After all, in that state, even a sniper round already fired from the barrel looked as if it were crawling through the air in Killian's eyes.
If he could fully understand and reproduce that state, then the true potential of that ability definitely would not be low.
So Killian began carefully replaying it in his mind, trying to find that original feeling again.
But this time, no matter how hard he retraced it, he still could not return to that earlier state.
"Sir, I recommend scene reconstruction. It may help provide you with the necessary insight."
At that moment, Baymax's voice sounded.
"Start reconstruction."
Hearing that, Killian nodded at once. No matter how much he thought about it, nothing was more direct than actually watching the scene again.
Then, as virtual projection particles flickered into existence before him, everything that had just happened reappeared.
This time, Killian began manipulating the image in midair. With a slight turn of his right hand to the left, the 3D projected battlefield scene began rewinding.
He rolled it all the way back to the exact moment when the robot had fired, and he had just turned his head in time to see the shot.
The difference now was that Baymax overlaid all of Killian's body data from that moment directly onto the projection.
And as Killian focused on the image of his brain, the changes in its activity were displayed with striking clarity.
"Sir, based on data analysis, you appear to have entered an overclocked brain state."
"That state can occur either actively or passively. It is primarily triggered when the host enters a condition of tension, stimulation, excitement, or fear. At that point, the brain produces intense neural discharge, forcing it into an 'overclocked mode' to preserve the host's safety."
"And that also fully matches the severe cerebral fluctuations and headaches you experienced afterward."
"According to my data, your brain activity had reached three hundred percent of its normal state at that time."
"The visual information collected by your optic system, combined with memory retrieval, had also reached a peak value, which is why you experienced the sensation of everything around you slowing down."
After a brief round of analysis, Baymax finished reviewing all of Killian's data from that moment and explained it.
"So, overclock mode."
"That makes things much simpler."
"Interesting."
After hearing Baymax's explanation, Killian immediately understood what that state had been, and his interest deepened.
He then started deliberately stimulating his brain, replaying the sense of imminent danger from before. Not long after, when he opened his eyes again, the flow of time in the world around him seemed to slow dramatically.
Even the millisecond ticks on the electronic wall clock were now crawling along.
In fact, it felt as though three full seconds had passed in his perception, while the clock had only advanced three milliseconds.
But even during that brief stretch, Killian already began to feel a dull ache building in his brain, so he decisively shut the overclocking state down.
As soon as he returned to normal time perception, everything felt ordinary again.
That incredible sensation of standing far ahead of the world in a slowed-down reality vanished at once.
"Amazing."
After sitting on the floor for a while with no regard for appearances, resting with his eyes shut, Killian reopened them and felt his body with open excitement.
This meant he had basically inherited all of the core abilities Alice had displayed in Resident Evil.
The only uncertain part now was whether his psychic growth rate would ever become as outrageous as hers.
"Sir, congratulations. You've gained another very powerful survival skill."
Baymax immediately offered its congratulations after seeing the successful result.
"Hahaha. That's all thanks to Samuel. I never expected his work in bioresearch to be this effective."
"I'm getting more and more excited about what kind of surprises he'll bring me next."
Now that he had fully grasped the nature of his new ability, Killian walked over to the window. Through the glass, under the rising moonlight outside, he raised his right hand and slowly clenched it, smiling as he did.
...
The next morning, Killian woke up to another piece of good news.
"Boss, we've found the person you asked us to locate."
Just as Killian was enjoying breakfast prepared by the domestic-service butler robot, someone knocked on the villa's door. A moment later, Baymax relayed the report from outside.
"Really? Have them wait."
After elegantly wiping the corner of his mouth, Killian set the napkin aside and headed out.
When he opened the door, two Blackwatch soldiers stood on either side of a little girl dressed in patched-up, ragged clothes. Her hair was messy, and she looked thin and worn down.
But unlike most little girls, Killian could clearly see something else in her expression. Beneath the fear was a kind of intelligence that did not belong to her age. Those bright, alert eyes were quietly taking in everything around her.
