Chapter 1040: Startling Ordinary People (Seventeen) (Patreon)

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"Peter, do you think Harry is the kind of person who is arrogant, stubborn, and never listens to others' opinions?" Schiller asked Peter, watching him gradually calm down.

Peter turned his head slightly, looking aside, like anyone who had cried until they had no strength left. He replied somewhat dully, "No, of course not. Quite the opposite, actually. Harry is rather good at listening to others' opinions, whereas sometimes I can be stubborn..."

Peter sniffed again, his eyebrows drooping, looking as aggrieved as a golden retriever whose owner hadn't called it for dinner.

"But today he seems like a completely different person. I presented facts, reasoned with him, proposed various solutions, I endured my confusion and grievance, tried to focus on the issues at hand, wanted to deal with the problem, but he kept refusing, as if he was deliberately looking for trouble..." Peter's voice grew lower and lower, as if he felt speaking ill of someone behind their back wasn't right.

"Why do you think he suddenly changed like this?" Schiller asked again.

Peter sat silently in place, then shook his head forcefully, saying, "I really can't figure it out. It's only been two days, how could he change so much?"

"Do you remember when I analyzed Steve's condition before, and asked you about any changes in your morning routine? That's precisely the key here. What changed between you and Harry compared to two days ago?"

"What changed?" Peter muttered softly, pondering. He said, "I don't think anything changed for me. I'm still me, and he's still him..."

Schiller noticed Peter's attention was somewhat scattered, so he didn't immediately realize the problem. Therefore, he further reminded, "What were your roles when you met two days ago, and what are your roles now?"

"Um, two days ago we were classmates and friends, and two days later, I was Spider-Man, and he called himself Green Goblin. That name sounds like a villain from a comic."

"That's where the problem lies. Two days ago, you could communicate calmly because you were equal friends, but this time it's different."

"What's different? We're still friends!" Peter emphasized repeatedly, "I've always treated him as a friend, and a best friend at that!"

But Schiller shook his head, looking into his eyes, saying, "Think about it, what were your intentions when you first caught up to Green Goblin?"

"I... I was obviously trying to stop criminals..." Peter's voice grew quieter as he spoke, then he swallowed and continued, "I didn't know he was Harry at the time. I even yelled, 'Damn criminals, you won't get away with bombings!'..."

"But it's not my fault!" Peter suddenly became somewhat agitated. He said, "Recently, there have been too many lunatics trying to bomb the aerial transport lines on the road. I thought this weirdo was one of them. If I knew he was Harry, I definitely wouldn't have..."

"Are you sure you wouldn't?" Schiller asked, "If Harry really went crazy and turned into someone who wants to hurt people, wouldn't you punish him?"

"I..." Peter hesitated suddenly, then shook his head and said, "That's not possible. Harry wouldn't turn into that kind of person. He's a good guy."

"Harry just wanted to attract me this time. He threw his bombs into the river, and they were far away from pedestrians on the Brooklyn Bridge. He would never turn into that kind of lunatic!" Peter said firmly.

Schiller nodded, not arguing with him, but continued, "When you didn't know his identity, you treated him as a criminal, so you intervened. But after you both revealed your identities to each other, did you break free from the relationship of a vigilante of justice and an evil criminal?"

"Of course we did!" Peter immediately replied, but then hesitated, saying, "I... I'm sure we did, Harry..."

"Peter, think about it. Why didn't Harry just invite you out directly when he found out his father might deal with you? Or give you a call to discuss it? Why did he have to create such a big commotion, turning into a criminal to attract you?"

Peter pondered silently, while Schiller kept guiding him with words, "Peter, you have an extraordinary memory, so you must remember every detail of this incident. Recall them all, don't miss any clues."

With Schiller's guidance, Peter slowly closed his eyes, and then his brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Every frame of the scene kept flashing before his eyes until one scene stopped in front of him.

It was the moment when Spider-Man took off Green Goblin's mask, and Harry looked into his eyes.

"Disappointed..." Peter murmured softly, "He felt disappointed, right when I took off his mask..."

Then, Peter woke up from his thoughts, somewhat puzzled, "Why would he feel disappointed? Why would he feel disappointed in me?"

"Perhaps he isn't disappointed in you," Schiller reminded again, "If he felt disappointed in you as a person, he wouldn't wait until now to bring it up. Perhaps you wouldn't have become such good friends at all..."

"Putting yourself aside, he's feeling disappointed in some of your actions," Schiller's words left Peter even more puzzled. He racked his brains, about to ask, but Schiller continued:

"Do you feel like everything is a bit inexplicable? The inexplicable hostility, the inexplicable disappointment, the inexplicable talk of breaking off the friendship. Do you think things shouldn't have escalated to this point?"

"His motives are unclear, his behavior is unclear, and the interest he would gain from doing this is also unclear. When these three factors all have unexplainable parts, it only indicates one thing. I've told you before, Peter..."

Peter suddenly looked up, staring directly into Schiller's eyes. "He's hiding something, I mean, Harry might be hiding something!"

