As night fell, the soft ticking of the second hand echoed in Hell's Kitchen's clinic. On the clock face, the hour hand had already reached nine.
At this mont, Schiller had long gone to sleep, leaving only Peter and Pikachu in the living room playing gas.
Suddenly, Peter exclaid, startling Pikachu beside him. He made a mistake in the ga, causing his character to fall into lava. Pikachu turned his head and asked, "What's wrong?"
Peter turned his head to look at the clock on the wall and said, "It's nine o'clock; I need to go upstairs and sleep."
Pikachu widened his eyes and looked at Peter as if he didn't recognize him. He exaggeratedly opened his mouth and said, "Nine o'clock, and you're going to sleep? Are you really Peter Parker? Did Schiller take control of you?"
"No," Peter reluctantly put down the controller and said, "Today, Mr. Stark emphasized multiple tis that I should go to bed at nine. Look, just a mont ago, he sent a ssage asking if I was already lying in bed ready to sleep..."
Peter handed his mobile phone to Pikachu, who saw the ssage from Stark on the screen. Pikachu shook his head and said, "It seems like he thinks you're lacking paternal love."
Peter sighed and stared at the ga console for a mont but eventually went upstairs to sleep.
Lying in bed, Peter turned over and gradually felt drowsy. He had been worried that he wouldn't be able to sleep so early, but soon, he drifted into slumber.
When he opened his eyes again, he was t with the gaze of Stark and Charles, both looking disappointed.
"You didn't go to sleep on ti," Stark spoke first. Peter hadn't fully grasped the situation yet, but he instinctively explained, "No, I put down the controller at nine, but my room is upstairs, so..."
"So, you perford well today?" Stark interrupted.
"Of course, I've never slept so early in my life. Normally, I stay up until at least midnight..." Peter's voice trailed off under Stark's disapproving gaze.
Then, he finally started to assess his surroundings. It was a spacious eting room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a futuristic city that didn't look like Earth.
Peter was quick to figure out what was happening. He said, "Am I dreaming? Professor Charles, did you bring here?"
"Correct, you're clever, young one. If you spend less ti playing gas, your brain will be even more brilliant," Charles walked towards the center of the room, but Peter anxiously caught up with him and said, "Wait! Professor, you have to let go back. I need to control my body, or else..."
Charles continued walking, and Peter anxiously turned to Stark, saying, "Mr. Stark, as I told you before, my body has strange instincts, and if it's not under my control, it might..."
Before he could finish, Stark reached out and hugged Peter, saying earnestly, "You were already late. Everyone is waiting for you."
"Peter, you're not a child anymore. You need to understand so workplace matters. Making your colleagues wait because of your personal reasons is impolite."
"Besides, those instincts may just be your imagination. Relax, nothing will happen."
Peter didn't see the victorious smile on Stark's face. He clenched his teeth and felt helpless. After a while, he could only sigh and say, "Alright, I hope my bed is sturdy enough."
The group walked over to the eting table, where many people were already seated, including the sowhat bewildered Marc and Natasha, who had skillfully lit a cigarette.
Stark walked to the front of the table, scanned the room, and said, "I'm sure that everyone here has recently beco entangled in a certain matter, and the mastermind behind it all is Schiller."
"'A certain matter' isn't very accurate," Steve comnted.
"And 'mastermind' isn't accurate either," Natasha added.
Stark sighed, pounded the table, and said, "Alright, let's get straight to the point."
"Just yesterday, due to so actions by Schiller, the mbers of Congress were practically in tears, and they put in charge of the Solar System construction plan."
Stark explained the situation further, detailing how Schiller had manipulated the situation to create a sense of isolation around those who received dals, including Natasha and Captain Arica.
The older mbers of Congress, particularly those with a sensitivity to communism, were nearly beyond help. Schiller wanted them to feel surrounded and to realize that the common enemy of those who received dals was Stark.
Natasha had previously infiltrated Stark's company for espionage, so the mbers of Congress didn't have a favorable view of Stark. Stark and Captain Arica's relationship had also reached an all-ti low, nearly causing an Avengers civil war.
Schiller, of course, was an open antagonist to Stark, as they had confronted each other during the superhero registration debate. If Stark and Schiller stood on the sa side, why had Stark opposed him at the registration hearing? Their relationship wasn't good either.
And the last person who received the dal, Marc, had a fight with Stark in the skies above New York. Although it was entirely orchestrated by Schiller, with the help of Khonshu and Jackdirector, the fight did happen, and everyone in New York witnessed it. Their relationship must have been terrible.
