Chapter 1564: The Sun-Chaser (Part 41)

Charles lowered his head, furrowing his brow as he looked at the words he had just written. He said, "Generally speaking, adult patients with high-functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome who possess full legal capacity do not require the long-term sensory integration training, attention correction, or behavioral pattern cultivation that adolescent or child patients might need."

"However, if we hope to see further improvement in their behavioral manifestations, my suggestion is to stimulate the brain through comprehensive nervous system training, enabling it to possess more active..."

At this point, Strange raised a hand to interrupt Charles, saying, "Thank you, Professor. I fully understand your professional expertise. I have a certain degree of research in neurology myself, but what we need to know now are the specific treatment methods and their effects; the underlying principles are not important."

"Simply put, it's more exercise," Charles replied quite bluntly. He swept his gaze across the faces of Stark and Strange and continued, "I am referring to physical exercise beyond mere mental exertion, especially outdoor activities that comprehensively engage the motor nerves."

Stark frowned, and Steve wore a troubled expression. Nick pursed his lips and said, "Shiller doesn't really look like the type who enjoys outdoor exercise. Based on my observations, few of the scientists currently conducting research in New York engage in any exercise. If it weren't for satisfying basic survival needs, they would prefer to glue themselves to their lab benches and not take a single step."

"But we all know that outdoor exercise is beneficial for mental health. Beyond the open space that makes one feel relaxed and happy, fully engaging the motor nerves is also conducive to achieving a better balance in brain region activity."

"Research shows that for those who engage in high-intensity mental labor year-round, strengthening physical exercise can significantly improve symptoms like insomnia, anxiety, and nerve pain. In particular, the excitement brought about by muscle relaxation and increased blood flow can alleviate depressive moods."

"But Shiller is already hyper enough," Steve instinctively said. But suddenly, he reacted. He looked at Charles and said, "You mean that if there were other ways to counter the negative and nihilistic states brought about by mental trauma, Shiller naturally wouldn't need to develop his greed to such an extreme, right?"

Charles nodded, and the others in the room finally understood the significance of the treatment plan he had proposed.

If all the negative factors, such as autism and mental trauma, were compared to a flow of water, then greed was more like a water pipe.

The superheroes who interacted with Shiller most frequently—including members of the Avengers, Nick, and even Loki and Thor from Asgard—lacked professional psychological knowledge. They didn't understand why the pipe was leaking; they only noticed that the pipe's structure was too rigid, losing its resilience due to increased material strength, and risked shattering itself, so they tried to soften the pipe.

Charles, however, was more like a professional plumber. He noticed that the traces left by the water flowing through the inner wall of the pipe were problematic, so he traced the flow back to its source. He discovered what kind of impact forced Shiller to construct such a reinforced defense, and then realized that rather than modifying the pipe, it was better to weaken the flow.

Once the intensity of the water's impact weakened, the pipe naturally wouldn't need to be so rigid. This was the method to solve the problem from the root, and it was also how the vast majority of professional psychologists treated their patients.

Charles sighed and continued.

"Often, the families and those around patients with mental illnesses like to improve their condition through behavioral correction—for example, trying to calm the hyperactive or excite the depressed."

"But in reality, the various abnormal behaviors displayed might be the patients' very defense against their true trauma. You cannot demand that a dam facing the impact of a giant wave weaken its own strength, because if it became like a normal dam, it might be completely crushed by the reality of the pressure it faces or its post-traumatic stress."

The atmosphere in the room turned heavy. Stark still held a glimmer of hope. He looked at Charles and asked, "Is there really no way to completely cure it? I mean Shiller's autism and mental trauma."

"You might think of deleting memories," Charles bit his lip and continued, "But based on my years of experience with telepathy, the human brain possesses a certain degree of physical memory. Even for me, it is impossible to delete the 'software' completely and cleanly."

"Moreover, after deleting memories, one must compile a reasonable set of replacement memories. If there is any logical loophole anywhere, it could very likely lead to a total collapse."

"Furthermore, I do not possess the ability to completely remove such a massive tower from the world. That is impossible."

Magneto raised an eyelid and looked at Charles, seemingly surprised. It was the first time he had heard the omnipotent Professor X admit there was something he couldn't do.

Erik was very clear that although Professor X had repeated to everyone countless times that he couldn't do anything as long as Magneto wore his helmet, that sounded more like a kindergarten teacher coaxing a child.

"What about the autism?" Stark still wouldn't give up.

The expression on Charles's face turned somewhat strange. He looked at Stark and said, "Tony, do you wish for your anxiety disorder and your genius intellect to disappear at the same time?"

Stark froze for a moment, then said, "Are you kidding? Of course not. How could my genius intellect disappear?"

"High-functioning autism does indeed bring about certain forms of intelligence that differ from the norm," Charles tapped the paper with the tip of his pen and continued, "If the autism were completely cured, it would mean these talents and intelligence might also disappear. The probability isn't one hundred percent, but there is a risk."

Nick immediately spoke up, "Even if it affects it by a little, it's not allowed. We humans, and even the Nine Realms, need Shiller's genius brain."

"Then we must strike a balance between preserving his intelligence and alleviating his suffering. The psychologist who treated him previously laid a good foundation for us; naturally, we cannot fall behind."

