"What I burned away this time was the spiritual power I had accumulated through decades of arduous cultivation, but long before that, my consciousness, that is, 'I' myself, had already quietly withdrawn."
Of course, the actual process was far easier than he described.
For example, how does consciousness detach from its original body, how does it maintain stability in a state of being unattached, and how does it completely decouple from mental power... Just hearing these words tells you that the difficulty involved is extraordinary.
After all, for the vast majority of people, let alone perceiving the soul, even the existence of spiritual power is difficult to truly grasp.
At this point, Chen Xiao posed a second question, "Professor, now that your consciousness has transferred to a new body, why do you still need a wheelchair to move around?"
Mentioning this, Professor X sighed softly, a helpless smile appearing on his lips, "This body has been kept alive by medication for many years, and its muscles are regularly massaged to barely maintain basic functions."
"But after decades of inactivity, the nerve pathways in the lower body have completely degenerated and atrophied, so..."
Sigh, this is indeed a heart-wrenching reality.
It seems that for Professor X, the wheelchair is no longer a temporary tool, but an inescapable destiny.
Professor X then chatted with everyone for a while before the meeting ended.
Finally, he left Chen Xiao behind alone.
"Thanks to you this time, otherwise I really don't want to think about the consequences."
In the school corridor, Chen Xiao accompanied the professor as they walked slowly... no, to be precise, one walked while the other sat steadily in a wheelchair.
On the way back, Professor X questioned Storm in detail about everything that had happened on and off campus since his "death."
After listening, he remained silent for a long time, then sighed, "I made that move back then purely out of desperation; I never expected that, after all the twists and turns, it would be Vitas, this newcomer, who would bring the whole game to life."
"Oh, right, Vitas," the professor suddenly remembered something, " Ororo said you hacked into the White House intranet to intercept the Sentry ' ambush plan ahead of time?"
"That's right." Chen Xiao nodded.
Professor X seemed slightly surprised. "I really didn't expect you to have such solid expertise in network technology."
Chen Xiao smiled and said, "Professor, just say 'hacker' directly. There are no outsiders here."
"Actually, I wouldn't call myself an expert. I just took some time the other day to think about the protocol vulnerabilities and gave it a try. It turned out to be much easier than I expected."
Professor X smiled but did not reply.
If the White House intranet could be easily breached, what secrets would the America have left?
After saying this, the professor's tone relaxed. "From now on, the eyes of the whole world will be on Erik, and the school can finally breathe a sigh of relief."
He paused, then asked gently, " Vitas, what are your plans next? Or is there anything I can do for you?"
The meaning behind his words was clear: this was a tangible reward for his hard work during this period.
After a moment's thought, Chen Xiao said, "I plan to delve into the operational mechanisms of Mutants genetic abilities to see if it can help with my Second Awakening."
"Professor, you mentioned before that when you raided those illegal laboratories, you seized a batch of raw data?"
"Could I take a look at it?"
"That's it?" Professor X was somewhat surprised.
Chen Xiao nodded. "That's all."
He could sense the professor's sincerity, but upon reflection, he realized he didn't really have any urgent needs.
Strength? You can steadily improve just by basking in the sun; you don't need external help, and no one can help you with that.
Power? There's no such system in Mutants schools.
Money? In the three missions—rescuing Scott, going to Jean Grey's house, and the Alcatraz operation— Storm has already deposited $300,000 into his account in three separate transactions.
As for beauties... well, let's not even talk about that.
After considering everything, he had neither regrets nor extravagant desires; even if the professor wanted to reward him, he would find it difficult to find a reason to do so. It would be better to make those materials available, at least they might still come in handy.
Of course, while the X-Men have access to the records, Professor X keeps those bloody experimental records locked in the core archives room at the very bottom of the base.
Firstly, they were afraid that Shadowcat and the others would be psychologically traumatized if they saw it; secondly, they dared not let the information leak out, lest it be used by those with ulterior motives to exploit loopholes and go astray.
Destroy it? He had considered that too.
But that data was forcibly extracted from Mutants were tortured to death. If it were burned, wouldn't that be erasing the last trace of their existence?
This dilemma had been weighing on his mind for a long time: keeping it was useless, destroying it was unbearable, and using it was absolutely impossible.
After hesitating for a moment, he nodded.
After all, the key to Qin's ability to stabilize her internal power lies in Chen Xiao's Second Awakening ability.
If these long-forgotten documents can truly help him break through, it would be a belated response.
The two walked downhill, passing through several security gates, and stopped in front of a heavy alloy door.
"The information is all inside. Take your time to look through it. Whether you gain anything from it depends on your own abilities."
As soon as he finished speaking, Professor X entered a 32-digit password, and the door slowly slid open, revealing an empty little room with an old-fashioned shelving unit standing in the center.
On the shelf lay a few USB drives, a few CDs, and a few yellowed cassette tapes.
