Chapter 92: I’m Starting Now

It was Stella’s heartfelt gift—and supposedly offered even better protection than a racing helmet.
There was nothing to hesitate about. He accepted it.

Reciprocity mattered, so Derek Su took out the gift he’d prepared for Stella as well.

After being thrown into chaos by the two matrons, his head had finally cooled. And once it did, he suddenly realized that, as a gift for a girl, what he’d prepared was… honestly a bit hard to present. Still, he was certain Stella would like it. That certainty and embarrassment twisted together, leaving him thoroughly conflicted.

When he set the gift box on the table, he even held his breath.

If Stella showed even the slightest hint of disappointment later, his resolve would shatter on the spot.

After all, she’d put in so much effort—hiring professionals, cooking fish soup, even making him a helmet.

“Master prepared a gift for me too? I’m so excited!”

Stella rubbed her hands together eagerly, her pretty face flushed—whether from the hot spring steam or sheer shyness, it was hard to tell.

She opened the box.

Inside were twelve perfectly arranged sweet-and-sour fish heads, rich in color, aroma, and presentation, all facing her.

Steam was still rising from them—they had clearly been cooked and brought over immediately.

Each fish head was impressively large. Beneath them were neatly cubed pieces of belly meat, then rows of fish fillets. Any area that might have contained even a few small bones had been meticulously cleaned. She could almost picture Derek Su sweating in the courtyard, painstakingly picking out fish bones one by one.

Most girls would probably be disappointed by a gift like this.

But Stella wasn’t most girls.

From this dish, she felt Derek Su’s sincerity in full.

“Master, I really like this!”
Her eyes lit up instantly, sparkling as she looked at him. “Thank you!”

She threw herself into his arms and rubbed against him like a puppy.

Before Derek Su could fully savor the warmth of the moment, Stella had already turned back to the table, staring at the fish heads and swallowing hard.

She hadn’t felt especially hungry earlier, but the instant she saw them, her stomach let out a loud growl.

“This dish is called Stargazy Pie,” Derek Su said with a grin.

In Great Britain, it was infamous as a piece of culinary darkness. But after his own modifications, while it still looked a bit terrifying, the taste was absolutely solid. More importantly, he’d removed almost every single bone, and the portion was definitely enough to let Stella eat her fill.

In his previous life, he liked experimenting with cooking when he had nothing to do.

Aside from racing, this was probably the only thing he had any real talent for.

He handed her the chopsticks. Stella eagerly picked up a piece of fish belly, just about to put it in her mouth—then suddenly turned her wrist and held it out toward Derek Su.

“Ah~ Master eats first!”

“What, are you afraid I poisoned it?”

“Of course not!”
Stella puffed out her cheeks and stomped her foot. “This is Master’s hard work. Even if it’s a gift for me, Master should enjoy it first! How could you doubt me like that? If you keep this up, I won’t help you massage later, hmph!”

“You were going to massage me later?”

Derek Su’s mouth fell open, his thoughts immediately drifting.

Stella turned her face away shyly, pouting.
“W-what? Is that not allowed? Lumina said drivers often suffer from lower-back strain and need proper relaxation. And since you disliked those two aunties, then of course it has to be me, your Mecha Girl.”

“That’s perfectly fine. Completely fine!”
Derek Su was ecstatic inside.

“Come on, open your mouth. Ah~”

Derek Su obediently opened up and happily accepted Stella’s feeding.

Both of them had been busy all day and barely eaten. The sweet-and-sour flavor instantly awakened their appetites. Sitting together at the table, drinking fish soup, trading bites back and forth, they quickly polished off both Stargazy Pie and the soup.

Afterward, Stella even downed two bottles of high-energy nutrient solution. Then she sprawled out by the hot spring, completely unconcerned about whether she was exposed, hands resting on her belly as she sighed contentedly.

“Oof… I’m so full…”

“Eating like this won’t make me gain weight, right?”

How could a Mecha Girl gain weight?

Derek Su hurriedly shifted his gaze away from her flat stomach. Her pale thighs and arms were fully exposed, and the wet one-piece swimsuit clung tightly to her body, outlining a cute, tempting little navel that almost seemed to smile at him.

He silently counted to ten in his head, trying to calm himself—but his thoughts refused to settle.

You have to push forward.
You have to attack.
Didn’t Mr. Xavier say it himself?

Sincerity.

Derek Su silently encouraged himself.

Then he took out today’s “sincerity tool” from the other gift box—a myofascial massage gun.

This was what he’d bought from the fitness equipment wholesaler, meant specifically for muscle relaxation and massage. It also happened to be the perfect fig leaf to cover today’s questionable intentions.

