"Master, that Mecha Girl is catching up!"
"I know." Swain Li glanced at the rearview mirror, his expression still calm.
Judging from Derek Su and Purple Lightning's starting acceleration, Purple Lightning's Acceleration stat had to be lower than Silver Mirror's. So how was she catching up? There was only one possibility. Purple Lightning's special skill had activated.
At that thought, Swain Li pressed his lips together and frowned.
"Silver Mirror, describe Purple Lightning's special skill again. In detail."
"Yes." Silver Mirror paused, then recalled, "Every time she completes a perfect turn, she gains an Acceleration bonus while her Stability and Impact Resistance decrease. Once the Acceleration bonus reaches its cap, she enters a special state that ignores obstacles. This bonus can stack up to 50 times."
"Perfect turns, up to 50 times…"
Swain Li sank into thought, turning over the information Silver Mirror had given him.
Silver Mirror's Acceleration stat was not especially outstanding, so Cloud Leopard, Hurricane, and Dawnbreak had already begun pulling away from him and Silver Mirror. But he was not in a hurry. He had never forgotten that the main purpose of this race was to observe Derek Su. His only regret was misjudging Derek Su's intentions. He and Ethan Yang had both believed Derek Su would field Stella.
But Derek Su had brought out Purple Lightning instead.
Still, it was not a serious problem. What he truly wanted to observe was Derek Su's racing approach.
"Why exactly? Purple Lightning's Acceleration…"
Time did not stop while he thought.
Vroooom!
The sharp roar of an engine drew closer and closer.
In the rearview mirror, Purple Lightning charged toward them, sweeping up a storm of red leaves.
It was as if she had shed a heavy shell. Her speed was terrifying.
Swain Li instinctively controlled Silver Mirror, trying to intercept her.
But with a whoosh, just as Silver Mirror moved in, Derek Su made a lightning-fast lane change. Purple Lightning's body twisted lightly, and she overtook Silver Mirror.
Both Silver Mirror and Swain Li froze at the sight.
"What incredible reflexes!"
As the two Mecha Girls crossed paths, he caught a glimpse of the man in Purple Lightning's cockpit from the corner of his eye. He held the control stick with effortless composure, truly like an emperor calmly presiding over the slaughter on the track.
Even at the instant he passed them, there was not the slightest contempt or disdain in this "emperor's" eyes. There was only steadiness and calm. He was treating the track before him seriously.
"Good! This is even better!"
After a brief silence, a feverish laugh rang out inside Silver Mirror's cockpit.
Swain Li propped one hand against his forehead. His bangs fell down, casting a shadow over his cold eyes.
The stronger Derek Su was, the more excited he became.
No one had ever made him feel this way before.
Defeating opponents who looked down on him had long since become boring. Instead, Derek Su, who had shown him respect, was far more worthy of his full effort. A qualified assassin had to understand every habit of his target before making the kill.
Analyze the target. Chase the target. Even become the target.
Only then could he kill the target.
And on the racetrack, to kill meant to surpass completely.
The strange maneuver Derek Su had just performed, driving Purple Lightning in left and right drifts along a straight, flashed through his mind.
All at once, everything became clear.
"So that's it! So that's it! Heh heh!
I understand now. A perfect turn doesn't necessarily mean passing through an actual corner!
A gentle curve, or making a Mecha Girl turn and drift on a straight, also meets the skill's judgment criteria!"
Everyone had misunderstood Derek Su. They thought his straight-line drifting meant he was holding back, deliberately throwing the race.
But in reality?
He knew exactly what he was doing.
"Silver Mirror, let's try it too!"
Swain Li was full of excitement. He did not believe his technique was much worse than Derek Su's.
As long as it was a technique Derek Su had displayed, he had basically practiced it to perfection.
The moment he finished speaking, he yanked up the handbrake.
Silver Mirror's wheels locked with a screech.
Silver Mirror's body slid sideways across the track, tire smoke trailing from her rear.
Afraid Silver Mirror would lose control, he only let her slide out at a slight angle before steering her back into position.
"How was it, Silver Mirror? Did your Acceleration increase?"
