Racing knowledge in this world was incredibly scarce; most people had no idea how many techniques even worked.
At least among the people Derek Su had met—like Kyle Zhang, the boss of the Ascend Club, or those smug racers under him—none of them knew what a launch control was. Even the XC-99, as a mecha girl, had never heard of it. That could only mean one thing: either this world hadn't developed launch control yet, or a similar technique existed but was performed purely through Modules or a mecha girl's natural traits, under a different name.
"Under two seconds to a hundred!" Derek Su sucked in a breath as the scenery blurred away in his field of vision. "Your acceleration is ridiculous!"
The XC-99 kept climbing in speed, shooting past 400 km/h without the slightest intention of stopping.
She could clearly go even faster, but Derek Su was already forced to react.
He'd assumed that with more than 800 meters before the intersection, he'd have at least twenty seconds to respond. In reality, he didn't even get fifteen.
Any more acceleration and taking the turn would flip them for sure.
"Aaaahhh! We're done! We're so screwed!"
XC-99's panicked voice rang through his mind.
Derek Su narrowed his eyes. His mind snapped into an icy calm, as if the world around him had slowed to a crawl.
In his peripheral vision, he caught the red-green traffic light at the intersection. The road was completely empty. Far on the left, a truck lumbered away at a lazy pace. The streetlight shadows twisted into a distorted oil painting. With only two seconds left to react, the XC-99 had already reached the optimal braking point. Most people would have lost their nerve at this speed, but he was the track emperor forged through countless trials.
Dancing on the edge of a blade— the greater the danger, the steadier he became.
"Follow my commands!"
He snapped out the order, wrenching the steering wheel toward the turn while commanding the XC-99 to pull the handbrake.
This step should've been effortless, yet it felt like he was gripping the horns of a rampaging bull instead of a steering wheel. If he wasn't hanging on with everything he had, the beast would toss him out the next second. He clenched down hard, veins bulging on his forehead.
XC-99 was also fighting to keep herself together.
Thanks to Derek Su's judgment, even with the XC-99's terrible steering, she managed to slide sideways just before the vehicle hit the intersection barrier. The tail whipped violently outward. In that instant, Derek Su slammed the accelerator to the floor and counter-steered hard. Under the XC-99's fierce power and grip, the nearly out-of-control frame snapped straight and blasted forward with a roar.
They drove on for a long moment before Derek Su finally came back to himself and pulled the XC-99 over to the curb.
"Honestly, that's the first time I've ever driven that fast."
He opened the door and stepped out, catching his breath. From the recycling yard entrance to the intersection had taken barely fifteen seconds. Then the drift through the turn and the straight-line run afterward—less than a minute. In that minute or so, sweat had already soaked through his back.
Xc-99 folded back from her extended form into her human shape.
She stood before him, looking dazed.
"Just now… I made a ninety-degree turn, right?"
"Yeah." Derek Su nodded.
"I didn't hit any guardrails, did I?"
"Mhm."
Xc-99 slapped her own cheeks—and while doing so, tears suddenly spilled out.
"I didn't hit you," Derek Su stepped back half a step. "You're slapping yourself."
"I… I did it…" she whispered. Tears gathered and fell in streams, her soft sobs swelling into a full, heartbroken wail as she threw herself into Derek Su's arms. "I did it, I really did it… I'm not a killer racer… I… I can take corners too…"
Derek Su had originally kept both hands raised, letting her cling to him.
But seeing her cry so miserably, he instinctively placed a hand on her head and stroked gently.
Her hair was beautiful—silky, moonlight-white—and her skin even paler. She looked young, barely 1.6 meters tall. A girl this perfect might only exist in fantasy worlds in his past life, yet here, she had been born under crushing pressure, branded a "killer racer," even choosing to end her own life for rebirth.
Different worlds had different rules, but Derek Su couldn't help finding the XC-99 pitiful.
All this joy just from taking a turn.
"Master… can I… can I participate in the Knox Rally?"
XC-99 looked up, eyes misty, a little snot bubble clinging to her delicate, pretty face.
In her deep blue eyes, Derek Su saw raw longing.
"Of course you can." He didn't even notice her shift in how she addressed him.
"It's just the Knox Rally. Back in my day, I—uh…"
He'd been about to brag—his wall of trophies, his garage full of luxury cars—when he remembered that knowledge didn't transfer between worlds. Even if he told XC-99 what races he'd won, she wouldn't understand.
