Chapter 133: Dividing the Realm

Buying two Mecha Girls was one thing.

Chloe Qin dug deeper.

When she discovered that Derek Su had actually gone and founded a club of his own, she nearly blacked out from rage.

She smashed everything in the house to pieces, only stopping when Howard Wang finally returned.

Staring at the wrecked living room, Howard Wang rubbed his forehead and let out a long sigh. No matter how good-tempered he was, irritation inevitably crept in.

Chloe Qin had always had a volatile personality and frequent emotional breakdowns. Once every half month or month, he could tolerate.

But now? Every two or three days?

Who could take that?

Still, she was his fiancée.

Howard Wang silently recited “Fiancée is the best” three times, then forced a smile.

“Yueyue, what’s wrong? Who made you angry this time?”

Chloe Qin lifted her reddened eyes, her voice trembling.
“Derek Su set up a club. He took over Rolling Stone Club’s shell outright—got it for free! Then he went and bought DL-01 and TB-21 for just thirty million! And he even—he even fucking wrote an IOU!”

The more she spoke, the angrier she became, on the verge of exploding again.

Howard Wang quickly calmed her down, though he himself was deeply shaken.

Was Derek Su really that capable?

Both Giant Tech and Crown Club had been suppressing him—blocking recruitment, making it impossible for him to form a club. And yet, he still pulled it off. As for buying two Mecha Girls for thirty million with an IOU… that part couldn’t even be criticized. That was pure personal charisma.

Otherwise, why had DL-01 and TB-21 barely acknowledged Chloe Qin when she tried negotiating?

But when Derek Su showed up, they lowered the price, allowed an IOU, and even threw in a buy-one-get-one-free deal?

The reasoning made sense, but there was no way he could explain it like that to Chloe Qin.

After some thought, Howard Wang spoke gently,
“Stella Club is short on people and coaches right now. I’ll send my people over to stir trouble—hand out flyers, divert applicants to us or other clubs. We won’t spare nearby cities either. Anyone trying to apply to Stella Club gets intercepted, and we’ll offer them better terms. How does that sound?”

Chloe Qin thought it over, then nodded.

There wasn’t much else they could do.

They couldn’t just smash someone else’s storefront.

Even if he had influence in both the underworld and official circles, and the Human Federation turned a blind eye, Mecha Island still had the Joint Enforcement Team.

Those functional Mecha Girls didn’t take bribes. Break the rules, and they’d deal with you directly.

“Then it’s settled.” Howard Wang glanced around, including the two Mecha Girls huddled in the corner, and sighed helplessly. “You shouldn’t stay here anymore. I’ll have my assistant arrange a new villa right away. We’ll head over together later.”

“Mm.” Chloe Qin’s mood finally eased a little. She hugged Howard Wang and kissed him loudly on the cheek.

Blazing Wind and Viper finally breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Was Master always like this?”
Viper asked shakily, watching Howard Wang and Chloe Qin disappear into the bedroom.

“More or less,” Blazing Wind said, leaning against the wall with a pout. “It’s just been more frequent lately because of that driver, Derek Su. Before, she’d only lose it after drinking or losing a race. Anyway, once you follow her, you enjoy the club’s top-tier resources—but you also have to endure her temper.”

“But she said she had a really good temper?” Viper’s pupils trembled.

“Heh.” Blazing Wind gave a dry laugh. “She’s good-tempered when she’s in a good mood. What’s wrong with that?”

Viper: “…”

She hadn’t been with Chloe Qin for long.

And already, her future felt like an indistinct, endless darkness.

...

Crown Club.

Ethan Yang slammed his phone onto the coffee table, his face livid.

Still, he had already anticipated that Derek Su might manage to get a club running.

So he didn’t completely lose his composure.

“Fine. People have their own ways, and clubs have their own methods. Then I’ll squeeze your living space!”

How did a big club crush a small one? Aside from outright domination during competitions, it meant poaching people and resources—stealing Mecha Girls and drivers, siphoning off sponsors and funding, even outright acquisitions. Once that happened, a small club had no way to survive.

Of course, he couldn’t carry out that kind of suppression alone.

He had to contact Crown Club’s financial backer—Ansei Insurance.

...

Stella Club—

Originally, the club only had Stella and Lingwind. With so few members, they hadn’t planned on moving in at all.

But now that Imperial Scale and Tunbao had arrived, it wouldn’t be right to keep inconveniencing Xavier.

So Derek Su moved all of his limited belongings into Stella Club.

On the fourth-floor living area, the air was thick with tension.

The issue was room allocation.

The offensive side was Imperial Scale and Tunbao.

“We’re the newcomers—basically juniors,” Tunbao said. “Shouldn’t the seniors let us choose rooms first?”

She played the seniority card smoothly, every word steeped in practiced, saccharine politeness.

Lingwind, standing firmly on Stella’s side, refused to lose momentum. Putting on a brave face, she replied softly,
“By that logic, juniors should respect seniors even more.”

Soldier against soldier. General against general.

Stella and Imperial Scale locked eyes, sparks flying. Blades clashed invisibly in their gazes.

One tall, one short—neither said a word, yet it felt as though they had already fought countless times.

Tunbao scoffed.
“Huh? This generation of seniors is really stingy~”

Lingwind shot back,
“You newcomers have no manners!”

Tunbao snorted.
“My leader and I were bought with thirty million on an IOU, buy one get one free! We saved the boss so much money!”

