At the Mermaid Bay Advanced Race venue, everyone was waiting for the organizers to reach a decision.
Derek Su did not care much about winning or losing.
The title of [Champion King] meant nothing to him.
His only regrets were missing out on ten MP points and the possibility that Imperial Scale would be upset about missing out on the championship.
Setting those concerns aside, he cared more about Eternity-01's special skill. He needed to know exactly what it did and what limitations it had. Unless he figured that out, Eternity could become a formidable rival for Stella on the upcoming provincial circuit.
He had to become the provincial circuit champion. That had always been his goal, and he would not allow anyone to stand in his way.
At that moment, beside the vehicle retraction platform, Lucy Luo was taking Eternity-01 around and apologizing to each competitor individually.
She looked completely harmless, but once she entered the cockpit, she became an entirely different person. He could not afford to underestimate her.
"Looks like I'll have to find a way to gather information on Lucy Luo and Eternity-01 after this race."
Derek Su looked away from the two of them, thinking quietly to himself.
...
Meanwhile, in the spectator stands near the starting line, Tunbao crouched on her chair with her face twisted into a fierce scowl.
"What the hell is going on? Where did this Lucy Luo and Eternity come from? She was late, wasn't she? How did she even get onto the track after showing up late?!"
"Hmm... maybe she has powerful backing?"
Stella blinked her large eyes and offered a guess.
"Huh? Backing? Who doesn't have a back these days?!" Tunbao turned around and showed Stella her back. "Stella, does my back look broad? Isn't that plenty of backing?"
Stella: "..."
Tunbao was wearing a backless floor-length dress today.
Her smooth, fair back really was quite attractive, but it had nothing to do with the kind of backing Stella meant. They were talking about two completely different things.
"How are Master and Imperial Scale's results going to be handled?" Purple Lightning stared worriedly at the screen, where Derek Su was looking down and stroking his chin in thought. "The organizers have been discussing this for so long. They aren't really planning to give the championship to Lucy Luo, are they...?"
"I don't know how the organizers will rule," Stella said firmly, crossing her arms. "But if they give the championship to Lucy Luo, the organizers of the Mermaid Bay Advanced Race are definitely going to explode."
She spread her arms to imitate an explosion.
"Just like a pineapple after I smash it open with my head... By the way, has anyone seen Xiangxiang?"
"She probably went to make a phone call..." Tunbao muttered.
Her expression suddenly changed, and a vicious gleam appeared in her eyes.
"Does anyone know where the organizers' office is?"
"W-what are you planning to do?"
"I'm going to blow them all up! Hehe~ Then Imperial Scale and Boss Su will get a fair ruling!"
Stella and Purple Lightning: "..."
...
Absolute Shadow really was making a phone call in a secluded corner outside the stands.
Her orders from above were to report immediately whenever something happened involving Derek Su. However, she did not need to report every minor incident. Only major events that could affect The Magician's future development warranted a report.
Did finishing second in the Mermaid Bay Advanced Race count as a major event?
On the surface, perhaps not.
But in the long run, what if Derek Su lost his fighting spirit because of an unfair ruling? What if he lost interest in racing and then lost all interest in becoming a Techmaster?
The more Absolute Shadow thought about it, the more anxious she became.
While Stella and the others were not paying attention, she slipped away with her phone, found a quiet corner, and secretly called for outside assistance.
As for whom she was reporting to, it was naturally her immediate superior, Eden.
...
"You're saying someone arrived late and was still allowed to compete?
"And her final result was even better than Derek Su and Imperial Scale's?"
Inside a simply furnished office on Mecha Island, Eden frowned as she gazed at the magnificent World Wall in the distance.
"What have the competition organizers said?"
"They didn't announce the result immediately, so they must be discussing it. There shouldn't be anything to discuss in a situation like this, which means... I suspect the pilot has a very unusual background," Absolute Shadow replied.
She actually felt a little guilty.
This did not seem important enough to disturb Eden over.
However, as the manager of the Stella Club, she could not stand by and watch a championship that rightfully belonged to Derek Su be handed to someone else.
"A pilot with powerful backing? What's her name?"
"Lucy Luo. Her Mecha Girl is Eternity-01."
Eden fell silent when she heard the name.
She was familiar with Lucy Luo. She was Tania's younger sister.
Tania's status had long since risen beyond that of an ordinary Techmaster. She was one of the leaders of the current mission to hunt down the Rangers.
In Eden's memory, Tania was an extremely serious person. She followed rules with almost rigid devotion and appeared cold and merciless.
The Pegasus Squad under her command was the strongest, thanks in large part to her nearly fanatical training standards. Someone like her should never tolerate her younger sister abusing her status.
That meant if the organizers intended to award the championship to Lucy Luo, someone within the organizing committee was undoubtedly trying to curry favor with Tania.
Eden opened her computer and looked through the relevant records.
She soon identified the organizers responsible for the Mermaid Bay Advanced Race.
Patrick Wang was the Human Federation's Chief Techmaster. He primarily represented humanity's interests and maintained a relatively good relationship with Mecha Island.
Adrian Chen was a committee member of the Techmasters' Alliance. He represented the interests of Techmasters and maintained a mainly cooperative relationship with Mecha Island. The Techmasters' Alliance had recently begun to show signs of surpassing the Human Federation in authority.
It was almost certain that Patrick Wang would come off worse in a confrontation with Adrian Chen.
The championship would most likely be awarded to Lucy Luo. Breaking the rules of the competition also aligned perfectly with the interests of the Techmasters' Alliance.
The alliance's guiding principle was to continually expand the privileges of Techmasters, which directly contradicted the Human Federation's belief in human equality.
Of course, absolute fairness did not exist in this world.
Everyone was born under different circumstances.
But fairness for ordinary people still had to be protected.
The authority of the Techmasters could not be allowed to expand any further.
After considering the entire situation, Eden reached a decision and picked up the phone.
"Absolute Shadow, wait there for a moment. I'm going to contact Pegasus."
"Oh, all right. Go ahead."
Absolute Shadow froze for a moment, but Eden had already ended the call.
She had no idea what Pegasus was.
Still, she guessed it was probably something that existed beyond the sky above them.
She knew very little about that place. Even though she was Eden's direct subordinate, Eden had never explained much to her.
Whenever Absolute Shadow asked, Eden would either give her a vague answer or simply tell her that knowing too much would do her no good.
Over time, Absolute Shadow had stopped asking.
She would learn what she needed to know when the time came.
However, since Eden had not refused her request, Absolute Shadow was completely certain that she would resolve the situation.
She had served under Eden for almost half a year and had absolute confidence in both her character and her ability to take action.
Eden was a powerful leader who appeared gentle and approachable on the surface, but concealed a razor-sharp edge deep within.
...
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