Chapter 1025: Astonishing Mundane Affairs (Part Two) (Patreon)

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"Listen, Stark, I feel there's no need to set up an interstellar train station next to the Sanatorium. On one hand, the transportation demand here isn't that high, and on the other hand, do you want me to endure the noise of interstellar trains passing by? I have neurasthenia..."

Schiller switched his mobile phone to his other hand, sighed, and continued, "I understand you're eager to connect the entire sky transportation route of New York, naturally including my area, but you don't have to rush it. Why not have all the stations set up in a few weeks?"

"Yes, I understand. With our current productivity, it's not difficult to build all the train stations in the New York area within a month. After all, the production lines are ready-made, just downgraded versions. With the sorcerers cooperating to open portals, material transportation is not a problem, so there shouldn't be any difficulties. However, you also need to consider the issues that may arise during the actual implementation..."

"If the time is compressed too short, many problems may not be discovered. When problems arise after actual deployment, it could lead to more serious consequences."

"What? Is this pressure from Congress? Why are they pressuring you? ... Is it related to me? What's my relationship with this? Oh, could it be that they're afraid of not shining enough, so they want to achieve something first?"

Schiller frowned, pursed his lips, and said, "I knew it, it must be related to the election. Anyway, if you want to build, then build. But you must ensure that it's far away from my bedroom. I really have neurasthenia..."

Putting down his mobile phone, Schiller sighed. Just as he was about to pick up the phone again to make another call, the head nurse walked in and said, "Dr. Schiller, the patient in bed number 3 just broke free from the restraints again. Would you like to come and see?"

Schiller immediately put down the telephone, frowned, walked towards the door, and asked, "What happened? Did he harm himself again? Didn't we change the restraints? How could he still break free?"

The head nurse hesitated for a moment, wanting to speak, but before she could, Schiller continued, "Forget it, it's not your fault. He has special abilities, he can control kinetic energy. Ordinary restraints definitely won't work."

The two of them walked downstairs and arrived at the ward. Just as they reached the 7th floor via the elevator, they saw several female nurses and male attendants outside the only open door on the 7th floor, untying tangled restraints with bloodstains on them. Schiller quickly walked up and asked, "How is it going? Is the patient stable now?"

"The medication has taken effect, doctor, but he broke the restraints again. We'll have to prepare again..."

"You all go out first, take these blood-stained things away, don't stimulate him. I'll go talk to him." Schiller waved his hand, letting the nurses and attendants all leave.

As soon as he walked in, he saw a blond youth lying on the ground, wearing patient clothes, curled up, trembling slightly. Schiller approached, squatted down, and softly called out, "Robert? Robert? Are you alright?"

"Don't come... don't come..." The young man lying on the ground twitched a bit, floated slowly into the air, then with a "bang," hit the ceiling, causing dust to fall. Schiller reached out, and the gray mist dispersed, penetrating into the kinetic energy stance, pulling the young man down.

"Listen, Robert, you have to try to control yourself as much as possible, don't let those illusions in your mind deceive you. Everything has passed, no one will blame you..."

However, Robert, lying on the ground, continued to tremble incessantly. There was a long wound on his arm, apparently self-inflicted. Despite being pressed down by the Grey Mist, he still struggled to lift his other arm, inserting his fingers into the wound, continuously widening it, blood flowing out, filling the room with a bloody smell.

Seeing his actions, Schiller frowned. The current situation of Fastball Robert still had a certain relationship with him.

Before, in order to force certain politicians who intended to intervene in the Solar System construction plan to reveal their intentions, Schiller personally staged a drama where all superheroes sacrificed themselves, and the Iron Curtain was about to fall.

To kill Captain America, Schiller conspired with Baron Strucker, letting him send his own children, the Strucker twins, to ambush Captain America while he was investigating Spider-Man's death on the road, and use their special abilities to kill him.

The plan was arranged like this, but Schiller underestimated the unpredictability of mutants. In battles, they often followed their instincts more, not considering the current situation when using their abilities, and even forgetting the initial arrangements.

At the time of the ambush on Captain America, the plan was for the siblings to work together, with Havok sneaking up from behind to kill Captain America.

However, the younger brother of the Strucker twins had a natural ability to briefly control human consciousness. During the interference, he instinctively triggered this ability. He intended to control Fastball, attract Captain America's attention, and let them ambush from behind.

However, they underestimated Fastball's abilities. Captain America, caught off guard, was punched directly through the heart by Fastball, and died on the spot.

Among Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man, only Spider-Man's death was public. Currently, Peter also operated under the identity of the third-generation Spider-Man, while Captain America and Iron Man, because news of their deaths was not made public, had no talk of resurrection.

However, Fastball, who had killed Captain America himself, knew what had happened. Although Captain America later appeared in the public eye again, his death was by no means fake. He knew he had personally killed his idol.

Fastball outwardly appeared to be a very rebellious youth, but similarly, he was also a military enthusiast and a war buff. Therefore, he greatly admired Captain America, considering him as the spiritual emblem of the nation.

