Fishing Alone Through a Thousand Rivers of Snow - Chapter 5

Exhausting one’s mental power meant being bedridden for at least a month. Worse, it would most likely fall by an entire rank and almost never recover to its former level.

The pinnacle was forever beyond his reach.

The university administrators exchanged uneasy glances, then quickly contacted the staff on the ground and relayed the information.

Only then did the remaining Alphas learn that the new mecha neither returned nor stored their mental power. Fail to meet the threshold, and everything they put into it would be lost.

Not one of them withdrew.

Their expressions merely grew solemn as they looked at the machine.

They had expected an ordinary trial. Instead, it had suddenly taken on the air of a death-defying gamble.

The second candidate climbed into the mecha without hesitation.

I rested my fingers against my chin and smiled. “The top-tier Alphas selected by Imperial Capital University certainly don’t disappoint.”

An administrator offered an ingratiating smile. “Professor Qian’s new mecha is what these students dream of piloting. Of course they wouldn’t back down.”

The second student’s confidence was well founded. She quickly filled the mental-power gauge and reached the level needed to activate the machine.

Delighted, she tried to move it—and something went wrong.

The mecha did not budge.

Although it had activated, it stood in place and ignored every one of her commands.

The administrators stared at me, eyes wide.

I curved my lips innocently. “This model has a little temper of its own. Activating it requires one rank of mental power. Driving it requires the next rank up. It seems… this student is still a little short.”

They looked ready to faint from sheer frustration.

There was a second phase?

Why had I designed a mecha like some multistage final boss?

I lowered my lashes, my smile deepening.

I enjoyed watching the darlings of fortune crash and burn. I enjoyed shattering precious things where everyone could see.

At moments like this, I felt an indescribable thrill of… revenge.

It even made the fever ravaging my body a little easier to bear.

Two top-tier Alphas had now been defeated. The candidates behind them began to grow restless.

Their abilities were roughly equal. If the first two had been carried out flat on their backs, the rest could hardly expect to fare better.

They began whispering among themselves, apparently discussing a plan.

Only Bai Yujing stood perfectly straight. No one spoke to her, and she paid no attention to the others.

Her eyes never left the mecha. Barely suppressed excitement blazed in their crimson depths.

She was not afraid in the slightest.

She longed to sacrifice everything for the sake of conquest.

My fingertip brushed lightly over my lips, interest gleaming in my eyes.

Now that was a true Alpha.