The joys and sorrows of people are never truly shared.
The same goes for Mecha Girls.
While the Stella Club was filled with celebration, the ESW side was shrouded in gloom.
Gray Castle locked herself in the locker room.
No matter what the other Mecha Girls or Richard Cheng said outside, she refused to come out.
Richard Cheng could not just force his way in with the others.
Every Mecha Girl is a living being, with her own thoughts and soul, and naturally her own private space.
Entering without Gray Castle's permission would be extremely rude and could damage their relationship.
"Sigh, what am I supposed to do?" Richard Cheng slid down to sit against the locker room door.
If he had known Derek Su would be this hard to deal with, he never would have brought Gray Castle to show off in front of him before the match.
Now look at this. He failed to show off and ended up pushing his own Mecha Girl into misery.
"Gray Castle just has a strong sense of pride. She carries the HB model designation, yet she lost to Imperial Scale in the match. You could say she brought shame to the entire HB model line. It is only natural that she is struggling to accept it…" A top-tier Mecha Girl beside Richard Cheng tried to comfort him. "Master, why not take Gray Castle out to relax a bit? It might help ease her stress."
As she spoke, she handed him a flyer.
"A functional Mecha Girl gave this to me just now. It might be something suitable for you and Gray Castle."
Richard Cheng took the flyer and gave it a quick scan.
He scoffed at most of the activities listed.
As the owner and ace of the ESW Club, there was little he had not experienced.
However, one AI challenge caught his attention.
[Is it the human pilot's superior skill, or will the AI trained on data streams come out on top?]
[Magic Sea Resort Island AI Challenge, waiting for you!]
[Contact Number: xxxxxx]
The prize money did not interest him.
What caught his attention was the AI itself.
Gray Castle had a traditional, conservative, and rigid personality.
Taking her to things like drop towers or roller coasters would only bore her.
It would be better to let her check out this AI challenge, along with the Mecha Girl combat arena on the resort island.
One would spark her interest, and the other would let her vent her frustration.
That should lift her mood.
If she had a good time, they could have a few drinks in the evening.
Then, under the dim night sky, with a slight buzz from alcohol,
they could book a small room, enjoy the night view, and once the mood was right, Gray Castle would lean into his arms and talk about the grievances she suffered today.
He would comfort her while gently guiding her along.
Everything would fall into place naturally.
Perfect plan.
A sly smile curled at the corner of Richard Cheng's lips.
Unfortunately, he had no idea that Derek Su would be bringing the entire Stella Club along.
Otherwise, he would not be smiling so happily right now.
...
After returning to the club,
Absolute Shadow immediately reported her plan to Derek Su.
"Boss, I think going to the hot springs next door is too boring. It is a complete waste of an evening." She took out the flyer and handed it to him. "Why not go here instead? Everyone will have fun. The only difference is that there are no private hot springs here. Though I doubt you are the kind of sleazy pilot who insists on soaking in a private bath with a Mecha Girl."
Derek Su rubbed his nose.
In truth, he really did want to go to a private bath.
He felt like without that, there would be no progress with Stella.
Every night, everyone behaved properly when sleeping. The two beds were like a clear dividing line. Occasionally, during thunderstorms, Stella would crawl over like a frightened kitten and cling to him for protection, but there was no way it would storm every single night.
He could not just bring it up directly either. What if Stella refused?
Life really needed a bit of excitement.
But looking at Absolute Shadow's trusting gaze, the words caught in his throat, and he could not say them.
After all, you could go to hot springs anywhere, and the ones on this resort island were even more luxurious.
No matter what excuse he came up with, Absolute Shadow would probably grow suspicious.
What kind of looks would everyone give him then?
Imperial Scale might be surprised.
Tunbao would definitely look at him like he was trash.
Purple Lightning would probably be shocked.
As for Blazing Wind,
Blazing Wind admired him deeply. He would definitely feel disappointed.
And if this got back to Vanessa and the sponsor,
his great and glorious image would collapse completely.
Lingwind should be fine. Lingwind already knew about this.
Perhaps only Stella would light up with excitement.
Better not think about the private bath.
Derek Su sighed inwardly, forced himself to nod, and said with a smile, "I think this place looks fun too. It is perfect for everyone to go together."
He also noticed the AI challenge and became interested. In his previous life, he had heard how powerful AI could be at chess, relying on massive data to the point that even top players struggled to win. He wondered what level AI had reached in this world. If racing techniques could be embedded into AI, that would be incredible.
Seeing Derek Su agree, Absolute Shadow immediately went to make arrangements.
Meanwhile, Derek Su sat on the sofa, waiting for Zane to get off work.
His previous training phase was already complete. Although Stella still had not removed the pineapple shell, with her guidance, he could now accurately catch small objects like ping-pong balls, even while blindfolded, relying solely on hearing and instinct to determine their position.
If his guess was correct, the next step would be to block out his hearing as well and rely entirely on instinct to catch the ping-pong ball.
This step would undoubtedly be extremely difficult. If he could achieve it, he might already be beyond the limits of a normal human. After that, he would likely move on to catching even smaller and faster-moving objects.
Zane usually got off work around seven or eight in the evening.
But today, there was no sign of him even at ten.
Just as Derek Su began to feel puzzled and considered heading to Zu'an Ka Technology to check on him,
knock knock knock.
A weak knock suddenly came from outside the door.
Stella's ears twitched, and she hurried over in her blue unicorn slippers to open it.
The moment she opened the door, she instinctively stepped back half a pace.
Then Zane, his face pale as paper, lips tinged dark, and looking utterly exhausted, collapsed forward onto the shoe cabinet.
A moment later, Lingwind carried Zane to the bed. After giving him some water, Zane finally regained a bit of clarity.
He looked at the people gathered around him, his eyes unfocused like someone drunk.
After a long pause, he managed a dazed smile and said weakly,
"Oh, everyone is here?"
"I am back…"
...
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