When Captain America approached them and asked them to investigate the Deathtruth of Spider-Man, although he seemed annoyed on the surface, deep down he was very excited. He never dreamed that he could fight side by side with his idol, just like some military enthusiasts discovering they could go to battle alongside historical generals.

However, reality dealt him a heavy blow. He was manipulated by the Strucker twins and killed Captain America. In the moment he regained consciousness, Fastball's inner self almost completely collapsed.

As for whom to blame for this incident, it could only be said that a series of coincidences led to it. When Schiller was devising the combat plan with the Strucker twins, it was almost detailed to every angle of attack. After all, he understood Captain America very well, knowing some of his combat habits, so naturally, he also knew from which angle to launch an attack to harm him.

Originally, the Strucker twins only wanted to use the burdens carried by Captain America to distract his attention. They controlled Fastball to deliver a punch that didn't use his full strength, just a feint.

But unexpectedly, Captain America, due to Spider-Man's death, was somewhat disoriented, and Fastball's abilities were very powerful. As a result, this tragedy occurred.

Actually, except for Fastball, this wasn't a tragedy for anyone else. After all, Captain America had Resurrectioned, and the deal between Schiller and Baron Strucker had ended, with both sides getting what they wanted. But every unexpected event in the plan accumulated on Fastball's head, leading to his complete mental breakdown.

Schiller looked at Robert on the ground, walked over, helped him up, and brought him to the bed. Looking at Robert's lifeless eyes, Schiller sighed again.

From the bedside table, Schiller took out a pair of gloves. After putting on the gloves on his right hand, he reached out and held Robert's arm, but instead of using bandages to dress his wound, he extended his fingers and pressed them on Robert's wound.

The intense pain made Robert let out a scream. There was a glimmer in his eye contact, but he didn't look at Schiller. Instead, he slowly turned his head to look out the window.

The standard of the Sanatorium's ward was very high, with a good view. At this moment, streaks of shuttles flew across the blue skyline of New York. Robert opened his mouth, but his hoarse voice prevented him from uttering a single word. Schiller understood what he wanted to ask, so he said:

"That's a shuttle, a newly launched mode of transportation. If you can leave the hospital early, you can take it home."

But soon, the expression on Robert's face returned to dullness. Schiller stimulated him with pain again, but this time, he remained conscious for an even shorter time.

In the original comic, during Fastball's pursuit of Nitro, a massive explosion occurred, resulting in 612 innocent casualties. Fastball was imprisoned, and when he came out, he counted these casualties on himself, hence creating an armor with 612 spikes.

The spikes of this armor pointed inward, causing blurred flesh when worn, bringing immense pain. Thus, he called himself the Penitent, believing that he would forever repent for the deaths of these innocent people.

Schiller's layout left no room for Nitro to maneuver. Spider-Man fought to protect the citizens around New York, and the explosion was relatively small, causing more building collapses than casualties. Although dozens were injured, they were only minor injuries caused by falling debris, and they had already been discharged from the hospital.

However, the tragedy of the Penitent occurred from another perspective. Robert couldn't easily emerge from the shadow of killing Captain America himself and embarked on the same path as the Penitent. He could only relieve his inner guilt through pain, much like Constantine.

Schiller sat in front of Robert's hospital bed, looking at his still somewhat youthful face, and slowly spoke in a low tone:

"Robert, I know you can hear me now. I have confessed to you long ago that all of this is my fault. My plan was not meticulous enough and didn't account for the unpredictability of mutants, leading to your mistake and injuring Captain America."

"I must apologize to you. This tragedy is not what I wanted to see. You may feel guilty just because you followed the concept that dead people cannot be resurrected, but in fact, Captain America did not die, and there is still room for redemption."

"You don't have to feel so guilty about this, because it wasn't voluntary on your part, and it didn't cause any serious consequences. You should break free from torturing yourself with that kind of common sense and face reality."

Schiller lowered his head, propped his elbows on his knees, and continued, "Perhaps you think I'm just consoling you as a matter of routine, but I want to tell you that I have had similar experiences and have walked to the edge of the cliff, which is even more dangerous than yours."

"I have also lived in a psychiatric hospital, or a place similar to a psychiatric hospital, for a long time. At that time, I was still young, and due to congenital mental problems, my mental state was extremely unstable."

"When I was hospitalized, the professional doctors hadn't arrived yet. The doctor who diagnosed me hadn't seen a case similar to mine and just prescribed medication according to the routine."

"However, my mental problems were far more serious than he thought. The medication was insufficient, and the sedative effect was insufficient, which led to... me suddenly losing control one day."

"I bit the nurse who had been taking care of me..." Schiller's fingertips trembled, then he said:

"From the beginning of my hospitalization, that nurse had been taking care of me meticulously. She made me, who was in a state of chaos, realize that normal humans have emotions, and also made me realize that kind humans have more abundant emotions than others..."

"So, I, like you... started to have self-harming tendencies."

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

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 1026: Startling Mundane Individuals (Part Three)