Chapter 196: His “Family”
Chapter 196: His “Family”
“Lacking abilities?”
Mr. Su and Minister Shen both unconsciously raised their heads, their brows slightly furrowed.
Even Chen Jing’s mouth fell open slightly, forming an “O” shape.
Such an absurd statement, coming from a top scholar like Professor Bai, felt baffling and hard to believe. If Lone Soldier, such a powerful ability user, was considered not to possess any ability, then what did that make the other Class C and B ability users?
“Exactly. But what I call lacking abilities isn’t as you understand it.”
Professor Bai spoke gravely: “Let’s look at the earliest data we have on Lone Soldier, from when he was Subject No. 13 under surveillance in Satellite City No. 2.”
“At that time, Qinggang’s Spiritual Contamination defense system detected the presence of a potential ability user in Satellite City No. 2. So, we observed him for a long time, as per protocol. Later, Chen Jing even rushed over personally, just to assess his ability and risk level…”
“But even when we observed his Psychic Energy growing so strong it manifested as Telekinetic Power, capable of overturning tables and chairs, we still didn’t know what specific ability he himself had manifested.”
“It wasn’t until the Psychic Contamination Incident at the street corner café, where he distorted himself and utilized a Spider-Type ability to eliminate that psychic entity, that we confirmed his classification.”
“However, after confirming it, we discovered that many of his manifestations didn’t align with Spider-Type characteristics…”
“Including himself; he stated that this ability was borrowed from a Little Sister he had whom no one else could see.”
“…”
“This matter was difficult for us to comprehend. We even considered he might have Multiple Personality Disorder and consequently elevated his Risk of Loss Of Control.”
Professor Bai continued, frowning. “But what if he was telling the truth?”
Minister Shen, Mr. Su, and Chen Jing were listening to his words attentively, but found themselves growing more confused the more they heard.
Minister Shen couldn’t help but thump the documents. “You just said Drunkard confirmed he doesn’t have any ‘family’!”
“The way his family exists, or perhaps the very concept, might be entirely different from what we imagine.”
Professor Bai deeply exhaled, his voice becoming slightly firmer as he gave his explanation:
“When the existing ability framework fails to explain something, it very likely means our perspective has become narrow due to the limits of our experience and cognition. After all, the entire system of abilities was something we discovered first and then categorized. In other words, it belongs to acquired experience. This acquired experience, once it becomes a framework, easily restricts our new understanding.”
“Therefore, at times like this, trying to broaden our perspective can make certain things easier to understand.”
“…”
“My speculation about Lone Soldier’s abilities follows this principle.”
Professor Bai stated his conclusion. “I found that if viewed from another angle, Lone Soldier’s ability is not complex.”
“One could even say it’s very simple.”
He paused, then spoke softly:
“He possesses extraordinarily high Psychic Magnitude without a specific, innate direction for his ability manifesting.”
“…”
Chen Jing could barely follow Professor Bai up to this point. It wasn’t clear if Minister Shen was keeping up.
Mr. Su, however, clearly had confusion written all over his face.
Having said this, Professor Bai smiled and looked at the others.
“This hypothesis can explain why Lone Soldier was able to neutralize that Mental Contamination Bomb located at the foot of the Southern Wall.”
“When the Mental Contamination Bomb formed that psychic entity – unstable and distorting everything around it, on the verge of detonation – only Psychic Energy surpassing it… at least double its magnitude… could overwhelm and neutralize its power.”
“Similarly, it explains why Lone Soldier could use those two psychic entities to trace and pinpoint the existence of the mastermind controlling them.”
“Since those two psychic entities were dispatched to attack Drunkard and Lone Soldier, they would necessarily carry information about their mastermind. They would also bear the true instructions from that mastermind for attacking Drunkard and Lone Soldier.”
“Therefore, if his Psychic Magnitude was sufficiently strong to overshadow both psychic entities… the Psychic Magnitude of those entities was over one thousand each but, according to initial estimates, not reaching two thousand. So, since he had the power to overwhelm the Psionic Bomb, he could certainly overshadow them. Lone Soldier could then extract those instructions from them and provide the answers we witnessed!”
“…”
“This…”
When Professor Bai revealed this answer, even Chen Jing couldn’t help but pause in astonishment.
She didn’t even take time to ponder the logic; her next question was reflexive:
“If he could truly do that… how high was his Psychic Magnitude?”
Minister Shen said grimly:
“Based on the report I received at the time, the psychic entity that appeared at the Southern Wall exceeded a magnitude of four thousand. If you are suggesting Lone Soldier’s Psychic Magnitude was sufficient to directly overwhelm that bomb, then his Psychic Magnitude must have been…”
“…”
He didn’t voice the subsequent figure. Chen Jing didn’t voice it either.
