4. The Madman

Chen Yun, Basement Level 2, Dr. Li, Abnormality Control Bureau...

Ma En sat on the bed, using telekinesis to leaf through the notebook he had retrieved from a hidden compartment in the drawer.

Over the past few days, he had been cautiously gathering any information that could help him understand the situation, all the while carefully concealing his memory loss.

His medical record stated schizophrenia, with primary symptoms including auditory and visual hallucinations.

There was no mention of any memory impairment.

This confirmed Ma En’s theory: he truly had no mental illness, and in the meantime, he had managed to piece together his identity.

Both he and the Chen Yun mentioned by Dr. Liu were orphans raised in a welfare home funded by the church, which explained why his name had been Ma En for two lifetimes—this was a name he had chosen for himself.

But his knowledge of this Chen Yun was limited to knowing that she was an ordained pastor who had been on assignment in another state for the past few months.

As for her personality, her understanding of him, and whether she could be trusted, Ma En was completely in the dark.

So, three paths lay before him.

The most obvious was to ask Chen Yun to help him with the discharge procedures.

However, through contact with the patients who were church followers, Ma En learned that the deity worshiped by Chen Yun’s church—the “New Lord”—had servants with pure white wings—the very angels he was warned about in the message.

Hence, this method was set aside.

The second option was to head to Basement Level 2, then leave through the employee passage of the Control Bureau mentioned in the message. This would also allow him to figure out his official position.

But Ma En was stumped by a small problem—the Victor Rehabilitation Center had no underground structure.

The third option, which Ma En had long considered, was to bribe a doctor who could authorize his discharge.

After Dr. Li’s death, a young man surnamed Xu had taken over, a recent graduate from the Sixth Academy of the Western Federation, having only started two months ago.

According to the schedule, Ma En was to have psychological counseling with this doctor in a week’s time. He planned to use the interval to gather more information about him and to consult the enthusiastic young woman about the current situation.

This plan was the most reasonable and feasible.

Aside from this intelligence, he had also found something very important—the notebook floating before him now.

It contained dozens of pages of meaningless entries at the front and back, but in the middle, there were several telekinetic techniques recorded in Chinese characters. Over the past few days, Ma En had quickly mastered all the content.

More precisely, he had recalled it, much like how other amnesiacs could still use their professional skills.

The first technique—Outer Garment:

He could create an almost invisible telekinetic membrane over his body’s surface, a skill he had ingrained into his subconscious and could maintain even while sleeping.

When not consciously controlling it, nothing could pass through except the matter necessary to sustain life. According to the notebook, this technique could easily halt any known bullet and filter out poison gas.

The second technique—Apparent Death:

Telekinesis struggled to penetrate the bodies of Abnormals, so it was only effective against weaker Abnormals and ordinary people. This technique simply made the target appear to have died of sudden cardiac arrest.

No legal liability.

The third technique—Disintegration:

As the name implies, it was a destructive skill. Ma En had instinctively used “Disintegration” to turn a note into dust. The notebook mentioned it was effective against certain creatures with rapid regenerative abilities.

The notebook also contained extensive basic uses of telekinesis. In fact, there were few highly specialized techniques, because telekinesis alone allowed him to accomplish a great deal.

All things considered, he seemed quite powerful—not afraid of bullets or poison gas, capable of assassinating any ordinary person without leaving a trace, and equipped with efficient means to attack abnormal entities.

Yet why was he seeking refuge in this psychiatric hospital?

Ma En knew he harbored no grand ambitions. A happy, peaceful life would suffice, and his past self had already prepared everything needed—a house, money, and power.

A wealthy and comfortable life awaited him outside the hospital.

Knock, knock.

No, it wasn’t Ning Changkong. He still recognized the young woman’s knocking.

What was going on? Was it so common to pay visits in a psychiatric institution?

Ma En opened the door.

Standing outside was a masked, gaunt woman so thin her collarbones were visible. She looked at Ma En with wary eyes and nervously asked,

“Are you Ma En?”

Ma En asked in confusion,

“Who are you?”

Another visitor unfamiliar to him.

The woman anxiously said,

“Sorry, may I come in and talk?”

Ma En narrowed his eyes, showing no intention of letting her in.

“What’s the matter?”

He hadn’t forgotten this was a psychiatric hospital.

The woman’s expression grew urgent as she glanced to both sides, then lowered her voice to say,

“Be careful. You’re next.”

Ma En looked at her, puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

“Dr. Li was killed by Dr. Xu.” She took a few steps back, staring at Ma En with a somber gaze. “This isn’t a place to talk. Find me at Room 721.”

After saying this, she turned immediately and blended into the crowd, quickly moving out of Ma En’s sight while carefully avoiding others.

She entered a stairwell without surveillance—only a few fixed spots in the advanced care area had cameras.

Then, the gaunt woman straightened her posture.

Creak, creak...

Her muscles writhed like a heap of worms, swelling and flowing between her bones and skin, resembling a melting wax figure.

Seconds later, a voluptuous and beautiful woman appeared on the stairs.

No one could connect her to the gaunt woman from before.

“Manager Li, have you seen him?” a cultured male voice came from the earpiece lining her skull.

She replied in a voice completely different from before:

“Yes, I have made contact with Ma En. According to the psychoanalyzer readings, he most likely possesses low-level spiritual vision, meaning he has probably noticed certain abnormal phenomena.

“Though for unknown reasons, the mission target is collecting these low-intensity psychic anomalies and has likely set sights on him.”

The other party sighed,

“They’ve already half stepped into our world, but due to their weakness, they cannot distinguish between spiritual vision and reality, ultimately becoming pathetic madmen locked in psychiatric hospitals.”

Manager Li’s lips curled slightly:

“That is why you and I appear before him. This young man needs someone to guide him on the ‘right’ path.

“And we bear this important responsibility.”