Chapter 709 U: Infinite Phenomenon (Part 25) (Patreon)

In DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List

XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX

Within the confines of the Marvel Universe, there's an essential concept: the spaces within the Multiverse are infinite. But what constitutes this boundless space?

Comics have provided an answer: the thoughts or desires of a character at any given time could lead to the birth of a new space. Similarly, in the real world, there's talk of parallel universes or spaces.

For instance, the TV shows, movies, and literary works we witness are essentially these parallel spaces, born from human imagination and, due to specific rules, become perceivable to us.

Marvel's editors were apparently inspired by such theories, thus setting the Marvel Universe to consist of these infinite spaces.

The potential of such a concept is vast. Take for example, the "What If?" universes within the comics that readers adore; they too are a type of this infinite space.

At any moment, a possibility can change, leading to a new universe and birthing a new tale. This gives Marvel's creators an endless array of storylines to explore.

While reading comics, Schiller had noted this. However, much like anyone in reality, whenever theories about movies possibly being parallel universes are mentioned, he'd only smile dismissively. It's a wonderful notion in fantasy, but seems nonsensical when brought into the real world.

Confronted with the reboot of a singular universe, Schiller witnessed the truth of infinite spaces firsthand. "Hearing is misleading, seeing is believing." Once he realized that infinite spaces were constructed from endless possibilities, Schiller understood the rare opportunity before him.

Every thought, every idea, every dream is a universe, and what Schiller never lacked was dreams.

Within his Temple of Thought, countless rooms exist. Each room represents a dream, with every personality trait being born from some past experience or dream.

If every dream is its own universe, does this mean that all the rooms in his mental tower are actual, tangible universes within the Marvel world?

With this thought, Schiller began to re-explore his Temple of Thought.

From his previous experiences in the DC Universe, he knew that if he ascended within the Temple, he'd reach consciousness, and descending would lead to the subconscious. There were no other paths to the real world, and the only body he could control was in the present universe.

So how should he explore these universes within his mind? And how can he bring out the personalities from these spaces to freely traverse the Multiverse?

Suddenly, Schiller remembered his early speculation when he first acquired the Ship of the Underworld. Could this vessel, which sailed from dreams, also carry them into reality?

Schiller had been using the Ship of the Underworld to navigate through dreams: from his own to Professor X's, even Stark's. Yet, he had never steered the ship into the interiors of his mental tower.

He was not referring to the central plaza of the tower but the individual rooms of the Temple of Thought.

The Ship of the Underworld had never genuinely entered these rooms. Thus, Schiller was unsure if the ship, upon entering the rooms of his Temple of Thought – his dreams – could transport the personalities within to unknown territories.

With this idea, Schiller reclined on his bed, closed his eyes, and submerged his thoughts into the Temple of Thought. Once again appearing in the central plaza of the Temple, the familiar pit remained, its depths shrouded in darkness.

The tower's entrance was grand, and getting a ship through wasn't an issue. But a ship couldn't climb stairs, and the rooms in the Temple of Thought weren't large enough to allow for the ship to pass. To realize his speculation, Schiller would need a unique approach, and he knew who to consult.

"You're saying you want me to construct a new elevator to hoist the ship up?" An 'ego' in a black turtleneck sweater, working in an office, inquired.

"Exactly. Don't you think this tower lacks a cargo elevator? The existing small one is efficient, but isn't it challenging to transport larger items?" Schiller in a white lab coat responded.

The ego pondered, "There's a point. But you want to sail the ship into these rooms? They don't have wide corridors or doors for that."

Schiller considered this and replied, "If we can't expand the corridors or doors, then maybe we can try shrinking the ship."

As Schiller in the lab coat spoke, he exited the office. He saw construction work for the new cargo elevator already in progress. It was then he thought of a brilliant way to shrink the Ship of the Underworld.

"Shrink swiftly!"

With a spell, his wand traced an elegant arc, releasing a beam of light onto the Ship of the Underworld. Professor Schiller, dressed in Slytherin robes, sheathed his wand.

The ship gradually diminished to about a tenth of its original size, small enough to easily pass through any room's door.

Professor Schiller in Slytherin robes looked at Schiller in the white lab coat and said, "If you truly wish to explore the boundaries of these rooms, why not start with mine?"

"Curious, are you?"

"Magic stems from curiosity."

Once the cargo elevator was completed, Schiller positioned the reduced Ship of the Underworld onto the platform. With the elevator's rumbling, the downsized ship stood in the hallway.

Schiller then steered the ship until its bow faced a room's entrance. Professor Schiller in Slytherin robes entered first, followed by Schiller in the lab coat. After the door closed, the Deathly Hallows symbol gleamed on the door handle.

Normally, anyone entering this room would appear on a boat heading to Hogwarts. However, since Schiller had sailed in, he appeared directly on the shores of the Black Lake.

Gazing at the majestic castle, Schiller asked, "Have you ever left this castle?"

"Of course, I frequently shop in Diagon Alley and enjoy a drink in Hogsmeade. I've even visited the Ministry of Magic, although I prefer not to interact with the people there," the Slytherin-robed Professor Schiller replied.