Since World War II, the capture and human experimentation of Mutants has never stopped. Despite the iteration of equipment and the replacement of carriers, the same cruel core has always been involved.
From then on, Chen Xiao entered a semi-secluded state:
During the day, he would sit outdoors in the sun, honing his physical abilities while repeatedly sketching out the structural diagrams of the more than 170 X-Gene cells in his body, recording subtle changes day by day;
At night, they would burrow into the underground base, and under the dim light, they would flip through and compare the experimental files that gleamed with a cold light.
Meanwhile, the news of Professor X's "resurrection" has caused a stir among various factions.
No one expected that a person whose body was almost destroyed could open their eyes, speak, and manage affairs again.
Is it due to some undisclosed ability, or is there something else going on?
If he could truly be resurrected through his abilities, then who in the world could truly kill him? For a time, countless people secretly pondered this possibility.
While some were worried, others were happy. Magneto was far away in Africa and working hard to build Mutants nation, called the country after hearing the news.
No one knows what they talked about, but when Professor X hung up the phone, he had a long-lost relaxed smile on his face.
The following day, an official representative from the America paid a visit.
In the office, Director Nick's gaze swept over Professor X, who sat regally in his wheelchair, and he exclaimed sincerely, " Charles, as expected of you, your Mind Stone power is so strong that it can bring the dead back to life."
This sounds like a compliment, but it's actually a test: Did you survive through your own abilities, or is there something else going on?
Professor X simply smiled slightly, offering no response, but calmly countered with:
"As the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.., what brings you here in person?"
Seeing that he didn't respond, Nick's eyes darkened slightly, and his tone became formal. "Indeed, I'm here on behalf of the President to formally inquire with the X-Men about your plans for dealing with Erik."
"Disposal?" Professor X frowned slightly, looking directly at the other person. "May I ask, what kind of disposal?"
" Erik is now the head of state, and as long as he doesn't break the law, the X-Men have no right to interfere with him."
"According to the agreement signed at the time, the X-Men's duty is to hunt down Mutants criminals and protect global security, not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries."
"Am I right, Chief Nick?"
Nick Fury stared at Professor X for a long time, then said in a low voice, "So, the X-Men have decided to stand by and do nothing."
"Or perhaps, Erik's founding of the nation was already tacitly approved by you."
Professor X did not respond, but calmly stated, "More than that, I would prefer you to give me an explanation first."
Who created those mechanical entities in the Alcatraz incident that could replicate mutant abilities?
"I clearly saw Raven's shapeshifting ability in the surveillance footage..."
No one knows the specifics of their private conversation, only that Nick left with a solemn expression and a heavy weight of thought between his brows.
On the morning of the fifth day after Professor X returned, Chen Xiao emerged from the underground base.
He walked toward the cafeteria, his brow furrowed, as if he were repeatedly pondering a thorny problem, completely unaware that someone was calling his name from the back of the corridor.
Upon reaching the food counter, he casually grabbed two hot dogs, five fried eggs, a piece of bread, and a glass of milk.
Holding the tray, I sat back down in my usual spot.
" Vitas... Vitas?"
"Huh? Oh, Clarice, what's up?" He took a bite of his bread before looking up at the black-haired girl opposite him.
The girl tilted her head, her eyes sparkling. "You've been nowhere to be seen lately, haven't been back to the dorm for several nights. What have you been up to?"
He smiled and said, "I found some old documents down there."
"The documents?" she asked softly.
"Hmm." He nodded. "We've mostly figured it out and found some clues."
"Oh..." she replied quietly, without asking any further questions, her fingertips gently tracing the rim of the glass.
After breakfast, Chen Xiao neither returned to the base nor went to the classroom.
He's currently completely absorbed in his own work, and missing classes has become the norm; even Storm hasn't said much about it.
He walked around to the back of the dormitory building, looked up at the rising sun on the horizon. The warm light washed over his shoulders, and he slowly exhaled.
He then bent his knees and squatted halfway down.
In an instant, a surge of immense power erupted from deep within his muscles and bones, flowing entirely into his legs.
boom!
The ground within several meters exploded, and mud, rocks, and broken grass shot out in all directions.
Riding on this Berserk surge, he shot straight into the sky like an arrow released from a bow, instantly rising a thousand meters!
Upon reaching this point, a strong gravitational pull from the earth caused the upward momentum to slow significantly.
But he did not fall. Instead, with a slight thought, his Bio-Force Field, which had surged dozens of times, suddenly expanded within him.
Buzz!
An invisible field spread out, quietly canceling out the Earth's magnetic field. He paused, then hovered steadily in mid-air.
Immediately afterwards, under his somewhat clumsy yet precise control, the force field fluctuations shifted, and a tremendous repulsive force suddenly erupted from below.
Bang!
The air was violently torn apart.
He shot upwards like a bullet, whistling through the wind, piercing through the clouds and fog, reaching an altitude of ten thousand meters.
A fierce wind howled, whipping his clothes and making his hair fly wildly.
"It really flew!"