"You want to take Vanessa Ming to the track?!"
Derek Su looked at Blazing Wind, suddenly enlightened.
Blazing Wind had been picked up by the sponsor's daughter near the bridge. With her simple, innocent personality and all the hardship she'd endured under Chloe Qin, Vanessa Ming must be like a sacred light in the darkness to her. That was why she wanted to become Vanessa Ming's Mecha Girl—to take her onto the track and do everything she could to fulfill her dream.
Whoa…
Recalling the sensation from Blazing Wind's skill, Derek Su couldn't help clicking his tongue in amazement.
"Well, I'll be damned. You might actually be onto something."
Blazing Wind's eyes widened, the light in them almost spilling over.
Seeing Derek Su nod, she listened intently.
"You can try your skill with Vanessa," Derek Su said. "If it can boost her physical strength while keeping her emotions stable, getting her on the track shouldn't be a big problem. The only issue is your active skill probably won't last long. It drains a lot of mental energy. I'm already feeling a bit tired. If it were Vanessa, she'd probably feel even worse."
"Ah! That's great!" Blazing Wind clenched her fists and bounced in place like an excited rabbit.
"But whether it'll work or not, I'll call the old man tomorrow and have him bring Vanessa over for a test run." Derek Su's expression turned serious. "Don't assume everything's settled. Vanessa's condition is very special. There's a chance your special skill won't affect her at all."
"Oh… Oh, got it. Thank you, Boss!" Blazing Wind stuck out her tongue shyly and bowed.
"Alright, head back and get some sleep. I'm not tired yet. I'll take Stella for a walk."
Blazing Wind stood there blankly, watching Derek Su and Stella walk side by side toward the river bend.
Under the dim pier lights, their shadows stretched long behind them, almost merging into one.
"Boss and Stella… they don't seem like just pilot and Mecha Girl…"
Her gaze lingered on their naturally clasped hands, and she fell into thought.
...
"You seem a little down. Something on your mind?"
Derek Su glanced at the girl beside him.
Even though he and Stella were already very close, being alone together still made things a bit awkward.
Sleeping was different. Once the lights were off, you couldn't see anything.
Face-to-face like this, though, was somehow more nerve-wracking.
He had just climbed down from Blazing Wind's cockpit.
When he stepped in front of Stella earlier, she had looked distracted. He had stood there for quite a while before she snapped back to herself.
Stella kept her head lowered. The night breeze lifted the strands of hair at her temples, revealing her downcast eyes, faintly shadowed with something hard to read.
"Master… am I really that useless? I'm supposed to be a top-tier Mecha Girl, but I can't even use my special skill."
"How could you be useless?" Derek Su smiled gently. "You're already better than a lot of Mecha Girls without using any skill at all. And that special skill? You'll definitely be able to use it someday."
Stella stayed silent.
Only when they reached the river bend did she look up and meet his eyes.
"Master, I know you have some kind of special ability that improves my performance."
Derek Su stiffened.
Had Stella noticed his golden finger?
Was it really that obvious?
Thinking back, he used to disguise it with training. But after getting closer to Stella, he stopped being so guarded. And with her usual silly demeanor, he had let his guard down even more.
He had forgotten that Stella was emotionally sharp. She might look cheerful and carefree, but she understood everything.
"How could I possibly have something like that?" Derek Su rubbed his nose, his gaze drifting. "If that kind of ability existed, the world would've gone crazy already. Haha…"
"Master is lying."
Stella stared straight at him.
"When Master lies, he rubs his nose, looks to the right, and lets out that weird, silly laugh."
Derek Su: "…"
For a split second, facing Stella felt like facing Mr. Liang.
Cold sweat broke out down his back.
After a long pause, realizing he couldn't keep hiding it, Derek Su sighed.
"I didn't mean to keep it from you. It's just… it's hard to explain. You can think of it as a Techmaster's ability. The difference is, I don't need psychic energy. I can directly act on a Mecha Girl and selectively enhance your performance."
"Knew it…"
Stella pouted. Her shoulders drooped as she let out a deflated sigh.
