Chapter 120: For the Rolling Stone
Crossing the finish line.
Derek Su eased off the throttle, yanked the handbrake, and drifted neatly to a stop on the pit deck.
Scorching white smoke still coiled around Stella’s body—the residual heat released by the engine under full load.
There were plenty of spectators gathered near the pit lane. Even without the eye-catching cheerleaders, the cheers were just as loud and fervent, no less stirring than before.
“Master, I really didn’t expect those two eggs to give way,” Stella said, recalling the heart-stopping moment earlier. “I honestly thought they’d fight us to the end…”
At that speed, if she had clipped Snowpeak even once, neither of them would have come out of it well. Leon Li steering Snowpeak aside had been the best possible outcome.
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Derek Su said as he twisted open a bottle of mineral water and took a sip, then shrugged. “Even if he’d blocked us, I could’ve taken you past him. Leon Li knew it himself—no matter what, he’d lose. Better to bow out cleanly. That way, everyone’s better off.”
There was another reason, though—just his own speculation.
Leon Li was probably the kind of driver who truly cherished his Mecha Girl.
He could have intercepted them, but he didn’t want Snowpeak to get hurt. So he chose to give way.
“Oh!” Stella nodded solemnly.
Then she immediately leaned in close, naturally wrapping both hands around Derek Su’s arm, her face filled with admiration. “My Master really is amazing! You can control me even at speeds like that!”
“Well, of course~ Who do you think I am?”
Derek Su’s grin was practically reaching the sky.
Still, today really had been dangerous.
The main challenge of the Silverstone Advanced Race lay in the Loren Vortex. After that, there were still several consecutive hairpin turns, but none were especially sharp.
Some corners had extremely tight angles. He had no choice but to slow down and carry Stella through them, unable to maintain that ultra-high cornering speed of around 500. Even so, he should still be ahead of Leon Li and Snowpeak by about a full minute.
Snowpeak, running in Overclock mode, was almost certainly taking second place in the Silverstone Advanced Race.
Derek Su and Stella looked up at the screen, intending to check the other racers’ average speeds to confirm that the championship was secure. Instead, the massive screen at the end of the track displayed a close-up of the two of them.
Host Kool Kenny gripped the microphone, sitting alone and commanding the stage, his hands trembling with excitement.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I hardly need to say it—the champion has essentially been decided! This Silverstone Advanced Race is the most electrifying event of my entire commentary career. We’ve witnessed fierce clashes between racers, the absolute limits of speed, and techniques beyond imagination. Thank you to The Magician and Stella for this breathtaking visual feast!”
As Kool Kenny’s words fell, the screen switched to a replay.
Derek Su narrowed his eyes. The footage showed him and Stella approaching a sequence of hairpin turns.
At the time, his mind had entered a completely empty, almost ethereal state. There was no analysis, no calculations—sight and sound barely mattered. Everything came down to his feel for the track and his instinctive connection with Stella’s body. He unleashed the entire sequence in one go, but what exactly happened in between… even he couldn’t fully say.
There was just a jolt—and the corner was cleared.
Perfect timing. Kool Kenny had the footage.
Derek Su took the chance to review it, to study the techniques of “God·Derek Su” himself.
The replay began.
Stella entered the turn from the middle lane. For a split second, there was a burst of acceleration—and wheel slip.
In that instant, Stella cut into the inner lane and began to drift, the rear swinging out.
At the most perilous moment, two wheels were completely hanging over the edge of the cliff. Yet the chassis didn’t scrape. The grip of the front wheels and the inertia of the body forcibly hauled Stella back onto the track. What followed was a beautifully drawn S-shaped arc, trailing smoke as she burst cleanly out of the corner.
From the audience’s god’s-eye view,
the danger seemed confined to that single moment when the wheels hung in midair. After that, everything looked smooth and effortless.
Only Derek Su knew the truth.
When taking the second corner, just to keep Stella from losing control, how many times had he adjusted the control lever? How many times had he switched back and forth between brake and throttle? The timing of the clutch release, and how it all synchronized with the handbrake—
He couldn’t even remember those dizzying operations anymore.
But Stella must have felt them more clearly than anyone.
He instinctively glanced at the girl beside him and saw her stroking her chin, deep in thought. She was probably replaying that near-disaster herself, figuring out how it had been salvaged.
