Chapter 46: Artistic Masterpiece (2)
Finn stopped in front of the lab door, took a breath, and knocked.
Silence.
He knocked again, harder this time, letting each impact echo like a challenge through the hallway.
"Ughhh... Okay, who dares interrupt me while I'm working?!" came the furious voice from inside. The door flew open with mechanical precision, and there stood Princess Bubblegum—irritated, frazzled, and clearly deep into some experiment.
But the instant her eyes landed on him, everything changed.
The anger drained from her face like color from paper. Her entire body stiffened. Her thoughts shattered under the weight of the sight in front of her.
"F-Finn..." she whispered, barely audible. That name, once simple, now carried an overwhelming storm inside her heart—a name she had rolled over in her mind countless times, trying and failing to make sense of it. A name tied to confusion, guilt, longing, fear.
And here he was.
He walked past her without waiting for permission, stepping into her lab like he belonged there.
"I need something, PB," he said, flat and direct.
That snapped her out of it. She blinked and straightened, her mind scrambling to refocus. "Y-Yes, what can I do for you?" Her voice was too soft, too careful. She might've been royalty, a genius, and the ruler of one of the most advanced kingdoms in Ooo—but in front of him, right now, she felt exposed and powerless.
"The ship we used to cross the desert—I need it," he said, his eyes locked on hers.
For a moment, she hesitated. Then her expression twisted slightly with unease. She bit her lip, glanced to the side, and finally answered, "I would, but... but I can't..."
Finn's voice cut through the air like a blade. "Do you dare disobey my orders?"
Even he blinked in surprise at himself, the words leaving his mouth before he could think them through. There was something different in his tone now—something colder, heavier.
"No, no, let me finish, please..." she raised her hands quickly, not out of fear, but tension. She was walking a mental tightrope. And he let her speak.
"That vehicle can't function anymore. The thing is, it runs on star crystal, and it consumes a lot—and it requires the pure kind. That one trip back and forth already cost me half a kilogram of pure star crystal!"
Half a kilogram of pure star crystal?! These words struck Finn's mind in total shock. Pure star crystal was the rarest and most precious substance in all of Ooo. It couldn't be compared to any other kind of metal.
It was a glowing yellow crystal, pulsing with a rich golden hue, an unbelievable source of energy that defied conventional limits. In Ooo, few things matched its sheer utility and power. It was used for nearly everything—from powering transportation vehicles and enchanted weapon systems, whether arcane or mechanical, to accelerating training processes and augmenting physical capabilities.
This rare and invaluable material had cost the princess half a kilogram—gone in a single journey. Not for lack of preparation, but because the ship simply couldn't handle the intensity of its output. At the time, the failure wasn't just technical—it had struck her pride. She had taken the loss personally, like an insult to her brilliance.
"Can't you use more star crystal to power the ship?" Finn asked, the idea a bit greedy but entirely practical given the stakes.
Princess Bubblegum sighed softly, her gaze turning reflective as she responded. "With the Candy Kingdom's great status, we definitely have a good stock of star crystal. The dilemma is that the vehicle couldn't handle the power of that quantity, so not only did it ruin the half kilogram, but it also damaged the storage unit completely, causing irreparable damage to the ship."
Her voice carried more than explanation—it carried a quiet grief. That ship had been a masterpiece, a product of months of labor and cutting-edge science. Now it was a ruined shell, and all because it couldn't match the power of the fuel it demanded.
Finn exhaled sharply and rolled his shoulders. "Great. So that's out." He clenched his jaw a bit before continuing, "I want a way to get to the Fire Kingdom quickly. Even if it's not on the same level as the ship—I'll take anything."
The princess glanced away, her fingers tapping lightly on her lab coat. He could tell she was thinking, cycling through options in her mind. And then—a flicker. A faint, sharp shift in her eyes.
"There is something," she admitted at last.
Finn caught it. "What?"
She hesitated—just for a moment. She looked like she might lie again. But something in his expression shut that instinct down. "T-There is something," she repeated, more certain this time.
She motioned toward a thick observation window set into the lab wall. Finn followed her to it, stepping up beside her as she stared into the adjacent chamber. The room beyond was sealed tight, pure white from floor to ceiling, and absolutely sterile.
But that wasn't what caught his attention.
In the middle of the room stood a machine. Not just any machine—a motorcycle. And not just any motorcycle.
Finn's eyes went wide. He stood frozen, as if staring at a dream given shape and metal. His heart skipped, and then pounded hard in his chest. The way his gaze locked onto the vehicle—it was like a starving beast watching prey.
He couldn't tear his eyes away from it.
The princess didn't seem to notice the way he was reacting. Instead, she began to explain, casually and precisely, like a professor introducing her greatest invention.
"It's a marvel of engineering," she began. "A prototype developed for high-speed solo travel and extreme combat environments. The first of its kind."
The motorcycle was an angular beast—elegant yet deadly in appearance. Its body was sculpted from matte black composite alloy that seemed to drink in the light, creating an eerie, predatory silhouette. Every surface was sharpened to perfection. The frame was wide yet low, with a fiercely aerodynamic design that looked ready to cut through the air like a blade.
At its heart was a hybrid power system—a combination of ultra-refined combustion engineering and advanced electric drives, linked in tandem for maximum thrust and efficiency. When the engine engaged, its deep growl rumbled through the frame. A deep, resonant growl that sent a pulse of dread through anything nearby.
It was powerful. More powerful than any land vehicle Finn had ever seen.
The acceleration was beyond extreme. From zero to sixty in under two seconds—instant launch velocity. And its top speed?
"450 km/h," PB said flatly.