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The plan to find a few brains for the Symbiote to eat ultimately failed, because Schiller discovered that this Symbiote was not only enthusiastic about shouting that it was hungry, but also extremely picky about its food.

"What about him? I’d bet he has more than a dozen lives on his hands. This gangster scumbag…"

"No. His brain doesn’t smell good enough. I won’t eat it."

"What about him? Let me see, a slick lawyer who defended a serial killer. He should be smart, right?"

"He doesn’t taste good either. Not to my liking."

"What about this one? I heard he once robbed Manhattan’s largest bank…"

"He’d definitely be bitter."

Having found nothing, Schiller could only return to his psychological clinic and argue with the Symbiote in his head. "Why are you so picky? Can’t you just make do? Why can’t you eat a few ordinary criminals’ brains?"

"Then why don’t you drink American coffee?"

Schiller opened his mouth, unsure how to refute that. This Symbiote was getting smarter and smarter.

"Fine, but you at least have to tell me where you want to go for the espresso you like, right?"

The moment Schiller finished asking that question in his mind, the clinic door opened. Steve, fresh from his morning run, walked in, and the Symbiote said happily, "…The espresso is here."

Natasha followed behind Captain America. Before Schiller could speak, a yellow figure flew over. Natasha grabbed Pikachu and tossed him into Schiller’s arms. She said, "First of all, S.H.I.E.L.D. does not provide pet boarding services!"

"But the contract…"

"We just amended the contract. No boarding rodents!"

"That’s discrimination. Dogs and cats are allowed, so why not rodents?"

"Yeah!" Pikachu crossed his arms and chimed in. "Why not rodents?"

"Shut up!" the others all said at once.

"Now dogs and cats aren’t allowed either. We canceled that employee benefit, and everyone voted for it with both hands."

"I only left him there for a few days…"

"A few days??? You wanted to leave him there for several days??? Coulson went through six phones in seven days, Nick Fury used up all his annual leave on the spot and hid somewhere else, the United Nations officials who came to inspect the place hurried off before they’d even stayed two days, and even the Army lieutenant general who usually loved giving S.H.I.E.L.D. a hard time bought himself an economy-class ticket overnight and left…"

Natasha stood at the doorway with her hands on her hips. The female agent was clearly furious as well. She said, "The only good news is that the things he damaged and the compensation for the employees’ psychological distress can add another fifty percent to Nick’s reimbursement total on next month’s report…"

Schiller looked down at Pikachu. "I remember that before I left, you promised me you’d behave…"

He grabbed Pikachu’s two tiny hands and stared him down. Pikachu stared back with his round black eyes, looking extremely innocent. Then he wrinkled his nose and jumped onto the sofa.

"PIKA—PIKA!"

"You’ve been gone quite a while this time," Steve said as he sat on the sofa.

"So, has anything major happened lately?"

"Nothing major, but there’s been a whole pile of minor troubles."

"Oh?" Schiller asked as he washed cups at the kitchen sink. "What kind of trouble?"

"Stark and the military have completely fallen out," Natasha said. "Apparently, he found conclusive evidence that the military planned the Afghanistan kidnapping. Though I think it was Obadiah’s scheme to drive them apart."

"You mean Obadiah was actually the one who planned it, then framed the military? Did he really hate the idea of Stark Industries working with the military that much?"

"Obadiah is like a hen guarding her eggs. He won’t allow anyone to lay a finger on Stark Industries. Whoever dares touch his life’s work, he’ll find every possible way to get rid of them."

"Even before Stark was kidnapped, Obadiah had already been under considerable pressure from the military. The military’s appetite has no limits. They wanted too much, even reaching into Stark Industries’ core interests. Obadiah had disliked them for a long time."

"At first, they really were only buying ordinary weapons. But Stark Industries’ weapons were too effective, and the military wanted their technology so they could adapt it and manufacture it themselves. Of course Obadiah wouldn’t allow that."

Natasha leaned back on the sofa as well. Steve poured her a glass of water, and Natasha said, "Thank you."

Then Steve said, "But I still think it’s absurd. Just to damage Stark’s relationship with the military, he had terrorists kidnap Stark?"

"Obadiah is very clever. He knew that sooner or later, Stark would create astonishing technology. He had to give Stark a reason never to compromise with the military, so that the work of half his life wouldn’t be stolen by them."

"As long as Stark, who held the core technology, refused to yield even in death, then at the very least, Stark Industries’ core technology would be preserved."

"But that came at the cost of his nephew’s safety."

"Obadiah wouldn’t care about that." Natasha lit a cigarette, then asked, "You don’t mind if I smoke, do you?"

"Go ahead," Schiller said.

Natasha looked at Steve, and Steve said, "I don’t smoke, but plenty of people smoked on the battlefield. I don’t mind."

The female agent slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke. She seemed to be under considerable pressure as well. Stark’s complete break with the military was not entirely good news for S.H.I.E.L.D.

The current situation was this: S.H.I.E.L.D. and the military had never gotten along because of disputes over military budget allocations and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s absurdly broad law enforcement authority.

