MG - Chapter 360: [Panlong Mountain, Part 2] Explosion (Patreon)

Five minutes earlier, elsewhere on the second section of the Panlong Mountain Circuit.

In the end, Dawnbreak still hadn't been able to beat Snowpeak when it came to their skills.

The cooldown on her special skill was simply too long. Using it a second time in the same race was almost impossible.

She had been forced to activate it early to evade Ice Soul's special skill, leaving her with a long period of weakness afterward.

"Laiya An, Dragon Stone Road is just ahead."

A road sign flashed overhead.

Dawnbreak sighed. "Our club probably isn't going to do very well in this race, but making the top ten shouldn't be a problem."

"That's already great~" Laiya An smiled reassuringly. "It's a race. All we can do is give it our best. Besides, wasn't our original goal just to make the top ten?"

"But I heard the top three get more Awakening Serums, which means a better chance of becoming a Techmaster. I want you to become a Techmaster."

"There's no telling with something like that. If I really have what it takes to become a Techmaster, then even one bottle of Awakening Serum will be enough. If I don't have the talent, ten bottles won't help." Laiya An took it all in stride. She waved a hand and said casually, "Dragon Stone Road is way too difficult. Let's take Return Dragon Ravine instead. Wouldn't want you smashing yourself up and coming out covered in bumps."

Dawnbreak pursed her lips.

She had Impact Resistance and stability modules installed now. Was she really that fragile?

Still, she wasn't exactly confident about taking [Dragon Stone Road]. She and Laiya An had trained on it before the race, but this was a downhill section, and her current speed was much higher than during practice. She had no idea whether the two of them could make it through Dragon Stone Road without taking any damage.

They continued forward, only to hear a series of violent explosions suddenly echo throughout Panlong Mountain.

"Thunder?!"

They were in the middle of a downpour, so Laiya An's first thought was thunder.

Dawnbreak, however, immediately became wary.

Thunder didn't sound like that.

And thunder didn't make the ground shake.

She carefully scanned the track ahead and suddenly spotted a mass of flames near an upcoming turn. Black pieces of a vehicle were scattered around the fire. They looked like the remains of a Mecha Girl. The mountainside beside them had completely collapsed, leaving behind a crater twenty or thirty meters across.

"W-What is that?!"

The instant Dawnbreak saw the crater, a chill swept through her entire body.

And the racers directly ahead of her and Laiya An were Leon Li and Snowpeak.

Those vehicle fragments looked like they belonged to Snowpeak.

Had Snowpeak... been bombed?

But how could there possibly be bombs on the Panlong Mountain Circuit?

Dawnbreak was just about to tell Laiya An what she'd seen when a strange, piercing whistle came from the sky.

By the time she reacted, a silver missile with a mirror-like surface was already following close behind them.

It was about as thick as an adult's arm and made from some unknown material. It flickered in and out of sight through the curtain of rain, radiating a chilling sense of lethal danger.

"Is that... a missile?!"

Dawnbreak could clearly sense the deadly threat coming from the humming projectile.

Her breath caught as she immediately connected it to the crater and Snowpeak's wreckage they had just seen.

Leon Li and Snowpeak had most likely been attacked by one of these missiles.

"Did the race organizers arrange this? How could something like that be here?!" Laiya An exclaimed as she stared at the spatial collapse bomb in the rearview mirror.

"Master, we're in trouble. We need to find some way to shake it."

Dawnbreak gritted her teeth and forced herself to remain calm.

No sooner had she spoken than they passed the devastated mountainside.

The moment Laiya An got a clear look at Snowpeak's wreckage, the atmosphere inside the cockpit turned deathly still.

"Laiya An, the missile is locked onto me. In a moment, I'll eject the cockpit. The shock-absorbing structure should protect you from the impacts along the track..."

"What about you?" Laiya An asked calmly, gripping the control stick even as her hands trembled.

