Chapter 1808

Stark, having figured out the ins and outs, immediately began researching the vicious ghost Nick had sent over, but his study of ghosts certainly differed from the mages' approach—he emphasized scientific analysis.

After conducting many sets of experiments, Stark discovered that ghosts were not actually that mysterious; in short, they were still related to Earth's magnetic field.

As everyone knows, Earth in the solar system is a very special planet, and its most special aspect lies in its magnetic field; to some extent, Earth's ability to become the only planet in the solar system to evolve life stems from that unique magnetic field, which is the most important contributor.

However, most life on Earth cannot perceive the magnetic field; only a small portion might trigger instinct, following changes in the magnetic field to reproduce, but basically they cannot see this mysterious force with the naked eye.

Yet as Earth's technology began to develop rapidly, many scientists turned their attention to this mysterious field, and they discovered that humans were the only life form possessing advanced intelligence, or rather, the source of humanity's far-leading intelligence might be that human brainwaves react with Earth's magnetic field, from which one can also infer the "soul theory."

Stark then thought of this: if a person's brainwaves detach from the body and exist independently, would that become a ghost?

But this was denied by Mephisto, who, in the words of that lord of Hell, said that so-called brainwaves are actually the soul.

On Earth, human souls almost cannot exist independently of the body unless the body dies, at which point the soul is retained for a short while.

Ghosts, however, are different: a ghost is a soul that has undergone a certain mutation, which Stark calls tuning, allowing it to linger on Earth for so long.

Mutated souls are hard for demons to swallow, so Hell does not take in ghosts, and thus ghosts wander Earth unchecked.

As for the cause of this mutation and tuning, Stark speculated that it was precisely the wavelength and frequency of brainwaves reacting with the environmental magnetic field at the time, being adjusted to just the right degree suitable for existence in that environment, which is why ghosts can exist in certain environments.

The principle of ghost possession is also simple: it is merely that the brainwaves of a living person and those of a ghost align in some aspect, merging to some degree.

When Nick asked whether ghost possession ability could be utilized, Stark gave a negative answer.

Because, according to his research, when a ghost's and a person's brainwaves partially merge, the ghost thinks it has become human, and the person thinks it has become a ghost; put plainly, both sides are confused, so aside from certain obsessions and instincts, they can hardly execute any orders well.

Nick sighed in relief; the ghost had escaped disaster.

And when Nick asked Shiler to go to other universes to take out the trash, he briefly explained this theory to Shiler, thinking he was merely satisfying Shiler's curiosity, but he forgot that Shiler was a psychologist—what psychologist wouldn't be interested in brainwaves?

How human consciousness arises and what causes it to change is practically a required proposition for every psychologist, especially the latter, which is an indispensable part of applied psychology.

Stark's theory showed Shiler a new possibility.

If all human emotional activity is brainwaves with their own frequency and wavelength, can we influence human emotions by modifying frequency and wavelength?

This topic is actually somewhat similar to: if chemical-fueled rockets find it difficult to fly to Mars, can humans evolve two strong legs to jump onto Mars?

Influencing human emotions from the perspective of psychological guidance is much simpler than researching topics like modifying brainwaves; in his original world, Shiler would not waste time on such things, given his professional level—basically no patient was beyond his ability to change.

But having said that, his original world was after all an ordinary world, the greatest disaster being human warfare or some vicious crimes.

However, the comic world is different: with superheroes, human internal conflict can escalate dramatically—one moment it's a Cthulhu invasion, the next a zombie virus spreads, plus aliens frequently stirring things up, raising the ceiling of human psychological disorders considerably, so ordinary psychological treatments may not be effective.

Take, for example, Spider-Man in the zombie universe—how could Shiler possibly encounter someone in his original world who went mad from eating their own relatives countless times?

This situation is unique to the comic world, with treatment difficulty being extraordinarily odd, so treatment methods cannot be too ordinary; they must be applied fully, in sufficient dosage and duration.

Recalling the experiences of Spider-Man in the zombie universe, Shiler knew conventional methods would definitely not work on his psychological trauma, and he was not arrogant enough to believe talk therapy alone could completely erase such scars—this is completely anti-human.

Moreover, how effective psychiatric medication would be on Spider-Man is also a mystery, so drug therapy is not a reliable alternative; thus, at this moment, Nick's mention of brainwave theory almost became the only choice.

