Xu Xiao spent five days recuperating in the hospital.
Early on the sixth morning, while Xu Xiao was cooperating with Dr. Jonathan's examination, a group of police officers arrived at the hospital.
Several white men in black suits came with them.
The group went straight into Xu Xiao's room, where Jonathan immediately challenged them:
"Hey, gentlemen, don't you know it's highly unethical to interrupt a doctor treating a patient?"
"You're Dr. Jonathan, right?" A white man in a black suit stepped forward.
"Yes, that's me. What is it?" Dr. Jonathan had seen plenty of the world, and the moment these men arrived, he knew they hadn't come with good intentions.
He gave the nurse beside him a look, signaling her to fetch help, but to his surprise, the men saw right through him.
"Don't try to be clever. We're the FBI." The white man pulled his credentials from inside his jacket as he spoke.
"Dr. Jonathan, we will be prosecuting you for endangering national security by concealing this patient's unusual physical condition. Now please step aside and stay out of our way."
Jonathan's face turned deathly pale, and he stood frozen in place.
Walls had ears. From the moment he had chosen to join the hospital's senior staff in preparing to study the secrets of Xu Xiao's body, he had been ready for the truth to come out.
He just hadn't expected it to happen so quickly, so soon.
The white man in the suit had seen plenty of people who tried to evade government oversight. He ignored Jonathan and turned his gaze to Xu Xiao.
What a monster!
It was his first time seeing Xu Xiao's skeletal face, all skin and bones, and even he was a little startled.
But when he thought of what the unusual physical data reported by the informant meant, he knew this was someone they absolutely couldn't let go.
"Cuff him and take him away," the white man in the suit ordered, and the police stepped forward to do it for him.
Neither of the two officers paid much attention to Xu Xiao, who looked like a skeleton.
They went around the bed, one on each side, and reached out to pin him down.
"Seriously, I've been found out already? How annoying!"
Xu Xiao's exasperated voice rang out, followed immediately by two screams.
"Ah! Ah!"
Two syringes used for drawing blood flew up from the tray in front of the bed and plunged into the eye sockets of the two approaching officers, piercing straight through to their brains.
The two officers died instantly, without even a chance to resist.
Before anyone else could react, every other instrument on the tray flew up as well.
Tweezers, scissors, syringes, even the disinfecting alcohol shot into the air in an instant, speeding toward the police officers and FBI agents present.
As though controlled by an enormous invisible hand, the metal instruments pierced the most vulnerable organs in their bodies at tremendous speed, instantly bringing everyone present down.
The whole process took less than two seconds. Even the most cautious officer hadn't managed to draw the gun at his waist.
Xu Xiao's development of his telekinesis wasn't as crude as that of the three in the movie. His telekinetic ability showed itself more in precise manipulation.
Using the least force to unleash the greatest power allowed him to put his telekinesis to use quickly while also reducing the strain on his body.
So far, Xu Xiao had only once experienced a scene like those of the protagonist trio, whose noses streamed with blood whenever they used telekinesis.
With thunderbolt methods, Xu Xiao instantly cleared the room of its unwanted occupants.
The only two others left alive were Dr. Jonathan and Mary, the young nurse.
"Oh, my god!"
The bizarre sight terrified them both. Mary's eyes rolled back, and she fell over and went to sleep.
Dr. Jonathan, on the other hand, pointed at Xu Xiao excitedly, saying "Oh, my god" over and over!
"Enough with the 'ohs.' I'm not your god."
As he spoke, Xu Xiao sat up in bed, then walked over to Dr. Jonathan and patted him on the shoulder.
"Thank you for taking me in these past few days. You drew a few tubes of my blood, but you did buy me a few more days."
Xu Xiao wasn't a murderer who killed everyone he met.
Even if the doctor hadn't achieved anything in the past few days, he had still put in the effort. And through him, Xu Lin had gained a very direct understanding of the changes in his body from a scientific perspective.
Jonathan forced a smile, curiosity outweighing the fear in his eyes.
"You really did it! Just as I thought, once the human hippocampus and pineal gland become powerful enough, a person can master an invisible mental force."
"Maybe," Xu Xiao said with a shrug.
Over the past few days, Jonathan had told him many theories about the source of his physical abilities, though they were only conjectures.
According to him, the Superpower Crystal was probably a highly radioactive substance or something from outer space.
After Xu Xiao's body was exposed to its radiation or affected by it to some degree, some of his organs had evolved.
That allowed him to concentrate and control the invisible mental force of humans, something like electromagnetic waves.
In any case, the theory was complicated, and Xu Xiao hadn't understood it. Even if he had, it wouldn't have been much use; he wasn't going to become a scientist.
All he needed to know was how to use this power to make himself stronger and keep himself alive.
But Jonathan couldn't say for sure how to strengthen this power either.
He could only surmise that as Xu Xiao's organs evolved, this power would grow stronger and stronger, eventually stabilizing or destroying his body.
Of course, Jonathan wasn't completely useless. He had another piece of advice for Xu Xiao.
"Your body is gradually weakening. All the nutrients are being taken by the organs developing rapidly inside you."
"If you can't find a long-term way to replenish those nutrients, you might die before your ability finishes evolving."
Jonathan didn't need to tell him that. Xu Xiao understood it himself.
He had already felt how fragile this body of skin and bones was.
But he already had a rough plan for solving the problem.
The USB drive he had picked up contained coordinates for more than just the world of Chronicle. Among them were worlds with other abilities.
"All right, goodbye, Dr. Jonathan. This should be the last time we meet."
Xu Xiao had some difficulty moving, but he used his telekinesis to help himself walk.
It was as if he had put on a layer of invisible exoskeleton armor, so it didn't affect him much.
His physical difficulties, coupled with the fact that the American government had already noticed him, meant Xu Xiao no longer planned to stay in this world.
His immediate priority was to find a place to replenish the power, fully charge his golden finger, and return to his original world.
It was a helpless choice. If the deterioration of his body hadn't been imminent and in need of a solution,
Xu Xiao would actually have liked to stay in this world a while longer.
After all, this was at least a normal world without an apocalypse, where he could enjoy a little rare peace.
Once he returned to the apocalypse, the dangers he faced would be no fewer than those here, and things might be even harder.
But a person's life was always filled with things beyond their control. How many people could live as they had envisioned?
Xu Xiao strode out of the hospital room, one step at a time. When he reached the doorway, he seemed to remember something and turned around.
"Oh, sorry to trouble you, but may I ask you something?"
"Where's the biggest power plant around here?"
"The Seattle Power Plant is on the east side of the city," Jonathan answered reflexively.
"All right, Mr. Jonathan, I assume you'll keep this a secret for me?"
"Of course." Jonathan nodded like a chick pecking at rice. The corpses lying on the floor made him too afraid to refuse any of Xu Xiao's requests.
Under Jonathan's awestruck gaze, Xu Xiao headed downstairs. As he walked, the hospital's security cameras broke along the way.
After leaving the hospital, he casually turned into a nearby convenience store and bought a magazine with a map.
He looked through it for a while, then went outside and hailed a taxi.
"The Wanapum Power Plant to the southwest. Make it quick."
Jonathan had merely been a smokescreen. Xu Xiao wasn't that naive.
Electricity could charge his golden finger anyway, so what did it matter where he charged it?