Chapter 40: Super Hearing
2023-05-02 By Yue Shang Xintou
[Ability – Super Hearing (Black Iron)]
[Ability Description: Initially, Superman could only hear sounds in his immediate vicinity. As the comic's storyline developed, he gained the ability to hear anything and everything within a ten-kilometer radius.]
Over the next few days, Colin accustomed himself to his new life at the Base. Simultaneously, he unlocked another one of Superman's abilities through the serialized comics from the Main World.
[Super Hearing]
He chose to unlock this ability not because he distrusted Howard and the others who had saved him from Ultron's pursuit, but due to his unease concerning the Anti-World's Twisted Time Nodes.
As the saying goes, one should not harbor malicious intent, but one must always guard against others' ill will.
The existence of Super Hearing could significantly help Colin avoid certain dangers. Even if it couldn't prevent them entirely, it would allow him to react to threats in advance. After all, he still hadn't forgotten the pursuit that took place high in the sky.
With that thought, Colin averted his gaze from the text before him. He silently willed the Super Hearing ability to activate.
"...You should rest, Howard. You've been at the Control Console for a whole day..."
"I'm sorry, Adeline... I should have been there... In fact, Jacques always hoped to tell you that he always loved you and was proud of you..."
"...Metropolis General Hospital. A patient named Johnson suffered a severe medical accident. Renowned surgeon Stephen Strange will be held responsible for this incident..."
"It is reported that this is not the first time Stephen Strange has caused a medical accident. Not long ago, he fainted in the emergency room, almost causing the patient on the operating table to..."
"...According to the latest news from Bloomberg, The New York Times, and other media, late local time, after falling significantly behind in preliminary vote counts... the Democratic Party's female mayoral candidate announced her concession..."
"However, the precise results of the New York City Mayoral Election will take some time to be released before the winner of this election campaign appears... And according to the current vote situation, Wilson Fisk, a businessman, is very likely to become the new mayor of New York City..."
"Stop, buddy, empty out everything you have on you..."
"Don't move, nobody move!"
"Report, report! A shooting has occurred near Fifth Avenue. All patrol cars hearing this, please proceed immediately to..."
Just like Superman when he first awakened his abilities, Colin, upon his initial use of Super Hearing, was similarly unable to perfectly control the range of what he heard.
A large amount of noisy and chaotic sounds flooded into Colin's ears, leaving his mind blank.
Among these sounds were purely meaningless noises, the roar of automobiles, or the rustling of growing plants and scuttling animals. The scope of Super Hearing was not limited to conversations but encompassed everything. This deluge of countless converging sounds spread out simultaneously.
Colin felt his blood vessels throbbing continuously, and his mind buzzed incessantly, making it impossible for him to concentrate his thoughts.
"Calm down, focus, ignore these sounds..."
In his room at the Base, Colin covered his ears, constantly forcing himself to calm down internally.
With his inner plea, Colin's scattered thoughts gradually re-coalesced. He concentrated his mind on the text before him.
"...End!"
Deactivating Super Hearing.
Silence. The previously noisy sounds instantly vanished. Sitting in his temporary residence, Colin gasped for breath.
He savored this hard-won 'peaceful' time.
After remaining in silence for about ten minutes, Colin gradually recovered and finally shifted his gaze back to the Black Iron Mark on the back of his hand.
Although his initial experience with Super Hearing was terrible, Colin did not give up. He understood the principle of not throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Super Hearing, as a standard ability of Superman, naturally possessed its excellent qualities. The overwhelming scene that had just occurred was merely due to his unfamiliarity with this ability.
"Concentrate, listen to only one sound at a time."
He silently warned himself, Colin looked at the Super Hearing annotation within the Mark.
Taking a deep breath, he cautiously activated the ability again.
"Buzzing..." "Why, why are you..." "Boom, boom—" "Darling, do you know... gay marriage is legal now?" "Tick-tock, tick-tock..." "Husband, I'm pregnant!" "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Upon activating Super Hearing again, various noisy and piercing sounds arrived as expected.
However, this time, Colin, having prepared himself mentally, did not flinch.
In his temporary residence, he clenched his fists, shook his head slightly, and gritted his teeth, enduring it all.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated everything on his hearing. As his vision darkened, the sounds in his ears seemed to amplify somewhat, beginning to burrow into Colin's eardrums from all directions.
"...Have you found out?"
"There shouldn't be any major problems..."
Gradually, the chaotic sounds began to simplify. The various jumbled noises that had been mixed together were eliminated little by little, leaving only the parts Colin most wanted to hear.
At the same time, a streak of bright red blood flowed from his nose, but he was completely unaware of it.
"...Collin Roper, a reporter for The Daily Bugle. He's been working at the newspaper office since graduation... Not long ago, he was hospitalized due to an accidental robbery... Before that, he hadn't shown any special characteristics... until recently, when his Flight was detected by a barrier..."
"So, he had no anomalies before this? If he possesses the ability of Flight, why was he injured in the robbery earlier?"
"His abilities should have been acquired only recently..."
"What about the Thunderbolts?"
"So far, there haven't been any obvious movements within them. It seems there's no connection between the two... The only contact worth mentioning is that during the robbery incident, he seemed to have been saved by Luke Cage of the Thunderbolts, and then he had brief contact with a few other Thunderbolts members during an interview... As for anything else, Na..."
Buzz, buzz—
The buzzing sound in his ears once again obscured the conversation.
This was Colin's limit for what he could hear. His ears were clearly about to give out.
Thinking of this, Colin decisively ended this use of Super Hearing.
He rubbed his constantly buzzing, faintly aching ears and wiped away the blood beneath his nose.
(end of chapter)