Yuan Guang–Mel and Hardy alliance

The Yuan Guang–Mel and Hardy alliance is a provisional partnership among History Road racers, built from an oath, shared information, and practical assistance under fire. It never becomes unconditional loyalty: Yuan Guang remains wary, and the brothers refuse to trade away their chance of protecting their hometown. Its defining pattern is narrower and more concrete—establish enough trust to cooperate, avoid becoming enemies before the finish, and repay help when circumstances demand it.

Formation and the Unspeakable Vow

Mel and Hardy approach Yuan Guang because he has challenged the Yinyang Khan’s right-hand man, a confrontation that makes their interests appear to overlap. They present themselves as representatives of the Dyad Sect, distinguishing their chosen Path from the Khan’s conduct: their brotherhood and complementarity, they insist, are not a license to pick fights. Their proposed cooperation begins with pooling knowledge, not with a pledge to serve Yuan Guang.

Yuan Guang does not accept their friendliness at face value. He raises the possibility that the conversation is a setup, and Mel concedes that it could be. Instead of demanding that Yuan Guang simply trust them, Mel offers an Unspeakable Vow. The proposed oath is deliberately limited: it will establish whether they are telling the truth at that moment, not bind them to future service. Mel treats the risk to their cores as acceptable for that purpose, making the offer a practical first step toward trust rather than a declaration of allegiance.

Yuan Guang takes Mel’s hand and identifies himself before swearing on his core that he is not an ally of the Yinyang Khan. Mel and Hardy swear together that they are neither allied with nor employed by the Khan and his forces. Yuan Guang feels brief pressure on his bullet-core, then nothing. That physical confirmation, coupled with the brothers’ willingness to make the offer, gives him enough assurance to continue, though not enough to erase his caution. He accepts because an information-sharing arrangement with fellow racers could make his task easier, at least temporarily.

Terms and limits

The partnership is founded on exchanging information. Mel and Hardy say both sides need to give something away before either can cross the figurative bridge to cooperation; after offering what they know, they ask Yuan Guang to join them in pooling their knowledge. Yuan Guang recognizes that their proposal amounts to an alliance, while Mel qualifies it as a temporary arrangement rather than a lasting bond.

Their terms concern the race itself: they will stay out of one another’s way until the finish line, then part without holding the competition against each other. Yuan Guang suggests the arrangement need not end in hostility and says he will not destroy their hometown. Mel rejects that assurance as insufficient protection. Because Yuan Guang has challenged Slash, Mel expects the latter might persuade the Yinyang Khan to destroy the brothers’ home precisely to provoke Yuan Guang, regardless of any promise Yuan Guang makes to spare it.

Hardy makes the consequence explicit: winning is the only way they can ensure their hometown’s safety. They cannot narrow their options by swearing to Yuan Guang that they will spare it, since that commitment could conflict with their own objective. Yuan Guang understands, even though the answer disappoints him. The alliance therefore has a firm boundary: the racers can cooperate and refrain from attacking each other, but they cannot make one another’s survival or victory secondary to the protection of the brothers’ home. Their refusal is not evidence that the partnership has failed; it defines the stakes that keep it temporary.

Cooperation under attack

The arrangement proves useful on the course when Mel and Hardy catch up to Chemzard’s dekotora truck. Mel’s smaller car is rammed from the right and pressed toward the Yinyang Khan’s Barrier, while the four-Oni band on Chemzard’s stage attacks Hardy with rock spikes, sound shockwaves, and a supporting mantra melody. Hardy is kept too far away to help his brother, and the truck threatens to crush Mel’s car against the barrier.

Yuan Guang intervenes rather than treating the brothers as competitors to be left behind. He reloads his revolver through Item Materialization and fires qi-powered elemental projectiles at the truck’s wheels. The shots strike with enough force to annihilate a small fortress, but the Sutras woven over Chemzard’s vehicle summon protective qi armor and prevent the attacks from shaking it substantially. The intervention still changes the immediate situation: the repeated impacts ease the pressure on Mel, allowing him to get free, and Mel acknowledges Yuan Guang with a thankful thumbs-up.

The attack then becomes a shared fight. The Oni on the stage turn on all three assailants, forcing Yuan Guang to dodge shockwaves with Recoil Kicks while Mel and Hardy avoid the stone spikes and try to overtake Chemzard. When searing blue flames erupt from the truck’s radiator, they have to retreat from the risk of being burned. Yuan Guang’s help is therefore not an instant victory; it buys Mel room to escape, while the brothers continue to take part in the dangerous attempt to catch their opponent.

Later, Mel throws a fireball at the vehicle. The resulting explosion hurls Yuan Guang forward, dispels the Sutras protecting Chemzard’s truck, and engulfs Duckman’s car in fire and debris. When Yuan Guang recovers and flies ahead with repeated Recoil Kicks, only smoke remains of the two vehicles. Hardy congratulates him on the fight, and Yuan Guang praises the brothers’ shot, noting that they could have brought the vehicle down earlier. Mel answers that Yuan Guang had saved his hide first, so returning the favor was only natural. Their exchange makes the alliance reciprocal in action: Yuan Guang’s intervention has earned practical support, not a new permanent vow.

A temporary racing partnership

The brothers’ warning about Slash’s connection to the Khan and their refusal to promise safety for their hometown show how little room the alliance has to become unconditional. The initial oath settles one immediate uncertainty—none of the three is allied with or employed by the Yinyang Khan—but it does not settle their separate goals or guarantee what they will do after the race. Their proposed noninterference ends at the finish line by design.

Even within those limits, cooperation has consequences. The information exchange gives Yuan Guang a clearer understanding of the other racers, while intervention and repayment let the three act together when Chemzard’s attack threatens Mel. After the explosion, Mel points out the tunnel at the base of the stone pyramid landmark, where Coyote has already disappeared, and urges the group to close the widening gap. The alliance carries them from negotiation back into pursuit: its bond is temporary, but at this moment all three are moving toward the same next objective.