In the Marvel Universe: I can summon items from all dimensions.

Chapter 60 A Hasty Joining and Abrupt Debt Repayment

After quickly arranging the relevant work at the college, Charles hung up the phone and first looked at the White Queen.

"Emma, ​​could you please find a place to lock Riven in there? See you in the conference room later."

"Sigh... If you ask me, wouldn't it be enough to just knock her out and keep her bedridden for a week?" she sighed. "Why go through all that trouble? But it's your decision."

With that, the White Queen shrugged, casually hoisted Mystique onto her shoulder as if picking up a handbag, and turned to leave the dormitory.

Charles then looked at Mason.

"Mr. Mason, our previous agreement may have to be broken," the professor said after a moment's thought.

Mason tilted his head: "Hmm?"

"The reason we had you coach for a while was partly to observe you further, and partly to prevent you from becoming a target of the Brotherhood."

Charles stated bluntly, "The former is not important, because since Lorna has acknowledged your words, I no longer need to doubt them. The key is the latter, but that is no longer important either. You discovered Riven's weakness and took her down. Whether you intended it or not, this act itself is an expression of hostility towards the Brotherhood."

Mason roughly guessed what Charles was going to say next, but he still went through the motions and asked, "So—"

"What should we do now?"

"Mr. Mason, I am now extending a formal invitation to you."

Charles asked seriously, "Would you like to join the X-Men?"

Haha, I told you the essence of the world is interpersonal relationships, right? Where else can you find such a good deal as getting an offer with a broken arm?

"Of course."

Mason nodded immediately: "That's what I came here for in the first place."

"Very good." Charles smiled. "Due to the time constraints, the formalities and combat uniforms will have to wait a while. Now, you and Lorna will come with me to the conference room. We need to have a proper discussion about the Brotherhood."

"Is there anything else about me?" Lorna suddenly clicked her tongue.

"Your file hasn't been revoked yet, Lorna," Charles chuckled. "No matter what happened before, you're still a member of the X-Men. And to put it another way, even if you didn't want to, you had nowhere else to go in this situation, didn't you?"

Speechless for a moment, Lorna fell silent, but did not explicitly refuse. She simply followed Charles and Mason out, looking sullen.

As for Bobby—let him sleep a little longer.

After leaving the dormitory, Mason thought for a moment and felt that it was time for him to ask that question.

But he still laid the groundwork a little: "Professor, if you don't mind, I have a question I'd like to ask."

"7

"Go ahead," Charles nodded, "as long as I can answer."

"In short—is there some kind of limitation or problem with your abilities?"

Mason got to the point: "Otherwise, there would have been no need for Miss Emma to do what she just did."

"That is—" Lorna frowned, as if she wanted to say something, but she kept her mouth shut.

"Mr. Mason, you are very perceptive." Charles turned to look at Mason, his expression neither flustered nor wary, and said directly, "If I had to say, the answer would be the former."

77

"limit?"

"That's right, do you remember what I showed you last night?"

"Of course—I might never forget that feeling for the rest of my life."

"Actually, it's far more terrifying than you see," Charles said calmly as they walked. "My description last night wasn't complete. It wasn't actually stored in a dark area devoid of any consciousness, but rather in a region with only one consciousness."

"You mean—?"

"You've probably guessed it by now, haven't you?" Charles pointed to his head. "I put it in here. I used my power to isolate it from the outside world, but the price is that I have to spend most of my power in this place. There's hardly any free space left. In other words, as long as it's still in here, it's difficult for me to use my power freely. I have to do a lot of things for Jyn and Emma."

"what?"

Mason was shocked: "So—the current academy doesn't actually have Professor Charles Xavier protecting it?"

"It's not that I don't use it at all. I can occasionally find time to use it, and the intelligence control is very successful. Apart from the members of the X-Men, no one knows about it, not even Riven and Eric." Charles smiled. "Actually, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Just like muscles need to tear muscle fibers to grow stronger, in the years I've spent with it, the ability that I thought I had reached its limit has actually grown to a certain extent."

"If it's so difficult, why not just launch it into outer space on a rocket?"

"Didn't I tell you, Mr. Mason? That thing is far more terrifying than you see. If we do that, who knows if it will grow even stronger after it leaves my sight and then come back again?"

In that instant, Mason suddenly had a wonderful idea.

Without hesitation, after quickly considering his words, he stroked his chin and said, "Um—is there any possibility that I could actually dispose of that thing without leaving any future problems?"

Charles: "?"

Lorna: "?"

The latter spoke first: "Don't joke around, you can't think it's just a lump of mud!"