"Hi there, beautiful young lady. I'm sorry my rather rough men brought you here like this. Tell me, did any of my thoughtless subordinates cause you any trouble?"
Looking at the cute little girl in front of him, Killian bent down and asked gently, his voice warm and kind.
"No. They were nice. They even chased away the bad people bullying me. Mister, you're their boss, right?"
Hearing his soft tone and seeing his kind expression, Skye gradually lowered her guard and asked with obvious hope in her voice.
"Of course."
"What is it?"
Looking at Skye, Killian found a trace of softness rising in his own heart, and continued warmly.
After all, Skye's life was every bit as tragic as many superhero origins.
Her mother had effectively been killed twice, skinned, dissected, and harvested. Her father had gone mad, obsessing over revenge until he became a twisted medical monster.
And Skye herself had grown up drifting between multiple foster homes.
She was smart, far smarter than ordinary kids, but that did not change the fact that she was still young. She was also a girl, and not one who fit the mainstream image people expected, which meant she was constantly targeted by other children at school.
Things like that were common enough here already.
Otherwise, schools would not have become places where even guns and ammunition could be sold for profit.
And the Skye standing before him clearly had just been bullied again, on top of apparently being pushed back into the foster system.
At this point, it felt like every negative circumstance possible had been stacked onto her life.
So from the moment he saw her, Killian could not help but feel for her.
"They told me that if I came with you, I'd find my family. My real family. Is that true?"
Looking at the big brother in front of her, Skye's bright eyes were filled with a kind of hope she had almost never shown before, the kind that only appeared when someone really thought light might finally be waiting ahead.
"Of course. Do I look like a liar to you?"
Killian smiled and gently patted her head.
"No. The CEO of AIM... people outside say you make tens of millions of dollars practically every minute. Why would someone like that lie to a little girl nobody wants?"
After hearing him, Skye bared a row of white teeth and smiled at him, her eyes curving like little moons.
At that moment, for Skye, this was the happiest thing she had experienced in a long time, second only to the first truly hot meal she'd gotten in ages.
"So you're a smart one."
Hearing that a twelve-year-old girl had seen straight through his identity, Killian was a little surprised, and his hand immediately began ruffling her hair more firmly.
It really was like petting a little cat. Once you started, it was oddly addictive.
Growl.
Before Skye could even enjoy the compliment, her stomach let out a loud protest.
"Hahahaha."
"You haven't eaten yet, have you? Good thing there's still breakfast left."
"Baymax, prepare a serving of my breakfast for our little guest."
Hearing her stomach rumble, Killian laughed and took her small, slightly dirty hand, leading her toward the dining room.
After carefully washing the grime from her hands with warm water, he took a towel and gently wiped her face clean. The little girl's face was smudged all over, like that of a tiny soot-covered kitten.
One thing worth mentioning was that Killian had once had a younger sister before his transmigration, so even after a year in this world, the instincts of caring for a younger child were still second nature to him.
"I... I can do that myself."
Only after standing there like a wooden doll for half a day while being wiped clean did Skye finally come to her senses. Her little face flushed red as she turned her eyes away and muttered softly.
But her embarrassment, mixed with the faint reluctance for it to stop, was practically written all over her face.
"When you're here, being a kid means you can just be a kid."
"You don't need to act tough or pretend you can protect yourself."
Squatting down to meet her eyes, looking at a girl who was still so young yet already trying to wear the mask of an adult to hide her fragile heart, Killian gently rubbed her head and spoke softly.
"Thank you..."
For the first time in her life, faced with such unguarded kindness from a stranger, Skye's eyes immediately reddened. She thanked him sincerely.
"All right, go eat."
"And stop crying. Crying too much makes you look ugly."
After wiping the last bit of dirt from her face, Killian stood up and lightly patted her shoulder.
Then the two of them, one big and one small, walked into the dining room together.
