Umamusume's days are numbered

"I...I'm sorry, I've said too much."

These two sisters are incredibly critical of each other. It's hard to imagine what they've been through.

Faced with this situation, Bai Jin really couldn't squeeze out much more information. All she could do was offer a dry, comforting reassurance: "Don't take it to heart."

On the other hand, Jin Qiang Liu Shi acted as if nothing had just happened, casually putting everything out of his mind.

"Uncle He, do you have enough cars? There are more guests than we expected this time."

"Don't worry, there are three cars waiting in the parking lot, enough to get all the contestants to the racetrack together."

Alice thought for a moment, then asked, "Could it be... there are other people?"

"What a coincidence, isn't it?" Golden Gun Sixty grinned. "I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence either. Judging by the time, it should be here soon."

"The last old friend has returned from a long journey across Europe—"

As he said this, Golden Gun Sixty turned around with a smile: "Don't you think so, Haidu City?"

As if to echo Jinqiang Liushi's words, the crisp sound of high heels reached everyone's ears.

"Hehe. I'm relieved to see you still so energetic at sixty, even though I just got back to Hong Kong."

From bottom to top, the clatter of pure black high heels followed a pair of slender legs. They hardly looked like the legs of a racehorse girl, as they were far too thin and lacked any muscle.

Perhaps to suppress this sickly thinness, a bright and bold orange trench coat was put on her body, and a crimson scarf was wrapped around her neck, her lips and eyes sparkling.

Her fluorescent blue hair was tucked into her beret, which made her look more delicate and innocent, and even more playful.

Standing before the crowd, pulling her suitcase, the woman in the trench coat smiled serenely.

"It's been a long time since I've been back here. It's just the same as before, nothing has changed."

"Are you talking about Hong Kong or me?" Jinqiang Sixty opened his arms and rushed forward.

"Both." The woman in the trench coat awkwardly opened her arms, her touch with the golden spear lasting only a moment before they parted.

Haidu City—also a retired racehorse girl.

Her career as a racehorse girl ended early, and her overall record was mediocre, pale in comparison to someone like Gold Gun Sixty.

However, she possesses an honor that everyone must acknowledge: she is the champion of the Arc de Triomphe!

In that most prestigious competition in the world, amidst fierce battles between monsters and geniuses, the one who was the first to lift the trophy!

This is an honor that neither the Golden Gun Sixty nor even the Rudolf symbol has received. For this alone, Haidu City is worthy of being remembered in history.

Not to mention, Hai Du's brilliance has only just begun to shine after her retirement. Right now, Hai Du's younger sister, Hai Du Zhi Xing, is sweeping across various awards in Europe with unparalleled momentum.

It's obvious to everyone that the era of the Haidu Star Sisters has arrived in Haidu City.

"Why are you all wearing sunglasses?" Hai Dudu looked at Uncle He's head, then at Jin Qiang Liushi, and couldn't help but smile.

"I really didn't expect you to come. After all, your sister is still preparing for war, right?" Golden Spear Sixty made a peace sign in front of himself and put his arm around Uncle He's shoulder. "Don't you think this will become a trend?"

"One day, everyone will like wearing round-framed sunglasses."

"There's nothing I can do, it was your request." Hai Du City shook his head helplessly. "Who else, our old friends, came?"

"The con artist arrived early; I think she's been waiting for so long she's practically rusting. Then there's you and Alice Digital. The others either couldn't get away or sent their juniors over." Golden Gun Sixty pointed to Platinum standing in the distance with Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate. "Look, the little guy Rudolf symbol sent over."

Hai Dudu could tell what Jin Qiang Liushi was thinking at a glance, and couldn't help but advise, "That's Rudolf's junior, you're not planning to make a move, are you?"

Haidu City knows Jinqiang Sixty very well. This guy is reckless and lawless, while Baijin... just one look and you know he's in Jinqiang Sixty's strike zone.

Rudolf, you've essentially handed your sister over to the tiger's den.

Episode 78 Night Talk in the Car

"If you ask me, you must have some misunderstanding about me."

Sitting in the driver's seat, Jinqiang Liushi skillfully pulled the handbrake, and the all-black sedan sped off the street as the traffic light turned green.

Bai Jin glanced at her, then looked at Hai Du City and Aili Digital sitting behind her, and chuckled inwardly.

Platinum sat in the passenger seat, while Hai Dushi and Aili Digital sat in the back, watching the buildings rush by.

Everyone else was packed into the other two cars. Three identical black sedans drove in a straight line down the street, with Jinqiang Liushi leading the way.

