As someone in sequence 001, I also want to give up today.

With the optimized version of [Electromagnetic Control], "creating" a legitimate identity for the bell became even simpler for Li Xian than peeling an apple with his telekinesis.

He even maintained the standard posture of slumped on the sofa the whole time while completing this "job," with his eyes half-closed, as if he were taking a nap.

In fact, his thoughts have already traveled through ubiquitous electromagnetic waves and network signals.

It silently infiltrated the bottom layer of several key databases.

Combining the precise operation of [Consciousness Slicing] with the understanding of the essence of information through [Universal Power], he, like a master virtual sculptor, began to "sculpt" the bell's new identity.

He chose a remote town welfare home that had been completely destroyed a few years ago by a monster attack, with all paper files lost and only some electronic backups remaining, as his "starting point".

There, a record of a baby girl who had been abandoned at the gate of the facility six years earlier was "added".

The baby girl's features were vague (to facilitate later "mutation"), and she was named "Li Xiaoling".

Records show that she was physically weak and introverted from a young age, but did not exhibit any obvious supernatural abilities.

He then “supplemented” the sparse medical records and growth observation notes from the following years.

Everything is logical and can withstand scrutiny.

The most crucial step was taken a few months ago when the "man in gray" incident triggered a global wave of awakening.

The "Li Xiaoling" record was timely updated with the note: "Unstable energy fluctuations have occurred, suspected to be the awakening of a latent beast-type superpower (manifested as cat-like characteristics), with significant emotional fluctuations, requiring special observation."

Then, records show that she was transferred to a large comprehensive welfare institution in Jiangcheng for further evaluation and care.

Finally, and most ingeniously:

Li Xian simulated several online communication records between "community workers" and "social workers at welfare homes".

The story is about a Mr. Li Xian (whose identity information is completely consistent with the real Li Xian and who has been certified as a "low-sequence superhuman") who, while participating in community assistance activities, establishes a deep emotional connection with a special child named Li Xiaoling.

After compliance assessment and procedures, the special foster care (the kind with the possibility of future adoption) was successfully processed.

All process documents, signatures, and seals (electronic seals) are complete.

The logic chain is complete, and the timeline fits perfectly.

It even takes into account the potential delays and minor errors that may occur during data synchronization between different departments.

The whole process took Li Xian... about the time it takes to have an afternoon tea.

During this time, he also took the time to heat up a cup of milk for himself using electromagnetic force, and used his telekinesis to peel a handful of sunflower seeds for Lingdang, who was watching cartoons next to him.

"Done."

Li Xian stretched, feeling that it was easier than writing an eight-thousand-word novel (after all, he didn't have to make up a plot).

He snapped his fingers, and the smart TV screen in the living room flashed, switching to a seemingly official internal query interface.

The page clearly displays "Li Xiaoling's" complete profile and her connection information with "Guardian Li Xian".

"Look, you're now 'Li Xiaoling,' officially certified, with impeccable credentials, and a slightly unique but perfectly reasonable experience as a beast-type awakened individual."

Li Xian turned the screen to Lingdang, who was watching intently while holding Fat Orange (who looked utterly dejected).

Bell loosened her grip on Fatty Orange, leaned close to the screen, and stared wide-eyed at the words and photos she couldn't understand.

(The photo was "composite" by Li Xian using her real-time video footage combined with photos of other children in the database, with no trace of Photoshop.)

She looked up at Li Xian again, her cat ears tilting in confusion: "That's... all done? I... I'm 'Li Xiaoling' now?"

"That's how you are in public. At home, you're still Bell, or 'This Lord'."

Li Xian said indifferently.

"With this, you can go to school, enjoy unlimited dried fish and pudding, and legally have citizenship without worrying about being arrested and dissected."

Bell seemed to understand, but she did understand the words "unlimited dried fish and pudding" and "legal".

A look of relief crossed her small face, but then she remembered something and raised her head: "Hmph! Even without this, I wouldn't have been caught! My fission..."

"Yes, yes, your fission is the most powerful."

Li Xian casually ruffled her hair and asked a question.

"Speaking of which, what was your previous world like...? And who were those 'bad guys' who were chasing you?"

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

The smugness and liveliness on Lingdang's face receded like the tide.

A clear sense of fear, sadness, and complex emotions beyond his years flashed in his golden pupils.

She lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously clutching the hem of her clothes, her cat ears drooping, and her tail tightly curled around her calves.

The little guy who was chattering away just a moment ago has suddenly turned into a little beast that shrinks up to protect itself.

"...I don't want to talk about it."

Her voice was muffled, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor.

"That place... is bad. There are... a lot of bad people there."

Seeing her sudden change in mood, Li Xian's casual curiosity vanished, replaced by a sense of pity.

He didn't ask any more questions, but simply reached out and gently patted her back.

