William Clark closed his eyes, trying to seize that fleeting moment, to see what his parents who had sent him to the orphanage actually looked like... Yet he saw nothing.

William Clark felt his life slipping away, just as all beautiful things in the world eventually fade.

At that moment, the pendant on his chest suddenly turned to dust—not the whole thing, just the hard outer shell that even Little Clark couldn’t break open with a hammer, which crumbled into powder.

Finally, it revealed something inside that was hard to describe—somewhat like an almond, yet also like a star.

That star merged into his body, drifting along the river of his blood, and finally settled in William Clark’s palm. After releasing a warm current, it completely vanished from William Clark’s senses.

That warm current was like an ocean current flowing northward across the Pacific, merging into William Clark’s heart.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

A strong heartbeat sounded, and a white flame rekindled within his heart.

Yes, the blazing flame that had once been extinguished inside him now burned again. The joy of this long-awaited reunion made William Clark feel more comfortable than ever before.

This blazing flame was meant to belong to him; it seemed that since the beginning of the world, this was an eternal truth.

With a smack, William Clark fell to the ground and lay motionless.

The truck driver jumped out of the vehicle, hesitantly looking at William Clark lying on the ground. He regretted that if he hadn’t been driving while tired, none of this would have happened.

The driver slowly moved toward the boy on the ground. He had full insurance on the truck, so even if it cost millions, he could afford to pay; there was no reason to leave someone to die. Suddenly, the boy stirred, and the driver, startled and suspicious, walked over.

But before he could get close, he saw William Clark slowly push himself up, his face covered in blood and grime: “You’re in big trouble!”

Chapter 4: The Accident and the Tree

Although William Clark didn’t know why he wasn’t dead, or even why he didn’t feel any pain, the blood on his body was real, the warm current was real, and the mark of the sapling in his palm was real.

Maybe something had happened that even William Clark himself didn’t quite understand, but the problem was that he’d been pondering those strange news stories lately, even wishing he could have such abilities.

At this moment, all the signs seemed to be telling him: he really was different from ordinary people.

His feelings right now were partly the lingering fear after the accident—after all, being hit by such a huge truck would scare anyone.

Another part was a secret delight deep inside. Teenagers all hope to be different, and if every seventeen-year-old faced a choice about whether to gain incredible powers, probably 90% would say yes.

And the last part was... no matter what, he’d been walking on the sidewalk, there were no traffic lights here, and the other party was at fault for hitting him.

He’d just gone out at night to buy instant noodles for Little Clark and ended up getting hit by a big truck—who could he even complain to?

Wouldn’t it make sense to play the victim a little? Besides, this wasn’t even faking it—he’d really been hit.

But there was one problem... would his injuries show up in an exam? After that warm current, his whole body felt perfectly normal—William Clark was sure of it.

So if he went to the hospital and they found he was completely fine, would he still get any compensation?

And the scene of that performer being taken away with a tranquilizer dart was still fresh in his mind. If he went to the hospital, and despite the accident he was totally unharmed, what if someone discovered his abnormality? Would he be taken away too?

At this point, William Clark was a bit worried about what might happen if he was taken away, and also worried about what would happen to Little Clark if he was gone and she had no one to rely on.

If William Clark hadn’t seen what happened backstage at the acrobatics show today, he might have foolishly gone to the hospital for a checkup, but he had seen it.

He could have let the insurance company pay a huge sum and used that money to reach the peak of his life, but William Clark hesitated.

Since the normal claims process wouldn’t work, he’d have to try something less conventional...

“You’re in big trouble!” William Clark slowly got up from the ground.

When the driver saw William Clark get up from the ground, his face covered in blood, he was completely shocked—he could actually get up! He immediately wanted to run; the scene was just too bizarre!

“Do you want to settle this publicly or privately...”

But before William Clark could finish, the driver shouted “Ghost!” and ran off without another word, leaving the truck behind.

William Clark stood there quietly...

“Damn it...” He wiped the blood from his face and watched the driver’s fleeing figure. Now how was he supposed to get compensation?

William Clark turned and left. The scene of the acrobat being taken away during the day was just too frightening—who knew if those people would show up here soon?

He’d originally planned to go straight home, but after thinking it over, he decided to head toward the supermarket. On the third night of the Lunar New Year, the only place still open in this area was David Bolton Supermarket.