Chapter 81: Experience Trumps Youth

Purple Lightning couldn’t quite explain what thoughts or emotions had driven her to enter this race.

She kept telling herself it was just to earn money to pay off her penalty fee.

But she knew very clearly that this reason alone wasn’t convincing enough.

Xavier Young’s underground black market hosted countless matches. As long as she had the ability, she could fight nonstop in the duel arena without worrying about being killed. The medical team there was always on standby—at worst, she’d suffer a bit.

But this black market was different.

The people here were all desperadoes. One small mistake, and she could truly end up scrapped.

“Maybe… I just want to see it up close,” she murmured, taking a deep breath as she deployed her vehicle.

Yet she didn’t dare turn around to look at Derek Su and Stella—not even once.

She forced herself to act cold and unfamiliar, wrapping herself tightly inside her thick shell.

“Hey, that guy over there is Leon Li—and the King of Knox too! Are those two crazy? Coming to our underground race?”

“Hah, two clueless brats. We’ll teach them a lesson on the track.”

“Say, if I smash Leon Li until he’s crippled, does that mean I’ve got the strength of the RRC rookie ace? Hahahaha!”

“Then if I send Derek Su flying, does that mean I can replace the King of Knox?”

Manic whispers from several racers drifted through the air.

Purple Lightning pressed her lips together and lowered her head slightly.

A barely noticeable cold glint flashed through her dark-purple eyes.

“A bunch of… trash.”

...

There were over forty competitors in total.

By the time it was Derek Su’s and Leon Li’s turn to start, more than a minute had already passed.

The black market boss waddled over, his plump body swaying as he raised a sign between Stella and Snowpeak.

“Countdown!”

He lifted the sign.

Through their windows, Stella and Snowpeak locked eyes, sparks practically flying.

Both engines erupted at the same time with violent roars.

Clearly, Leon Li had already mastered launch control.

“Three, two, one! Go!”

Boom—!

The boss didn’t dare move an inch. All he felt were two fierce gusts blasting past him from either side, nearly knocking his two-hundred-plus-pound body flat on the ground.

“As expected of pros,” the black market boss exhaled—then suddenly felt a chill below the waist.

He looked down in horror. The remains of his dress pants lay limply on the ground. His Kuromi-print boxers were his final line of defense. The trousers had been scorched through, obviously ignited by the sudden burst of heat when the two Mecha Girls launched.

“Holy mother—!” The fat boss broke into a cold sweat.

Grabbing the tattered remains, he hurried off to a nearby van to change his pants.

...

On the track, the clash between Stella and Snowpeak was already underway.

When a true expert makes a move, you know instantly. The moment launch control triggered, Derek Su knew Leon Li was a genius.

Although his timing during the launch still had minor flaws, it was already on par with eighty percent of the professional racers from Derek Su’s past life.

In comparison, Laiya An had seemed noticeably more immature.

The two cars started at nearly the same speed, but as time went on, Stella—despite having no modules installed and boasting an Acceleration of 90—quickly pulled ahead of Snowpeak. Leon Li, however, remained completely calm, keeping Snowpeak steadily tucked into Stella’s slipstream.

Derek Su glanced at Snowpeak through the rearview mirror.

Her stats instinctively surfaced in his mind.

【Drift: 61】
【Acceleration: 88】
【Cornering: 61】
【Boost Charge: 61】
【Stability: 61】
【Impact Resistance: 91】
【Endurance: 91】

It was hard to imagine that Snowpeak, with her compact appearance, possessed such a brutally sturdy chassis.

Compared to Stella’s rounded nose and streamlined body, Snowpeak’s front end was sharp and angular, her entire frame aggressively boxy—bearing a striking resemblance to the Camaro from Derek Su’s past life.

Yet her acceleration clearly marked her as a speed-type Mecha Girl.

But what was up with that Endurance and Impact Resistance?!

Stella’s Impact Resistance of 80 had already let her crash from start to finish in her debut race with nothing more than superficial damage.

An Impact Resistance of 91…

Did that mean Snowpeak could ram straight into a cliff, kill the driver inside from the shock, and still come out without a scratch?

