Nothing!
The Mental Sense detected absolutely nothing.
Zhou Tianming gasped heavily, the air having turned viscous like liquid - each breath required tremendous effort to fill his lungs. This was definitely no illusion!
Something was in this room!
The environment had changed!
BANG!
The door burst open as Natarle rushed back inside, her face etched with worry after having left just moments earlier.
"Don't—"
Tian Ming whirled around to stop her, but his words died abruptly.
The moment she crossed the threshold, all anomalies vanished. The space returned to normal like receding ocean waves, the oppressive heaviness dissipating completely.
Tian Ming scanned the room suspiciously.
Natarle grabbed his arm urgently. "Tian Ming, what's wrong?"
Following his gaze, she looked around—nothing seemed amiss except an overturned chair.
Gone?
What exactly was happening?
Though confused, Tian Ming forced a reassuring tone for the concerned Natarle. "It's nothing. Just frustrated with the lack of research progress." Natarle bit her lower lip, managing an awkward smile. "Take a break. Rest might help you find sudden inspiration."
Glancing at the scattered documents on the table, Tian Ming remained silent before finally nodding.
"Come, I prepared some food."
Tian Ming shuddered. "Not... not again..."
"Tian Ming! These nutrient blends are essential for your recovery—easy to digest and packed with energy!"
"Then why won't you drink them?!"
Natarle turned away without answering.
After a long pause, she whispered two words: "Tastes awful."
Wearing a "I-can't-believe-you'd-do-this" expression, Tian Ming was forcibly dragged out by Natarle.
In the now empty room, a little girl floated mid-air, watching Tian Ming's departure while murmuring, "Not a Newtype?"
"Did he detect them using that peculiar method?"
Drifting to the desk, she glanced at the papers and wrinkled her nose in disgust—the first emotional ripple across her typically placid face.
Upon closer inspection, she winced in pain.
The densely packed black text and complex diagrams assaulted her mind like psychic attacks.
Recalling something unpleasant, she hastily retreated from the desk with visible fear.
"Hmph! What's so fascinating about these? Everyone's obsessed with them!"
A sensory-based underachiever's protest against rational overachievers.
Her form began fading as she prepared to leave.
Suddenly, an electric jolt shot through her forehead. Tilting her head curiously, she abruptly turned toward the distance. "I see now."
As if receiving divine insight, her immense Mental Power surged forth, etching a sigil in her mind.
[Mental Sense] activated!
Her psychic energy shot skyward like an unfolding umbrella, expanding across the heavens.
The little girl's eyes lit up as she immediately sensed something different from before.
Though her Mental Power was formidable, it couldn't support casually observing across tens of thousands of kilometers.
But she had found a clever workaround—using the scattered Mental Power lingering in the air from people as both a conduit and fuel to project her own power far away. Utilizing the entire Earth's Mental Power as fuel, she could reach as far as Mars for about a second.
Now, however, the Mental Power emitted through [Sense] was more condensed and orderly. At the same time, she could clearly feel a change in her Mental Power—weakened in other aspects but significantly enhanced in observational ability.
With [Sense], she could traverse the entire Earth without relying on Mental Power fuel.
"To think he isn't a Newtype, yet he managed to develop such a method for utilizing Mental Power."
The little girl couldn't help but show an expression of awe.
Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her head, like an electric shock.
"Is this the side effect? I observed too closely."
Cutting off the [Sense] effect, the little girl walked to the desk and raised her small hand.
A white light gathered at the tip of her right index finger, and Mental Power, like blood squeezed out, formed a droplet that fell and hovered about ten centimeters above the desk. "It'd be a shame if he died now. Consider this payment."
Then, she vanished without a trace.
Underground laboratory, beside the incubation pod
A gaunt, hunched figure checked the readings on the equipment.
After a long pause, he looked up at the brain floating in the incubation pod and pressed his palm against the cold glass exterior. "Filia..."
When the little girl used [Sense] to sweep across the globe, people with sharp mental sensitivity around the world felt discomfort.
Some felt like they were drowning, others had their minds go blank and briefly lost consciousness—nearly causing accidents—while some experienced inexplicable headaches...
As the closest and first to bear the brunt, Zhou Tianming felt it most intensely.
It was like standing atop a volcano during an eruption—he was instantly engulfed by overwhelming Mental Power.
