Chapter 1845: Madman's Journey (Twenty-One)_1

Having understood the ins and outs of the matter, Stark immediately set out to research the scary ghost Nick had given him. However, his research into ghosts definitely wasn't going in the same direction as the mages' research, focusing instead on scientific analysis.

After conducting many sets of experiments, Stark discovered that ghosts weren't that mystical after all; to put it plainly, they were connected to Earth's magnetic field.

As we all know, Earth is a very special planet in the solar system, with one of the most special things about it being its magnetic field. To some extent, the unique magnetic field is the primary reason Earth is the only planet in the solar system that evolved life.

However, most organisms on Earth cannot perceive this magnetic field—only a small number might instinctively follow changes in the magnetic field in order to survive and reproduce. However, in general, this mysterious power is invisible to the naked eye.

Yet, as Earth's technology began to rapidly develop, many scientists turned their attention to this mysterious field. They subsequently discovered that humans were the only creatures with advanced intelligence, or rather, the root of human intelligence far surpassing all other life forms might be that human brain waves produce certain reactions with Earth's magnetic field. From this, the "Soul Theory" can be inferred.

Stark thus wondered if brain wavelengths, once separated from the physical body and existing independently, would constitute ghosts.

But this was denied by Mephisto. In the words of the Hell's Master, the so-called brain waves are actually souls.

On Earth, human souls can hardly exist separately from physical bodies, unless their bodies die and the souls can remain for a short time.

However, it was different for ghosts. Ghosts are souls that have undergone a certain mutation, or as Stark would call it, frequency modulation, allowing them to reside on Earth for such long periods of time.

Souls that have mutated are hard for the devils to swallow, so Hell doesn't accept ghosts—they just roam recklessly on Earth.

As for the reasons for this mutation and frequency modulation, Stark speculated that it was due to the brain wave's wavelength and frequency reacting to the environmental magnetic field present at the time, and being adjusted to the perfect degree for existence in that environment, allowing the ghost to exist within that setting.

The principle behind ghost possession is also simple—nothing more than the brain waves of the living aligning with those of the ghost on some level, to some extent amalgamating into one entity.

When Nick asked if the ability for a ghost to possess could be utilized, Stark gave a negative answer.

According to his research, when parts of a ghost and a human's brain waves merge together, the ghosts think they've become humans and vice versa. In layman's terms, this simply drives both sides mad, wherein they struggle to execute any orders beyond obsessions and instincts.

Nick sighed; the ghost had dodged a bullet.

While Nick was having Shiller dispose of other universes' trash, he gave Shiller a simple explanation of this theory. He thought he was just satisfying Shiller's curiosity, but he forgot that Shiller was a psychologist. Which psychologist was not interested in brainwaves?

How human consciousness appears and what causes its changes is virtually a mandatory topic for every psychologist to study, especially the latter—it's an essential part of applied psychology.

The theory Stark proposed opened up a new possibility for Shiller.

If all human emotional activities were brain waves, possessing their own frequency and wavelength, then could these frequencies and wavelengths be altered to affect people's moods?

This proposition was somewhat similar to: If it's difficult for a chemically fueled rocket to reach Mars, could humans evolve a pair of strong legs to jump there?

Influencing emotions with psychological counseling was much simpler than researching the topic of modifying brainwaves. In his previous world, Shiller was unlikely to waste his time researching this because he could cure virtually any patient with his skill level.

But then again, his original world was a normal one, where the biggest catastrophes were inter-human wars and some malignant crimes.

The cartoon world, however, was different—there were superheroes, human infighting was intricate, issues ranged from Cthulhu invasions to the spreading zombie virus, and aliens caused havoc every now and then. The upper limit of human psychological disorders had greatly increased, and normal psychological treatments might not work.

Take, for instance, the Spider-Man of the Zombie Universe—how could Shiller in his original world possibly encounter a person going mad from having devoured their loved ones countless times?

Such a situation was unique to the cartoon world, and the difficulty of the treatment was exceedingly bizarre. Hence, treatment mechanisms could not be too ordinary and should be employed fully and for a sufficient duration.

Recalling Spider-Man's experiences in the Zombie Universe, Shiller knew that regular measures would not work on his psychological trauma, nor would he be so arrogant as to think that talk therapy alone could completely erase such wounds—this was completely inhuman.

But the effect of psychological treatment drugs on Spider-Man was also a mystery, hence drug-based therapy was not a reliable alternative. Therefore, the brain wave theory Nick mentioned at this moment almost became the only choice.

