Chapter 399 Silence is Tonight's New York (Part 1) (Patreon)

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Schiller stood in front of the door holding the phone. The clock behind him continued to tick, with the "tick-tock" of the second hand ringing out. As the sky gradually darkened and the last rays of the setting sun fell below the horizon, Schiller walked back to the wall after making his final call and turned on the light.

At this moment, the door was knocked on, with three standard, muffled knocks that matched the newly arrived night perfectly.

After turning on the light, Schiller turned around and walked back, not even looking at Grant Ward who had just entered. He walked behind the table and lightly tapped the desktop with his finger, indicating for Grant to sit across from him.

Grant sat down, but he sat a bit far away. Schiller stared at him and said, "Why are you sitting so far away?"

Grant didn't say anything, and Schiller knew it was because of his other personality. He sighed and took out the medical record from the shelf, saying, "Let me see... depression, and some compulsive behavior. Last time, you refused to take medication. If nothing unexpected happened, your condition should have worsened."

Grant didn't respond at all, and Schiller was a bit helpless. "Do you know why, after so many years, you're still just an ordinary agent? I'm not asking you to learn to flatter, but after I speak, shouldn't you react in some way?"

Grant gave a sound of agreement, but then fell silent again. Schiller closed the medical record and put it away. To be honest, psychiatrists aren't afraid of complicated symptoms or chaotic patients, but what they fear most is a patient who is mute.

"If the Hydra that just called is like you, then I'm afraid I have to worry a bit." Schiller couldn't help but sigh. "It seems that being taciturn has its benefits."

"I'm not taciturn," Grant denied. "You told me to shut up and listen earlier, and not ask why."

"It seems that Garrett's control over you has seriously affected your personality. He probably used violence against you, and subjected you to mental abuse?"

"What do you want me to do?" Grant asked.

"Your life in S.H.I.E.L.D. has awakened a bit of your own consciousness. Before that, you were strictly controlled by Garrett."

"But this awakening is very limited. Although you know that this state is not right mentally, you are still in self-destructive behavior. You are convincing yourself that killing for anyone is the same, whether it's for me or for Garrett."

"Isn't that right?" Grant looked at Schiller's eyes and asked.

Schiller shook his head. "He is a patient, and I am a doctor."

"There are some people in this world who like to stimulate others mentally or use various means to control them. They feel satisfied when they see others suffer because they can't violate their will. This is common in parents' unreasonable control over their children."

"However, regardless of whether they are in a dominant or submissive position, using others' behavior as a mental support is actually a very serious psychological defect. Once no one listens to their control, what follows is the collapse of their mentality and personality, which is also common in parents and children."...

Schiller sighed, "It's a pity that in that situation, I had to kill Garrett. Otherwise, helping you break free from his control and observing his reaction would have been a good experiment."

"It's clear that when you break free from his control, you feel too much freedom and suddenly feel panic and confusion. At the same time, you are surprised to find that you want revenge for Garrett, for this person who has always controlled and hurt you. This emotion makes you even more afraid."

"If you don't have any tasks, I have to go." Grant didn't have much of a reaction, he just said it like that.

Schiller sighed again. From the perspective of a killer, Grant wasn't particularly outstanding, but from the perspective of a patient, he had all sorts of difficult characteristics.

"Okay, I do have a task." Schiller took out a book from the nearby bookshelf and handed it to Grant. Grant took a glance at the words on the cover and asked, "Who is Hydra?"

This wasn't a question from him, it was written on the cover of the book - "Who is Hydra?"

It has to be said, this question successfully piqued Grant's interest. Other Hydras shouted slogans, and he followed suit, but he actually didn't know what Hydra was.He opened the first page of the booklet, only to find out that it wasn't a popular science book, but more like a religious scripture, as it started with the Norse mythology.

Norse mythology is one of the better-known mythologies, and many people have heard the name of the World Tree to some extent. It was precisely because of this semi-understood state that Grant suddenly found that the stories in this book were quite interesting.

Soon, he finished reading the first section and started reading the second section. In the second section, the worldview became even more grand, as they proposed that the nine kingdoms on the World Tree were called "Midgard", a huge castle, and coiled around the castle was a huge serpent, Jormungandr, the Midgard serpent.

The second section emphasized Jormungandr's power and expounded on a fable. In the twilight of the gods in Norse mythology, the great serpent would perish together with the strongest thunder god Thor, drawing a conclusion to the fate of the gods.

The epic battle history was also very appealing, and by the third section, things became somewhat magical. The third section emphasized that Hydra was actually the incarnation of Jormungandr. Initially, it had only one head, but to deal with the nine kingdoms on the World Tree, it split into nine heads, bringing disasters to all life on the World Tree.

