Seventh Street Nursing Home, suburban New York City.
The door opened, and a handsome, well-dressed young man of Chinese descent with light green eyes walked in.
"Professor, I brought what you wanted."
A photo and two bank drafts for $300,000 were placed on the hospital bed. The old man picked up the drafts to check the name of the account holder, then placed the photo in his palm and looked at the lady with a kind smile with extremely complicated emotions in his eyes.
The boy picked up a towel and wiped away the tears from the old man's eyes, then sat aside and remained silent.
Time passed by second by second. After a long time, the old man woke up with a lonely sigh.
"When I die, please put the photo on my body."
"Okay, any other wishes?"
"there is none left."
The old man shook his head and said, "Young man, thank you for helping me with so much. Now, you can make your request. What do you want from me?"
"soul."
"soul?"
"Yes, soul."
The young man raised his head, his light green eyes emitting a strange and mysterious light.
"Professor Landos, I need your soul,"
The old man laughed out loud, as if he had encountered something very interesting, and his tone became cheerful.
"So, I'm making a deal with the devil. I wonder what your real name is, Lucifer? Or Beelzebub?"
"No, my name is Luke. I'm not a demon." The boy raised his hand, and green flames appeared on his palm. "I'm just a human with special abilities."
The dark green flames seemed to be the fire of the dead from hell. Although it was burning, it emitted a chill that penetrated the soul. The old man was silent for a long time before he forced a smile and said,
"Superhuman?
I met one when I was working in Norway. She was a beautiful girl with silver hair. She could create ice out of thin air and even bring about a small snowstorm. What about you? What are your abilities?
"Devour the soul, digest the soul, obtain the memory, and strengthen yourself."
"What an evil power!"
The old man sighed, but his expression was not very fearful. For a dying person, there was nothing worthy of his awe. Instead, he was filled with curiosity.
"Why choose me? An old man with advanced liver cancer can't bring you anything!"
"This is an experiment, but also a helpless move."
"Can you tell me about it?"
"Of course, if you want to hear it."
Luke moved a chair and sat in front of him, saying calmly, "My ability has a drawback. When I absorb the souls of others, I am also affected by negative desires.
Before you, I absorbed the souls of three people in total.
The first was a history professor whose body was dumped in the wilderness. His soul was filled with the desire for revenge. In order to get rid of the entanglement, I spent several months to find the murderer who murdered him.
The second was a scientist who was shot. The violent emotions buried deep in his soul were transferred to me. I had a very bad experience during that period.
To prevent similar incidents from happening, I carefully selected my third target and ultimately chose Frank Tours."
The old man frowned and said, "Governor?"
"Yes, the former governor."
Luke sighed, "It turned out to be a very foolish decision. Who would have thought that the fair and strict Governor was actually a nymphomaniac at heart? In order to get him out, I had to work so hard and make friends with all kinds of girlfriends. The good reputation I had accumulated over the years was ruined just like that."
The old man said strangely, "It doesn't sound like a bad thing."
Luke shrugged. "My grandpa is a very conservative man. He doesn't like me bringing girls of all colors home to spend the night. Besides, I'm only seventeen. Doing that kind of thing too much is not good for my physical development."
"That makes sense!"
The old man laughed heartily.
"So, you leave the fourth target to me, a good person without any bad habits."
Luke shook his head. "Like I said, this is an experiment."
"My previous experiences have taught me one thing: no matter if we are good or bad, we all have hidden desires deep down in our hearts. Desires are unavoidable, and only those with no regrets can choose to be free of them."
"A soul without regrets!"
The old man muttered to himself, a glint of realization flashing in his eyes, "You helped me fulfill my wish, which is to let me die without regrets, so that I can be devoured and digested by you."
"Yes."
"Sound fair?"
"Thank you for thinking so."
Luke adjusted the pillow to make the old man more comfortable. "Any other wishes? If so, please let me know and I will help you fulfill them."
The old man looked at the ceiling quietly for a while before he said weakly,
"How long can I live?"
"According to your current state of life, two minutes at most."
"Can it be...longer?"
"Sorry, I don't have that ability."
The old man remained silent, and for the first time, despair appeared on his pale face. Fortunately, he was mature enough and quickly suppressed his emotions.
"Thank you for telling me so much."
"It should be."
Luke stood up and took the old man's withered hand.
"Nice to meet you, Professor Landos."
The old man looked at him with a complicated expression, closed his eyes, and died.
"Goodbye, Professor."
Luke bowed, and dark green flames emerged from his palms. He pulled gently and pulled out a broken soul. The boy opened his mouth and swallowed the soul into his stomach.
A huge amount of memory fragments came flooding in: the joy of childhood, the carefreeness of youth, the secret love in college, the confusion after graduation, the helplessness at the wedding, and the passion for science. Of course, the most important thing is the endless knowledge.
Nuclear physics, electronic engineering, elemental chemistry, cytology... all the old man's lifelong learning became nourishment for Luke. What made people happy was that except for that indelible regret, there was no other desire mixed in his memory.
"Thank you for your gift."
Luke bowed again, pressed the photo into the old man's hand, and called the funeral home.
In order to make the old man feel less lonely, Luke specially arranged for six black people from Ghana to carry the coffin. In the cheerful atmosphere of jumping and skipping all the way, Frank J. Landos completed the last journey of his life.
"Have a safe journey, Professor."
Luke put down a bouquet of lilies and turned to leave.
After leaving the cemetery, Charlie Will came up to me.
"Boss, the director of Wayne Group and the CEO of Luther Group called one after another, hoping to discuss the acquisition with you."
Luke took off his suit and threw it in the car.
"Tell them we'll talk again in three months."
"Wayne Group is willing to offer 50 million euros." He paused and added, "Euros."
Luke put on his sunglasses and smiled faintly, "Charlie, what did I tell you on your first day at work?"
Charlie was startled and said seriously,
"Understood, Boss. I'll take care of it."
"That's right."
The silver-white Ferrari spewed out thick blue flames and sped away amid the envious gazes of passers-by.