The Blind Man

In a good mood, Aiden turned around and stumbled to sit on the sofa, amusing himself by searching for various objects in the bedroom. The images in his mind remained blurry, but Aiden was patient, especially knowing how special and beneficial this ability was to him.

After a while, Aiden withdrew his power and opened his character template, focusing on the treasure chest.

The chest was worth one orb, and the value of orbs was well known. After the professor's death, the system had awarded Aiden this chest, and he was eager to see what valuable item he might obtain from it.

Of course, Aiden had been tricked before. Before coming to this world, when he played Scarlet Witch, he had once drawn a box and ended up with Hulk's tattered underwear.

"Just don't give me Captain America's mask or Iron Man's socks," Aiden thought to himself as he opened the chest.

Aiden's movements paused slightly. Normally, he would have continued his actions and opened the chest directly, but now, with his eyes covered by a cloth strip and using his mind to sense his surroundings, he clearly felt someone approaching, a large orb coming to his door.

Sure enough, as expected, the bedroom door opened, and Nicole entered quietly, as if afraid to disturb Aiden's rest. However, she found Aiden sitting alone on the sofa, his head wrapped in a black cloth strip.

"What's going on with you?" Nicole's expression was somewhat surprised, her face flushed, her golden hair tied into a ponytail behind her head, and a hint of sweat on her forehead, indicating she had just returned from morning exercise.

The feeling of seeing more with closed eyes than open ones was truly magical.

Aiden's mood was still good, and he said softly, "Nothing much, I'm just tired of seeing your face every day, so I've decided to become blind."

Nicole's eyes widened slightly. It wasn't the meaning of Aiden's words that surprised her, but the fact that he was joking. Both of them were veterans of the battlefield, and their current style of daily communication was becoming more and more like that of ordinary people, which was quite a spectacle.

"We've only known each other for a year, and you're already tired of me?" Nicole walked forward with a smile, not taking Aiden's joke seriously. She was very confident in her own conditions, and moreover, she knew her own feelings. She believed that emotions were mutual, and as long as Aiden reciprocated even a fraction of what she felt, he would never tire of her.

"Only a year?" Aiden muttered to himself, "It feels like a century."

Aiden wasn't exaggerating; he was genuinely reflecting on the events of the past year, which would take a long time to recount in detail.

Nicole frowned. This guy with his eyes covered not only made a joke but also said something unclear.

"Aiden?" Nicole asked uncertainly, reaching for Aiden's eyes.

Aiden's head tilted slightly, dodging her hand.

Nicole reached for the cloth strip again, but was stopped by Aiden's gleaming metal arm. Now, Nicole's interest was piqued. He was clearly blindfolded, so how could he judge her actions? Was it by sound? How much noise could her hand movements make? Was it by air currents?

Nicole extended her other hand, which Aiden also dodged by tilting his head. Nicole blinked with interest, then suddenly lifted her knee, striking Aiden in the chest and pushing him down onto the sofa while holding his arm.

"Why didn't you dodge?" Nicole leaned down, whispering playfully into Aiden's ear.

Aiden shrugged helplessly, "Too fast, didn't react in time."

"So, your eyes are fine?" Nicole teased.

From her teasing tone, Aiden could hear the hidden concern.

Aiden nodded with a smile, "Yes, I just discovered that my mutant ability has evolved a new technique. It seems I can scan my surroundings and project them into my mind like images."

Nicole was stunned. Such an evolved ability sounded incredible. Having experienced real combat, Nicole immediately thought of how effective and advantageous such a skill could be during missions.

"My chest is flesh, not like my arm," Aiden felt Nicole's lack of response and knew she was thinking of many things. However, their current position was uncomfortable for him. She was standing on one leg, the other bent with her knee on his chest, and most of her weight was on her knee.

Nicole came to her senses, moved her knee, and knelt beside Aiden, staring at the black cloth strip, asking, "Is this why you're in a good mood?"

Speaking, Nicole felt uncomfortable. Usually, when communicating with Aiden, she could always see his dark eyes, but now she could only see the ragged cloth strip, which made her feel strange. Although Aiden's eyes usually didn't show much emotion, they were always lifeless.

"Yes, it's like Christmas came early," Aiden confirmed.

"Christmas? Have you ever even experienced a Christmas?" Nicole asked disdainfully.

"Uh..." No, actually! In this world, it's been eleven years, and I've never celebrated Christmas!

Seeing Aiden's awkwardness, Nicole laughed and changed the subject, asking, "So you're not planning to take it off anytime soon, right?"

"This ability is very useful, and I want to train it to perfection as quickly as possible," Aiden nodded, his desire for strength being the source of his continuous growth.

"Then you might miss out on a lot of things," Nicole's forehead seemed to sprout devil horns as she whispered, "Can you sense what style of underwear I'm wearing today?"

I can't even sense you as a whole person, just a huge orb, how could I tell what kind of underwear you're wearing?

"That doesn't need sensing; my eyes might be temporarily blind, but I still have my hands," Aiden suddenly embraced Nicole's body, lifting her up.

"Uh..." Nicole let out a soft cry, "Wait, I'm all sweaty, haven't taken a shower yet."

"Mm-hmm," Aiden agreed, carrying the "big orb" in his arms towards the bathroom. Speaking of which, this one big orb could be divided into many orbs, right? Could it add a few more levels to my skills?

"Concentrate, watch where you're going," Nicole braced her foot against the coffee table, avoiding a collision and changing their path.

Aiden: "Language, lady! Mind your manners with a blind man."

Nicole: "..."