Just as Derek Su began to feel short of breath,
the interior of Stella's chassis suddenly shifted.
Protective panels rose on both sides of the driver's seat, and by the time he came back to himself, it had transformed into a cockpit-like structure.
The pressure was gone, but he was now separated from Stella by a glass-like protective barrier.
Stella had reinforced the interior to protect the driver, similar to when Purple Lightning overclocked last time.
It was just that every Mecha Girl had her own way of strengthening driver protection.
And correspondingly, when a Mecha Girl reinforced the driver's protection, her own defenses would drop.
"Master, how do you feel? Better now?" Stella's clear, concerned voice came from ahead.
"Mm…" Derek Su nodded. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Stella said. "That gray-haired gorilla just activated her special skill. The psychic fluctuations were extremely intense. I can't accelerate anymore."
Derek Su looked around.
Gray Castle had somehow already overtaken them and was now ahead.
Stella was still at full throttle, but her speed simply wouldn't increase.
It felt like she was carrying a heavy shell on her back.
"Do you feel anything else?" Derek Su asked.
"Mm, Master, I can feel a strong resistance coming from the gray-haired gorilla's side. I have to push against it, or I'll be forced toward the guardrail at the edge of the track."
Derek Su could feel it too.
Even though they were driving across flat sand, it felt like climbing uphill.
As the finish line of the first stage drew closer, Stella pushed with everything she had, but she still couldn't break free from Gray Castle's special skill.
Grinding her teeth, she seriously put on her pineapple helmet.
This was conviction. The source of courage and strength.
"Invincible Acceleration King, never backing down!" Stella roared.
She even used the battle cry Tunbao had taught her.
"Haaahhh! Accelerate, accelerate!!"
The engine howled, the wheels spun wildly, but the speed refused to rise.
Stella was furious, yet completely helpless.
Having more speed but being unable to use it was incredibly frustrating.
Derek Su, however, wasn't anxious at all. As he drove, he carefully sensed Gray Castle's special skill.
When they pulled slightly farther away, the resistance weakened noticeably. Then, when he suddenly floored the throttle, Stella would close the gap, only for it to be pushed open again by an increasingly strong repulsive force.
Over and over, Stella was like a charged particle trying to break through an electric field, only to be pushed back again and again.
"Repulsion? No…"
Derek Su recalled that earlier sensation of being weighed down.
So it wasn't just repulsion. There was gravity as well.
If he wasn't mistaken, Gray Castle's special ability allowed her to manipulate a force field within a certain range.
At the same time, she exerted a repulsive force on nearby Mecha Girls. And if his guess was right, once Stella moved ahead of Gray Castle, that repulsion would turn into attraction.
Unfortunately, he couldn't see Gray Castle's skill panel.
Otherwise, he would have seen something like this:
[Force Field Dominance: The user and nearby Mecha Girls are affected by double gravity. The user exerts both repulsive and attractive forces on surrounding Mecha Girls. Repulsion is applied to those behind, increasing with proximity. Attraction is applied to those ahead, slowing them down; Active - Force Field Burst: Greatly increases gravity within a certain range for a short duration (10 seconds). The user is unaffected. Also enhances both repulsive and attractive forces. After activation, all attributes decrease by 10% for one minute.]
Derek Su's deduction was almost entirely correct.
And since it was only a force field, it wasn't impossible to counter.
By now, both Mecha Girls had entered the final sprint section, with the track width at 15 meters.
This clearly fell within Gray Castle's force field range.
So how could it be countered?
Simple.
Either Stella activates the [Sovereign Engine], drastically boosting her speed and breaking through the force field outright, leaving Gray Castle behind with no way to stop her.
Or she becomes completely stable, so steady that the force field cannot move her at all.
And among his Mecha Girls, only Imperial Scale could achieve that level of stability.
"Haaahhh! Accelerate, accelerate!"
Stella's face flushed red as she kept pushing.
But in the final few hundred meters, overtaking Gray Castle was no longer possible.
Derek Su had no intention of activating the [Sovereign Engine] here.
Now that he understood how Gray Castle's ability worked, dealing with her later would be much easier.
...
By the time they reached the first checkpoint, Stella was just one second behind Gray Castle, placing second.
That was already an excellent result, considering she had been facing a top-tier Mecha Girl using her skill.
But Stella was still dissatisfied. After disengaging, she wore a sulky expression.
The moment she saw Derek Su, she dove straight into his arms, whining,
"Master, I... I actually lost to that gray-haired gorilla, waaah... Looks like I'll have to leave this tough job to Imperial Scale!"
Derek Su smiled helplessly and patted her head.
"You did great. Get some rest."
She didn't look seriously injured, but all that crashing had to hurt. He was just about to call the medical team—
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Imperial Scale already approaching with several functional Mecha Girls.
Her gaze first swept over Derek Su. Seeing that he looked fine, her expression relaxed slightly.
Then her brows furrowed, and her cold gaze landed on Stella.
It was the first time Stella had been looked at like that by Imperial Scale. A chill ran down her spine, and she instinctively wanted to hide behind Derek Su.
But no.
She was the Empress!
She was going to rule them all!
Just a mere rebel king...
With those thoughts, Stella forced herself to hold her ground and meet Imperial Scale's gaze.
"W-what are you staring at me for?" she said, hands on her hips, chin raised, cheeks puffed out.
Like a pufferfish inflating itself to look intimidating, her puffed cheeks worked the same way.
Imperial Scale stared at her for a moment, then suddenly reached out.
Thinking she was about to be hit, Stella quickly shut her eyes and ducked.
But Imperial Scale simply poked her cheek, letting the air out.
"Idiot."
Before Stella could react, still wide-eyed and confused,
Imperial Scale tilted her head slightly toward the functional Mecha Girls behind her.
They immediately rushed forward and pinned Stella onto a stretcher.
"Hey! What are you doing?! Ow, my butt hurts! Don't touch me there!"
Stella struggled wildly, but she was quickly subdued.
Blinking her wide eyes, she stared at the rope the support Mecha Girls took out and said blankly,
"I'm not even injured. Why are you tying me up?"
"Master, help me! They're kidnapping me!"
"Help!!! I want to watch the race!!!"
Flailing and shouting, Stella was carried away.
Derek Su scratched his head awkwardly.
Imperial Scale let out a quiet sigh.
She quickly called Absolute Shadow and asked her to send a TV over to Stella.
Otherwise, that girl would never settle down.
And next...
Imperial Scale swept her cold gaze across the surrounding Mecha Girls.
Now, it was her turn to take the stage!
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
p-@-treon/GhostParser (40 Chapters Ahead)
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.