"I won't disgrace Master!" XC-99 said, her gaze unwavering, each word firm.
From the moment he guided her through that turn, she had sworn to herself: no matter what happened from now on, she would do everything in her power to protect Derek Su. Whether he still needed her or not, she would follow him without hesitation—unless he sent her back to the foundry.
"I know you won't disgrace me."
Derek Su patted her head. The night wind was getting cold, and he sneezed.
Temperature differences here were huge—40°C by day, dropping to 5°C at night. He had rushed out without a jacket.
"Master, get in the car quickly! Don't get sick!"
XC-99 clasped his hand with her warm little one, pressed close, and suddenly unfolded. The next thing Derek Su knew, he was already seated inside the car.
"Let's head back. We'll try that Cornering again, then start official training tomorrow."
He leaned back comfortably, though his heart wasn't nearly as relaxed.
The truth was, he'd lied earlier. XC-99 couldn't compete in the Knox Rally—not with her horrible steering. He'd exhausted himself just to make a single ninety-degree turn, yet the Knox Rally had fourteen cornerings, each one tighter than the crossroads turn and on narrower lanes. The final section even had consecutive hairpins, less than two hundred meters apart. For his past self, that would've been child's play—but after driving the XC-99, he abandoned that arrogance.
Cars in his former world were dead machines with fixed stats.
But mecha girls here were alive. Driving the XC-99—especially while turning—made him genuinely feel like she was tugging against his control.
And that was just a crossroads turn. On the Knox track, even if he perfected every brake point and nailed every technical detail, he'd still end up dead. The only alternative was to slow down and give up results—but what meaning would that have for him or the XC-99?
"Five days. I have to find some basic training races that suit the XC-99 to earn MP points, and I need to modify her. Otherwise, I'll die in the car at the Knox Rally." Derek Su pondered quietly as he drove. This time he braked earlier and navigated the right-angle intersection turn more smoothly and safely. XC-99's excited cheers rang from the front.
The engine's roar carried them the whole way.
...
"Holy shit, who's speeding around at this hour?"
Kyle Zhang stepped out of the club with Jade-786, and as they passed the Conscience Recycling Yard, they saw the XC-99 streak by like a ghost—then lightning-quick cornering, and gone. Only a long skid mark remained on the pavement.
"W-what kind of car is that?" Kyle Zhang stared, dumbfounded.
It looked familiar somehow, but it was far too fast to recognize.
"And that technique? Don't tell me… a Techmaster??"
He stared at the tire marks in the middle of the road. The sound of that sharp screech echoed in his mind, sending chills up his spine.
He had never seen anything like it—not once in all the recent Knox Rally events he had attended.
Jade-786 was pale as well, staring in the direction the XC-99 disappeared, though even the taillights were long gone.
"It probably wasn't a Mecha Engineer—no psychic energy…" she said blankly. "But Master, if I met a driver and mecha like that in a race, I wouldn't stand a chance."
As unwilling as she was, she accepted the truth.
Forget that gorgeous cornering—just the straight-line speed of that Mecha Girl already left her dozens of streets behind.
"When did Jiangcheng City get a big shot like that?" Kyle Zhang muttered. As a club owner, he knew all the racers and mecha in the surrounding clubs—good or bad. Someone like that definitely wasn't on his radar, and certainly not that ghostly silver mecha.
"Don't worry, Jade-786. Your performance is already great among club racers. With my skills, we can easily get top ten." Seeing her crestfallen, Kyle Zhang quickly took her hand to comfort her. "That mecha and driver weren't Knox level at all. They were probably just passing through, not here for the Knox. And even if they were racing, we'd just let them take first—we'll aim for the next nine spots!"
Jade-786's expression eased slightly.
She suddenly thought of the man who had modified her so well.
"I wonder if Derek Su will really enter the race…"
"Him?" Kyle Zhang wrapped an arm around her waist and scoffed. "Listen—Derek Su is broke and has zero driving technique. No mecha would ever follow him. Even if he somehow got one, it'd be from that recycling yard—cheap and defective. What are those mecha? Rejects. Trash. No matter how he mods them, they're still trash. Trash plus trash—what good would that do him at a race?"
"Master, I was overthinking it," Jade-786 said softly, nodding.
Kyle Zhang eyed her curvy figure and let out a lewd chuckle.
"Come to my place tonight. My house is huge, plenty of beds—roll around however you like~"
"You're the Master. Of course I'll listen."