Umamusume's days are numbered

You really dare to say that...

Platinum felt no emotional fluctuation whatsoever; he simply found it somewhat amusing.

After all, she and Haidu Star had never met, and she had only seen one photo of Haidu Star as a newborn baby... It would be quite difficult for her to become interested in Haidu Star based on a baby photo.

Just then, Haidu City sent him another message.

【This child, Haidu Zhixing, is a bit strange. Please bear with him. I'm truly sorry.】

After much thought, I feel that only you can be this child's friend; I can't trust anyone else. She doesn't have many friends because she often talks nonsense, so even if it's just to appease her, please talk to her a little more. Thank you.

Platinum's tightly furrowed brows relaxed.

You should have said so earlier. Oh, I see. You wanted your child to be looked after by an electronic cloud service.

Just like finding a gaming companion, Haidu City is trying to deeply understand the inner thoughts of today's young people and find a breakthrough in other areas.

To be honest, Bai Jin felt this task was quite troublesome, but Hai Du City had already asked him for it, and it really wasn't that difficult. He could easily chat about it casually while surfing the internet, less than a thousandth of his usual online activity.

Moreover, Haidu City is still on its list of potential anchor points, so building good relations is never a bad thing.

You can rest assured with my work, I'll get it done perfectly for you.

It's just taking care of kids, right? Being friends is hard, but being a kindergarten teacher for a kid is easy!

In her past life, Platinum had the experience of opening over a dozen chat accounts and chatting with different netizens using different personas when she was bored. Switching between over a dozen personalities in a minute—isn't that terrifying? Being a kindergarten teacher would be a piece of cake for her.

Platinum then switched back to the chat interface of Ocean Star.

【How old are you, little sister from Haidu Star?】

I'm fourteen this year, the same age as you.

"Fourteen years old? He's still just a little kid." Platinum muttered to herself, as Alice looked at her with an expression that seemed to say, "Do you know what you're saying?"

As for the part about being the same age as you, Platinum simply ignored it.

You're still a very, very long way from becoming my lover.

What about those who become your friends?

Hmm...it's a bit of a distance, but not far, maybe two or three days?

【That’s it. 】

What are your hobbies and interests?

[Does liking running and watching clouds count?]

Alice clicked her tongue as she watched Platinum gradually become more and more enthusiastic about chatting with Haidu Star.

"You can be pretty awful sometimes."

"None of your business. I'm just taking care of the kids online."

?

The small jeep quietly turned and drove into the gas station.

"I need to refuel first. Ladies, you can get out of the car and stretch your legs for a while. We'll be driving on the highway for a long time from here on out," the driver explained to the three of them.

Platinum patted its belly in response, then swayed as it opened the car door, then swayed as it stepped onto the ground, rocking back and forth.

Ever since finishing the special race, I don't know if it was because she was too tired from fighting against Golden Gun Sixty, or because winning against Golden Gun Sixty made her a little euphoric, or because her old habit of staying up all night had relapsed, but in short, Platinum has been in this half-dead state, like a salted fish that has been pickled and can turn itself over.

Aili Digital also got out of the car to stretch his shoulders. Even the driver got out and moved far away to find a smoking room to have a smoke. He wouldn't dare smoke in the gas station, but he couldn't go the whole way without smoking, so he could only have one now.

Only Alice remained in the car, her scarlet eyes, like Venetian blinds, fixed on Shirogane, who was practicing military boxing at the gas station, her mind replaying her conversation with the conman.

It was a night before the competition when Airi Soko knocked on the conman's door. After explaining her purpose to him, she fell into a long silence.

Alice knew that her question was very impolite, but she really didn't want to give up this opportunity.

After a moment of silence, the swindler gestured for Alice to sit down, and then sat down opposite her.

"You want to know about the secretariat? You should ask the American Equestrian Association. Haven't they already made the secretariat's information public?"

“That’s not what I want to ask. It’s what you, as a competitor, can only realize, things that can’t be found in these publicly available documents.”

