Ch.36 Recommendations before Departure

Schiller picks up the old record player, taps it, and says, "Hmm... it might be something wrong. These old things often have some problems."

Daredevil can't see it, but he is genuinely startled by the loud sound of the music just now. He grumbles, "I never know this antique can make such a big noise..."

Peter interjects, "Seems like it and Steve are both guys who refuse to grow old."

Schiller fiercely warns his symbiote in his mind, "If you turn the music up so loud again, you'll never have a drink again!"

The symbiote in his mind excitedly chats back at him, and it takes Schiller quite a while to understand.

The symbiote tells him that it's actually not in its adult stage yet, but only a young symbiote.

Normally, symbiotes don't differentiate between adult and young stages. However, this particular symbiote created by the God of symbiotes is very unique. It needs energy to nourish itself in order to grow.

Just last night, the symbiote discovers that it has unlocked its own gene library, which is the password engraved in every symbiote's gene. This password allows it to possess abilities of other symbiotes, such as splitting and reproducing, infiltrating and controlling other objects, and even imitating and fabricating things out of thin air.

Schiller can clearly feel that the symbiote's speech has become much more logical and it's no longer like an echo machine..

The symbiote tells him that this is because its gene password contains the language of the symbiote race. Of course, it's the language the symbiote deity uses to curse at people, which it didn't know before.

Hearing this, Schiller tries saying, "Nataru?"

Almost instantly, Schiller feels various emotions such as shock, anger, and grievance mixed together in the form of brain waves. The symbiote seems completely shocked.

After the symbiote explains, Schiller learns that the language of their race is different from humans, and from even any language in the world.

The language of the symbiote race is a catalog sequence language. Each syllable they produce is actually a catalog of a large amount of content. And the content is engraved in their gene library, and only symbiote can understand it.

The content written in the gene library is not a text understood by humans, but a special encrypted language that requires special organs to decipher. Any race other than the symbiotes can hear the symbiotes speak, but they can't understand what they're saying at all. Because the content of the symbiote's speech is actually the catalog of their gene library.

For example, the word "Nataru," though it only has three syllables, when applied to the sequence in the symbiote's gene library, represents brain waves that last almost several tens of minutes.

And the content represented by this syllable is the sum of all insults in the symbiote language,worse than any profanity in any language on Earth.

The symbiote says, "This word! Will be thumped!"

Schiller thinks for a moment, clearly useless knowledge has increased again.

Venom is either parasitic on Deadpool or in a containment dish at S.H.I.E.L.D. The other symbiotes also haven't appeared. Even if they do, why would Schiller argue with them? After all, he isn't the God of symbiotes.

When Steve arrives at noon, he misses mealtime. He sees Peter looking down and asks him, "You still haven't finished your homework? Wasn't pulling an all-nighter enough yesterday?"

"Damn all-nighter." Schiller points with his hand and then says, "You better go ask those two controllers what they went through yesterday. The sound of them making their skills together, I can hear it from two blocks away..."

"Don't say that," it sounds too much like an old man." Pikachu says.

Steve waves his hand , "Alright, don't interrupt, let's talk business. I might have a mission coming up. Of course, it's not a big deal, but I want to take Peter with me so he can have some training."

"You'll have to ask Stark about that, considering Peter has already signed a contract with him."

"Does that billionaire intend to keep Peter confined in those suffocating labs forever? What does he want to mold Peter into? Another sissy like him?" Steve sneers.

Schiller replies, "Actually, I'm also planning to leave for a while. Before that, I need to meet Stark again. But I'm not sure if he'll agree to hand Peter over to you. You know, you both have a not so good impression of each other..."

"You're leaving? Where are you going to?" Steve asks.

Schiller shakes his head and remains silent, but Matt finally speaks up, "I think it would be a good idea for Peter to go with Captain on this trip. It's not because I'm biased. It's just that Peter seems to have never left his hometown since he was young, and a boy shouldn't be like that."

"The place I'm going to is in the West. Speaking of it, it has been a long time since my last visit, but I remember the scenery there is quite nice."

Peter has some heartbeat. Matt is right. Due to the tight financial situation at home, Peter has never been able to travel. The farthest place he has been to is just the suburbs of New York. And when it comes to the West, which American boy doesn't have a cowboy dream?

Seeing Peter looking at him with anticipation, Schiller raises his hands and says, "Alright, alright, I'll try to convince Stark. But you better be careful. Field missions are different from doing experiments in the lab, Peter. If you get hurt, your aunt will definitely shed a liter of tears."

Peter covers his forehead. He just wants to have some crazy fun.

Steve emphasizes, "You better not have too high expectations. This is not just a vacation, kid. If you don't do well, the first one to hit you won't be the enemy, but me."

"Who is your enemy?" Schiller asks. "Of course, I only want to know what's within my security clearance. Other than that, I'm not interested."

Steve thinks for a moment and explains, "Actually, they're not really tough guys to deal with. S.H.I.E.L.D. discovers some secret spies in the western region. Calling them spies might not be accurate, they should be called a group of assassins."