The conflict between Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. mainly stemmed from his father, as well as Stark’s reluctance to be controlled by an official organization.

The primary conflict between Stark and the military was the military’s excessive greed and Stark’s refusal to let his inventions be used for war.

None of the three wanted to see the other two join forces, because one of those two would inevitably be their enemy. If that enemy’s power grew stronger, things would certainly get worse for them.

But neither did they want any two sides to completely fall out, because once two sides broke apart and started fighting on the spot, the third side would inevitably have to clean up the mess.

Schiller said meaningfully, "Stark falling out with the military probably wasn’t solely Obadiah’s doing, was it?"

Natasha said, "That’s classified. I don’t have the authority… Fine, it’s not really much of a secret. Stark wanted to cooperate with the military on medical technology and exoskeletons, but you know the military didn’t want those things at all. They wanted bigger weapons, weapons with greater firepower."

"So S.H.I.E.L.D. used that to drive a wedge between them?"

Natasha tapped off some ash. "We only gave them a gentle push from behind. More importantly, Obadiah had laid the groundwork long ago."

Steve asked in confusion, "Couldn’t Stark realize that this might be Obadiah’s scheme?"

"Maybe he did, but he’s Tony Stark," Schiller said.

Natasha shook her head. "Obadiah knows his nephew too well. If Stark could blame everything on the military while preserving the bond between uncle and nephew, then Stark would definitely choose to deceive himself and direct all his anger at the military."

"More importantly…" Schiller poured himself a glass of water as well. "Obadiah is still lying unconscious in the hospital. He has become the victim."

"And whoever the victim says is the murderer becomes the murderer."

Steve sighed. "When Howard founded Stark Industries, perhaps he never imagined this day would come."

"Perhaps he did. At the very least, he must have known that his brilliant mind and the technology in his hands would attract people with ulterior motives," Schiller said.

"The situation is ready to explode. Stark’s attitude is extremely firm. He even slammed the table with a group of Admirals. General Johnson’s affair was exposed, and the military has begun to distrust Hammer Industries as well. They’re desperate to force Stark to back down."

"How do you think this will ultimately be resolved? By force?" Schiller asked Natasha.

The female agent shook her head. "They’ve already fought once. General Johnson lost. Even an army of robots couldn’t do anything to Stark, and Stark somehow got hold of Nano-Armor technology. If he handed one of those out to everyone like cigarettes, that would be a disaster."

"The military is in a hurry, but they don’t dare act recklessly. I think it will ultimately return to the negotiating table for an exchange of interests."

"They’ll have to fight another round first," Schiller said. "The military won’t be willing to sit at the negotiating table so quickly, because they know that if they don’t hit Stark hard, they won’t have any bargaining chips to trade for Stark Industries’ technology."

"At least we’re allies for the moment," Natasha said. "Stark needs S.H.I.E.L.D. to bear part of the pressure for him."

"What do you want? His Nano-Armor technology?"

"I don’t know. That depends on Director Fury’s intentions. But S.H.I.E.L.D.’s path is different from the military’s. Even if we obtained a large number of Nano-Armors, we wouldn’t have enough personnel to equip. Agents aren’t suited to wearing those things. Maybe Nick has other plans."

"Has he never considered having Stark make armor tailored specifically for agents?"

Natasha stubbed out her cigarette, then said, "You don’t really understand how agents work. Put simply, for work that requires armor, one more suit doesn’t increase the success rate by much. And for work that doesn’t require armor, wearing armor won’t bring any major improvement either."

"Agents aren’t superheroes. Most of us make our living with our brains."

"Brains! Food!" the Symbiote shouted in Schiller’s head.

"So the medical cooperation between Stark and the military has stalled too?" Schiller asked.

"It hadn’t really gotten started in the first place. Stark wasn’t directly providing technology. The two sides were conducting joint research and development. The military had already brought in some experts, while Stark provided part of the technical information and financial support. Of course, the cooperation has probably ended now."

"Were there any results?"

Natasha shook her head. "Scientific research isn’t child’s play. How could they achieve anything major in such a short time?"

Steve said, "If they could truly unite and work together, perhaps many soldiers would benefit from it."

"That’s impossible. Before they decide who comes out on top, neither side is willing to give ground. They both think they can claim greater benefits. This is merely an exchange of interests, not something meant to truly benefit anyone."

Steve looked unhappy again. He said, "I understand the logic. Before they can truly begin comprehensive cooperation, both sides have to test each other countless times, until they discover the other’s bottom line. Only then can they possibly establish a cooperative relationship."

"But sometimes I think that if we could really put technology and financial resources where they ought to go, we could save many more people. If everyone believes this kind of pointless waste is necessary, and I don’t stop it, then who will sympathize with those who cannot be saved because these resources were squandered?"

"Captain, I understand that you have a compassionate heart, but you don’t need to take this kind of fault upon yourself as well," Schiller said.

"I just think we could do better. And I have a bad feeling," Steve said, pursing his lips.

"Those they believe have long since lost the ability to speak will someday have someone stand up for them. And when that day comes, the way they speak will not be by politely asking with words."