Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4435 - 3522: Research on Cats and Dogs (33)

Victor felt a chill run down his back. Humans are inherently terrified of being spied on. If the other party can not only spy but also freely alter, or even twist reality itself, it's enough to make one's skin crawl.

"This reveals two things," Shiller continued, "His psychic ability has limitations. Either its quantity is limited, meaning he can't modify the memories of humans on a large scale simultaneously, or its quality falls short, meaning the alterations aren't perfect. The more he alters, the more mistakes he makes, so he doesn't even attempt to erase all traces completely."

Victor nodded and said, "That makes sense. While I haven't directly experienced Professor X's abilities, I imagine he could manage it with ease. If our adversary were capable of doing the same effortlessly, we wouldn't have noticed Jonathan's disappearance."

"Exactly," Shiller nodded in agreement. "Jonathan must've realized this too. Even though the enemy can subdue Superman, if they were powerful enough to brainwash all humans in an instant, there would be no need to sneak into the police station or abduct Jonathan. Controlling everyone directly would have been far more convenient."

"Furthermore," Shiller continued, "judging from the fact that they didn't realize Jonathan wasn't truly a professor, it's clear that even their mind-reading ability has flaws..."

"Wait a second," Victor interrupted, "Why is that? How can they overpower Superman yet fail to discern Jonathan's true thoughts? Does that even make sense?"

"Specialization," Shiller said as he pushed open the restaurant door. "Superman is unquestionably strong, but he wouldn't have prepared for this kind of enemy if he hadn't encountered anything like it before."

"But Jonathan is different. He's a psychologist. No psychologist would leave their psychic battlefield undefended."

"Especially when their biggest adversary is you," Victor said as he seated himself by the window, reaching for the menu.

"Let's go with that," Shiller replied. "Jonathan can easily construct an elaborate psychic maze to conceal his true thoughts. Without deliberate and prolonged effort to spy on him, you'd likely fall for the deceptively realistic 'decoys' it creates."

"So, the enemy isn't that powerful after all," Victor said with a soft sigh. "Trying to kidnap you like this was rather ambitious for them."

"You can't say it like that. The fearsome thing about psychic powers is their subtlety. By the time you notice anything amiss, it's already too late," Shiller frowned slightly. "There's already been trouble in Metropolis; Gotham is next in line, I'm afraid."

"Are you saying the gas explosion case in Metropolis was his doing? Is he manipulating a superhero to kill people?"

"I'm afraid so, and he won't stop," Shiller said, fastening his napkin. "This serves two purposes: creating chaos to distract the Justice League and sowing discord among them."

"I shudder to think, if Clark were hypnotized into committing murder, how devastated he would be afterward," Victor muttered, clearly fond of the straightforward farm boy Clark.

Shiller shook his head again. "Even if the enemy targets Clark, he won't be so easily ensnared."

"Why?"

"Whether it's a psychologist or a psychic wielder, unless they are on the level of Professor X, they must identify and exploit weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?"

"The more mental vulnerabilities a person has, the easier they are to manipulate. Emotional fragility or flawed logic simplifies brainwashing and control."

"Conversely, the more mentally resilient a person is—emotionally stable, logically rigorous, possessing clear self-awareness and formidable willpower—the harder they are to defeat through psychic manipulation. A small misstep could even backfire."

Victor seemed lost in thought before saying, "True, even you seem to struggle with Clark."

"In fact, even without Kryptonian physiology or a superbrain, taking down a strong-willed warrior with these methods is extremely tough. Clark isn't the only one I struggle against."

"What about Batman, then?" Victor asked. "His mental vulnerabilities are pretty clear, yet I've never heard of a Batman in any universe being brainwashed into causing catastrophic events."

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"That's exactly the problem," Shiller said with a tone of exasperation. "Human minds are both resilient and fragile. They are fragile because childhood traumas can linger for a lifetime. But they're resilient in that if someone possesses a particularly strong attribute—impeccable logic, unyielding will, or emotional stability, even coldness—that can greatly resist brainwashing. Not every attribute needs to be present."

"Batman clearly has all of them," Victor nodded. "So those vulnerabilities don't amount to much."

"Come to think of it, our Justice League doesn't seem to have any significant mental vulnerabilities," Shiller said, taking a plate from the waiter and picking up his knife and fork. "Which means the biggest weakness comes from interdimensional visitors."

