76. Lilith’s Past

Although the outside world was still abuzz with noise, heroes of all kinds and the scattered remnants of Hydra continued their battles, none of it affected Joss any longer. He simply used the time soaking in the bath to continue sorting through the contents of his system.

Of all the things provided by the system, the most subtle was the evaluation of rarity.

He’d long since learned that SR-level abilities and those above were often completely useless, and he’d also encountered N-level abilities that were surprisingly effective.

However, after some time spent experimenting, he’d more or less managed to reorganize the system’s abilities and items based on their real-world utility, distinguishing them by the clarity of their descriptions.

The first category was “clear and concise effects,” meaning those with extremely straightforward, explicit descriptions.

For example, "Master of Time" belonged in this category; its actual effect—being able to know the precise time to the second in any time zone around the world, including his own—was stated directly on the system panel, with no wordplay or ambiguity.

Such abilities tended to be obvious but generally not particularly powerful. Regardless of their rarity, these abilities were almost always on the weaker side, and thus, in Joss’s own classification, they were the lowest tier.

The second category was the “wordplay” type, exemplified by the long-held "Desperate Stand" ability.

These abilities had less clear descriptions, requiring Joss to discern their true effects himself, and often necessitated repeated trial and error to reach the best results.

For instance, "Desperate Stand" concealed restrictions such as "the volume of water must exceed three hundred milliliters for the effect to trigger" and "strength does not increase with the weight of water, and can only enhance one's original physical capabilities." Joss only understood all these limitations after much experimentation.

The third category was the most abstruse: the “meaning unclear” type.

Represented by abilities like "The Nature of Humanity" and "Coo Coo Coo," they seemed usable at first glance, but Joss was certain he hadn’t grasped their full scope.

Take "Coo Coo Coo," for example. For now, Joss only used it to convey, “You thought I was here, but I’m actually still at home.”

However, according to the broader definition, it could also mean things like “I’ll be there soon” or “I’m on my way.” If these variants could also be manifested as abilities, who knew what might come of it?

Of course, this classification wasn’t absolute. Given the system’s unpredictable nature, he might someday draw something like the "ordinary consecutive punch," which would clearly belong in the first category but be more powerful than anything in the third.

Still, after this analysis, Joss at least had a clearer goal and understood what direction he should pursue in order to get stronger.

After all, while there were many ways to become powerful in the Marvel universe, none were particularly easy to obtain. And with his own cheat, Joss saw no reason to confine himself to a single path.

Having broken things down in this way, Joss didn’t gain any immediate benefits, but his deeper understanding of his own abilities did improve his mood considerably.

…

When Joss emerged from the bathroom, he found Lilith sitting quietly on the sofa, gazing in his direction as if she’d been waiting for some time. There was no sign of Little Black—she seemed to have left on purpose to give them space.

“Looks like the battle went smoothly?” Lilith tilted her head slightly as Joss returned, her tone mild.

“More or less. But from today on, I doubt Hydra will be able to stir up any real trouble.”

“Is that so…”

It wasn’t hard to imagine—with the chaos they’d caused this time, anyone who saw them in the future would probably attack on sight. The idea of Hydra rising again seemed hopelessly unrealistic.

By now, Joss was convinced that Apocalypse had been behind the scenes, stirring things up; otherwise, it made no sense for Hydra to put their hopes in something so unreliable.

But now that Apocalypse was dead and Hydra was all but a corpse, none of that mattered anymore.

“Hydra… gone, just like that?” Lilith’s face, never particularly expressive, seemed even more blank than usual, as if she couldn’t truly comprehend it.

“Even in my dreams, I’ve never seen something like this happen,” she murmured, collapsing bonelessly onto the sofa as if her strength had left her, mumbling as if to herself.

Seeing her like this, Joss didn’t know what to say, so he simply sat beside her and listened patiently.

Lilith’s story wasn’t long, nor did it contain anything that surprised him.

As an organization that had spread its poison far and wide for years, Hydra had produced countless assassins, agents, and the like.

They would take in orphans, subject them to brutal training, and inject them with inferior versions of the super-soldier serum Hydra had managed to replicate, turning out batches of elite operatives.

Lilith was one of them. After enduring the harsh training, she became Hydra’s blade, sent wherever she was needed and cast aside when her task was done.

Years of battle had ruined her face and her voice, leaving her body scarred inside and out, and she’d sealed away her heart completely.

Though she bitterly resented it, she could never disobey orders after a lifetime of Hydra’s brainwashing; at most, she’d slack off in her work, hoping someone would end her life.

If Joss hadn’t appeared, perhaps that wish would have been granted one day during a mission. But now, everything was different.

Hydra had been destroyed. She no longer had any mandatory tasks. If she wished, from today forward she could live like an ordinary person.

“An ordinary person… It sounds so distant… But even after leaving Hydra, I’m just a useless wreck who knows nothing but killing.”

“Please, in the Marvel world, there are plenty of people like that. Honestly, you sound like someone destined for great things…”

“What was that?”

“Ahem… Nothing, just saying that things will work out one way or another. As long as you’re alive, there’s always a way.” Joss scratched his head. In his previous life as a powerful mage, he truly couldn’t think of the right words to comfort her.

“So… if I said I wanted to keep living here… would that be alright?”

“Keep living… here?” Joss was taken aback.

“Yes… If it’s with you… I’d be willing to do anything…” For the first time, a faint blush tinged Lilith’s usually cold, pale face.

“Well then, hehehe…” At her words, Joss let out a perverted chuckle, then suddenly slapped something down on the table.

“Then put on this Dissolving Lilith cosplay costume and let me take a look!”

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Compilation of abilities and items from chapters 1-70 has been updated.