"I thought my training was really paying off. Turns out it was all Master boosting me…"
"Your hard training did improve you. I can see that."
"But the improvement must've been tiny. Probably not even one percent of what Master gave me."
"No, actually it's about the same. I'm just assisting—"
"Master is lying again."
Stella grabbed Derek Su's hand and leaned into his chest, burying her face against him.
"I'm not blaming you. I'm happy you're willing to enhance my performance. It's just… there's always a price for something like that, right? I want to know what you paid."
Her voice trembled, gradually thickening with tears.
"Master… last night I saw two white hairs on your head. You didn't trade your lifespan for my performance, did you? You're not… going to grow old and die soon, are you?"
Derek Su was speechless.
Was she a jinx or what? Was he about to drop dead any minute now?
His chest ached, like he'd been hit by a mud-hauling truck.
"There's no price. All I have to do is win more races. The more we win, the more performance I can enhance."
He stroked Stella's head gently.
"Stop reading those weird novels. Trading lifespan for power? How do you even come up with that stuff?"
Stella lifted her tearful eyes to look at him.
This time, he wasn't lying. She could tell immediately.
She let out a soft breath.
As long as it wasn't his lifespan, she could relax a little.
If winning more races was all it took, then she'd just work harder. Even if it meant running more, pushing herself more.
"Master has to live to a hundred."
She wrapped her arms around his waist as if holding the most precious thing in the world.
"You have to live to a hundred. Live a very, very, very long time…"
"Then I'd turn into an old turtle."
"Fine. If you're an old turtle, then I'll be a little turtle."
Hearing her pout in his arms, Derek Su couldn't help laughing.
Who calls themselves a turtle like that?
They both fell quiet.
It wasn't that cold tonight. Or maybe the warmth from their close bodies was enough.
In this world of extreme temperature swings between day and night, it even felt pleasantly cool at this moment.
"Master… from now on, don't enhance my performance anymore," Stella suddenly said.
"Why?"
"It's not worth it for me." She lifted her head, her expression serious. "My base performance isn't great. You should give more performance to Imperial Scale or Tunbao. They can make better use of it."
The MP points would eventually go to Imperial Scale.
But precisely because Imperial Scale was so well-rounded, she wasn't the most urgent priority right now. Stella's Acceleration was already maxed out. What she needed next was Stability. Once she could safely activate the [Sovereign Engine], he would start focusing on Imperial Scale.
"But I'm following the Elite Soldier Plan. I have to turn you into an Elite Soldier first."
"I can train myself! I'm already fast enough!"
She bumped her forehead against his stomach as she spoke.
"In the desert race a few days ago, if Imperial Scale had improved her speed performance, we wouldn't have placed fourth. She wouldn't have been so sad… she even cried."
Though Derek Su still intended to prioritize Stella's Stability, he went along with her for now.
"Alright. I understand. I'll consider giving the next performance upgrades to Imperial Scale."
If he refused, with Stella's stubborn personality, she would go back and stew over it again. She might act cheerful every day, as if she'd moved past the failure at the Maratela Training Race, but deep down she still blamed herself.
"Hehe, that's good!"
Stella broke into a smile through her tears.
She stared at Derek Su for a moment. Her lashes fluttered, her eyes still shimmering with moisture, something unreadable flickering within them. A faint blush spread across her cheeks.
Under his puzzled gaze, she beckoned to him.
"Master, you're too tall. Crouch down a little."
Derek Su blinked but did as she asked.
"Closer…"
He lowered himself into a half-squat and shuffled forward like a crab.
Stella stepped closer too, hands clasped behind her back.
Suddenly—
Peck.
She planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
Covering her flushed face, she took a few hurried steps back and turned to run.
Derek Su froze.
"Stella, you—"
By the time he looked up, she was already gone.
The palm trees lining the path swayed wildly in the gust stirred up by her sprint, a few fronds snapping clean off.
Did she just kiss him?
The cool, soft sensation lingering on his cheek told him it wasn't his imagination.
Stella had really kissed him.
...
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