It was only natural, of course.

With so many blue mechas and their cores absorbed, it would be a shame if I couldn't even do that to mere Russian "Superhumans"!

And with my body also slowly but surely absorbing the white mecha and its core, very soon my body would be as tough as a real mecha.

Still, I deeply lamented the fact that I had lost almost all of my red energy.

If I still had it, I would definitely become Mecha Emperor much earlier.

Without the red energy to facilitate the absorption, it was really slow going. The white mecha core within me was like a huge source of incredible energy which I had no way of harnessing.

After a full hour of futile effort searching for a trace of the red energy, I finally gave up.

When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to find that there were at least three thousand kids already gathered around me, and tens more were arriving every second.

I glanced at them and to my additional surprise, many were shooting strange looks at me.

"Huh? What's with all the strange looks?" I wondered.

I glanced at the elders and realized that some of them were looking at me strangely too. However, some of them were frowning deeply as if they were disapproving something.

"Brother Justin." A soft voice sounded from next to me.

I turned around and to my surprise once more, it was Tes!

"Tes! Hey, you're here! Where are the others?" I asked her with a smile.

Tes merely shook her head, sighed deeply and said three words. "Disqualified through injury."

"WHAT? What happened?" I shouted.

Tes simply pointed at a group of kids to my side.

My eyes followed her finger and rested upon a small group of twenty smirking kids.

"The Long Family. They attacked you guys?" I said softly as a rising tide of anger surged powerfully from my heart.

"Yes." Tes said and showed me her wounds.

Her hands were black and blue in many places, and I just realized that she was pale, much paler than usual.

"Hey Whitefrost brat. Had a good sleep? You useless lump of flesh. To think you'll ignore your girlfriend getting attacked and mocked at by the Long family like that!" Sherry said to me with a trace of anger and discontent in her voice.

"What are you talking about?" I frowned and asked her.

"Were you really sleeping you useless oaf? That girl next to you was getting chased by the Long family brats until she reached the second peak half dead from exhaustion! And after she made her way to your side, she was still mocked and insulted by them! Didn't you hear all the dirty words they used to insult her and her family? To think she considers you as a friend. POOH! You're pathetic!" Sherry fumed.

I took a deep breath to keep my anger in check and gritted my teeth as I forcefully suppressed the fury that was rising like a tidal wave within my heart.

BA DUMP!

A surge of blinding pain shot through my heart.

The red mecha core was reacting to my anger!

"Ghhh." I tried my best to endure the pain without showing anything in my outward appearance. Apparently it worked because Sherry went on with her tirade.

"You're an embarrassment to all men out there! You make me sick! Coward! Loser!" Sherry fumed at me.

BA DUMP!

Another, even more powerful wave of pain wracked my heart.

"Yes!" I exclaimed internally. "More! Scold me more!"

Sherry must be psychic, because she totally did what I mentally told her to do.

"You're the biggest loser I've ever seen in my entire life! And trust me, I've seen A LOT of losers! GAH!! I can't stand looking at you! Sheera, take over and yell at him for me! I'm about to die here out of loser overload!"

BA! DUMP!

BA DUMP!

PAIN! EXCRUCIATING PAIN!

"Gahh!" A groan finally escaped my lips and I collapsed to the ground.historical

"Brother Justin!!!" Tes cried out in alarm and rushed to my side.

However, I ignored her completely because at that moment, I was "staring" at my heart in shock.

The tiniest tendril of red energy had appeared outside my rapidly beating heart!

It wasn't much, barely more than a wisp.

But it was red energy!

And I could control it!

Immediately, I thought of making armor around my ankles to give it a go.

Whoosh!

Voila!! A thin layer of armor appeared around my left ankle!

Success!!

"It's finally back... The red energy is back!!!" I screamed in my heart.

"Brother Justin, are you alright?" Tes asked with concern in her voice.

"I'm okay Tes, don't worry." I said as I sat back up again and smiled at her. "Just an injury I sustained earlier."

Tes nodded in relief and sat back down again.

"Phew. I thought he died after getting insulted by you." Sheera said while glaring at Sherry. "What will you say to grandpa later if you kill a Whitefrost brat by insulting him to death huh?"

"Hmph!" Sherry looked away from me in disgust. "Gramps would probably reward me for it! And the world would praise me too for getting rid of such scum from the face of the earth! Look at his friend, she's still concerned for his well-being even after he sat through her tragic insults by the Longs!"

Sheera merely sighed, shook her head helplessly and turned away as well.

"You've suffered a lot." I said gently to Tes.

She merely shrugged as though it was no big deal.

"Wait here. I will get something for you." I told Tes. "And for Andrew, Kenny, Fey and Sera as well."

My euphoria faded as my fury returned in full force.

I looked at the Long family kids and made my way towards them slowly, all the while giving them a cold smile that was complemented perfectly by the bloodlust that was beginning to show in my eyes.