Consciousness Transfer

The moment Alex appeared, Vivien Leigh and Audrey ran over. Ignoring everyone around them, they threw themselves into Alex’s arms without saying a word and began to sob softly.

Alex glanced awkwardly at the others, then reached out and gently patted the two women on the shoulders. Through telepathy, he quietly comforted them. "I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you properly from now on, forever and ever!" Having made his decision, Alex no longer hesitated, afraid that any delay might bring unforeseen changes.

Hearing Alex’s Mind Telepathy, Vivien Leigh and Audrey both froze. Then they poked their heads out of Alex’s embrace and looked at him in delighted surprise. They already knew about Alex’s condition. Besides seeing him, their mission here had been to persuade him to accept freezing.

Yet before either of them could say anything, Alex had already agreed.

After soothing the two women, Alex turned to look at Emma and Monroe, offering them a slight smile of reassurance. Then he shifted his gaze to Howard and asked, "What do I need to prepare for freezing?"

Howard had just been about to speak when Nick Fury stepped forward. His single eye swept across the room before finally settling on Alex. Expressionless, he said, "Alex, I have something to discuss with you privately." Nick Fury deliberately emphasized the word "privately," making his meaning obvious.

Alex looked at Nick Fury in surprise, then nodded. Activating Teleportation, he took Nick Fury with him as they vanished from the Floating Temple.

As the two disappeared, everyone in the Floating Temple turned their eyes toward Natasha and Carter. The two had arrived with Nick Fury, and now he had left alone with Alex after saying just one sentence. Everyone was filled with curiosity.

"Where is this?" Nick Fury looked around in astonishment. Beneath his feet lay snow-covered mountains, while layers upon layers of white clouds filled the sky. The cold, thin air made his breathing hurried and difficult.

Alex chuckled and raised his hand, creating an energy barrier. Slowly spreading his arms, he shouted, "Mount Everest, the roof of the world—the place I’ve always dreamed of conquering!"

Nick Fury trembled slightly and turned to look at Alex’s smiling face. Within that brilliant smile, he somehow sensed a trace of pain and sorrow. It was only then that Nick Fury realized Alex was not as open-minded as he had imagined.

"Do you remember Dr. Zola?" Nick Fury composed himself and looked toward the distant white clouds, his mind utterly clear.

Alex frowned slightly and turned toward Nick Fury. Somewhat impatiently, he said, "What’s our relationship? Just say what you mean. There’s no need to beat around the bush." Nick Fury’s sudden mention of Dr. Zola clearly carried some deeper implication, but Alex did not want to guess. There was no need.

Nick Fury rolled his eye at that and grumbled indignantly, "Still as lazy as ever!"

"How is that laziness?" It was as if Alex had suddenly let go of many things, and his personality had become livelier. He protested like a child, then added smugly, "This is called using brainpower to command physical labor—the smart person’s way!"

Nick Fury chuckled and did not trade banter with Alex. His smile faded as he said seriously, "During World War II, Zola helped Red Skull create a large number of war machines, including the Tesseract weapons. But his true research project was preserving human consciousness and transferring it into another body."

"What did you say?!" Alex abruptly spun around and stared at Nick Fury, his face full of disbelief. Wasn’t that like the soul possession so common in the immortal-cultivation novels from his previous life? That little dwarf scientist was capable of that?

Nick Fury ignored Alex’s question, merely nodding before continuing, "After World War II ended, the US Government launched a program called Operation Paperclip and rehired a great number of German scientists. Dr. Zola was one of them."

Alex fell completely silent. Scenes from the film "Captain America 2" continuously surfaced in his mind. After hesitating for a long while, he finally asked, "Will he help me?" During World War II, Alex had caused Dr. Zola no small amount of trouble. In fact, Alex had personally captured Dr. Zola.

"He is now a government researcher." Nick Fury smiled calmly, his face full of confidence.

Alex did not think much of it. Shrugging, he said, "He’s Hydra. Do you think he’ll truly be loyal to the government?" Alex remembered that in "Captain America 2," Dr. Zola had been Hydra through and through.

"The US Government values his intellect and research. It doesn’t care what faction he belongs to." Nick Fury stiffened all over, then relaxed again, looking both helpless and bitter. "Even if I wanted to move against him, I couldn’t."

Alex turned to Nick Fury with a puzzled expression. "In that case, do you still have a way?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D.’s capabilities are beyond your imagination!" Nick Fury gave a mysterious smile, proudly showing off.

"All right. If possible, I never want to fall asleep and be forgotten by time." Alex was naturally tempted by the prospect of remaining conscious. Now that his concerns had been cleared away, he began considering other matters. "But could the other body be replaced with energy? Like this!"

As he spoke, Alex summoned the Flame Spirit. Transferring his consciousness was acceptable, but he could never accept transferring it into another body. Call him chauvinistic or say he had a mental obsession with purity—whatever it was, whenever Alex imagined living alongside Emma and the others in another body, he could not help wanting to explode.

Nick Fury stared, dumbfounded, at the Flame Spirit beside Alex. The moment it appeared, the surrounding temperature rose sharply, and even the snow around them began to melt rapidly.

After being stunned for a long while, Nick Fury finally came back to his senses at Alex’s call. He examined the Flame Spirit from top to bottom for some time, then said uncertainly, "I’ve read Zola’s research report. It should be possible." Afraid Alex would not believe him, he emphasized again, "He even planned to transfer consciousness into machines. If machines can work, then this energy body definitely can too!"

Transfer consciousness into a machine? Alex’s heart stirred. Thinking of the scenes from the film, he knew Zola’s plan must have succeeded in the end. With that in mind, Alex felt that the odds of successfully transferring his consciousness into an energy body were even higher.

At that thought, Alex could not help growing excited. With Energy Control, if his body also became an energy form, he felt his future would be bright indeed.

Of course, Alex had no intention of abandoning his current flesh-and-blood body. Teleportation and Energy Control could follow his consciousness and spirit through the transfer and would not disappear, but Replication Ability was granted by his mutant X-gene and imprinted upon his body. Once his consciousness transferred, Alex would lose the Replication Ability.