"We're rich! We're rich! Oh, yeah!"
Stella hopped along behind Shane Summers, clutching two stacks of cash.
"It's just 20,000 yuan," Shane said helplessly. "Look at you, acting like that's a fortune!"
"20,000 yuan is a lot!" Stella blinked her big eyes. "Master, do you know how much my auction price was?"
"How much?"
"5,000 yuan."
Shane: "…"
Five thousand yuan was the price of a low-end machine girl.
No wonder a small-time club like Apex could afford Stella.
By his conservative estimate, if Stella had no flaws, her price would be at least a thousand times higher.
"If this money was all for you, what would you buy?"
"For me?" Stella tapped her chin, her eyes gleaming with cunning. "I'd buy some awesome modules, oh, and a racing suit for Master, plus tons of yummy food, and save the rest in a little piggy bank, hehe…"
Stella counted on her fingers, planning meticulously.
Shane glanced at his beach shorts—definitely not racer material.
But the money in Stella's hands was 20,000, not 200,000. In the racing world, it was a drop in the bucket.
"Let's check out the module shop first."
"Oh, yeah! Modules!" Stella clenched her fists, her face brimming with excitement. "Is Master buying me a module? I'm the happiest machine girl in the world!"
Shane rubbed his nose. From what he recalled, modules were pretty pricey.
Better not make promises and risk disappointing the kid later.
…
The module shop was on Jiang City's commercial street.
When Shane and Stella arrived, the store was already bustling with machine girls and racers picking out modules.
With the Nosk Rally approaching, the module market was booming.
Modules came in many types, mainly six: engine, steering, nitro, endurance, structural, and special. Modules were like equipment for machine girls, boosting specific attributes. Common grades were white, green, blue, purple, gold, and diamond, with higher grades being rarer and pricier.
"Wow!!!"
Right as they entered, Stella's gaze locked onto a purple-grade module.
Jiang City's module shops didn't carry gold-grade modules, and diamond ones were unheard of. Purple-grade modules were scarce, with only five displayed in the counter.
The module Stella eyed was called [Azure Storm], a steering module.
Its description promised a moderate boost to cornering ability, with a slight decrease in stability and acceleration.
The price tag, with its string of zeros, made Shane's scalp tingle.
"Master, I feel like this module would massively improve my cornering!"
Stella pressed her face against the glass, eyes sparkling.
Shane thought, No kidding it'd improve a lot—it's 850,000 yuan!
The money he and Stella had didn't even cover a fraction.
The module was no bigger than a baby's fist. Shane couldn't fathom how something so small could cost 850,000?!
As his gaze settled on [Azure Storm], a virtual panel popped up.
[Cornering: +20]
[Acceleration: -13]
[Stability: -8]
[Collision Resistance: -2]
[Boost: +3]
Clearly, these were the detailed stats for [Azure Storm].
"No wonder it's purple-grade. A +20 to cornering—that's a lifesaver for machine girls with bad turning!"
Shane was tempted by the module's power, but he couldn't afford it.
"Master, we can't buy this one…" Stella had seen the price too, her voice fading as she stared at her toes. But she quickly perked up, sticking out her tongue with a goofy grin. "Master, I'll race hard and earn tons of money. Then we can buy whatever we want!"
She scanned the shop for other options.
But none of the modules seemed within their 20,000-yuan budget.
The white-grade modules were cheap, but their downsides were brutal.
Take the white-grade [White Owl] module—it slightly boosted cornering but massively slashed endurance. Who could deal with that?
Shane couldn't stand seeing his machine girl look so dejected. With a mysterious grin, he said, "Stella, I've got a way to get that module."
"What way?" Stella leaned in, eyes wide with anticipation.
"Ever heard of investment?" Shane smirked slyly. "If we show the shop boss our potential, he might invest in us, letting us get that module for free!"
Stella's eyes narrowed. "Oh, yeah! No wonder you're Master—such a genius idea!"
Shane: "Of course, back in the day—"
"Uh, Master, what's investment mean?"
Shane: "…"
He gave Stella a quick rundown to make her understand investment.
"Master, are you sure the boss won't just kick us out?" Stella asked, a bit worried.
"No way! Who are we?" Shane pointed at himself, then Stella. "One's the future's greatest racer, and the other's the future's greatest racer's… machine girl. The boss'll probably hand over the whole shop!"
Truth be told, he wasn't confident—just wanted to try.
In his past life, investors came to him. Now, with no status, Stella's high-end machine girl vibe might just sway things.
"Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!"
Stella rubbed her chin, convinced.
So, the two marched boldly to the module shop boss.
Five minutes later—
They were "escorted" out of the shop.
"Get lost if you're broke—don't waste my time!" The shop boss glared at Shane and Stella, his face cold with impatience. "Trying to scam free modules? Nosk's guaranteed first? If you take first at Nosk, I'll eat shit!"
"Boss, think it over!" Shane squinted. "Cheating people's bad~ Miss this chance, and there's no second shop!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't invest, fine, but no need to be so rude!" Stella pouted, shooting an indignant glance at the boss's retreating back.
She grabbed Shane's hand, saying sweetly, "Master, only weak machine girls need modules. Together, we're strong enough without them. We'll never come back to this shop!"
"But your cornering is pretty weak…"
Stella froze, staring at Shane, tilting her head as steam rose from her scalp.
Nearby racers and machine girls gawked, dumbfounded.
"Whoa—! That's a strategy?!"
"Kids these days, they'll try anything."
"Hehe, if he pulls off that investment, I'll sweet-talk the boss too~"
Shane dragged Stella away. Thirty years east, thirty years west, ahem… He'd remember this module shop.
The tides would turn. Once he won Nosk, this boss would beg him for endorsements. Then they'd see who's boss and who's begging.
"Stella, forget modules. We'll train hard today—another training race tomorrow!"
"Got it, Master!" Stella snapped out of her crash, clenching her fists and waving them energetically. "Fighting! Fighting!!"
…
Not long after Shane and Stella left.
A short figure entered the module shop.
"Boss, how much for this one?"
The person pointed at a blue-grade module.
The module, named [Hurricane], slightly boosted cornering and boost but slightly lowered acceleration, stability, and collision resistance.
"300,000," the boss snapped, still fuming, not even looking up.
The person pursed their lips. "Can you lower it? It didn't used to cost this much…"
"Not a yuan less. Times have changed—more racers, not enough supply, so prices go up!"
"Can I return it if I don't use it?"
"As long as the packaging's intact, return it anytime. This is the only blue-grade steering module—don't want it, plenty others will!"
"Fine, I'll take it."
The person didn't haggle further, paid, wrapped the [Hurricane] module in cloth, tucked it close, glanced at the racing footage on the shop's TV, and left the module shop.