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Chapter 82: | Recent Changes

After trying various plans to find some brains for the symbiote to eat, they ultimately failed because Schiller discovered that the symbiote not only actively demanded food, but also had extremely picky tastes.

"You see him? I bet he has killed more than ten people. He's a thug in this gang..."

"No, his brain doesn't smell good enough, I won't eat it."

"What about him? I heard he used to rob the largest bank in Manhattan..."

"He must be bitter."

In the end, they returned to Schiller at the Psychological Clinic empty-handed and argued with the symbiote in his mind: "Why are you so picky? Can't you just compromise and eat a few ordinary criminals' brains?"

"Why don't you drink American coffee?"

Schiller opened his mouth, unsure how to refute. The symbiote was becoming smarter and smarter.

"Fine, but you have to tell me where you want to go to drink your desired espresso."

Just as Schiller finished this sentence in his mind, the door of the clinic rang, and Steve, who had just finished his morning run, walked in. The symbiote happily said, "Espresso has arrived."(XD)

Following Captain America was Natasha. Before Schiller could speak, a yellow figure flew over, and Natasha threw Pikachu into Schiller's arms, saying, "First of all, SHIELD does not provide pet care services!"

"But the contract..."

"We just modified the contract. No rodents allowed!" (XD)

"This is discrimination. Why are dogs and cats allowed, but not mice?"

"Yeah!" Pikachu chimed in, hugging its arms. "Why not mice?"

"Shut up!" the others said in unison.

"Now even dogs and cats are not allowed. We canceled this employee benefit, and everyone agreed with it."

"I just left it there for a few days..."

"A few days??? Coulson changed six mobile phones in seven days, Nick Fury used up all his vacation time and ran away, the UN leaders who came to inspect didn't stay for two days and left in a hurry. Even the Lieutenant General who always likes to make trouble for SHIELD bought an economy class ticket and left overnight with his own money..."

Natasha stood at the door, hands on her hips. This female agent was obviously very angry. "The only good news is that the amount of reimbursement for the things he broke and the employees' loss of morale can increase Nick's report length next month by 50%..."

Schiller lowered his head and said to Pikachu, "I remember before I left, you promised me that you would behave well..."

He held Pikachu's two small hands and stared into his big, innocent eyes. Pikachu stared back with two round black eyes, looking very innocent. Then he wrinkled his nose and jumped onto the sofa.

"PIKA-PIKA!"

"You've been gone for quite a long time this time," Steve said as he sat down on the sofa.

"So, has anything big happened lately?"

"Not really, but there are plenty of small troubles," Natasha said.

"Oh?" Schiller asked as he washed a cup by the sink in the kitchen. "What kind of troubles?"

"Stark and the military have completely fallen out," Natasha said. "It's said that he has found conclusive evidence that the military planned the kidnapping case in Afghanistan, although I think that was Odadiah's doing."

"So you're saying that Odadiah actually planned the case and then pinned the blame on the military? He doesn't want Stark Industries to cooperate with the military that badly?"

"Odadiah is like a mother hen guarding her eggs. He won't allow anyone to touch Stark Industries. Whoever dares to interfere with his life's work, he will do everything in his power to eliminate them."

"Even before Stark was kidnapped, Odadiah was under a lot of pressure from the military. The military's appetite is insatiable. They want too much, and even touch on the core interests of Stark Industries. Odadiah has not liked them for a long time."

"They initially only bought some ordinary weapons, but Stark Industries' weapons were too effective. The military wanted to obtain their technology and produce it themselves through reverse engineering, but Obadiah would never allow such a thing to happen."

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

Then Steve said, "But I still find it ridiculous that he kidnapped Stark just to sabotage Stark's relationship with the military."

"Obadiah is very smart. He knows that Stark will eventually create amazing technology, and he needs to give Stark a reason to never compromise with the military, so that his lifelong efforts won't be stolen by them."

"As long as Stark, who holds the core technology, doesn't divulge it even at the cost of his safety, at least the core technology of Stark Industries will be preserved."

"But that comes at the expense of his nephew's life."

"Obadiah doesn't care." Natasha lit a cigarette and asked, "Do you mind if I smoke?"

"Go ahead," Schiller said.

Natasha looked at Steve, and Steve said, "I don't smoke, but there are plenty of people who smoke on the battlefield. I don't mind."

The female agent slowly exhaled a puff of cigarette smoke, and it seemed like she was under a lot of pressure. Stark had completely fallen out with the military, which wasn't a good thing for SHIELD either.

Currently, the relationship was like this: SHIELD and the military had always been at odds because of the issue of military budget allocation and SHIELD's excessive law enforcement powers.

Stark's conflict with SHIELD was mainly due to his father and his unwillingness to be kidnapped by official organizations.

