Tell My Mother I'm No Coward

Yellow-Haired flinched with a start, turning to look at Lin Xiao, who had spoken.

"What is it?"

"Wait a moment, let's move further away."

Lin Xiao pulled Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and the other little Gugas toward the distant rockery.

He even held Chef Guga's pot lid up in front of himself, only then feeling slightly more at ease.

Only the Mechanic Gugas stood in place, evidently full of confidence in their masterpiece.

"Alright, you can twist it now."

Seeing this reaction as if facing a formidable enemy.

Yellow-Haired felt even more panicked.

"It's... it's coming."

He gently twisted the throttle by the tiniest fraction.

"Buzz—"

The tricycle motor emitted a deep, rumbling vibration, the wheels slowly turning as the vehicle began to creep forward.

After traveling more than ten meters, the corners of Yellow-Haired's mouth split into a grin.

"Hehehe~ It's fine!"

Then he increased the twist of the throttle just a little bit more.

"Buzz!!"

The tricycle shot forward with a whoosh!

"Hey! Holy shit—!"

Yellow-Haired had no time to react at all as the immense inertia gave a fierce yank backward, his hands instantly slipping off the handlebars, and his entire body was violently flung off like a tattered sack of grain.

Yellow-Haired rolled two or three times, his hair matted with weeds, his rear end bruised and numb, leaving him dazed in place.

Meanwhile, the out-of-control tricycle, with no one to guide the handlebars, roared forward on its own in a wild dash, charging straight toward the courtyard wall!

The disciples watching the spectacle from the wall were scared out of their wits, screaming as they scattered in all directions.

"Again?!!"

"Hurry and dodge!"

"BOOM!!"

After a loud crash.

The wall had a massive hole smashed into it, the tricycle lying sideways amidst a pile of stones with parts scattered everywhere and springs exposed to the air, twitching back and forth.

Lin Xiao watched with his own eyes as a tire bounced and rolled right up to him, spinning a few times before tilting over and coming to a stop.

"I knew it would be like this, a good thing I didn't try it myself."

Ning Rongrong, however, was so gleeful she clapped her hands.

"Hahaha~ Fun! Play it again! Rongrong wants to watch again!"

In the distance, Mechanic Guga scratched her head, somewhat baffled, before clapping her hands together.

"Oh! Understood, Guga! The transmission isn't adjusted right, Guga! Everyone, let's fix the cart together!"

"Guga!" ×9

The little fellows had their motivation fully recharged, rushing forward eagerly with small wrenches in hand.

They hauled out the wrecked cart and began the heavy work of reassembling it from scratch.

Yellow-Haired, who had been sprawled on the ground for a long time without recovering his wits, had eyes full of lingering fear.

No, no, I can't stay here anymore, this contraption is lethal!

My head is nowhere near as hard as that wall!

While they aren't paying attention, run for it!

He couldn't care about brushing off the dirt and grass clippings covering his body, scrambling backward on hands and knees while his heart pounded frantically in his chest.

"Where do you think you're going, Guga?"

Ten Evil Fat Gugas wearing sunglasses, chewing lollipops, and dragging metal baseball bats thicker than Yellow-Haired's wrists blocked the only path for his escape.

"Were you thinking of running away, Guga?"

One of the Fat Gugas swung her baseball bat and struck a nearby boulder.

"Bang!"

The hard bluestone rock instantly shattered, reduced directly to a pile of rubble.

Yellow-Haired's pupils constricted, the blood in his entire body instantly freezing cold.

"Gulp—"

He swallowed hard, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

Run? What running?

I am the most loyal tricycle test pilot!

With a resolute look on his face, Yellow-Haired turned and walked back.

Seeing this scene, Lin Xiao quietly gave a thumbs-up to the Fat Gugas who had stepped in and performed meritoriously.

"Guga~~"

The crowd of Fat Gugas proudly puffed out their round bellies, emitting soft yet domineering cries, looking entirely like diligent guards protecting their turf.

Aside, Xiao Wu's eyes lit up instantly at the sight of the Fat Gugas' fully armed, domineering getup, sparkling with little stars.

Cool~~

She could already picture herself wearing sunglasses, wearing a thick gold chain, and carrying a large iron club over her shoulder.

She had even come up with her own moniker.

Iron club on shoulder, chain-swinging dance, cool and fierce sister is Xiao Wu.

Hehehehe~

"Lin Xiao, Lin Xiao, do you still have any of those little penguin things? Can you give me a set?"

"Want one? Call me Boss!"

"Boss!"

Xiao Wu blurted it out without a shred of reluctance.

The corners of Lin Xiao's mouth curved up as he shouted to the Fat Gugas.

"Fat Guga, Xiao Wu wants to join you. Get her a set of your team uniforms later!"

"No problem, Guga!"

Ning Rongrong was displeased; she cared less about scarcity than about inequality.

"Brother Lin Xiao, Rongrong wants one too!"

"All right, all right, I'll give you one too."

"Horray!"

Pearls and jade by her side radiating presence, the quirky and clever Ning Rongrong~

By this time, the tricycle had also been repaired.

Mechanic Guga had even adjusted the transmission so that speeds could be shifted according to gears.

Yellow-Haired placed the suicide note he had written onto a nearby table, then bit down on his identity token with his teeth.

He shouted to the disciples watching from outside the city wall:

"Tell my mother! I'm no coward!"

He strapped the seatbelt made of rope on the tricycle around his waist and twisted the throttle.

"Buzz--!"

The tricycle moved forward at a moderate, steady speed—a smoothness that actually made Yellow-Haired somewhat hesitant to believe it.

"Not gonna lie, riding this is actually pretty fun!"

"Guga! The button next to the handlebars can change the speed, Guga!"

Yellow-Haired looked down and immediately spotted the white buttons marked 1, 2, 3, and 4 beside the handlebars.

Each press of a higher number would notch the cart's speed up another level.

Just like that, he rode the tricycle in circles around the road surrounding the garden.

Lin Xiao was somewhat tempted as he watched.

"Mechanic Guga, you added brakes to this tricycle, right?"

"Of course~ We are professional Gugas~"

"Not only that, we also installed an emergency escape button, Guga."

"???"

Lin Xiao's brow twitched, an ominous premonition rising in his heart.

"Escape button? What do you mean?"

Before Guga could even open her mouth to explain, a string of screams had already echoed from ahead.

"Agh!! Help me!!"

The audience watched as Yellow-Haired, along with his seat, was ejected twenty meters up into the high sky.

"That's an escape button?! That's a rocket launcher, isn't it?!!"

Lin Xiao raised a hand to shield his brow, tilting his head back as he complained.

The other disciples watching from outside the wall moved in unison, lifting their heads, every last person's gaze locked firmly onto mid-air.

Yet Mechanic Guga still looked entirely proud, waving her wrench and shouting loudly:

"How is it! The escape system activated successfully, Guga! Perfectly averting the danger of the cart going out of control, Guga!"

Lin Xiao's temples throbbed violently, supporting his forehead as he let out a long sigh.

High in the air, the seat carrying Yellow-Haired gradually lost momentum and began a straight dive down toward a patch of shrubbery.

As it descended to a certain height, a parachute suddenly popped out from behind the seat, slowing the descent.

Yellow-Haired landed safely on the ground.

Yet he sat dazed and blank upon the seat, his eyes hollow and lifeless, his mouth slightly parted as he muttered aba aba.

Sigh... Guga, modify it, stop randomly adding things."

"Um... alright, Guga..."

Mechanic Guga drooped her hands listlessly.

She didn't understand why Boss wouldn't like such an eye-catching modification.