“Master.”
“Mm?”
“What are we having for dinner tonight?”
Derek Su: “…”
...
The Silverstone Advanced Race came to an end.
Derek Su and Stella claimed the championship, finishing a full 1 minute and 07 seconds ahead of second-place Leon Li and Snowpeak. Third place went, as expected, to Laiya An and Dawnbreak—though during the award ceremony, Dawnbreak’s expression looked even sourer than usual.
Miles Wang of SSC Club and Hurricane took seventh place.
VVC’s Justin Kim and Cloud Leopard didn’t participate in the Silverstone Advanced Race, likely saving their strength for the upcoming Xiangshan, Mermaid Bay, and Brana Ruins Advanced Races.
Xavier and Lumina put up a solid showing, securing tenth place as the gatekeepers.
Zane was less fortunate. Even though he and Lingwind did their best to take every corner cleanly, their final ranking still landed them in twelfth. This year’s Silverstone Advanced Race was simply packed with top-tier competitors. Without outliers like Derek Su, Leon Li, and Laiya An, he probably would have made the top ten.
Still, Zane and Lingwind weren’t out of chances.
As long as they placed in the top ten in two of the next advanced races—Brana Ruins, Xiangshan, or Mermaid Bay—they would still qualify for the provincial circuit and have a shot at competing to become a Techmaster.
Once the rankings were finalized, the award ceremony began.
Naturally, Kool Kenny’s interview segment was unavoidable.
This time, Kool Kenny brought along Taimei, whose face was bruised and swollen. She looked completely dazed, barely able to hold the microphone steady. She was clearly destined to serve as little more than a background prop—perfectly highlighting Kool Kenny’s professional skill by contrast.
“The Magician!” Kool Kenny remained courteous, resisting the urge to shove the microphone straight into Derek Su’s face. “After winning the Silverstone Advanced Race, do you have anything you’d like to say?”
Derek Su turned to the camera and put on an Ania-style fake smile.
“Heh heh, thanks to Aikun TV, CCTV, Mango TV, Penguin TV… thanks to the government, thanks to the Human Federation, thanks to Mecha Island, thanks to—”
“Stop!” Kool Kenny’s mouth twitched.
He was honestly impressed.
Did Derek Su train specifically in the art of dodging questions?
The man had a whole routine.
“Let’s change it up,” Kool Kenny said, eyes shining as he leaned into his role. “What would you like to say about your toughest opponents today, Leon Li and Snowpeak?”
“Leon Li and Snowpeak are extremely strong. They put tremendous pressure on me and Stella,” Derek Su said solemnly. “So everyone, please support them by buying their [Okamoto 001]—the Wolf Fang edition, too~”
Leon Li & Snowpeak: “…”
Kool Kenny: “???”
“One last question,” Kool Kenny said. He had prepared over a dozen, but he truly didn’t want to continue—any more and it would turn into a broadcast accident.
“You haven’t joined any club, but I noticed the Rolling Stone Club decal on Stella’s body, and on your racing suit as well. Both I and your fans are very curious—are you planning to join the Rolling Stone Club?”
“Oh, right.” Derek Su finally remembered his mission.
He raised the championship trophy, emblazoned with the Rolling Stone Club insignia, toward the camera. The smile on his face finally became sincere.
“This championship is dedicated solely to commemorating the Mecha Girl who chose to protect her driver, even at the cost of being sent back for rebuilding—Rolling Stone.”
“Rolling Stone, can you see this?”
“The championship… is yours.”
Perhaps winning this title had nothing to do with Rolling Stone.
But when life and death hung in the balance, Rolling Stone’s first instinct had been to protect her driver.
That alone made Rolling Stone worthy of this championship’s honor.
...
In front of a television.
The owner of the Rolling Stone Club wept uncontrollably, clutching a photo of Rolling Stone and crying like a child.
On Mecha Island—
Before a crystal wall embedded with countless AI Cores.
All of them watched the scene unfolding on the screen.
The trophy, symbol of supreme honor, gleamed brilliantly.
And the words “Rolling Stone” shimmered in the sunlight.
On the crystal wall,
an AI Core on the verge of being reset flickered rapidly in response…
Author's Note
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