"No, I mean, without Floo Powder, without using the fireplace, just walking out along the Black Lake. What lies beyond?"

"Is it the wall of the room? Why are you even asking me?" The Potion Professor replied calmly, "There's a limit to imagination. We are products of the same person's dream. All details in the dream come from our memories. In areas where our memories are vague, naturally, there's nothing."

"In this novel, is there any mention of the exact location of Hogwarts? Or even if it was mentioned, if we do not understand the specific geography of this place, then everything outside remains blank."

"Moreover, the larger the dream, the more storage it consumes. To prevent running out of space, walls are formed in places that cannot be loaded. We are people within the dream but we're aware. Thus, there's no need to probe where the room's walls are."

After Professor Schiller finished speaking, Schiller, dressed in a white lab coat, nodded in agreement. They were the same person. Though their memories were temporarily not shared, if they went to the memory archive to check, they'd find the same content.

The rooms inside the Temple of Thought are like a world Schiller had imagined. But even imaginations need a foundation in reality. Things unknown in reality are hard to manifest in dreams.

Someone who only scores 60 in mathematics cannot dream of complex mathematical formulas. Someone who has never shown interest in history will not dream of specific historical figures.

Moreover, the richer and larger the dream details, the more brain capacity they consume. A tower of over 300 levels, countless dreams – if every dream were infinite, Schiller's brain couldn't possibly store it all.

This results in the world inside the room being just a tiny region. Beyond understanding and limitations are the room's walls.

It's somewhat reminiscent of Truman's world. Everything here is built from Schiller's imagination, and beyond it lies only walls limiting the dream.

However, today, Schiller plans to row towards the wall of the room to see if he might find a window to sneak out.

Potion Professor Schiller enlarged the Ship of the Underworld using an enlarging spell, and Schiller rowed it, heading outward along the Black Lake.

As they approached the boundary, the water's surface began to smooth out, losing its intricate patterns. Trees and shrubs also became scarcer.

When they landed, they found themselves in a very simple grassland, without layered rocks or varied vegetation, just ordinary grass.

Advancing further, they encountered an air wall blocking their path. Beyond the air wall lay an endless expanse of grassland. This was the boundary of the entire room.

Walking around the entire boundary, Schiller didn't find any windows. If one were to compare a dream to a singular space, then the room's wall would be the limit of that space.

To break through the barrier of this singular space, one would need to ascend.

Initially, Stark utilized wisdom and magic to ascend above the singular space. Loki, harnessing a political halo, once glimpsed the view above space. To leave this dream's singular space, similar methods could be used...

However, the conditions for achieving either method are challenging and time-consuming. If Schiller had to ascend on his own, he wouldn't choose these methods. He'd prefer to make a direct hole.

Schiller believes in a simple logic: if there's a program, there can be a bug; if there's a wall, a hole can be made.

This applies to the walls of houses in reality or the barriers of singular spaces.

Speaking of making holes, Schiller recalled that in the central area of the Temple of Thought, there was a large hole leading to the subconscious, previously made by Hugo.

Schiller knew how much he had reinforced the ground of the Temple of Thought. So much so that he couldn't even make a hole in it. Only external forces could help. Surely the room's walls wouldn't be tougher than the ground he repeatedly fortified?

Of course, the Marvel world didn't have Hugo. Even if it did, Schiller wouldn't take such a roundabout route to ask him for help. In the Marvel world, there's a more useful ally: Professor X.

While Hugo employed skills and tools, Professor X was pure power. If a mere mortal like Hugo could cleverly create a hole on the ground of Schiller's Temple of Thought, then the powerful Professor X could surely add windows to the walls of the room, right?

Soon, Professor Charles appeared beside the wall at the boundary of the Hogwarts room. He examined the air wall before asking, "Are you sure you want me to make a hole in this?"

Charles shook his head, "Schiller, if anyone else had asked this of me, I'd think they were suicidal. Human thought is fragile."

"If the Dream Realm is damaged, and certain images from the dream escape into normal thought, it could lead to delusions or even manifestations of schizophrenia. You should know this better than I do..."

"But since you ask, I can give it a try."

Saying so, Charles closed his eyes, concentrated, and extended a hand. An invisible force emanated from his palm.

A faint cutting sound was heard nearby, yet nothing seemed broken.

Where the air wall was, a ripple appeared. After a moment, Charles exhaled and wiped sweat from his forehead, saying, "The room you built is pretty solid. But now, I've made a hole there and also installed a window for you."

"If you wish to leave, open the window. Once you exit, the window will automatically close to prevent anything else from escaping."

With a face full of admiration, Schiller clapped. Charles smiled modestly.

A few minutes later, standing in the center of the Temple of Thought, Schiller pointed upwards. Charles looked up only to hear Schiller say:

"I'd like you to create a window in every room here."

Charles widened his eyes in shock, replying, "That could completely disorder your thoughts! Have you gone mad?!"

"I'm not mad..." Schiller answered with a slightly mad smile, as if mimicking someone, and said, "Only those who arbitrarily restart space are truly mad."

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, without ads and support the work.]

XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX

Next Chapter>>Chapter 710: The Infinite Great Event (Part 26)