"What did he mean by that? Does he actually plan to compete in Nosk?"
Kyle Zane looked at the office door, laughing in exasperation.
"Him? Can he even finish the race? A rookie who's never competed in a single event!"
"Master, don't get upset," Jade said with a smile, massaging Kyle Zane's shoulders. "That kind of person is just all talk. He has no machine girl, no driver's license, and no way to enter Nosk. Even if he did, it'd be pointless—he doesn't even know the race rules."
"You're right." Kyle Zane stroked Jade's hand and chuckled. "Still, Shane Summers does have some skill in modification. If it weren't for you, I'd really hate to kick such a talented mechanic out of Apex Club."
"Master, once we win the Nosk Rally and gain fame, we'll naturally attract more mechanics."
"That makes sense." Kyle Zane thought about his module factory, which had shut down due to gambling debts.
He had spent all his money to acquire [Jade-786]. Initially, seeing how close Jade was to Shane Summers, he hadn't considered contracting her—after all, the bond between a machine girl and a driver is a mutual choice, and forcing it would be meaningless. But now, with Jade-786 voluntarily becoming his machine girl, the Nosk Rally was practically in the bag. Once his factory was back in business, his debts would be no issue.
…
The night wind was cold, making Shane Summers shiver.
He didn't spare Apex Club another glance, leaving without any lingering attachment.
If Jade-786 had stayed with him, he could've tolerated her lackluster performance. At worst, he'd take her to more races, using his driving skills to compensate. Over time, her stats could improve, and she could become a renowned machine girl. But since Jade-786 looked down on him, he no longer had any regard for her either.
"This world has taken rally racing to the extreme, but because the cars are machine girls, the excessive intelligence has turned drivers into a bunch of overgrown babies who know nothing—not even how to execute a catapult start," Shane Summers said, staring at a streetlamp, a cold smirk curling his lips.
Leaving him was undoubtedly the biggest regret of Jade-786's life.
People live for one thing: to prove themselves.
"I've already made my boast. Now I need to find a way to contract a machine girl."
Shane Summers frowned. No matter how much he looked down on the simplistic 200-kilometer Nosk Rally track, he had to admit he currently lacked the qualifications to compete.
There were two main ways to acquire a machine girl.
One was to buy one from a specialized machine girl dealership. The other was to join a club, which would assign auctioned machine girls to its drivers. That's how Jade-786 had come into his hands. Apex Club had auctioned three machine girls on Cyber Island. After unmanned driving tests, only Jade-786 stayed. The other two, unwilling to become utility vehicles, chose to be scrapped, ending their lives.
For machine girls, losing the ability to race on the track meant losing their purpose.
Many machine girls, after being eliminated, chose to be scrapped, wiping their intelligent cores to create new machine girls. To Shane Summers, this seemed incredibly cruel, but in this world, it was commonplace. People respected scrapped machine girls but didn't pity them.
"Looks like I'll have to check out the scrapyard. Hopefully, there's a machine girl who hasn't chosen to be scrapped yet."
Shane Summers sighed, standing by the riverbank, gazing at the brightly lit city that never slept. Finally, he took out his phone and dialed a number.
"Hello, who's this?"
"Uncle Leon, it's me, Shane. Didn't you say you wanted to pass the scrapyard down to me? I'm in."
There was silence on the other end, only the sound of the wind whistling.
"Shane, you're giving up on being a racer? Did something happen at Apex Club?"
"I'm done with it. Racing's too dangerous. I've thought it through—I'm the type who's better off living an easy life, taking over your scrapyard."
On the other end, Uncle Leon stepped inside, and with the sound of a door closing, the wind's howl stopped abruptly.
"Didn't you insist on being a racer before? You even said my job was for old men. Why the sudden change of heart?"
Shane Summers clenched his fist but didn't speak.
"Well, that's fine too. In this life, nothing's better than staying safe… Come back quick, I'll make your favorite fish soup."
Uncle Leon, sensing Shane didn't want to talk, didn't press further.
…
Shane Summers hailed a taxi on the street and slid into the passenger seat, finally feeling a bit warmer.
This world had ordinary vehicles too, but they were only for basic transport, not eligible for rally races or capable of transforming into soft, sweet girls.
"Driver, take me to Honest Scrapyard."
The driver nodded and drove quietly.
When Shane first arrived in this world, he was practically a beggar. Uncle Leon had taken him in and raised him like a son. Uncle Leon was a kind old man, though his health wasn't great—he was always coughing and sometimes clutched his chest, wincing for a long time. The old man constantly urged Shane to take over the scrapyard, shaking his head whenever Shane mentioned wanting to be a racer.
Shane didn't understand why. After all, in this world, racers were the elite, the fast track for ordinary people to climb the social ladder.
"We're here."
The driver's voice snapped Shane out of his tangled thoughts.
He paid and got out, facing a vast ruin.
The place was piled with wrecked race cars, and a rusty sign stood by the gate—Honest Scrapyard.
After machine girls were scrapped, their bodies lost their intelligent cores, and the remaining wrecks were collected by the scrapyard. These wrecks were hauled away by the government each year, which paid the scrapyard a lump sum. Since the scrapyard had to pay clubs to take their machine girls, they earned money from the difference.
Uncle Leon lived in a small wooden cabin at the center of the scrapyard.
As Shane entered, the aroma of fish soup filled his nose.
"Shane's back?" The kitchen curtain parted, revealing a hunched, weathered old man.
His hair was almost entirely white, and when he smiled, the wrinkles on his face bunched up like old tree bark. "Fish soup's almost ready—nice and hot!"
He turned and shuffled back into the kitchen.
"Uncle Leon, where are the machine girls sent for scrapping a few days ago?" Shane asked, setting down his backpack.
"They're in the warehouse," Uncle Leon's voice came from the kitchen. "Poor kids. Since you're back, go check on them for me. They're set to be scrapped tomorrow morning. If you can convince them to become utility vehicles, that'd be best. If not, so be it."
Arranging for machine girls to be scrapped was the scrapyard's job.
As the scrapyard's overseer, it was his duty to provide counseling before scrapping. From a human perspective, scrapping a machine girl was no different from suicide. If a machine girl agreed to become a utility vehicle, she could not only survive but also contribute to society in other ways.
Shane had helped Uncle Leon with this kind of work before. Many machine girls were dead-set on scrapping and couldn't be persuaded.
He hurried to the warehouse, pulling a key from his belt.
"Guess I'll have to try my luck."
He took a deep breath. His next step was to see if he could find a potential racer among the machine girls about to be scrapped. But he knew the odds were slim to none—machine girls who chose scrapping were the rejects, with no hope for their future.
To put it bluntly… they were just a bunch of defective products.
…
In the scrapyard's warehouse, a girl in a silver bodysuit sat huddled in a corner, clutching her knees.
No other machine girls were around, only two wrecked race cars nearby.
In the cockpits of the wrecks, the machine girls' intelligent cores floated silently, indicating they had already begun disassembly before scrapping.
At the girl's chest, a silver-glowing intelligent core, like a star, was slowly emerging.
She, too, was undergoing disassembly.
Creak—
The warehouse door swung open, and Shane Summers, rushing in, caught sight of the scene.
"Stop!!" he shouted.
The girl froze, startled, and the half-emerged intelligent core retreated back into her body.