Chapter 1518: Schiller's Disappearance (Part I)

In the surgeon's office at the Presbyterian Hospital, Strange was frowning while checking the matching data. Just as Schiller had expected, upon learning of his brother Victor's condition, he decisively decided to perform a liver transplant.

But he understood the current medical development of Earth better than Schiller. In fact, even if there hadn't been an explosive growth in technology recently, cancer wasn't completely incurable; Wakanda had methods to treat cancer.

After seeing Victor's diagnosis report, Strange contacted Black Panther immediately, but Black Panther told him that although they could use the power of the Panther God to clear cancer cells, they didn't have very good methods for genetic problems.

That is to say, even if they borrowed Wakanda's power to clear cancer cells once, once the genetic problem worsened again, Victor would have to suffer again, so Strange decided to just do a liver transplant.

In the past, this decision would have been risky because the biggest problem with organ transplantation is rejection. But in fact, Dr. Connors had in-depth research on human rejection. If he participated in this surgery, the effect of post-operative treatment would be much better. Plus, all parties were working hard to find the most suitable liver source, and with him as the chief surgeon, the risk had been reduced to the minimum.

And the good news was that with Nick's help, a suitable liver source was quickly found, and there was more than one. Now Strange was screening for the most suitable one with the help of his old classmate.

But just then, with a "bang," the balcony door was pushed open. Strange turned his head and looked at the mecha full of cold air rushing in from the balcony. He immediately frowned angrily and raised his voice: "Tony Stark! What do you want to do?!"

"You actually ask me what I want to do?!" Stark's tone was higher than his. With a "click," the faceplate of the mecha opened, and Stark stared at Strange with a rather cold look and said: "Why did you violate the agreement between us? Don't you know how much we paid to stabilize Schiller's mental state?"

Strange's frown deepened. He put down the paper and pen in his hand, stood up, turned to look at Stark, and said: "What the hell are you going crazy about? Tony, what does this have to do with Schiller?"

Before Stark could speak, Strange stretched out a hand and said: "Yes, I let him help me persuade Victor, but they only talked for less than three minutes. He just calmed Victor's emotions. Is that not allowed either?"

The anger on Stark's face disappeared and turned into a deeper expression. He stepped forward, looked into Strange's eyes, and said: "Knowing him for so long, don't you know what kind of person he is?"

"Schiller wants everything to proceed perfectly according to his plan, ensuring that all links don't have any accidents. No matter what price he pays, he doesn't care!" Stark emphasized.

He hammered the wall next to him with one hand and continued: "As long as he participates in a matter, he will definitely do his best to ensure the result is as perfect as he expected, even if he might hurt himself in the process."

Strange's frown deepened. He took a deep breath and said: "Stop beating around the bush. Tell me what's going on."

"Death came to find me last night." Stark turned his head to the side, turned to look out the window, and said in a low tone: "Schiller went to find her again. You know, they have a deal between them."

"All human deaths inevitably go to the Kingdom of Death, but Schiller can pay a price to let the Kingdom of Death turn some people away, so their souls can go directly to the Heaven built by Schiller."

Stark lowered his eyes and said: "Three days ago, that is, the night your brother transferred to the hospital, Schiller went to find Death. Just like he exchanged for my parents before, he took a part of his soul to make a deal with Death, demanding that he turn away your brother's soul."

"This way, whether the liver transplant surgery succeeds or not, your brother won't die, and the price is an arm of Schiller's soul."

Strange slowly widened his eyes. His eyes first looked down, then stomped on the spot, put his hands on his hips, looked at Stark again, and asked: "Are you sure? I mean... are you sure he took a part of his soul to make a deal with Death for my sake?"

"Otherwise?"

Strange opened his mouth. He seemed to have forgotten how to speak suddenly. He squeezed a dry cough from his throat, then shook his head, turned, and sat down at the desk.

Stark narrowed his eyes slightly. He saw the muscles in Strange's arms twitching, and his fingertips were also trembling, but that didn't look like symptoms of anxiety, but like some nerve reflexes that had always existed.

Searching the psychological data he had once understood, Stark thought of a term in his mind—"Autism."

But soon, he denied it. Strange and Schiller's symptoms were not the same, but somewhat similar, so he instinctively spat out a term: "Asperger's syndrome?"

"Are you here to be a doctor?" Strange didn't give an inch.

"Of course not, I just want to talk to you. I know my parents were resurrected because of Schiller, so I have no position to ask you not to let him do this. I just hope you are clear about the consequences this might bring."

Stark put away the mecha, sat down opposite Strange, leaned his body against the back of the chair, placed one hand on the edge of the table, and said: "Perhaps he won't really go crazy, nor will he put this universe in real danger, because we and this world are precious wealth to him. But this doesn't mean he won't be in pain."

"Schiller's strong desire for emotion masks this pain, but I insist that continuing to let his mental state develop will have no benefits."

