"Chloe Qin, what exactly are you trying to pull?!"
Purple Lightning didn't even glance at the contract on the table. She glared at the woman in front of her, who now seemed strangely unfamiliar.
"You were the one who insisted on bringing me back. You told me you'd treat me well, that we'd work hard together and chase glory on the racetrack. Then you were the one who kicked me aside. And now it's still you, coming back and begging to renew the contract? Your starting Mecha Girl? What do you take me for?"
She raised her head.
Beneath her silver-gray bangs, those violet eyes were filled with killing intent.
"I'm Purple Lightning. I'm a Mecha Girl. I'm not some dog you can throw away whenever you want and call back whenever it suits you!"
"Don't get so emotional." Chloe Qin calmly took a sip of coffee. "I know you've already found another option. Derek Su, right? You've been in contact with him. He invited you to be his secondary Mecha Girl?"
Purple Lightning's expression changed instantly.
She glared viciously at Chloe Qin, her violet eyes blazing with hostility. Her body lowered instinctively, like an enraged leopard ready to strike.
"What are you trying to do?"
"Nothing. That's your freedom," Chloe Qin said lightly. "But you should face reality. Derek Su isn't the driver who only had Stella anymore. Now he's not just a club owner, he also has Imperial Scale and Tunbao. Both of them far outperform you. Imperial Scale is even a top-tier Mecha Girl."
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"You don't seriously think there's still a place for you beside him, do you? Compared to Imperial Scale and Tunbao, what advantage do you have? Imperial Scale only asked for thirty million, and even that was an IOU. Tunbao didn't even ask for a single cent. Why would such a popular driver need someone like you?"
Purple Lightning froze.
She lowered her head and bit her lip.
The light in the café cast a shadow across her bangs.
Her hands rested on her knees, trembling slightly.
She had gone to see the Stella Club.
Standing outside the wall.
The club wasn't particularly large, nowhere near the scale of BSC. But inside, the Mecha Girls were always together in pairs. They went grocery shopping together, trained together, laughing and chatting the whole time…
It felt like a home.
Every time she passed by the Stella Club,
she would think—
If only she could be one of them.
Her debt was almost paid off.
Two months. At most two months!
By then she could walk into the Stella Club and say to Derek Su:
"Hello. I'd like to apply…"
"You don't seriously think there's still a place for you beside him, do you?"
Chloe Qin's words stabbed into her heart like a spike.
Derek Su already had Stella, Imperial Scale, and Tunbao.
It seemed he no longer needed another secondary Mecha Girl.
And compared to Imperial Scale and Tunbao, she truly had no advantage.
From Purple Lightning's expression, Chloe Qin could tell the words had hit their mark.
She pushed the contract closer again.
"I'm being very sincere. If you don't trust my words, you can trust the contract in black and white. As a Mecha Girl, our purpose is the racetrack and glory. Right now, our goals are the same."
"I only want victory."
"I want to win."
Purple Lightning stayed silent for a long time.
She picked up the contract and read it for a while.
Finally, she asked Chloe Qin for a pen and wrote four bold characters across it.
...
...
Outside the café.
Purple Lightning walked along the wall in the shadows, hands in her pockets.
She wandered aimlessly through the city.
Traffic flowed endlessly, and pedestrians streamed past in an unbroken tide. Even though she was standing in the middle of it all, she felt completely detached from the world.
So cold…
Under the sunlight, she tightened her coat around herself.
After wandering for a while, she unknowingly arrived at the Stella Club.
Through the wall, she heard laughter and cheerful chatter.
She pressed herself against the wall and peeked through the gaps in the railing.
The tallest one was Imperial Scale.
The one with pink hair was Tunbao.
And the shortest one, with beautiful snow-white hair that made her look like an elf from a fairy tale—that was Stella.
She had spoken with Stella fewer than three times.
She had never exchanged a single word with Imperial Scale or Tunbao.
Yet she knew a lot about them.
She watched their races carefully and studied their profiles in detail.
Stella had a cheerful personality and loved to talk. Getting along with her was the easiest thing in the world—just answer her questions honestly and a friendship would form naturally.
Imperial Scale had a cold personality. Around her, it was best to speak carefully, avoid jokes, and remain serious.
As for Tunbao, she had a fiery temper but was straightforward. With her, you couldn't beat around the bush. You had to be direct and casual.
Derek Su…
He was the one she wanted to understand the most.
To her, that man was mysterious and powerful. Yet he lacked the arrogance typical of genius drivers.
He always carried himself calmly.
He treated every Mecha Girl around him kindly.
And even though he was a male driver, he didn't have any of those strange thoughts toward Mecha Girls.
She really liked drivers like Derek Su.
She admired his pure dedication to racing and the racetrack.
The more she learned about him, the more she felt she didn't deserve to stand beside him.
The more she learned, the more mysterious he seemed.
After those two invitations, she had believed Derek Su needed her.
Even though she didn't know what he needed her for.
Now she wasn't so sure anymore.
Maybe accepting Chloe Qin's offer really was the better choice.
Purple Lightning laughed at herself and kicked a small stone on the road.
She pressed against the wall like a stray cat.
Then continued walking forward through the city's shadows.
Behind her, the laughter and chatter slowly faded away.
Along with it, the colors of the world seemed to dim.
...
In the backyard of the Stella Club.
Stella gritted her teeth and dragged ten truck tires all the way to the fence.
Then she suddenly noticed a lonely figure outside the wall.
"Oh? Is that Purple Lightning?"
Stella blinked her big eyes.
Now that they had a club, could they recruit Purple Lightning? It would be like signing her to the club first, and it wouldn't interfere with her underground races.
"Stella! Slacking off, huh?! Pineapple King, is this all you've got?!"
Tunbao's sarcastic voice suddenly came from behind.
Stella froze. Her cheeks puffed out and instantly flushed red.
"Who's slacking off? You're the one slacking! What's so impressive about being a Pineapple Guard? If you've got the guts, try dragging ten tires too!"
"Oh wow~ The Pineapple King wants to compete with the Pineapple Guard? That's really something~"
Tunbao had five truck tires tied around her waist. Her pretty face was flushed red, and she was panting heavily, but that didn't stop her from continuing her mockery.
"Why don't you look at Big Sis Imperial Scale? Huh? She's dragging fifty truck tires!"
Nearby, Imperial Scale ran past without changing her expression.
Each step hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Behind her dragged a basket made of tires, piled high with truck tires like a small mountain.
Stella was furious, throwing her head back and howling:
"Awoo! Master, I want to drag fifty tires too! You can't play favorites!!"
She dragged her tires and ran back.
But she quietly remembered the matter about Purple Lightning.
...
Inside the café.
Chloe Qin picked up the contract from the table, looking very pleased.
Experience really did make the difference. When dealing with Mecha Girls, attacking their emotions worked best.
But when she flipped to the last page of the contract—
She saw four large characters written there.
—Go fuck yourself.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser