In the rearview mirror, Viper was falling farther and farther behind.
"Time to say goodbye to the past." Derek Su snapped his fingers, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
He really hadn't expected Chloe Qin to be this weak.
Viper's Acceleration had already reached 93. Granted, that came at the cost of significantly lower Stability, Impact Resistance, Cornering, and other stats, but with enough skill, she should still have been able to put up a fight against Purple Lightning in her current state.
Even if she couldn't stay tucked into Purple Lightning's slipstream the entire time, hanging on for a minute shouldn't have been difficult.
Unfortunately, from the moment Derek Su began overtaking until the pass was complete, it had taken him only forty seconds.
"It's not time to say goodbye yet," Purple Lightning said, tilting her head slightly.
"True." Derek Su looked toward the track ahead.
He knew Purple Lightning's goal was the championship.
Only once she achieved that could she truly say goodbye to her past.
Then so be it.
He would take Purple Lightning with him and break free from the shadow of her past!
Something flashed in the rearview mirror.
Viper's engine suddenly rose into a piercing howl.
Derek Su paused, then saw Viper shoot out of the turn, switch lanes, and charge up alongside them.
"Oh? Now this is interesting." He narrowed his eyes.
This was more like the speed Viper should have been capable of.
Looks like Chloe Qin was finally going all in.
He had heard that Chloe Qin was now equipped with a second-generation AI mechanical core.
If he remembered correctly, that AI core contained his own driving techniques.
"Then I'll play with you for a bit."
Derek Su looked away from the rearview mirror, finally showing a little interest.
This was also the perfect opportunity to see how much difference there was between an AI imitation of himself and the real thing.
"One-minute countdown."
...
"That's it! Just like that! Pass them! Pass them!"
Chloe Qin's frenzied yelling filled Viper's ears, making her frown in pain.
Driving required total concentration.
Chloe Qin's screaming made it difficult for Viper to focus.
And even with their combined skill, neither of them could afford to lose concentration on a track like this.
But she was just too loud!
Worse, something was clearly wrong with Chloe Qin.
Viper cautiously glanced into the rearview mirror.
Then immediately looked away again.
It was terrifying.
Veins bulged all across Chloe Qin's face. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she wore a savage grin while blood seeped from her cracked, dry lips.
[Warning! Synchronization ratio at 90%. Requesting reduction in synchronization ratio! Warning! Excessive load! Sizzle... This product is still in the testing phase. Excessive load will cause the core to overheat. Requesting...]
"Shut up!" Chloe Qin roared. "Request denied!!"
The AI core fell silent again.
It possessed a certain degree of intelligence, but under Chloe Qin's direct command, it could only maintain the synchronization ratio at 90%.
As for regulating Chloe Qin's emotional state, the core was already overloaded. Even if Chloe Qin went completely insane now, there was nothing it could do.
The instant the synchronization ratio reached 90%, Chloe Qin felt as though the god of racing had possessed her.
With Viper's speed advantage and the AI core assisting her, she had already simulated more than a dozen possible overtaking strategies.
As they exited the turn, the road widened back into two lanes.
But another corner was already approaching.
Chloe Qin knew she had to seize position before they reached it.
This was the perfect moment to pass.
She rode Purple Lightning's slipstream, rapidly closed the gap, then pushed the control stick to the right, intending to surge past on that side.
But then...
SCREEECH!!
The shriek of tires grinding violently against the road rang out.
Purple Lightning had swung almost completely sideways, forming an angle of roughly 120 degrees.
She was sliding diagonally across the track, completely blocking every possible overtaking route.
In a single move, all dozen or so plans Chloe Qin had come up with were rendered useless.
"What the hell?!" Viper blurted out as she stared at Purple Lightning ahead.
A Mecha Girl sliding sideways after losing control was perfectly understandable.
But Derek Su and Purple Lightning were driving sideways on purpose!
What was this supposed to be?
Using a controlled slide to block every overtaking line?
And Purple Lightning had barely lost any speed at all!
Chloe Qin had never seen anyone drive like this in her entire life.
