Shiller looked at the busy doctors and nurses and said, "I can't see her medical records right now, but if I'm not mistaken, the fetus in her belly is neither completely fine nor completely bad, likely fluctuating back and forth."
Shiller lowered his voice and said, "From my experience, there might indeed have been some issues with the fetus initially, which caused the mother to develop some concerned and anxious emotions, and then things escalated without timely treatment."
"So the problems exhibited by the fetus in the latter half might very well be an external manifestation of the mother's emotions and hormonal fluctuations. Because hormones and emotions are unstable, the situation keeps fluctuating and no definitive cause can be found."
"That's how people in gynecology always are, thinking that a pregnant woman waddling across half the hospital to see a psychiatrist is a liability issue waiting to happen, so they don't make active treatment recommendations," Shiller said somewhat indignantly. "Once the surgery is over, I'm going to the Women's Federation to complain about them."
Suddenly, there was a bustle in the operating room. From Shiller's perspective, it seemed as if the child had already been delivered. Normally, a nurse should step forward and the child should soon make a sound.
But despite their fast movements, the doctors and nurses working around the lower body didn't make any noise; it was as quiet as death.
"The heartbeat has stopped," the nearest nurse said somberly. "I'm sorry, the child's heart stopped beating 30 seconds before birth, and now has completely stopped breathing."
They were still operating some equipment, but clearly the couple had completely broken down, with the husband crying loudly first. But Shiller didn't even look at him as he squeezed through between him and the nurse.
He took advantage of the distraction to pinch the pregnant woman's arm where the wound was, which had not been anesthetized and was swollen and painful due to inflammation.
The physical pain was too much for the pregnant woman to bear, and she cried out in pain, followed by a dry sob, as if something had choked her throat.
Her husband rushed over to her, smearing her face with tears and snot, while his stubble scraped her neck. Shiller heard the husband mumble through his cried, "That's great, that's great, you're still alive! The surgery was a success!"
Only when the pregnant woman's sharp cries came did Shiller let go of her arm. He noticed a nurse nearby saw his action but said nothing.
After the patient was taken out, chaos ensued once again. The head nurse stood like a guardian deity, her sharp gaze sweeping over everyone present as if threatening to devour anyone who dared to misplace a piece of equipment.
"That's the beauty of being a psychiatrist," Shiller whispered to the intern. "In any situation other than doing your job, you're the one who can rightfully enjoy the show."
Then he heard the head nurse say, "Didn't I ask you to treat the patient's wounds in sync? When she was wheeled out, why did I see her arm still swollen?"
"Excuse me, ma'am, I have interns waiting for a debrief in my office. I have to go," Shiller said.
Shiller slipped away quickly, and the intern followed him briskly, listening as Shiller continued, "Don't get too absorbed in the commotion; the moment they mention the mess you caused, run."
"Is this really okay?" the intern asked, somewhat doubtful. "What if the patient finds out and complains later?"
"No worries," Shiller responded. "Over the years that you'll manage to survive as a psychiatrist, you probably won't fear complaints much because if it's not you, there will be nobody else."
The intern was speechless but somehow felt there was some truth to Shiller's words. He had been unable to get supervision for over a year and had not accumulated the required 100 hours, which he knew was for a reason.
As soon as Shiller walked in, he saw a familiar figure, Professor X, but he wasn't in a wheelchair, nor was he bald.
This was a younger version of Charles Xavier, with deep blue eyes and an upright stature, showing no trace of age.
But Shiller didn't react with surprise; he first asked the intern to leave, then invited the young Charles to sit down.
"Hello, Dr. Shiller, I've heard about you from Director Fury," the young Charles said with a smile. His appearance was nearly perfect, leaving no doubt why he could become a playboy of romance.
"I've heard your story too," said Shiller.
The reason he wasn't surprised was that Fury had given him a heads-up. Even without the heads-up, Shiller could imagine that in a universe lacking psychiatrists, Fury would do what he does best: poach talent from other universes. If they were lacking Spider-Man, they'd poach Spider-Man; if they were lacking Iron Man, they'd poach Iron Man; who else to poach for a psychologist but Professor X?
But this Professor X was particularly young, looking as if he had just graduated from Harvard University. By the way, Charles Xavier graduated from Harvard University at the age of 16.
This Charles actually comes from the universe of the Shadow Spider-Man, who was the left-wing Spider-Man active during the Great Depression of the 1930s, using guns and killing people to avenge his left-wing uncle and aunt.
