Situation 2: Gaining Superpowers (Second Update)

Once Chloe left, the room fell into absolute silence. Before long, Dilos began to feel restless. He couldn't move around at all in his current state, and for some reason, he felt incredibly alert; he couldn't sleep even if he wanted to. Every time he closed his eyes, he only grew more energized, and his mood was abysmal.

As for how bad it was, Dilos couldn't quite put it into words, but he constantly felt a sense of wrongness in his heart. It was as if feelings of pain, collapse, indifference, and anger were all tangled together within him. This sensation refused to fade, making him feel particularly unsettled.

Could I be developing schizophrenia? A grim thought suddenly crossed Dilos's mind, and once it appeared, he felt even worse.

Calm down, stay calm. Dilos told himself. If he panicked now, things would surely become even more troublesome later. He adjusted his breathing, trying his best to steady himself.

However, this was no easy task; it took him a full ten minutes to gradually settle down.

Yet, once he was calm, although the previous agitation had vanished, those chaotic emotions did not disappear. On the contrary, Dilos could perceive them even more clearly.

Or rather, he should call it "reading" those emotions...

Dilos didn't know how he came up with that word, but once it surfaced in his mind, he became increasingly certain that he was "reading" emotions.

So, whose emotions were these? Could they be coming from the people around this hospital room?

Just as Dilos thought this, Chloe entered. The moment she stepped inside, Dilos felt a tightness in his chest, and a wave of anxiety and worry flooded his mind.

Seeing Dilos looking at her from the hospital bed, Chloe forced a smile and said, "Don't worry, Lex will be here in a while. You'll definitely get better."

As she said this, Dilos felt that mixture of anxiety and worry intensify. He looked at Chloe, his suspicions about his own ability growing stronger.

Dilos gave Chloe a smile that said, "Don't worry, I won't overthink it," and then sank into deep thought about his ability.

From the current situation, this ability seemed to be of a psychic nature, commonly known as telepathy. However, he truly didn't understand how he had acquired it.

Did I awaken an ability just by getting electrocuted? Or do I have the X-gene, making me a mutant? Countless thoughts flashed through Dilos's mind, but he couldn't reach any conclusion.

Without the proper equipment, the gear in his room was useless for any kind of examination.

But since he couldn't figure it out, he decided to stop thinking about it for now. It would be better to consider how to control this ability; having a pile of chaotic emotions wandering through his mind was simply torture.

With that in mind, Dilos closed his eyes, relaxed his mind, and attempted to control the ability.

Dilos had some theories about his power. Since a psychic ability could perceive things, it must function like the human five senses, reacting to changes in the external environment. For instance, his ability was like a signal receiver, specifically tuned to pick up various emotional signals.

If that were the case, wouldn't it be great if he could choose which emotions to receive at will?

Thinking this, Dilos began to focus his mind, attempting to manifest his intent.

However, after half an hour of continuous effort, there was no effect.

Instead, he began to feel drowsy. After all, his injuries were still quite severe, and the mere act of thinking was draining his energy.

Sigh, forget it. I'll stop thinking and just get some sleep. With that, Dilos drifted off to sleep quite easily. He must have been exhausted; even the pile of chaotic emotions in his mind couldn't stop him from falling into a deep slumber.

When Dilos woke up again, he found his vision shrouded in darkness. No, it wasn't exactly pitch black. Aside from the darkness, his body was surrounded by a multitude of glowing orbs of various colors.

What is this? A wave of confusion surged through Dilos. Standing at the center of these orbs, he could clearly sense the differences between them.

Each orb emitted a unique vibration, yet when these vibrations touched Dilos, they entered his body as if drawn into a black hole. A look of astonishment appeared on his face.

Are these... emotions? Dilos muttered to himself, though he was already eighty or ninety percent convinced of the theory.

These were the emotions of the people, or perhaps living beings, around him.

Dilos turned over and scanned the orbs. For some reason, in this state, his perception of his own condition was clearer, and more... comfortable!

That was right, comfortable—as if every piece of information about his body was being transmitted clearly to his mind. And he felt that in this state, he could even force his body to refuse the vibrations of these orbs.

The moment he thought of it, he acted. The result was unexpectedly smooth.

The moment the vibrations from the orbs touched his body, they were repelled, and he could no longer feel those inexplicable foreign emotions.

"Great!" Dilos shouted in excitement. At that moment, he felt a surge of heat in his chest, and the darkness and the orbs vanished, replaced by the warm tones of the hospital room.

Dilos was momentarily bewildered by the situation. He stared wide-eyed at his surroundings; two familiar figures had appeared in the room.

His uncle, Gabe, and Lex Luthor.

"You're awake, Dilos. Do you feel any better?" The surprise on Gabe's face wasn't faked, as Dilos could read the genuine joy coming from him.

Dilos's eyes darted around, recalling everything from that darkness, and he subconsciously shifted his intent. As he expected, the read emotion vanished—or rather, he had blocked it out.

It worked!

Dilos was overjoyed, and he smiled heartily to match his mood: "Don't worry, Uncle, I feel fine!"

Gabe was taken aback, but he didn't think much of it. In his eyes, it was better that Dilos's spirits weren't low.

At this moment, Lex, who was standing beside Gabe, walked over and smiled at him: "Good to see you again, Dilos."

"Hello, Lex. And, thank you."

Dilos smiled as he spoke. He couldn't help but use his ability on Lex. Although the man had saved him, given his knowledge of Lex from his past life, Dilos remained wary.

"Gabe told me you wanted to return the car to me, but I want to say that you saved my life—that is the very least I can do. I've always wanted to find a way to repay you, and I also want to be friends with you, Dilos. I've already contacted the best doctors in the country to come and treat you. You just need some time, and you'll be able to return to your normal life. What you need to do now is focus on recovering."

Lex didn't make any empty promises, and Dilos understood that. He knew the extent of his own injuries; if not for the martial arts technique of "Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound," he would have thought his life was over unless he could get his hands on something like the Extremis virus or a healing factor.

"Thank you." This time, Dilos meant it, because as he used his ability, he sensed that the man's emotions matched his words perfectly.

Lex wasn't lying; there wasn't even a hint of negative emotion, and he truly intended to be friends.

Dilos didn't understand why Lex would be so kind to him for such a reason, but he knew that since the man was genuinely trying to help, he should be genuinely grateful.

At the same time, Dilos realized a problem. He had been relying too heavily on the portrayals of these characters from the films of his past life. Those things were fine as references, but to fully judge what kind of person someone was, he needed to use his own eyes. After all, the world he was in now was a real one.