She froze, her face growing even paler.
The mechanical core ran at full speed, frantically calculating, yet still failed to produce a solution.
Through the window, Derek Su gave Chloe Qin an indifferent glance.
"Forty-five seconds."
The corner arrived.
Purple Lightning was already in a sideways slide and slipped precisely into the apex.
Derek Su pulled the handbrake, then released it the instant the tires regained traction.
Immediately after that, he floored the accelerator.
BOOM—!!
With an Acceleration rating above 90, Purple Lightning's engine unleashed ferocious power.
Her speed surged instantly as she shot out of the turn, leaving only a cloud of white smoke hanging over the track.
"Forty-two seconds."
The gap widened again.
After a series of consecutive hairpins, Viper had completely disappeared from sight.
"Thirty-seven seconds."
Derek Su unscrewed his water bottle, took a sip, and shook his head helplessly.
"Boring."
Even after gaining access to part of his driving techniques, Chloe Qin was still hopeless.
She wasn't even as good as the AI driver back on the resort island.
"It's mostly because Master is so skilled," Purple Lightning said softly from the front.
Derek Su shook his head seriously.
"I wouldn't say that. I can drive this recklessly precisely because your Cornering and Drifting are so strong. Take that ninety-degree direction change at the apex earlier. Neither Stella nor Imperial Scale could pull off something like that easily. The risk would be far too high."
There wasn't the slightest exaggeration in those words.
Stella was the Mecha Girl who allowed him to show off his driving skill to the fullest.
Imperial Scale was the most comfortable and effortless for him to drive. The moment he sat in her driver's seat, he almost felt lazy enough to fall asleep.
As for Purple Lightning...
The moment he sat in Purple Lightning's driver's seat, half of his technique became unnecessary.
Half the technical difficulty in racing came from cornering.
And Purple Lightning practically solved that entire half for him.
All Derek Su had to do was fully exploit Purple Lightning's cornering ability.
That was just normal driving for them. There was nothing worth bragging about.
A ninety-degree direction change at the apex?
Using a controlled slide to block overtaking lines?
Those were basic maneuvers.
He hadn't even pulled out the Windmill Drift he had used to break through Cloud Leopard and Hurricane's blockade during the Xiangshan Advanced Race.
There was simply no need to use something like that against a loser like Chloe Qin.
...
Derek Su and Purple Lightning had already disappeared far ahead.
Chloe Qin stared down the track.
She couldn't even see Purple Lightning's taillights anymore.
She slumped back against the seat, despair filling her eyes.
Was she really supposed to spend the rest of her life moving around on eight mechanical arms?
No.
She couldn't accept that!
"Raise the synchronization ratio to 100%! I refuse to believe I still can't win!"
[Warning! Core overheating! Requesting cancellation of synchronization!]
The core didn't need to explain anything.
Chloe Qin could already feel a burning sensation spreading across the back of her head and down her spine.
But compared to spending the rest of her life relying on mechanical arms to move, she felt this much pain was still bearable.
"Request denied!" she shouted.
[Sizzle... sizzle...]
[Synchronization ratio increased to 100%... sizzle...]
Joy flashed through Chloe Qin.
But before she could even experience 100% of Derek Su's driving techniques, the burning sensation at the back of her head and along her spine suddenly intensified severalfold.
"Ah!"
She screamed in pain and immediately realized something was wrong.
"C-Cancel synchronization! Hurry!"
[Sizzle... Core overheating...]
[Synchronization ratio increased to 100%.]
[Sizzle...]
A burst of piercing static filled the cockpit.
The AI core's electronic voice suddenly became frantic.
[Canceling syn... synchronization...]
[Cancellation denied!]
[Cancellation... failed!!]
WHOOSH—!!
A deep blue flame burst from Chloe Qin's spine and instantly set her hair ablaze.
Viper caught the smell of something burning.
She looked up at the rearview mirror.
Then froze.
Her breath caught, and her pupils shrank to pinpoints in terror.
In the driver's seat, Chloe Qin was convulsing violently.
Her entire head had been swallowed by raging flames.
...
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