Platinum originally wanted to sit in another car; Golden Gun Sixty seemed rather unreliable, giving her a menacing feeling. However, Golden Gun Sixty firmly pressed her shoulder and shoved her into the passenger seat. After all, it wasn't easy to refuse someone else's offer to sit in their car.

He wouldn't even squeeze his own sister in, and his old friends, Alice Digital and Haidu City, were sitting in the back seat. He deliberately pulled himself to the front seat. Platinum didn't even dare to think what Jinqiang Sixty was up to.

"How is Ah Li doing in Japan? Is she alright?"

While gripping the steering wheel, Jinqiang Liushi asked.

"It's alright, I feel like I'm doing pretty well." Bai Jinxin thought to herself, "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to answer that?" She really didn't have anything to say, so she could only offer a dry, uninformed response.

The main problem is that Platinum isn't really familiar with the people around her, and Alice is putting her under high-pressure training every day, practically training herself in her own dreams. Where would she find the time to have a heart-to-heart talk about leaping over the dragon gate?

It's like making up for the lack of education in your previous life.

"That's good." However, Jinqiang Liushi's attention didn't seem to be on the carp leaping over the dragon gate. She glanced at Baijin sitting next to her. "We are sisters, but I am much older than her."

"You understand, right? When an older sister sees her younger sister, she feels like she's become half a mother."

"I watched her learn to walk little by little, watched her learn to talk, watched her try to fight back against me and fight with me... but I never won."

"Although her current situation is still quite disappointing, she is still my sister. Even if she doesn't even want to call me 'sister' and even if she runs off to Japan on her own, this relationship cannot be changed."

"She might hate me, but it doesn't matter to me. I hope she can become excellent, and I hope she can really achieve great things, just like her name suggests."

Halfway through his sentence, Jinqiang Liushi laughed at himself: "I'm saying all this because you're Ah Li's friend. I'm very grateful that you're willing to be friends with her... I wish you would call me 'sister' too."

"I feel like being your older sister would save me a lot of trouble."

"No need." Why does everyone want me to call them "sister" these days? Do I have some hidden title?

Come to think of it, did I unintentionally step on someone else's misfortune? Sure enough, no matter where you are in the world, there will always be the saying "someone else's child".

Hai Dushi, who was listening silently in the back seat, couldn't help but sigh softly: "I didn't expect your relationship to have deteriorated again."

"I remember a time when you two had a very good relationship."

"It's not a big deal if we don't get along. In fact, I'm quite satisfied with it." Jinqiang Liushi glanced at Haidu City leaning against the car window in the rearview mirror. "A bad relationship means she has the will to rebel against me. That's good. It means she's not a useless person. I would be even more satisfied if she had slapped me just now."

"And then you slap them back?" Hai Dudu shook his head repeatedly. "You treat your family as enemies."

"Isn't it quite interesting? In the end, isn't the process of growing up a process of rebellion? Rebelling against the authority of parents and gradually gaining the power to reverse the status quo." Jinqiang Liushi shrugged. "It's just that the opponent for the carp leaping over the dragon gate has changed to me."

"You two are really..." Hai Dudu stopped trying to persuade him, "My Hai Xingxing is much cuter."

Changing the subject, Hai Dudu became noticeably more excited. She took out her phone and scrolled through her photo album: "Have you ever seen my little sister? She's so incredibly cute, she's practically a little angel..."

"Sea City Star? She's quite active on the field now..." Ali Digital chimed in after hearing about the new pony.

"Anyone who didn't know better would think you were talking about your newborn daughter," Jinqiang Liushi mocked. "You're such a siscon."

Completely ignoring Jinqiang Liushi's taunts, Haidu City handed the phone to Aili Digital and Baijin, his face beaming with a happy smile: "Look, this is my sister."

"Oh," Platinum remarked.

"Oh," Alice Digital exclaimed.

It's not that Haidu Star is bad, but the photos released by Haidu City make people suspect that the wrong one was taken—a small, wrinkled baby wrapped in a cloth is lying in someone's arms, crying loudly.

I originally thought they would post photos from the Ocean Star competition or everyday life, but instead they posted a photo of him right after he was born... that's quite a heavyweight post.

"Isn't she cute?" Hai Dudu looked at Bai Jin and Aili Digital with a smile, as if expecting their praise.

...What should he say at this moment? Bai Jin felt like his brain couldn't keep up with this group of people. Hai Dushi, you look so handsome with thick eyebrows, but it turns out you're not quite right either!

"Well, it's pretty good-looking," Platinum could only reply dryly.

Aili Digital took a deep breath.

This love... this constant care and protection, this unwavering attention from childhood to adulthood...

It's the same kind of aura.

Aili Digital keenly sensed that... Hai Du City was probably the same kind of person as themselves.

