Adapting in Marvel

In fact, it wasn't just Professor X who lost his composure.

Scott was even more bewildered.

While he was still struggling to figure out how to control his Cyclops Ability, Brian, who also possessed the same Ability, was casually using it to heat milk.

The scene before him made Scott question everything.

It was the same Cyclops Ability.

It was the same laser.

Why was the difference so vast?

"Brian, lend me a light," Magneto said, much calmer compared to the others.

He took out a Cuban cigar from his suit pocket, placed it in his mouth, and looked at Brian expectantly.

"Heh~"

Brian extended his hand, and a controlled microwave heat enveloped the Cuban cigar.

Puff.

Under Brian's precise microwave heating, the cigar instantly lit.

Magneto took a comfortable puff of the cigar and gave Brian an approving thumbs-up.

"Brian, you've been improving faster lately," Magneto commented, exhaling a cloud of smoke, envy evident in his tone.

"Maybe, Brian's Ability is not what we initially thought," Hank interjected, drawing everyone's attention.

The scientist, currently in human form and wearing his signature white lab coat, looked at Brian with a thoughtful expression.

Brian turned to Hank, his curiosity piqued.

"Hank, what do you mean?"

"Brian, maybe your Ability isn't simply adaptive evolution..."

Hank looked at Brian seriously, and Brian's face was full of interest.

He wasn't worried that Hank had uncovered the secret of his Syler ability template.

On the contrary, Brian was genuinely intrigued by Hank's explanation.

Perhaps, from now on, he wouldn't need to explain the source of his abilities himself.

"Hank, what do you mean?"

Professor X asked seriously, turning his full attention to Hank.

He too was curious about Brian's mysterious abilities.

"Haven't you noticed something peculiar?" Hank began, glancing at everyone before focusing on Brian.

"Brian gains new abilities every time he comes into contact with other Mutants.

For example, after contacting Professor X, who has psychic abilities, Brian awakened the Psychic Brain Closure ability.

When he came into contact with a Mutant who could create tornadoes, he gained the Tornado ability.

And after encountering a Mutant with Psychokinesis, he gained the Psychokinesis Control ability.

This pattern made me suspicious.

I started to think that Brian's real ability might not be what we originally assumed it was," Hank explained.

He paused for a moment, his eyes reflecting a mixture of curiosity and hesitation.

Brian, catching the look, smiled slightly.

"Go on," Brian urged calmly.

Taking a deep breath, Beast Hank finally said what was on his mind.

"I believe Brian's true ability is copying.

He can unconsciously copy the abilities of any Mutant he comes into contact with.

This would explain why he seems to gain a new ability each time he encounters a Mutant with unique powers."

The room fell silent as everyone processed Hank's theory.

It made sense—perhaps too much sense.

They looked at Brian deeply.

Maybe Hank is right.

Brian's real ability may really be copying.

Only in this way can it perfectly explain Brian's frequent generation of new mutant abilities.

"What about Brian's survival of the fittest?" Magneto looked at Beast Hank and asked again.

"Maybe, when Brian was very young, he encountered a Mutant with the ability of survival of the fittest, and then unconsciously copied his ability. And because it was the first time he saw his own ability, Brian preconceived that his ability was survival of the fittest. The other mutant abilities are all adapted by the survival of the fittest."

After hearing Hank's logically self-consistent explanation, Brian couldn't help but admire its plausibility.

If Brian didn't know that he was equipped with Sylar template, he might have believed that his ability was indeed copying.

Faced with such a logically self-consistent reasoning that perfectly explained the source of his abilities, what else could Brian say?

He definitely agreed with Beast Hank's point of view.

"Could it be that my ability is not survival of the fittest, but copying? No wonder every time I meet a new Mutant, I always have a special feeling. Originally, I thought it was brought to me by the survival of the fittest. Now it seems that maybe it is because my copying ability perceives other abilities and spontaneously starts to copy."