Lingwind fired back instantly.
“I don’t want money! Stella only costs five thousand!”

Stella: “…”

Imperial Scale: “…”

That one hit deep.

Stella clutched her chest and took a moment to recover, then suddenly sighed in resignation.

She glanced at Imperial Scale, let out a “heh,” grabbed Lingwind’s hand, and walked away casually.
“Let them pick first. Doesn’t matter~”

“Why?!” Lingwind protested anxiously. “If they go first, the big rooms will be gone!”

Stella curled her lips smugly.
“Lingwind, let me ask you—whose room is bigger? Master’s room, or a Mecha Girl’s room?”

Lingwind froze.

Derek Su and Zane’s rooms were already confirmed as the largest. Everything else came after.

“Looks like you already know.”

Stella spread her arms toward the window, as if embracing her own territory, swaying proudly.
“So there’s no need for us to pick rooms at all. We’ll just stay with Master—sleep in their bed, watch their TV, eat their snacks, enjoy their attentive care! And that—this—is the special privilege of us seniors. How would newcomers ever understand how to strengthen bonds with Master?”

Her voice was loud, deliberately aimed at Imperial Scale and Tunbao.

Lingwind blushed.
“Stella, that’s not really appropriate… men and women shouldn’t—”

“Your mindset is too small, Lingwind!” Stella shook her head and patted her shoulder with exaggerated gravity.
“We’re Mecha Girls. Master is human. The difference between us is like a doctor and the corpse on an operating table. Even if we stood naked in front of Master, they wouldn’t feel a thing. So open your perspective. Once you do, the world changes!”

Hearing that, Lingwind felt… it kind of made sense.

She nodded firmly, clenched her fist, and declared,
“Oh! I get it! I’m going to Master’s room tonight!”

Stella clasped her hands behind her back and smiled faintly, her merit and glory hidden deep within.

“Hey! Aren’t you guys going too far? Staying with Master—what the hell is that?!” Tunbao snapped angrily.

Imperial Scale stayed quiet, watching Stella’s retreating back in thought.

“Forget it,” Tunbao said sourly. “Let’s just pick rooms. Let them stay with Master—shameless! Hmph!”

Mainly because Derek Su and Zane’s rooms really were huge—especially Derek Su’s boss suite, with its massive floor-to-ceiling window. Candlelight, night scenery, a bit of wine… it was perfect.

“I think it makes sense,” Imperial Scale suddenly said.

Tunbao’s eyes widened in shock.

“You—you—you—”

Imperial Scale shot her a glance, then walked into a room decorated in pink.

She sat on the bed, pulled out her phone, opened a plush toy shop, scrolled to the bottom, and bought every pig plushie available.

She didn’t say a word—but her choice was clear.

Tunbao stared at the room filled with cute, girly pink décor, completely stunned.

After a long pause, she forced a pale, nervous laugh.

“Ahahaha… then I’ll stay across from you…”

“Tunbao,” a cool voice called from inside.

“Huh? What is it?”

“The cat. Sphinx.”

Sphinx was an American Shorthair Imperial Scale had rescued—abandoned after losing one eye.

The cat had kept her company through countless boring waits.

Did she mean to bring it here?

“Got it! I’ll go get it right away!” Tunbao nodded, surprised.

She’d thought the cat was just a temporary distraction.

Turns out, Imperial Scale truly intended to adopt it.

...

That night.

“You’re not even grown yet and you want to sleep with me? Are you crazy, or am I? Go sleep on your own!”

The door slammed shut with a bang.

Lingwind stood alone outside Zane’s door, hugging her pillow and blanket, on the verge of tears.

Waaah…
Didn’t Stella say Master would definitely agree?

This was nothing like she’d imagined!

Meanwhile, inside the boss’s room—

Derek Su looked helplessly at Stella, who was wriggling around on his bed in a thin blue nightgown.

“If you keep this up, Imperial Scale and Tunbao will think I’m playing favorites.”

“But I don’t have anywhere else to stay,” Stella pouted, clutching the shark plushie from his bed.

“There are other rooms. Tell me the style you want—I’ll arrange it.”

“But I’m afraid of the dark. I can’t sleep alone.” Stella’s eyes welled up as she whimpered,
“When it’s pitch black and I’m alone, it feels like being back in that warehouse—curled up in a corner, desperately extracting my AI Core… it’s so miserable…”

“Stop—!” Derek Su clasped his hands together and bowed deeply.
“Please, Pineapple King, just sleep here. I beg you—put away your divine artifact!”

“Hmph!” Stella rolled over, turning her back to him, a smug smile tugging at her lips as she picked up the book beside her pillow, A Thousand Layers of Schemes, and kept reading.

Mwahahaha!

Rebellious traitor!

This realm would be hers in the end!

...

Derek Su watched Stella continue squirming and smiled indulgently.

He knew she wasn’t actually angry.

Lowering his head, he returned to researching on his laptop.

The club had just been established—they needed competitions to build their reputation.

The next advancement race, Brana Ruins, was still half a month away.

And that half month couldn’t be wasted.

“Found it.”

Derek Su’s eyes locked onto a post on the racing forum.

[Malater Desert Relay Training Race. Requires club participation with at least three Mecha Girls. Champion prize: 5 million (sponsored by Giant Tech). Full global broadcast. Many renowned clubs will participate. Clubs are welcome to sign up. Contact: xxxx-xxxxxxxx]

A globally broadcast relay training race—with top clubs involved?

Perfect.

Just what he needed to farm reputation.