Retrieving the Mecha Girl from the Refining Furnace

"What did he mean just now? Does he really plan to participate in the Norsk?"

Zhang Kai laughed in disbelief, staring at the office door.

"Him? Can he even finish the race? A rookie who's never participated in any competition!"

"Master, don't be angry." Yu-786 smiled while massaging Zhang Kai's shoulders. "Such people are all talk. He doesn't have a mecha-girl or a driver's license, so he can't participate in the Norsk. Even if he did, it would be meaningless - he doesn't even know the competition rules."

"You're right." Zhang Kai stroked Yu-786's hand with a chuckle. "Though Su Nian does have some skills in modification. If it weren't for you, I'd really hate to kick such an excellent modifier out of the Tengyue Club."

"Master, once we win the Norsk Rally, we'll gain fame and naturally attract more modifiers."

"That's true." Zhang Kai thought about his module factory that had stopped operating due to gambling debts.

He had spent all his money to acquire [Yu-786]. Previously, seeing Yu-786's good relationship with Su Nian, he hadn't thought about contracting with her, since the bond between mecha-girls and drivers was a mutual choice - forcing it would be meaningless. Now things were better - Yu-786 had voluntarily become his mecha-girl. This Norsk competition was practically in the bag, and once his factory was revived, his debts would be easily settled.

...

...

The night wind was cold, making Su Nian shiver.

He never looked back at the Tengyue Club again, feeling no attachment.

If Yu-786 had stayed with him, he could have barely accepted this unremarkable mecha-girl. At worst, he would have taken Yu-786 to more races, compensating with his driving skills. Eventually, Yu-786's attributes would have improved, and she could have become a renowned mecha-girl. But since Yu-786 looked down on him, naturally he would no longer think highly of her either.

"Although this world has developed rally racing to the extreme, turning race cars into mecha-girls and making them highly intelligent has also turned racers into giant babies who know nothing - they don't even understand launch control," Su Nian gazed at the street lights, his lips curling into a cold smile.

Leaving him would definitely be Yu-786's biggest regret in this life.

People live not for anything else, but to prove themselves.

"I've already made the boast, now I need to find a way to contract with a mecha-girl."

Su Nian frowned. No matter how much he looked down on the Norsk rally with its simple track and 200-kilometer length, he had to admit that he currently wasn't qualified to participate in races.

There were two main ways to acquire a mecha-girl.

Either buy one from specialized mecha-girl dealerships, or join a club where they would assign auctioned mecha-girls to their drivers. That's how Yu-786 had come to him. At that time, the Tengyue Club had auctioned three mecha-girls at Mechanical Island. After autonomous driving tests, only Yu-786 stayed; the other two mecha-girls refused to become utility vehicles and chose to be recycled, ending their lives.

For mecha-girls, life without racing on the track was meaningless.

Many mecha-girls chose recycling after being eliminated, having their cognitive cores wiped clean to create new mecha-girls. Su Nian found this extremely cruel, but in this world, it had become commonplace. People respected recycled mecha-girls but didn't feel particularly sorry for them.

"Looks like I'll have to check out the recycling yard, hoping some mecha-girls haven't chosen recycling yet."

Su Nian sighed, standing by the river, gazing at the sleepless city's bright lights. Finally, he took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Uncle Liang, it's me, Nian. You mentioned before about passing the recycling yard to me? I accept."

Silence fell on the other end of the line, with only the sound of wind howling.

"Ah, Nian, you're giving up being a race driver? Did something happen at the Tengyue Club?"

"I'm done with it. Being a race driver is too dangerous. I've come to my senses now - I'm just the type to live an easy life. Inheriting your recycling yard would be fine."

Uncle Liang on the other end had gone inside; with the sound of a closing door, the howling wind suddenly stopped.

"Weren't you dead set on being a race driver before? Saying my work was for old folks - why the sudden change of heart?"

Su Nian clenched his fist but remained silent.

"Well, it's fine. In life, nothing's better than peace and safety... Come back quickly, I'll make you your favorite fish soup."

Uncle Liang knew Su Nian didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't press further.

...

Su Nian hailed a taxi on the street, shrinking into the passenger seat, finally feeling some warmth.

This world had ordinary vehicles too, but they only performed basic transportation tasks. They couldn't participate in rallies or transform into soft, fragrant girls.

"Driver, to the Conscience Recycling Yard."

The driver acknowledged and drove quietly.

When he first arrived in this world, he had lived like a beggar until Uncle Liang took him in and raised him like a son. Uncle Liang was a good-natured old man, though his health wasn't great - he often coughed and sometimes had to clutch his chest, frowning for long periods to recover. The old man always wanted him to inherit the recycling yard and would shake his head whenever he mentioned wanting to become a race driver.

Su Nian couldn't understand why, since in this world, being a race driver was an elite profession and a shortcut for ordinary people to climb the social ladder.

"We're here."

The driver's prompt snapped Su Nian out of his complex thoughts.

After paying and getting out, he faced a vast ruins.

The place was filled with wrecked race cars, and in front of the weathered gate stood a sign - Conscience Recycling Yard.

After mecha-girls were recycled, their vehicle bodies lost their mechanical cores, and the remaining wreckage was collected by recycling yards. These remnants would be taken away by the government annually, with a one-time payment to the recycling yard. Since recycling yards had to pay clubs for the mecha-girls, they made their profit from the price difference.

Uncle Liang lived in a small wooden cabin at the center of the recycling yard.

When Su Nian entered, the aroma of fish soup was already wafting in the air.

"Nian's back?" The kitchen curtain lifted, revealing an old man with a hunched back and a weathered face.

His hair had turned almost completely white, and when he smiled, the wrinkles on his face piled up like old tree bark. "The fish soup will be ready soon, nice and hot!"

He turned and disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Uncle Liang, where are the mecha-girls brought in for recycling the other day?" Su Nian put down his backpack.

"They're in the warehouse." Uncle Liang's voice came from the kitchen. "They're all poor children. Since you're back, go check on them for me. They'll be recycled tomorrow morning. If you can persuade them to become utility vehicles, that would be best, but don't force it if you can't."

Arranging mecha-girl recycling was the recycling yard's job.

As the yard manager, one had the duty to provide psychological counseling before recycling. From a human perspective, mecha-girl recycling was no different from suicide. If mecha-girls were willing to become utility vehicles, they could not only survive but also contribute to humanity in other fields.

Su Nian had helped Uncle Liang with this work before. Many mecha-girls were determined to be recycled and couldn't be persuaded otherwise.

He rushed to the warehouse and took out his key.

"I can only try my luck."

He took a deep breath, hoping to find a potential racing candidate among the mecha-girls about to be recycled, though he knew the possibility was nearly zero. The mecha-girls who chose recycling were all eliminated ones who had no hope for their future.

To put it bluntly... they were just a batch of defective products.

...

In the recycling yard's warehouse, a girl in a silver bodysuit was huddled in a corner, hugging her knees with her head down.

There were no other mecha-girls beside her, only two race car wrecks.

In the race cars' control rooms, the mecha-girls' mechanical cores floated silently, indicating these two had already completed their pre-recycling disassembly.

On the girl's chest, a mechanical core emanating silver light like a star was gradually emerging.

She too was undergoing disassembly.

Creak—

The warehouse door opened, and Su Nian, rushing in, caught this scene.

"Stop!!" he shouted hurriedly.

The girl froze in surprise, and her half-emerged mechanical core retracted back in.