In Stark's view, Shiller, dressed in a doctor's uniform, slowly ascended several steps, arriving at the center of the open area in front of the door. When he spread his arms, the light falling from the top of the High Tower illuminated him, and behind him were layers upon layers, seemingly endless floors and staircases.
"Welcome to my Thought Palace."
They hear Shiller say so before watching him lower his arms and drop his head, saying, "No matter when, no matter where, those who are different from the ordinary are called patients."
"But, when you are unable to obtain an advantage in a group by ordinary means, being the most seriously afflicted is the only way out of the mediocre and monotonous life."
They hear Shiller's tone becoming more intonated.
"If you cannot cure this madness, turn it into an unbeatable force, abandon the mainstream …
"Be a fearless and terminally ill madman."
Despite Charles having seen such a scene before, he was still astonished at the unique aura Shiller radiated at this moment.
As the world's most powerful Mind-reading Ability user, he understood quite well that a person's Psychic_Battlefield was their biggest charm. He had never seen anyone as special as Shiller, possessing a Psychic_Battlefield so unique and irresistible.
Stark and Steve became silent; they finally understood why Charles stated Shiller could not be treated, or rather, he didn't need to be treated.
If someone could possess such a magnificent Psychic_Battlefield and only seem a little different from the ordinary on the surface, then actually no one has the position to see him as a patient, no one has the right to treat him.
Just as Stark was about to speak, he heard a "clack" sound coming from behind him. He turned around and saw a big lock hanging on the big door that Shiller originally locked.
"I don't like unannounced guests, especially when one of them vows to treat me." Shiller revealed a smile and said, "Since you have come to my home, how can I not prepare something to entertain you?"
Steve also looked back at the lock and asked, "Do you plan to lock us in here? Is this your hospitality?"
"No, how could I use a lock to entertain others? That's just to prevent you from leaving too early. After all, I don't have many visitors. If I have guests, of course, I want them to stay a bit longer."
Stark had a bad feeling. He found that recently, these bad premonitions became more frequent, and they all came true. Just as this feeling emerged, he heard Shiller say in a calm tone:
"I would love to guide you around, but I think, since you are so confident, a self-guided tour should not be a problem."
"You can follow the staircase on your left side and each pick a room. Any room might have the key. Until you get the key, none of you can leave here."
"So now..." Shiller raised his head, elevated his tone, and said excitedly, "Let the game begin!"
In an instant, Shiller's figure disappeared. Stark tilted his head and looked at Charles. Professor Charles understood his meaning, he shook his head and said, "No, I cannot forcibly bring you out of here."
"If it were just me, I could try, but Steve, including you, you are actually just ordinary people in terms of mental strength, and probably can't withstand such a violent passage."
"I have to punch a hole in the wall to leave here forcefully, but the aftermath could affect your consciousness, so..."
"Alright." Stark crossed his arms and looked up at the situation on the High Tower. He said, "I am curious to see what's in here."
The three of them followed the staircase that Shiller indicated, and their eye-opening tour had just begun.
Just arriving at a flat corridor, they saw countless people passing through.
Stark took two steps forward and saw Shiller walking towards him. When Stark tried to speak, Shiller brushed past him. Stark turned around to watch his retreating figure, but another Shiller rushing by bumped his left shoulder.
"Oh, sorry! Excuse me!" That Shiller hurried past him. Stark wanted to outstretch his hand to stop him, but another Shiller knocked him around in a spin.
The last Shiller to pass by seemed to be a teenager. Steve turned to follow him with his gaze and saw a child running by.
On the corridor across the atrium, there were Shillers on the phone and others just coming out of the doors. Stark stiffened his neck and took a while before saying, "I really underestimated his level of madness."
"Are you telling me all these are his personalities?" Steve said while observing the scene across the corridor hesitantly, "Does he really need to be cured?"
Charles sighed and said, "That's what I said before, I can't cure Shiller."