Surprisingly, in the era when the Shadow Spider-Man was active, Charles had just been born. While Shadow Spider-Man had long been famous, Charles was still an unknown pawn, and his epic adventures that would span his lifetime with his archrival Magneto had yet to begin.
"Before coming here, I read two of your works," Charles said. "Especially the points on the weakening of racial relations in Intergalactic Sociology, I found them very interesting."
The young Charles was obviously sharp and aggressive, completely unlike the gentle and smooth older version of himself, and far more talkative, with ambitious light filling his eyes.
"Of course, we'll have plenty of time to discuss all this later," Shiller said. "I hear you aspire to complete all your graduate courses at Columbia University in one semester while doing your internship."
"Yes, actually there was a gap year trip planned, but I don't think any trip can compare to seeing the sights of another universe. I think it's quite nice here."
"I think so too," Shiller said with a smile, placing a teacup in front of him. "Have you met the version of yourself from this universe?"
"Actually, I haven't," Charles shook his head and said, "but I heard from Nick that he became a university professor, which is somewhat hard to imagine."
"He's not just any professor," Shiller said, though he didn't reveal much more, clearly wanting Charles to discover it for himself. "Then I'm honored to be your supervisor, although a genius who could graduate from Harvard University at 16 probably doesn't need 400 hours of supervision. But the rules are the rules, and at most, I can let you self-study during certain seminar sections."
"I think we can be more flexible," Charles said. "400 hours is a complete waste of life for me, but I do need the license. It would be great if it could be shortened."
Dr. Shiller couldn't help laughing inside—it was Professor X's dark history. Wealthy family, super-genius, mission-bound, with a lifelong nemesis. He could only say that Marvel has its own Batman.
Before, he complained about playing the role of the arrogant troublemaker, but isn't this the perfect opportunity? No need to wear the black suit, no need to keep a stone face, yet you can try the path the arrogant one walked in the most optimal, original, and classic way.
Next second, Charles said, "Why are you so happy, Doctor? Is there something fun that I don't know about?"
Wait, he's Professor X, Shiller then realized. Even though he's young, sharp, and ambitious, he's still Professor X, probably the strongest psychic in the entire universe.
And now he had become the mentor to such a mutant. Shiller shouted inside, why isn't life fair? Why does the arrogant one get a clueless Batman, while he had to start with the final boss?
In this universe, the only person Shiller was not 100% sure he was professionally ahead of was Professor X.
Professor X's Mind Reading Technique wasn't the kind that people commonly understand as mind reading; it was more like brain invasion or psychic manipulation, which meant that what he read was not just thoughts and ideas. With one glance, he could fully understand every subtle thought a person had from birth, even bringing to light thoughts the person hadn't even noticed.
This was completely on a different level from Mind Reading Technique, meaning he was the one closest to the truth of the human soul, knowing you better than you know yourself. What kind of opponent would he have in psychology?
It is often said that many students have read textbooks written by Dr. Shiller, but in fact, Shiller had always been waiting for Charles to write textbooks. He told Charles, just in case you finish writing, don't send it to the printer first; everyone step aside, I want to learn first.
However, due to his mutant identity, this expert in psychology also held the title merely to acquire social status, and due to his character, he was somewhat repelled by the idea of delving deeper into the human psyche.
Shiller speculated that this was probably why Nick sent a younger Charles here; human psychological theories indeed needed a major breakthrough. After all, each subsequent development will be a great innovation. If they don't first understand themselves, going out into the cosmos would only create more interstellar terrorists.
How could he make this Charles more interested in psychology? It seemed that he was still basking in the superiority of using his talent to achieve far more than the average person.
He said he wanted to shorten the time, yet it wasn't that he really didn't want to learn; otherwise, he wouldn't go to university. It seemed he just wanted to show how different he was from ordinary people and the vast majority of mutants; he was not only unashamed of his abilities but, in fact, quite proud of them.
In short, Charles at this time was likely also a proponent of mutant supremacy, believing mutants' abilities to be a gift from God, and thus deserved favorable treatment.
Even the comics showed that, to some extent, the early Professor X had traces of Uri, being quite ready to erase his own people's memories on a whim. Being suspected and feared was thus not entirely for no reason.
To a certain extent, the accident later on that led to his falling out with Erik saved both of them, because if either of them had never learned to yield and continued on that path, it would inevitably have led to an earth-shattering battle.
Wait a minute, the Charles of this universe hasn't met Erik yet, Shiller thought as he stroked his chin. And their universe's Erik hadn't met such a young Charles either.
Should he arrange a meeting between them?