15 Skill Combinations

In the midst of utter darkness, Joss felt himself bound to a chair. His eyes were blindfolded, leaving him to rely solely on sounds to discern his surroundings.

According to the young woman, the original plan had been to knock him out before taking him away. However, she was unwilling to fight him again; as long as Joss behaved, she wouldn't make things too difficult for him.

“Tsk tsk… Is this what they call Stockholm syndrome? It's because of that person that I was captured in the first place, isn’t it?”

“Did you make sure we weren’t followed here? They won’t find this place, right?” A somewhat effeminate man’s voice sounded from Joss’s left front.

“No problem,” the girl replied, her hoarse, unpleasant voice rough around the edges.

She wasn’t lying—on the way here, they’d switched vehicles three times, winding through the city with stops and starts, doubling back who knows how many times before finally arriving at this location.

A voice that sounded rather young interjected, “But isn’t that wrong? If they can’t find us, then this whole ambush is pointless, isn’t it?”

“Idiot. Of course this base can’t be exposed. The base Jason knows about is just a decoy. There are explosives buried all underneath it. Once those Avengers fools show up, all it takes is one boom—ha ha ha ha!” A slightly deranged woman’s laughter echoed around them.

“Don’t say too much. Be careful he doesn’t overhear,” a remarkably steady male voice cut her off.

The woman, apparently unbothered, scoffed, “Tch, so what if he hears? We checked him when he came in—no tracking devices, no communication gear. Is he supposed to turn the world upside down all by himself?”

“Still, bringing him here is pointless, isn’t it? Why not just kill him on the way?”

“I want to have some fun with him later.” The girl’s cool and succinct reply drew a round of lewd chuckles, but she seemed too indifferent to bother with them and fell silent.

“Better to be safe. Does he know German?” The steady man still sounded uneasy.

“No, I’ve read his file. He’s an agent, but his grades weren’t impressive. If he hadn’t gotten lucky and provoked Jason into that mess, he wouldn’t have passed the test at all.” The effeminate man sneered, clearly privy to some inside information from S.H.I.E.L.D.

“Don’t say that. Jason was bound to be exposed eventually; otherwise, how were we supposed to lure those Avengers idiots over?”

“That’s enough. Now—” Suddenly, the steady man switched to German, and the rest followed suit, their chatter devolving into a jumble of incomprehensible sounds for Joss.

“Tsk… So they’re using me as bait… And the decoy base? From what they said, I bet Captain America and the others are walking right into an ambush.”

He couldn’t help but worry, but there was nothing Joss could do. He was in no position to warn the Avengers—not when he couldn’t even protect himself.

“Tsk… I have no idea where I am, and even if I did, it wouldn’t matter. My life is in their hands now.”

Perhaps because he had no fear of death, Joss’s mood was not especially panicked, even in such dire circumstances.

Unable to understand the men’s chatter and completely blindfolded, Joss could only let his mind wander.

“The moon is drifting away from Earth at four centimeters per year? Clean dirt is actually edible? The old man at 28 Third Street can burp and fart at the same time…”

Bored out of his mind, Joss remembered the new ability he’d just acquired: Omniscience of the Useless. He began browsing its endless stream of trivia for entertainment.

“Damn, I thought it would just be obscure facts, but you can look up anything! Too bad it’s all completely useless information…”

Whether it was personal secrets or the deepest truths of the universe, Joss could access it all with this power—yet every fact was so pointless, it was impossible to find any meaning in it.

“No, wait… This is it!”

A sudden inspiration struck. Joss checked the time, confirmed he was still in the same time zone, and judging by the timing of their movements, he was still in New York.

“I smelled fresh asphalt on the way—there are seventeen newly paved roads in the city.”

“I heard three Mexican voices—there’s only one area where so many Mexicans gather…”

“Before they brought me in, I caught a song from a shop by the road… There are three hundred and eleven songs worldwide with that lyric…”

“Which stores in this city would play that song at exactly 11:12? Which shops are near new asphalt roads… There!”

Piecing together these seemingly random facts, Joss was amazed to realize he’d pinpointed his exact location with ease.

“I never expected that combining Master of Time with Omniscience of the Useless would produce this result. Unless all my senses are blocked, I can instantly locate myself anywhere on Earth.”

Though the discovery made his heart pound, Joss kept his face carefully neutral, taking a quiet breath before focusing on the next problem.

The reason these people felt so secure wasn’t just because of their strength—they had checked him thoroughly for transmitters or communicators. What they hadn’t considered was telepathy.

Of course, it wasn’t that they’d overlooked it; rather, under normal circumstances, telepathic contact over this distance was nearly impossible. If Joss’s telepathic range reached that far, he’d rival Professor X.

If he had that kind of power, he’d have slaughtered everyone here long ago instead of being captured so easily. Naturally, they had nothing to worry about.

“But you’ll never guess—the system allows for this kind of power.”

With a silent, mocking laugh, Joss quietly activated Chest Telepathy—a power that disregarded distance and allowed him to establish a telepathic link with the person he knew who had the largest bust.

“Biggest bust among people I know… That must be Natasha. Perfect.” Before initiating contact, Joss mentally reviewed everything he wanted to convey, then waited for the link to establish.

“This is Steve. Who are you?” came a voice from the other end of the telepathic connection.