"Regarding the exercise therapy plan you mentioned, Professor Charles, could you elaborate on that?" Steve asked.

"Of course. Shiller might not like sports, and his upbringing made it impossible for him to develop the habit of exercising, but I believe there is a type of exercise in this world that can quite comprehensively develop motor nerves."

"What is it?" The others all turned their heads curiously to look at Charles.

"Fighting."

Stark's eyes widened immediately, as if he didn't recognize Charles anymore. Charles blinked playfully and said, "Don't imagine me as that kind of rigid old fogey. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters also holds irregular fighting competitions."

"I require the students not to use their mutant abilities, nor are they allowed to carry weapons, but they are allowed to punch and kick their opponents. Even if two people roll around on the ground fighting, it doesn't matter."

"And facts have proven that within the same weight class, students with better limb coordination and more comprehensive motor nerve development have the advantage. The amount of exercise required to achieve victory in a brawl is not small."

Steve nodded in deep agreement; he had experience in this regard. Stark, who had long since abandoned such brawling methods, curled his lip in disapproval, but he didn't voice any opposition.

"The problem is, who do we want him to fight?" Strange raised another question. He looked at Charles's expression and slowly opened his mouth, saying, "No way, Professor. You don't mean you want him to fight that pile of giant bugs, do you?"

"Why not?" Charles revealed a big smile and said, "They are natural teaching aids. They are sufficiently formidable, numerous, and evil-looking. No one would accuse Shiller of being overly violent or evil just because he's fighting this group of bugs."

Strange's expression stiffened. He recalled the scene at the end of time in the barren lands, where Shiller explained that the reason he chose the Annihilation Wave as his target for establishing authority was precisely because of this.

All psychologists in the world are cut from the same cloth, Strange thought. Professor X, who looked so upright and honest, wasn't any better.

"But the problem is, Shiller doesn't seem to need to fight those bugs," Nick questioned. He said, "He can turn all labor into mental labor and then let others do the most strenuous work."

"Even if Shiller really couldn't order others around, he could turn into mist and float in the middle of space; those bugs couldn't do anything to him. And I've heard that the mist has already evolved into its adult form, and its lethality is probably not low. If it's a one-sided crushing victory, wouldn't it be ineffective?"

But at this moment, Charles revealed a confident smile and replied, "I learned from visiting Shiller's Mind Tower that not every Shiller has such great ability, capable of handling every situation without any pressure."

"You mean Shiller also has a relatively mediocre side?"

Charles nodded and said, "That is a trait he manufactured himself, with the goal of leaning toward the capabilities of an ordinary person. More importantly, this relatively mediocre personality trait is also exceptionally unlucky."

"Unlucky? How unlucky?"

"Hurry! Prepare to evacuate! We're about to be captured! Peter! Peter! Come over here, we have to leave the ship immediately!"

Shiller shouted toward the lab at the end of the ship. A flurry of chaotic sounds came from the lab. Banner was the first to rush out and look out the porthole, saying in shock, "How can this be? Wasn't the ship parked just fine?!"

"How would I know? In any case, hurry and take your experimental samples; we have to abandon ship and escape! The ship's navigation system is completely chaotic. Hurry up and abandon ship!"

Peter also rushed out, stunned by the sight outside the porthole. He hurriedly rushed back into the lab and shouted at Doom and Otto, who were still dissecting, "Hurry, hurry, hurry! Take this bug and go! We're about to be captured by the gravity of a neutron star!"

Doom froze instantly, and Otto was shocked. Before the two could even ask, a mist spread out, wrapping around everyone and the bug corpse on the lab table, carrying them out of the cabin.

The mist flew toward the nearest asteroid at an extremely high speed. After landing, Otto was still dizzy and asked sluggishly, "What happened? How did we fly into the gravity well of a neutron star?"

"Is there a possibility that the neutron star flew into our gravity well?"

"Huh???"

But after the mist dissipated, the scene in the sky left them with no choice but to believe it. The ship hadn't moved, but a massive neutron star flew past in space like a billiard ball, "Whoosh!" The ship exploded on the spot, turning into brilliant fireworks, leaving only charred wreckage in the end.

The escape velocity of the neutron star was too high, and the explosion caused by its collision with other celestial bodies was exceptionally violent. It could be said that if the ship hadn't been manufactured by the Kree Empire, it wouldn't have even left behind any slag.

"What on earth is going on?" Several human scientists looked at each other, then turned their heads to look at Shiller simultaneously.

Shiller coughed lightly and said, "I don't know either. I was just staying in the main control room, and this neutron star just crashed into us on its own."

"I think we can follow the pulse traces left by the neutron star to see where it flew from," Peter suggested.

The minds of scientists are truly different from ordinary people. In a space adventure, most people would be thinking about how to find a new ship or how to return safely after losing their own.

Shiller had been thinking about these things, but the other crazy scientists hit it off immediately and insisted on going to see why the neutron star had been so suicidal.

Shiller didn't offer much rebuttal. He turned into mist and carried the others along the path the neutron star had flown, and then they discovered a series of speechless causes for the accident.

Schiller didn't refute too much either. He turned into gray mist and took several people along the traces of the neutron star passing by, and then found a series of speechless accident causes.