"I once heard an ancient legend that if one keeps going deeper into a human dream, past layers of darkness, one can arrive at a place called the Dreamland, where an ancient god called the Dream God slumbers."
"He governs all dreams and thoughts in the world, and is one of the most powerful forces in the cosmos. He possesses a dream constructed by a thousand cats, which he uses to transform the dream into reality."
"But that is just a legend," Charles shook his head, saying, "Even with my great psychic ability, in reality, I am still a person with physical disabilities who still needs others to protect when in danger..."
"I'm in the sa boat. Like I said before, I'm a regular person, just a psychologist with a slightly unique area of research."
Shiller stood up and began pacing behind the sofa. He spoke as he walked, "Restricted by my ordinary human condition, I don't have a powerful psychic force to investigate the true limits of this ability. Therefore, I invited you here to jointly research this subject."
"The topic includes two aspects. One is about how to better build one's consciousness space and dream space, and the other is about transforming a well-built dream into reality..."
"I know that the second aspect sounds a bit impractical. But perhaps you've also conducted similar research. The general direction is only the ultimate goal, while my current stage goal is to expand the Thought Palace..."
"Due to so reasons, I have built a high tower with over 330 floors in my consciousness world. However, this height has been maintained for a long ti, with no breakthrough in a long ti."
"I suspect, it is because my psychic and cognitive power isn't enough to expand it any further..."
Shiller shook his head, but there was no regret in his tone. He said, "A Thought Palace of this level is already sufficient, or even far exceeds its usage range. 80% of the buildings inside are experintal constructions, which I use to test various ideas."
"But I am still very curious about the real limits of psychic ability. Professor Charles, I hope you can join in researching this topic. Maybe we can even find more mbers and form a research group?"
"I am very interested in this topic, but I still have to ask - why do you want to conduct this research and what do you plan to do with these findings?"
"This is the matter I ntioned earlier. Have you heard the news that a universal war is about to start?"
Charles shook his head and said, "The first ti I heard this news was from your recent phone call. But I can sense that there are plenty of restless souls near Manhattan. They are not ordinary people. The information they pass around is indeed related to war..."
"We both understand how insignificant humans are in the cosmos. So have told that magic could save everything, others have told that the ultimate escape for humans is chanics and technology. I don't deny these, but I believe there is another path we should seek."
"The thoughts and consciousness of intelligent beings are the most precious part of the universe. If humans can make further progress in this field, we would have another option when facing these crises."
"If you had discussed these topics with in reality, I might not have been interested. But you've chosen a nice place..." Charles stood up looking out of the window of this house. Outside was the bustling interior of the tower."
Charles walked to the window, laughed, and said, "Thank you for inviting to join the research. Because if you hadn't, I might steal your research results after I go back, which is not very ethical..."
"Though your talk of creating a dream world and transforming dreams into reality seems far-fetched, I think building such a structure in my consciousness space might be a good idea."
"Alright, let's get down to it. What's this war about? What does S.H.I.E.L.D. want from and what do they intend to use mutants for?"
"Don't worry, Professor Charles, there is endless ti in the dream. Let explain the whole plan to you. After that, you will have enough ti to decide what to do..."
Half an hour later in real ti, in Charles's office, Cyclops hesitated and said, "...Alright. There're not many opportunities to develop the children's abilities, but an internship cooperation with S.H.I.E.L.D., isn't it a bit..."
Charles wheeled his chair to the window and said, "If soone else were leading the team, I might not be comfortable with it. But Captain Arica Steve is in charge of this collaboration, and I trust his character."
"But what exactly are we supposed to do? Isn't there supposed to be no fighting happening right now?"
"On the contrary, a universe war is about to start. Although the main battlefield is not near Earth, the effects will inevitably reach here. S.H.I.E.L.D. has other plans for this war, but they lack the needed capability."
"So they want to use mutants again?"
"It's a mutual use. The scale of this war dictates that no one can be spared. So running isn't an option, it's better to be proactive..."
"Scott..." Charles turned his wheelchair to face Cyclops. He looked at him and said, "I've always been against war, but obviously, we cannot stop the conflicts in the universe. So, we need to keep up with the situation, we can't fall behind, otherwise we will be left behind..."