This is a very private matter. Who knows why Alice is asking these questions, or what she intends to do with them? If it gets out, it could have a negative impact on scammers.

So the swindler just pondered and remained silent.

"As expected... is it really that unlikely..." Alice sighed inwardly.

"...Please." Alice stood up and bowed deeply to the conman. This was the first time someone as arrogant as her had ever bowed to someone else.

"This is important to both me and Platinum."

“In any case, we want to defeat the Secretariat, defeat her students…the route.”

The swindler's eyes flickered the moment he heard the secretariat's name.

"Defeat the Secretariat and the air routes? Why do you think that?"

Alice's head remained bowed low, and she gritted her teeth: "Of course it's because—"

"Platinum assured me."

"She told me that she has the world's number one talent, and that she is a peerless steed that will drive everyone crazy."

"She told me that she would stand at the top of the world."

"So I believe in her, and I will do my part for her. The Secretariat and the air routes are our biggest rivals and our fiercest enemies."

As Alice listened to what she was saying, the con artist's face twisted into a half-smile. Perhaps she really just wanted to smile gently, but what she showed was so vicious it sent chills down one's spine.

"What a loud tone."

"Leaving aside the secretariat, do you even know how outstanding the racehorses are on the route?"

"No one can compare to the Flight Line. Besides, Platinum hasn't even won this special event yet, so how can they challenge the Flight Line?"

The swindler also stood up and paced back and forth in the room, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the room, each sound pounding in his heart.

"···well."

In the end, the swindler sat back down in his seat.

"Please sit down. I will tell you everything I know."

The swindler said coldly, "It's not because I'm sure you have the ability to defeat that teacher and student pair, but to make you aware of their strength."

Episode 131 Born from a Mountain of Corpses and a Sea of ​​Blood

"The Secretariat is a very, very bad guy."

The conman sat on the edge of the bed, while Alice sat in the chair opposite him.

"Are you referring to the Secretariat's appalling racing style?" Airi Soko frowned. "You're the closest horse girl to that position in the Secretariat, so there's no doubt that what you're saying carries weight."

"No, I didn't talk about her playing style. The arena is like a battlefield. No matter what, winning the championship on the arena is a skill." The conman shook his head and denied Alice's words. "Moreover, the Secretariat's strength is real. Even I have to admit that the Secretariat is the undisputed number one."

"There are only two kinds of racehorse girls in the world: the secretariat and all other racehorse girls."

The con artist reached out her right hand and touched her jaw. This area had suffered a severe injury, not only causing her to lose almost all her teeth but also inflicting irreparable damage on her jaw. Since then, her expression had been stiff.

"I'm just saying that the person in the Secretariat is a really awful person."

"The Secretariat's arrival in this world as a racehorse girl is a blessing for her and for everyone else."

"On the field, the Secretariat's malice could only be vented on the other competitors. That guy harbored endless sadistic desires, and he suffered like a thirsty wolf if they weren't satisfied. If there were no race, she would be an even more twisted person."

"Secretariat... I highly doubt that she has any love for the competition at all. She's only on the track because she wants to shatter other people's dreams. For her, satisfying her sadistic desires and getting pleasure is far more important than winning."

This was the first time Alice had ever heard of such a secretariat—although she herself had never really understood what a secretariat was.

“But what I heard… no, I was just being nosy.” Alice immediately realized.

The Secretariat is a racehorse girl, but she is more than just a racehorse girl. She can almost be called a symbol of America, representing an era of America.

In the United States, some people may not know who the current president is or which party is in power. Some may not be into rap or basketball, but everyone absolutely knows Michael Jackson and his secretariat.

A hero like this naturally cannot have a negative image. Whether he has one or not, he cannot have one.

Perhaps only through the swindlers can one learn about the real Secretariat.

"That woman, absolutely no one can restrain her. The Secretariat is a complete monster, acting recklessly, and everything in her eyes is like fragile glass..."

