Chapter 34: The Young Hero (Part 1)

"You said you were going to shut down Stark's weapons manufacturing department?" Schiller asked.

"But you shouldn't have come to me to talk about this." Schiller continued.

Stark covered his forehead with some distress. He said, "Because of what you did, Pepper has received thousands of employee complaints these days. She has to re-establish the entire employee welfare system and is very busy."

"Actually, this is not the point." Schiller said, "If you want to talk, she is always willing to listen."

Stark touched his nose and did not reply.

After a while, he said, "Okay, I know how much pressure my decision will bring to her. I know I am a damn selfish ghost. I know that she has helped me enough. I know I shouldn't do this, but I have no choice."

Schiller spread out the notebook at hand, and he said as he wrote, "Let me think about it. What you want to do now is like sentencing a gun to death."

"But my weapons have killed many people."

"Weapons have no choice." Schiller said.

"Do you expect them all to be like Jarvis? They will speak and protest to you. Do you think they like going to Afghanistan? Or do you think that a bullet is produced with the lifelong ideal of killing others on the battlefield?"

Stark sat in silence opposite him. He said fragilely: "I admit that I blame all this on the weapons because I know that I am the culprit, but I can't judge myself."

"But I also know that Mr. Stark, you can't judge yourself, not because you want to live in disgrace, but because you think you have the ability to make up for it. When there is a crisis, only you have the ability to save the world and turn the tide. Out of this sense of responsibility, you do these things."

"But let me be frank, have you ever thought about finding a reason for something? A responsible person or thing, and judge them, is actually a rather arbitrary and reckless idea. "

"But the occurrence of an event always has its root."

"But this root may not be right or wrong. You should know better than me that the world is not black and white. You found the thing you think should be responsible, and it did not make the whole thing better. You think the weapon should be responsible, so you want to close the entire weapons manufacturing department, and then let Pepper not want to sleep for a few nights, so that many employees will lose their jobs, and even those on the battlefield will not be grateful to you."

"Is the pain brought by this tracing to the bottom really worth it?"

Stark looked very painful, and his facial features were almost wrinkled together. If Spider-Man's transformation is like a grand firework, then Stark's transformation may be the inward collapse of a terminal star.

Now Stark doesn't know what kind of dispute he will have with Steve over the same issue, thus destroying the entire Avengers.

"My brain tells me that I can't help but think about right and wrong." Stark said.

"Well, in that case, your brain is responsible for this. If it doesn't want to let you go, you should go find trouble with it. This is the theory you insist on, isn't it?"

"Ask your brain, is there any way to achieve what you want without hurting the people around you? This is the answer it should give you, because it is what makes you so miserable."

Stark didn't feel any better. He leaned back in his chair and said, "Look, I'm a fool. I hired a devil doctor, a Satan, for $1 million an hour..."

"Your damn psychological treatment has never brought me any positive changes. Every time I leave you, I feel more uncomfortable."

Stark said almost gritting his teeth.

Schiller rarely joked with him. He said, "You can use me as a catalyst. You will understand later..."

"Thinking will bring pain. No one can avoid it. I'll give you a shot in advance. You will feel much better in the future. You will thank me."

Stark drew a cross on his chest and said, "If you continue to be so arrogant, you will almost surpass Howard's position in my heart."

"This is the first time I've heard you mention your father on your own initiative, but this is very rare. Most people prefer to call their mother when they are in pain."

Stark slammed the table hard. He didn't want to admit that he mentioned his father because he was uncomfortable.

He was not a fledgling who needed shelter. The eagle that flew off the cliff and never came back was not someone he should think of when he was desperate and in pain.

Schiller said, "Perhaps because of this, you will make a mecha for yourself. You wear that iron shell wherever you go. You think it can protect you. Only when you wear it, you will be the most powerful Iron Man.

"But I have to say that if you can't learn to take it off, you will never be a real Iron Man. "

Schiller had thought about it before. Stark and Batman are really a bit similar. Their growth experiences and educational backgrounds are strangely similar. When they face certain problems, the methods they choose are also surprisingly consistent.

Make a bunch of weapons that no one else can make for yourself, and then arm yourself with them, thinking that you will be extremely powerful, and then when you find that this can't actually solve all problems, you fall into a painful struggle.

Schiller wrote and drew on the notebook, and Stark said, "What are you writing?"

"Steve's psychological treatment is temporarily over, so Natasha took the monitor back, and I had to write the case for you by hand."

Stark narrowed his eyes and said, "Did you write down everything I just said?"

"Nothing else, but I remember the sentence you called dad very clearly."

"Five million US dollars."

Schiller threw the notebook directly in front of Stark, who picked up the lighter and lit it. He cursed in a low voice: "Why did I believe in the evil of a damn vampire doctor?"

