Ye Tian's face was beginning to twist in confusion. He had only come over to say a few words, hoping his daughter wouldn't make enemies before even starting school.
But this person... was there something wrong with him?
Ye Tian tried to pull his hand away, but it was clear that Liam's grip was tightening as if he was enduring some kind of pain.
Just then, everything around Ye Tian blurred as a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, almost as if by teleportation.
Sophia, who had been watching from a distance, had thought something was wrong and had rushed over immediately.
"Are you okay?"
She knelt beside Liam, her voice tinged with concern, completely disregarding any need to maintain appearances. She grabbed Liam's wrist, trying to sense his pulse and the flow of energy within him, checking for any disruptions in his abilities.
But after a careful examination, she found nothing.
Sophia looked up at Ye Tian.
"I didn't do anything! My ability doesn't even have any combat power, and it's been him holding onto my hand this whole time!" Ye Tian quickly raised his hand to show Sophia, feeling genuinely wronged.
Having spent years navigating the complex world of politics and business, Ye Tian could read people well. Although Sophia's expression didn't show much change, he could clearly sense that he was being watched by a terrifying beast. The pressure was immense.
His daughter had mentioned that this student named Liam might have some connection with the examiner, but now he could see that their relationship might be closer than he had thought. It was obvious that Sophia was deeply concerned about Liam.
"I'm fine. This has nothing to do with Mr. Ye," Liam finally managed to say, struggling to suppress the turmoil in his mind.
He realized that this new ability could be controlled, and the noise in his ears had already diminished significantly.
However, controlling it required a great deal of mental strength and practice. In theory, he could choose to listen to the "messages" from the world around him selectively or block them out entirely during normal times.
But for now, he couldn't do it easily. It required intense focus.
After a while, he managed to stand up, though still feeling dizzy. The noise in his ears persisted, but it was much better than before.
Even though the sounds were directly in his mind, Liam couldn't help but rub his ears.
"Sorry about that. I lost my composure for a moment," Liam said as he released Ye Tian's hand and asked, "I wanted to ask... what exactly does your ability do on a day-to-day basis?"
Ye Tian, seeing the cold sweat on Liam's forehead and realizing that he might have just had a momentary problem rather than trying to scam him, felt relieved. After a moment's thought, he replied:
"Actually, I used to be a police officer. Although my ability doesn't have any combat capabilities, it's very suitable for solving cases."
"In simple terms, my eyes can quickly analyze every clue at a crime scene and connect all the small details to reconstruct possible scenarios."
This wasn't a secret, so Ye Tian explained it without any reservations.
"What?" Before Liam could respond, Sophia interrupted, unable to contain herself.
"What kind of ability is this? How could this only be rated as a D-level? This ability sounds incredibly useful!"
Hearing this, Ye Tian couldn't help but smile bitterly:
"When my ability awakened, it was a completely new power, so it was reported to the Human Alliance for evaluation."
"But information is extremely fragmented and not always useful. It also consumes an enormous amount of mental energy. They warned me not to use it for more than half an hour at a time, or I could risk brain death!"
After listening to Ye Tian's explanation, Liam realized that his ability had evolved into something entirely different.
The Replication Hand system's description was "copy others' abilities and enhance them to a certain degree."
Unlike the Energy Chains, this enhancement was a complete transformation.
The Voice of All Things didn't literally mean that plants and trees had gained consciousness, but rather that it allowed Liam to "hear" hidden information in a personified way.
Every stone on the ground, every gust of wind, every tree by the roadside had witnessed countless untold stories.
The Voice of All Things enabled these inanimate objects to tell Liam what had happened, what was happening, and what might happen in the future.
In theory, this was a far more terrifying and powerful ability than Ye Tian's, and the sheer volume of information could easily overwhelm Liam's mind.
However, the enhancement provided by the Replication Hand also included reducing the negative effects.
The raw data, which could have directly impacted his mind, was transformed into "voices." This change meant that when Liam's mental strength wasn't sufficient, he would only hear noise and experience headaches rather than the catastrophic risk of brain death.
Understanding all this, even though his head was still spinning, Liam knew he had hit the jackpot.
His ability had not only improved in terms of its capabilities but had also minimized its side effects!
Given this, the ability's level was definitely not just D-level; in terms of functionality, it was probably more terrifying than even some S-level abilities!
He had initially just wanted to replicate a low-level ability, but this had turned out to be another big win.
His luck... seemed pretty good these past few days.
However, this had once again drawn everyone's attention to him.
Ye Tian had discreetly moved back behind his bodyguards. He was now genuinely afraid of Liam, worried that getting too close might lead to more unexpected incidents.
I can't deal with him... but I can definitely avoid him!
"So, what exactly happened to you just now? Are you feeling alright now?" Sophia asked, noticing that Liam seemed to be doing better.
For both personal and professional reasons, Sophia was very concerned about Liam and didn't want anything to happen to him.
Her question was also on the minds of everyone else present, who all looked on curiously.
After all, this couldn't have just been some kind of performance art!
"This is... a bit complicated..." Liam thought for a moment. It seemed best to keep his overpowered ability a secret for now.
So, he used the same excuse he had before.
"I don't know how to explain this, but my ability might have evolved again."
"What?!"
It wasn't just Sophia; everyone doubted their ears.
Those who had been watching out of curiosity now looked at Liam as if he were a lottery winner who had hit the jackpot twice.
Why is it that only good things happen to him?!
Ryan, in particular, had been secretly hoping that Liam's powerful ice-attribute variant of an E-level ability might have some kind of negative side effect.
But now he realized there wasn't any downside, and it had evolved again?
"Are you... serious?" Sophia asked again.
Liam didn't answer, but instead slowly closed his eyes and raised his right hand, feeling the gentle breeze around him.
He needed to focus, clear his mind, and verify the true extent of this incredible ability.