Marvel: I became an ancestor by sacrificing offerings.

That night.

"Have you found the source of the earthquake?" Professor X asked, sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window, his voice tinged with weariness.

"We've found it; the epicenter shows it occurred in Cairo." A look of confusion appeared on the beast's face.

"But... how could the epicenter in Cairo affect us here? Also..."

Before he could finish speaking, the professor interrupted:

"You're right. We did misunderstand that young man. If this incident were really related to him, he could have gone directly to Cairo instead of staying here with us."

Professor X breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this conclusion, thinking he could finally get some rest, when a mental shock suddenly swept through the entire college.

It wouldn't knock everyone unconscious like Peter's Conqueror's Haki, but it would be enough to wake up all the mutants who were sleeping.

"This is..." Beast and Professor X exchanged a glance, then rushed towards Jean's room without thinking.

"Kids, it's not a big deal."

"Don't worry, we'll handle everything. All you need to do now is go back and get some rest."

After comforting the children who had been awakened by Jean's mental attack, Professor X went to Jean's bedroom.

Jean Grey was lying on the bed in agony, her thin nightgown soaked with cold sweat, her long red hair clinging wetly to her pale cheeks.

As she struggled in her sleep, the temperature in the room was rising at an alarmingly abnormal rate!

"Hiss—"

The exquisite vintage wallpaper on the wall began to curl automatically, its edges turning a burnt yellow color, and then sparks appeared out of nowhere.

The bedside lamp, the glass full of water, the heavy hardcover books... everything in the room, under this uncontrollable and violent mental force, broke free from gravity and floated in mid-air.

Qin let out a suppressed groan of pain, her hands gripping the sheets so tightly her nails almost tore the mattress apart. Beneath her skin, a chilling, flowing, dark red light emanated from her skin!

Professor X didn't even need to consciously read it to feel the immense pressure from that mental shock.

Countless fragments of scenes pierced his mind like needles—

The sky was ablaze with flames, cities were reduced to ruins, and above that endless destruction, a majestic blue figure looked down upon all living beings like a god.

"Qin! Wake up!"

Finally, with Professor X's gritted teeth and desperate calls, Jean Grey was jolted awake from her sleep, and the terrifying mental shock dissipated.

Having barely calmed Qin's unease, the professor left the bedroom and, without thinking, spoke to the beast beside him:

"Qin's nightmare this time is not so simple. I sensed an ancient, powerful, and extremely dangerous being within her nightmare! We must find the source immediately, or the entire world may be in grave trouble!"

"So you mean...using the mainframe?" the beast asked.

"That's right!" The professor took a deep breath and nodded.

"This might be the only way to uncover the truth!"

Shortly after, the two entered the main brain room located underground.

As Professor X put on the specially made helmet, countless points of light immediately appeared on the metal walls of the entire spherical room, representing every living being on Earth.

"Egypt...Cairo..."

Charles closed his eyes, and his immense mental power swept across half the earth like a radar, quickly locking onto the energy source that made his heart pound.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide, a hint of surprise in his voice, "Wait, this is...this is Moira?!"

"Agent Moira McTaggart, what's she doing there?!"

Looking at Moira's photo on the screen, a complex emotion suddenly appeared on Charles's gentle face, a mixture of deep longing and undisguised worry, and his eyes were momentarily lost in thought.

"In the middle of the night, instead of sleeping, you come to the basement and stare blankly at the person you had a crush on, whose memories you personally erased... I know this plot all too well."

A lazy, even slightly mocking voice suddenly rang out behind the two of them.

"Who?!"

Hank instantly bristled, his blue muscles tensing violently. Almost out of animal instinct, he turned around, revealing his sharp claws and assuming a fighting stance.

A ripple like water appeared in the air, and Peter's figure appeared out of thin air without warning.

At this moment, a barely perceptible wisp of energy lingered around his fingertips.

But the moment his figure appeared, the energy disappeared into his body—it was the wisp of phoenix power he had captured when Qin went berserk during her nightmare.

Although this wisp of Phoenix Force was thinner than a hair and almost unusable in combat, it confirmed Peter's earlier guess—he had indeed gained the ability to absorb Phoenix Force by replicating Jean's mutant genes!

Peter was in a great mood after having this thought, and when he looked at Professor X, he even had a rare hint of joking.

Then, with a flash of light from the storage ring in his hand, a pack of tissues instantly appeared in his hand:

"Professor, I think you need this~"

Professor X blushed, his usual gentle and refined demeanor vanishing.

"Don't talk nonsense, I don't have that kind of bad habit!"

"Hmm?" Peter blinked, feigning innocence.

Is wiping away tears with tissues a bad habit?

Professor X: ...

666, so you were wiping your tears with a tissue. I thought you were wiping something else with a tissue...

To ease the awkwardness, the professor quickly came up with a new topic:

"You...you've been here all along?"

"I guess so," Peter said seriously, though he was thinking to himself.

It's really nice to watch the show from the sidelines using Susan's Invisible Woman abilities.

Should I use this ability to peek at Harry's date next time?

This kid was bragging about how he could dominate the San Fernando Valley, but Tony, that playboy, has never actually seen him at any of his impromptu games!

Could it be that all that talk is nonsense, but in reality, they're just standing around like lackeys on the dance floor?

After shaking his head to clear his mind of those chaotic thoughts, Peter became slightly more serious.

"Getting back to the main point, everything that happened today has made me sense something unusual."

"That 'big guy' from Qin's nightmare seems like a good punching bag. So, count me in for this mission, okay?"

Professor X gave Peter a deep look; the other's unfathomable, black hole-like power made it impossible for him to even consider refusing.

More importantly, based on his observations of Peter over the past few days, Peter did not seem to be a purely evil person.

If he's willing to help, it might actually be a good thing for them?