On the table sat a warm glass of milk, a golden fried dough stick, and several braised meat buns, neatly arranged.
"Give them a try. These are all things I like, so let's see if they suit your taste too."
After sitting Skye down, Killian took a seat beside her and encouraged her.
"Thank you."
With his encouragement, Skye thanked him and immediately grabbed one of the big meat buns with her hands and started wolfing it down, not even bothering with utensils.
Watching her eat with the obvious desperation of someone who had been hungry for a long time, Killian could not help but feel complicated.
He was not enough of a saint to believe that every hungry child in the world was somehow his responsibility. He was also not like Tony, who blamed himself because wars in other countries happened to involve products made by Stark Industries.
But sometimes, whether it was seeing someone like Seven being bullied before, or Skye going hungry now, it still left a bitter ache.
Still, all Killian could do right now was help a few people when his time and attention allowed for it.
The world was too large, and he was still not secure enough himself. He could not save everyone.
Maybe one day, after creating something like a true Earth Federation Technology Group, he could erase poverty from the world and make sure everyone had enough to eat and a roof over their head.
But for now... all he could do was keep moving forward.
In just a few minutes, Skye, a little girl with a tiny frame, had completely wiped out an amount of food that didn't match her age at all.
But in the end, Killian noticed that she had secretly left one bun behind and was trying to sneak it into her clothes without him noticing.
That was the behavior of someone who had gone hungry for too long and needed to save something for the next empty stomach.
"Enough, don't hide it."
"Believe me. Once we find your family this time, they won't let you suffer like that anymore."
"You don't need to live those hard days again."
After firmly taking the bun from her hands, Killian looked at the little girl, whose expression had instantly turned anxious after being caught, and gently comforted her.
"But..."
"Mister, we shouldn't waste food."
Looking at her belly, then at the bun Killian had taken, Skye spoke timidly.
"That was your breakfast. You hadn't even finished it yet."
"Well then, now it's not wasted."
Killian immediately popped the bun into his own mouth and finished it in a few bites, then looked back at her.
"Hehe... then it's not wasted."
"Killian, you're really nice."
When she saw that this great big man, someone the outside world treated like a giant figure at the top of society, did not mind eating something she had touched at all, Skye's favorability toward him shot straight to the ceiling. She beamed and said it openly.
"Hahaha, come on then."
"Let's go. I'm taking you to meet your family."
"But before that, we need a tiny little bit of help."
After ruffling her hair again like it was the most natural thing in the world, Killian brought her toward the back yard.
Skye followed with a confused expression, staring at the empty yard and clearly not understanding why Killian had brought her here.
Then, right before her eyes, a door appeared out of thin air.
And when it opened, the inside looked like pure alien technology.
"What's wrong? Feeling like that clever little head of yours isn't enough anymore?"
Looking at Skye's stunned expression, Killian rubbed her head and teased her.
Then he walked inside.
"Killian! That's... an invisible aircraft! Oh my God!"
"I always thought your company's robots were already insane, like something out of Terminator, but you even have a cloaked fighter."
"This is so cool!"
Seeing Killian walk farther and farther in, almost disappearing from sight, Skye finally snapped out of it. Her cheeks had already turned red with excitement as she hurried into the aircraft, chasing after him while talking a mile a minute.
Because she had always loved science and technology since childhood, anything with this kind of sci-fi aesthetic held an irresistible pull for her. And now she was seeing something that should have belonged in a science-fiction movie with her own eyes.
"This is nothing."
"When you grow up, then you'll understand. All of this is just the appetizer."
"The things that'll really blow your mind are still later."
Hearing the excitement in Skye's voice behind him, Killian just smiled and shook his head.
To be honest, Killian knew Skye's later storyline well enough.
It was an absolute mess.
At one point she somehow ended up being blamed as the one destined to destroy the Earth. Then she ended up centuries into the future. Then she jumped through time and came back again.
In short, in the Marvel universe, no matter what happened, Killian would never find it strange.
(End of Chapter)
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