The gestures weren't exactly gentle, but they were enough to convey the message, "If you don't want to talk, then don't; I'm here."

"If you don't want to talk about it, then don't."

Li Xian spoke in a flat tone, as if he were saying that the weather was nice today.

"Anyway, you're here now, with food, drink, and... Old Deng is taking care of you. You can forget about the past."

Bell didn't dodge his hand, but simply buried her face even lower.

After a while, he gave a barely audible "hmm".

My body slowly relaxed, and I leaned back on the sofa, but my mood clearly didn't recover immediately.

Li Xian didn't try to liven things up anymore. She simply switched the TV back to the cartoon she had been watching and pushed the bag of peeled sunflower seeds next to her.

Some wounds need time and a safe haven to heal slowly.

Li Xian may be lazy or afraid of trouble, but he is not stupid or blind.

The bell occasionally wakes up in the middle of the night with suppressed sobs and an excessive wariness of unfamiliar sounds.

He also noticed the loneliness hidden beneath the bluster that didn't match his age.

This child's background is definitely not simple, and his experiences are probably quite bumpy.

However, since she was unwilling to talk about it, he wouldn't force her.

Protecting her so she can grow up safely in this world is not too difficult for him, who possesses the ability of Sequence 001.

This is enough.

A few days later, Lingdang seemed to have recovered from that brief period of depression and turned back into the energetic, chuunibyou-filled cat-eared loli.

One of her biggest hobbies became hogging Li Xian's phone (Li Xian was too lazy to fight her for it, since he also had a tablet and a computer).

Through her mobile phone, Lingdang was like a sponge that frantically absorbed information, quickly learning about this completely new world to her.

She learned to use shopping apps to look at snacks, add them to her cart, and wait for Li Xian to pay.

I learned to watch short videos and scoffed at some of the exaggerated "superpower demonstrations" in them.

I also learned to lurk in the forums for people with superpowers, reading posts about rankings, ability discussions, and even bragging and challenges.

When she finally figured out the meaning of "All Spirits Sequence" and what her "004·Fission" meant on this list, the little guy completely exploded.

"Hahaha! I really am a genius! Sequence 004! The fourth strongest in the entire universe! No, the top three might not even be as strong as me!"

She held up her phone, bouncing on the sofa, her cat tail swishing like a propeller, her golden eyes shining brightly.

"See that, Old Deng! See that, sir! I'm 004! Much more powerful than your seven thousand! From now on, I'm the boss of this house! Now! Hand over Pudding! And don't you dare touch my ears again! Otherwise, I'll unleash a fission attack and... I'll turn you bald!"

She was so arrogant she seemed to have reached the heavens, as if she could already see her bright future of stepping on Li Xian and ruling the world (or at least ruling this living room).

Li Xian was using [Electromagnetic Control] to micromanipulate the circuit board, performing non-destructive cleaning and performance optimization on an old game console (purely out of boredom).

Without even looking up, he replied, "Oh, really? Then give it a try."

"Let's give it a try!"

Lingdang put down her phone, stood aggressively in front of Li Xian, her face flushed red, and began to concentrate her mental energy.

She could sense that the delicious food and drinks she had enjoyed these past few days, especially the food that Li Xian had carefully prepared using his special abilities, seemed to have a slight nourishing effect on her mental strength.

Her pitiful basic mental strength actually increased by a tiny bit on its own, from 10 points to 11 points!

Don't underestimate this one point! For her [fission], 11 points of basic mental power will become 121 after fission!

That's a full 21 points more than the previous 100!

Huge increase!

This is what makes Sequence 004 so terrifying: every slight increase in the base value brings about a quadratic leap in strength!

"Drink it!"

With a sharp cry, Lingdang gathered her 121 points of spiritual power after the split.

There are no fancy techniques, just the simplest and most direct mental impact.

Like an invisible hammer blow, it struck Li Xian, who was slumped in his chair.

This time she learned her lesson and didn't scatter her strength. She concentrated all her power on one point, striving for a fatal blow (in her imagination)!

The moment the spiritual power touched him, Li Xian finally raised his eyes.

Then there is no more then.

That mental shock was enough to make ordinary E-level ability users dizzy and F-level ability users faint.

When it came into contact with the invisible and intangible yet seemingly timeless "presence" on Li Xian's body, it was like a drop of water merging into a vast ocean, disappearing without even a ripple.

Li Xian didn't even shake it; the solder joints of the precision circuit board in his hand remained as steady as a mountain.

"Yes, the strength has improved."

Li Xian even took the time to comment, his tone so calm it was as if he were saying, "The vegetables were cooked alright today."

"Your control is still terrible, and you waste over 80% of your energy. Also, who taught you to yell before you start a fight? Are you afraid people won't know where you're going to attack?"