Mr. Su, however, mentally calculated and slowly replied: “By the multiplier you mentioned… approaching ten thousand?”
That number sent a tremor through Minister Shen and Chen Jing.
Professor Bai just smiled and shook his head.
“Currently, no humanoid being can withstand a Psychic Magnitude of ten thousand, or even approach it.”
“Lone Soldier cannot either.”
“Therefore, there’s no need for such concern. According to the report, before he processed that Psychic Entity, he’d engaged in a fierce struggle. So, it’s highly likely he weakened the Psychic Entity first, then contained it.”
“By this reasoning, I believe an estimate between 4,000 to 6,000 is most appropriate.”
“…”
The Conference Room fell quiet. For a moment, no one refuted or replied to Professor Bai.
Professor Bai smiled faintly and continued with his deduction:
“Once you accept the fact that he possesses immense Psychic Magnitude, I can explain the subsequent deduction.”
“To make it easier to understand, you might think of Lone Soldier as a Source of Contamination.”
“A powerful Source of Contamination.”
“But… he is a Source of Contamination with no Contamination potential… like pure water not conducting electricity.”
“…”
Minister Shen, Chen Jing, and Mr. Su all brimmed with questions but listened patiently, not attempting to interrupt.
Professor Bai went on:
“Because he was not capable, he possessed only the inherent traits of Psychic Energy itself – Distortion, Perception, mimicking, and the like.”
“And this allows him, when necessary, to utilize his formidable Psychic Magnitude to analyze and reconstruct certain abilities.”
“Of course, this requires him to be very familiar with that specific ability.”
“…”
His voice lingered in the Conference Room. Chen Jing, Minister Shen, and Mr. Su found they couldn’t interject.
Professor Bai then gave a slight sigh of relief: “And this… also explains why he has his three ‘family members’.”
“He does not have Multiple Personality Disorder, nor are these three family members truly real.”
“…”
Facing the others in the Office, he smiled and slowly voiced his hypothesis:
“I suspect that during the awakening phase of his ability, he indeed encountered three such individuals, or rather, three such abilities.”
“We all know he has ties to the Escaped Laboratory, yet we don’t know exactly what he experienced.”
“If I were to speculate… during the Experiment, he encountered three such individuals. For some reason, he used his own immense Psychic Energy to mimic and deconstruct their abilities, creating three distinct powers. These preserved abilities differed in nature from his own Psychic Energy but shared the same origin. Consequently, he would feel they were familiar yet not truly part of himself…”
“It’s akin to an actor playing another character.”
“For him, it would be a deeply significant character, one imbued with great personal investment.”
“This character is both him and not him; it is simply his reconstructed understanding.”
“…”
Professor Bai picked up a marker and drew a large circle on the whiteboard. Inside it, he drew three smaller circles. On the leftmost small circle, he added two upward strokes, turning it into a head figure with two small braids to represent Little Sister, then said:
“For Lone Soldier, when he deconstructed these three abilities, he inevitably experienced confusion and uncertainty. With his immense Psychic Magnitude, logic divergent from ordinary people would inevitably arise. Therefore, during the process of tolerating and accepting these three abilities, he would necessarily assign them positions according to his own understanding – positions he could comprehend.”
“At that time, he was merely a twelve or thirteen-year-old child who had lost his Orphanage, adrift in a time of Chaos.”
“So, the positions he assigned to these three characters were that of family.”
“He accepted these three abilities as invisible family members only he could see, allowing them to accompany him.”
“…”
Having spoken all of this in one breath, he gently set down the document, took off his Glasses, and rubbed his brow.
Softly, he concluded: “This… is my hypothesis, based on all current information, regarding Lone Soldier’s internal state!”
“A Psychic Magnitude reaching 6,000 to 7,000 already falls into the dangerous level category.”
“If coupled with corresponding abilities, it often reaches an insurmountable condition, classifying it as S-grade.”
“However, in reality, Lone Soldier possesses only the corresponding Psychic Magnitude without any true ability under his control. His powers are entirely mimicked and reconstructed, incapable of truly unleashing the full potential of his Psychic Magnitude. Thus, he is inherently one tier weaker than a true S-grade.”
“Therefore, his ability rating can now be definitively answered!”
Putting his Glasses back on, he added to Lu Xin’s information on the writing board behind him:
Code Name: Lone Soldier
Ability: None (Or, yet to awaken)
Grade: A-grade
Risk of Loss of Control: 65%