Chapter 1405 - The Return of the Old Ones (13) (Patreon)

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In the Zen Room of Kamar-Taj, the solemn atmosphere of the conversation was finally broken. Strange closed the black notebook and placed it back between the two of them, then lightly tapped the cover with his finger and asked, "Who do you think is explaining all this to us?"

"I know what you want to ask," Stark said, using his wine glass to cover his mouth as he leaned back in his chair. "The mess that happened before, the intruder at the Asgard Science and Technology Expo, the sudden Member Gifts, Mandarin and his Ten Rings, the chaotic children, and more..."

"All the events were sudden and unexpected, surprising everyone. The motives, methods, and gains of each incident are tangled like a ball of yarn, so you naturally think of one name - Schiller."

Strange pursed his lips without responding, but he was actually indicating that he didn't need to respond, as it was obvious.

Wherever there was a mess, wherever things were missing or added, whoever killed or didn't kill, who cooperated and who didn't, which family held a red event or a white event, which place was ringing bells or beating drums - to get the answers to all these questions, you only need to do one thing: find Schiller.

This is not only the consensus of the Radiance Alliance people, but is also gradually becoming the consensus of all Earth's superheroes. Even Matt has chosen to go to the clinic to find Schiller first. Who else would not do the same?

Seeing the determined expression on Strange's face, Stark, however, revealed a very complex expression. Strange gazed at Stark's face, narrowing his eyes. He hadn't even asked yet when Stark spoke up.

"I know you all suspect Schiller, but he has an alibi."

"Who?"

"Me."

Accompanying Stark's narration, the time went back to about two weeks ago. Stark, who was staring at the instruments in the laboratory, suddenly felt a stirring in his mind, and the voice of another soul appeared in his mind, which he was already very familiar with.

"Knull has disappeared."

It was Batman's voice. Stark's wrist holding the pen paused slightly, and he twirled the pen in his hand, saying, "It doesn't matter. We've basically completed our research on him, and he's not useful anymore."

Stark then stood up and pulled down the blinds by the window. After being away from JARVIS for so long, he finally had some self-care skills, at least knowing how to pull the blinds down and how to close the slats.

"Who do you think did it?"

"Who else could it be?"

Batman seemed a bit silent, but after a while, he said, "The Schiller you know is different from the one I know."

"But they're essentially the same." Stark was straightforward. He threw the pen back into the pen holder, failing, but didn't bother to fix it. Instead, he went to the cabinet where the small instruments were kept, used the reflection of the glass door to tidy up his shirt, then went to the door, picked up his coat, and put it on.

"Are you going to see him just like that?"

"What else?"

Batman was silent again, seeming unsure how to evaluate Stark's decisiveness, but as Stark was about to leave, Batman said, "Aren't you going to bring him a gift?"

"I'm just going to ask him about his plan. Why would I bring a gift?" Stark's tone was full of bewilderment.

"Do you think he'll tell you the truth if you just barge in?"

"He won't tell me the truth even if I don't barge in."

Batman fell silent again. As Stark walked out, he raised his hand and said, "Come on, there's no need to be so roundabout. I spend at least $20 million a year on my mental health management. Pepper and Obadiah can testify to that. Is that not enough to bring a bottle of red wine politely?"

Batman didn't say anything, but he probably felt that his attitude didn't approve. As Stark boarded the shuttle, he said, "From your attitude, I can feel that the Schiller you encountered must be very different from the one I know. He's probably very particular about etiquette."

"For the Schiller I know, if I go to see him now with a bottle of red wine that would be ridiculously expensive to anyone else, he would definitely add a hefty sum to my mental health management budget to treat my social dysfunction that has developed from anxiety."

"Whatever you say." Batman could only say that.

The shuttle soon stopped at Arkham Sanatorium, but the receptionist told Stark that Schiller was not there. Stark said smugly, "See, I knew it. He's probably researching Knull now. Schiller will disappear for a few days, claiming he's on vacation, and then a series of complex plans will be laid out before us. I know him too well."

"Are you going to stop him?"

"Of course not. Most of his plans are beneficial, and he can always turn the many complex affairs into one line after another, making them converge on the same goal, and then scatter them into many different small goals to accomplish them."

"To be honest, this seems like a miracle to me, but it's not a bad thing for me, for humanity, or for the Nine Realms. You could even say it's very beneficial."

"But I do have to stop him to some extent, because in the process of carrying out this plan, he is consuming himself recklessly. Before, I couldn't figure out his complex plan, couldn't find the right time to interfere, and was afraid of messing everything up. But now it's different."

Batman sent an affirmative thought into Stark's mind, stating in a matter-of-fact tone, "If you can capture a thread, I can unravel everything."

