Chapter 97 The Little Expert Who Sows Dissension

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In Stark's laboratory, a mech robot took out a piping hot pizza from the oven and placed it in front of Peter. Stark snapped his fingers and said, "My latest invention! I finally figured out how to make the mech robot help me heat up pizza. It uses the same intelligent algorithm as the oven, which provides real-time temperature data to it..."

Peter opened his mouth and took a deep breath, then said, "Why use a multi-million dollar mech robot instead of buying a cheap oven mitt?"

Stark waved his hand and said, "You don't understand. The data on the oven is too complex. How would I know how much to heat it for so it won't get burnt? It's a complete mystery. I hate these mystical things. It's much more convenient to use a mech robot and intelligent program."

Peter looked at the pizza and thought it was still edible. He reached for it, but ended up burning his hand. He cried out in pain and said, "But I still need an oven mitt. This is too hot!"

"Then wait for it to cool down before eating. We can talk in the meantime."

Peter said, "Okay, my homework isn't done anyway."

He took out a stack of books from his backpack. Stark glanced over and said, "What's there to write about in these? It's a complete insult to your intelligence."

"I have to do it. I'm a good student. I've never handed in my homework late since I was young."

"Okay, write if you want to." Stark stretched his neck and watched Peter do his homework. He seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

Peter focused on writing for a while, then looked up and saw Stark staring at him. They stared at each other for a moment, and Peter said, "What's wrong, Mr. Stark? Did I write something wrong?"

"Uh...nothing's wrong. I mean, your handwriting could be a little neater. Why don't you try practicing calligraphy or something? You know, those fancy circular characters..."

"I can't do that. We're not allowed to write in cursive during exams, at least not in this state. Mr. Stark, do you know how to write in cursive?"

"I certainly can."

"It doesn't count if you're wearing a mech suit while writing..."

Stark pursed his lips and said, "Actually, I have a question for you..."

"What question? I'm happy to answer."

"Never mind, the pizza's getting cold, you should eat first."

Peter picked up the pizza with some confusion. It was made by the Italian chef yesterday and frozen, so it only needed to be heated up the next day. The taste was indeed not bad.

Peter was a bit hungry and ate a whole slice of pizza in a rush, while Stark sat across from him, resting his head on his hand. Peter asked while eating, "Aren't you going to eat? It's pretty good."

"No, I'm not hungry."

But Peter really enjoyed his food. He always took a big bite and chewed it slowly, making his cheeks bulge like a hamster. Stark watched him and also became a bit hungry, so he grabbed a slice of pizza too.

While eating, he asked, "If... I mean, if you wanted to help someone, what would you do?"

"Help someone? Then just help them. What's the problem? If there's any difficulty, then solve it first before helping."

"But...it's just...there's some hesitation..."

"What hesitation?" Peter looked up at Stark with some confusion and saw his expression was a bit conflicted. Peter said, "If you want to help, then just help. If you hesitate, it's probably because you don't really want to help."

Stark's chewing stopped. Obviously, Peter hit the nail. He said, "It's not that I don't want to help, I do want to help him, because...anyway, it's a good thing. He wants to do something good, but if he does it himself..."

"It might take a long, long time..." "Since it's a good thing, then help him, what's the problem? Can't you do good deeds anymore?"

"But it makes me feel... well, a bit embarrassed, you know..." Stark flipped his hand and said, "I am Stark after all! I can't just go up to him and say, 'Hey, the great Stark is here to help you, do you want it or not?'"

"You'll get beaten up." Peter said, taking another bite of pizza and asked vaguely, "So if you say that, will he be willing?"

"It's because he probably won't, that's why I'm conflicted."

"He doesn't want your help, but you insist on helping, is that what you mean?"

"I'm not insisting on helping!" Stark raised his voice and said, "There's no one or nothing in this world that Stark must help!"

"Then don't help, if others don't need your help and you don't have to force yourself to help, just mind your own business."

Stark covered his forehead and said, "No! I mean... I want to help him, just... but not necessarily... forget it, I knew this wouldn't be useful, Schiller actually sent me to ask you, this stupid kid. That damn vampire doctor of his, just a couple of sentences and he wants to charge me millions of dollars, I should have seen through his true face long ago..."

"Dr. Schiller asked you to ask me? Why? What's so difficult about this question? If you want to help, then help, if you don't want to, then don't. If someone wants you to help, then help, if not, then don't."

"Never mind, you're just a kid, you don't understand the rules of adults..."

"Oh, I see, actually you want him to beg you for help, right?"

"Nonsense, I don't think like that!"

Peter spoke while chewing pizza, "You want to help him, but you don't want to lower yourself. It's best if he can come to you for help. This way, you can do a good deed without losing face."

Stark buried his head in pizza and didn't answer.