Brian did not admit that his ability was copying. But such ambiguous words made the X-Men agree with Hank's point of view even more.

Brian's ability is not survival of the fittest but copying!

He can unconsciously copy the abilities of the surrounding Mutants and then use them skillfully.

"Brian, your ability is actually Replication. It's really... unexpected," Professor X said, his tone filled with both surprise and admiration.

Professor X suddenly envied Brian. His ability being replication means that as long as he is given enough time, Brian could potentially become a level 5 or even Omega-level Mutant. The replication ability is even more advantageous than the survival of the fittest ability.

"Professor X, don't be so envious. I can't control my ability at all right now," Brian said with a shrug, as if to comfort Professor X, though his bright smile suggested otherwise.

Brian seemed genuinely happy, not because he learned something new about himself, but because he now had an explanation. From this point forward, he no longer needed to justify the source of his abilities.

Now he can openly use any ability he plundered without worrying about the suspicion of the X-Men.

"Okay, let's talk about the nuclear explosion crisis in 10 hours," Professor X said, steering the conversation back to the pressing issue.

At his words, all the X-Men fell silent.

They considered themselves to be powerful Mutants, some at level 3 and even level 4, but none of them had any idea how to address the looming nuclear explosion crisis.

Are you kidding?

That's nearly 20,000 nuclear warheads.

Once launched simultaneously, the devastation would be unimaginable.

Let alone being level 4 Mutants—even a group of level 5 Mutants wouldn't be sufficient to withstand such a cataclysmic event.

Even Magneto, who usually proclaimed the supremacy of Ability and Mutants, looked uncharacteristically downcast. At this moment, he was silent.

He knew that with his current level 4 abilities, there was nothing he could do. Even if he were enhanced by Apocalypse and reached level 5, gaining the ability to control the Earth's magnetic field, he still couldn't stop the launch of so many nuclear warheads.

Professor X, too, was struck by the enormity of the situation. Facing the full-scale launch of global nuclear weapons, even his heart sank into despair.

He had no idea how to stop The Black King's plan to detonate nuclear weapons worldwide.

Seeing the X-Men's morale plummet, Brian stood up.

A confident smile appeared on his face.

"Charles, you seem to have forgotten your Ability," Brian said.

His words made all the X-Men turn to look at him.

Even Professor X appeared puzzled, clearly not understanding what Brian was referring to.

"Your mental power is enough to rival the world's nuclear weapons," Brian stated earnestly as he walked up to Professor X.

"Brian, what time is it now? Are you still in the mood to joke?" Professor X frowned, his tone laced with irritation.

Rival the power of 20,000 nuclear warheads?

How could he possibly do that? With what—his head?

However, looking at Professor X who was self-deprecating.

Brian couldn't help but look at Professor X with some pity.

Professor X, despite possessing the most powerful mental abilities, seemed to be guarding a mountain of gold while choosing to eat steamed bread.

It was nothing short of a waste of natural resources.

He had the power to make humans fear Mutants as though they were gods, but instead, he clung stubbornly to his impractical principles.

Even in the face of relentless persecution, even when humans destroyed the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters multiple times, Professor X refused to retaliate, choosing instead to revoke his stance time and again.

What a shame.

Even the ancient Mutant god, Apocalypse, coveted Professor X's abilities.

Professor X had unparalleled mental power, but his will was so fragile that anyone could walk over it.

"Charles, no matter how terrifying nuclear weapons are," Brian said, stepping forward with a resolute tone, "they are in the hands of humans. And you, my friend, as long as you control the launchers of global nuclear weapons, you control the global nuclear arsenal."

Yes, Brian had made up his mind to follow the example of Apocalypse.

He would have Professor X use the brainwave enhancer to control the global nuclear weapon launch systems. Then, they would eject every nuclear warhead into outer space.

The reason was simple—human nuclear weapons were not just a threat to the world. They were also a potential danger to Brian.

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