"Thank you, buddy, if you weren't a big shot like me, I'd be more than happy to hire you as my staff." Stark whistled a frivolous whistle.

"Better save it for your mental health management fees."

Stark didn't mind Batman's unique dry humor at all.

Their situation was very strange, they should have been the type of people who disliked each other the most. For Batman, Stark was too emotional, excitable, always liked to join too much inspiration in rigorous calculations and inferences, recklessly lowering work efficiency, unable to take care of himself, with a rather messy private life, smoking, drinking, and partying, lacking nothing, a thorough playboy.

For Stark, Batman was like an old-fashioned person, life had to be precise, without any passion, too suspicious, pursuing trivialities, believing that the sparks of inspiration would only delay the efficiency of completing the event, pursuing absolute rationality, and always liked to tell cold jokes.

It was indeed very difficult for these two people to get along, but the amazing thing was that during the time they shared a body, they didn't restrain their own shortcomings, but even actively indulged them, making them stand out prominently.

Stark actually hadn't been drunk for a long time, it was just a manifestation of his previous anxiety disorder and escape from reality, but in recent times, he liked to have a drink after experiments, letting alcohol numb his brain, and to some extent numb Batman's brain, or throw himself into a deafening dance floor, swaying his body to his heart's content.

Batman's obsessive-compulsive disorder became more and more serious, every pen and every piece of paper were placed in their designated positions, different symbols pointed to different passwords on each page of the calendar, and then to different actions, remembering every face they had seen, remembering the smallest details of each person's appearance and behavior, and storing them in categories, all the details of life were in perfect order, day after day.

They experienced two completely different lives in one person's time, debauchery and stiffness, relaxation and rigor, leisure and nervousness.

Iron Man and Batman were not completely unaffected by social eyes either. In the Justice League, Batman couldn't let himself get drunk because he was the hope of everyone. In the Avengers, Iron Man couldn't behave too nervously either, because that would make everyone nervous.

When they used their own bodies, there were things they couldn't do because of maintaining their image and identity, or things they couldn't think of doing because of their personality. When they shared a body, they could do whatever they wanted.

The nervous person would relax, and the casual person would be rigorous, filling in the blanks in their social identity and spiritual needs, making their mental state more stable and behavior more healthy.

To some extent, Batman and Iron Man understood the reason why Schiller cut himself into so many pieces. When you divide all the one-sided traits of your personality, let them dominate different time periods of life with their own strengths, you can better adapt to society externally and heal yourself internally.

Now Batman and Iron Man are exploring, assuming they are two personalities of one person, how to allocate their strengths to better adapt to life, when they need inspiration, it's Stark's turn, and when they need inference, it's Batman's turn, as well as many more subtle aspects of life.

When they share a body, the other person's thinking and soul vibrations can be well felt, so after they separate, they can draw on the other person's methods of dealing with problems in that time period, being relaxed when it's appropriate and nervous when it's appropriate.

Batman and Iron Man have almost equal intelligence, so they don't have to worry about their brains rusting or being trapped in intelligence when the other takes over their body, their thought processes are smooth and rapid, natural and unforced.

There is no other such perfect opportunity in this world, where another version of yourself with equal intelligence and understanding ability, complementing each other's personality strengths and weaknesses, can teach you in your own mind how to make up for your shortcomings and bring out your strengths. They both understand this, so they cherish this moment especially.

"Are you really not going to prepare a gift?"

After Stark boarded the shuttle again, Batman brought up the old topic, he rarely opened his mouth to explain part of his thoughts: "If it weren't for Schiller, I wouldn't be here, and we wouldn't be cooperating either."

"You want to use a gift to express your gratitude? That's so outdated." Stark shook his head and spread his hands, saying, "The moment I see him, I'll give him a big hug, isn't that enough?"

Batman fell into deep thought, he felt it was completely absurd, physical contact was torture for him, the idea of "what is on the other person's body" and "what will happen when he hugs him" would continue to torment him for about a week.

"Okay, let me give you a demonstration." Stark moved his shoulders indifferently, seeing the shuttle parked steadily at the door of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Training Academy, the receptionist had just told them that Schiller was taking a class here.

Stark glanced at his watch and found they were right on time, Schiller should have just finished a class, so he tightened his coat, took off his sunglasses, and walked inside with smooth and coherent steps.

Pushing open the classroom door, he walked down the stairs with a light step, not minding the flow of students going the opposite way, Stark called out to Schiller, walked up to him and hugged him tightly, then said.

"I just went to the Sanatorium to look for you, you weren't there, they said you were taking a class here, how's the class going?"

"Not bad, what's up?"

"Nothing, thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome, going to the canteen?"

"Let's go."

Batman felt he still had a long way to go before his behavior was healthy.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter ->Chapter 1406 The Return of the Old Ones (Part Fourteen)