"I'm a Mecha Girl." Dawnbreak smiled. "I'm tough. Did you forget I can pick you up with one hand like it's nothing? Besides, you installed that stability module for me earlier. I'm even tougher than I used to be. A measly missile like that? I can take it easily."

Laiya An said nothing.

She knew perfectly well how powerful that missile was.

Its blast radius was at least fifty meters, and its concentrated destructive force was terrifying. It could even carve a smooth, deep crater into solid rock.

Leon Li and Snowpeak ahead of them had clearly been attacked by a missile as well, and now they were nowhere to be seen.

Dawnbreak obviously intended to let Laiya An escape alone while she drew the missile away and detonated it at a safe distance.

But could Dawnbreak really survive that?

With an explosion that powerful, there probably wouldn't be anything left of her.

If Laiya An abandoned Dawnbreak, even an ejected cockpit wouldn't necessarily save her. A human body was too fragile to endure the violent impacts that would follow. If the cockpit rolled off a cliff, she would die all the same.

Dawnbreak was different.

If Dawnbreak concentrated all her strength on protecting herself, she actually had a real chance of surviving.

Just as Dawnbreak had said, Mecha Girls were far tougher than humans.

Besides, Dawnbreak wasn't merely her Mecha Girl.

She was her family.

Her most beloved partner.

And Laiya An herself probably didn't have much hope of surviving anyway...

Once that thought settled in, it no longer mattered that she had no idea where the attack had come from.

Laiya An's gaze only grew more determined.

"Laiya An? Master? Can you hear me?"

The homing missile was now less than three meters behind them.

When Laiya An continued to remain silent, Dawnbreak grew more and more anxious.

She couldn't take control away from Laiya An.

From the moment the missile had appeared and Laiya An realized there was no way to shake it off, she had seized the controls and refused to release them.

Because of the Core Contract, Dawnbreak couldn't forcibly take control back.

"I heard you." Laiya An poked Dawnbreak's butt and deliberately kept her voice light. "You're seriously underestimating my driving. Maybe I can shake the missile after all."

"This isn't the time to joke!" Dawnbreak cried. "We're almost out of time!"

Dawnbreak's frantic, breaking voice brought their conversation to another halt.

"But I told you I'd never leave you... How could I abandon you now?"

The carefree smile had vanished from Laiya An's face.

She clenched the control stick with both hands, her voice trembling.

"Master, this is an emergency!"

Laiya An remained silent and pulled the control stick, making one last desperate attempt.

But she wasn't Derek Su.

She didn't possess that almost unbelievable level of skill.

Instead of gaining distance, her maneuver only allowed the missile to close within two meters.

They could now clearly hear the hum of it tearing through the air.

Closer.

Closer still.

It was almost as if they could hear Death breathing behind them.

Laiya An grabbed everything within reach and threw it out the window. Her helmet, her gloves, even a bottle of mineral water.

But the wind pressure rushing through the open window made everything difficult to hold, and once she threw them, she couldn't aim properly at all.

Hitting the missile was out of the question.

"Master!!!"

Dawnbreak's voice was trembling now.

A pair of crimson wings of light spread from both sides of her vehicle body.

The performance boost from Overclocking allowed her to use [Extreme Stance] once again. Her Impact Resistance and speed surged sharply, while the cockpit was simultaneously [Fully Reinforcing].

Dawnbreak stared at the stone steles lining both sides of Dragon Stone Road ahead.

She knew that entering Dragon Stone Road, packed with obstacles as it was, meant certain death.

Laiya An realized the same thing almost immediately.

She turned the control stick and took Dawnbreak into Return Dragon Ravine.

"We can survive this!" Laiya An shouted, tears glistening in her eyes.

Dawnbreak was Overclocking now.

The sudden burst of speed seemed to push Death's scythe a little farther away.

They could survive.

They could!

Laiya An repeated those words to herself over and over.

There were still so many wonderful things she and Dawnbreak had never experienced together.

They hadn't become world champions yet.

They hadn't defeated their incredibly strong idol yet.

They hadn't even celebrated a birthday together...

