If Charles' psychic power was a great lake… then his opponent's mind was an entire universe, surrounded by endless stars and seas!
"Your heart… your consciousness… how can it be… how can it be so powerful?" Professor X's voice trembled with shock.
His proud telepathy, which could terrify the world, was now as childish as a three-year-old's doodle! He couldn't even glimpse the surface thoughts of the other, and was nearly annihilated by his unconscious mind! Was this… still human?
Yet Lucci's expression didn't change at all. The other's fear seemed entirely natural. His gaze calmly rested on the strange device atop Charles' head—a massive, high-tech helmet connected to a spherical mainframe by a forest of wires.
"I see…" Lucci's eyes glinted with insight.
He instantly grasped Cerebro's design—from its core circuitry and energy matrix to its resonance frequency with the X-gene. Everything was instantly analyzed and understood.
"So, it's essentially a special megaphone—amplifying Charles' psychic 'voice' to cover the world, using quantum resonance with the X-gene as a filter signal… The idea is good, but the scale is far too small," Lucci thought.
At that moment, Lucci's consciousness soared to infinity! If the mind's power could be "amplified," why not upgraded? If one could "connect" with those who share a gene, why not link directly to the fundamental laws of reality? If the mind could "perceive" the world, why couldn't it itself become an independent world, a new dimension?
Boom—it was as if chaos split apart in Lucci's mind. A vast new concept was born: the Infinite Mindscape! A new power, uniting idealist "mind" and materialist "reality" at the highest level! The mind would no longer be a byproduct of the brain, but a dimension unto itself—warping time and space, interfering with matter, even creating reality without external force… a true spiritual dimension!
Under the influence of the Infinite Mindscape, Lucci felt he could shape the laws of reality with pure will—touching the very foundation of "truth and falsehood," "illusion and reality"… This was the true power of the Infinite Stones!
"Not bad, an unexpected harvest," Lucci nodded, very satisfied. This trip outside had not been in vain—he'd comprehended the laws of reality from Professor X and Cerebro.
He collected his thoughts and smiled calmly at the still-stunned Professor X:
"Nothing is impossible. Just because you can't do it, doesn't mean no one else can."
His gaze fell on the helmet again, and he added with a calm tone:
"Even with your so-called Cerebro, you can't peek into my mind."
"Impossible!" Charles said stubbornly. His telepathy was the cornerstone of his life and the protection of his mutant kin. He refused to believe anyone could have such a powerful mind! Maybe he was only repelled before because he hadn't activated Cerebro!
"Hank, activate the device!" he ordered.
Beast, startled by Lucci's power, still trusted the professor and pressed the start button.
Buzz!
The entire basement hummed! Cerebro activated, and Charles' eyes flashed blue as he poured all his mental power into the device. Amplified by tens of millions of times, an overwhelming psychic storm swept toward Lucci!
This time, Charles didn't want to spy on secrets—he just wanted to verify that his power wasn't completely nullified.
But… the result was exactly the same. Even more… hopeless.
The psychic storm that could overturn the world hit Lucci and was instantly swallowed by a black hole of absolute zero, like the universe devouring all. No shock, no rebound. Just… silence. His soul's torrent was utterly devoured, erased without a ripple.
Lucci's mind remained a calm, starry sea, as ancient as the brightest well—his mood unchanged, his expression as calm as ever.
"Ah—" Charles gasped, face turning white! He wasn't harmed by backlash, but the direct connection with his swallowed power traumatized his soul! Worse still, his faith was shattered!
"How… how can this be…" he muttered, hollow-eyed.
His power, his pride, the foundation of protecting his mutant kin—today, before this mysterious young man, was utterly… obsolete. And the defeat was so thorough, so effortless.
Watching Charles' broken expression, Lucci shook his head gently, "Charles, your device took the wrong path from the very start."
His calm words echoed through the control room, striking Charles and Hank like heavy hammers.
"It's just a megaphone. It only amplifies your voice, your mental frequency, so those far away can hear it. But you never thought of changing the nature of the voice, or creating a new sound, or a sound no one's ever heard before. All your research is on broadcasting your voice further. That mindset fundamentally limits the true potential of psychic power."
Lucci looked at their stunned faces and concluded, "Your vision is far too small."
This verdict exploded in their minds like thunder—this was the crystallization of their pride and wisdom, a super invention decades ahead of current human science! The cornerstone of mutant survival! Yet in Lucci's eyes, it was just "too small."
Beast wanted to argue, but couldn't say a word—because… it was true. They'd never thought of "changing" the nature of psychic power, only "using" and "amplifying" it.
Lucci sighed softly, as if pitying these "elms with knots," "No matter how much I explain, you won't understand. So… see for yourselves."
He flipped his palm—
Buzz!
Countless golden runes, slender as hair, pure, mysterious, and sacred, swirled and combined in his hand, forming a slowly rotating multidimensional magic array—both Eastern and Western in its mystical harmony, yet oddly compatible with Cerebro's technology.
"Go."
He waved his hand, and the magic array shot out, piercing Cerebro's metal shell and integrating into its core energy matrix. Lucci didn't alter the hardware at all—he simply, at the level of law, forcibly rewrote its energy circuits and logic, compiling a piece of the Infinite Mindscape's "program" and entering it into this "computer's" motherboard! The whole process was smooth and swift.
When the last golden rune fully merged, Cerebro hummed gently as if reborn.
Lucci looked at the still-frozen Charles and said calmly, "Now try again. You don't need to deliberately seek out the resonance of the X-gene. I've upgraded this device from a radar that could only find certain individuals to… a pseudo-Gaia consciousness terminal! You can now instantly connect to the surface consciousness of all intelligent life on Earth."
Charles came back to himself, heart full of doubt. Could injecting runes really rewrite the operation of such a precise device at the level of law? It was absurd—but Lucci's words carried undeniable weight.
"Pseudo-Gaia consciousness terminal… connecting to the surface consciousness of every intelligent being on Earth?"
He took a deep breath, suppressing his fear. Whatever the truth, he had to try—for the sake of science and dignity!
Under Lucci's calm gaze and Beast's tense attention, Charles donned the helmet again.
"Charles, be careful!" Beast warned.
Charles nodded, eyes full of determination, and pressed the start button.
Buzz— Unlike the previous mechanical whir, this time Cerebro emitted a soft, primordial sound, like the universe at its birth. The indicator lights shone in bright, flowing gold, like stars.
Charles closed his eyes. His psychic power connected through the helmet to this new device, and then—
Boom!
Charles' body was struck by invisible thunder and lightning! He jerked backward, his wheelchair sliding half a meter from the force! His face turned deathly pale. His mind was flooded, as if by the Big Bang, with a torrent of endless information!
He "heard" it! No, it wasn't just "hearing"—he was "feeling," "integrating," "becoming"!
In an instant, his consciousness was violently, rudely linked to countless utterly different minds! He was no longer just Charles Xavier!
In this moment, he was a Wall Street office worker in New York, complaining about his boss while sipping coffee. He was a Cambridge student in London, praying to Newton for luck in upcoming exams. He was a Tokyo housewife, worrying about dinner for her husband and kids. He was an Amazon tribesman, feeling awe for the primal wilds. He was a Sahara caravan leader, enduring heat, longing for water…
....
Bonus chapter at 100 PS
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