Chapter 13: Master, Today I Want to Win

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 XC-76 was the 76th vehicle born into the XC family on Mecha Island.
In a way, XC-76’s identity made her a senior to Stella.

Model numbers didn’t represent a mecha girl’s strength, and it wasn’t like there had been 98 predecessors before Stella.
A mecha girl’s designation disappears once she dies or enters the Recycling Yard. Every model number is unique. Before Stella, many mecha girls with poor talent, or those eliminated in races or abandoned by their drivers, had already chosen to return for self-destruction.

Seeing XC-76 felt to Stella like seeing her childhood idol again.

Back then, she had only been an AI Core absorbing outside information, not yet possessing a mecha-girl body.

Derek Su noticed Stella seemed to recognize the other mecha girl, and he was already getting ready to sit back and munch on sunflower seeds.
But then he felt something wrong in the other mecha girl’s expression. She suddenly lifted her hand and slapped Stella’s hand away harshly.

“Who taught you to point at strangers? Scrap really is scrap—no basic manners at all.”

Stella froze, and it took a long moment for her to realize that the word “scrap”—an extremely severe insult among mecha girls—was aimed at her.

Derek Su instantly dropped his bystander mode, his expression turning sharp.

He didn’t understand the relationship between Stella and this mecha girl, but Stella had clearly approached her with warmth, the kind of joy one when meeting an elder sister. Plus, Stella calling her “XC-76” meant they belonged to the same model line.

But now, a senior of her own model was pointing to her face and calling her scrap.

The blow felt like having your childhood hero tell you straight to your face: “Kid, wake up—there’s no miracle, it’s all fake.”

“Hey! Before calling someone scrap, maybe take a good look at yourself first.”

Derek Su stepped in front of Stella, glaring coldly at Comet.

Comet didn’t respond. She didn’t even bother to acknowledge him—completely ignoring his existence.

To her, Derek Su and Stella were the same kind of trash:
A mecha girl who could barely turn, paired with a driver who came wearing worn-out flat shoes to a race.

This pairing was nothing short of blasphemy against the sacred sport of racing.

“Don’t treat the race like a joke.”

“What?” Derek Su frowned.

Comet stared at the trembling girl behind him and continued, her expression never shifting:

“XC-99, a mecha girl who can’t even corner has no right to be on a track. Stop racing before you get that man killed—and before you disgrace the XC family.”

“Enough! Shut up!” Derek Su stepped forward, fists clenched tight.

If she said one more word, he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t swing.
Even though he knew he’d lose—Stella had demonstrated she could crack pavement with her forehead, and other mecha girls certainly weren’t weaker.

“Hey~ Don’t get so worked up, bro~” Caio Yang stepped between them, eyeing Derek Su’s fist with a lazy smile. “Let the mecha girls handle their own stuff. We drivers shouldn’t meddle, right? Want a smoke? Here, have one.”

Sure, his mecha girl’s words were harsh, but she was his mecha girl. Who else should he take her side for?

He pulled out a cigarette and offered it, but Derek Su didn’t take it.

“This is how you teach your mecha girl?” Derek Su took a slow breath. “If you don’t know how to teach her, I can help you.”

“Teach us?” Caio Yang’s grin faded slightly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He hated this kind of talk. “If you’re that confident in your driving, then since we're launching together… how about we settle it on the track?”

【Cars 9 and 10, prepare for launch】
【30-second countdown begins】

The broadcast cut in, but the tension between them didn’t ease in the slightest.

“Master, the training race is starting. Let’s get ready.”

Derek Su felt a small tug on his sleeve, and Stella’s steady voice came from behind him.

“Stella?”

“Master…” She tugged again, a little harder this time.
“We… we should go prepare.”

She was barely 1.6 meters tall, head bowed, silver bangs hiding her eyes.

And on her cheeks and chin, Derek Su saw fresh droplets sliding down.

“Master…” Her voice had turned hoarse with suppressed sobs.

“Alright. Deploy.” Derek Su pressed his lips together. He knew exactly what she needed right now.

The moment the words left his mouth, Stella threw herself into his arms and transformed.
Caio Yang and Comet exchanged a glance and deployed as well—their car form very similar to Stella’s. But whereas Stella’s front was slightly rounded, the other mecha girl’s nose was sharper, aggressive—just like her mouth.

Inside the steel frame, Stella’s emotions seemed to settle a little.

As Derek Su grabbed the control stick, Stella suddenly turned back to him.

Her bangs slid aside, revealing eyes full of tears and raw hurt.

“Master… today I want to win. I have to win. Even if it’s just a training race.”

“Alright.” Derek Su nodded hard. “Today, I’ll make sure we win.”

【Drivers and mecha girls, final 10 seconds!】
【10, 9, 8…】

Expressionless, Derek Su released the handbrake. His gaze was ice cold, locked on the track.

There was a fire pounding in his chest, desperate for an outlet.

Stella’s engine modules growled, the vibrations buzzing in his ears.

He knew Stella carried her own fire—her cornering was weak, her mind simple, her knowledge limited. In a world full of mecha girls, she felt like an unwanted underachiever. But she tried. She worked harder than anyone, repeating each turn thousands of times without complaining.

【…3, 2, 1!】
【Beep—!】

“Rrr—!”

Stella and Comet launched almost side by side. Both drivers—Caio Yang and Derek Su—had professional-grade reflexes.

But Derek Su’s launch control instantly pushed Stella ahead by five full car lengths.

Comet and Caio Yang were both stunned.

“What the hell? How can their launch be that fast?”

Caio Yang couldn’t help recalling the abnormal roar Stella’s engine made in those last seconds before start.

“I take back what I said earlier about that driver.”
Comet’s eternally calm voice flowed forward. “That driver may look sloppy and carefree, but he’s truly skilled. I misjudged him… He’s using techniques we don’t know.”

“Techniques we don’t know?” Caio Yang almost couldn’t believe it.

He was the ace of the VVC Club—not a small-time team, but a legitimate world-ranked organization. Even if they were just the gatekeepers of the top 500, their standards were high. What technique was beyond him?

Yet here he was in Jiangcheng, trying to farm easy wins—and this unaffiliated street racer was showing techniques he’d never even seen before.

“No way. Could he be a Techmaster like me?” Caio Yang muttered, still unwilling to accept it.

“No,” Comet said with certainty. “I sensed no psychic energy during his launch.”

Caio Yang looked shaken, questioning reality itself.
But by now, the gap between Comet and Stella had stopped widening.

“Master, don’t worry,” Comet said calmly. “That driver is skilled, but the XC-99 is just a cornering obstacle—one piece of scrap. Once the bends start, they’ll naturally slow down… After two turns, they won’t even see our taillights. I guarantee it.”