"I think you might as well call it the 'Immoral Alliance'," Stark cut to the chase. Shiller shook his head and replied, "Don't say that, Professor X is very reliable when it comes to morals."
"Yes, without him, your moral baseline would be bottomless."
"Alright, the name is just a code, after all, let's think of something practical. The most important thing is, where should the base of this organization be established? How should we build the contact network? How can we maximize the efficiency?"
At this point, Shiller cleared his throat and the attention of everyone present was drawn to him. Seeing his expression, Stark suddenly felt a bad premonition, and indeed, Shiller began, "...Do you know what the 'Thought Palace' theory is?"
Half an hour later, Nick massaged his temples and said, "When was the last time I attended a class like this? My brain is mush."
"I understand the principle you mentioned, but what does this have to do with the base we want to build?... Wait, you're not going to build this base in a dream, are you?" Stark turned to Shiller and asked.
"That's the most efficient method," Shiller explained, "During the day, everyone is busy. Nick has to handle S.H.I.E.L.D.'s work, Tony has his research, Strange manages the Holy Sanctuary, Loki has to serve his time in Asgard, Professor Charles has to take care of the school for mutants, and I have to manage the sanatorium."
"So why not make use of our night time? A dream can solve all problems. If I could pull something like this off during my work, I would literally wake up laughing from my dreams."
Stark held up a finger and started, "Firstly, how do we connect our dreams?"
Charles glanced at Shiller and said, "Maybe, in your eyes, the consciousness space does not really exist and dreams are all illusions, but in reality, this is not the case."
"If you have to explain it scientifically, it's brainwaves. Brainwaves are real. Therefore, consciousness space exists too. As long as you can connect these brainwaves, a true psychic connection can be established."
"You may have heard of my ability. In fact, I use brainwaves to connect to other people's minds."
"When all of you connect your brainwaves to mine, it's as if your brainwaves are also connected. Thus, we can establish a psychic connection and appear in the same dream."
"A few days ago, Professor Charles and I did an experiment while studying this topic. It's a dream-based base with all the necessary functions. We can try it first, then make adjustments," Shiller indicated that he was well prepared.
Looking at the expressions of everyone present, Charles said, "I can assure you that this dream will only reveal what you want to reveal."
Despite his still gentle expression, Charles' next statement was somewhat chilling, he said, "If I really wanted to use my abilities to do something, then no one could keep secrets from me."
Charles had never showed the full extent of his abilities, so no one knew how far he could go. Compared to magnetism, psychic ability is a more subtle power. It may not have glamorous special effects, but it is much more deadly.
Loki raised a question, "I'm not a human, could you..."
Charles smiled and said, "Intelligent life, all are equal."
Everyone looked at Charles' face. He looked old, and his eyes were still kind, showing no signs of aggression. Yet, people could sense a powerful aura from him, similar to that of Magneto's.
"Wait a minute, if you can connect people's brains, does that imply you can form a mental network, which in turn means forming a supercomputer composed of human brains?"
Observing Stark's eyes gradually lighting up, Charles responded calmly, "Theoretically speaking, I can connect the brains of all humans. Such a mental network is much stronger than any supercomputer. Yet, I can't do that."
"Humans are not computers, their brains carry an emotional module. Once their brains are used for operations, it will most likely affect their emotions, or greatly compress the emotional module in their brains. This will deprive them of their humanity," Charles explained.
Stark looked somewhat disappointed and said, "Indeed, that's a problem."
"Charles and I have been conducting similar research. If we have results, we will inform you immediately. But for now, let's try entering the dream-based base tonight."
That evening, Stark was busy in the lab. Peter sorted out the files on the table and said, "Mr. Stark, I'm leaving now. If I go back any later, my aunt will worry."
"Alright, go," Stark turned his head and looked at the darkening sky outside. It was late, but he didn't feel like resting at all. He wanted to finish this project as soon as possible.
As he squinted at a model, he felt drowsiness creep over him. His field of vision became blurry. Stark squinted his eyes and rubbed his sockets to try and stay awake.
He felt his breathing slow down, gradually becoming labored. So, he found a chair and sat down. In a couple of seconds, he slumped onto the lab table.
Peter, who had forgotten something and had returned, walked into the lab to find Stark sprawled out on the table. He got closer and noticed Stark's chest rising and falling rhythmically. He seemed to be asleep.
As Peter was about to leave the room, he heard a voice tell him, "Turn off the light."
Peter assumed it was Stark so he went over to the wall to turn off the light. But after he left the room, he felt that the voice wasn't quite like Stark's and it didn't seem like it was spoken aloud, more like it was a thought in his head.
He used his Spider-sense to check for anything unusual and, finding nothing wrong, decided it was just Stark's voice changing due to exhaustion and didn't give it a second thought.
But at this moment, Stark found himself in a white, empty space. He took a few steps forward and saw a beach appear in his vision. Waves hit the coast, emitting a relaxing sound. An ancient mansion stood by the seaside with a lighthouse at the end.
When the light from the lighthouse hit him, Stark instinctively squinted his eyes. When he opened them again, he found himself in a room. Shiller rose from the couch in front of the fireplace and said to Stark:
"You finally arrived."