When talking about brainwaves, one man inevitably comes to mind - Professor X. After all, it has been mentioned in the comics that Professor X's mind-reading ability is actually based on brainwaves. He also has a famous deity-grade artifact, the Brainwave Amplifier.

So, before heading off to the Zombie Universe, Shiller arranged a meeting with Charles at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, expressing interest in seeing the Brainwave Amplifier.

Interestingly enough, despite each universe having different settings in the comics, in Shiller's universe at least, Magneto participated in the construction of the Brainwave Amplifier.

That is to say, the theory proposed by Stark has the potential to be deeply explored. After all, how could Magneto assist in the production of the Brainwave Amplifier if brainwaves had nothing to do with magnetic field?

Getting to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Shiller eagerly proposed to take a look at the Brainwave Amplifier, upon which Professor X immediately took off a hat and put it on his head.

Shiller then discovered that due to his influence, Magneto and Professor X, who were old adversaries, had reconciled earlier than expected, reaching a consensus. Magneto was to establish a new home in the Andromeda Galaxy while Professor X was to stay on Earth to collect and nurture fresh mutant blood.

Once these two agreed, their rekindled relationship was filled with newfound enthusiasm, as if it was a passionate honeymoon.

Originally, Magneto created the Brainwave Amplifier to strengthen his friend's abilities, but given the constraints at that time, it was a big accomplishment just to develop any form of the device, let alone a portable one.

But with advances in Marvel's materials and technology, Magneto thought, shouldn't he update his gift?

So, he created a portable version of the Brainwave Amplifier and also upgraded the original one. As for how terrifyingly it could enhance Professor X's abilities, probably only the two of them knew.

Shiller toyed with the portable version of the Brainwave Amplifier, intrigued. He wasn't clear about the principle behind it, so he asked Charles if he could disassemble it for a look. Charles willingly agreed because there was more than one of these devices.

Shiller had the portable Brainwave Amplifier swallowed by the Gray mist, and the two studied the structure. They discovered that in fact, the principle was based on Stark's theory.

Human brainwaves are influenced by magnetic fields and have certain reactions with them. Hence, to amplify human brainwaves, one must create a special magnetic field around them. Obviously, this is Magneto's specialty.

In reality, the so-called Brainwave Amplifier is an automatic special magnetic field generator. When Professor X wears it, the magnetic field tank connects with the Earth's magnetic field, allowing his brainwaves to directly access the Earth's magnetic field. This is why it's said that Professor X can brainwash all of humanity when he wears the Brainwave Amplifier.

Because Professor X's brainwaves, which are connected to the Earth's magnetic field, can influence all human brainwaves via the Earth's magnetic field, he can naturally brainwash all humans.

Upon learning this, Shiller realized that to carry out so-called brainwave therapy, you must have the ability to create magnetic fields because magnetic fields are the simplest method to influence brainwaves.

But Shiller isn't Magneto. He doesn't have the natural ability to manipulate magnetism. So, his plan was to bring over the heroes from the Zombie Universe and have Magneto provide them with some physical treatment.

But just then, the Gray mist informed Shiller that it too could generate a magnetic field. It's not manipulating electromagnetism, but through manipulating particles to create electromagnetic effects.

Error instincts made Shiller feel that the word "generate" was somewhat problematic, but he didn't think too much about it and decided to focus on resolving the current issue.

At this moment, the wide-thinking Shiller had a new idea, which was to combine ghost-theory and the brainwave magnetic field theory.

Knowing that the magnetic field affects brainwaves, and that special brainwaves affected by the special magnetic field are considered to be ghosts, and he can create a variety of magnetic fields, would he be able to turn himself into a ghost by creating a special magnetic field?

The more Shiller considered, the more feasible the method seemed. But he couldn't be sure whether he was a single soul or had multiple souls, or whether he had one or multiple brainwaves.

The moment he thought of this problem, Charles had an answer. He even kindly told Shiller, "Actually, every time you switch personalities, I can immediately sense it. I even numbered each persona that has appeared to avoid being impolite by treating them with the same attitude."

"Theoretically, I could only clearly distinguish them if each of your personas has a unique brainwave - each of your personas has a different brainwave."

Shiller instantly understood. This was undeniably good news for him, because if he only had one soul, then becoming a ghost and abandoning his body would be meaningless.

But if he has many alterable brainwaves, it implies one thing—Shiller…is free!