Old Tian smiled "generously": "So, we've done some calculations. The cell repair fluid you used this time can only be deducted from your salary. I've roughly calculated that, based on us taking one job a month and our turnover over the past few years, we can estimate your potential income as an agent..."
He seemed to sigh: "The final calculation shows that if this fee is deducted from your income, you would have to work for us for free for at least 42 years to pay it off."
Chen Xiao was stunned: "Forty-two years... Doesn't that mean I'll be sixty years old by the time I pay it off?"
Old Tian said sternly, "That's how it is."
Chen Xiao plunged into the green liquid with a splash, soaked for a while, and then poked his head out: "So the last and third piece of news should be good news, right?"
“Yes, that’s good news.” Old Tian said to Chen Xiao with a smile, “The good news is that for the next forty-two years, you can spend time with three of us reclusive masters… Isn’t that good news for you?”
Chen Xiao stared at Lao Tian, wide-eyed, "I can't believe... you'd actually make a joke like that."
Old Tian shook his head and smiled slightly, "Alright. Enough joking around. The real third piece of news..." He then became serious, "I don't even know if this news is good or bad for you. Because... the service company is here, and they demand that I take you for a thorough test! And then..."
"And then what?"
"Then, according to the organization, your recent performance has been too outstanding, so based on your test results, they hope you can join the service!"
Chen Xiao was silent for a moment: "What if I refuse? What will happen?"
This time, Lao Tian didn't say anything. He just silently watched Chen Xiao.
Silently!
But Chen Xiao sensed something unusual in his eyes…
Splash!
Chen Xiao stood up from the bathtub, walked to the shower next to her, rinsed herself, and then grabbed a bathrobe hanging on the wall. She slowly put it on.
Throughout the entire process, Lao Tian remained silent, and Chen Xiao also kept quiet.
After watching Chen Xiao dry her hair and comb it, Old Tian suddenly muttered something in a low voice:
"Chen Xiao, my personal suggestion is... you'd better accept it!"
Seeing Chen Xiao's bright eyes, Lao Tian sighed, "Oh, I meant this thorough test! As for whether you join the service organization or not, I believe that according to the service organization's consistent rules, you won't be forced. But I think this test is very urgent for you right now!"
"oh?"
“Yes.” Old Tian said seriously, “I tested you while you were unconscious…you showed some very strange changes. The equipment we have here probably can’t fully examine you. To find out, we’ll have to go to the service center headquarters!”
"Why? Is there something wrong with me? I've only absorbed two more superpowers..."
Before Chen Xiao could say anything, Lao Tian suddenly stood up and, right in front of Chen Xiao, ripped open his shirt!
Above his chest, beneath his strong pectoral muscles, lay a shocking scar!
The wound looked as if it had been scratched out by hand! Although it had healed, it still left behind reddish flesh!
Moreover, this wound looks like it was just left recently!
"You're injured? When? What happened?" Chen Xiao was somewhat surprised! With Lao Tian's strength, how could anyone have managed to injure him?!
Old Tian silently buttoned up his clothes again before raising his head and looking into Chen Xiao's eyes.
His expression was somewhat strange, then he gave a slight, bitter smile and said one sentence:
"You don't remember anything, do you? This injury was caused by you! Just the day before yesterday, I was examining you, and you suddenly went berserk and attacked me while you were unconscious! If I hadn't reacted quickly, you almost ripped my internal organs out! Kid, do you know what? Your physical reaction at that time, your strength was actually... A-level!"
Rank A?! Rank A power... I actually... I actually attacked Old Tian?!
Chen Xiao was stunned!
My first reaction was: "How is that possible?!"
"Ha! Kid! You think you can just deny injuring me?" Old Tian laughed and patted Chen Xiao on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you're still far from being good enough. If I hadn't been so focused on checking your injuries... Hmph, with your limited skills, you think you could have hurt me?!"
But then his tone turned serious: "Your reaction was very strange at the time, as if you were completely unconscious, no, or rather, as if you didn't remember anything! It was as if you had become a completely different person! If I hadn't knocked you out, you probably would have run away."
As he spoke, Lao Tian pointed to the back of Chen Xiao's head.
Chen Xiao touched it casually and sure enough, there was a faint, healed wound on the back of his head—he remembered that he hadn't injured the back of his head when he was on the island!
"Actually, haven't you found it strange all along?" Old Tian took out another cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag.
"What's strange?"
"You!" Old Tian pointed at Chen Xiao's nose: "You were originally just an ordinary person. Later, you gained superpowers because of the purification potion! But your superpowers were obtained by absorbing Hei Qi's abilities! But the strange thing is... Hei Qi's ability is manipulating air currents! Not strength! Hei Qi herself is not a strength-based superpower user! Logically speaking, since you absorbed her, your initial superpower should also be manipulating air currents! So why did it become strength?"
Chen Xiao couldn't answer that question! He was speechless!
“From the beginning, I made a hypothesis… perhaps the purification potion caused a change in your genes, a change that is unpredictable. So what was supposed to be an ability to control airflow became pure power in you. But later you absorbed Qiu Yun and the poisonous Alice… yet the abilities they transferred to you didn’t change in type. That’s why I’ve been so worried. And now…”
Old Tian touched the location of his wounds: "I have reason to suspect that there is something about you that we don't know about!"
"What?"
Old Tian sighed: "To put it simply... I personally suspect that it's very likely you were originally a superhuman! You always have been! It's just that some substance in your body forcibly suppressed this characteristic! That's why for over a decade, you didn't behave much differently from ordinary people. However, after inhaling the purification agent that time, the purification agent and your blood produced some kind of chemical reaction that we don't know about. Then, the shackles that originally bound your initial ability were broken! And then, your original superhuman ability emerged..."
Old Tian stared into Chen Xiao's eyes as he said this: "The most likely truth is: Chen Xiao, you were originally a superhuman! You were originally one of us! It wasn't because you purified and absorbed Black Seven that you became like this! You were a superhuman from birth!! Although this is just my personal guess, I think it's very possible!"
Chen Xiao was stunned!
Was he originally a superhuman?
He wanted to laugh, and wanted to retort absurdly: How is that possible!?