Chapter 93: A Fleeting Glimpse at the Exhibition

After leaving the hospital, Stella kept apologizing to Derek Su.

Derek Su looked at her tear-streaked face, feeling utterly helpless. His Mecha Girl was just too adorable—there was no way he could bring himself to scold her. Besides, in this technologically advanced world, an injury like having a shoulder bone crushed was considered minor. It could be fixed in minutes; three days of rest at home and he’d be completely fine.

That said, the tearing pain from the moment it broke still lingered faintly in his shoulder.

“Stella, I’m really fine now. Look—my shoulder’s perfectly okay.”

Derek Su vigorously swung his arm, even rotating it a full three hundred and sixty degrees. Stella was so startled she hurriedly grabbed his arm and refused to let him move it any further.

“Master, I’m so sorry you had to suffer like that, wuuu QAQ!”

“It’s fine. Just hold back a bit next time. I actually quite enjoyed it when you sat on me. Or… you could just not use your hands at all—use your butt instead. It’s really soft and bouncy. I liked it a lot.” Recalling the feeling, Derek Su couldn’t help but let a lecherous smile creep onto his face.

“Who massages with their butt…” Stella’s pretty face flushed as she pouted. “Those two aunties told me that since you’re a man, you have to really put strength into massaging a man. I was only planning to use ten percent of my strength, but since the professionals said so, I ended up using about fifty percent…”

Derek Su’s expression stiffened.

He thought to himself that even ten percent would probably have left him black and blue all over.

With Stella’s monstrous strength, even 0.1 percent was already the absolute limit.

Looks like effective communication between a Mecha Girl and her driver was truly essential.

...

On their way home, they passed a luxurious building constructed almost entirely of glass walls.

Even amid the bustling street traffic, they could clearly see many Mecha Girls standing on a stage inside the building. The surrounding audience seats were packed with people, who occasionally raised placards, though what they were shouting couldn’t be heard.

Stella stopped walking. Derek Su noticed her gaze resting on the building, her eyes filled with a mix of nostalgia and release.

“Have you been here before?”

“Mhm.” Stella nodded. “This is a Mecha Girl auction exhibition. I was bought here by the Ascend Racing Club back then. The starting bid was five hundred, and once it went up to five thousand, no one bid anymore.”

Derek Su gently patted her head and smiled. “That’s because they didn’t know what they were looking at. Now you’re priceless.”

The first time Derek Su heard about Mecha Girl auctions, he’d felt a bit uncomfortable. It seemed like a way of objectifying Mecha Girls—especially after his relationship with Stella grew closer. But what he later saw and experienced gradually changed his view. Calling it an auction wasn’t quite accurate; it was more like an employment contract, with the first payment differing depending on a Mecha Girl’s performance.

“I’m not feeling sentimental because of that.”

Stella stretched lazily with her hands behind her back, then looked at Derek Su with sparkling eyes full of smiles. “I was thinking that I should actually thank the Ascend Racing Club for spending five thousand to buy me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have met such a good Master.”

“When you put it that way, I guess you’re right.”

Derek Su scratched his head. “Then should I give Kyle Zhang a commemorative banner to thank him too?”

“Pfft! Master, you’re so silly!”

“What do you know? That’s called remembering the well-digger after you drink the water!”

Stella giggled and grabbed Derek Su’s hand. “Master, you’ve never been to a Mecha Girl auction exhibition before, right? Want to go take a look? After all, you’re worth four million now. You might not be able to afford a top-tier Mecha Girl, but you could still try for an ordinary one with good performance and no special skills. Who knows—maybe one will take a liking to you and even stick with you for free.”

Derek Su felt a little tempted, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.

They had just come out of the hot springs together, and he could clearly feel that his relationship with Stella had grown closer. Going to look at other Mecha Girls right away didn’t seem appropriate. Besides, there was no need to get a secondary Mecha Girl right now. The provincial Panlong Mountain Circuit was still a long way from opening; once he founded his own club, it wouldn’t be too late to bid for one then.

As for the idea of a Mecha Girl falling for him and offering herself for free…

Derek Su hadn’t even considered it.

He hadn’t been in this world for long. He’d just won a few championships and shown a bit of skill.

There were plenty of drivers far more famous than him. Why would any Mecha Girl choose a dark horse who had only just begun to stand out?

“Let’s forget it for today. Let’s head home.”

“Oh~ okay then.” Stella pointed at a passing food cart and tugged on Derek Su’s hand. “Master, I want candied hawthorn!”

“Alright, I’ll buy it for you!”

...

Behind the glass walls of the exhibition hall, a tall, striking figure was watching the street.

With her hands clasped behind her back, her thick black hair cascaded down past her hips like a waterfall. Her rose-red eyes flickered as they settled on Derek Su and Stella buying candied hawthorn.

“DL-01, it’s your turn again.”

“Not going.” The girl didn’t even turn her head as she replied coolly. “Next time, if that man isn’t attending, don’t bother calling me.”

“But you’re the only top-tier Mecha Girl in our batch.” The Mecha Girl behind DL-01 looked troubled. “You keep skipping appearances—this violates the rules of Mecha Island. At the very least, we have to show the human authorities some respect.”

A flash of irritation and impatience crossed her rose-red eyes.

DL-01 turned around. Her cold, imposing presence pressed down instantly, making the Mecha Girl in front of her retreat two steps, head lowered as she swallowed nervously.

“They really want to buy me that badly?”

The Mecha Girl nodded fearfully. “Most of the top clubs are here. Some have even said they’ll sell everything they own just to win your bid.”

“Oh? Then what’s my starting price?”

“Ei—eighty million.”

“Raise it to five hundred million. Let them bid. I want to see how they go bankrupt.”

DL-01 snorted coldly, her long, beautiful legs carrying her toward the exhibition platform.

The Mecha Girl behind her finally let out a small sigh of relief.

As long as she showed up, it was fine. If she didn’t go out soon, the audience would erupt.

The starting price was set by the Mecha Girl herself. After the club paid, a five percent handling fee was deducted, with the rest going entirely to the Mecha Girl.

Most Mecha Girls set a reasonable starting price based on their own performance.

After all, they also wanted to contract with a good club as soon as possible and find a suitable driver. If a club had a famous driver and expressed interest in contracting a specific Mecha Girl in advance, that Mecha Girl could even make concessions on the auction price.

Someone as stubborn as DL-01 was a pure exception.

But DL-01 truly had the capital to act arrogant. Not only because she was a top-tier Mecha Girl, but also because of her explosive performance. She could set an astronomical starting price for herself and openly snub clubs—and the club executives wouldn’t dare say a word.

In a sense, the higher a Mecha Girl’s auction price, the greater her bargaining power.

Mecha Girls bought at sky-high prices were almost never mistreated within their clubs.

They were walking gold mines—treasures to their clubs.

Who would ever casually demean their own treasure?

Watching DL-01’s confident retreat, the Mecha Girl sighed enviously. “If only I had that kind of performance and special skills. I’d act high and mighty too… sigh.”

But she also knew that even if DL-01 attended the auction, it didn’t really matter.

A starting price of five hundred million alone filtered out ninety-nine percent of clubs.

DL-01 only needed to deal with a handful of top-tier clubs—and even then, she had ten thousand reasons to refuse.

No one could influence her choice.