Outside the door, Tang Lin's dad was still urging him, and Tang Lin replied with the enamel cup in hand, "Almost done, just wait a bit."
Hearing Tang Lin's robust response, Tang Zhanpeng didn't have the urge to break in and sat back down on the bed.
Tang Lin opened the cup lid, revealing a swirling electric light that made him a bit dazzled. It was like firing a special move, yet the amount of electricity was akin to a decorative electric light ball, incapable of damaging the very sturdy enamel cup.
Tang Lin pushed the marinated lump of white ash inside, enveloping the rampaging Oro like a quilt. The electric light dissipated, leaving only Oro's head exposed within the mass of white ash, like a black dot on a sticky rice ball.
Tang Lin said to the bundle, "If you don't want to die, keep quiet!"
After saying this, Tang Lin was quite emotional, realizing his lost English proficiency had returned; he didn't translate a word of that sentence.
He tucked the bundle into his pocket, adjusted the toilet brush and enamel cup that had been his companions through thick and thin, and then left the bathroom. Once the door was closed, no one in the world would know these two Divine Artifacts had once traveled through a Different World and battled against villains capable of destroying Earth.
It might take many years before someone would notice the black spot created by lightning on the enamel cup and thus deduce an epic story.
With this warrior-retirement sentiment, Tang Lin walked out of the bathroom and handed the phone back to his dad.
Tang Zhanpeng wiped the phone with some distaste and said to Tang Lin, "Don't take my phone into the bathroom with you next time, it's not sanitary, you know?"
"Then buy me a new one. My phone's fried," Tang Lin said expectantly.
"We'll talk about it when you're discharged."
"No need, there's online shopping!" Tang Lin retorted.
Tang Zhanpeng: "..."
This father was certain his son's injuries were almost healed. He initially intended to help his son lie back down, but now he could spare himself the effort.
Tang Lin was indeed fully recovered; if the bandages were removed, there would hardly be any scars. He fretted about explaining when it was time to remove the gauze, but lying in bed, he couldn't think of any good excuses.
"Oh well, I'll just say I don't know and let the doctors figure it out."
Tang Lin's idea was undoubtedly correct. Rather than concocting some nonsensical excuse, it was better to play dumb. He was just a high school graduate, not a graduate doctor, and saying "I don't know" would suffice.
Initially, when Tang Lin disclosed he had no money, he wasn't thrown off the ambulance, so even if he healed quickly, would they slice him up for research? Overthinking it. Even the Qigong masters who put out forest fires weren't sliced up.
What Tang Lin really needed to contemplate now was the impact brought by his dimensional travel. Although having superpowers was fun, they only remained at a level close to basic magic, lacking the potential to unleash unmatched power in modern society. Therefore, it was better to stay low-key.
In his life thus far, the line that left the deepest impression on Tang Lin was a piece of motivational advice: When you tell someone a secret, you have to be prepared for it to be leaked. If you can't keep a secret yourself, how can you expect someone else to do so?
If Tang Lin told his parents, then putting himself in their shoes, would they tell his grandparents? Calculating like this would be disastrous; the Tang Family spanned four generations living together, and even though the great-grandfather was over ninety, he still could practice Tai Chi every day, and the great-grandmother would never miss the evening square dance.
So, unless it was necessary, Tang Lin felt it was better not to tell his family.
Only when Tang Lin possessed enough skills to protect himself and his family would he share this secret with them.
With this decided, Tang Lin needed to consider another problem: what to do about Oro?
Tang Lin hadn't imagined that after crossing into a Different World, he could bring someone back. Fortunately, Oro was still in a small form, likely due to low-dimensional life entering high dimension and naturally becoming small.
Killing her outright seemed a waste to Tang Lin; she was a mutant, the Storm Goddess capable of altering the weather. Though by age, she was in her rebellious teens and hadn't developed her full powers yet, being incapable of breaking out of a teacup.
But this was good. If Tang Lin could raise her well, it would mean having a personal weather adjuster. Whenever not wanting to attend classes, having Oro conjure a black storm would be delightful.
One crucial point was that Tang Lin would continue to travel to other worlds; he couldn't rely on being a giant trampling ants every time. Even if Tang Lin equipped all his tools, there would often be inconvenient moments. Oro's abilities weren't weak, and if trained properly, she'd become a useful minion with various applications.
Hence, keeping and nurturing her seemed the most suitable choice.
However, this process wouldn't be easy. This was a miniaturized human, with an independent personality and intelligence—not like training a dog with a few bones.
"Feeding her is simple, just leave a couple grains on the dining table and a bit of meat stuck in the teeth. But where to keep her is a problem, she can't be discovered by the parents, yet needs some activity space..."
As Tang Lin's thoughts wandered, the emotionless system suddenly popped up again.
"Different Plane timeline restructuring complete, mission accomplished, you've received a Wish Power reward of 1000 points. Due to the timeline reorganization, the summoner lost related memories, resulting in a satisfaction rate of 0%. Unfortunately, you haven't earned extra Wish Power rewards."
The mission settlement delay didn't concern Tang Lin; evolving from a Silver Skill to a Gold Skill was already a profit to him.
But hearing the prompt, knowing that Magneto forgot him after the timeline's reorganization, resulting in no satisfaction reward, he felt a sudden dissatisfaction.
In reality, this was quite logical. Magneto summoned Tang Lin due to the death of his wife and daughter, but with Wolverine altering history, Magneto's family didn't need to die, so he wouldn't summon Tang Lin, and thus would have no memory of it.
Tang Lin, not knowing this would have been fine, but knowing now made him feel like missing out on a golden opportunity.
A bit depressed, he opened the exchange interface; spending this 1000 Wish Power might slightly soothe his wounded feeling.
The content displayed on the skill exchange interface was much more than before, but the craftsmanship from dwarves and the omnivorous tendencies of Half-orcs were missing, indicating that traveling again wipes the previous exchange list.
Meaning, if Tang Lin didn't exchange for the skills they showed next, they'd disappear after crossing again.
Therefore, this 1000-point Wish Power shouldn't be spent recklessly. It was best to acquire several superpowers, considering X-Men's superpowers could be further developed, promising significant growth. Moreover, the synergy of different powers often produced unexpected effects.
Prepared mentally, Tang Lin saw the first skill:
[Gold Skill: Magnetic Manipulation lv1;]
[Skill Source: X-Men Plane, Erik Lensherr (Magneto);]
[Skill Effect: Able to generate and manipulate magnetic fields.]
[Note: Electromagnetic Force is one of the Universe's four basic forces; mastering this power makes dismantling a planet as easy as blowing away a speck of dust. But bear in mind, electromagnetic force cannot replace oxygen, so prepare a spacecraft first.]
[Skill Exchange Price: 10000 points of Wish Power; as it comes from a neutral species, there is no discount. Actual Price: 10000 Wish Power.]
Tang Lin: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
What the heck, can't exchange for this!