The fierce struggle ended in an oddly anticlimactic way.
Even Derek Su hadn't expected it.
Stella puffed out her cheeks but still left the rib in her bowl untouched. Whether or not she had fought for this territory herself didn't matter. The important thing was that the territory was now in her hands.
Hmm…
Today could barely count as a draw.
Later she'd open a pineapple for Imperial Scale.
As the empress, she needed to learn how to win people over and treat capable subordinates with courtesy.
Tunbao was even easier to deal with.
As long as she kept giving her novels to read.
This move was called cultural invasion and racial assimilation.
Hehe~
Stella gnawed on the rib Imperial Scale had given her while nodding to herself, plotting happily.
While eating, Derek Su carefully examined each Mecha Girl's attributes.
Absolute Shadow wasn't around today. Apparently she felt the club still lacked a few things, so she had taken the butler team out shopping. Blazing Wind had gone to teach Vanessa the basics of racing. Lingwind had run a training race with Zane that afternoon and taken first place, winning five hundred thousand in prize money and splitting it evenly with the club.
So the only useful attribute references were Tunbao, Imperial Scale, and Stella.
Stella's current base attributes without modules were:
[Drifting: 50]
[Acceleration: 100.4]
[Cornering: 50]
[Boost Charge: 90]
[Stability: 75.1]
[Impact Resistance: 80]
[Endurance: 85.1]
After dragging tires around the track all afternoon in human form,
Acceleration increased by 0.2.
Stability increased by 0.1.
Endurance increased by 0.1.
Now looking at Imperial Scale's base attributes:
[Drifting: 80]
[Acceleration: 75.1]
[Cornering: 80]
[Boost Charge: 0]
[Stability: 99.2]
[Impact Resistance: 99]
[Endurance: 99.2]
Acceleration increased by 0.1.
Stability increased by 0.2.
Endurance increased by 0.2.
Tunbao's attributes were similar:
[Drifting: 79]
[Acceleration: 84.1]
[Cornering: 82]
[Boost Charge: 77]
[Stability: 76.1]
[Impact Resistance: 70]
[Endurance: 81]
Acceleration and Stability increased slightly, but Endurance didn't improve.
That was probably because Tunbao had been slacking off.
Based on her attributes, pulling five tires should have been extremely easy for her. Yet she had acted exhausted the whole time and spent most of the session loafing around.
So running while dragging tires as weighted training mainly improved three attributes.
Acceleration.
Stability.
And Endurance.
The strange thing was that when looking at other Mecha Girls' attributes, these tiny decimal increases never appeared.
Derek Su didn't believe that only his Mecha Girls could improve their stats through training. Most likely the system simply rounded numbers when displaying attributes.
And attributes probably wouldn't keep improving that quickly forever.
It was like building muscle.
At the beginning, growth was rapid. Later, it slowed down more and more.
"If only I could see Stella and the others' growth potential."
Derek Su rested his chin on one hand, watching Imperial Scale and Stella clearing the dishes.
Meanwhile Tunbao, the lazy dog, was already sprawled across the sofa like a salted fish, sleeping with her belly exposed.
The moment he said that, Imperial Scale's attribute panel suddenly rippled.
[Drifting: 80 (10)]
[Acceleration: 75.1 (10)]
[Cornering: 80 (10)]
[Boost Charge: 0]
[Stability: 99.2 (20)]
[Impact Resistance: 99 (30)]
[Endurance: 99.2 (20)]
"Huh—?!"
Derek Su froze and rubbed his eyes.
But it didn't change.
Imperial Scale's panel had indeed changed.
Except for Boost Charge, every attribute now had a mysterious number in parentheses.
What about Stella?
His gaze shifted to Stella, who had already started washing dishes.
[Drifting: 50 (+5)]
[Acceleration: 100.4 (+30)]
[Cornering: 50 (+5)]
[Boost Charge: 90 (+10)]
[Stability: 75.1 (+10)]
[Impact Resistance: 80 (+10)]
[Endurance: 85.1 (+15)]
Stella's panel had changed in a similar way.
And unlike Imperial Scale, her growth emphasis was different.
Stella's main strength lay in Acceleration.
Imperial Scale's focus was Impact Resistance, Stability, and Endurance.
Case solved.
The numbers inside the parentheses were probably the maximum attribute growth Stella and Imperial Scale could gain through training.
From this, it seemed clear that most Mecha Girls had attribute caps below 100.
But certain Mecha Girls—like Imperial Scale—were born with outstanding base stats.
With training, their attributes could exceed 100.
However, so far he had never encountered a Mecha Girl whose stats had already surpassed 100.
Maybe the competition level simply hadn't been high enough yet.
Spreading his attention evenly, Derek Su glanced over at Tunbao again, who was lying on the sofa like a dried fish.
[Drifting: 79 (10)]
[Acceleration: 84.1 (10)]
[Cornering: 82 (10)]
[Boost Charge: 77 (10)]
[Stability: 76.1 (10)]
[Impact Resistance: 70 (10)]
[Endurance: 81 (10)]
Tsk…
A perfectly balanced build.
Derek Su withdrew his gaze and started thinking.
At first glance his cheat ability seemed simple.
But now it suddenly felt incredibly powerful.
Think about it.
Most people would be thrilled if just one attribute of their Mecha Girl exceeded 100.
But him?
As long as he kept competing and used MP points to push their base attributes up to 100, then theoretically every attribute they had could exceed 100 through training.
The gap this would create over time would be enormous.
Who could possibly outrun his Mecha Girls?
No wonder so many drivers in this world didn't bother improving their driving skills.
Ordinary drivers and ordinary Mecha Girls hovered around the lower-tier circuits.
Intelligent machinery Engineers and top-tier Mecha Girls equipped with top-tier modules stayed in the top-tier circuits.
Everyone lived inside their own comfort zone.
If he maxed out his Mecha Girls' attributes, he might end up degenerating too.
Just sit in the cockpit and turn on autopilot.
Let the Mecha Girl handle everything.
...
After discovering that Mecha Girls' attributes could still improve—and that they had so much growth potential—Derek Su felt full of motivation.
He immediately arranged collision-resistance training for the next day.
Even at midnight he was still browsing racing forums, searching for good training races.
But with the Brana Ruins Advanced Race approaching, many training races had been canceled so drivers and Mecha Girls could get proper rest.
Inside the owner's bedroom.
Stella lay beside Derek Su wearing a little dinosaur pajama set. Her pale little feet swayed lazily in the air behind her.
A novel lay open in front of her, and she flipped through the pages with great interest.
"Ohh~ So this is how ancient emperors and empresses managed their harems~"
"This one is amazing too!!"
"Whoa! There's actually a trick like this to stop the emperor from fooling around with other women! I need to write this down!"
Listening to Stella muttering to herself, Derek Su looked completely speechless.
Still, every Mecha Girl had her own hobbies.
Yesterday he had visited Imperial Scale's room and was shocked to find it stuffed full of pink pig plushies. There was barely any space left to step inside.
Tunbao had turned her room into a full gym.
When he inspected it, she had been doing a 400-kilogram clean and jerk.
"Master!"
Suddenly Stella stopped flipping through her book and tilted her head toward Derek Su.
"I saw Purple Lightning today. She passed by the Stella Club training ground. I think she came specifically to take a look."
"Mm. And?" Derek Su replied absentmindedly while reading about the Brana Ruins Advanced Race track.
"Do you think we should recruit Purple Lightning into the club?"
Stella tapped her lips thoughtfully and leaned closer to Derek Su.
"Since we already planned for her to become the secondary Mecha Girl, why not just let her join early?"
...
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