Meanwhile, Stark's main conflict with the military was their overly greedy appetite and his unwillingness to have his inventions used for war.

None of the parties wanted to see the other two sides unite because there would inevitably be an enemy among them. If their power was strengthened, they would not have a good time.

But they also didn't want the two sides to completely fall out, because once they broke up and went to war, a third party would come in to clean up the mess.

Schiller hinted, "Stark and the military have fallen out, and it's probably not just because of Obediah's doing, right?"

Natasha said, "This is confidential, I have no right... Well, it's not really confidential. Stark wants to cooperate with the military to develop medical technology and exoskeletons, but you know, what the military wants are bigger weapons with more firepower."

"So, did SHIELD instigate the conflict between them?"

"We just gave them a little push from behind, and more importantly, it was the groundwork that Obediah had laid a long time ago," Natasha knocked off some ash from her cigarette.

Steve asked with some confusion, "Doesn't Stark realize that this might be Obediah's conspiracy?"

"He may have thought about it, but he's Tony Stark," Schiller said.

Natasha shook her head and said, "Obediah knows his nephew too well. If he can blame everything on the military and still preserve their uncle-nephew relationship, Stark will definitely choose to deceive himself and vent his anger on the military."

"More importantly..." Schiller poured himself a glass of water and said, "Obediah is currently lying unconscious in the hospital. He has become the victim."

"And whoever the victim says is the culprit, that's who it is."

Steve sighed and said, "Perhaps Howard didn't anticipate this day when he founded Stark Industries."

"Perhaps he did, at least he must have realized that his genius brain and technology in his hands would be targeted by some ill-intentioned people," Schiller replied.

"The situation is on the brink now. Stark is very tough, even arguing with a group of generals. After General Johnson's exposure, the military has become distrustful of Hammer Industries. They are very eager to force Stark to submit."

"Do you think this will ultimately be resolved by force?" Schiller asked Natasha.

The female agent shook her head and said, "They have already had a fight, and General Johnson lost. The robot army couldn't do anything to Stark, and he somehow obtained the technology of nano armor. If he distributes it to everyone, it would be terrible."

"The military is anxious, but they dare not act rashly. I think it will eventually return to the negotiation table for an exchange of interests."

"We will have to fight again eventually," Schiller said. "The military won't be willing to sit at the negotiating table so soon, because they know that if they don't give Stark a hard time, they won't have any bargaining chips to exchange for Stark Industries' technology."

"At least for now, we are allies," Natasha said. "Stark needs SHIELD to bear some of the pressure for him."

"What do you want? His nano armor technology?" Schiller asked.

"I don't know. We still need to see what Director Fury wants, but SHIELD's approach is different from the military's. Even if we obtain a large amount of nano armor, there will be no personnel to use it. Agents are not suitable to wear that thing. Maybe Nick has other plans."

"Has he ever considered having Stark create armor for the agents?"

Natasha extinguished her cigarette butt and said, "You don't really understand how agents work. In simple terms, having an extra set of armor for tasks that require wearing it wouldn't significantly increase the success rate. And for tasks that don't require wearing armor, putting on armor wouldn't bring about much improvement."

"Agents are not superheroes. Most of us rely on our brains to make a living."

"Brains! Make a living!" Symbiote shouted in Schiller's mind.

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

"Well, it didn't really start much to begin with. Stark didn't directly provide technology, but they collaborated in research and development. The military brought in some experts, and Stark provided some technical information and funding support. Of course, now the collaboration should have terminated," Natasha said.

"Any results?" Schiller inquired.

Natasha shook her head and said, "Research is not child's play. How can there be significant results in such a short time?"

Steve said, "If they could truly work together, many soldiers might benefit from it."

"That's impossible. Until one side comes out on top, neither side is willing to back down. They both believe they can gain more benefits. This is just an exchange of interests, not a genuine effort to benefit anyone," Natasha explained.

Steve looked visibly upset and said, "I understand the reasoning behind it all. Before comprehensive cooperation can truly begin, both sides need to go through numerous tests, probing each other's bottom line, and only then can a cooperative relationship be established."

"But sometimes I can't help but wonder, if we could really use our technology and resources where they are needed, we could save so many more people. If people think that wasteful behavior is necessary and I don't stop it, then who will sympathize with those who are not saved because of the wasted resources?" Steve said, pursing his lips.

"Captain, I understand you have a compassionate heart, but you don't need to shoulder the blame for this mistake," Schiller said.

"I just feel like we can do better, and I have a bad feeling about it," Steve said, his mouth twitching.

"One day, those who are considered voiceless by them will eventually have someone speak up for them. By then, their way of speaking up won't be through polite inquiries," Schiller remarked.