The difference is that she is pushing all the My Little Pony girls together, while the city of Haidu is like a steadfast reef on the coastline, enduring the waves again and again, yet remaining unmoved.

Day after day, year after year, in this dazzling, bewitching world, we watch over it tirelessly...

"I will only love Haidu Star in this life!" Aili Digital saw this belief in the eyes of Haidu City, and she couldn't help but feel a deep respect.

This is a tribute to the ultimate single-pusher.

“My partner.” Alice Digital solemnly extended her palm towards Haidu City.

"...My partner." After a moment of confusion, Hai Dudu seemed to understand something, and he even grasped Aili Digital's hand with tears in his eyes.

The two held each other's hands so tightly they almost seemed to merge into one.

What an epic meeting, the beginning of a great friendship.

It would have been even better if this friendship hadn't started because an older sister excitedly shared photos of her younger sister as a baby.

Episode 79 Welcome

"Let's not talk about that anymore." Golden Gun Sixty turned on the radio, then casually asked, "Can I turn on some music?"

At that moment, a sharp, short, and clear trumpet note rang out. Accompanied by the melodious sound of the saxophone, a cheerful jazz tune, seemingly leaped out from the last century.

"Is this Bai Jin's first time in Hong Kong?" she said enthusiastically to Bai Jin. "Hong Kong is a big city..."

It seemed she hadn't given up on seducing him. Platinum couldn't help but shrink back.

"So big that it's just a few islands?" Hai Dudu suddenly interrupted from behind, seemingly quite unhappy that his sister's topic had been interrupted.

"..." Golden Gun Sixty decided not to stoop to the level of this siscon, "Besides, it's also very modern..."

"Hasn't it been like nothing has changed much in over twenty years?"

Slightly taken aback, Golden Gun Sixty glanced at Haidu City in the rearview mirror and continued, "And the culture here is also very developed..."

"You mean those Hong Kong movies from the last century that only you would secretly watch? I remember you loved watching God of Gamblers and even pestered Grandpa Ni to teach you how to cheat."

"...Let's take a look at the night view of Hong Kong instead."

Accompanied by jazz music, the car drove up a gradually rising slope, and then the shimmering, boundless sea came into view.

Night had fallen on the city, casting a dark veil over the sea. But in Hong Kong's night, even the sea was clear and shimmering. This time, the light didn't come from the sun in the sky, but from the cold sun on the ground.

Through the obscured view of the interwoven steel bars, the distant city gradually awakens, and flashing neon lights illuminate the scene like scattered blood diamonds on the sand.

Platinum stared blankly at the scene before her, the reflection of the entire city in her black pupils.

The deafening noise drowned out the jazz music playing on the car stereo. Platinum covered his ears, seemingly watching as an airplane flew low over the sea, its wings flapping like a whale leaping high from the ocean, the roar of its engines like a whale's song. The trails left by the wings resembled sperm whale excrement, hanging high in the air.

Red, yellow. Cold blue, magnificent purple, and dazzling white. The city is like a nest built of light, or a ball of fireflies. Cars speed across the bridge, disappearing into the night, and advertisements hanging on the towering buildings are clearly visible.

"Um... I'm sorry to disturb your enjoyment of the night view... but you were speeding at 60, you know?" Hai Dudu broke out in a cold sweat and pointed to the dashboard in the driver's seat.

She seemed to be a little carsick, and had been leaning uncomfortably in the back seat since she got in the car.

"Isn't this a normal speed?" Golden Gun Sixty said slowly.

Jin Qiang Liushi acted recklessly and without restraint. And this unrestrained nature manifested in his nonchalance, letting nothing bother him...

That's a nice way of putting it. A less nice way is to say it's like holding a grudge overnight.

This guy... is extremely vengeful.

A piercing horn blared in their ears. Gold Gun Sixty and Platinum looked in the direction of the sound and saw a bright red convertible pulling up beside Gold Gun Sixty at the same speed, honking its horn incessantly.

The car was packed. The driver was a Black man with dreadlocks, a blonde woman sat in the back, and a white man stood on the convertible's seat, playing the saxophone. The sea breeze ruffled their hair, and the Black driver whistled flippantly.

"Fuck off! You jerk!" Platinum heard the black driver yell.

"We're too conspicuous," Hai Dudu said, looking out the window. A row of black cars swaggered down the road, speeding as well, looking...incredibly annoying.

"Conspicuous?" Golden Gun Sixty sneered and rolled down the car window. The person opposite probably didn't expect the driver to be a woman, and paused for a moment when they saw her face.

Then Jinqiang Liushi stretched out his right hand and raised his middle finger at those people.

"I'm going to search the house to find your mother!"