When he said this, Stark sighed again and said: "Facing Schiller, I always feel a sense of powerlessness."

"Every failure makes me more anxious, because I clearly watch how my patience is worn away, which means that one day I will give up, and I cannot give up on healing Schiller."

Strange just sat opposite and listened quietly. Stark couldn't see any expression on his face, and Stark didn't know if this was a symptom of inattention that appeared when Asperger's syndrome patients socialized with others.

"I will solve this matter." Strange stood up and made a gesture of seeing off the guest. Stark sat in the chair and looked up at him. After a long while, he lowered his head and shook his head.

It seemed that he felt Strange didn't truly understand him. Another pessimistic emotion surged into Stark's heart.

He of course knew that Strange had the ability to stop Schiller from going crazy. Even if he didn't stop him, Strange could go to the Kingdom of Death like him and exchange other things for Schiller's soul.

But next time? The time after next? Can everyone stop Schiller or recover what he lost like them? Does everyone have such patience to save Schiller?

Or rather, is this really possible?

After a long time, Stark felt the wave of anxiety that was hard to suppress drown him again, as if floating on the vast ocean, knowing that the ship wouldn't come, but not wanting to give up, feeling that his efforts to struggle were futile, but there was nothing else he could do.

Until Stark left Strange's office, he hadn't seen any movement on Strange's face. He thought, perhaps not everyone was as worried as him.

Most people and Schiller himself felt that Schiller was fine, and only he was like a lunatic, constantly playing the annoying roadblock on this seemingly flat road.

After Stark left, Strange still didn't say anything. He just took out his phone, dialed a number, and said.

"Hello, Schiller? I have already selected the liver source for transplantation. The conditions are quite good. The surgery will be in about a week, but I feel a bit nervous now. Can I come to your place?... Okay, see you tonight."

Strange didn't rush to the appointment immediately. He first handled all the liver transplant data, went to see the head nurse to confirm the surgery schedule, and even performed two minor surgeries for his absent colleagues. It wasn't until the sky turned completely dark that he drove to Arkham Asylum.

Schiller seemed to have just finished dinner. He invited Strange to sit on a single sofa on the side of the office, took a stack of psychological assessment scales as usual, pulled one out, and handed it to Strange, saying: "Let's do a stress test first."

Strange didn't say anything and started filling out the form. After he finished filling it out, Schiller took the scale, glanced at it, and said: "Mild anxiety symptoms caused by the stress environment, not a big problem."

Then Schiller looked at Strange's eye movement and found that his eyes were slightly unfocused. After discovering that Strange's arm muscles were stiff, Schiller frowned and said: "Some of your mental conditions might have affected your nerve reflexes, which might affect your performance on the operating table."

"Tony came to find me today." Strange suddenly changed the subject and said: "He said you went to find Death and wanted to use one of your arms to ensure Victor wouldn't die. My limb reaction is not from anxiety, but from anger."

Strange leaned his body forward, rested his arms on his knees, looked into Schiller's eyes, and said: "I hope you can stop doing this."

Schiller's movement of flipping the scale paused. He looked at Strange and took back his gaze, asking: "Why?"

"Because you are questioning my surgical technique." Strange said very seriously: "Because you feel the surgery will fail, but this is absolutely impossible. I won't make any mistakes on the operating table. Your guarantee is completely unnecessary."

"I just hope to add another layer of insurance." Schiller continued to flip through the things in his hand and said: "I hope you can understand."

"I don't understand, and I hope you stop this behavior immediately." Strange had been staring at Schiller's eyes tightly.

"Alright, then I'll go cancel the deal tonight. I think..."

"I'm not just referring to Victor's matter." Strange interrupted him immediately and said: "But all similar events, those where you treat us like babies who can't walk independently, questioning our ability and thinking we will mess everything up, so you do all the guarantees in advance—stop all such behavior immediately."

Schiller's hand movement paused. When he looked at Strange again, there was a trace of coldness and anger in his usual calm eyes. He stared at Strange's eyes and said.

"You should know, I am helping..."

"I'm not Tony Stark." Strange also stared at Schiller's eyes and said: "Your moral kidnapping is completely useless, because I have no morality. I'm not persuading you, but notifying you. If you don't stop this behavior, you will pay the price for it."

"Do you know what you are saying? Stephen Strange." Schiller called Strange's full name for the first time, his tone already carrying a trace of coldness he had never revealed to his friends.

"Of course." Strange stood up from the chair and walked toward the door. Before leaving, he looked back at Schiller one last time and said.

"Stark couldn't cure you just because he was cowardly, but I am different from him. I am not afraid to pay any price to achieve my goal, not bound by any moral shackles, so..."

Strange dragged a long tone slightly, stood straight at the door, and lifted his chin slightly, saying: "You can try it, Schiller." ===== CHAPTER 1519 =====