Type-Moon, but the Servant is Tom

Chapter 208: I Declare! the Match Starts Early

As the countdown ended, the massive screen suspended in the sky displayed a golden-haired man with crimson eyes, dressed in leopard print.

"Ahahaha, we meet again at last! Today, I, the great one, shall preside over the event once more!" The golden-haired man waved his hand dramatically and proclaimed, "Finally, the first event of the 'EUO Super Deluxe Seaside Paradise' is about to begin!"

"Since starting at 11 o'clock is just too long, I, the great one, have decided that the race will officially start at 10:30."

"Now, competitors, get into your vehicles and head to the starting line!"

After uttering these rather irresponsible words, Gilgamesh promptly logged off. The large screen in the sky began playing advertisements from various sponsors.

Observing the advertisements on the sky screen, Bai Song shifted his gaze away.

The angle of that darned screen was indeed tricky; it was practically right above him. After merely watching for about ten seconds, Bai Song felt like his neck was about to snap. If there were a review section, he would surely flood it with negative comments about this amusement park.

Of course, if giving bad reviews impacted his freeload, Bai Song would immediately change it to a five-star rating.

He rubbed his stiff neck and prepared to turn the key. He reminded the cat and mouse seated in the front row, "It's time to enter. Get ready to start."

This racecar couldn't be activated by one person alone; it required the simultaneous insertion of keys held by a cat, a mouse, and a human to start the engine.

"Wu Hu!" Jerry was ready.

"Aha!" Tom was ready.

"3, 2, 1, insert!" After counting down, Bai Song swiftly inserted the key into the body of the vehicle at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

"Hum~"

With a slight shudder of the vehicle's body, the racecar slowly began moving forward.

Not only Bai Song but also the other participants were driving their 'vehicles' towards the starting line.

The reason for using the term 'vehicle' instead of 'race car' was that none of the participants arrived with a conventional race car!

At first glance, Bai Song's cat-mouse-dog war vehicle seemed to be the most 'normal' vehicle on the field. Of course, to evaluate its normalcy, one needed to overlook the ammunition bay on the left side, the rocket thrusters on its rear, and the dog in the shopping basket on the rocket thrusters. In that case, one might consider it normal on the surface.

However... if Bai Song didn't explain, it's highly unlikely that any of the other participants could scratch their heads hard enough to realize that this war vehicle was a modified electric scooter. The key point being, it was a 'single' electric scooter!

After getting onto the cosmic vehicle that Soji gifted her, Artoria looked at the array of weapon buttons surrounding the driver's seat and couldn't help but rub her hands together excitedly.

"At last... I can seek revenge."

"Alright, let's go, Dullahan!" Artoria immediately activated the cosmic vehicle and pressed down on the accelerator.

And then... the cosmic vehicle moved forward at a snail's pace for half a meter before stalling.

Seeing this, Artoria tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"

Although she had never driven a vehicle before, she possessed the Riding skill, which allowed her to easily handle any mode of transportation. Even if it were an airplane, though she had never flown one before, she believed that all she needed to do was mount it, pull the reins, and shout, 'Giddy up!' The plane would then start without any problems.

So, the sudden stall of the vehicle couldn't possibly be attributed to her Riding skill.

Artoria focused and attempted to start the cosmic vehicle again. With a shudder and a sound like a suppressed fart, the vehicle emitted a feeble noise "Boo~" before stalling once more.

"... Assassin!" Artoria rolled down the window and glanced at Soji, who was making her way to the starting line, "There's something wrong with this vehicle; it won't start."

Upon hearing Artoria call out to her, Soji turned back, understood the issue, and responded resolutely, "What? Problem? Impossible!"

Simultaneously, she muttered a few complaints under her breath.

"Handing you the car and you immediately claim it's yours, but now that you've found a problem, you're quick to call it mine again, damn Saber!" Despite thinking this way in her mind, Soji decisively approached the cosmic vehicle.

"I don't believe it. Take a look." Artoria got out of the car and yielded the driver's seat to Soji.

"Let me see... Huh? Why is there no energy?" As soon as she sat in the war vehicle, Soji identified the reason for its failure to start.

Getting out of the car, Soji scratched her head and said with a puzzled expression, "Wait a minute, I just replaced the gemstone. This doesn't make sense."

"A gemstone?"

"Yes, this cosmic vehicle runs on gemstones filled with magical energy as its power source. One gemstone can last for at least two or three days of operation."

"Considering this is a race, I specifically asked your master Tokiomi for a fully charged magical gemstone early this morning."

Recalling her interaction with Tokiomi when she acquired the gemstone, Soji remembered how he assured her that the gemstone had never been used before. It couldn't possibly be a problem with the gemstone. Tokiomi wouldn't give her a gemstone without magical energy, right?

"Is this car even functional?"

"Since it's not an energy problem, it must be a malfunctioning engine. Just wait, I can probably fix it in two hours... maybe!"

"In half an hour... the race will already be over! If that's the case, why bother?" Hearing Soji's response, Artoria furrowed her brow, suspecting her teammate was playing a crazy act.

"What should we do then?" Anxious, Soji scratched her hairy head, now even more agitated than Artoria. If Artoria didn't drive the car, she wouldn't be able to blow it up and blast Artoria away. Her well-devised plan to sell out her teammate would go down the drain.

"Hey? Isn't that the King of Britain? Chatting with a mongrel here instead of heading to the starting line?" Following the voice, the two turned their gaze to see a blond, red-eyed man strolling over with his hands in his pockets.