Chapter 426: NO.9: You just want to trick me a second time, but I'm not that stupid

NO. 9: You just want to trick me a second time, but I'm not that stupid.

In tokusatsu works, vehicles are an indispensable part.

Especially in the branch of the Kamen Rider series, the knights' title of knight, although there are also interpretations of Western chivalry and heroic bearing, actually comes from the fact that they all have mounts.

In 1970, MBS's Chang Guang Longyi, who liked motorcycles, requested in the third Kamen Rider plan to add the setting of 'a hero riding a motorcycle'.

This request was accepted, and thus the concept of the 'knight' in Kamen Rider was established.

Tokusatsu is ultimately just a kind of filmed work.

The work can be fantastical, but filming is constrained by reality.

Just as the designs of Ultraman and monsters in the Ultraman series are more or less limited by suit-making technology, the Kamen Rider series must follow the traffic restrictions of the filming location.

The urban speed limit of 50 kilometers per hour is a rule that tokusatsu cannot overcome, and it is also the main reason why the presence of Kamen Rider's motorcycles is diminishing and the vehicular combat scenes are becoming increasingly distant.

Such restrictions originating from one's hometown are much looser in this world, and there are also many workarounds that can solve them.

For example, actual track filming.

Just like on the video screen right now, the two crimson and black‑silver race cars are fiercely engaging in 'attack and defense'.

On those bends, straights, and U‑turns where big reversals often happen, the crimson Lamborghini and the black‑silver twin‑lotus, without activating any simulated opponents, directly go at it 1v1, repeatedly engaging in high‑intensity duels, fully showing the performance and quality of contemporary race cars.

Undeniably, intense duels on the racetrack mean accidents.

Interceptions, breakthroughs, inner‑lane cuts, counter‑interceptions, lane‑change accelerations… the results of these actions are several inevitable frictions and collisions.

At such times, one can not only show performance and quality through the most direct visual effects, but also demonstrate the driver's skill.

Then you can see that these two are truly not human.

Literally speaking, in terms of visual effects.

In the two corners of that video replay, the tiny picture on the driver's seat can be fully enlarged by operation, and then the flame‑flow flying, pupil‑shattering posture can be seen more clearly.

At least the driver in that red supercar merely has such non‑human effects.

Switch to the black‑silver twin‑lotus car, and the one sitting in it already looks nothing like a person.

The Uma Musume's domain (zone), the devil's devil‑trigger (DevilTrigger).

Delicate hands, ferocious demon claws.

In the split‑screen of the spliced slope, the contrast is fully shown——

——yet in the close‑up of the gear shift, steering wheel, and instrument panel, it shows the same astonishingly quick handling.

Making those two cars, even if they momentarily deviate or stall from friction and collision, not be seriously damaged or destroyed, but instead smoothly recover their rhythm and remain on the track!

This peril‑free response is even more tense than the Uma Musume's race, because if the horse girls were to behave so recklessly on the track, they'd end up lying in a row in the emergency treatment area.

And Wan Shan Ji's car, however, is very durable.

Pursuing toughness while guaranteeing speed fully shows the value of contemporary materials science.

Of course, it also largely attests to the financial standing of Old Driver Wan Shan.

"A qualified driver should avoid damaging or wrecking the car, right? Aomo Trainer's judgment when the car loses direction is also excellent! Why push all the credit onto the car?"

This always‑galloping brown‑haired horse girl usually has a straightforwardness no less than Ling Ya Masun's, and with a palm that holds back nothing, she slaps Aomo on the back, making him stagger at once.

"... Trainer?" "I'm fine."

He raised his hand to refuse Chazuo's attempt to help him up, Aomo straightened himself, looked at the horse girl who was still in 'perfect condition' after the race, and smiled helplessly.

The demon's eyes can see into people's hearts, but Wan Shan Ji's cheerfulness is undisguised; the raised corners of his mouth are so obvious, even his title is upgraded without a trace.

Going from Lin Dun Trainer to Aomo Trainer, this obvious change inevitably makes him feel that this girl's favorability is far too easy to raise.