"It's getting late, you should go back, and the quarrel with Miss Pepper can't be solved by hiding outside." Schiller said.

Stark obviously didn't want to leave at all. He said, "That Spider-boy can live here, why can't I? I don't even dislike your shabby place. You are lucky enough to make breakfast for the genius Stark."

"Yeah, and then Miss Pepper worked overtime alone in the Stark Building. The employees had left long ago. The building was dark and cold... Oh, Jarvis might accompany her. I heard that Jarvis also has feelings. Maybe he can understand Miss Pepper's loss better than you."

Stark couldn't sit still immediately. He jumped up from the chair, put on his coat and said, "I won't be jealous of my smart butler, never."

Schiller helped him open the door of the clinic and said, "Yes, of course, of course, God bless Jarvis."

After Stark left the clinic, he was in a very bad mood, and all kinds of thoughts were a mess in his mind.

He had long accepted the fact that geniuses are lonely, and he had lived most of his life this way. He always felt that he lived a good life, rich, smart, and had enough capital to realize the value of life. Excessive sense of responsibility would not make him feel distressed, but he had never felt that he needed company so much as today.

He rarely called for the armor, and even turned off his mobile phone. He walked slowly through the street and came to the dilapidated bus stop. The driver of the last bus had a strong smell of smoke, which made Stark uncomfortable, but he still walked up and found a seat to sit down.

Thanks to Schiller's notorious reputation, few people dared to mess around in the nearby neighborhood. Stark took the bus safely and left Hell's Kitchen. On the streets of New York, he stopped a taxi and got in.

"Stark Building." Stark said.

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror. He didn't realize that this was the owner of the Stark Group. After all, when Stark was on TV, he was always energetic, but now he looked more like a frustrated middle-aged dog.

The taxi carried Stark through the cold neon lights of New York. The street scene quickly receded in sight. The jazz music played in the taxi matched the late autumn in New York. Stark sat in the back seat, with his hands on his knees and his face covered.

He thought to himself, okay, okay, I am just such a fragile little boy, not a great hero at all. I just want to see Pepper now, and then give her a hug, and save the world to hell.

Stark never wanted to admit his childishness. He would rather call it innocence, the innocence that belongs only to geniuses.

But it must be admitted that in everyone's life, there must be someone who plays such a role, like a homing eagle, sheltering the chicks under their wings.

Pepper is just an ordinary person, not an eagle or a raptor, but when Stark, the hungry chick, feels cold, he still wants to get under her feathers.

After getting off the car, Stark almost couldn't wait to run to the building. He knew that the office on the top floor must still be lit, and Pepper would work there until late at night.

Stark ran to the elevator quickly. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Like a young man who had just started his career, he rubbed his hands nervously in the elevator and kept stepping on the spot. When the elevator door opened, he rushed out quickly.

He wanted to say something to Pepper, he should say something.

But there was no light on the whole floor. Stark turned around in place and he couldn't see any office with lights on. This was very abnormal.

"Pepper, Pepper, are you there?" Stark shouted loudly.

But the only answer he got was the echoes in the office. Stark hammered the glass door next to him and shouted: "Jarvis? Are you there? Jarvis, where have you been?"

He was also answered by silence.

Stark was really panicking now. If Jarvis didn't respond to him, it meant that he was probably kidnapped or his power supply was cut off. If someone really did that, then their target must be Pepper.

Stark ran quickly in the office and ran to the office that Pepper often used.

But Stark without the mecha is just an ordinary person, without night vision. If Jarvis doesn't respond, the smart lighting system of his entire office will not light up.

Stark just rushed in and was tripped by an office chair that was turned sideways. After he got up, he found that he couldn't see the surroundings clearly, let alone check any details.

He opened his mouth to call the mecha, but without Jarvis, the mecha's smart remote control would not respond.

Stark was really a little collapsed. He suddenly realized that everything he thought he was in control of did not belong to him. After losing that shell, Iron Man was just an ordinary person who couldn't see in the dark.

His voice was trembling, and he began to rummage around on Pepper's desk in the dark. He whispered to himself as if to comfort himself: "Damn it, she will be fine... This is Stark Building, no one can break the defense here, I am Stark..."

Suddenly, the lights on the whole floor lit up, and Stark was dazzled. He covered his eyes and turned around, and found that Pepper appeared at the door of the office with a remote control, and Stark stayed where he was.

Before Pepper could speak, Stark rushed over and hugged her. Pepper had never seen Stark so frightened.

She heard Stark repeating: "I knew you would be fine... Of course you would be fine..."

Pepper sighed. This fledgling, which was almost bigger than an eagle, was so hideous, but so irresistible.

Now let's go back a little bit, back to when Stark had just left the clinic, Schiller received a call from Pepper.