The scammer continued.

Sometimes when I look into her eyes, I feel like I can hear the questions in her heart—

She was thinking: "Since I am so perfect, so powerful, and the most beautiful creature in the world, why should I listen to these people's orders and run around on this small track just to make others laugh?"

Listening to the conman's description, Alice felt a chill run down her spine. She felt nothing but utter absurdity.

If what the fraudsters say is true, then the Secretariat... is indeed a being from another dimension. Not just physically, but also spiritually.

"Of course, just describing it like this might not make it feel real to you." The conman paused for a moment, waiting for Alice to fully process the information, before continuing, "What I'm about to say is all hearsay, things I haven't seen with my own eyes. You can treat it all as mere speculation and just laugh it off."

"But since your target is the secretariat and the air routes, I advise you to take it seriously."

Alice pinched the bridge of her nose, still immersed in the shocking truth: "What could possibly shatter my worldview?"

"Heh." The swindler laughed for no reason. Unlike before, this laugh was full of mockery and ridicule, looking strange and terrifying.

The conman's two hands were clasped together in front of him: "Ever since she announced her retirement, the secretariat has been searching for her successor, for a student who can take up her mantle."

"And that student is the flight path."

"Yes, is it sheer luck, destiny, or perhaps the Secretariat's keen eye... to actually cultivate such a monster..." Alice was also very concerned about the flight path. After all, the one who would be facing Platinum in the future wasn't the Secretariat, but the flight path.

"Heh." That eerie, unsettling laugh came again, laced with endless mockery. In everyone's mind, the conman was always a man with a fierce face but a kind heart, but this conman…

Alice squinted at the conman. She seemed... genuinely angry?

"Although the secretariat claims to have only one student in the flight course... as far as I know, it actually has many, many students."

"Since her retirement, her secretariat should have taken in more than 600 female racehorses as her students, which is more than some of the students at Treson Academy."

Alice was speechless: "But...this...doesn't make sense..."

"What about these six hundred students? Why is only Hangxian showing up?"

“Because the secretariat doesn’t acknowledge anyone else,” the swindler said hoarsely. “She accepts all students, regardless of their talent, as long as they are willing to come.”

"Of course, it goes without saying what kind of treatment they will receive after becoming her students. Those horse girls will undergo the most rigorous, almost masochistic training, and be selected by the secretariat's proud elimination mechanism."

“The children who became students of the Secretariat thought their future was bright, but in reality, a nightmare was about to begin.”

"Naturally, regardless of talent, everyone is treated equally in the Secretariat. Her ultimate goal is not to train all of them to become talented, but to let them fight each other and select the one and only best individual from among them."

"The others are just trash. After being weeded out, they will be ruthlessly kicked out by the secretariat."

"And the one who won the final victory and became the Gu King was Hangxian."

Even Alice found it all unbelievable.

"This, this is impossible..." Alice shook her head, instinctively retorting, "So many horse girls have been abused, how could there be no negative news at all..."

“Because she’s in the secretariat.” The conman looked at Alice in silence and repeated, “Because she’s in the secretariat.”

"Moreover, she taught the flight path. She taught the super-dimensional racehorse girls who can rival her."

"This is the opponent you will face, an opponent born from mountains of corpses and seas of blood."

Episode 132 The Crow

Regardless of Alice's worries, Platinum is in a very good mood right now.

She couldn't think that far ahead; aside from winning the Yayoi Prize to unlock the level 2 shop and cure her Soul Dissolution Syndrome, all she did was eat, sleep, play, sleep, play, play.

Now that Platinum has finished his run, he naturally looks rather lazy.

After completing a full set of military boxing, Bai Jin felt completely refreshed. He stretched lazily, trembling slightly, and let out a satisfied sigh.

Not bad, not bad. When you get back, you can really brag that you're stronger than Golden Gun Sixty.

Don't worry about whether others are letting you win or not; the important thing is whether you won the race, right?