"They seem to call themselves ninjas, appearing and disappearing without a trace. Not sure who hired them, but they killed a state senator. It's not a big deal in itself, but it seems their leader has bigger ambitions, and I could use a warm-up."

Matt stands up and says, "It's the Hand. Elektra told me that their organization wants to find the dragon bones here, but they haven't made much progress. So they started taking local works and committing a lot of murder cases..."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. probably doesn't know about this. If they haven't taken serious actions, it means the situation is still under control," Schiller says, "More importantly, if S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to uncover the conspiracy behind them, they have to be patient."

Matt sits back down. He knows that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been keeping an eye on him and his girlfriend Elektra. They are inactive now doesn't mean they won't make a move in the future. Elektra, being an assassin of the Hand and contracted by the Kingpin, Matt needs to find a way to get her out.

Schiller pats his shoulder and comforts him, "I know what you're worried about. You're a superhero of justice, but your girl is a criminal. You don't want her to become a spy to save her life because that's equally dangerous. But I can give you some advice."

"Although I don't know what dragon bones are, they must be something valuable. Otherwise, the Hand wouldn't be so eager to find them. Do you think the Kingpin would be interested in such treasure?"

Matt quickly understands what he means. Even though they are both villains, it doesn't mean they work well together, especially when their interests clash. Perhaps Elektra can find an opportunity to escape through that.

After Steve leaves, Schiller is driven to Stark Tower. Tony Stark is holed up in his laboratory, tinkering with his armors. Schiller shakes his head upon seeing him and says, "If you keep this up, it won't be me turning into a vampire, but you."

Stark twists his wrench fiercely and says indignantly, "You don't know what the military said to me yesterday. Ha, they want my armors. Guess what they want to do with them?"

Schiller doesn't answer him. Stark stays silent for a while, stands up, and throws away the wrench. Looking at his armors, he sighs, "You're right. I won't give up on what the enemy wants.It's not right. Now that they want to put my armors into war , should I dismantle them?"

Stark speaks to himself,"If I give up what the enemy wants, what will I be left for me? Will the world be at peace? Will there be no more wars?... They will just find another way. And the result will be that people who were supposed to be saved because of me won't have a chance anymore."

"I know you don't want to give it to them. You should have firmly rejected them, and then they will pretend to take a step back. They will say, 'Alright, we won't take your armors, give us some ordinary weapons instead.' Isn't that right?"

Stark purses his lips, knowing that Schiller is right. It's a trick they have used before.

"Am I only left with S.H.I.E.L.D. as an option?" Stark asks.

He walks away from the workbench and sits down on a chair, somewhat exhausted, leaning back on the chair. He says, "What exhausts me the most is that even though I know every path is a trap, I still have to choose one."

"I don't know if Howard knew things would turn out like this when he established S.H.I.E.L.D. But I think he must have known. Because he was smart, just like you, Stark. But he still chose to do it."

"Do you also prefer me leaning towards S.H.I.E.L.D.? If I choose S.H.I.E.L.D. now, it will indeed save me a lot of trouble. As long as S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't let go, no one can take my armors away. But I have a feeling that this decision will bring me even more trouble."

"Do you have a third option?" Schiller asks.

"I don't think I do, but there's no need to put it so bluntly."

"Yes, you do not have a third option, but you have another choice, which is not to choose."

"But..."

Before Stark could retaliate, Schiller interrupts. 

"You're caught in a mental loop, thinking that you must really choose a side. But that's not true. You can keep postponing the decision. If one side blames you, you can drop hints to them, like others showing interest in the more favorable conditions they offer...

Schiller adds, "Don't you realize this is a complete buyer's market? Your choice isn't based on who puts more pressure on you, but only on who offers better conditions."

"And who can offer conditions that make the world's richest man Tony Stark interested? As an unprecedented billionaire and a scientific genius, if you ask for a slightly higher price, no one questions it, right?"

Stark wears a very complex and conflicted expression. He says, "So you're saying... I should act like a woman who is dating two men at the same time, pretend to be more interested in the one who performs better, but in reality, not be with anyone and just enjoy their attentions as a matter of course."

"You can't deny it, Stark, your damn metaphor perfectly reflects your shitty character," Schiller smiles.

Stark proudly opens his hands and says, "Who's the guy who understands women the most? It's me, charming Stark."

Schiller says, "Jarvis, is the surveillance in Pepper's office working fine yesterday? I'm eager to see Mr. Stark, who understands women the most, in action last night."

"Damn it... Jarvis, you didn't break yesterday? You were still running the cameras? Hey, don't, don't activate the screen. Alright, I admit, there are some women I don't understand, and Pepper is one of them."

Jarvis beeps twice and says, "Miss Potts has been on the line for twenty-three minutes."

Stark jumps up from his chair directly.

"Just kidding, sir," Jarvis says. Schiller continues, "Who's the guy who understands women the most? It's Jarvis!"