[42] Brainwave Amplifier, Level 5 Mutant Professor X

Xavier Manor

The X-Men gathered in front of a metal door marked with an X logo.

After seven days of nonstop research and with Professor X's cooperation, Hank, the genius inventor among the mutants, finally developed a brainwave enhancer to amplify mental power.

Now, Professor X was about to put on the helmet to test the effects of the brainwave enhancer. If successful, the X-Men's strength would be significantly boosted.

At Hank's signal, Professor X stood in front of the metal door. A scanning beam projected from the center of the X logo, scanning his pupils.

"Verification passed," a mechanical voice announced as the door opened.

During the brainwave enhancer's development, Hank had converted this nuclear-safe shelter into a specialized brainwave enhancement room, adding multiple layers of protection to ensure the occupants' safety.

It could be said that the X brainwave enhancement room was now the safest place in Xavier Manor. Even if Sabastian Shaw's plan was ever successfully implemented, they could safely retreat here to avoid the nuclear blast.

"Let's go; let's check out the brainwave enhancement machine Hank has created."

Professor X entered the X enhancement room first.

The entire room had been upgraded by Hank with advanced technology. Silver-white LED displays lined the walls, set up to show the images detected by the brainwave enhancement machine.

In the center of the room stood a high platform with a specially designed helmet resting on it.

"Professor X, just put on this helmet, and the brainwave enhancement machine will start automatically," Hank explained, picking up the helmet and handing it over.

As Professor X took the helmet, Brian couldn't resist a joke.

"Maybe shaving your head would improve signal transmission, Professor," he quipped.

Professor X's face darkened.

"No one touches my hair," he replied, a hint of humor in his voice, then placed the helmet on his head.

Buzz.

As soon as he put on the helmet, the brainwave enhancement machine powered up. Professor X's mental power linked to the enhancer, sending his amplified reach through the massive radar antenna positioned two kilometers away.

Professor X felt his mental power increasing at an astonishing rate.

Simultaneously, countless mental images appeared densely around him.

"It worked, Professor X! How do you feel now?" Hank asked, his voice filled with excitement.

"I feel… incredible. Better than ever," Professor X replied, equally exhilarated. "My mind is connected to every human on Earth. It feels as though I could do anything."

The brainwave enhancer exceeded all his expectations.

Instantly, his mental consciousness extended across the globe. He could hear everyone's thoughts and sense their emotions—their joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness.

At that moment, Professor X's mental power was at its peak. The sensation of power was overwhelming; with a single thought, he felt he could extinguish the consciousness of the entire human race.

As he unconsciously intensified his mental focus, every person on Earth—whether human or Mutant—suddenly experienced a splitting headache.

Even Magneto, Beast, and Mystique, who stood near Professor X, clutched their heads in pain. Only Brian, whose body quickly adapted with a mental shielding ability, was immune to Professor X's mental impact.

"Professor X, don't be blinded by power," Brian said, noticing the suffering of those around him. He stepped forward, took hold of the helmet, and forcibly removed it from Professor X's head.

As the helmet came off, Professor X, who had been lost in the thrill of his enhanced power, felt his mental strength rapidly diminish.

"My mental power..." he muttered, feeling a sudden sense of emptiness and loss.

Then, without warning, Brian threw a punch, landing it squarely on Professor X's face.

Bang.

Brian hadn't used any abilities, but even so, a bruise quickly appeared on Professor X's right eye.

"Brian, what are you doing?" Professor X demanded, startled and indignant.

"Professor, you almost killed everyone just now," Brian replied, his tone stern. His words caused Professor X's anger to vanish immediately. Seeing the pain on the faces of Magneto and the others, Professor X's expression softened, filled with remorse.

"I'm sorry, Brian. If it weren't for you, I might have made an unforgivable mistake." 

Professor X expressed sincere gratitude to Brian.

Brian lowered his fist, though he hadn't truly wanted to strike him. But that brief, omnipotent, self-centered look on Professor X's face had been too much, and Brian couldn't hold back.

