Chapter 20: I’ve Still Got It

Wasn’t this steering module the exact one he’d had his eye on before?

Derek Su stared at the Module on the table. The shop owner had said it was bought yesterday—so the buyer had been Mr. Liang?

So Mr. Liang had planned all along for him to enter the Knox Rally? Otherwise, why buy a Module for Stella?

“Mr. Liang!” Derek Su called out, voice choking, nearly dropping to his knees to kowtow.

But Mr. Liang slammed his hand down on the Module and barked, “Try kowtowing and I’ll confiscate this on the spot! Aren’t you busy enough already? You need to break in the Module with your Mecha Girl after installation! And don’t you have your pilot license test tomorrow?”

Derek Su froze mid-kowtow, but beside him, Stella was already teary-eyed as she slammed her forehead onto the table with a duang!

She hadn’t even used much force, yet the solid wooden table cracked into a spiderweb pattern.

“Grandpa Liang, Stella will never forget your kindness!! Waaah! I really am the happiest Mecha Girl in the world! Waaah…”

Mr. Liang: “...I’m really not that old.”

“Mr. Liang, this Module must be expensive.” Derek Su frowned and pushed it back toward him. “It’s far too valuable. I can’t accept it. I believe Stella and I have the ability to pass the driving school assessment. After we start earning money, we can buy Modules ourselves.”

He really wanted the [Hurricane] Module—even if it only gave +8 to Cornering and reduced other stats by 3–5 points, it was still the best possible Module for Stella right now. But the price he’d seen before was 300,000, and there was no way it dropped overnight. Mr. Liang’s  recycling yard barely earned enough each year, and 300,000 was basically his retirement savings. Using Mr. Liang’s retirement money to upgrade Stella made him uneasy.

“You little brat, when you contracted your Mecha Girl, you didn’t act so hesitant. You completed everything alone in the warehouse like you were afraid someone would steal her.” Mr. Liang snorted and knocked on the table. “Don’t you have the confidence to take first place in the Knox Rally? That’s a full 500,000 in prize money. Just pay me back after you win.”

“We do have confidence in taking first place.”

Derek Su scratched his head, fully persuaded by Mr. Liang. “Since you put it that way… I’ll respectfully accept.”

He picked up the heavy steering Module. This was Mr. Liang’s heartfelt gift—it made his nose sting.

Thinking of his father from his previous life, he wondered how the old man was doing now. But with all the money, cars, and insurance he’d left behind, his father’s life should be perfectly comfortable—maybe even finding some younger women to give him a few more siblings…

“Remember to pay for the table later.” Mr. Liang said calmly, sipping his tea.
“That’s thousand-year golden cicada wood. Look up how much it costs when you get the chance.”

Derek Su: “Huh?!”

“But Stella is the one who broke it!”

“Is Stella your Mecha Girl?”

“...Yes.”

“Then aren’t you paying?”

Derek Su forced a smile. “Mr. Liang, look at me—don’t I still have some charm left~?”

Mr. Liang: “?”

“I mean… maybe we could—”

“Get out!!”

...

On their way back to the warehouse, Stella kept staring at Derek Su with a strange expression.

“What? Do I have flowers on my face?” he asked.

Stella lowered her head, twisting her fingers. “I’m sorry, Master… Stella caused trouble again. Now Master has to shoulder a huge debt. I even made Master consider selling his body to pay it back… I’m not a qualified Mecha Girl.”

She looked up, eyes shimmering. “But to support Master’s business, I’ll definitely help Master attract customers!”

Derek Su: “…”

don’t get angry… don’t get angry… don’t get angry… she’s just a clueless Mecha Girl…

Repeating “don’t get angry” three times internally, he sighed. “Didn’t you misunderstand something? I meant adopting a godfather. That table is made from thousand-year golden cicada wood!”

“So is Master adopting Grandpa Liang or the golden cicada wood?”

“Of course the golden— cough, of course Mr. Liang.” Under Stella’s skeptical gaze, Derek Su coughed twice to hide his embarrassment.

They arrived at the warehouse just in time. Derek Su took out the [Hurricane] steering Module. “Alright, enough talking. Let’s install the Module first.”

“Whoaa!” Stella pumped her fist, eyes shining. “New and shiny Module!”

The Hurricane Module was only about the size of a fist, like a silver-glowing Rubik’s Cube.

Derek Su held it up and awkwardly tried to position it around Stella’s body for a long time—earning a look that said she was watching a very stupid monkey.

“Master… you really don’t know how to install a Module.”

“Uh, well… first you need to deploy it!” Derek insisted. He would never admit he didn’t know; trial and error would figure it out eventually.

“Deploy?” Stella’s mouth twitched. She grabbed the zipper of her racing suit and pulled it down. Turning around, she revealed her slender waist and pointed behind her back. “It goes here. You don’t need to deploy anything to install a Module. Master, you’re so silly.”

“You—why are you undressing?!”

Derek froze, then quickly covered his eyes. “I didn’t see anything! I’m not a pervert!”

But the image kept replaying in his mind. Feeling unsafe standing, he fumbled behind him and sat down in a chair.

“How else would I install the Module without undressing?” Stella glanced at him, then squinted with a sly smile. “Ohhh, is Master embarrassed? Tsk tsk… so Master is one of those rookie drivers who gets flustered just from seeing a Mecha Girl’s body~”

“R-Rookie driver?!” Derek almost choked. “What rookie driver? This is called proper boundaries! Don’t Mecha Girls and pilots have regulations? Back at the Ascend Club, I was accused of harassment just for touching Jade-786’s back—and she was fully clothed!”

“Who’s Jade-786?” Stella leaned over, staring at his face.

“A Mecha Girl from the Ascend Racing Club. She was supposed to contract with me, but she rejected me because I didn’t have track experience.”

Derek said it casually, but Stella’s face turned red with anger.

She planted one hand on her hip and patted his shoulder. “Master, don’t worry. If I ever meet that Jade-786, I’ll teach her a lesson! How dare she bully my pilot? She must be tired of living!”

Derek reflexively lowered his hand—and immediately sucked in a breath at the pale expanse before him. He covered his eyes again with a snap.

“Ahem… well, you’ll get your chance. She’s competing in the Knox Rally.”

“Hmph! Then she’s done for!” Stella huffed twice, then sighed at Derek. “But Master, are you really not going to help me install the Module? There are regulations, sure, but I’m a Mecha Girl. After contracting with you, I’m yours. No need to be so uptight. Like doctors—they only see patients, no funny business.”

Derek thought: Doctors are doctors… doctors don’t think about this stuff…

He was just a racing driver. A two-lives virgin. He couldn’t control himself…

Then he felt a cool little hand wrap around his own.

“Mecha Girls can’t install Modules themselves. We don’t have the permission. Master has to do it directly. Since Master can’t bear to look… I’ll do it myself.”

Her calm voice echoed beside his ear.

Then he felt a sudden force lifting the hand holding the [Hurricane] Module—pressing it firmly into an unknown opening.

Derek Su: “!!”