Inside the thunderous curtain of rain and lightning, the rabbit-type mecha observing in secret flashed with dark-red pupils. Its triangular, pointed ears pressed flat against its head stood erect, and its crouching, resting mecha body raised its two front paws before executing a fierce, forward flip to kick and shatter the edge of the stone wall with a single shove.
A massive piece of jagged, uneven debris flew into the thunder and lightning rain curtain, triggering some kind of stress mechanism “Rumple-boom!” as the cliffs on both sides of the ravine collapsed instantaneously, surging forward alongside a torrential downpour of mud and debris amid flashes of auroral lightning as the ground split open with fissures.
“Not good!”
It was already too late to run back now. With thunder and lightning flashing in the skies, the ground splitting apart, and falling rocks crashing down from all four peaks, blindly and forcefully charging through would only result in being swallowed alive by the mudslide.
Inside the cockpit, Shi Yixing’s brows furrowed tightly. A layer of fine sweat oozed out beneath his white-gold bangs, and a rare trace of tension surfaced within his red pupils. His fair fingers gripping the control stick curled half-way inward as he tightened them, retreating rapidly in two or three sharp bounds before decisively flashing into a cave entrance near the base of the cliff that was shielded and difficult to spot.
The pitch-black cave entrance could barely accommodate a single person and a mecha. Racing against time, he chiseled out a solid boulder to block the cave entrance, and the very next second, a “boom-boom” reverberating crash filled the air as mud and debris sealed off every single gap of light. He was temporarily out of danger, but he was also trapped inside.
Calming himself for a few seconds, the noise outside finally subsided. Shi Yixing glanced at the countdown on his bracelet; the green numbers had already turned into a glowing red 3 minutes, 21 seconds, and 34 milliseconds. Re-tightening his grip on the control stick, the rabbit-type mecha’s red pupils glowed like soul-reaping phantoms in the dark night as it stood up with a “weng-weng” flex of its knees, digging upward through the dirt toward the direction of the cave opening.
The clay was damp and easy to excavate without wasting effort, and the mecha’s speed was extremely fast, though it still took a full minute of digging to see daylight once again. The torrential rain slammed against the mecha’s surface with a “pitter-patter” sound, effortlessly washing away the dirt and dust on its surface as the black mecha gleamed with a dazzling reflection.
Time was running out. Shi Yixing manipulated the mecha to charge into the rain curtain. Amidst roaring thunder and lightning, it carved out pit after pit in the muddy ground, dodging lightning strikes by razor-thin margins several times. After evading tens of miles’ worth of attacks, he finally spotted the red button shrouded in a golden ring of light atop the finish line stone platform.
“Zzz-snap!” Amidst his joy, a lightning strike arrived too fast to dodge, cracking against the rear-left leg of the rabbit-type mecha and sending it crashing down to tumble twice across the ground.
Under the fierce charge, Shi Yixing tumbled forward and bumped his temple against the edge of the console panel. A scratch was scraped across his temple as he grimaced and winced, his brain buzzing blankly for a split second. With no time to process the pain, he rapidly scrambled back up and wrenched the control lever. The mecha bounced into the air, dodging a 100,000-volt electrical current tracking closely behind him.
The bracelet broadcasted a “beep-beep” warning that only 60 seconds remained on the countdown. The sudden accident had made him even more cautious; the “crack-snap” flashes of lightning behind him meant someone was already hot on his heels, yet the rabbit’s speed was even faster.
“Snap” The moment he pressed the button, the bracelet countdown froze at 17 seconds, and a massive suction force pulled Shi Yixing back into the training grounds. Amidst a dizzying spin, the giant black rabbit mecha stood imposing and firm right in the center of the training lawn, the damp moisture on its surface evaporating instantly.
The surrounding observing students fell dead silent for half a second before an uproar of noisy chatter erupted.
“He actually pulled it off? Rabbits are this strong? Or is it only lion-rabbits… probably just luck.”
“Just a low-tier scum, what’s there to be arrogant about? No matter how strong, he’s still a low-class defective product. A rabbit alpha is a complete joke.”
“Does he have connections? I heard he has some shady business with the Xia family, and Xiaze Mingluo even goes out of his way to fawn over him. Could he be a connected privileged case who knew the venue environment in advance? So many A-class high-tier alphas got eliminated.”
“His genes are trash anyway; even if he enters the Alliance military, he’ll just be a laughingstock.”
Shi Yixing recalled his mecha and landed steadily, ignoring the mud-slinging slanders and doubts from the surrounding crowd as he raised his gaze to meet that pair of deep-blue, frosty pupils belonging to Helin Zhou up on the central podium.