Stella might be pure and innocent.

But he was still a man.

What was the difference between a man with no lust and a saint?

Attack. Attack.

The devil in his heart had already sounded the charge.

Derek Su took out the massage gun and sat cross-legged beside Stella, putting on a serious expression.

“Stella, I heard that Mr. Xavier often massages Lumina’s legs to help her relax. You work so hard on the track—fatigue definitely builds up. This is a massage tool, and I—”

He took a deep breath, hands trembling slightly as he lifted Stella’s calf and carefully placed it on his own thigh.

In that instant, both of them shuddered.

Stella’s pupils shrank sharply. Her body tensed as a blush surged up her neck, swept across her cheeks, captured her ears and earlobes, and continued upward—finally turning into a wisp of steam that blended with the hot spring mist.

“M-M-Master…”

“I—I’ll help you massage a bit!”

Before Stella could react, he switched the massage gun on. The head began to buzz softly with vibration.

Stella covered her burning-red face, breathing carefully with every inhale.
All she could hear was the violent pounding of her AI core.

At first, she was extremely tense. Every pore felt open, her nerves stretched to the limit, all her attention locked onto Derek Su’s warm hand. She could clearly feel every movement.

But as time passed, she gradually relaxed. The comfortable sensation spreading through her calf made her feel a little drowsy.

To keep herself awake, she lowered her hand and secretly glanced at Derek Su’s profile.

A Mecha Girl's self-recovery ability was indeed powerful—but that didn’t mean the massage gun was useless.

During continuous high-intensity races, recovery could lag behind consumption. In those cases, using a massage gun on a Mecha Girl's leg muscles could relieve fatigue and even temporarily boost endurance and acceleration, even without nutrient solution.

Derek Su glanced at Stella out of the corner of his eye.

She looked like she was slightly drunk—
her cheeks flushed, her eyes bright.

“…How does it feel?”

“Mm… it’s… pretty comfortable…”

As they spoke, the awkward tension eased a little.

Derek Su watched as Stella’s once-tense toes slowly relaxed. Her five rounded, glossy toes spread out like soft pink cat paws.

Suddenly, he understood why men had so many strange preferences.

Turns out… he had his own.

“That night, if Master hadn’t rushed into the warehouse, I would’ve extracted my AI core.”

“Yeah. That was reckless. Why did you do that?”

“Because I hadn’t met the right person yet.”
Stella smiled with narrowed eyes. “Now I have.”

Her smile was so sweet it made one dizzy.

A faint fragrance lingered at his nose. He couldn’t name it, but Stella’s room always smelled like this.

Derek Su only glanced once before hurriedly lowering his head.

Once they started talking, they realized all the topics they’d prepared during the day were pointless.

Because naturally, they had endless things to talk about.

From the danger of their first drift at the intersection, to the tears of joy after their first successful corner; from the excitement of winning their first training race, to the satisfaction of dealing with Kyle Zhang and Jade-786 at the Knox Rally; from the honor and pride of their first official championship victory…

They had supported each other every step of the way. Through race after race, Derek Su gradually integrated into this world, learning the true difference between Mecha Girls and machines. His once arrogant, distant outlook had slowly transformed into caution and sincerity.

And Stella, through constant training and competition, continued to surpass herself and prove her worth.

So many “firsts” had fused into an unbreakable bond, tightly binding the two together.

And there was still a long road ahead of them.

...

“Master, let me massage you now!”

Stella drew her long legs back and sat up, her silvery hair cascading down her slender figure.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her moist eyes reflecting Derek Su’s dumbfounded expression.

Heart-to-heart conversations had a way of shortening distance without anyone noticing.

Before they realized it, the youthful awkwardness between them had vanished.

They were no longer just one kind of acquaintance—but another.

“O-oh… okay.”
Derek Su froze for a moment.

He’d already touched her legs, seen what he shouldn’t have, taken advantage where he could, and grown closer to Stella. Honestly, he was already quite satisfied.

By the time he came back to his senses, Stella had already pressed him down onto the wooden bed.

“Stella, do you know massage techniques?”

“Mm… before Master arrived, I chatted a bit with those two aunties.”

Stella sat naturally on Derek Su’s back. She was light, and her body was soft, so it barely put any pressure on him—if anything, it felt like a novel experience.

At the very least, Derek Su was enjoying it.

His expression said it all.

Until Stella’s hands landed on his shoulders.

“Master, I’m starting now~”

Her soft hands pressed down slightly.

Crack!

“AAARGH——!!!!!!!!!!”