Silver Mirror closed her eyes and sensed carefully for a moment, then said calmly, "No."
"Huh?" Swain Li frowned.
That made no sense. It was all straight-line drifting.
Was he doing it wrong?
Refusing to accept it, he patiently tried several more times.
Finally, during one attempt, he pushed Silver Mirror's drift angle to the maximum. She was right at the limit, so close that in the next second he might lose control completely and send Silver Mirror skidding off the track.
Only then did Silver Mirror finally report that her Acceleration had increased.
By the time he corrected her body, Swain Li's back was soaked in cold sweat.
"Phew!" He let out a long breath.
He stared toward the end of his vision, where Purple Lightning's taillights were barely visible, his heart filled with shock.
"So that means every straight-line drift Derek Su just performed was right at the critical point of losing control? And only that kind of extreme drift, balanced on the very edge, can be judged as a perfect drift…
What's even more absurd is that he, he can do it continuously?!"
When he reached that conclusion, Swain Li was dumbfounded.
Was this guy even human?
He was completely stunned. Swain Li felt a bitter taste in his mouth. It was like preparing to assassinate an emperor, only to discover at the last moment that not only was the emperor a peerless martial artist, the bastard also knew sorcery.
He had originally been extremely confident in his driving technique. Launch starts, braking points, entry points, he could handle all of them almost perfectly.
But now he realized he might have been a little naive.
From a distance, that mountain had not seemed particularly towering. It looked like something he could climb easily. Only after reaching its foot did he realize he had been the simple-minded one.
Even so, it was not enough to make him give up.
That was his nature. The stronger his opponent, the more fighting spirit he had. To him, racing was the process of continuously defeating one opponent after another.
Besides, he was not entirely without a chance.
Extreme Drifting could increase Acceleration.
And Silver Mirror's base Acceleration was already far higher than Purple Lightning's. In other words, even though performing Derek Su's Extreme Drifting was difficult, as long as he kept doing it, Silver Mirror's speed would surpass Purple Lightning sooner or later.
Derek Su could succeed every time.
He was a little worse and a little more cautious, but succeeding once in ten attempts should not be too much to ask, right?
With that thought in mind, Swain Li continued experimenting on the track.
But he was too absorbed to notice two things.
As Acceleration increased, Silver Mirror's Impact Resistance and Stability would also drop.
Second, he could not use continuous pendulum drifts like Derek Su to rapidly boost Silver Mirror's Acceleration. That meant Silver Mirror's speed would be very difficult to raise, and they would waste far too much time on the track.
Besides, a Mecha Girl with a Speed stat of 100 was not something just anyone could control. ... Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Damn it! Get out of my way, you bastard!"
Somewhere on the Xiangshan Circuit.
Cloud Leopard glared at Hurricane beside her, teeth clenched.
Miles Wang had definitely installed some kind of Module on Hurricane.
Her speed and Impact Resistance were about the same as Hurricane's.
The two Mecha Girls had been fighting each other the whole way, yet neither had managed to come out ahead.
"You're the one who needs to get the hell out of my way!"
Beside her, Hurricane's hair was a mess in the cockpit, with none of her usual refined young-lady air left. Her eyes were red, her face twisted with fury. She looked exactly like a blue-haired lioness gone berserk.
As they spoke, the two Mecha Girls collided again.
Both of them cried out in pain from the impact.
"Stop fighting!" Justin Kim called out, trying to persuade them.
"Yeah, yeah. One of you take the left, the other take the right. Can't everyone just develop peacefully?" Miles Wang also had a headache, but the two Mecha Girls were already seeing red.
Right now, most of the track was still straight.
Later there would be hairpins and jumps. Who knew what kind of mess they would turn it into then?
"Shut up!!" Hurricane and Cloud Leopard shouted in unison.
Justin Kim and Miles Wang froze, then could only fall silent.
Right now, Hurricane and Cloud Leopard were like crickets in a cage. A twig had to be stuck in to separate them. But Dawnbreak had long since disappeared, Silver Mirror could not catch up, and Derek Su was throwing the race. Who was supposed to be that twig?
...
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