In that moment of being swallowed, Zhou Tianming first felt terror, then elation as he sensed the tangible Mental Power. Without hesitation, he activated Seed and used [Iron Wall] and [Analyze].
Naturally, human strength couldn't withstand a volcanic eruption, and he instantly lost consciousness.
But in that split second, in that fleeting moment, he obtained the most crucial tangible parameters related to Mental Power.
Zhou Tianming's sudden collapse frightened Natarle. She rushed to check on him, but upon seeing his face free of pain and filled with joy instead, she realized something and covered her mouth, tears of happiness streaming down her face.
Two or three hours later, Zhou Tianming woke up from the excruciating pain coursing through his body, vomiting blood the moment he regained consciousness.
"Tian Ming..." Natarle gently rubbed his back and wiped the blood from his lips with a towel. "Rest a little longer."
"It's fine." Zhou Tianming endured the pain, his face twisting into a strained smile. "I just caught the feeling—can't waste it."
With that, he stood up.
Natarle supported him back to his room. The moment he entered, Zhou Tianming sensed something unusual.
To his eyes, the desk only had scattered papers and documents, but his intuition screamed at him—something was there!
He walked forward, palms upturned, and scooped up the invisible object following his instincts. Zhou Tianming grinned widely.
Natarle stared blankly at his empty hands. "Is there something in your hands?"
"Yes." Zhou Tianming nodded. "Seems fate isn't done with me yet. Someone left behind exactly what I needed most."
Zhou Tianming glanced around, unsure if the other party was still present, but still shouted loudly, "Thank you!"
Natarle felt her hair stand on end as she shrank back and pressed tightly against Zhou Tianming.
Her voice trembled slightly, "You mean... there was someone here just now?"
He froze.
A strange expression crossed his face—he wasn't sure whether to refer to the other as a person or a ghost.
The only thing he could confirm was that the other party was definitely a Newtype.
As for why they had helped him?
Honestly, there was no point trying to reason with those cryptic Newtypes.
They might've just acted on a whim, a sudden impulse flashing through their mind.
He quickly dismissed the thought—he didn't have time to dwell on it.
With the Mental Power parameters he had obtained earlier, combined with the highly concentrated Mental Power sample in his hands, Zhou Tianming finally completed the first-generation [Mental Power Defense Device] on December 22.
It resembled a rectangular metal box lying flat on the ground, its walls as thick as a palm, with a base standing as tall as a forearm. Thick cables connected the device to the factory's power supply on all sides, and its entire body was constructed from [Psycommu Alloy].
Amidst the shipyard's equipment maintenance and production lines—
Zhou Tianming lay at its center, his heart pounding. "What time is it now?"
The [Mental Power Defense Device] had already activated. A surge of electricity caused the machine to emit a distinct hum, and the originally silver-white metallic surface lit up with glowing white patterns of Mental Power. An intangible Mental Field enveloped Zhou Tianming.
White light flickered along the inner walls, and a tangible weight pressed down on his head—this was because he needed to synchronize with the machine as a single entity to defend against internal attacks.
White Rabbit: "12:11."
Natarle sat nearby, her fists clenched, lips pressed together, and breathing shallow with tension. Her violet eyes were fixed intently on Zhou Tianming inside the machine. Strangely, at this critical moment, Zhou Tianming felt calm. Seeing Natarle's expression, he chuckled lightly. "Don't be nervous."
She rolled her eyes at him, her body stiffening even further.
Suddenly, White Rabbit's voice rang out: "Mental Power readings successfully detected—rapidly decreasing! 47 standard units of Mental Power per second." No pain!
Zhou Tianming raised his hand in a fist and exhaled sharply. "It worked!"
He shouted, "White Rabbit, switch to the Mental Power Storage Container and compare the consumption rates of the three Mental Power types!"
"Understood."
Beside him, Natarle lunged forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Zhou Tianming.
"Na—"
Natarle lifted herself up and pressed her lips against his, silencing his words.
The mental strain of the past few days had pushed them both to their limits, and now, with sudden release, they lost themselves in each other.
Their lips and tongues tangled in a heated exchange, soft moans escaping between them.
"White Rabbit is still here!" Zhou Tianming insisted with a stubborn look, trying to salvage some dignity.
Natarle had already begun undressing him with determination. "It's dead!"
"Understood. I am dead."
Wait, something feels off...
Why am I on the bottom?