"Charles, you almost killed us," Magneto said, having recovered first. His voice was angry and filled with frustration.

"I'm sorry, Eric," Professor X replied, his face full of remorse as he apologized to Magneto, Hank, and Raven.

Turning to Hank, he suggested, "Hank, I think the brainwave enhancer should include an alarm device—to prevent me from accidentally harming humanity."

Hank nodded and returned to his room to review the brainwave enhancer's design and begin work on adding the alarm device. However, despite his talents as a genius inventor, the complexity of the modification meant it would take a considerable amount of time.

While Hank was focused on the plans, Brian appeared quietly behind him, casting a glance over the drawings.

Just that single glance!

Brian completely understood the manufacturing and control methods of the brainwave enhancer.

With his ability to see through the laws of operation, Brian instantly visualized an optimized design for a new brainwave enhancer in his mind. He could even see how to incorporate the necessary modifications.

"Hank, I think adding an alarm device here would work best," Brian said, pointing to a spot on the drawing.

Hank's eyes brightened with realization.

"You're absolutely right, Brian!" he exclaimed, giving Brian a thumbs-up before moving swiftly to the central console to integrate the alarm device for Professor X.

An hour later, Hank wiped the sweat from his brow and handed the helmet back to Professor X.

With a steadying breath, Professor X put on the brainwave enhancer helmet once again, and his consciousness reconnected with humanity worldwide.

The mind projection of people across the globe filled the enhancement room once more.

This time, though, he resisted the allure of amplified mental power. Instead, he focused on filtering out the projections of ordinary humans.

In an instant, only the projections with a red aura remained—red being the signal for Mutants.

"I found them. I found them," Professor X said, a smile spreading across his face.

For the first time, Professor X felt the presence of so many of his kind. Although, compared to the massive human population, the current number of Mutants was only in the tens of thousands, it still moved him deeply.

At that moment, he could feel the thoughts and emotions of all Mutants—their fear, helplessness, confusion, and more—all flooding into his mind, allowing him to truly experience the struggles that ordinary Mutants faced.

Beep, beep.

A red alarm sounded, pulling Professor X out of his immersion in the Mutants' emotions.

He took a deep breath, retracting the excess mental power, and the mental projections in the X-enhancement room stabilized.

Under the amplification of the brainwave enhancer, Professor X had now reached the level of a Class 5 Mutant.

"Now, it's time to start recruiting more Mutants into the X-Men," he said with newfound determination, removing the helmet.

"Let's discuss the types of Mutants and abilities we should prioritize for recruitment," Professor X said, looking at Brian and the others for their input.

"Healing ability."

"X-ray vision."

Magneto and Brian said at the same time.

Magneto's reasoning was simple—his recent seven-day wheelchair experience had shown him just how useful a Mutant with healing abilities could be. If the X-Men had a healer, he might have avoided those long days of recovery.

For Brian, he was more interested in recruiting someone with X-ray vision. Such an ability would be the perfect addition to his skill set.

Once he mastered X-ray vision, he wouldn't even need to rely on brain-cutting to gain other Mutant abilities. Although X-ray vision wasn't a combat skill, for Brian, it was a crucial ability for his plans.

"X-ray vision isn't really suited for combat, so let's put that on hold for now," Professor X said after a moment of consideration, gently rejecting Brian's suggestion.

"For now, let's focus on finding a Mutant with healing abilities first. It would significantly boost our team's survival capacity. Does that sound good, Brian?"

After careful consideration, Professor X believed that having a healing Mutant in the team would greatly enhance the survival abilities of the X-Men members.

"That's fine. "

Brian nodded.

It's good to get the healing ability.

At least, you can treat the patient after cutting the brain.

Sylar cut the brain.

Brian treated him.

By then, even if Professor X is suspicious, Brian can get rid of the suspicion.

It was Sylar who cut the brain.

What does it have to do with me, Brian!

After discussing the direction of the first invited mutant ability, Professor X put on the helmet again, and he began to search the world for Mutants with healing abilities.