Chapter 19: Safety First, After All

Having thought things through, Derek was no longer fixated on getting some extraordinary placement with Stella. If it came down to it, he could just buy a cheap Module—lower a few attributes if necessary. His skills were there to make up the difference anyway. As long as Stella could place at Knox and qualify for the next stage, that was enough.

He bought Stella a bunch of snacks and some casual clothes—she couldn't wear a tight racing suit forever—and picked up a decent pair of racing shoes for himself. His own racing suit didn’t matter; he’d be wearing the Hello Kitty battle suit sponsored by that man regardless. Still, even though everything he bought was practical, he ended up spending nearly ten thousand dollars.

Money wasn’t something Derek stressed over anymore. What he still couldn’t wrap his head around was how Caio Yang and Comet managed to make their car turn into a phantom, accelerate, and overlap with him and Stella during the last race.

Every time he replayed that scene, it felt like watching a horror movie.

“Stella, how exactly did Comet overlap with you at that moment? Do you remember anything?”

Derek felt Stella probably knew something—after all, when they were overtaken by that “spirit car,” she’d only been slightly surprised.

“Mm… I felt psychic energy.”

“Psychic… energy?”

Derek froze.

What the—? X-Men? Magneto?
The Marvel Universe?!

Sure, this world already had Mecha Girls, so something stranger wasn’t impossible.

But as a transmigrator, his advantage was having a cheat. What if this world had people who were also walking cheat codes?

“Master, Caio Yang is a Techmaster.” Stella finished the candied hawthorn and licked the syrup from her lips and fingers. “I don’t know exactly what abilities he has, but the only reason the XC-76 could overlap with me was because he used a Techmaster skill.”

“That strong?!”

“Yes. Techmasters are extremely powerful. Their status among Mecha Girls is very high. In competitions, they can create miracle-level boosts for their Mecha Girls!”

“Techmasters… and Techmaster skills...”
Derek frowned, thinking it over. Could they really grant Mecha Girls special abilities?

If future races were filled with drivers like this—unpredictable and impossible to read—then the number of unexpected situations would skyrocket.

But instead of discouraging him, it made Derek’s fighting spirit burn even brighter.

Stella already had the special ability [Sovereign Engine], and he had his transmigrator cheat.

Put those together, and this world’s difficulty basically dropped from “hell mode” to “beginner.”

And a world like that—one with zero pressure—was boring. He couldn’t even get serious during races.

But now? Now this world’s Techmasters had become the obstacles on his road to domination.

And he happened to be exactly the kind of person who got more excited the stronger his opponents became.

“Good. Good! That’s what makes this fun!” Derek clenched his fists, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Stella glanced at him curiously. Why did Derek look energized after hearing about Techmasters? Wasn’t a normal person supposed to react with shock?

Unless…

“Oho, Master, I get it now!” Stella’s eyes lit up as she pointed at him. “There’s only one truth! Master—admit it—you’re secretly a Techmaster too, right? Your insane cornering skills aren’t something a normal human can do! Ehehe~ How long were you planning to hide it from me?”

“Uh… yeah, no.” Derek’s lips twitched. “You’re overthinking it, Stella. I’m not a Techmaster. I don’t even know how they come into existence…”

But her words did spark a thought.

Could his cheat ability actually be related to Techmasters?

“Stella, have you ever sensed any kind of… psychic energy from me?” he asked as he allocated 10 MP into her Cornering attribute, raising it from 22.5 to 32.5.

“No.” Stella shook her head blankly. “So Master really isn’t a Techmaster.”

She lowered her head. “That’s a little disappointing…”

Derek: “…”

(▼皿▼#) —This brat!

“Then do you know how someone becomes a Techmaster?” Derek smiled, casually twisting his wrist. “Who knows, maybe I’ll awaken as one someday~”

Truthfully, the moment he heard he had no psychic energy in his body, he felt relieved. That meant his transmigrator cheat wasn’t tied to becoming a Techmaster. If he ever couldn’t beat those broken-OP monsters, he could always unlock this world’s cheat too—become a Techmaster and fight magic with magic.

But from what he knew so far, Techmasters were extremely rare—definitely not something ordinary people could become.

“Master, you’re absolutely right!” Stella grabbed his arm and ran her hand along it with a serious face. She nodded dramatically. “Master has extraordinary bones. You’ll definitely awaken as a Techmaster someday! And when that happens, I’ll be the happiest Mecha Girl in the whole world!”

“So you’re saying you’re not happy now? (￢_￢)”

“No, I’m the second happiest Mecha Girl in the world! (◦˙▽˙◦)”

“And who’s the first?”

“Me—after Master awakens as a Techmaster! (◦˙▽˙◦)”

Derek: “…”

Well… acceptable answer, he supposed.

...
They chatted casually all the way home.

Derek now had a general grasp of Techmasters.

As he expected—they were extremely rare.

And there was no form of training that could turn someone into one.

Becoming a Techmaster depended entirely on innate talent. As for where one could obtain that awakening opportunity, Stella only said that both pilot and Mecha Girl needed to reach certain achievements, and then they might be given a chance. Whether the awakening succeeded was entirely up to fate.

If a Mecha Girl’s special ability was the key needed to knock on the door of world-class racing, then a pilot who was also a Techmaster was the force that pushed both pilot and Mecha Girl straight through it.

“Mr. Liang, we’re back!”

Derek and Stella each carried a box as they grinned their way into the room.

A box sat on the wooden table in the center. Mr. Liang was seated beside it, one leg crossed over the other, sipping tea as he watched TV—completely ignoring Derek and Stella.

But the two of them had their own methods of forcing attention.

They lifted their money-filled little cases high, one standing on the left, one on the right, twisting and posing in all sorts of ridiculous ways. Derek was clearly the main act, but Stella mimicked him with impressive accuracy.

“We won~ We wooon~”

“We really won~”

“The prize is 200,000 dollars~”

“Master bought me so many snacks and new clothes~”

“…” Mr. Liang’s calm expression slowly cracked.

These two little punks!

“Sit. Down. Properly! If you wiggle one more time, both of you—OUT! (▼皿▼#)”

Derek and Stella instantly sat straight at the table, hands folded, backs rigid—sitting more properly than model students.

Mr. Liang exhaled and took a sip of tea. “I watched your training race at Banag. Your performance was…”

Derek and Stella looked at him with bright, expectant eyes.

Mr. Liang: “…Tsk.”

“Not bad.”

He’d been planning to scold them out of habit, but he remembered how the two of them had fought tooth and nail during the Banag training race, and the harsh words died on his tongue.

“Mr. Liang, did you get up so early this morning just to watch our match?”

“…No. I was just passing by and happened to catch a glimpse.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Mr. Liang looked away. “In any case, you two did well. I take back the criticism I gave you before.”

His gaze returned to Derek and Stella. “But racing is extremely dangerous. I still don’t approve of you participating. Still… I know I’m only an elder. I can advise you, but I can’t dictate your choices. As an elder, I can’t do nothing—I can only try my best to protect you. So…”

He pushed the box across the table toward Derek.

“This is a blue-grade steering module called [Hurricane]. It will lower Acceleration and some other stats… but you’ll be facing many challenges ahead. No matter what, I want the two of you to stay safe.”