Chapter 4720: X-Men: New Life (Part 1)

As these words fell, Professor X's expression changed. He stared at Cyclops for a long time without speaking.

"Regardless of anything, I feel very sorry." Professor X took a deep breath, and his reason finally returned. Only Schiller could read a certain coldness from his undulating brainwaves, like a storm.

In just one minute, Professor X restored his gentle appearance. He even took off the fourth-generation Cerebro helmet he was wearing, and those blue eyes became deeper, like the Crystal Hali Lake next to the Krakoa royal court.

"No need to feel sorry, Professor..." Cyclops wanted to comfort Professor X in turn. He was a person who could very well understand that no one had the obligation to be perfect. In his view, Professor X was already perfect enough, and any mistake, even a mistake that affected him, should not be blamed.

"I am not feeling sorry for this matter." Professor X looked at him, using a completely different appearance—a more real appearance of him, without the disguise of kindness—and this almost stunned Cyclops, making him feel shocked, even horrified.

Because just from a brief moment of eye contact, Cyclops felt he had touched a planet. As huge as Earth, as small as Earth. While his senses were constantly expanding, the existence of his self-consciousness was gradually becoming smaller, and all of this was because a vast, irresistible feeling occupied everything about him. That was something called the X-Force, rooted in his genes but never taken seriously; at this moment, in Professor X's consciousness, he recognized himself again from the entire universe and billions of stars.

Cyclops woke up with a start and staggered back a step. Gabriel rushed up to support him, looking at Professor X with eyes full of hostility.

Cyclops patted his hand, stopping him. He gasped for breath, and the luxuriously decorated and gorgeous hall of the Shi'ar Imperial Palace gradually became clear before his eyes. But this feeling wasn't good enough; compared to that sensory impact, the real world seemed lackluster, and even the capitals of these three major empires lost their due luster.

"Scott." Professor X's tone was like the first drop of rain in a storm, "I believe you have already understood that if I wanted to, I could perfectly and trace-lessly erase all your memories, even your personality. So, what caused all these tragedies today was my mistake, not a slip-up."

"It's not that I was too harsh on you; on the contrary, perhaps years of getting along made me soft-hearted. I didn't make any deep modifications, and any changes to your memory were cautious and restrained—I admit this was a mistake; if it weren't for this, you would have had no chance to recognize him."

Cyclops stood there stunned. Professor X continued: "If it weren't for this, you wouldn't want to sacrifice yourself to fight for power for him. Scott, no matter how you think of me, I have never regarded the X-Men as weapons; you are my students and children, and you have condensed my hard work. If you want to throw all this away for someone else's imperial dream, I can guarantee you that all the calculations of the person who ruined you like this will be in vain; you know I have the ability to do it."

"No, Professor." Cyclops stepped forward and reached out his hand, saying, "You must have misunderstood, I didn't..."

"He manipulated you." Professor X looked into Cyclops's eyes and said, "He hid his desire for power under your pursuit of making mutants stronger. No matter how he convinced you, he was manipulating you."

"But the Shi'ar Empire can indeed serve as a..."

"Scott, you are truly muddled." Professor X seemed to find it incomprehensible, "With Earth's troubles not yet fully resolved, how much energy can we have to participate in the internal affairs of the three major empires? It seems that the previous failure didn't teach you that having force alone is not enough; before practicing interventionism, you must first see how much weight you have."

"Furthermore, you shouldn't see me as such a person." Professor X's voice was filled with anger: "How could I, after you sacrificed twice in a row, still send you into another war for some mutant future? Every death of yours doesn't bring me closer to the home of the mutant dream, but further away—I will only never want to step into such a place; you are ruining my utopia."

After speaking, he turned and left, leaving Cyclops stunned in place. Schiller glanced at Cyclops and decided to leave time for these brothers. He turned and went to find Professor X. He found Professor X on the roof of the palace, or more accurately, on the edge of the terrace at the top of a spiral staircase. The other party was gazing into the distance, where a war of purging was erupting among the towering buildings with exotic customs. This city where he had once lived was being destroyed.

"Waiting for me, Professor?"

Professor X slowly turned to look at Schiller, and Schiller was immediately surrounded by tangible brainwaves, which contained a cold anger.

Schiller stood next to Professor X, also gazing at the distant city, and said: "The moment the memory modification was discovered, you must have felt very guilty, reflecting on whether your desire for control was too strong. But the facts prove that you have never been strong enough."