The corners in a road race weren’t particularly difficult, so both Derek Su and Stella were relatively relaxed.

Derek Su firmly held his racing line, giving Leon Li no opportunity to overtake. As the corner approached, he was just considering a light tap on the brakes when he realized Snowpeak behind him had no intention of slowing down at all.

Oh?

Was he planning to delay his braking point as well?

That wasn’t something a driver who had just learned drifting should be doing.

Derek Su calculated the optimal braking point and pulled the handbrake to initiate the turn. But behind him, Leon Li still didn’t brake. Only after Derek Su had already begun drifting with Stella did Leon Li finally react and yank the handbrake.

As a result, Snowpeak—entering the corner at a higher speed—charged straight in, forcefully closing the gap, like trying to cut lanes where there was no space.

Just as Stella’s and Snowpeak’s tires were about to touch and the two cars were on the verge of colliding—

Derek Su managed to guide Stella smoothly out of the turn, though a layer of cold sweat had already formed on his back.

He finally understood what Leon Li was doing.

That bastard was relying on Snowpeak’s Impact Resistance to bully him through the corners.

Whenever Derek Su braked, Leon Li would brake later and slam Snowpeak straight into him.

With inferior Impact Resistance, Stella would inevitably be knocked off her line.

But if Derek Su avoided the collision, his only option was to yield the corner.

“This is basically gangster behavior,” Derek Su muttered with a wry laugh.

That said, Leon Li’s method was undeniably disgusting—and effective.

But it only worked in road races with wide right-angle turns or gentle curves.

In rally races with consecutive hairpins, if Leon Li dared to delay his braking like that, Snowpeak would lose control on the spot.

The next few corners proved Derek Su’s judgment correct.

Leon Li repeatedly pressured him with Snowpeak. Once, the two Mecha Girls nearly pressed together. In the end, Derek Su simply gave up fighting for the corner and let Leon Li go ahead.

“Master! I’m so mad! Why didn’t you crash into those two rotten eggs?!” Stella gnashed her teeth.

She wasn’t stupid—she had already figured out Leon Li and Snowpeak’s shameless strategy. Several times, she’d wanted to ram Snowpeak head-on and show those two rotten eggs the power of the mighty Crash King, but Derek Su had firmly stopped her every time.

“Wasn’t I worried you’d get hurt?” Derek Su said with a laugh, patting Stella’s back to calm her down.

He knew she felt wronged, but there was no need to fight Snowpeak in the corners. If you couldn’t win, forcing it would only hurt yourself.

“I won’t get hurt! The Crash King never admits defeat!!”

Stella threw her head back and roared like an enraged dragon, venting her frustration.

Three pineapples lay in front of her, all smashed open during her tantrum.

Now she clenched a pineapple segment between her teeth, her expression vicious.

Compared to Stella, Derek Su—who had spent years cultivating composure in his past life—remained much calmer. Exposing weaknesses in an underground race wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, and he had already thought of ways to deal with Snowpeak.

Whether at the Silverstone Circuit or Panlong Mountain Circuit, if he ran into Leon Li and Snowpeak, he could use consecutive hairpin turns to shake them off. Or he could dump all 49 MP points into Acceleration—once Stella had an absolute speed advantage, what could Snowpeak do no matter how hard she could crash?

Alternatively, he could allocate MP points into Stability.

Once Stella’s Stability reached a certain level, the Sovereign Engine could be activated—an ultimate trump card he had no intention of revealing before the provincial circuit.

Watching Stella trembling with anger ahead of him, Derek Su narrowed his eyes, lightly tapping the control lever with his fingers.

Stella had won too many times, and her mindset wasn’t steady enough.

That was understandable. After all, Stella was still a newly awakened Mecha Girl—a blank slate. She was hardworking and talented, and repeated victories naturally bred pride. Letting her tail stick up a little was normal. But as her driver, it was his responsibility to rein her in when necessary.

Right now, Stella’s edge needed to be dulled a bit.

Leon Li and Snowpeak had come to probe him and Stella. Not only would they fail to uncover his bottom line, he would use them as Stella’s whetstone.

Derek Su chuckled softly.

This ginger… really is spicier with age.