Chapter 1563

In the forward outpost of the Great Stargate Star Zone on the edge of the Shila Empire, in the war conference room belonging to the flagship of the Nine Great Nations, Charles lightly tapped the armrest with his finger while everyone else stared intently at him.

Those present were only human superheroes and mutant leaders, who had come here originally to discuss how Earth should secure its rightful place in this war.

Midway through the meeting, Charles suddenly wore a shocked expression, hastily uttered "Shiler's Thought Tower is in trouble," and then fell into a dazed state.

How could this not shock and worry the others?

In the following minutes, Stark, Strange, Steve, and other human superheroes close to Shiler nearly went mad with worry; even Magneto and Beast, who had little interaction with Shiler, deeply furrowed their brows, for no one present was unaware of Shiler's importance.

Fortunately, everyone present trusted Professor X's abilities, believing that as long as he was in the mental realm, nothing could not be resolved, so they did not let their anxiety erupt; if those Asgardian oafs were here now, they might already have charged to Shiler's doorstep.

As Charles's gaze gradually focused, Stark, sitting in the first seat on the right, finally could not help but ask: "What exactly happened? Professor Charles, is Shiler alright?"

"Just a misunderstanding," Charles gently replied: "Shiler brought a Zerg soul into his Thought Tower; I thought his mental world had been invaded, but everything remained under his control, with no danger arising."

Instantly, a series of relieved sighs filled the room; Stark nearly slumped onto the table disregarding decorum, Charles apologetically smiled and said: "I too only just learned that Shiler has the habit of picking up monsters and keeping them as pets; he brought that Zerg soul back merely to feed his pet."

"To me this seems astonishing, yet still within the realm of understanding, so I have no standing to demand he stop… but compared to this, there may be even more astonishing matters you should hear."

The humans in the room did not quickly focus their attention; they were still feeling shaken, their minds conjuring terrifying images of Shiler's mental world being contaminated.

Finally, the short-tempered Stark could not help but complain: "No matter what, letting Shiler deal with those buggers is too dangerous; don't spout nonsense like 'buggers are always dangerous'—buggers have a thousand, ten thousand chances to err, and being unlucky many more times still amounts to nothing, but if Shiler runs into trouble, the entire universe combined would have only one chance."

Magneto glanced at Stark with some displeasure, having heard Stark's veiled and open accusations that Professor X's treatment method was too dangerous; Strange coughed twice, attempting to ease the tense atmosphere between them, but in truth he was still taking Stark's side.

Yet at this moment, the protagonist of the controversy, Charles, spoke astonishingly: "Do you know Shiler suffered abuse in his childhood?"

When his words fell, the entire room fell so silent a pin drop could be heard; all the intelligent people present only stared at Charles without speaking, for they could detect subtle accusatory nuances in his tone.

This was not a question requiring an answer, for Charles obviously already knew the answer, and this ever-gentle old good person had already become dissatisfied enough to express his emotions publicly.

"We have speculated," Stark replied conservatively.

He wished to avoid sounding like he was shirking responsibility, so he could say he had exhausted all his emotional intelligence in a cautious explanation, his heart pounding and liver aching.

"We once viewed part of his memory, showing he encountered an accident in childhood, but for certain reasons we did not investigate further; did he mention this to you?"

"He detailed his childhood and growth experiences to me," Charles said, picking up pen and notebook from the side table, seemingly intending to jot down key information.

Meanwhile, Stark exchanged a glance with Strange sitting beside him; they said nothing, while Steve opposite them spoke first.

"We do not ask about these matters, not because we do not care for him, including his other special traits, but because we do not know how to inquire about a person's painful experience without risking retraumatization during recollection; for us, this is an impossible task."

"Your attitude toward Shiler is contradictory," Charles adjusted his emotions, quickly found the point, and continued.

"On one hand, you infinitely overestimate his ability, expecting his level far beyond what your relationship with him reasonably warrants—not like friends, but like deities and worshippers.

"On the other hand, you underestimate his endurance, believing his mental stability inversely proportional to his genius, viewing everything related to his mind as too fragile, thus treating him with extra caution to maintain the status quo.

"Perhaps this is because you lack professional psychological knowledge, but more so because your own understanding of emotions is incomplete, having endured mental distress yourselves, you project and assume Shiler cannot bear it either."

Charles set down his pen, scanned the room, and said: "But in fact, Shiler has endured more than you have; he passed through a mental instability breakdown in his youth, and he is more stable and wholesome than any of you."

Charles then began recounting Shiler's personal experiences to the others in the room, but his focus was not the story's content itself, nor his professional judgment, but rather Shiler's state while narrating these events.