"The room you concede will always be occupied by someone. No one knows what these people will use your students for. War, massacre, betrayal, anything is possible. Professors from other universes might not want to be so tough, they just have no choice."

"I thought you would come to persuade me that taking the Shi'ar Empire is the best choice." Professor X said, "We can let mutants take root and sprout here, just like in your universe."

Schiller shook his head lightly: "I have never had any purpose other than you yourselves."

He also turned to look at Professor X. When the two looked at each other, Professor X couldn't find any trace of him lying.

"Any country, force, or resource is not as good as people." Schiller took a light breath and continued, "All changes in the universe must start from the changes in people. Obtaining political status for Krakoa, destroying the Orchis factory, changing the pattern of the Shi'ar Empire, these are means, not ends."

"Giving Krakoa a name is to reduce your survival anxiety. Destroying the Orchis factory is to clear the obstacles for humans to unite you. Changing the pattern of the Shi'ar Empire is to let their brothers reunite, and also to let you realize what kind of courage it takes to 'not abandon any mutant'."

"Saving weak and devastated mutants is not difficult for you at all; even if there is a mountain of knives and a sea of fire ahead, you can break through. However, if this mutant is also powerful, independent, and full of hatred for you, what are you going to do?"

The cold meaning in Professor X's brainwaves gradually disappeared, which meant he began to truly think about this problem.

Just as Schiller proposed, mutants cannot all be weak, and Krakoa cannot only unite and save those weak mutants in trouble. If they want to truly implement their slogan and become a home and paradise for mutants in the true sense, those mutants who stand on their opposite side but are powerful enough are the most troublesome things.

If you don't deal with him, he will hit you hard; if you deal with him, it violates your slogan, and it's internal fighting, consuming the power within the mutants for no reason. You can't fight, you can't kill, and winning over is very difficult; what exactly should you do?

Professor X had actually realized long ago that, as Schiller said, for mutants, problems that can be solved by violence are not problems. Their force value was already enough, even excessive. This kind of thing that requires repeated weighing, multi-party consideration, soft and hard tactics, and the use of psychological warfare and political wisdom to solve is the biggest problem they face now, and it is also their long-standing weakness.

And unfortunately, every step the mutants take next may face such problems. Their opponents will not have a fool, and there will be very few weaklings. Even if individuals are as fragile as humans, didn't they create something like the Orchis factory that could pose a great threat to them?

And at the same time, Professor X also realized that the mutants in the central universe where Schiller was located definitely didn't just fight their way out with their fists. They must also have a very high level of political maneuvering to stand firm on Earth and in outer space at the same time.

Double the territory means double the opportunities, but it also means double the enemies. Fighting Earth politicians on one side and kicking alien civilizations on the other, they deserve what they have today.

Professor X sighed lightly, looked at Schiller and said: "You just want me to open my mouth to you, then I will do as you wish—can you let me see the mutants in your universe?"

"Absolutely no problem, Professor." Schiller said with a smile.

When the sunset light plated the distant buildings with a shining luster, the magnificent palace also became small against the backdrop of the huge Proxima Centauri star ring. Two smaller figures walked down the spiral staircase.

"I'm a bit curious, you could have done it more covertly, so that no one would know the Shi'ar Empire's invasion had anything to do with you, why expose yourself?"

"There is no one in this world who can hire Schiller without paying a price; the multiverse had better know this sooner rather than later, so as not to fall into the traps of other Schillers."

"So you are just taking precautions? Why do I feel you just want to be lazy and don't want too many universes to go to the central universe for help?"

"I do have this consideration; still, we don't practice interventionism."

"Can't they ask for help voluntarily?"

"If it were before, I might not refuse anyone. But now, I can better understand why my friends are more willing to spend their time on travel, dinner parties, and holiday parties."

"What about yourself? I heard you charge quite a lot."

"That's right, I have always charged high prices, but you have already paid it."

"Paid it? What did you take?"

"Krakoa Island is very beautiful, it's an excellent tourist destination. Thank you for your invitation, we will have a pleasant time together." Schiller smiled at him.

Professor X paused, while Schiller kept walking. Professor X watched his back gradually disappear at the turn, as if briefly touching the truth behind some profound cosmic rules; the Great Dao is simple, wonderful and indescribable. ===== CHAPTER 4721 =====