Confusion Over Abilities

Alex had brought the ability of Teleportation from his previous life into this world. He had never stopped meditating to train his Psionic Power, and his Teleportation had long since reached the level of his previous life. The entire Earth was Alex’s backyard; he could go wherever he wanted.

As a result, Alex no longer knew how to improve his ability.

The transmission range had already reached its limit. Was he supposed to go into outer space? He would wait until the day he could survive in outer space before considering that!

As his Psionic Power steadily increased, Alex could teleport anytime and anywhere. Even teleporting continuously posed no problem, though it consumed a great deal of Psionic Power.

With a troubled expression, Alex went to find Emma. He trusted that, with her knowledge and experience, she could offer him a solution.

"Perhaps you could try increasing the intensity of your Psionic Power." Emma was overjoyed when she heard Alex wanted to improve his abilities. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with a solution for him. "The fact that your Teleportation was distorted may very well be related to your Psionic Power not being strong enough."

Before Alex could speak, Emma continued, "By strong, I don’t mean the amount of Psionic Power, but its intensity—like air, water, and stone." Taking a breath, Emma lowered her voice. "From my observations of all the mutants at the school with psychic abilities, I discovered that the strength of their abilities is closely related to the intensity of their Psionic Power."

"You’ve already established the mutant research lab?" Alex froze before realizing what she meant. He was stunned by the news. He remembered Emma saying before that the mutant research lab would still take some time. How had it suddenly been completed?

Emma gave a wry smile and shook her head. "Not the mutant research lab. It’s just my usual observations and conclusions."

"Then how do I increase the intensity of my Psionic Power?" Now that he knew the direction he needed to take, Alex was even more concerned with the method.

"You’ll have to figure that out yourself. I don’t know either." Emma spread her hands, looking helpless. "Can a quantitative change lead to a qualitative one? Or perhaps, like air, can it become water when compressed? Who knows?"

Alex rolled his eyes speechlessly. Wasn’t that the same as saying nothing at all?

A quantitative change leading to a qualitative one? He had accumulated Psionic Power for more than twenty years in his previous life without any qualitative change. In this life, his Psionic Power had accumulated to unprecedented heights, yet it was still the same! And compression was even more absurd. Psionic Power was inherently intangible spiritual energy—how was he supposed to compress it? This wasn’t some fantasy cultivation novel!

After complaining inwardly, Alex returned to the point and asked weakly, "Then tell me, how am I supposed to improve my strength?"

"I think you could try developing other ways to use Psionic Power." Emma shrugged and offered another headache-inducing suggestion. "Your Psionic Power isn’t especially intense, but you have a large amount of it. Perhaps you can develop new abilities."

Alex said irritably, "Abilities can be developed?" Mutant Abilities were all innate. They could gradually grow stronger through training, but no one had ever said that new abilities could be developed.

"Didn’t you learn telepathy from me afterward?" Emma raised her brows smugly. Alex had not known telepathy at first, but through his contact with Emma, he had gradually mastered the ability.

Seeing Alex stare blankly, Emma tucked her beautiful hair behind her ear and adopted a teacherly posture as she patiently lectured him. "Mutants have limitless potential. Through constant learning and improvement, they can continuously awaken their own potential, and their abilities will grow stronger and stronger."

Alex was stunned for a moment, his brows drawing together slightly. After thinking about it, he said, "You mean I should go study at the school?"

"Yes, you really should go study at the school." Emma smiled subtly and nodded. "If you don’t start learning soon, the students will leave you behind."

He had graduated several years ago in his previous life, and in this life, he had never known what school was like—excluding the time before Alex’s soul transmigrated. Altogether, he had not set foot through a school gate for more than a decade. Being a student again was truly awkward for Alex.

"Emma, why don’t you teach me instead?" Alex began bargaining. "As for the school, let’s forget it."

Without even thinking about it, Emma shook her head and refused decisively, her reasons entirely sound. "I’m not actually in charge of teaching at the school. Besides, I only teach one class. You still have a lot to learn."

"Can I not go?" Alex was still making his final struggle.

Emma tossed her head and turned away, leaving behind only one sentence. "If you want to improve your strength, come report to me at the school."

Alex did not choose Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, nor did he give up. Instead, he tried many methods to increase the intensity of his Psionic Power, but without exception, none had any effect. Seeing that Teleportation could not be improved, Alex turned his attention to Replication Ability.

Teleportation had been brought over by Alex’s soul from his previous life, while Replication Ability was the true Mutant Ability possessed by this body: copying other people’s abilities for his own use. Unfortunately, replication only lasted thirty-two hours, after which the copied abilities disappeared. The one thing worth praising was that he could copy multiple abilities at once. After constant practice, Replication Ability could now copy three abilities simultaneously.

"No matter how many abilities I copy, once thirty-two hours pass, everything is gone." Thinking of Replication Ability’s enormous flaw, Alex could not help wondering whether he could extend its duration—ideally, copy abilities forever.

The moment he thought of it, he acted. Alex immediately went to the observation room where Sebastian Shaw and the others were being held. There could be no better test subjects than them.

Standing outside the glass room, Alex froze again. He could not copy abilities through the glass. This was another flaw of Replication Ability. "It would be even better if I could copy from a distance!"

Having discovered another direction for improvement, Alex was delighted. At the same time, he did not forget to increase the dosage of anesthetic in the observation room.

Only after everyone in the observation room had completely collapsed did Alex open the door and walk inside. He reached out and touched one of their arms. A familiar current passed through his fingers and arm, instantly spreading throughout his body. After touching three people in succession, the fourth touch no longer brought the sensation of electrical stimulation.

Walking out of the observation room and closing the door behind him, Alex leaned against the glass wall and stared at his palm in deep thought.

Replication Ability originated from the X-gene in his body. The duration of copied abilities increased with the number of copies, but after three copies, he could no longer replicate anything. The number of abilities he could copy depended on his body—the stronger his body, the more abilities he could copy. So what was stopping him from copying repeatedly?

A brainstorm gradually began swirling within Alex’s not-so-large head.