"...Zero!"
At the exact moment of the announcement, the red ropes stretched in front of the ten vessels were whipped upward and away.
Every boat applied full power simultaneously. Massive pillars of water erupted behind them.
"And they're off! All vessels have made a clean start!"
...Or so it seemed to the commentators, but Bib #10 was visibly lagging.
"I figured as much... with that much water resistance, rapid acceleration is a tall order."
Bib #10 was a vessel that could best be described as a semi-submersible. To Jin's eyes, its shape was essentially that of a torpedo.
However.
"Huh. A water-repellent barrier?"
The use of barriers was certainly not prohibited by the rules.
More importantly, the barrier Rubina was using was not "perfect."
This was due to the regulation stating that the vessel must be "in contact with the water."
Using a perfect water-repellent barrier to achieve a state of supercavitation would be a violation of the rules, so she had been forced to settle for an incomplete barrier.
The result was a state that ignored the laws of physics—a pocket of "low-density water." In a sense, it was a new discovery.
"She has a flexible mind," Jin noted, impressed.
"Bib #10 was slightly slow off the mark, but its pickup is incredible! It's gaining speed at a terrifying rate!!"
Currently in the lead was Bib #1, the boat built by Natalia. Following her were numbers 5, 6, 2, 9, 3, 8, 4, and 7.
There was almost no gap between the vessels.
"Every boat here is a masterpiece! The distance between the leader and the tail is fifty meters at most! And even that gap is starting to shrink!"
Bib #10's pursuit was ferocious. In terms of top speed, it was approximately twenty percent faster than its competitors.
While the other high-speed ships topped out at around 120 kilometers per hour, the semi-submersible was exceeding 140 kilometers per hour.
That said, this was not a competition of top speed alone.
The first corner approached in the blink of an eye.
The pilot golems, who had likely watched the demonstration run of Jin's Dolphin, seemed to hesitate to take the turn at maximum speed.
Every boat throttled back.
They plunged into the first corner after reducing their speed to approximately 70 kilometers per hour.
However, Bib #10 only slowed to about 100 kilometers per hour, diving into the turn from the far outside.
"Bib #10 is incredible! It's making a move from the outside without losing its momentum!"
"Yeah, that’s one way to play it. Everyone else is trying to minimize their loss by taking the tightest line possible. That’s backfiring; it looks like the second group and those behind it are getting in each other's way, forcing them to slow down more than they intended."
Jin spoke his candid observations aloud.
On the screen, Bib #10 was shown carrying its speed around the outside, picking off the frontrunners one by one to climb the rankings.
"I see, she deactivates the water-repellent barrier during the curves. She’s using the massive water resistance to help the boat pivot."
Jin found himself impressed yet again by Rubina's ingenuity.
"Bib #10 has surged into fifth place with a furious charge!"
The next section of the course was a five-kilometer stretch that followed a wide arc.
All vessels tore through the area at maximum speed.
"Incredible, incredible, incredible! Every boat is moving even faster than they were on the previous straight! Estimated speed: 130 kilometers per hour!"
"It's because golems are at the helm. They're pushing right to the absolute limit of the vessels' structural integrity."
Jin spoke cheerfully while watching the screen.
In truth, he was having a wonderful time. The ten boats racing across the screen were not at all inferior to the Dolphin he had built just the other day.
He felt a deep sense of joy seeing that his... no, "their" descendants had achieved this level of skill.
At 130 kilometers per hour, a five-kilometer stretch took less than two and a half minutes to clear.
The ten boats plunged into the second corner—a 500-meter radius curve—with only a marginal reduction in their top speed.
"As expected, holding the lead is a significant advantage," Marikka, the commentator, murmured.
"Marikka-sama, could you explain that?"
"It's because of the propulsion systems being used. Since they are all variants of the Jet Thruster, they generate a tremendous water stream behind the boat."
"Ah, I see. So that becomes resistance for the boats behind?"
"Exactly. It's not like moving through still water; it's like trying to row upstream against a raging rapid."
The one who had realized this earliest was Natalia in Bib #1.
She was a direct descendant of Marcia and had inherited Arrow, Alco, and Veil—her expertise was no fluke. Or perhaps it was more accurate to call it Arrow's experience.
She had been willing to momentarily overload her propulsion system just to seize the lead.
By doing so, she could maintain her position at the top without having to strain the system further for the rest of the race.
"Keep it up, Arrow."
In the participant stands, Natalia was communicating with Arrow via manacam.
After watching the demonstration run by Edith, Natalia and Arrow had realized the inherent disadvantage of tailing a competitor.
The momentary overload during the start was a far lighter burden on the propulsion system than trying to catch up while fighting against an opponent's jet-propelled wake.
Based on that logic, they had gambled everything on the starting dash.
Their gamble had paid off; Bib #1 was currently leading with a twenty-meter gap over second place.
Furthermore, as the rankings descended to third and fourth, the gaps appeared to be widening bit by bit.
"Just as I thought—navigating through that jet stream is a massive handicap."
Natalia sent a cheer to her golem.
"Arrow, do your best!"
The ten high-speed ships were now performing a 180-degree turn with a 30-meter radius.
While most of the boats over-braked for the turn, Bib #2, currently in third place, calculated the necessary deceleration perfectly and rose to second place.
"Nice work, Edgar!"
The boat's creator, Shu Nido, let out a triumphant shout.
However, there was someone climbing the ranks even faster.
It was Bib #10.
By traveling beneath the surface, the semi-submersible was able to proceed without being hammered by the jet streams of the boats ahead.
In truth, Rubina hadn't specifically designed it for this purpose; it was a happy accident.
At five meters below the surface, the influence of the surface turbulence was minimal, allowing her to maintain her own pace unhindered.
"Go for it!" Rubina cheered.
Though the vessel was hard to see clearly beneath the waves, Bib #10 had already moved up into third place.
"Oh, Rubina's boat is quite the contender."
Jin had also noted the advantage of a submersible being less affected by wake turbulence during the course of the race.
"Good luck, everyone."
Jin's voice was lost in the roar of the crowd.
At that moment, the ten high-speed boats executed their 180-degree turns near the shore and shot back onto the straight, accelerating as they began their next lap.