Cyclops nodded, without raising any more objections. Charles asked, "Who is currently in charge of internships and external liaison?"
"Um, it should be Angel, but his family business has been busy recently. I heard that his company is involved in an 'Eternal Life Factor' project. He has to go ho and help, so..."
"Alright, who's relatively free right now?"
"Um, Professor, pardon my frankness, but even if the war is happening in the cosmos, and the battle line isn't near us, it's still pretty dangerous, right? Shouldn't we urgently mobilize and get a few of our most reliable people to connect with S.H.I.E.L.D along with our students?"
Charles was taken aback for a mont, he said: "....Oh, right, wars are quite dangerous, I was just about to emphasize that point. Given that, you and your brother should be free, right?"
Upon ntioning his brother, "Quicksilver", Cyclops displayed an unnatural expression. Their relationship wasn't good, and with a resigned tone, Cyclops said: "He and Iceman had a huge fight over Polaris last ti, and he swore he would never co here again. I last saw him three months ago, I can't rely on him for anything...."
"Fine, then what is Storm up to? She should have co back a few months ago, right?"
"She seems to have gone back to her hotown, I can't be sure." Cyclops scratched his chin, he said: "It seems like she's in love...."
"What about Jean?"
"The school's teaching relies on her. Currently, she's handling all the admission and regular teaching arrangents. Oh, by the way, Wolverine took Shadow Cat to the west to investigate sothing called dragon bone...."
Charles also covered his forehead, he asked, "Who's still here at the school?"
"Colossus and Beast are here. But we can contact many people right now. If we need to convene, I think they will all co."
"....Nah, we don't need that many people. It'd be better if Iceman can co back. If not, you and Colossus should go. Also...."
"I heard from Steve that they have a minor over their side – the recently famous Spider Man in New York. You all must look out for the children, no conflicts should occur."
"Spider Man?" Cyclops raised his eyebrow and said, "He is indeed quite famous. The major New York newspapers have all published pictures of him swinging around in the New York sky, is he really not of age yet?"
"I was quite surprised too when Steve gave this piece of news, I thought he was a mutant. However, I later was told by Steve that his mutation is different from ours."
"But anyway, having a peer will definitely make their interaction smoother."
"So who should we send? The senior students?"
"I think, Shadow, Crystal and Amplifier would be good. Haven't the three of them made great progress recently?"
"But they're not even in the sa grade. Moreover, their abilities don't align with one another. Can they really form a team?"
"Actually, I don't quite understand, Professor...." Cyclops, slightly bewildered, asked, "What does the war at the cosmic centre have to do with our students at Xavier College getting practical training? We can't possibly let those teenagers go to the battlefield, right?"
"Indeed, the two events don't have a direct connection. But this is just part of a series of events in our cooperation program...."
Cyclops was even more confused. He felt that Professor Charles seed a little different than before. He couldn't quite pinpoint what was different. He had a feeling Charles was keeping sothing from him but he didn't feel comfortable asking about it.
The next day, inside the underground training base of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick stood behind the one-way glass, watching Spider Man and a few mutant teenagers sparring. He turned to Shiller and asked: "I asked you to get so mutants to do the dirty work and you ca back with this bunch of kids? I thought Wolverine would be coming."
"In my communication with Charles, he seed to misinterpret your request as an internship opportunity for the mutant academy, but no worries, they're still supervised by two teachers, right?"
Nick pursed his lips, looked at Cyclops and Colossus who were cheering for their students by the field, and he shook his head: "If they weren't there, maybe I could still persuade these innocent kids to work for . But with them watching, what can I do? The guy with the glowing red eyes is already giving nasty looks...."
"Aren't you just trying to stir up so noise, draw other people's attention so you can lobby Congress and get more power for S.H.I.E.L.D in this cosmic war? I think they can fully achieve that...."
Nick was montarily speechless. He looked at Shiller, and said: "Fine, disregarding the immorality of making minors do our dirty work, what can they really do? They can't even beat Spider Man...."
Nick's gaze landed on the court, where a teenage girl was standing in the middle of the field, waving her arms.
All the shadows of the items in the field were manipulated by her, attacking Spider Man. But Spider Man dodged with agility, as if he had anticipated her moves, completely unfazed.
"Could it be not because they are too weak, but because Spider Man is too strong?"
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