"Of course I know." Mason pushed up his non-existent glasses, emphasizing his mystique, and then smiled confidently. "But everyone has one or two secrets, you know. Coincidentally, I really do know a way to safely dispose of that thing."

As he spoke, he engaged in a heated internal price negotiation with Kuroshi Kasumi: "You said it yourself, that it would cover a year's worth of wages, doesn't that count?"

"Of course it counts! How could it not?" Kuroshi Kasumi exclaimed excitedly. "If you can get that piece of malicious essence, I can even personally decide to give you two extra months! As long as it's not something that will get you killed, all your expenses during your employment will be covered!"

—It seems there's a significant price difference hidden inside.

"Okay, but before that, I have a question."

"Say it! Consider it a gift from me!" Seeing that a big deal was about to be finalized, Kuroshi Kasumi's voice became bold and generous.

"What do the Yapools need that for?" Mason asked. "As a raw material to create super beasts?"

"It's not that low-end."

Heishi Xiayu said in a deep voice, "Emotional energy is the core energy source of the Yapool civilization, just like how Earthlings regard electricity as their core technology. The Yapool civilization started with this kind of thing. As long as there is enough resentment, even if a Yapool person is destroyed by the Star Annihilation Weapon of the Star of Light and their information is shattered, they can be resurrected in the distant future. How could such a precious thing be used to create super beasts?"

It seems this reveals the core needs of the Yabo people?

"Let me make this clear first," Mason said, sounding slightly nervous, "I hope selling this to you won't get us checked for counterfeit money, right?"

Why?

"That's fine then." Satisfied with the answer, Mason continued haggling, "Two months isn't enough? Add four more months!"

"Six months is too much! I'll give you two and a half months at most!"

"Five months!"

"Three months!"

"Four and a half months!"

"make a deal!"

"?"

"Oh no, we've been ripped off again."

—Oh well, I don't know much about the market anyway, and there's nothing I can do about it being a seller's market. I'll have to figure out how to negotiate a lower price later.

Back to reality, Mason nodded with absolute certainty: "If you don't believe me, you can try it. Anyway, if anything goes wrong, I'll be the one who suffers. With a formidable enemy at hand, does the academy really intend to fight without a leader?"

"this----"

Charles stopped and fell into deep thought.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute."

Lorna asked, her head full of questions, "Isn't your ability to absorb light energy to promote physical regeneration?"

'

"That's right," Mason said, shrugging. "But when did I ever say that this was all I knew how to do?"

"what?"

"You know, right? There are many supernatural powers in the world that are different from mutant abilities," Mason said matter-of-factly. "For example, those masked heroes on the streets of New York, very few of them are mutants—there's no reason why I can't have some other special skills, is there?"

"But—but you didn't say that before?"

"You didn't ask either."

"?" Lorna blinked. "So it was my fault after all?"

"It doesn't matter how you assign responsibility."

Mason suddenly became serious: "Professor, time is of the essence, make a decision as soon as possible."

'

Charles paused for a moment, then suddenly chuckled, "Mason, you know you look suspicious right now, don't you?"

“Of course,” Mason pointed out the situation nonchalantly. “It looks like a scam orchestrated by con artists specifically to create this opportunity.”

“That thing concerns not only me, but also Jean, who is using her power to help me maintain my mental defenses. So if it gets out of control, it will first pollute the mental worlds of both Jean and me. Once it leaks into a large environment, it will immediately begin to multiply exponentially, engulfing the entire North America in a very short time. A few days later, the whole world will be in danger,” Charles said calmly. “Mr. Mason, I can see that you don’t mean any harm, but please answer me seriously: were you serious about what you just said?”

To be honest, Mason was a little flustered, so he asked Kuroishi Kasumi again to confirm.

Are you sure you can handle this?

"Please respect the professionalism of the Yapo civilization. Mistakes may occur in other matters, but when it comes to matters of resentment," even the people of the Star of Light must humbly seek guidance.

Why do we keep bringing up the Star of Light?

"Because they're very capable, it indirectly proves the value of their qualifications."

"So, you're absolutely certain you're 100% sure, right?"

"—Guest, being too cautious isn't necessarily a good thing." Kuroshi Kasumi sighed. "Alright, if we're using a comparison method, I can at least do ten times better than this bald guy in front of you—although I might not be able to beat him, but let me repeat, please respect the professionalism of the Yabo civilization."

"it is good."

After confirming the answer once again, Mason nodded solemnly: "I'm sure."

"Wait, wait, wait! Are you serious?" Lorna panicked, waving her hands to stop her. "You can't joke about that! I only ate a little bit of the counterfeit and I'm like this, don't take it lightly!"

