Chapter 96: Hide-and-Seek
Blindfolded mosquito hunting?
Are you kidding me?
Martial arts?
Is speed really the ultimate weapon in all martial arts?
A sudden chill ran down Derek Su’s back.
Only then did he realize that he’d gone from the physical condition of a standard professional racer to something approaching a half-marathon runner.
Wasn’t that improvement way too fast?
Even factoring in his relentless training, Stella’s companionship, and good food and rest, it still shouldn’t have happened this quickly.
Unless… there was something off about this world.
The thought left Derek Su both excited and vaguely uneasy.
He stared at Zane suspiciously and cautiously tested the waters.
“Zane, be straight with me. You don’t happen to know some heaven-descending palm technique, do you? The kind that slams down and leaves a few hundred square meters crushed into the ground in one strike?”
Zane tilted his head, looking at him like he was crazy.
“How could something like that exist? That’d be the end of the world. You want the power of a Mecha Girl? Dream on. Ordinary people top out at running fast. As for Techmasters, I’ve seen one punch a small dent into a wall—that’s about it. Their neural reflexes are just insanely sharp. Catching a mosquito blindfolded? If you’ve got hands, you can do it.”
Derek Su gave an awkward laugh, not sure how to feel.
Relieved, maybe… but also a little disappointed. He’d thought he might have a shot at becoming some kind of martial arts master.
Still, being able to punch dents into walls like a Techmaster didn’t sound bad either.
If he reached that level, then even if Stella used fifty percent of her strength, she probably wouldn’t crush his shoulder, right?
He subconsciously glanced at her.
The girl was happily licking a candied hawthorn skewer, making soft slurp slurp sounds. When she noticed him looking, she blinked at him in question.
For future happi—
Ahem.
“Alright, I’ll train!” Derek Su clenched his fists, his fighting spirit surging. “Blindfolded mosquito hunting? Easy!”
He was now certain this world was fundamentally different from his old one.
It wasn’t just the existence of Mecha Girls. Maybe people here simply improved physically at a faster rate. Ever since arriving and breathing this world’s air, he’d naturally benefited from it.
It felt like breathing in immortal air in a mythical realm—though obviously not that exaggerated.
So with training, catching mosquitoes blindfolded… shouldn’t be that hard, right?
Reality quickly smacked him in the face.
With his eyes open, his reactions were fast. But once blindfolded, all he had left were his hearing and instincts.
Forget mosquitoes—Zane could sway around right next to him and Derek Su still couldn’t grab him.
“This won’t do. Go back to basics and train properly.”
Zane looked utterly unimpressed. Turning around, he had Lingwind bring Stella over and explained to both of them, “To improve efficiency, Derek will look for Stella while blindfolded. Stella, every time you’ll make a sound from five meters away. He’ll rely on sound and feeling to find you. At first, don’t move. Once he can locate you accurately, start moving within a small range. Then a bigger range. Once he passes within five meters, we move up to ten, fifteen, twenty meters.”
“Hey! Zane, isn’t this way too hard?!” Derek Su ripped off his blindfold in protest.
Zane snorted. “What did you expect? You want to increase your chances of becoming a Techmaster without putting in the work?”
“Are you sure this actually increases my chances?!”
“I’m sure!” Zane jutted out his neck stubbornly. “Train exactly like I said. If you still don’t become a Techmaster, I’ll bring my head to you!”
“Fine!” With stakes like that laid down, what else was there to say?
Besides, the training wasn’t pointless. It really would sharpen his senses.
Zane and Lingwind left, giving the empty modification room over to Derek Su and Stella.
“Master, let’s start!”
“OK!”
Stella hopped over to a spot five meters away. Hands behind her back, she called out cheerfully, “Master, I’m right here! Come catch me~”
Derek Su took a deep breath, held his arms out, and slowly walked toward her.
As a professional racer, his sense of perception really was sharp. A normal person would only manage a rough direction and probably drift off course.
But Derek Su approached Stella with surprising accuracy.
The vast hall was quiet, filled only with the sound of their breathing.
As he got closer, Stella grew nervous, her breathing turning slightly uneven.
Which, unfortunately for her, helped him.
He reached out and grabbed.
“Heh heh! Got you!”
His hand closed around something soft and rounded.
A flustered, indignant cry rang out next to his ear.
Derek Su raised an eyebrow. Something was wrong. He instinctively squeezed—springy, full of elasticity.
Whoa—!
That was… definitely something he shouldn’t have touched.
“M-Master! Why aren’t you letting go?! Y-you’re even squeezing?!”
Just from her voice alone, it was obvious how embarrassed Stella was.
Derek Su laughed awkwardly and hurriedly lowered his hand.
Too bad he was wearing a blindfold. If he could see this, it’d be even better.
Face red, Stella clutched her chest and ran back five meters away. Puffing out her cheeks, she shouted angrily, “I’m over here! And listen—no touching random things when you come over!”
Derek Su walked toward her again.
Hands out!
Grab—!
“Yaaah! I told you no touching!”
“Uh, I really didn’t mean to…”
Derek Su rubbed his hands together to prove his innocence.
He decided he wasn’t washing them tonight. He’d fall asleep savoring the scent instead.
“Master! Is your blindfold even on properly?” Stella pulled out the pineapple helmet and flipped it upside down onto Derek Su’s head. Seeing him instantly turn into a giant pineapple king, she burst out laughing. Hands on her hips, she said smugly, “Hmph! Now let’s see how you touch me!”
...
Outside the glass wall, Purple Lightning peeked out from behind a piece of abandoned machinery.
She stared unblinkingly at Derek Su and Stella playing their game of “hide-and-seek” inside.
“They’re… really close,” she murmured, eyes full of envy.
Even back when she and Chloe Qin had been closest, she’d never been treated like that.
Playing together with Master—something like that only happened in dreams.
“If I pay off the penalty… if I join them… could I be like that too?”
As Derek Su and Stella gradually moved closer to the glass wall, Purple Lightning quickly pulled her head back and hid again behind the machine.
She didn’t dare hope for something like that.
Just as Derek Su had said—
As long as she could get on the track, as long as she could fully unleash her abilities, she would already be deeply grateful.
“Purple Lightning! Purple Lightning?!”
An anxious shout came from behind. Purple Lightning turned to see the arena manager.
“Where’d you run off to? I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Are we making money today or not?!”
The manager bent over with his hands on his knees, panting, his face dark with irritation. “What are you still standing there for? The matches are about to start. We’re waiting on you. Three bouts today—you’d better perform well!”
“I’m sorry. I’m coming right now.” Purple Lightning bowed apologetically.
She touched the cracks on her hand, then glanced back at the glass wall one last time.
Inside the Foxfire Club, the lights were bright and warm, heat allowing the plants in the corner to stretch freely with lush greenery.
Outside the glass wall, the night’s cold wind poured in from the Black Market entrance. The air was thick with the stench of engine oil, sweat, and angry shouting.
Like two completely different worlds…
She turned away.
As she walked toward the arena, the gaze beneath Purple Lightning’s bangs was utterly cold.
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