Honestly.
If Rachel hadn't reminded him, Ian would have genuinely forgotten that his head was still on fire—mainly because the system's occasional prompts of [Experience +1] were prone to causing intermittent memory loss.
"My apologies. I should have known why Mr. White looked so terrified just now. He must have taken me for the real Ghost Rider, but I think I'm more like the invincible Zoffy."
Ian reluctantly walked to the sink, where a pipe had burst long ago.
The water flowed like a stream.
But it couldn't extinguish Hellfire.
*Sigh*
Rachel saw this.
And with a complex mood, she extended her hand to help Ian.
She possessed many abilities.
She extinguished the Hellfire on Ian's head in an instant.
"Thank you."
Ian indeed felt much cooler. He activated his self-healing ability. His hair grew wildly, and even his slightly damaged face became smooth and tender again.
The kind of tenderness that Deadpool would be extremely jealous of if he were here.
"General MacArthur once said that if someone helps you, you should treat them to Haagen-Dazs, so now you only owe me nine Haagen-Dazs."
Ian felt refreshed.
But that didn't mean he didn't want free ice cream.
To this.
Raven Rachel offered no reply.
"Your ability is very impressive..." Rachel had witnessed Ian's [Self-Healing] method firsthand. Her eyes slightly flickered, and after a moment of hesitation, she asked cautiously.
"Is your personality a side effect of your powers?" Her way of speaking was particularly subtle, showing that she had utilized her not-so-strong language organization skills to the maximum extent.
"Are you referring to how universally likable I am? Many girls say the same." Ian understood what she was trying to express. After all, he had super intelligence, so he responded with a regretful shrug. "Actually, I find this quite bothersome. Every day when I come to school, I have to throw away the love letters that are stuffed into my desk."
He was actually telling the truth.
However.
Rachel looked like she wanted to speak but stopped.
She was genuinely impressed by the adaptability of the girls in this middle school.
"What are you doing?" Rachel saw Ian rummaging around the ruined classroom, mixing various chemical agents, and she was quite confused by the boy's behavior.
"Destroying the evidence, of course—Mr. White taught me this. He always thought I might go to Gotham for college." Ian shook the thermos in his pocket.
He knew Mr. White was a great chemist, and that knowledge began with that one lesson.
"..."
Rachel found that she wasn't surprised by this at all.
She silently watched Ian pour the mixed chemical solution onto the green, corrupted demon remains. Then, she saw the boy turn back and give her a meaningful warning.
"The demon contaminated by my spit has lost its edible value." Ian noted the chemical solution had no effect, and he regretted that chemistry indeed had its limits.
"No one would want to eat hellish creatures—except you." Rachel's voice was as steady as a flat line on an electrocardiogram. She raised her hand, and scarlet energy poured down like a waterfall.
The demon's remains instantly turned to ash.
"As expected, magic is more effective." Ian felt a pang of envy. He also wanted to change his job to a sorcerer. He just wondered if he could find Doctor Strange's body in the Marvel world.
Magic in the DC Universe came with a particularly huge price.
Even dogs wouldn't want learn it.
He mainly couldn't find a place to learn it without getting screwed over.
"You don't use magic?"
Rachel was somewhat perplexed.
She strongly suspected Ian was also the illegitimate son of some Hell Lord, because only demons liked to devour demons, and the way Death treated the boy earlier also indicated that the boy's background was certainly not simple.
"I will, I will. Once I learn the Illumination spell, I'll be a qualified mage." Ian found a rag and began wiping down every surface he had touched in the classroom.
"You should be thankful our school doesn't have surveillance cameras."
Ian said confidently to the girl behind him.
"How do you know that?"
Rachel was slightly surprised.
"The principal occasionally asks me to help report her illegal income for taxes, so I know five dollars can only buy a low-quality plastic model—I don't get a full scholarship every year just because I'm the best student."
"This is the blessing the principal gives back to me." Ian's answer once again brought the mentally resolute girl into a long silence. She found it hard to imagine that this was something a fourteen-year-old boy should be doing.
"Gotham truly deserves you."
After a long while.
Rachel gave Ian an extremely high compliment.
"Actually, I won't go to Gotham. The Joker is there... he's slightly more terrifying than Batman." Ian didn't dislike Mr. Wayne, as he was his big sugar daddy.
However, as a normal person.
It was reasonable for him to be wary of Gotham's true lunatics.
"Yes, within a limited living space, members of the same species will engage in mutual annihilation. This is the law of nature. I understand you." The girl spoke without emotion.
Her tone was flat, yet possessed a power that struck directly at the heart.
"Are you serious?"
Ian felt he should take the girl in front of him to Dr. Hannibal for a brain check too.
Just then.
*WeWooo Wewooo Wewooo*
The piercing sound of police sirens suddenly and unexpectedly came from downstairs.
"We should leave here."
Rachel stood by the window and looked down. Police cars and fire trucks had appeared on campus. She looked back at Ian, who was still meticulously wiping every place that might hold fingerprints.
"Don't panic."
Ian was not in a hurry.
"The fire department and police won't come up until we leave. It's tradition." He was very certain of this. It was a scientific conclusion derived from his investigations.
"Are you saying they are incredibly incompetent?"
Rachel was about to agree.
The next moment.
She saw Ian shake his head slightly.
"No, no, no. I'm actually complimenting their intelligence. They do exactly the amount of work commensurate with their salary—only smart people can survive their internships in Metropolis."
"Of course, Gotham is scarier. Gotham only talks about life and luck."
Ian believed that statistical data would never lie.
"..."
Rachel was speechless.
She wanted to object.
But she strangely felt that Ian's words made a lot of sense. The facts proved this point. Ian continued cleaning for two more minutes, but no footsteps sounded outside the hallway.
"Time to wrap up!"
Ian burned the rag completely. He certainly didn't know how to perfectly process a crime scene, but caution was never wrong. In any case, the fewer oversights, the better.
"Can you fly? I heard the demon call you Raven earlier." Ian's gaze was fixed on Rachel's back and hair, a look that Rachel found somewhat difficult to understand.
"I'm not Superman, but..." Rachel took a deep breath and extended her hand to Ian with a hint of resignation. "I think I have a better means of retreat than flying out of here."
She watched the curious Ian place his hand in hers.
The next moment.
The ability to teleport and cross dimensions activated.
The two instantly vanished from the empty classroom. And, just as the science Ian believed in predicted, the police and firefighters appeared shortly after they left.
Well, how should one put it?
In what way was this not a superpower?
***
Read 20 Chapters early on P-atreon.com/Redestro666