Doctor will never die in a hellish situation.

Qin Duanyu shrugged and silently dialed the number for Texas.

Meanwhile, Shining, seated in the front, muttered to herself, "I've already shown the Doctor another side of myself, successfully closing the distance and creating a sense of closeness and trust. Next should be guiding him, but the atmosphere isn't quite right yet; I need to wait a little longer..."

Chapter 17, Section 296: Exia always manages to come up with something new.

At this moment, only the Pineapple Sisters remain in the lead.

These two are dressed in a bizarrely funny outfit, all bright yellow speckled with plastic protrusions, truly making themselves look like pineapples. Especially the Sakata girl, who, because she can't wear a hat due to her halo, has dyed her hair green.

"I don't know why, but all the competitors have left. It seems that Kamisama is protecting us." The Sakta girl laughed heartily, thinking that the rest of the time was just a waste of time, and all she had to do was reach the finish line and collect her prize.

"So why are we dressed like this? It's really awful. If you're afraid of being recognized, you could at least change your look," the Lupo girl in the back seat said, shaking off the pineapple leaf decoration on her head, with a hint of dissatisfaction.

The colors above their heads, symbolizing life and forgiveness, always gave her a strange feeling, as if they were hinting at some unbearable past experience.

"This is the costume Croissant wore when she worked part-time at the fruit shop. I don't have the money for those fancy things, so I just used it as my disguise for the competition," Exusiai sighed and said helplessly.

If she had the money, she would like to dress up in a cool and stylish outfit like the other contestants. She would never wear fruit, which she hates the most, because pineapple pie is just too awful, and apple pie is the best.

On the bright side, this greatly reduces the chances of them being recognized. After all, besides the clothes they were wearing, their motorcycle was also stolen from their best friend Texas—or rather, temporarily borrowed. How embarrassing would it be if she found out?

Fortunately, in just over ten minutes, Exusiai will become a little rich woman, able to pay off the debt from buying the gun and even eat one apple pie and throw it away.

I'm determined to take the championship prize money, and nobody can stop me! That's what I, Ah Neng, am saying!

hum-

The phone vibrated, and Exia glanced at the screen, nearly driving her motorcycle off the track.

Texas!

"A-Neng, where did you run off to?" Texas's cold voice came from the other end of the phone.

"I was just wandering around outside. I suddenly felt a bit bored at night, so I decided to go for a walk to clear my head." Exusiai thought for a moment and came up with what she thought was a reasonable excuse.

"Then why is there such a loud wind next to you? Even if you're riding an electric scooter, I'm right in the company parking lot, in front of your car."

"...I'm jogging right now, taking a leisurely stroll to relax and exercise at the same time, so I'm a little out of breath."

"A-Neng, did you ride your motorcycle out and wander around?"

Texas's blunt question instantly shattered Exusiai's illusions.

Damn it, we were found out after all!

"How could that be? Do I look like such a boring person? As for the motorcycle, Croissant must have ridden it away." Exusiai swallowed hard, trying to make a last-ditch effort.

The motorcycle she and Lappland rode, if you really want to trace its origins, actually belonged to Croissant. It was something she impulsively bought when she saw a discount, but after calming down and thinking about it carefully, she realized it was actually pretty useless.

This high-displacement motorcycle does look cool, and it's powerful and capable of off-road driving, but Penguin Logistics, whose main business is in Lungmen City, basically doesn't need these features.

For ordinary items, the electric scooter can handle it, and for large, heavy items, there is a truck. Except for the occasional urgent delivery to nearby villages and towns, it is almost useless. On the contrary, the daily maintenance and fuel costs are quite high.

So, at the end of a certain month, Croissant, who was starving, had a bright idea and "pawned" his motorcycle to Texas for the original price of 18,000 LMD. Although there were still several months until the agreed redemption date, the minotaur was still living for the moment and obviously did not intend to take it back.

Therefore, Texas became the true owner of the motorcycle.

"Croissant? Someone took her work costume, even the spare one in the washing machine, and also stole her gas card. So she's furious and looking for the thief everywhere," Texas said meaningfully, with the minotaur's roar faintly audible beside her.

"Ha, that's really despicable. If the culprit is found, you must take me with you to teach that bastard a lesson." Exusiai forced herself to laugh a few times, trying hard to prove that she had nothing to do with it.

"That motorcycle, the doctor just called to say he's found a buyer for me, and they'll be picking it up tomorrow. So I don't want anything to go wrong before then, like it being damaged by someone's rough handling." Texas, having already identified the culprit from her tone, said coldly.

She only took the beat-up motorcycle from Croissant out of sisterly affection; she had no interest in it whatsoever and naturally hoped to sell it off so she wouldn't have to see it and be bothered by it.