At the story's end, Charles concluded: "For Shiler, this memory holds no special significance; he no longer feels pain from it, nor does he draw strength from it; there is nothing to avoid discussing, nor anything to loudly proclaim."

"One could say, if you casually ask Shiler about his past, you should already have learned this story."

Now, in this vast conference room, only Charles's voice echoed; everyone else was immersed in their thoughts, most pondering the story of Shiler's past that Charles had related.

After finally understanding and digesting this information, Shiler's closer friends began to marvel at something, but before they could voice their questions, Charles had already answered them, speaking as any good teacher would—starting from the beginning.

"People often say, 'Adversity makes one stronger,' which is not mere fancy; research shows those who endure more hardship display a more stable outward demeanor, what is called 'maturity.'

"Yet some question whether adversity truly is the catalyst for strength—does the maturity born of adversity truly reflect maturity? Perhaps I would rather call that calm outward demeanor 'numbness.'

Charles glanced calmly at Magneto on the other side, then said: "Unlike most people's intuition, compared to physical wounds, psychological trauma is harder to heal; time does not heal all, but only lets some trauma be forgotten, while the unforgotten makes one accustomed.

"Just as with any pain, once accustomed, it becomes numb; the pain remains, but subjectively it no longer feels as acute as at first.

Charles flipped through the papers in his hand, calmly stating: "The forgettable portions of overly severe psychological trauma are few; most remain as ongoing pain, making one increasingly numb.

"The most severe consequence of this numbness is presenting an excessively calm outward demeanor, as if one has seen through everything, let go of all worldly affairs, while ordinary people who do not understand call this 'enlightenment and tranquility after suffering.'

"But in fact, this is a permanent scar of psychological trauma, whose greatest harm lies in gradually eroding one's ability to seek outwardly, manifesting as lack of curiosity, desire, or concern.

"People always mistake non-contention for kindness and gentleness, never questioning why they do not want; for those bearing permanent psychological trauma, they lack the power to pursue, and gradually lose interest in all things.

Stark slowly furrowed his brows, seeming to have thought of something, and Charles quickly responded to his doubt.

"Yes, this sounds unlike Shiler; Shiler is always interested in everything, wants everything, but have you considered that perhaps precisely to counter this state, his greed manifests as increasingly extreme?

"The way human spirit and mind operate ensures they cannot fully erase the scars left by major psychological trauma, so they must find ways to counter this state of fading vitality; most patients with trauma disorders who recover well are those who force themselves to redirect attention to something they can pour infinite interest into, such as faith.

"For only by endlessly stimulating interest, maintaining an outward-seeking state, can one counteract the numbness and emptiness brought by trauma.

"Thus, the greed trait in Shiler's personality as you know it is not pathological, but quite the opposite—it is healthy, indeed the healthiest of all traits, for it ensures Shiler always retains outward-seeking curiosity and vitality.

After a moment's silence, Strange said: "Precisely because Shiler suffered severe psychological trauma, his enemies are powerful, so naturally he must forge stronger weapons, hence his greed manifests so extremely, right?"

"In a sense, exactly so," Charles said, his fingertips stroking the paper, he slightly turned his head to glance at Magneto, let out a soft sigh, and said: "Shiler is extremely fortunate; during the optimal recovery period after his trauma, he encountered a good doctor, one more patient than I, with medical skill surpassing mine."

Magneto merely lowered his eyelids; those deep-set eyes, furrowed with wrinkles, always bore the aloofness of keeping strangers at bay, yet only when he lifted his gaze to meet Charles's glowing blue eyes did he seem like a reef illuminated by ripples on the sea, revealing a glimmer of past storm-defying brilliance from the cold depths.

"And there is one more thing," Charles said, lowering his head again at the paper he had filled with words, continuing: "Because of autism, certain emotional and behavioral expressions of Shiler remain abnormal, not very obvious, imperceptible to anyone but me, clearly also that doctor's achievement."

"These residual abnormalities also precisely indicate that doctor is an ordinary person, lacking my telepathic ability, but this also means I can help Shiler further eliminate these abnormalities completely."

Instantly, everyone in the room turned to stare at Charles, who continued speaking in his usual calm yet confident tone.

"Next, I will treat Shiler according to my therapeutic protocol for autistic patients, and I have already persuaded him to accept my treatment; as his friends, you are now also his family, and your task is to cooperate as much as possible with the treatment, so as to achieve the best results."

"Alright, Professor, I understand," Stark nodded, hands clenched on the table, appearing tense, he looked into Charles's eyes and said: "Then where shall we begin?"