"What a headache," Victor clicked his tongue. "Dealing with aliens isn't enough; now we have to contend with visitors from other universes. Could it be another Superman from a parallel Earth causing all this?"

"No need to worry, I've made preparations," Shiller assured him. "It won't be so easy for them to pull these tricks again."

In the laboratory of Luthor Manor, Pamela put down the vial of emerald-green reagent and glanced at the lively cactus jumping in its cage. She let out a long sigh.

"Mineral reagents really lead to plant instability. Achieving full integration is so challenging." Even though the lab was empty, Pamela couldn't help talking to herself.

After pulling an all-nighter, Pamela was visibly tired. She grabbed her phone and dialed a number. "Hello? Barry, have you had breakfast yet? Great, bring me something when you're done. I'm not coming down. Thanks."

"No, no breakthroughs. Fusion compatibility is poor. I've tried a new formula and plan to test it again."

Turning around and leaning against the lab bench, Pamela continued, "You don't understand. Cacti are different from the cabbages I used earlier. They have spines—get it?"

"Fine, I'll spell it out. These are enchanted plants. I've added toxins to their nutrient solution; their needles are venomous. Now imagine mixing in something else instead."

"We're dealing with Kryptonians this time, right? What do you think I should add?"

After hanging up, Pamela picked up the test tube again, walked over to the cage, and dripped the emerald-green liquid inside.

"Please, let this work," Pamela murmured, clasping her hands in prayer as she squatted next to the cage.

The reagent quickly reacted, turning the soil inside a vibrant green. The yellow-green cacti transformed into a pure, lush shade of emerald green.

Furthermore, they calmed significantly, no longer as erratic. Pamela cautiously opened a narrow gap in the cage door, using tweezers to extract a few needles for inspection.

The small cactus needles had become delicate green crystalline structures, their tint so pale they were almost invisible. Yet a single cactus harbored thousands of such needles.

More importantly, these needles, being part of the cactus, fell under the domain of All Things Green, allowing Pamela to control them.

Meticulously, Pamela collected as many as she could, almost denuding the cactus entirely before placing the needles in her pocket. Quietly, she approached the door.

Injustice Superman was heading upstairs. He felt an urge to confront Injustice Batman in the other lab. Using his Super Hearing, he quickly pinpointed Batman's location.

But before heading there, something else caught his attention—a section of one lab imperceptible to his senses, like a gaping void in his mental radar.

"Could this be this universe's Luthor's secret hideout?"

"Seems like this universe's Clark doesn't get along with Luthor either. Clearly, Luthor's prepared countermeasures against him."

Injustice Superman instinctively advanced toward the hidden lab. The door was tightly sealed, but to a Kryptonian, locks were meaningless.

With a light touch, the security mechanism shattered. He nudged the door open slightly, only for the sensory interference to increase as he edged closer.

Injustice Superman raised his guard, cautiously stepping inside—where he saw an open black umbrella positioned directly in front of the door.

A sudden wave of dizziness struck him. As his muscles tensed to spin around, the corner of his eye caught another figure emerging behind him.

A swarm of semi-transparent needles hurled through the air toward him.

"Ugh!!!!"

Hearing the alarm through his earpiece, Lex rose from the dining table and said, "Carry on without me. Something needs my attention."

The others were unbothered by Lex's sudden departure. He ascended the stairs to the laboratory, entering to find Injustice Superman collapsed on the floor, his body pierced by numerous green needles.

Pamela, standing nearby, breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "Ambushing Superman? Your idea, not mine! That umbrella wasn't enough to contain him, thank goodness for the Kryptonite-infused cactus needles, or I'd be toast!"

Lex said nothing, simply walking past her to close the umbrella. With the tip of it, he tapped the ground and said, "Professor Xavier, you may proceed."

A blue-eyed young man appeared beside the fallen Injustice Superman, only to vanish a moment later.

Injustice Superman slowly stood, his pale eyes now radiating an icy blue glow.

What's scarier than Professor X?

Professor X with a brainwave amplifier.

And what's scarier than Professor X with a brainwave amplifier?

Professor X with a Kryptonian superbrain.

In an instant, every human on Earth saw the same azure black hole.