Howard Wang arrived by helicopter near the tornado.
But he could only watch from the edge, not daring to get any closer.
The medical and rescue teams were far too slow. More than ten minutes had passed without any sign of them. Meanwhile, the organizers had already reinstalled the cameras, restoring track surveillance around the tornado. Across the world, people glued to their televisions stared at the terrifying funnel-shaped black cloud.
Even through a screen, the oppressive force of the tornado was suffocating.
If they had been there in person, their legs might have given out from fear.
And yet, in the face of such a disaster, two competitors had chosen to charge straight into it.
No one knew how it would end.
But their names were already etched into people's memories.
...
"Can a driver and a Mecha Girl really break through something that terrifying?"
A driver from the ESW club stared wide-eyed at the tornado and muttered to himself.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Tunbao shot him a vicious glare. "Keep jinxing them and I'll knock you out!"
With Imperial Scale not around, she could "knock out" whoever she pleased.
Seeing the pink-haired Mecha Girl looking ready to explode, the ESW club driver hurriedly shut his mouth and slipped behind his own Mecha Girl.
Unfortunately, his Mecha Girl was only about 1.6 meters tall. Standing next to the 1.7-meter Tunbao, she lacked presence. Even if she tried to face off with Tunbao, she'd still seem a little timid.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we've received updated information. The meteorological station announced fifteen minutes ago that this tornado would last about seven minutes. Unfortunately, it's still growing!" His face looked solemn, as though he were worried about the competitors trapped inside. But the next second, excitement crept back in. "But isn't this exactly the charm of racing? You never know what you'll run into on the track. That uncertainty is what makes our adrenaline surge!"
Stella and Tunbao felt their blood pressure spike at those words.
"Stella, where are your pineapples?" Tunbao asked darkly, reaching out for the prop.
Stella, who always carried weapons on her, immediately pulled out two.
Tunbao weighed the pineapples in her hand, extended her left arm, raised her thumb, and aimed at the helicopter overhead.
With a Mecha Girl's strength, she really might be able to knock it out of the sky.
"Tunbao, forget it." Stella grabbed her hand.
The host's gloating tone infuriated her too.
But she knew that if Tunbao actually brought the helicopter down, it would cause trouble for Derek Su.
On the way to the finish line, she had already thought it through. Derek Su was steady and cautious, and Imperial Scale specialized in Impact Resistance and stability. In terms of endurance, Imperial Scale was definitely stronger than she was. With a tornado of this intensity, she herself would be confident taking Derek Su through as long as the speed was high enough. Now that Derek Su had Imperial Scale protecting him, things could only be better.
But if Derek Su and Imperial Scale were truly injured…
She wouldn't need Tunbao to act.
She would smash that helicopter down herself.
And take that jinx with it.
...
The host team aboard the helicopter had no idea they had just brushed past the gates of the ICU.
"Aiyo, that's enough."
"Yeah, yeah, Aiyo, hurry up and push the rescue team!"
The assistants around Aiyo were on the verge of tears.
Colossus Group had been pressing the medical and rescue teams nonstop. The calls had even reached them. Yet the rescue and medical teams kept insisting they were on their way. In theory, they were also traveling by helicopter—it shouldn't have taken this long. And yet there was still no sign of them.
Just then—
Two beams of headlights pierced out of the tornado like twin blades.
A low, thunderous engine roar followed.
Everyone's eyes widened. Goosebumps prickled across their skin.
Aiyo froze for a split second, then quickly zoomed the camera in.
Amid the swirling yellow sand, a blurred silhouette of a Mecha Girl appeared—then burst through the storm.
The sand swirling around her looked like a flowing imperial robe. The flying grit and debris couldn't shake her in the slightest.
She drove straight toward the finish line.
This wasn't the safe route. The safe route had long been torn apart by the tornado.
Ahead of her stood a steep sand dune.
Anyone who had driven in the desert knew that aside from quicksand and sand pits, dunes were the most frustrating terrain of all.
The slippery sand meant even high-performance machines risked engine failure when climbing. Without full throttle, you could only watch yourself slide back down.
Before Aiyo could even comment, the Mecha Girl had already charged straight at the dune.
And beyond it lay the finish line.
The proper safe route was to detour around it.
"My god, she's going straight over the dune? Isn't she afraid of blowing the engine?"
"Can you tell if she's from Stella Club or BSC?"
"She's panicking. Too impatient. Even the first-place GPC Club racer didn't take the dune head-on. Just watch—she's about to blow her engine."
From this distance, no one could make out the exact model.
All they could see was a blurred black silhouette and blood-red taillights.
But no matter what they said—
She kept climbing.
Her speed dropped sharply.
Just as everyone thought she was about to stall—
VROOOOOM!!!
The engine roared like a tiger, cutting through the howling wind and tearing at their ears.
Without the slightest hesitation, the Mecha Girl powered up the dune.
And at last, those at the finish line saw clearly.
At the edge of their vision, Imperial Scale burst forward like an armored war general, leaping through sand and storm!
The blazing headlights made their eyes sting.
She charged forward with unyielding pride. Sand sprayed outward from her wheels, splitting to either side. Every obstacle along the way—rocks, cacti—was crushed beneath her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, racing toward us now is Stella Club's final relay competitor—Imperial Scale! And the one piloting her is our dark horse sensation—The Magician!" Aiyo reacted instantly. While keeping the camera on Imperial Scale, he shoved his own face into half the screen, speaking animatedly. "I believe this moment deserves to be written into the history of the Maratela Training Race!"
"In the ten years since the Maratela Training Race was established, there have been seventy-eight tornadoes during competition, seventeen of which affected the track. But The Magician and Imperial Scale are the only ones who chose to break through a tornado. They are true heroes, true warriors! Let's give our applause to the birth of heroes!"
The applause at the finish line was sparse.
Because Imperial Scale had already arrived.
Everyone stood there in a daze, staring at the imposing Mecha Girl before them, shaken by her strength and majesty.
She had crossed the desert.
She had broken through a terrifying tornado.
And yet her body remained pitch-black and cold, her heavy armor pristine as new.
Not a single trace of sand or stone marred her surface.
In the face of a natural disaster—
She was completely unscathed.
...
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