[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman":3,"chapter-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-198":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1721648,2198,"Chapter 198 - The Psychic Connection","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-198",198,"\u003Cp>For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Patreon - Twilight_scribe1\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Superman could get away with hiding behind Clark Kent's glasses and acting skills, then surely the Phoenix Force-capable of reshaping reality-could keep a low profile if it wanted. For Jean Grey, staying unnoticed should have been easier, not harder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just as Henry couldn't control Tony Stark's reckless behavior, Jean wasn't about to start obeying Henry's every word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My business isn't yours to manage,\" she said coldly. \"I can handle myself. Just lead the way.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry muttered, disgruntled, \"I wasn't worried about you-I was worried about the trouble you might cause others. Is this how all superheroes are? Feeding their egos while ignoring everyone else's safety?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You-!\" Jean's eyes flared as she glared at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfazed, Henry deliberately looked away, still grumbling: \"If you want to live unchecked, stay in the sky. If you want to walk among humans, then act like one.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jean sucked in a sharp breath, teeth clenched as though she might crush his bones in her jaw. But after a tense pause, she slapped her cheeks lightly, forcing herself calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm fine now. Let's go,\" she said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You don't look any different,\" Henry remarked with exaggerated surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"People's perceptions are altered. Including surveillance cameras-\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>they'll see someone else. But your brain is... abnormal. I don't want to interfere too much. I'd end up like Professor X\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For most telepaths, manipulating mass perception came at great cost. For Jean-host to the Phoenix-it was easier than keeping her cosmic fire bottled up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The truth was, the Phoenix seemed unwilling to approach Henry, which was why her psychic masking didn't affect him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry leaned in with a mischievous grin. \"So, right now-in other people's eyes-are you male or female?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another death glare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry raised his hands. \"Hey, I just need to know. What if I introduce you wrong in there? You want me to go along with a gender swap?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why not admit you're the one mistaken?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That works too. First to speak wins, right?\" he said shamelessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My gender hasn't changed,\" Jean ground out, already regretting coming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Got it. Let's go,\" Henry said, finally leading the way inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The VIP ward was on an upper floor, but access wasn't heavily restricted. Aside from the nurses' brief questions at the station, they entered without issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mood inside was no longer the sharp tension Henry had left earlier. Now it was quiet, heavy-funereal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is that really better? Henry wondered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jean too felt the weight in the room. On the bed lay Audrey Hepburn -exactly as Mystique had guessed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had it been anyone else, Jean wouldn't have come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment she entered, all eyes turned to her-staring, guarded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their scrutiny unsettled her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry stepped in quickly: \"This is Jean Grey-the Phoenix. A reserve member of the X-Men. She's a telepath. My suggestion is to let her communicate with Miss Hepburn.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jean hadn't been a frontline fighter like Mystique, Storm, or Cyclops, who each carried their mutant codenames.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Phoenix\" was a name Henry had tossed out on the spot. She had no idea the fiery force inside her was called the Phoenix Force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The family didn't recognize the alias, but they had heard of the X-Men -a U.S. superhero team with close ties to the government. That eased some of their suspicion. Still, Sean frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How do we know the words you claim to hear are really my\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>mother's?\" he asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Henry filled in the introductions: \"This is Sean Ferrer, Miss Hepburn's eldest son. And this is Luca Dotti, her younger son.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing their names, Jean didn't feel offended. After all, they were family-they had the right to question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So she offered, \"I can create a shared link. Your minds can connect with your mother's. You'll speak with her directly. But whether you choose to believe what you see-that's on you, not me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The brothers exchanged a glance, then nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jean added cautiously, \"I've never entered the mind of someone comatose before, let alone connected her consciousness with others. I can't predict exactly what will happen. But I can promise-it won't\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>be dangerous.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With no objections, she asked gently, \"May I hold her hand?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Robert helped lift Audrey's frail hand from beneath the blanket and placed it in Jean's.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Jean faltered for a moment. It wasn't the plump hand of a child,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but an adult's-skin taut over bone, rough and brittle, like a whisper of\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the life ebbing away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She held it only lightly, afraid a firmer grip might break it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Extending her other hand, she said, \"Now, both of you-put your\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>hands here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sean and Luca complied without hesitation. The instant their hands touched hers, their awareness was pulled into a strange space. No up or down, no ground to stand on, their own forms blurred and\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>undefined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jean didn't guide them. Instead, she let their joined consciousness drift until it drew near another presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A small girl, six or seven years old, curled tightly in a fetal position. Perhaps she had always been this child-longing most for family, for\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>parents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mother.\" One of the brothers' voices-neither knew whose-called\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl stirred, slowly opening her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And time swept across her. She aged in an instant-girl to maiden, maiden to young woman, young to old. Like a flower blooming and withering in a single heartbeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time her eyes were fully open, she was Audrey Hepburn again -the woman on the bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She embraced the two weeping boys, but her gaze turned elsewhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Jean Grey-the Phoenix.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And she smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Power Stone Goal Announcement!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I'll release one bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones we hit!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Let me know what should I do\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your support means everything-let's crush these goals together! Keep voting, and let the stones pile up!\u003C\u002Fp>",963,"2026-06-06T15:31:22.542Z",1,"novelbin.me","249fd52843580f0ec5be8c09b62ef452b780919d2f2f2e08af3073d2e36d7953","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-199","marvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-chapter-197",556,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmarvel-a-lazy-ass-superman-cover.jpg"]