Umamusume's days are numbered

"Guess what happened?" Alice laughed heartily. "Those rumors were obviously untrue, but the doctor and trainer who delivered her didn't exaggerate in the slightest."

"The Secretariat has very long legs, extremely long. At the same time, her lower body strength is outstanding. This translates to an enormous stride and formidable speed."

"Her lungs are indeed very large, and her heart is twice the size of a normal person's."

"The Secretariat also has a huge appetite, a very huge one. But she has maintained her weight very well. The Triple Crown is a very tiring race, and I don't need to elaborate on the hardships involved. Yet the Secretariat's weight hardly changed after running the Triple Crown."

"This is indeed a divine steed of creation. The Secretariat exists to tell everyone: racehorse girls can really evolve so perfectly."

As she spoke, Alice waved the sleeves of her white lab coat, her expression smug. But then, Alice's expression immediately changed, and she smiled sinisterly with ill intent.

"But what if I said that even such a secretariat could very well be afflicted with illness right now?"

Platinum scratched his head, frantically trying to keep up with Alice's pace, his already not-so-bright brain working its magic: "You mean... you're speculating that the Secretariat is currently sick?"

“Of course.” Alice extended a finger to the tip of her pen, maintaining that sinister smile. This smile wasn’t one of schadenfreude, but rather Alice’s uniquely wicked sense of humor—she enjoyed the process of peeling back other people’s secrets bit by bit until they were completely exposed.

"Don't you find it strange? Although the secretariat has retired, she is a racehorse girl who is unprecedented and will never be repeated. For her, life after retirement is just beginning."

"But the Secretariat rarely appears in the media anymore. According to reporters, the Secretariat now lives a secluded life, almost completely isolated from the world."

It's almost like they're hiding some secret—

Alice licked her fangs with her tongue, her eyes slightly narrowed.

"Hahaha! But it's all hypothetical! It's just my own weird sense of humor, like those tabloid reporters who keep chasing after celebrities." Suddenly, Alice burst into laughter. "Sigh, if only I could meet the Secretariat in person..."

As she spoke, Alice wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes and wrote the Secretariat's name on the whiteboard.

"And this secretariat did not simply disappear without a trace."

Draw an arrow on the whiteboard, point the arrow downwards, and write a name below it.

"The Secretariat's student airline is now stirring up a whole new storm in the American horse racing world. Some newspapers are already calling the airline the new emperor of America."

Episode 62 The Shadowless One

"And Han Qun was also plagued by illness." After writing Han Qun's name, Alice paused slightly. "If you had seen her final outfit, you would be very curious as to why she would dress so conservatively in a place like America."

"Besides her own wishes, there was another important factor—the flight attendant had a very, very horrific scar on her back, which ran from her neck down her spine to her buttocks."

Alice took out a laptop and placed it in front of Platinum.

What was playing in front of them was the training footage of the flight course. The image showed a person speeding across a muddy track, kicking up clouds of dust.

Because it was a video recording, it was difficult to see clearly what kind of person the flight path was; all that could be discerned was that he was a person dressed entirely in black. Although he was wearing a combat suit, he was completely covered up, with a dark green coat enveloping his entire body, leaving no part of his back exposed.

"This guy is pretty funny, he even wears his final suit during training." After watching for a few seconds, Platinum commented without any reservations.

Who cares? I'm not going to run away with her anyway. We're halfway around the world and might never meet again in our lifetime. I'll just say it first and worry about the consequences later.

When asked, he said he was inferior to the Emperor of the East Sea; when asked, he said he couldn't outrun himself.

“Training?” Alice looked at Platinum with a half-smile. “How could I possibly be so well-connected as to obtain the flight path’s training records at the racetrack?”

"Watch closely, this is a world-class competition—the Malibu Championship!"

As Arisuko spoke, the camera finally moved away from the flight path, expanding to cover the entire track. Only then did Platinum notice the racehorses trailing behind the flight path!

···ha?

Bai Jin suddenly felt her teeth chattering, then her cheeks trembled, and then her whole body rustled like sand in an hourglass. She covered her face, still astonished at her own reaction—

A few seconds later, she realized what was happening. This feeling is called shock.

At that very moment, the flight path crossed the finish line.

"With a massive eleven-horse length margin, the route has become the champion of the Malibu Stakes! Did you hear that cheer throughout Santa Anita Park? Everyone from Alaska to Maine could hear it!"

"The route has lived up to the Secretariat's teachings; she has taken the baton of the times from the Secretariat!"