Speaking of brainwaves, one must mention a person: Professor X, since in comics it's been noted that his telepathic ability is actually based on brainwaves, and he also has a famous device—the brainwave amplifier.

Thus, before setting out for the zombie universe, Shiler made an appointment with Charles to meet at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and proposed wanting to see the brainwave amplifier.

Interestingly, although each universe in comics has different settings, at least in this universe Shiler inhabits, Magneto participated in the manufacture of the brainwave amplifier.

That is to say, Stark's proposed theory has potential for deeper exploration, because if brainwaves and magnetic fields were unrelated, how could Magneto have helped manufacture the brainwave amplifier?

After arriving at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Shiler eagerly proposed to go see the brainwave amplifier, whereupon Professor X simply produced a hat and placed it on his head.

Then Shiler realized that, due to his influence, Magneto and Professor X—these two old rivals—had prematurely resolved their conflict and reached agreement, namely Magneto going outward to the Andromeda galaxy to open a new homeland, while Professor X remained inward to guard Earth, collecting and cultivating fresh mutant blood.

After these two hit it off, it was truly like absence making the heart grow fonder—one night back to the honeymoon phase.

Originally, Magneto built the brainwave amplifier to strengthen his friend's abilities, but given the limited conditions at the time, being able to produce it was already not bad, so one shouldn't expect portability.

However, with the advancement of Marvel materials science and technology, Magneto looked at it and thought, this really needs a full upgrade of his gift?

So he came up with a portable version of the brainwave amplifier, and also upgraded the original one; as for exactly how much he could expand Professor X's abilities to what terrifying extent, probably only the two of them know.

Shiler fiddled with the portable version of the brainwave amplifier, feeling curious, not quite understanding its principle, so he asked Charles if he could take it apart to look inside; Charles readily agreed, since this device was never just one.

Shiler had Gray Mist swallow the portable brainwave amplifier, and the two of them studied its structure together, then discovered that its principle was actually still based on Stark's theory.

Human brainwaves are affected by magnetic fields and undergo some reaction with them; so to amplify human brainwaves, one must create a special magnetic field around the person—this is clearly Magneto's professional domain.

Thus, the so-called brainwave amplifier is actually an automatically operating special magnetic field generator; when Professor X wears it, this magnetic field connects with Earth's magnetic field, allowing Professor X's brainwaves to directly link into Earth's magnetic field, hence the claim that Professor X wearing the brainwave amplifier can brainwash all humanity.

Because Professor X's brainwaves linked to Earth's magnetic field can, following Earth's magnetic field, reversely influence all humanity's brainwaves, it naturally follows that he can brainwash all humanity.

Upon learning this, Shiler understood that if he wanted to carry out so-called brainwave therapy, he must have the ability to generate magnetic fields, since magnetic fields are the simplest way to influence brainwaves.

But Shiler is after all not Magneto—controlling magnetism is not his forte—so at that time, Shiler's plan was to bring the heroes from the zombie universe over and have Magneto give them a round of physical therapy.

But just then, Gray Mist told Shiler that he too could generate magnetic fields, only not by controlling electromagnetism, but by generating electromagnetic force through manipulating particles to produce electromagnetic effects.

Shiler instinctively felt the word "generate" was problematic, but he didn't dwell on it, instead deciding to focus on solving the immediate problem.

At this point, Shiler, whose mind as a psychiatric patient is broad, had another new idea: combining the ghost theory with the brainwave-magnetic field theory.

Known: magnetic fields affect brainwaves, and special brainwaves affected by special magnetic fields are ghosts; since he himself can create various magnetic fields, could he become a ghost by creating special magnetic fields?

The more Shiler thought about it, the more feasible this method seemed, but he could not determine whether he was actually one soul or multiple souls, whether he possessed one brainwave or multiple brainwaves.

At the moment he thought of this problem, Charles gave him an answer, even speaking rather kindly: "Actually, every time you switch personalities, I can immediately feel it; I've also numbered each personality that has appeared in you, to prevent applying the same attitude to them and eliciting rude behavior."

"Theoretically speaking, only if each of your personality traits has different brainwaves can I distinguish them so clearly—each of your personality traits possesses different brainwaves."

Shiler instantly understood; this was unquestionably good news for him, because if he only had one soul, turning into a ghost and abandoning his body would be meaningless.

But he has many brainwaves that can be altered, which means only one thing—Shiler……is free!