However, impulsive consumers like Minotaur are a minority. Just when she was about to be stuck with the item, the Doctor called that evening, saying he had found a sucker willing to buy it for 20,000 Lungmen Dollars.

Besides being delighted that she had made a profit instead of a loss, she was also deeply moved by the doctor's thoughtfulness and care. He had only mentioned it casually when he came to the safe house, but he remembered it.

That's why this deal must be completed perfectly; we absolutely cannot make things difficult for the PhD!

"If the criminal can appear before me within three minutes, I might consider not pursuing the matter, and I'll even put in a good word for her with Croissant, and reimburse her fuel costs." Texas knew she couldn't just resort to intimidation, so she offered relatively tempting terms.

Exusiai hesitated for a moment, and the car gradually slowed down.

……

Seeing that Shining had surpassed Exusiai, Qin Duanyu knew that this move had succeeded.

Fortunately, when he was hanging out with Texas earlier, this girl, unable to find anything to talk about, took him around and casually mentioned that motorcycle with complicated relationships. The bull horn decoration on the front of the motorcycle left a deep impression on Qin Duanyu.

It's so ugly, no wonder it's never sold.

So even though Lappland and Exusiai were dressed in a ridiculous and comical way and had dyed their hair, Qin Duanyu still recognized them after seeing the car.

To cut off the source of the problem, since we can't beat them, we should confiscate their equipment.

Exchanging 20,000 Lungmen Dollars for 1.2 million seems like a very good deal.

When the time comes, once we buy the motorcycle, we'll give it to Red Blade Bro as a gift so he can get back to the village faster. He'll probably be incredibly grateful and work even harder to train Rhodes Island's operators before he leaves.

As for Ah Neng, although she will be very unhappy after losing the game, as long as you help her calm down the angry Texas and Croissant, and feed her some apple pie and take her out for a walk, she will basically be fine.

Finally, he "accidentally" lets Texas know that he's actually paying for it himself, and there's no such thing as a sugar daddy. The girl will be very touched and might even agree to play the POCKY game with him...

This wave, you might make money, but I'll never lose!

Just as Qin Duanyu was envisioning the future, Exusiai suddenly twisted the throttle and sped off.

“Daga, Koukouwalu!”

This was the last thing Texas heard before the other party hung up.

Section 297, Chapter 18: Perhaps, life is bound to have regrets.

Although she had been slightly distracted and allowed Shining to overtake her, Exusiai quickly regained her competitive edge after refusing to return to Penguin Logistics, maintaining a distance of several hundred meters and relentlessly staying behind the two.

"Lappland, remember to use Wolf Spirit to speed up later. We need to overtake those two Sarkaz at the next intersection!" Exusiai's eyes were fixed on Qin Duanyu and Shining's backs, and she adopted a serious posture, which was rare for her.

"A-Neng, what are you doing? Texas is really angry this time. She might already be out looking for people with a knife!" Lappland, who was behind him, had just exchanged text messages with Kong and, judging from the feedback she received, the situation was very bad.

Normally, she would be happy to play around with Texas, but now both Exusiai's gun and her dual swords are in Exusiai's room. Facing the fully armed Texas, she can only be beaten to a pulp.

"But I want to win, to get first place in the competition," Exusiai said through gritted teeth, her determination unwavering.

"Why? If you feel it's too much of a loss to give up the assistant position, then just void the terms of this deal. Anyway, I had a lot of fun tonight, so rankings don't really matter to me." Lappland was a little confused as to why her best friend had suddenly become so persistent.

A-Neng never cared about Lungmen Dollars; they were something he could earn back after using them. Even though his initial motivation for participating in the competition was to win prize money to pay off his debts, the friendship with Texas was clearly more important.

Besides, her biggest creditor right now is Rhodes Island. Even if she can't repay the money when it's due, the Doctor will at most demand payment in kind, which wouldn't be a loss for Exusiai. She might even be hoping for that.

The most important thing should be to rush back immediately and appease Texas's anger.

"Well, in your eyes or the Doctor's, I'm just a crazy girl who does whatever she wants, right?" Exusiai said with a wry smile.

Isn't that so? Lappland didn't answer, but the meaning in her eyes couldn't be clearer.

“Indeed, although I say that Texas is living such a carefree life because of my protection, in reality, if it weren’t for her, Croissant and I would probably have robbed a bank long ago.” Exusiai’s smile became more and more bitter, and then she asked out of the blue, “Have you ever played arcade games? You know, those fighting games.”

"Huh?" Lappland was a little confused about Exusiai's train of thought.