The camera refocused on the flight path. Because it was no longer moving at high speed, the camera was finally able to capture a close-up view of the path.

The dark green coat tightly wrapped around her, making it difficult to discern her height without any reference points. However, there was no doubt that she was very thin. Aside from the coat, everything else on her body was as black as ink, making the small white highlight on her forehead appear particularly striking. Surprisingly, her face didn't have the deep-set eyes, prominent features, and bright red lips that Bai Jin had in mind. Instead, she had thin, almost sculpted, bright red lips, and her tightly furrowed brows gave her a somewhat harsh appearance.

Besides that, the flight path had a pair of jet-black eyes. Jet-black, jet-black, like black holes slowly swirling around.

She ignored the cameras and turned to walk towards the inside of the arena. She stepped onto the railing, her steel-soled boots making a crisp sound against the railing.

Then, she unbuttoned her dark green coat, stretched out her right hand, and held the coat high in the air. The hem of the dark green coat fluttered in the air like a flag.

Sure enough, he was wearing a black shirt under his dark green coat. He was dressed entirely in black.

The cheers and rustling of clothes from the audience suddenly stopped. The video finished playing, and the screen only showed Hangxian's furrowed brow.

Suddenly, Alice appeared behind Platinum. She stretched out her arms, her wide sleeves encircling Platinum's neck. Alice smiled, her eyes narrowed, a crimson light flashing in her pupils.

"See that, Platinum? You said you were the most talented racehorse girl in the world."

"Your final opponent will be her."

"These are my conditions—I will do my best to help you treat your soul dissolution syndrome and help you train your body and legs in the most efficient way."

"As a price, you can't lose. You can't lose a single game. If you lose, I'll consider you worthless and I'll look for someone else."

"Similarly, if you can do that... I'll do anything for you. Not to mention helping you cure your soul dissolution syndrome, if you want the stars in the sky, I'll pluck them down for you."

The hands wrapped around Platinum's neck tightened suddenly. Platinum felt the intense warmth emanating from Alice, but also a sense of suffocation.

Alice's smile gradually widened, stretching to her ears. She embraced Platinum with a beaming smile, whispering sweet nothings in her ear like a lover, almost melting one's bones.

"So, can you do it?"

Damn it... What's wrong with Alice? Platinum was sweating profusely. She felt as if the thing around her neck was a wet snake that could snap her neck at any moment.

Only now did Platinum realize just how dangerous Alice was.

How did someone like that get into Treson Academy? Rudolf, did you even vet the students for admission? Throwing someone like Alice into Treson Academy is like throwing a tiger into a flock of sheep!

Logically, Platinum should have said a few nice words at this point, and then Alice would have let go of his hand, and sighed that she hadn't misjudged him...

But Platinum is a coward, she really is a coward.

Alice, that's terrifying. Platinum was already regretting going to the coffee shop to find her, following the divination.

"...If I said I'd try my best, do you think it would work?" Platinum asked tentatively and cautiously, her voice trembling.

She genuinely didn't think she'd ever have a chance to cross paths with someone like Hangxian in the future, and judging from the situation, how could she possibly win?

Why not just travel around China and make some money?

Perhaps not expecting such a humiliating response from Platinum, even Alice fell silent.

"How about... uh, we sign some kind of buffer agreement, like avoiding a fight doesn't count as a loss, losing a match doesn't count as a loss, bad weather doesn't count as a loss, etc..." Platinum cautiously pressed on while the iron was hot.

Survival is no small matter; it's not shameful.

"...I never imagined you'd need to start training in this area." Alice sighed softly, then laughed again.

"Hahaha! But that's what makes it interesting!"

"Do you really think you can escape, Platinum? Don't forget... you came to us of your own accord."

Episode 63 Pharmacist

On the first day of the new year, the Emperor of the East Sea got out of bed early.

"Good, Your Majesty is full of energy today!" Standing in front of the mirror, the Emperor of the East Sea smoothed his bangs and grinned at his reflection.

The Emperor of the East Sea, dressed in his school uniform, is in high spirits today!

With his backpack slung over his shoulder, the East Sea Emperor closed the dormitory door and ran out. On the other side of the bed, Maya Heavy Cannon shifted his position and continued to sleep comfortably.

What's wrong with a child sleeping a little longer?

After leaving the dormitory, the East Sea Emperor did not walk directly outside, but instead went up a few floors of stairs—she wanted to wake up Bai Jin first.

Bai Jin is a lazybones; if you don't wake her up, she can sleep until five minutes before class. At that time, she won't even have time to eat, let alone wash up. Then Bai Jin will have to attend morning classes on an empty stomach, and then Nishizaki Ryu will have a heart attack at noon.