As he reached the end, Grant's eyes fell on the last sentence of the entire book - "Yesterday divided by nine, today united as one."

As he placed the book on the table, his fingertips trembled. He looked at Schiller and asked, "Do you know what you're doing?"

"It seems your basic logic hasn't been affected." Schiller inserted into every sentence of his words to find factors that could be analyzed. The last time he had this feeling was during a college exam.

Grant immediately shut up, and Schiller continued to explain to him, "Don't you think that Hydra, as a spy organization, is somewhat outdated?"

"Whether it's a pyramid scheme or a cult organization, they have further advanced in personnel selection, personnel structure, and organizational capabilities. Since Hydra didn't start from scratch, pyramid schemes are unlikely to work."

"Are you planning to preach?" Grant asked.

"Do you know the essence of religion?"

"What is it?"

"It's a shell, and you can choose to put it on any kind of skeleton."

"Do you think they'll believe it?" Grant found it absurd.

"Why haven't you realized that this isn't an ideology, it's just business. The purpose of this mythology isn't to make those bottom-level agents believe it."

Schiller threw the pen on the table and said, "You can think of it as a matchstick, which can only ignite those who are already restless."

"They just need an excuse, a pretext, to openly fight for power, kill their allies, and sit on the only throne."

Grant remembered the content he saw in the manual, the prophecy of the Twilight of the Gods in the last chapter. In fact, it was suggesting that Hydra no longer needed nine heads. The Midgard serpent that could bring twilight to the gods had only one head, and only one god was needed, which meant only one pope was needed.

"You can understand this as the spread of extremist ideas. Anything that has uniqueness can cause people to become more extreme in their emotions."

"Grant, I think you should be able to see that the situation is changing. This major purge against Hydra has brought many hidden conflicts to the surface - the old versus the new, the upper versus the lower, the regional conflicts..."

"Many people are more eager than I am for a major reshuffle. Everyone knows that the only way to shake up the existing hierarchy, to gain more benefits, and to become the rulers of the new era is through one method...""Sarajevo." Grant slowly uttered a noun, but then he asked, "But just a story is not convincing enough, they are all very cautious and wouldn't want to be the first ones to stick their necks out."

"Did you see the prophecy in the last article? About the Twilight of the Gods?"

"I did, but that's just a prophecy."

"Yeah... but what if I colluded with the gods?"

As Schiller smiled, the weather behind him changed from dark to bright, and the Sun rose from the horizon, another sunny morning, and the Shadow casted on the table gradually changed shape, the one sitting across Schiller turned into Loki.

He was still dressed gorgeously, his attire and hairstyle were impeccable, but fatigue was hard to hide on his face. He shook his head and said, "The situation in Asgard is not good."

"What happened? Did Thor have a problem?"

"On the contrary, this time only Thor did not have a problem." Loki showed a complex expression, he said, "I can't believe that one day, Thor would be the most normal one."

As he spoke, he put his hands on the table, fingers crossed, explaining, "Thor went back from Earth, he regained his divine power, and beyond that, this is good for Asgard, right?"

Schiller nodded, and Loki continued, "Suddenly, Thor understood the meaning of honor, that should be his weapon, not his shackles, it should be his scepter to rule his subjects, not his whip to drive them."

"He is determined to change the current situation in Asgard, he wants to stop this war machine and find a more sustainable way for the country and the people to develop more steadily, rather than rushing towards destruction, which is also good, right?"

Schiller took a sip of his coffee and said, "But someone doesn't want that, right?"

"That's right, in the eyes of many Asgardians, war is a quick and easy way to get everything they need. They are used to this way, and their ancestors have come this way, we are Vikings, hunters, and pirates."

"It's almost impossible to make such a civilization slow down or even stop."

Loki put his finger on his forehead and said, "The problem is that even the father of the gods doesn't support Thor, not because he likes war, but because he thinks that facing the upcoming Twilight of the Gods, Asgard must have enough powerful force."

"If you stop this war machine now, dismantle its wheels, by the time of the Twilight of the Gods, perhaps we can't even run away."

"Odin may not know, even if the war machine keeps going, maybe we still can't escape, but he dare not gamble. If we continue to move forward, accumulate strength, maybe there is some room for resistance, but if we give up our power, surrender, then it's truly a case of being at the mercy of others." Schiller summed it up.

"That's right." Loki nodded helplessly, "Thor is under attack from all sides, and many people are using this opportunity to shake his position as the heir."

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 400 Silence is Tonight's New York (Part 2)