MG - Chapter 381: Neutralizing the Toxin (Patreon)

Five minutes later.

Stella lay obediently face-down on the examination table.

Derek Su's job was to place the cup-like devices on her back, while Torch stood beside him directing where each one should go and constantly adjusting the psychic energy flowing through the equipment.

Stella was different from Eden. Eden had already undergone three sublimations, and her physical resilience was terrifying. She could withstand rough treatment without a problem. Stella, on the other hand, had not even undergone her first sublimation yet, so Torch had to control the psychic-energy output precisely or she could easily be injured.

"Eek~♥"

Derek Su had been completely focused, his mind perfectly clear.

Then Stella suddenly made a little sound from the table.

His hand trembled.

The calm state of mind he had just managed to build collapsed instantly.

Wasn't this test a little too brutal?!

"Stella, don't make noises!"

With trembling hands, Derek Su pressed the glass cup into the assigned position. His eyes were bloodshot and his teeth clenched tightly.

"But... it tickles..." Stella turned her head slightly, looking wronged. "I'm already trying really hard to hold it in."

"Tsk, tsk. Your Master can't handle even the slightest provocation. You two should train more when you get home. That's what happens when someone's still a little virgin."

Torch continued stirring things up from the side, showing absolutely no mercy as she mocked both Derek Su and Stella.

Derek Su could only take a deep breath and force himself to calm down again.

Fortunately, Torch's treatment really was effective.

Each time a glass cup was pressed into place, it quickly sealed against Stella's skin. As Torch operated the equipment, white mist appeared inside. Once the mist dispersed, a deep-blue toxin began to collect beneath the cup.

Derek Su carefully watched the detoxification process across Stella's smooth, pale skin.

Before long, he became absorbed in the treatment itself.

Minute after minute passed. Even though Stella kept making little noises, Derek Su gradually stopped reacting to them.

Until...

"Here and here."

Torch poked both sides of Stella's butt and ordered, "What are you standing around for? Do you want your Mecha Girl to die from poisoning?"

"Wait, I understand putting the cups on her shoulders and back, but why do you need them there too?!"

This time Derek Su truly could not stay calm. He hurriedly looked away and refused to glance at the places Torch was pointing.

"Look at your Master. Completely hopeless."

Torch pointed at Derek Su while giving Stella a smug, mocking grin.

"And I've already told you, this isn't cupping therapy!" Torch crossed her arms and snorted. "The idea for extracting toxins did come from cupping, but this treatment is completely different. Forget it, explaining more would be wasted on you. Move aside. I'll do it myself!"

She snatched the glass cups from Derek Su and, with a mischievous chuckle, slapped one onto each side of Stella's butt.

Toxin was clearly being drawn from Stella's back, but the two new cups showed no reaction at all.

Afraid that her little prank might become too obvious, Torch immediately stepped in front of Derek Su.

"All right. She needs to stay like this for another half hour. Come with me to the training ground. By the time we get back, the toxin should be completely gone."

Torch was not deliberately dragging out the treatment.

The reason was the same as before. When treating Eden, she could run the equipment at maximum power, which made the process very fast. Stella had never undergone even one sublimation, so Torch could only use the lowest setting. It took longer, but it was much gentler on her body.

"Why are we going to the training ground?" Derek Su asked, confused.

Only then did he realize that what Torch had said outside the laboratory earlier might not have been a joke.

She really did intend to let him "ride" her again.

"Obviously, you're taking me around the track for a few laps. Why else would we go to the training ground? To jog?"

Torch grabbed Derek Su and dragged him away before he could object. She still remembered to tell Stella to stay put and wait until they returned.

...

A few months had passed since Derek Su last visited, and Resort Island's training ground looked completely different.

It had not only expanded, but had also become a three-level complex. What had once been a simple circular track now included climbs, descents, jumps, consecutive hairpins, desert sections, water crossings, and all kinds of other terrain.

Calling it a competition-grade super training ground would not have been an exaggeration.

"Governor Torch, are you planning to start your own club?"

Derek Su stood at the entrance, utterly baffled.

"As if I have that kind of free time." Torch clapped her hands.

Derek Su heard footsteps behind him.

He turned around and became even more confused.

Two Mecha Girls who looked extremely similar to DL-02 emerged from the shadows. One had short hair cut near her ears, while the other wore a ponytail. Their expressions and overall presence were nothing like DL-02's, however. If anything, they resembled emotionless robots.

The two DL-02 lookalikes handed Torch a bodysuit, then silently withdrew.

"W-who are they?"

"My subordinates."

Torch took off her white lab coat and glared at Derek Su. "Turn around. I'm changing."

The moment Derek Su heard that, he stopped thinking about anything else and immediately turned his back.

Were they other Mecha Girls from the DL series?

That was his first thought.

Yet something about them still felt wrong.

Rustling came from behind him as Torch changed into the bodysuit.

"All right. You can turn around now."

By the time Derek Su faced her again, Torch had already entered deployed mode.

The first time he saw Torch's vehicle body, he had thought she looked a lot like Stella.

Now that Torch had personally confirmed that her X-series was the predecessor to Stella's XC branch, the resemblance seemed even more obvious.

Derek Su opened the door and climbed into the cockpit on his own. Torch was Stella's senior model, and she had treated Stella without asking for payment. Out of both courtesy and gratitude, he felt he owed her this much.

He gripped the controls and started the engine.

"How do you want me to run it? Just tell me what you need."

Torch pulled out the metal spheres she had used to record his driving movements last time.

Compared with three months earlier, the spheres had clearly gone through several upgrades and now looked far more advanced.

Each one even had a tiny pair of wings beating rapidly on both sides.

The camera in the center of a sphere emitted a pale-blue glow that enveloped Derek Su.

"You know Chloe Qin's brain got fried, right?"

Torch's voice drifted back from the front of the cockpit.

"I know."

"AI Core technology is still immature. She was basically one of my test subjects, only she was far too extreme. If her personality hadn't been so radical, she wouldn't have burned herself out like that. But her death made my technology even harder to bring into the open. I can only continue the research in secret, otherwise the Techmasters' Alliance and the Human Federation will condemn me."

Derek Su did not dare say much.

Eden told him all kinds of things, probably because she believed he was worth cultivating.

Now Torch was also telling him information he probably was not supposed to know.

What exactly did she want from him?

Derek Su was not sure.

But he was beginning to understand one thing.

Torch and Eden might both be Governors of Mecha Island, but they were not walking the same path.

"Technology has to keep moving forward. Refusing to change only leaves you behind."

Torch's crimson-gold eyes met Derek Su's through the rearview mirror.

"No matter how many obstacles I face, I'll keep developing AI Core technology. You'll help me, won't you, Derek Su?"

Derek Su pursed his lips and remained silent.

It was not because he was cowardly or afraid of trouble. He simply was not alone anymore. He could no longer make major decisions in the heat of the moment. He had to weigh the consequences and think about what his choices would mean for Stella, Imperial Scale, Purple Lightning, and everyone else at the Stella Club.

If he were still completely alone, he might have answered Torch's expectations immediately.

He also understood that if he agreed to what Torch wanted, there was a very real chance she would eventually become his Mecha Girl.

Torch did not receive an answer, and the light in her eyes dimmed slightly.

But that trace of disappointment vanished almost immediately.

The path she had chosen stood against humanity, against Techmasters, and even against Mecha Island itself.

It was destined to be lonely.

There was no reason to expect anyone to walk beside her.

She alone would be enough.

"Drive."

Torch smiled, finally letting the matter go.

"Let me see how much you've improved over the past few months."