Ever since he forced Platinum to eat at the cafeteria one time, the East Sea Emperor has been waking Platinum up every day on his own initiative.

It wasn't the trainer or the chairman who instructed her to do this, nor did Platinum herself make such a request. This was entirely the East Blue Emperor's own action.

As the older sister, it is my bounden duty to oversee my younger sister's every move and make sure she has a good breakfast!

Ever since his run with Platinum, the East Sea Emperor's mindset has undergone a strange transformation.

The sudden appearance of Platinum made the East Sea Emperor somewhat uneasy. However, after talking with her and receiving Rudolf's symbolic reassurance, the East Sea Emperor's inner turmoil subsided. Then, the way she looked at Platinum...

Yes, full of doting and affection.

Chronologically speaking, I, the Emperor of the East Sea, am undoubtedly Bai Jin's older sister. She's just shy and won't admit it yet.

As the older sister, it's only natural for her to take care of her younger sister!

Bai Jin never dreamed that she could arouse the maternal instincts of the East Sea Emperor. She only felt that the East Sea Emperor's gaze towards her was becoming increasingly strange.

"Platinum—Platinum—wake up!" The Emperor of the East Sea knocked on Platinum's bedroom door, but there was no response. This was normal; generally, Platinum wouldn't be awake yet at this time, and even if he was, he would still be groggy for a while.

But something was off today. The Emperor of the East Sea paused, and the ear on the top of his head twitched.

There was no sound coming from inside the room... It wasn't that the dorms at Treson College had poor soundproofing, but Ma Niang's ears were sharp enough that she could roughly guess whether there was anyone inside.

Strange... so early... where did Platinum go... he couldn't have been out all night, could he?

Thinking this, the East Sea Emperor sent a message to Platinum, ate in the cafeteria first, and then arrived at the training ground early.

Sigh... I was determined to drag Platinum to the training ground for morning practice no matter what.

As dawn broke, the sun rose later than usual, and it was only just now that the sunrise could be seen. The Emperor of the East Sea took a deep breath of the slightly cool air on the training ground.

Alright, that concludes today's training.

Just as the Emperor of the East Sea raised his arms to cheer himself up, a figure ran past him.

With white bangs, wearing sportswear, sticking out half a tongue, and looking utterly hopeless, he ran forward.

"—Platinum? What are you doing here?"

Although it seemed strange to ask, Platinum had never come to the training grounds in the mornings. This was the first time the East Sea Emperor had encountered Platinum at the training grounds.

Simply put, the question posed by the East Sea Emperor is this: Platinum, if you're possessed by a ghost, just blink.

It's like the sun rising in the west.

Upon hearing the shout of the Emperor of the East Sea, Bai Jin was speechless with emotion.

If given a choice, who wouldn't want to sleep in late in the morning?

Just like who doesn't want to stay up all night?

"Too slow, too slow, too slow—Platinum, what are you doing? What kind of speed is that?"

In the distance, a figure was shouting loudly through a megaphone.

"You still have the strength, right? I gave you a full check-up yesterday, so don't play the victim in front of me. I know your limits are far from being reached."

"If you continue like this, forget about the flight routes and the secretariat, even winning the classic triple crown will be difficult. Don't forget our agreement."

"Oh, I won't rush you or urge you, I'm just reminding you. Anyway, it's not a big deal if the agreement is torn up, right? Just keep in mind that this is something."

Hearing the voice behind her, Bai Jin couldn't help but close her eyes, and tears streamed down her face.

Why the hell?

Why did I listen to that damn fortune teller and go find Eliseko, and even outrun her?

Alice is really clinging to him now!

The figure holding a megaphone drew closer and closer to the Emperor of the East Sea. The Emperor of the East Sea could see clearly that it was a person who was riding a bicycle at high speed outside the training ground, holding the handlebars with one hand and pedaling with the other, while constantly urging people to hurry up on the training ground with a megaphone.

A languid voice, scarlet eyes like Venetian blinds—it was Alice herself.

Riding up to the Emperor of the East Sea, Airi Soko dismounted and grabbed the Emperor's hand, shaking it vigorously.

"Hello, hello, I'm Platinum's pharmacist. Nice to meet you in the future."

"Oh, oh..." Staring blankly as Alice took his hand, and then staring blankly as Alice rode off on her bike to chase after Platinum, the East Sea Emperor looked down at his palm, and then looked up at the two people who were getting further and further away.

What's the situation?