“I’m really good at those kinds of games. I can play for an entire afternoon with just one coin. I almost made the Doctor cry when we were on our date in Siesta,” Exusiai said to herself. “But last time I ran into the Doctor while buying apple pie, besides going to the supermarket, we also went to the arcade downstairs.”

"And then you beat the Doctor to a pulp?"

"That's right. After bullying the doctor to get revenge for my swollen lips, I started challenging other skilled players in the arcade. But there was one person who was just too good. I used up all my coins and still couldn't win once. When I came back with more coins, I found that the doctor had beaten that person to a pulp."

"So the Doctor is pretending to be weak while actually being strong?" Lappland frowned.

Based on her understanding of Qin Duanyu, she figured that this guy was deliberately hiding his true abilities because he had some bigger plan, such as tricking A Neng into coming to his house to play games, and taking off a piece of clothing for every time he lost. And A Neng, who was confident that he was a master at crushing noobs, would definitely fall for the bait easily.

This silly boy, he's probably thinking about something else entirely.

“Now I understand. The Doctor was deliberately going easy on me. It’s essentially the same as Texas borrowing money every month but never intending to get it back. He was just simply looking out for my feelings.” Sure enough, Exusiai continued, her tone full of determination.

“Even I sometimes want to prove to everyone that I can do things beautifully without needing such special treatment, like winning this game.”

"Then why this time of year? And why risk completely enraging Texas?"

"It might just be my imagination, but I always feel like the Doctor is watching me from some corner, maybe even in the audience, so I want him to see me win. It's ridiculous, isn't it? Just because of this inexplicable guess, I actually wanted to stick it out until the end."

At first, Exusiai really just wanted to win the championship, pay off all her debts, and buy a bunch of apple pies. But when she received the call from Texas, her mindset suddenly changed.

"Sigh, I just can't do anything with you. Anyway, everyone thinks I'm crazy, so I'll just go along with your madness this once. You'll use Wolf Soul around the corner up ahead, right?"

"Thank you, Lappland."

"Well, just remember to give me the assistant's opportunity."

……

*Longmen swear words*, what on earth is going on? Qin Duanyu was filled with questions when he noticed that A-Neng's motorcycle was rushing up from behind and quickly overtaking him as he rounded a bend.

He once thought that Ah Neng would also withdraw from the competition in a dejected manner, just like the previous ones. He never expected that this little fool would go crazy for some reason and ignore Texas's request, determined to snatch the championship.

This hothead, isn't she afraid of being ganked by my Druid? Lappland, you need to do something, at least try to persuade her! Just seeing that Lappland is willing to use Wolf Spirit to speed up, I know that Lappland must have been convinced, which is why he's willing to go along with her.

It's always Ah Neng, Ah Neng again, and Ah Neng once more!

Girl, are you sent by God to torment me?

But this was ultimately just Qin Duanyu's powerless rage. Despite all his scheming, he couldn't change the fact that he was going to lose the championship. He might as well just enjoy the process of the competition, as Shanling suggested. After all, the original purpose of going out was just to go for a drive.

Moreover, I've never seen Exusiai so serious and persistent before. Maybe there really is some reason why she absolutely has to win? This completely different side of her is surprisingly cute.

It's just a mere 1.2 million Lungmen Dollars. Since A-Neng is so eager to win, let her have her way.

Hmm, it's so soft and fluffy, which is much more important than any competition.

Knowing that victory was hopeless, Qin Duanyu simply abandoned those utilitarian thoughts and settled down to enjoy the experience of riding in the same car with the beautiful sword saint. Feeling Miss Flash Spirit's graceful figure and the things that occasionally brushed against his arm, his thoughts gradually softened.

"Hey, Doctor, what's wrong?" Noticing that the person behind her suddenly relaxed and even rested their head on her shoulder, Shining clearly realized that Qin Duanyu's mentality had changed.

"It's nothing, I just suddenly understood what you said. Enjoying the process is more important than the result." Qin Duanyu gently inhaled the girl's fragrance, closed his eyes and said with a touch of intoxication, "Thanks to you, I had a lot of fun tonight. Although I don't remember what happened in the past, it's good to create new memories from now on."

"It's wonderful that you think that way. I was worried that you were too focused on winning and losing and neglecting more important things. It seems I was overthinking it," Shining said meaningfully, her heart filled with joy.

The Doctor seems to be completely different from the time of the Tower of Babel, and has returned to the way he was when I first met him.

"After all, I was competing with Miss Shining. Although I initially really wanted to win the championship and create a beautiful memory with Miss Shining, since things have come to this, I can only let it go." Qin Duanyu said casually, trying to hide his initial desire for LMD, and looked like he had seen through it all. "Well, maybe that's just how life is. Sometimes you'll have some regrets."