"Patients with multiple personality disorder, most of them have been stimulated in some way. After being stimulated, their original personalities cannot bear the stress, thus they develop a new personality to handle situations they cannot bear," he explained.
"Of course, some might split into multiple personalities at once, or because of repeated stimulus, they might fragment into multiple personalities."
"But the more they fragment, the more pressure the main personality faces. The proportion of consciousness they hold declines, leading them to lose control over their bodies for longer periods, while their unconsciousness extends. "
"That severely affects the patient's normal life. Hence, the main personality might bear significant enmity towards the other personalities, refusing to accept them. This situation amplifies the severity of their dissociation."
"Once the main personality develops animosity towards the other personalities, the latter become increasingly uncontrollable, perhaps even causing harm to the main personality. Unless intervened, it could eventually lead to a battle amongst personalities."
Charles also approached the railing, watching people passing back and forth in the corridor across from him. He said, "I wonder if you have ever imagined creating a whole new personality to handle the bothersome things for you."
Steve chuckled saying, "Yes, when I was still a comic artist, I dreamt of another me who could do the drawing."
"Many regard multiple personalities as a 'convenient' disorder, believing that having personalities with different abilities and identities can benefit them."
"They can avoid things they don't want to do and toss them to their other personalities. But in reality, this is impossible."
"Without intervention or treatment, it will ultimately lead to a cannibalistic situation amongst the personalities."
"So..." Stark, looking towards the high tower filled with countless floors wondered out loud, "How did he manage to do it?"
"Splitting up personalities is not difficult. Anyone with strong control over their consciousness, including you and me, Tony, can do it."
"But what's difficult is to make these personalities live in harmony, each performing their role. This is almost an impossible feat."
"Any born personality doesn't consider itself secondary. They all want control over the body and naturally desire to kill the main personality."
"So where is Shiller's primary personality?" Steve asked.
"Seems like we have to venture deeper into this tower to figure this out." Charles turned around, "I've been here a few times but not explored much deeper. I must warn you though, this place is extremely dangerous."
"Among the patients with dissociative identity disorder that I've seen, one or a few of their personalities tend to be dangerous."
"Among all the personalities here, there certainly will be a few extreme dangers," Charles turned around to warn Stark and Steve again, "You've all had nightmares. Getting hurt in this world is like having quite a severe nightmare. It won't kill you, but it will damage your spirit. You may need days to recover."
"So, if you find yourselves in an unmanageable danger, concentrate your thoughts and silently speak my name. I can forcibly bring you back here."
"It would cost you some spirit too, but at least you won't be bedridden for days."
"Thank you, professor," Stark glanced at the corridor and asked, "When Shiller said we could each choose a room, does that imply that only one person can enter a room?"
"I think it's safer to do as he said," Steve rubbed his chin, "It seems we have to split."
"Which floor are you choosing?" Stark asked. Steve shrugged, "You go ahead, I'm fine anywhere."
Stark snorted, "Don't underestimate things. Your spiritual strength is only average and you don't have strong control over the world of consciousness. You better choose an easy room, or else..."
Steve turned his head then set his eyes on the door nearest to him. He said, "Let's go with this one then."
He stepped forward, took a brief look at the door handle which looked like a block of Lego, turned it and went in without much pondering.
Stark gave the door handle a gaze and said, "I should have stopped him. I'm sure there's nothing good behind it."
Charles then turned towards the staircase, "You pick a room on this floor, I'm going to go up."
Stark stood in the middle of the corridor, glanced left and right, then walked towards a room at the end of the corridor. The door had no markings, but the handle was an old-looking wooden one with a peculiar symbol on it.
Stark took a moment to study the symbol, which was entirely made up of lines. There was an equilateral triangle on the outside, a circle in the middle, and a vertical line at the center of the circle.
Stark was certain he had never seen the symbol before, but he turned the handle and entered the room anyway.