Bell: "...???"

Her little brain couldn't quite process it.

A full-force attack, only to be utterly destroyed?

And they're also criticized for their lack of control and tactics?

This isn't the script she imagined! What happened to the promise of turning the tables and taking control?

"No, impossible!"

Bell refused to accept reality; her cat ears turned slightly red from excitement and exertion.

"Again! I didn't use my full strength just now!"

Save your breath.

Li Xian finally finished the small project he was working on and put the game console aside.

He slowly stood up and looked down at the catgirl with her hair standing on end.

"Don't even mention 121. Even if your basic mental strength increases to 100 and then to 10000 after the fission, it's like tickling me."

He stretched out his finger and gently touched the bell's smooth forehead.

Without exerting any force, the bell felt an indescribable, gentle yet boundless "presence" enveloping her, making her unable to muster the slightest thought of resistance, and even causing her [Fission] to subconsciously stop operating.

"I'll remember that, little one."

Li Xian's tone carried a rare seriousness, although his expression remained lazy.

"A high rank and great potential are good things, but they're not a license for arrogance. In this world, what truly determines strength is never just numbers on paper. Control, skill, experience, mentality, and... well, some other things. Don't dream of flying before you can walk. Otherwise, if I'm not home one day and you go out acting so arrogantly, you might run into a real big shot with a bad temper, and you won't even know how you died."

The bell was so overwhelmed by that invisible aura that it was hard to breathe, and its golden pupils were filled with shock and confusion.

Her proud 004 sequence, and the surge in mental power after its fission.

How could he be so easily defeated in front of this "old Deng"?

Who exactly is he?

Is his sequence really over seven thousand?

Seeing the little guy's dismayed and questioning-his-life expression, Li Xian found it somewhat amusing.

As I withdrew my finger, the pressure disappeared.

He slumped back into his chair, his tone returning to its lazy tone: "But your mental strength will increase on its own, which saves trouble. It seems that raising you isn't too bad, at least the food expenses weren't wasted. Keep it up, eat more, and maybe in a few years you'll be able to help me wash the dishes."

The bell was still frozen in place, processing the shock from what had just happened and Li Xian's words.

Her previous arrogance has been completely extinguished.

Instead, she felt a mixture of frustration, curiosity, and a hint of... something she herself didn't even realize—a yearning for greater power and a vague awe of the unfathomable strength of the "old man" before her.

"I understand..."

She gave a listless reply, her tail drooping limply, and silently crawled back to the corner of the sofa, hugging her knees as she contemplated life (and its sequence).

Fatty Orange jumped onto the back of the sofa, looked at the devastated Bell, and then at Li Xian, who had already picked up his tablet again and started watching funny videos. A knowing look flashed in his heterochromatic eyes.

"Meow. (Translation: I already told you who's in charge here.)"

Bell glared at Fatty Orange defiantly, but didn't argue back.

She secretly glanced at Li Xian's profile. Her ambition to "rule the world" had to be suppressed once again in the face of the absolute difference in strength.

However, a new thought quietly sprouted: Just how strong is this "Old Deng"? Is his sequence really as he registered?

Meanwhile, Li Xian was scrolling through the ridiculous news article, "A man claimed to be a Sequence 250 super troll, and argued with someone online for three days and three nights, causing the other party to faint from anger."

While keeping an eye on the quiet little figure in the corner of the sofa, he kept an eye on it.

His mental strength has increased naturally... No wonder he is Sequence 004.

This potential for growth is truly terrifying. If she grows up normally, she will undoubtedly be one of the world's strongest individuals in the future. However, before that...

"A bell." Li Xian suddenly spoke.

"Huh? What?" Lingdang looked up warily.

"What do you want to eat tonight? Dad will show you a new recipe: pan-fried exotic meat steaks made with electromagnetic micro-vibration technology. I guarantee they'll be crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and juicy."

"...Yes!" Bell's eyes lit up instantly. All her frustration and contemplation about life vanished in front of the delicious food.

See, raising children (especially food-loving children) is that simple.

Feed, suppress, then feed again.

Li Xian felt that he was gradually mastering the knack.

As for the secret of Lingdang's background, her self-growing spiritual power, and the possible future troubles... those are things for later.

Right now, filling the belly of this troublesome yet adorable kitten girl and maintaining the peaceful (chaotic) daily life of this little family are the things that "Old Deng" of Sequence 001 cares about most.

The setting sun outside the window bathed the living room in a warm golden hue, and the air was filled with the faint aroma of food that was about to be cooked, as well as a warm and noisy tranquility that is called "home".

Fat Orange yawned and found the sunniest spot to sit down.

Lingdang hugged the cushion, her eyes sparkling as she waited for dinner.

Li Xian had already started preheating the frying pan with electromagnetic force, calculating the heat.