Blazewood, inside the garage of the Sons of Calydon.
Half an hour had already passed. The parts had been washed and polished, finally shedding their gray-black grime to reveal the true color of their materials.
Correspondingly, the gray-black grime didn't vanish—it simply transferred in part onto Burnice's face.
Like a Cinderella out of a fairy tale, yet with that optimistic smile as she gazed at the gleaming parts, she looked purely beautiful.
Sol silently sighed. Perhaps this is the beauty of labor.
At this moment, the most crucial phase had arrived.
As these parts were assembled together—with a few modifications added—the motorcycles would be reborn from the ashes.
"Ready? I'm going to start assembling."
Sol looked toward Burnice and asked.
"Ready! I will definitely complete the mission!"
Burnice snapped back to her senses, her dust-smudged youthful face blooming into a smile—adorably so.
Sol chuckled and officially began assembling.
Screwdriver, pliers, snap-wrench, socket-wrench—the tools in his hands changed endlessly.
And Burnice followed Sol's instructions, handing him part after part.
Sol's hands fluttered like dancing butterflies, almost leaving afterimages—yet every motion was steady and precise.
Each component was installed with flawless accuracy; not even a single screw's rotation count was off.
Burnice was only handing out parts, yet she was already working nonstop, her mind completely overwhelmed, able only to mechanically follow Sol's requests.
Still, in the midst of her frantic busyness, she stole moments to admire Sol working. He really was handsome—especially when he was so focused.
Another half hour later, Sol finally stopped, while Burnice, out of habit, still handed him a screw.
"Alright, it's done."
Sol gazed at the four newly complete motorcycles, deeply satisfied with his creation.
Although the outer shells were unchanged, their innards had been completely reborn—fully upgraded.
"Ah? It's finished?"
Burnice snapped fully awake, speaking in a dazed tone.
She glanced again at the four engines still sitting on the workbench, along with the other components that could form a whole machine. She couldn't help feeling confused.
With so many unused parts left… how were the bikes already assembled?
She couldn't help asking Sol, "Sol, I don't think the engines were installed?"
"They're already installed—just not yours. I swapped in new ones."
Sol twisted the throttle of one motorcycle, and a low growl erupted—deep and beautiful.
"New engines?"
Burnice dug through her memories, finally recalling that she had vaguely seen Sol installing a few engines that looked new and different.
Her expression turned blank as she muttered, "Oh… right… I guess that's what happened."
Her mind was muddled; she no longer knew where the four engines came from, or when they were installed.
"Alright, come try it."
Sol stepped aside, giving Burnice room.
According to Caesar's requirements, he only needed to tune things a little—nothing too dramatic.
He followed the instruction and really did only tune a little.
The twin-cylinder air-cooled engine was replaced with a four-cylinder water-cooled one—brought into existence via his [Reality Marble]—directly upgrading the machine by a whole generation.
The speed increased dramatically, and the handling became slightly more demanding. The precision required for modification and component alignment became higher as well.
Of course, for Sol, modification technique wasn't an issue at all.
He also had to add many more parts; fortunately, these four motorcycles originally had lots of redundant DIY modifications, and after removing them, the internal space was more than enough.
Naturally, this also meant the four old engines and a number of parts went unused.
"Then I'll give it a try."
Burnice nodded and stepped before her own motorcycle.
She reached out to touch it—feeling, as if through her fingertips, a new life beating underneath. The soul of the machine was rejoicing.
The machine spirit rejoices!
First she added oil, then—guided by Sol—filled the newly added radiator with coolant. She also fetched a bucket of high-quality diesel from the garage and poured it in.
Once everything was completed, Burnice solemnly swung a leg over and focused her mind before twisting the throttle.
VROOOM!
VROOOM!
The low and resonant roar rose, without a hint of impurities.
A puff of black smoke sprayed from the exhaust, the scent of burning diesel rich and authentic.
"Whoo-hoo! What a gorgeous motorcycle!"
Burnice couldn't help but cheer as she twisted the throttle and shot out of the garage.
A surge of wind pressure slammed into her; her jacket billowed violently in the wind.
She narrowed her eyes, feeling out the motorcycle's state.
The speed was vastly greater than before, and there were no strange noises. It was stable throughout the ride.
Truly amazing!
After circling the area around the garage, Burnice returned and slowly parked the motorcycle in front of Sol.
"Well?"
Sol asked with absolute confidence.
"Fantastic—compared to the old motorcycle it's a whole level higher. It's been reborn!"
Burnice raised both hands high, her expression exaggerated yet sincere in praise.
Still caught in her excitement, she suddenly threw her arms around Sol and exclaimed happily, "Thank you so much! With these modified motorcycles, we'll definitely be champions!"
"Mhm, as long as you're satisfied."
Sol narrowed his eyes pleasantly.
What a thoughtful girl!
Not only did she praise him with words—she wasn't stingy with physical gratitude either.
Burnice released Sol, smiling brightly. "I didn't expect we'd finish our task in just two hours! We have to tell Caesar this good news later."
Her eyes twinkled as she looked at Sol. "But they'll probably need more time. So for now—let's go grab a fuel-drink and relax a bit!"
"As I said earlier—I'll treat you to Burnice's special mix, the best in the Outer Ring!"
"Sure, let's take a break."
Sol nodded, then smiled and pointed at Burnice's face. "But before we go drink fuel-mix, you should wash your face first. You look cute like this, but I'm sure you'd prefer being a little clean when we head out."
"Eh?"
Burnice froze, then checked her reflection in the motorcycle's rear-view mirror.
She finally realized she had turned into a soot-smudged little kitten, her face covered in dark oily streaks.
Turning her head, she immediately met Sol's bright, shining eyes.
"I'll go wash up!"
Burnice quickly turned away and rushed toward the water source to clean herself.
Seriously… she had been talking with Sol all this time with that silly dirty face?
Sol had done the most work, yet he stayed clean and handsome, while she—who only helped—ended up with the messy face.
What kind of situation was that!
The normally cheerful and open golden-haired girl found herself rare and uncharacteristically shy.