If we dig deeper, Stark's father, Howard, once collaborated with a Soviet Union scientist, but they fell out, and even the son of that Soviet Union scientist has co after Stark seeking revenge.
All this evidence together suggests that Stark can be considered an enemy of the Soviet Union. In the eyes of the congress mbers, Stark has been surrounded by communist sympathizers led by Schiller, and he can only struggle to stay afloat. He's like a fragile boat in the midst of the Red Tide.
And in this situation, he hasn't compromised yet. What's going on?
This is Tony Stark, the Stalingrad street lamp ornant, the Kremlin flagpole nail, the favorite flag bearer of a benevolent father, the chosen capitalist, the extre right-wing, the furthest right in Space, a solitary exploiter – Tony Stark!
So, the Stark who was supposed to play a left-leaning role in the Registration Act event has been kicked into the extre right camp and pushed to the most important position by those congress mbers who cried and shouted for him.
Even if we disregard Stark's relationship with people, the congress mbers don't know that Stark has beco the Iron Sorcerer, transcending the perspective of a single universe. In their eyes, people can't betray their class, and Stark, who made his fortune by selling weapons, will always be a capitalist. That's sothing Eternity can't change.
They believe that Stark is still under the influence of Stark Industries' capital, preventing him from accepting any demands for fairness. That's why they are so eager to support Stark.
Apart from getting him the position of head of the Solar System construction plan, Iron Man's reputation has also rapidly improved. The vigorous efforts in the dia war have resulted in Iron Man becoming Iron Patriot, replacing Captain Arica and becoming the new symbol of U.S. spirit.
In the past, if Iron Man had heard this news, he would have imdiately flown over New York in his combat suit, accepted the applause of the people, and had journalists take pictures of his new combat suit to show off to Pepper.
But now, Stark finds it absurd and disgusting because he knows that behind all this applause and flowers is a group of foolish people who only focus on the dregs of humanity.
No intelligent person would be happy about the applause of such fools. Instead, it would feel like they were saying, "You're as stupid as we are."
Thinking of this, Stark, sitting at the eting table, let out a deep sigh. He forced a fake smile and said, "I must thank soone for being able to sit in this position, and that soone is Schiller. For this, I owe him a favor."
"Why did you let Lady Loki defect? What exactly are you planning?" Strange asked.
"After the United Nations vote yesterday, the path of international cooperation is already set, but it's clear that many still focus on internal conflicts. This is a flaw in humanity that won't change in a day or two, but I intend to speed up this process." Stark's expression turned serious, and he continued, "Schiller applied so pressure, but it wasn't enough. Civilization within Earth always understands each other. Even if there are disagreents, they won't be too extre. The Soviet Union is strong, but not excessively so."
"So, we must provide these stubborn fools with absolute pressure, pressure from outside Earth," Stark said.
Charles stroked his chin and said, "So, this is related to Lady Loki's defection, right?"
"I made a deal with her, the princess," Stark replied. "She will bring external enemies to Earth, and in return, Asgard will serve as a backup and provide an opportunity for Humanity to train its civilization."
"What do you need to give in return?" Strange asked.
"Just a favor from ," Stark answered.
Steve was about to speak, but Strange continued along Stark's line of thought, "Indeed, this trade seems fair."
"As far as I know, the power shift in Asgard isn't without consequences. Rules in so places in the Nine Realms have started to beco unstable, and they are competing with the most advanced civilizations in the galaxy. Having a strong individual Space-level ally who can ascend to the multiverse at any ti is beneficial to them."
"Also, there's the Ragnarok," Stark added. "Of course, I can't sacrifice myself to protect them, but I can help when needed, which is also beneficial to Humanity's civilization."
"Furthermore..." Stark added, "Once an external enemy arrives, all countries will focus all their attention on the external threat. They will concentrate all their strength to protect themselves and their positions. At that ti, it won't matter which stance Schiller takes as long as he's for Humanity. This way, he won't be constantly monitored by those ssy agents, even if I owe him a favor."
anwhile, in the thick night of Hell's Kitchen, as Schiller slept soundly, he turned over. What he didn't see was a ghostly figure suddenly entering his dark bedroom.
In the bedroom of the space mothership, Natasha, who had left the dream eting early to have a cigarette, glanced out of the window habitually.
"Bang!
!
!"
Natasha's eyes widened as she watched a figure high up in the air, on the rooftop outside, pause for a mont when thrown to the highest point, and then "whoosh," it dropped down.
Imdiately after, there was another "bang," and Natasha looked in shock at a bed that had appeared outside the window, with Schiller in it, still in his sleeping position, clutching the blanket, and wide-eyed.
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