Helin Zhou looked at him as though offering a sarcastic sneer: “Congratulations, the first student to successfully advance to the next round is Shi Yixing.”
His ink-dark, handsome face wasn’t looking at him anymore as he raised his head to continue gazing at the holographic projection screen. He could roughly guess that such a perverted and torturous venue design was mostly the handiwork of Helin Zhou.
A mere 20 minutes was ten times the intensity of his usual training, leaving his mind and body so utterly exhausted that he just wanted to find a place to lie down and rest. Having zero desire to continue watching the match, Shi Yixing turned around and melted into the crowd.
“Bam-!!” His shoulder was fiercely clipped by an impact. Staggering under the sudden, debilitating fatigue, his black military boots crushed a pebble underfoot as he unsteadily regained his body’s balance. Raising his eyelids slightly, he looked at the S-class red-deer omega who had bumped into him.
The omega possessed clean facial features, round and bright eyes that looked completely harmless, and wore a white-and-black cotton-patterned totem training uniform of the exact same style he had seen on Xiaze Mingluo most likely a student from the medical department who had come to watch the assessments.
“Ah sorry classmate, so you really are low-tier, and your pheromone is still… plain water, hahaha.” The omega put on a fake, hypocritical apology, sniffing close with his nose unhesitatingly as he covered his mouth and burst into a fit of roaring laughter.
An S-class omega, rose pheromone, pleasant features, delicate skin, slender and white fingers devoid of a single scar, callus, or crease at a single glance, he was clearly a young master pampered and doted on by his family just like Xiaze Mingluo. Yet Xiaze Mingluo was infinitely cuter than him.
Shi Yixing was genuinely too exhausted to waste even a single extra word of conversation on him. Some words he had already heard until he was numb; since there were always people coming over to repeatedly pick at his shortcomings and mock him, if they didn’t grow tired of it, he had already grown sick of hearing it. There was no helping it rotten people simply loved picking at other people’s sore spots and couldn’t bear to see others doing well.
Giving a bland, dismissive glance at the immensely pleased-with-himself omega, he stepped up the steps intending to leave, while the surrounding crowd had already been drawn by the commotion to cast their gazes over. Shi Yixing quickened his pace; he had no wish to attract attention, but naturally, trouble insisted on finding him.
The omega followed closely behind, extending his arm to block his path. With his nose pointed toward the sky and his chin tilted upward to stare down at him, he spoke in a voice audible only to the two of them:
“You wouldn’t happen to… have been slept with by Xiaze Mingluo, would you? Xiaze Mingluo’s taste is seriously garbage, taking a fancy to a pretty-boy like you. But you’re just as sickeningly disgusting as him.”
Shi Yixing simply crossed his arms, leaning lazily against the white-painted stone column at the edge of the viewing platform to listen quietly as the omega spewed fragrant curses, finally managing to trace the root cause from his flowery insults. It turned out he was on bad terms with Xiaze Mingluo, couldn’t do anything to him, and had come over to disgust him instead.
“Classmate, it sounds like you’re awfully familiar with this kind of business. Did you pick up too many gigs outside? If you’re really desperate for alphas, I can introduce some clients to you, though those guys are scumbags you might even have to pay them out of pocket.”
Shi Yixing’s fingertips grazed his chin as he narrowed his eyes, sweeping an up-and-down evaluating gaze across the omega before clicking his tongue and shaking his head: “Still, your looks are a bit lacking; those guys prefer big asses. As for you… go back and practice a bit more before you come looking for me.”
“What did you just say?!” Flushed crimson with rage, the omega shattered his facade of hypocrisy, glaring at him with eyes that looked ready to spit fire. The finger pointing at Shi Yixing was trembling, and raising his palm, he swung it toward his face to slap him.
A gentle breeze drifted past as the omega’s wrist was intercepted mid-air. Shi Yixing’s gaze cooled, freezing into an icy cavern whose chilling voice made people’s backs run cold: “Weigh your own worth before acting. Trash like you is nothing but a curse even if you enter the Alliance. Xiaze Mingluo is a thousand times stronger than you’ll ever be, you piece of garbage.”
He jerked his arm forward to shove the other person away forcefully, sending the dumbfounded omega stumbling to sprawl awkwardly against the railing. Disregarding him entirely, Shi Yixing turned and lifted his foot to stride away. However, mere seconds later.
“Ah!!!” A sluggish, miserable shriek echoed to shatter across the entire half-court. Shi Yixing closed his eyes tightly, pressed his lips into a thin line, and drew a deep breath.
Damn it. This bastard was trying to frame him.