The boy stared at Li Wade, his face livid. Had this guy wasted all that breath just to outright refuse him?
"So... you're playing me?"
Li Wade waved a hand dismissively. "No, not at all. I genuinely considered your proposal and even agree with your theory about fear. But... forgive my bluntness—you haven't shown me anything to fear. So, naturally, I see no reason to obey. After all, I don't keep pet rabbits or anything..."
The boy fell silent. A flicker of crimson seemed to flash in his pitch-black eyes. To him, Li Wade's words reeked of mockery.
"If you've got nothing else to say, please leave. I need to fix the door lock you broke," Li Wade added, unnervingly calm.
"You're challenging me... But you're right about one thing: without power, fear is impossible." The boy's gaze locked onto Li Wade's, cold and taunting—like a viper eyeing its prey. "So... why do you think I lack power?"
Li Wade opened his mouth to reply but froze. The shattered chair fragments scattered across the floor had begun floating into the air—and he knew he hadn't done it.
"So this is your trump card?" Li Wade watched the hovering shards, a spark of revelation in his eyes.
Clearly, others in this world shared his extraordinary ability. And one was standing right before him.
The boy frowned, unsettled by Li Wade's lack of panic. But a sliver of doubt wasn't enough to deter him from teaching this upstart a lesson.
Whoosh!
The floating shards shot toward Li Wade like jagged bullets.
Any other child would've been terrified by the unnatural assault. But Li Wade was no ordinary child.
After hundreds of experiments and thousands of drills, the boy's clumsy control of this power seemed almost childish to him.
Li Wade didn't flinch or even glance at the incoming shards. He simply watched the boy, as if studying a fascinating specimen.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The fragments halted abruptly mid-air, frozen inches from Li Wade's face. Undeniably, his mastery surpassed the boy's.
The boy gaped in disbelief.
"What?! How... How can you do this?! Impossible! It can't be! This power—it's only mine—"
"Why did you think you were the only special one?" Li Wade's tone dripped with amusement.
The boy's pride stung under that gaze. "So... we're the same?"
"The same? Hardly." Li Wade shook his head. "You have this gift, yet I see no trace of practice. Don't tell me you've only used it to frighten ordinary people... If so, what a pitiful waste of talent."
He flicked his wrist. The chair fragments clattered to the floor.
The boy glared, eyes blazing. "You may share this power, but that doesn't mean you can—"
Thud!
Suddenly, he was facedown on the floor. Though nothing was physically pressing on him, he couldn't move a muscle—pinned by an invisible, crushing force.
Li Wade crouched beside him. "What was that you said?"
The boy stared furiously at the worn cloth shoes before him, unable to lift his head.
"N-Nothing..."
The paralysis, the growing weight on his back—terror flooded him.
"I sense fear in you," Li Wade said, his voice deceptively gentle, like a demon's whisper. "So... by your own logic, shouldn't you obey me now?"
The boy nodded frantically, his eyes wide with terror.
The pressure vanished instantly.
"Good. I like obedient people." Li Wade helped him up, even dusting off his clothes. "By the way, I never caught your name."
Gasping for air, the boy trembled. That crushing force... he knew Li Wade could've killed him effortlessly.
"Riddle... My name is Tom Riddle..."
Ding! Host interaction with future Dark Lord detected! Virtue System activated!
Ding! Host has disciplined a wicked child! Reward: 50 Virtue Points!
Li Wade: ?
...
Tom Riddle? Future Dark Lord? Virtue System...
"So that's it... Tom... Tom Riddle."
Li Wade studied the boy named Tom Riddle with newfound intensity.
Tom shrank under the scrutiny.
Even if he would one day become a fearsome Dark Lord, for now, he was just a cowed child—and he desperately didn't want to die.
His fear of Li Wade, who seemed capable of ending him at any moment, was paralyzing.
Suddenly, a hand landed on Tom's shoulder.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Relax, Tom. Your name just... rings a bell."
And it did. "Dark Lord" paired with "Tom Riddle" told him everything.
Two overlooked details clicked into place: this was Wool's Orphanage, run by Mrs. Cole—the birthplace of the second Dark Lord, Voldemort.
Li Wade finally understood. He hadn't just traveled to 1930s London.
He was in the world of Harry Potter—decades before the main story began.
Which meant... his "special ability" wasn't some psychic power.
It was magic.