It's just a single race, and moreover nothing miraculous has happened.

At the end of the race replay, the two cars cross the finish line one after another; the leading one is a Lamborghini tachLP400S.

Because the distance gap is too obvious, there's no need for a slow‑motion replay.

The winner, Wan Shan Ji, upheld the dignity of a world‑class driver—wait, is it really necessary to be this happy? It's just a victory over an amateur driver……

Is it because there are too few people to race with on ordinary days, or because you think too highly of me?

"Since Miss Wan Shan Ji said that, I shouldn't have to pay the repair fee, right?"

Aomo looked somewhat oddly at the black‑silver car that, while not seriously damaged, had many scratches and even slight dents; even someone who knows nothing about cars can tell the repair cost won't be cheap.

Although his finances are now quite ample, enough to continue the original plan—taking everyone out to eat—even if he can't afford to feed a desert hero, he still wouldn't want this sudden expense.

"Just call me Wan Shan, ~" Wan Shan Ji waved her hand, then suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "If you're my sister, that'd be even better! Aomo Trainer, you're 19, right?"

"……" Aomo was at a loss for words.

And then she naturally shifted: "Of course, how could I let Aomo Trainer pay the repair fee? It was just my own rash invitation."

"Right! How does it feel?"

"Huh?" Aomo was startled by her sudden change of topic again.

Especially as she looked at him with an utterly serious gaze, seeming to eagerly await his answer.

"Racing, racing!" Seeing Aomo so clueless, the big sister's ears drooped slightly, then she perked them up again to give a reminder.

While reminding, she also didn't forget to turn her head and glance at the girls nearby.

They, who had been watching the drone livestream in full from the stands, found the replay equally engrossing; now they each locked eyes with themselves, gazing at their own gaze falling back onto that still‑'wooden' trainer.

"Why do you think I like racing?" she asked again.

"I've heard that Miss Wan Shan was a professional racer while active, and her choice after graduation was only natural——" The sentence trailed off, Aomo gave another helpless laugh, "Of course, that kind of answer is probably not what you want to hear."

"You should know that Xiao Qianming and Rudolf both think highly of you." Wan Shan Ji's words seemed to miss the point.

But this is also the reason she distinguishes herself from Ling Ya Masun.

The old driver's gear slots are just as many as Kamen Rider Drive's (x).

"Well then… thank you for your kindness."

"So then, guess, guess what I really want to hear."

"I guess… well… maybe there's no need to guess?" Aomo turned his head, responding to the five pairs of eyes fixed on him.

Wanshan Siji's glance at them was also the perfect 'reminder'; the satisfaction on their face at that time didn't look like it was for promotion.

"Horse girls are all people especially obsessed with speed, and you, among them, are particularly hopeless."

"What poor wording, it's not easy to make girls like you that way."

"Isn't this what Miss Wanshan wanted to hear?"

"Mm~ indeed, it's hard to deny, but Trainer Aomo, I was initially asking how you felt."

"Me?"

"Although the movements in the video are always meticulous, the dilation of the black flame in those pupils should count as an expression of excitement, right?"

""

Aomo fell silent for a moment; this was the first time someone had bluntly spoken about his emotions in his demon form, and the other person's eyes did not avoid his gaze, instead causing him to drift off slightly.

Because those eyes were not unfamiliar; they had appeared many times in the footage.

Because the timing of getting into the fandom was off, he could only see that person's archival footage from years ago; many of the horse girls Aomo had trained could only exist in such an 'archaeological' state, turning into fleeting, faint yearning.

But there are also situations like this now, where those eyes that enjoy speed have stepped out of the image and into reality.

Then he also noticed the swaying of those two ears on the other's head.

The frequency was very high, quite nervous, and also quite sly.

Horses and horse girls alike are creatures whose emotions can be revealed by their ears.

"Miss Wanshan."

"Mm-hmm, I'm listening."

"The match is already over; I won't run a second time."

"Eh~~~!"