After Death, I Became a Superhuman

"Hope?" Jiang Bei was somewhat confused, "What does that mean?"

The girl thought for a moment: "It refers to the longing for the future, beautiful wishes or ideals, or objects where ideals are entrusted. Generally speaking, it's a positive spiritual driving force, a psychological state that encourages people to optimistically welcome the future..."

"Stop right there. I didn't ask to look it up in the dictionary. Of course, I know what the word means." Jiang Bei raised his hand in a pause gesture, "I'm asking... what does it mean in our context? How does it relate to helping me stay alive?"

"Well, that involves the source of our abilities."

"Don't tell me it's a storyline about your home planet nearing its end, and then someone sent you here in a rocket? Wait, you don't also have a cousin who likes to wear underwear outside his clothes, do you?"

The girl looked at him with a peculiar expression: "How did you come up with such a setting?"

"......Nevermind, continue." Jiang Bei sat down, clutching his kidney.

"This power is different from other Extraordinaries in your world. Other Extraordinaries mostly stem from 'Abyss' fragments, products of divine power leaking from the fragments, drifting for a long time in the endless abyss, and by a very rare chance, appear in the Present World."

Jiang Bei listened, a little stunned. This semi-understandable state reminded him of calculus classes in college, where the professor would be sweating up on stage while the students sat motionless underneath, ending up with nothing in their stomachs.

"Oh, perhaps the concept of Extraordinary in your Present World is concealed from the civilians? It doesn't matter, just understand that our ability is fundamentally different from those inferior copies obtained from fragments.

This power was called forth in a despairing world by the intense expectations and desperate cries for help of all survivors. It's a genuine great miracle."

The girl straightened her face, her beautiful features becoming unusually serious. Seeing her like this made Jiang Bei inexplicably feel like she was a devout believer interpreting doctrine.

"This power is a torch given to explorers in the darkness, passed from one hand to another, from generation to generation, never extinguishing.

It is a progressive ideal that gathers everyone under its light.

But one day, the protected ones will stand shoulder to shoulder with this light.

One day, with its help, the protected ones will create their own miracles."

Jiang Bei was silent for a long time, seemingly pondering the meaning of her words and the burden that came with this power, until he finally couldn't help but speak.

"Um, I feel like it might be a mood killer at this moment, but I can't help but wonder... Does this have anything to do with helping me come back from the dead?

I don't mean to interrupt, but I really don't want to turn into a hyena..."

This was indeed Jiang Bei's heartfelt statement. While those words sounded grand, if they were paired with a moving BGM in a superhero movie, he might even be swayed. But compared to those noble and great ideals, he was more concerned about his own life.

The girl pouted: "Of course, it does. You noticed your Treasury value increased, right?"

Jiang Bei nodded quickly, like a chick pecking at grain.

"So what I just told you is the principle that drives this power. It was born in response to the strong desires of the protected ones, so naturally, it needs the same thing to sustain its existence and grow stronger.

The fuel created by this power directly affects your value in the Present World. On one hand, it helps you better integrate and utilize this power, and on the other hand, it continuously prolongs your remaining life in the Present World, until you are fully revived."

This time, Jiang Bei seemed to understand.

Humanity's light, right? That's easy to understand. Why didn't you say so earlier?

It feels like an alternative form of faith, as if a deity needs to draw belief from its followers to convert into energy. However, compared to this traditional faith model, it is more similar to people's admiration and trust in Superman's "S", and a bit like the citizens in the superhero shows of his childhood, flashing their torches to recharge Ultraman.

Jiang Bei took a deep breath, beginning to feel the pressure.

The super-girl told him that he only had two weeks to a month left, the specifics were uncertain. But in any case, what he needed to do was to earn as much Treasury value as possible before the deadline. The higher the Treasury value, the longer he could prolong his life.

Until someday, if his earned Treasury value couldn't catch up with the rate of his life consumption, that would be it. He might have to go back and be reborn as a hyena.

"Don't you really remember what you came to do?" He couldn't help but ask again.

Not only did he get the chance to come back from the dead, but he also got an awesome superman experience card. This made Jiang Bei increasingly anxious. It was like waking up to find an extra 10 million in the account, the money was too hot to spend.

"I really can't remember... But it's okay, I'm not in a hurry." The girl leisurely said, one of her long white legs quite inelegantly resting on the armrest of the sofa, "As long as you keep increasing the Treasury value, the power we share will slowly become stronger. Then I will definitely remember... probably."

She then began to eat snacks happily again, not seeming to think seriously at all.

Jiang Bei: "......"

Fine.

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If in the past, a super-girl had fallen from the sky offering him superpowers for free, he would have been hesitant to accept. But now, it seemed like he didn't have the option to refuse.

Jiang Bei temporarily put those headaches aside: "By the way, I haven't asked your name yet."

"Name?"

The girl blinked and thought for a moment.

"Well... What do you think I should be called?"

A quick look at " will leave you more fulfilled.

Jiang Bei was at a loss for words, wondering if it was up to him to name her.

"Oh, it's so troublesome. Let me think, this power came to me as the seventh generation, so you can call me Xiao Qi."

Jiang Bei: "......"

"Whatever you call me doesn't matter. Listen carefully, what comes next is the urgent matter."

Seeing Xiao Qi's expression become serious again, Jiang Bei couldn't help but hold his breath, like a general ready to go on an expedition.

"...I'm hungry." Xiao Qi's mouth twitched, pointing at the chips and biscuits on the table that were left in their packaging, "I want to eat."

Jiang Bei: "............"

As the saying goes, man is iron and food is steel, skip a meal and you'll be starving. With her reminder, Jiang Bei realized that he was also incredibly hungry, he had just been too focused on his poor kidney to notice.

Indeed, no matter what, he still needed to eat. Especially since the recent activity had also consumed a lot of his energy, replenishing it seemed even more important than before.

Jiang Bei picked up his phone and ordered a McDonald's takeaway. The takeaway was delivered in a short while.

The burger was also a novelty for Xiao Qi. She tentatively took a bite, chewed a couple of times, then her eyes lit up as if she had discovered a new world.

"This is delicious!" Xiao Qi was happy, "I didn't save the wrong person!"

Jiang Bei was also eating his burger and fried chicken, feeling like he had never been so hungry in his life.

His intuition told him that if he activated his battle suit in his current state, he might just faint and die. So even though the superman experience card was great, it seemed that he couldn't use it recklessly. Indeed, as Xiao Qi said, he wasn't durable enough at the moment, he needed to rest for a while after using it once.

To ensure that he wouldn't be in a cooldown period when he needed to use his skills, the use of the superman experience card needed to be reasonably planned.

"By the way, try this."

Jiang Bei took out two cups of milk tea from the bag, one cold and one hot. He handed the cold one to Xiao Qi.

Xiao Qi took a sip and made a somewhat indescribable expression.

"It's too cold, and it's hard." She said with disgust, "It doesn't taste good."

"Oh, did you sip an ice cube?" Jiang Bei laughed, "I always said hot milk tea is better, but I heard girls prefer cold. Even though hot is clearly more delicious..."

As he spoke, he suddenly stopped.

Because he noticed Xiao Qi's gaze on him was a bit strange.

"......"

A moment later, Xiao Qi held the hot milk tea and took a big sip from the straw. The white milk was sucked into her mouth through the tube.

The super-girl showed a satisfied smile: "This one is delicious!"

Meanwhile, Jiang Bei, standing nearby, held his cold milk tea and cautiously took a sip.

"Sss~"

Damn it, it's really cold.