"The conditions are different."

Mason calmly said, "It may be a bit offensive to say this, but in this particular area, I have a much more professional approach than any of you."

"But----"

"I see."

Charles nodded: "I'll do as you say."

19

"Professor?" Lorna exclaimed in surprise, "When did you learn to make jokes like that?"

"Lorna, even if I don't do this, once Eric takes me down, I'll still lose control of it." Charles gave a heavy smile. "It's the same risky future, and all I can do is choose the one that doesn't seem so dangerous."

"No, no, no, the options I'm offering aren't dangerous at all," Mason shook his head righteously. "Just consider it a try; it doesn't cost anything to try."

"That one"

Charles slowly raised his right hand and clasped his hands together in a fist.

Halfway through the action, the surrounding environment plunged into a brief, unsettling darkness, but only for a moment. When Charles loosened his fist, all the darkness condensed into his palm, turning into a slightly wriggling, amorphous black mud.

"What should we do?"

Suppressing a sudden wave of nausea, Mason asked Kuroshi Kasumi in his mind, "It's best to keep it private and not let anyone know the specifics."

"Really? Then please eat it, sir," Kuroishi Kasumi said excitedly. "I'll open a portal in your stomach and take it away."

"what?"

Mason looked troubled.

Just looking at it makes me want to vomit. What would happen if I ate it?

But things have already progressed to this point, would it be right to back down now?

So he forced a smile and said boldly, "Leave it to me."

Then he took the black mud from Charles's hand, forcibly banished the nausea that had almost made him faint, and immediately stuffed it into his mouth, swallowing it down instinctively.

"!!!!!"

The taste was indescribably stimulating, like a mixture of the world's bitterest, saltiest, spiciest, and sourest flavors, accompanied by a strong metallic smell. Mason's sense of taste almost stopped on the spot, but then he felt some extremely large, terrifying creature covered with soft tentacles and sharp teeth crawl into his stomach through his esophagus.

Moreover, a more terrifying future, even beyond Mason's comprehension, is brewing.

Although I don't understand what it is, even a fool would know it's not a good thing.

Oh no! Am I about to explode on the spot?

The moment he made that judgment on instinct, the strange feeling in his stomach suddenly vanished as if a memory had been lost, leaving only a faint lingering sensation, the reality of which was unclear.

"Ah—this!!" Kuroishi Kasumi's ecstatic voice echoed in his mind, "It's even better than expected!"

This scale is amazing! This way—I can—%@#”

Halfway through her speech, her voice turned into a buzzing sound similar to that of cicadas, but it still retained a certain rhythm.

Is it the language of the Yabo people? Are they so overjoyed at getting such good stuff that they're even spitting out their native tongue?

Mason vaguely sensed something was off because, according to his current understanding, Black Stone Xia Yu was not a salesperson like the Yapool person he connected to through the Book of Mercenaries, but rather a worker sent out by him. But what kind of worker would be so overjoyed as to lose his mind because he generated profits for the company?

Is it a commission? Or are there other benefits involved?

He knelt on the ground and violently retched. The good news was that he hadn't eaten breakfast, so there was nothing to vomit, thus saving his image.

After finally catching his breath, Mason stood up again, only to be met with an incredulous gaze.

"Are you... alright?"

Lorna asked tentatively.

"It's nothing." Mason stood up, pinched his throat, and said, "Apart from the taste being more disgusting than you can imagine, there's nothing wrong with it."

"How did you do that?" She clutched her head, looking utterly bewildered. "Why? I clearly did it back then—"

Halfway through the conversation, a sudden change occurred.

Charles pressed his hand to his temple, looking around blankly, his eyes filled with the awe of a newborn baby seeing a complex world for the first time.

"This really is—" he murmured, "So this is what it feels like to suddenly be relieved of a heavy burden?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mason and Lorna felt a shockwave that usually only occurs when a high-yield explosive device explodes!

No — there is no change on a physical level; only the mind is affected.

A bright, pale blue light shone in Professor Charles's eyes, as if a long-blocked drain had suddenly been forced open by a powerful impact. An incredibly large amount of mental power broke through the limitations of his brain and burst forth from every pore of his body. If someone with strong telepathic abilities were present, they would have seen the magnificent energy, as grand as a nuclear explosion, emanating from the professor—for example, the White Queen, who was leisurely carrying Mystique toward the elevator in the teaching building, and Jean Grey, who had just come out of the faculty dormitory.

The former fell to the ground as if he had been slapped hard, while the latter merely changed his expression and then quickly rushed towards the core of the energy burst.

If there's such a big reaction from so far away, what about the two unlucky guys closest to the professor?