Chapter 85: Spatial Frog Leap

“Master, I don’t want to lose. I want that truckload of good stuff. Is that… okay?”

Looking at the uphill corner ahead, Snowpeak tilted her head slightly, pouting her red lips. Her pale silver eyes were filled with longing and pleading.

Leon Li, who had already been prepared to give up, immediately straightened his back.

This was Snowpeak’s request. As her master, how could he possibly refuse?

He had to answer the call without hesitation!

But Derek Su and Stella’s cornering skills were simply too strong. On a C-shaped corner like this, it was already difficult to gain any advantage.

“So, Snowpeak, what are you suggesting?”

“Use the special ability. There’s no need to hide it anymore.”

Leon Li nodded slightly. There really was no reason to conceal Snowpeak’s special ability. It was simply too broken. Even if the opponent tried to counter it, the only way would be to completely overpower him and Snowpeak with sheer strength.

Besides, Snowpeak really wanted that truckload of good stuff…

Decision made!

As the uphill curve drew closer, Leon Li placed one hand on Snowpeak’s hips, transmitting his resolve.

Activate special skill—Spatial Frog Leap!

Buzz—!

The instant the skill activated, the space around the high-speed Snowpeak twisted violently. Pitch-black spatial turbulence surged like a whirlwind, wrapping around her and swallowing her whole. In the blink of an eye, her chassis vanished from its original position.

Ahead, Derek Su and Stella suddenly felt a chill run through their bodies, as if a ghost had passed straight through them.

Derek Su glanced up at the rearview mirror, his mouth falling open in shock.

“Leon Li and Snowpeak disappeared!!”

What kind of ghost story was this?

But the sensation was all too familiar to Derek Su. Back then, Caio Yang and Comet had given him the exact same feeling.

“Master, I’m sensing intense spiritual energy fluctuations. Snowpeak has activated her special skill.”

Stella, on the other hand, wasn’t overly surprised.

Xavier Young had mentioned before that Snowpeak was a top-tier Mecha Girl with mysterious special abilities.

She just hadn’t expected them to use it in an underground race like this. But did they really think that using a skill would let them surpass her?

Stella narrowed her eyes. The ultra-high-speed crash-resistant king was invincible!

Once they cleared the slope, there would be another straight stretch, and then—

Before Stella could even finish that thought, she saw the space at the exit of the slope ripple violently. Snowpeak’s figure reassembled from countless points of light. She maintained her high-speed state, and the instant her chassis fully materialized and the surrounding space stabilized, purple-red flames burst from the exhaust ports at her rear.

After releasing the skill, she even gained an explosive burst of acceleration.

“Holy—!”

The curse didn’t come from Derek Su.

It was Stella.

She stared wide-eyed, her face flushed bright red with anger. She immediately turned her head to glare at Derek Su, puffing out her lips and sulking.

“Master, they’re cheating!”

Derek Su scratched his head helplessly. What could he do? If they were going to cheat, then so be it.

“Master, I want to cheat too!”

Derek Su glanced at Stella’s Stability, which was only 75, and gave a helpless, wry smile.

The [Sovereign Engine] had an explosion rate of 80% below 80 Stability. He did have MP points on hand that could raise Stella’s Stability by 9 points, but it would be meaningless. Even at 84 Stability, the explosion rate would still be high. More importantly, he planned to keep Stella’s skill as a trump card. Using it now for an underground race just wasn’t worth it.

“Stella, you do have a cheat, but activating it risks blowing the engine. If we blow up halfway through, we won’t even finish the race.”

“Wuu…” Stella puffed out her cheeks and let out a low growl like a little puppy, her face full of frustration. “Master, isn’t there any way to overtake them?”

She wanted that truckload of [Okamoto 001] too.

“A way? Of course there is,” Derek Su said, swaying his head as he painted a rosy picture. “As long as we take every corner perfectly and go full throttle on the straights, we’ll gradually close the gap between us and Leon Li–Snowpeak.”

“Oh! Leave it to me, Master!” Stella’s fighting spirit reignited.

She was simple-minded and had no idea Derek Su was just selling her a dream.

And Derek Su’s plan today was to deliberately show weakness.

Watching Leon Li and Snowpeak nearly disappear into the distance, Derek Su pondered quietly.

“So it’s a space-travel-type ability? Teleportation followed by a burst of acceleration… just not sure how many times it can be used. Honestly, the Mecha Girls in this world are ridiculously broken.”

Even though he had already decided to intentionally lose to Leon Li,

Derek Su had no intention of slacking off.

After clearing the slope and entering the long straight, he floored the accelerator and gave chase.

At this moment, Stella’s acceleration engine once again demonstrated its overwhelming advantage. Even though Snowpeak had gained a burst of speed after using her special skill, that advantage was gradually being eaten away by Stella’s acceleration. Before long, he was once again hanging right behind Leon Li and Snowpeak.

Fifth Observation Point.

The black market boss had already arrived in his minivan.

Normally, he couldn’t be bothered to watch the races and only cared about the results.

But today, there were two professional racers on the track. Compared to amateur wild drivers, professional racers were far more entertaining to watch. The wild drivers’ illegal modifications might look interesting at first, but after a while they just felt flashy and dull.

The fifth observation point was a downhill section with consecutive hairpin turns.

Because of the mountain walls, the view beyond the corners was completely obscured. This tested the racers’ familiarity with the track. For those who hadn’t run this road before, it tested their split-second reactions after exiting a corner. If you relaxed after clearing the first turn, you were very likely to slide out at the second hairpin and tumble straight off the cliff.

And to make matters worse, it was downhill.

It could be said that the danger level was maxed out—this was the most difficult section of the entire Civilization Cemetery track.

Rumble—rumble—rumble—

The roar of engines echoed through the valley.

The black market boss hurriedly stepped back, climbed onto the minivan, found the best viewing angle, leisurely took a sip of coffee, and set up his camera.

“Ohohoho, here they come!”

And indeed, Mecha Girls were approaching.

But it wasn’t just Stella and Snowpeak.

There was also a convoy formed by other wild drivers.

More than a dozen Mecha Girls filled the track, forming a massive procession.

These were the wild drivers from the first and second waves. While Stella and Snowpeak were locked in their duel, they had also caught up to them.

“Snowpeak, just jump over them. No time to waste!”

Leon Li and Snowpeak now shared the same goal. His skill had already been revealed to Derek Su, so there was no need to hide anything anymore. All he wanted now was to win together with Snowpeak and secure that truckload of Okamoto 001.

“Buzz—”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Snowpeak vanished into the void. In the next instant, she reappeared directly in front of the wild driver convoy.

The wild drivers didn’t even have time to activate their illegal modifications to block her. Snowpeak’s engine module let out a piercing screech as she shot forward like an arrow, instantly pulling away from the convoy. Then, just as she was about to enter the downhill corner, she vanished into the void once more, directly passing through two mountain walls and emerging on the other side of the track.

“Pfft—!”

The boss in the minivan widened his eyes, spraying a mouthful of coffee straight out.

Before he could even process what had happened, the track flashed, and amid a deafening roar, Snowpeak’s taillights were already fading into the distance.

The visual impact of a top-tier Mecha Girl’s special skill was utterly shocking.

But what shocked him even more was still to come.

Derek Su was now piloting Stella at breakneck speed in pursuit, and blocking their path were over a dozen wild drivers moving at different speeds, nearly sealing off the entire track.

Stella didn’t have the ability to traverse space.

But inside the cockpit, Derek Su wore a look of absolute confidence.

He had a unique way of overtaking.