did not satisfy Absolute Shadow or Tunbao.
"Stella, I'm a Mecha Girl." Absolute Shadow pressed a hand to her forehead. "Tobacco harms human bodies, but it doesn't really mean anything to us Mecha Girls."
Stella fell silent for a moment.
Then she slowly pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket.
She unfolded it and showed it to everyone.
Everyone leaned in closer.
It was a newspaper.
Although it was badly wrinkled, the contents could still be read.
[Latest Research Findings!]
[Smoking causes a Mecha Girl's internal air circulation system to turn black...]
[For the sake of your Mecha Girl's clean and beautiful internal air circulation system, please supervise her and don't let her smoke.]
...
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