“Uh-huh.” Emma replied nonchalantly.

“Tha-that’s insane! What kind of mecha is worth two hundred fifty billion dollars?” I sputtered.

“The kind that is twelve mecha grades combined into one.” Emma laughed lightly at my shocked expression.

“What? How are there TWELVE grades? Light, Medium, Heavy and Ultra-heavy. That’s four!”

“Times three. A set of four each for the sea, land and the sky.”

“How? How can a mecha be all of those things at once?” I asked in amazement.

“It’s the latest high tech modular mecha.” Emma explained. “The mainframe is fixed while everything else can be detached. So you can pick and choose which type of armor, weapons, engine, flight systems, and even the number of limbs.”

“Holy smokes. That’s… One impressive mecha. Really extravagant for a prize.” I breathed heavily in awe.

“Yep. Imagine what YOU could do if you are able to devour them all.” Emma gave me a conspiratorial smile.

“Exactly.” I nodded. I could already feel my adrenaline rushing out once more. If I could get hold of that mecha, it would open up the world for me.

Nothing would be out of my reach!

And then I remembered that I had lost all my red energy.

“Damn.” I sighed deeply. “It’s too difficult.”

“What do you mean? The tournament is perfect for you! You can absorb so many mechas there! You just have to be careful not to absorb too many mechas so that you don’t attract any attention.” Emma said.

“I lost my power to devour and manifest mechas.” I told her sadly.

“What? You lost your power to devour and manifest mechas?!” Emma asked in surprise. “What happened?!”

“Amelia Dragonos happened. That sneaky b*tch threw some sort of anti-mecha poison at me! I had to cut off my right arm to prevent the virus from invading my body, and then I had to use all the red energy within my body to resist the tiny bit that managed to sneak in!” I cursed Amelia vehemently. “Without that red energy, I can’t devour mechas at all, and I can’t release the ones I’ve already devoured.”

“I see…”

“That’s why I said its too difficult for me. If I had access to my red energy, I would definitely have a fighting chance to get first place. But without it…”

“Let’s give it a few days and see what happens. Maybe the energy might come back on its own.” Emma suggested.

“Yeah. I guess that’s the only thing I can do right now…” I replied rather morosely.

“Cheer up. If there is one thing I learnt from my time in captivity, it is that bad things happen to everybody. The difference between a survivor and a non survivor is simply our response. That, and a bit of luck, I suppose. You’ve been lucky so far, maybe you’ll get lucky again. You can’t control luck, but you can control your response. So…”

I glanced at Emma in surprise. “That’s… really really wise. You sound like an eighty year old grandma.”

“Thanks.” Emma replied half sincerely and half sarcastically at my half compliment and half insult.

“Welcome.” I grinned at her. My mood had lifted quite significantly after listening to her words.

“She is right. I need to respond well to this crisis! Instead of moping around, I will work hard to find a solution!” I decided.

“Anyway, with or without your power, I think you should join the tournament!” Emma said.

“It’s too difficult. 100,000 mechas?” I sighed. “Which smartass came up with such a massively stupid tournament anyway?”

“If it’s easy, they wouldn’t give such epic rewards. Plus, the tournament itself is a really great chance to train and temper ourselves.” Emma said and ignored my question.

“Yeah, I guess so. Still… The scale is incredible. A 100,000-mecha free-for-all in an entire ruined megacity… Amazing.” I shook my head in wonder.

“You have exactly seven months to prepare for the tournament. And with the way you fought against the Red Dragon gang members, I reckon you’d need every single second of those seven months. You need to brush up your skills if you want to make sure that you make it out alive. The risk of death for the tournament had been assessed as “moderate” by the government.

“Although killing is not allowed, there were always “accidents” in every tournament. I heard that the total number of deaths had surpassed fifty thousand in the last thirty two tournaments.” Emma continued.

“Ugh. I think I need some air.” I said.

100,000 mechas. Ruined megacity. Two hundred fifty billion dollars. Modular mecha. Moderate risk of death.

All of those things were too much to digest in one go.

Emma nodded in understanding and led me out of my room.

“Take some time to digest all this information first. If you don’t want to join, we can always give the opportunity to another Whitefrost Clan member. Just so you know, the right to enter the tournament is selling for billions of dollars in auctions outside.” Emma said.

“Right…”

“Let’s go get some air. I’ll give you a tour of the Whitefrost Estate while we’re at it.”

“Sound’s good!” I said.

We left my room and entered a wide and tastefully decorated corridor.

On my left I could see a series of doors spaced around ten meters apart and a massive double door leading out to what seemed like a beautiful garden at the end.

“You’re staying in the VIP Guest Room of the West Wing of the main building.” Emma began. “The West Wing has only 1 floor and apart from your room, there are six other guest rooms in the West Wing. Come this way.”

Emma led me to the right and we entered a massive, hyper-luxurious living room with high ceilings. It was at least a few hundred square meters large. Beautiful sofas, lounges, bars, bookshelves, carpeted playing areas as well as a massive TV were beautifully and ergonomically arranged within it.

At that moment, only two people were in it, and they were in deep conversation about something and did not notice us.