Peter immediately stood up, saying, "No, I have to go ask him."

But soon, Peter hesitated again, appearing somewhat anxious. He bit his finger and said, "If I go now, we'll definitely end up arguing, maybe even fighting. If I can't control myself... what should I do?"

"In fact, your initial approach was correct," Schiller also stood up, looking Peter in the eyes. "You can definitely go talk to Mr. Osborn. You have that right."

"Even if it's not for his son, as someone who holds hundreds of patents and is even a researcher in advanced scientific research, you have the capital to negotiate with Osborne. Even if you wanted to change jobs, he'd have to set aside a whole morning just to meet with you."

Peter suddenly realized, saying, "Right! Correct! Uncle Osborne told me before, if I wanted to join Osborn Industries, I had to go see him. He's very willing to talk with me about the future direction of human technology."

Peter started pacing again, saying, "So, I'll use that as a reason. Besides, I was already considering working in the laboratory at Osborn Industries. I can first talk to him about employment issues and then subtly ask him about what's really going on... Yes! That's what I'll do!"

Peter rushed out, and Schiller, who was familiar with comic plotlines and understood the current situation, knew that Osborne had no reason to hide anything from Peter.

If he tried to play the sympathy card with a genetic disease, trying to lure Peter into working for him, that sly old fox would surely see through it immediately.

At the same time, Schiller felt relieved by Peter's judgment. He could see that Mr. Osborne was a very pure businessman. Based on this judgment, he could formulate his own strategy, which was a far cry from when he first started out, full of eagerness to fight.

If Mr. Osborne was willing to be honest, then this matter wasn't really a big deal.

Actually, Harry's awkwardness stemmed from his high-handed attitude all along. He didn't want to show weakness to Spider-Man, he didn't want to ask Peter for help with his genetic disease, and he didn't even want to confess it to him, nor did he want Peter's sympathy.

This also had to do with Harry's upbringing. Without thinking, Norman Osborne's education of his son must have been about shaping a perfect individual, meaning being excellent, good at socializing, never showing weakness. This applied not only to strangers but even more so to his best friend.

Harry didn't want to confess his genetic disease to Peter, but he kept worrying. What if he went crazy in the future? How would Peter react? After all, he had just found out that Peter was Spider-Man, a righteous partner, and a good friend of New York citizens.

Under this awkward psychological control, he put on his uniform, put on his mask, pretending to be a super criminal, trying to test Spider-Man's reaction.

When Spider-Man used his righteous fist against him, he felt disappointed, thinking that Peter would definitely not show favoritism, and their relationship was destined to be a tragedy.

So, he rejected all the proposals Peter put forward, holding an attitude of 'better to end it now than to drag it out', wanting to break off with him.

Actually, Harry had fallen into a misconception that many people would fall into, just like a line from a sketch comedy, "Using lies to verify lies, you'll only get lies."

The process of testing human nature is actually constructing a virtual scenario.

Like the classic trolley problem, everything is false, it hasn't happened yet, it doesn't really exist in reality, so any answers obtained only have philosophical significance and are not perfect enough to guide actions in reality.

Harry, because of the worries he imagined, used a false identity to construct a scenario, to test Spider-Man, and then took this philosophical conclusion seriously. He even planned to use this result as a basis for action, naturally leading to deeper misunderstandings.

In reality, with the development of science and technology, emergency stop devices are installed on trolleys all over the world, and the majority of untrained ordinary people can't even switch the trolley track.

The genetic disease of the Osborne family, from the perspective of current science and technology, is nothing. If worse comes to worst, there's still magic. The whole world wouldn't let Osborne die, so old Osborne isn't in a hurry.

Schiller knew that Mr. Osborne was a smart person. With just a hint from Peter, he could figure out what was really going on with his son.

Although this kind of patriarch might not be willing to sit down and talk with his children, as long as he told Peter the truth, Peter would naturally have the patience to persuade Harry.

After dealing with Peter's problem, Schiller breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like he could finally rest for a while.

Actually, he didn't feel tired at all right now, just very satisfied, feeling that his recent life was very fulfilling.

Because, he used his superb medical skills to deal with his friends' psychological problems, and in this process, the pain they confided in, the emotions they expressed, were all very valuable treasures to him.

Schiller sat on the sofa with his eyes half-closed, like a dragon lying in a pile of gold coins. Although the process of collecting coins was tiring, the harvest made him very satisfied, feeling very pleased.

He reached for another can of beer from beside him, opened the can, and skillfully poured it into his mouth.

"Exquisite medical skills, right?" Schiller muttered with satisfaction with his eyes half-closed, "As long as they don't have any problems, this kind of harvest will be endless..."

As soon as he finished speaking, his mobile phone rang again. He answered the phone and heard JARVIS's slightly anxious voice on the other end:

"Dr. Schiller! Please come over quickly! Something big has happened!"

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

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 1041: Shocking Mundane World (Eighteen)