After ten minutes,
They were in an eight-seater car. Jill was at the wheel, Peyton was in the passenger seat, Luke was stuck in the middle row between Selene and Alice—judging by his face, he was very delighted by this seating arrangement—and Terri had claimed the very back, still pointing her camera at him like a hawk.
"So, Mr. Luke," Terri asked, camera light blinking, "can you explain how you and Miss Selene have superpowers?"
Everyone perked up. Even Jill glanced through the rearview mirror, her eyes narrowing with curiosity. Peyton tilted his head slightly, and Alice leaned in just a little closer.
They'd all been wondering the same thing. Humans always wanted answers to mysteries—especially when they'd seen people bend reality right in front of them.
Luke smirked. "Hmmmm. That can be explained in many ways. But first, let me ask you a question." He raised a finger. "Why are humans the only intelligent life form on Earth?"
The car went quiet.
Peyton blinked. "…What?"
Jill shot him a sharp look in the mirror. "What kind of question is that?"
Even Alice arched a brow. "That's your big answer?"
Luke grinned wider, clearly enjoying the collective confusion. "No, no, think about it. Out of millions of species, only humans became intelligent. Doesn't that sound… strange?"
Luke kept going, his voice picking up energy. "Think about it. Why only humans? Why not lions, or dolphins, or anything else? You can't explain it, right?"
Nobody spoke. Not a single word.
"Exactly," Luke said, leaning back comfortably, as if he'd just proven a grand theory. "Like how you can't explain why humans turned out this way… in the same sense, there are beings beyond human thinking. Beings who are born with powers beyond our wildest dreams."
He started gesturing with his hands like a college professor trying to make a dramatic point. "It's like how a frog in a well thinks the well is the entire universe. But beyond the well, there's an entire world. A world the frog cannot imagine."
He looked around the car slowly, dragging on the suspense. "And humans? We're just frogs in a small well called Earth—trapped, not knowing the mysteries of the big universe."
Terri blinked, lowering her camera slightly. "…Um, that's not the answer to the question I asked. Why did I just get a science lecture instead of an explanation?"
Luke chuckled. "I'm getting there. One of the higher-dimensional beings gave me powers."
Terri tilted her head. "So… basically, you got your powers from God?" She sounded doubtful. He didn't exactly look like a believer.
Luke smirked again. "'God' is just the word humans use for things too big to understand. They're not magical old men in the sky. There's a race of beings—just like us—but with powers we can't even imagine."
He leaned forward slightly, voice calm but firm. "We think we're at the peak of the food chain. But on a universal level? We're ants to them."
Selene, who already knew some of this, stayed composed. But the others… they didn't know what to believe. They wanted to dismiss it, but they'd seen too much to call it fake.
Alice was the first to break the silence. "Then why do you think you got powers?"
Luke shrugged, leaning back with a faint grin. "Didn't I say? I meditated on Mount Everest for years and gained these powers. As for why… well, like I said, frogs can't understand the world outside their wells. Maybe it was random. Maybe it was for entertainment. Who knows?"
Truth was, he really didn't. He had no clue why he'd been given the System, or why he'd been dragged into all of this chaos.
Then he smirked again. "But… if you want powers, trust me, and you'll get them." He gave a bright, businesslike smile, like he was pitching a startup instead of talking about something that could bend reality itself.
The mood snapped instantly.
He had no intention of adding males to his companion module, so only females.
"That sounds like a cult ," said Jill from the driver's seat, her tone sharp but threaded with a hint of amused disbelief.
Yep, cult people always said things like this—believe in them, and your life will change. The words instantly rang in everyone's heads, and Jill's comparison felt like a jab that stuck, like a pebble thrown into a calm pond.
"Hey, do I look like those shady guys? Does this face look like the face of a scammer?" asked Luke, his expression exaggeratedly wronged.
He was genuine compared to those scummy cultist bastards. He wasn't standing on some podium with a microphone asking for donations or promising fake salvation.
He wasn't spinning elaborate tales to trap gullible people. Everything he said—powers, companions, higher beings—was backed by the reality they had already witnessed.
Although he wasn't conventionally handsome, the idea that he could be mistaken for a scammer made him scoff internally.
"Sigh… now I'm even more confused," Jill muttered, rubbing her temples. "Wouldn't it have been better if you hadn't opened your mouth and yapped all this?"
She finally understood why Luke had warned in church that after his explanation, they'd have more doubts than answers. His words weren't just bravado—they were a promise of chaos disguised as "clarity."
The others exchanged glances, each silently acknowledging the same thought. They were all thinking it: next time, maybe it was better not to ask questions at all.
They all learned one lesson today—never ask for explanations from this guy.
Because when Luke started explaining, it wasn't really an explanation. It was like dumping a whole new book of riddles on top of the question. Answers? Zero. Headaches? Guaranteed.