How could they possibly die here?!

Dawnbreak kept accelerating.

But then more piercing whistles came from the sky, one after another.

The single missile behind them became three.

The other two were black.

They were even faster.

And every bit as deadly.

It was as though someone could see everything happening on the track and was determined not to let Laiya An and Dawnbreak escape alive.

But Overclocking couldn't last forever.

The scenery beyond the rain-streaked windows raced past faster and faster until everything gradually blurred.

"I don't want it to end like this..."

Laiya An bit down on her lip until blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

She raised her eyes and met Dawnbreak's gaze in the rearview mirror.

For a long moment, she simply looked at her face.

Then her gaze shifted to the three missiles pursuing them relentlessly.

Dawnbreak couldn't outrun them anymore.

Once Overclocking ended, she would enter a weakened state.

And in that weakened state, the missiles would inevitably hit her.

They couldn't drag this out any longer.

If there was any way to intercept those missiles, there was probably only one option left...

Laiya An didn't know exactly how tough the cockpit became after being reinforced by the skill.

But she was certain of one thing.

It was more than tough enough to detonate the missiles early.

"Master? Master! We're out of time!"

Laiya An listened to Dawnbreak's frantic cries and took a deep breath.

Her entire body relaxed.

Only determination remained in her eyes.

"Dawnbreak, I'll agree to your plan. But before we carry it out, you have to agree to three conditions."

She tried to keep her voice steady.

She also tried to keep the tears from spilling out of her eyes.

"Tell me."

Dawnbreak was wound tight with anxiety.

All she wanted was for Laiya An to agree as quickly as possible.

She could already imagine the kinds of conditions Laiya An might give her. Something like making her promise to stay alive.

But then...

"First, Dawnbreak. Disable every cockpit protection measure except the emergency ejection system right now. Concentrate all your defenses on your vehicle body."

Before Dawnbreak could answer, Laiya An continued.

"Second, keep going forward. Don't stop until you reach the finish line, until you find the logistics team or the medical team. No matter what happens, you are not allowed to turn back."

"Master?!" Dawnbreak froze as her face gradually went pale. "You can't..."

"That's an order! An order enforced by the Core Contract!!"

For the first time, Laiya An gave Dawnbreak an absolute command in such a stern, merciless tone.

Until now, she had never forced Dawnbreak to do anything she didn't want to do.

Dawnbreak couldn't resist.

Tears burst from her eyes.

"Laiya An, w-what are you trying to do? You said you'd never leave me..."

Tears filled Laiya An's eyes as she gave her a small smile.

Then she stated her final condition.

"Dawnbreak, turn on the onboard recorder."

[Beep—]

The onboard recorder activated at her command.

"I'm sorry, everyone at the club." Laiya An's gentle yet steady voice filled the cockpit. "Because of a mistake I made while driving, we ended up in serious danger during the race. There's no turning back now. I hope you'll all take good care of Dawnbreak from now on...

"And to my idol, I'm glad I got the chance to compete against you.

"Thank you."

When she finished, Laiya An stood and wrapped her arms around Dawnbreak, pressing against her back one last time.

Amid Dawnbreak's cries, she gave the command.

"Cockpit ejection system, activate.

"Keep going. Run as fast and as far as you can. Don't look back..." she whispered into Dawnbreak's ear.

"No, Master, don't..."

Ignoring Dawnbreak's panic, Laiya An gently released her.

Bang!

The ejection system activated.

Laiya An and the cockpit were launched away together.

"Goodbye... Dawnbreak..."

[If there's a next life.]

[I'll still choose to be your pilot.]

She twisted around to face the three incoming spatial collapse bombs and spread her arms wide, as though shielding Dawnbreak behind her with her own body.

"COME ON—!!!"

A single tear shattered in the raging wind.

BOOM—!!!

Blazing fire merged with warped space.

The terrifying pressure instantly flattened everything around it.

And that petite figure was swallowed along with it.

Completely consumed...