Frank's Family

Having resolved Norman's problem, it was time to deal with Frank's.

Inside the secret facility where Frank's family was kept, Frank and Harry sat cross-legged facing each other.

Both had their eyes closed like meditating old monks, with scanners placed over their heads.

Harry was testing whether Frank had developed Psychic Power.

After a long while, Harry raised an eyebrow.

An emotion of "happiness" appeared in Harry's mind. It was very faint, with almost no effect on him and difficult to detect.

"I felt it, but... it's much weaker than I expected."

As Harry finished speaking, both of them opened their eyes.

The psionic interference Frank generated was practically negligible. If Harry had not been exceptionally gifted with a Sixth Sense, he might not even have sensed the emotion.

"Then will it be useful?"

"Hard to say. You generated that emotion by meditating on your family life. Perhaps it will have an extraordinary effect on your family."

In Zero-Energy Theory, cognition was an extremely important component.

Shared experiences often made people's perceptions easier to align. Simply put, his family should be more receptive to this feeling of happiness, strengthening the connection between them and gradually waking them up.

"Are you finished?" Doctor Connors's voice came through the loudspeaker. "The scans show that Frank's brain regions are extremely active, and his cerebrospinal fluid metabolism has accelerated. Fascinating."

If things had developed normally, Psionic Theory should have taken root in brain science. Naturally, Doctor Connors could spot the clues from the brain scans.

"Yes, Doctor. Everything is progressing normally."

Then it was time for a practical test.

Frank sat upright beside his wife and child and immediately entered the state.

So as not to affect Frank's performance, Harry did not use equipment to monitor their condition. Instead, he had Leining enter their minds directly to monitor their bioelectric activity.

Because of that, Harry noticed abnormalities beginning to appear in the electrical currents of their brains. If their minds had originally been like stagnant pools, they were now like stagnant water stirred by a clear spring.

It was working.

"Ha..." After sitting quietly for more than two hours, Frank could no longer maintain his state. He broke free from his memories and returned to reality.

"Frank, are you all right? I have good news for you. Your family... they've reacted."

Hearing that, Frank smiled through his tears and caressed his family's faces.

Harry and Doctor Connors were both happy for the man.

Honestly, Harry admired ordinary humans like Frank even more. In the original story, he did not possess absurdly high intelligence, a powerful body, or high-tech equipment. He rarely had teammates—and was even frequently betrayed by his assistants.

His will was firm, but in a world of superheroes, he was destined to be seen as someone who had gone astray.

"I want to try again," Frank said to Harry.

But Harry shook his head.

"It's time for school to let out. Aren't you going to pick up your daughter? Maybe we can have a meal together."

Frank froze.

In order to study the things Harry had left behind, he had not gone home in a long time—those were classified materials, and Frank could only study them in the facility.

Whenever his daughter called, he would brush her off by saying he was busy with work. Harry did not think that was a good thing.

"You're right... Thank you."

"Freak!"

Ever since Lisa returned to school, she had constantly heard people call her that.

Most people praised the Artificial Liver inside her body, believing it to be the crystallization of human wisdom.

But to those obnoxious students, Lisa was a monster with an artificial object implanted in her body—a scientific monstrosity like Frankenstein.

Of course, perhaps they knew nothing at all and simply wanted to bully someone different.

Whenever she passed them, Lisa could always hear them whispering that she was a freak.

Especially these past few days, Frank had not shown up at school for a long time.

Frank had not come to pick her up. People from the Osborn Group had come instead. They kept her away from those annoying people, but they also made even more people afraid to approach her.

She leaned against the wall in the hallway and looked at the Osborn Group luxury cars outside the school. Several Osborn bodyguards in suits were waiting for her there.

But she wanted her father to pick her up. She did not like the Osborn Group bodyguards.

So she went behind the school building and took out her phone.

"Lisa, call Dad. He'll come pick you up."

"But he's very busy..."

"But you should call him."

Lisa kept talking to herself—as though someone really were speaking to her.

But this wasn't schizophrenia, merely a manifestation of loneliness.

"Ha, freak. Couldn't the Osborn people find you?"

A haughty-looking girl approached, followed by several lackeys.

Lisa didn't want trouble and only wanted to leave quickly, but these people had clearly come looking to start something.

"The Osborn people are right outside. You shouldn't do this..."

"Really? By the time they find you, we'll already be gone—ah!"

Lisa's expression suddenly turned to delight. Frank had come to pick her up!

The girl who had been speaking suddenly realized that she was flying through the air—no, someone had grabbed her by the hair!

"What's your name?" Frank looked terrifying. His family had died once before, and he was especially sensitive about this sort of thing.

Especially because this had happened due to his neglect of his daughter, and the guilt tormented him.

"I... Let me go! My name is Norris Donna. I know I was wrong..."

"No, you don't." Frank punched a deep imprint into a trash can, even splitting his own knuckles open.

"Next time I see you doing something like this, my fists will land on your parents. Do you understand?"

"I understand! Sir, please spare me. I really know I was wrong..."

"Good. Now apologize to my daughter!"

The girl who had been so arrogant moments ago could only begin apologizing in a humble voice.

At that moment, Harry walked over as well.

"School bullying?" Harry glanced around at the scene. "Do you want to change schools, or perhaps change principals?"

Harry couldn't quite understand what these children were thinking either. Couldn't they see the Osborn logo on the car outside?

Lisa said nothing, and Frank's heart ached—if Lisa still had friends, she would at least have hesitated or shaken her head. But she didn't.

"Mm, then let's change schools. And call the parents of these children. Have them come apologize tomorrow." Harry waved a hand and gave the instructions to someone nearby.

Children's problems really weren't easy to solve. A new environment would be better.

The children had long since been scared stiff, standing there in a daze.

"Lisa, Mr. Osborn and I have gifts for you. Shall we go home?"

Lisa nodded and threw her arms tightly around Frank.