Peter said, "I do good deeds simply because I want to, not for the sake of face. Actually, I don't like some reporters always chasing after me. They think they're reporting on a good person doing good things, but I'm only worried that the aftermath of the battles will affect them. That's not impossible."

"Anyway, in my opinion, doing good deeds and helping others isn't embarrassing at all. You can simply approach them and say, 'I want to help you.' There's no shame in that. Even if you can't ultimately help them, at least you have good intentions."

Peter paused and continued, "Some people may not really want your help, but just knowing that you stand with them and they're not alone in the fight is enough."

"Not alone..." Stark said softly.

Peter said, "Yes, that's really important. Sometimes it's like what you guys did for me."

"When I need to find someone, I can always find them. This makes me confident in everything I do. It feels great."

"Like before, when the teacher asked for my parents' phone number, I couldn't give them my uncle and aunt's number, but I could think of several names. And I know that these people will definitely come."

"Why did you choose me instead of them?"

"I don't know. The first thing that came to my mind was the phone number of Stark Tower. Maybe because it's easier to remember."

"Or maybe because I'm the best to you, kid! Those people definitely won't let you eat so much pizza. They'll only tell you how many calories are in the cheese, and eating a whole piece is like running several kilometers!"

Peter suddenly stopped swallowing and said, "Oh no, I just made a fitness plan yesterday, and now I've eaten so much. I'll become as fat as Pikachu!"

He lamented, "My growth period of strength has passed, I must control my diet, otherwise, even the toughest spider silk won't be able to move my body!"

Stark swallowed the last piece of pizza and said, "Let's go. Do you know what activity will burn the most calories? It's saving the world, especially with Stark."

In a therapy room, Schiller was on the phone with Nick, saying, "I don't know anything about this. How do I know the level of their serum development?"

[ShaneFreak: This is one sided conversation of Schiller...]

"Last time, I wanted to go into Conner's and Peter's lab, but I violated over 200 experimental regulations within three minutes of entering the door. They just kicked me out, and I didn't even get to see a test tube..."

"Indeed, I studied medicine, but to learn psychology, you have to learn neurology. That was back in college, who can remember that? We only study the theoretical knowledge in textbooks and don't need to go to the lab..."

"You can't expect a psychologist to crack open your skull or mix up some hallucinogens for you..."

"...I don't know about that, but I heard the tone of Dr. Conner's lately... you know, he and Stark don't get along, and with Stark's mouth, who can stand him?"

"A couple of days ago, Conner's even said that when it comes to biotechnology, it's Osborn Group that's stronger. Of course, he said that behind Stark's back. He doesn't know it's normal."

"I think it's about the same. If I were Conner's, I would choose the Osborn Group too. The Osborn Group and the Stark Group are at odds. If he helped the Osborn Group develop a cure serum, Stark would definitely be angry."

"...The military and Osborn Group's collaboration? I don't know about that. You guys should have more intelligence about the military side, right?"

"But even if Dr. Conner's and the Osborn Group collaborate, their achievements may not necessarily fall into the hands of the military. I think you're worrying too much. Besides, a small cure serum won't be enough for the military to turn the tide, right?"

"Prevention is better than cure?" Schiller switched ears with his phone and said casually, "I think you're overthinking it. But it's none of my business anyway. Even if the military's power is strengthened, it's not my bad luck..."

"Deduct my salary? That's a bit too much! I only receive basic wages..."

"What about the profits? Well, you stingy miser. Let me tell you, if Osborn Group gets hold of that serum, they will be on par with the military. They won't have to worry about being infiltrated and controlled by the military anymore. They will definitely use the cure serum as a bargaining chip and cooperate more deeply with the military..."

"Although I don't understand much about biotechnology, those military technologies should be quite useful. If they bite back during the final negotiations, S.H.I.E.L.D. will suffer for a few days..."

"Persuade Connors? How do I do that? You might as well try to persuade Stark. If Stark sends an invitation to Connors first, he might agree. Compared to Osborn, Stark leans more towards S.H.I.E.L.D. If S.H.I.E.L.D. has both Stark and the cure serum, the military will definitely be defeated."

"But it's really troublesome. You know, those lunatics from the Tartu party are capable of anything. They have already created such a huge monster. What if they kidnapped Dr. Connors? How much bargaining chip will a genius scientist who can research a cure serum add to their negotiation table?"

Suddenly, there was a noisy sound from Nick's phone, and then Schiller heard Nick roaring, "What do you mean Dr. Connors is still missing? Damn it! Don't think I don't know it was those Tartu people who did it! Tell them, don't think S.H.I.E.L.D. is unaware of their damn plans! We have evidence! If they dare to do anything, I'll report it to the Security Council immediately!" (XD)

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