Chapter 1835: Journey of a Madman (Part 48)

After the suturing was completed, Schiller re-bandaged Stark's wound, found a jacket that was still relatively clean, draped it over Stark, and let him lie on the bed to sleep.

After waking up, Stark took a sip of water. The first sentence he said was: "I know you think this is very naive. I know that even if I don't sell, someone else will always sell. I just want to make them pay the price, even though this will also make me pay the price."

"I just want to let them understand that I will resist all this at all costs. I don't want the easy benefits, I don't want the hope of going further. No one can make me become an executioner with blood all over my hands."

Schiller sat by Stark's bed and looked at him quietly. After meeting Schiller's gaze, Stark said somewhat irritably: "Why don't you say anything? Do you have no opinion? Aren't you psychologists best at pointing fingers at anyone's decisions?"

"I am not a psychologist." Schiller shook his head and said: "I haven't cured any patient either. I spent most of my time busy with military research. I don't think you would want to hear the opinion of an accomplice."

"You..." Stark was choked again. After being silent for a few seconds, he opened his mouth and said: "Have you only killed the mastermind?"

"Probably. There were too many, I can't remember."

Schiller walked away. After a while, he brought a metal military water bottle and used warm water to wipe the skin around Stark's wound.

"What do you plan to do next?" Stark asked.

"I will continue to observe the condition of your wound. When they come to deliver food later, I will ask them when they can get enough medicine, but you had better not hold too much hope. They can't even tell the difference between ibuprofen and fentanyl."

"I mean in the very long time to come." Stark gestured with his hand and said: "You have to leave here, right?"

"Why should I leave here?"

Stark didn't know how to answer this question. Then he thought of the life experience Schiller told him before, and he lowered his hands on both sides of the metal rod, saying: "You have to leave here, go enjoy the life you haven't enjoyed before, go enjoy the prosperity of civilized society."

"And then be chased by the Federal Bureau of Investigation?"

"You can stand up and testify about their illegal human experiments, illegal detention. You are a victim."

"You know I am not. The experimental subjects in the experiments I participated in were indeed victims, but I am not."

Schiller sighed slightly and said: "If I had morals, I wouldn't have helped them do those illegal experiments with peace of mind, but in fact, I don't, so this is also a kind of life for me."

"But you could have not lived like this." Stark moved his body, but was pressed down by Schiller. He raised his volume and emphasized: "If you hadn't been experimented on by them when you were young, you could have gone to school like a normal child. That way you would have had a happy life like an ordinary person!"

"That way I would have had the chance to become an experimental subject who couldn't resist in illegal human experiments, rather than the one who could run out."

Stark hammered the metal rod beside him with his hand. He sighed for a long time and said: "Okay, this country and this society have too many problems, but I will find a way to change it. Can you stop being so pessimistic?"

"I believe you." Schiller put away the water bottle, took a tattered down jacket from the side, and covered Stark with it.

Then, he picked up the burnt-through charcoal from the fire and put it into a tattered stainless steel basin, placing it under Stark's bed. These charcoals had almost burned out and didn't have very high heat, but they could continuously convey stable heat, which made Stark feel warm.

He was so sleepy that his eyelids were fighting, but he still insisted on winning this argument. He muttered: "You don't just have to believe, you have to watch all this. After watching me successfully change all this, you will sincerely believe that life will get better. You have to do this."

"Yes, I will. You should sleep for a while."

Stark fell asleep, but his spirit couldn't sleep. He couldn't tolerate anyone's perfunctory attitude.

Thus, Stark had a dream of saving the world that he hadn't had for a long time. In the dream, he used his powerful technological means to make everyone live happily on Earth.

He dreamed that Schiller walked out of the cave, returned to civilized society, re-took the psychologist's license, became the psychological consultant of Stark Industries, and became world-famous for curing Tony Stark's anxiety.

The sudden noisy sound made Stark frown tightly. He tried hard to cover his eyes with his hands. Some local dialects he couldn't understand were repeated continuously. Schiller's voice was mixed in. Although it was the same language, the tone was much gentler.

After another unknown amount of time, Stark smelled a fragrance. The emptiness in his abdomen forced him to open his eyes. He saw Schiller roasting bread on the grill by the campfire.

Seeing Stark wake up, Schiller walked over. He helped Stark and let him turn over and sit up, then asked him: "Can you walk?"

"It's my back that's injured, not my legs. Let go of me, I'll walk myself."

But Schiller still helped him to sit down by the campfire. Only then did Stark see clearly that what was placed on the grill was not bread, but a thick cake.

"A kind of local bran cake, made of gluten and coarse grains. The taste isn't very good, but it's not bad to eat it soaked in soup."

Schiller turned around and took out two cans from behind, pried them open with a dagger, and also placed them on the grill.

Stark recognized that it seemed to be a U. S. military can. Looking at the meat soup churning inside, he couldn't help but swallow.

"Were you talking to someone just now?" Stark asked.

"Yes, the person who delivered food came. I had a negotiation with them, and the canned food is the result of the negotiation." Schiller stirred the meat in the can with the tip of his knife and continued: "I told them that if there is no sufficient medicine, there must be better food to ensure your nutrition, otherwise I can't guarantee you can survive."

Schiller looked up at Stark and said: "They want you to start researching immediately and manufacture new weapons for them, but I told them that the wound on your back needs a certain amount of time to heal. You can probably rest for about three more days."

"You are an important person. Three days should be enough for your relatives to discover you are missing. As for how to let them locate you, it depends on your own ability. Over there are some abandoned radio equipment."

Stark followed Schiller's gaze and found a large pile of scrapped machines. The categories of these damaged mechanical parts were very indicative, so Stark looked at Schiller's eyes again.

"I told them that researching weapons requires parts, and pointed out the location of an abandoned military base to them. That place is actually not a laboratory, but a communication signal receiving and transmitting room. They couldn't distinguish the types of parts, so they moved them all back."

Stark's Adam's apple moved. He just wanted to say something, but Schiller pushed the can to his side and said: "Eat quickly. You should rarely have the opportunity to experience the taste of such simple food in your life."

Stark took the slightly bent fork Schiller handed him and looked at the can with some difficulty.

Then he saw Schiller break off a small piece of bran cake and soak it in the canned soup to eat. Stark followed suit, but he first sent a piece of bran cake crumbs into his mouth.

Then he spat a few times, spat out the things in his mouth, and said he would believe it if this thing was a clod of dirt dug out from the ground. The taste wasn't very hard to eat, but the texture was really too dreggy.

Stark had no choice but to soak the cake in the canned soup. After a mouthful of hot soup went down, he finally recovered a bit. He took a bite of the beef in the can and found that Schiller was right. This was the first time in his life he had eaten beef of such poor quality.

The added bran cake was a disaster. Stark felt that this simply ruined the can. He wanted to use a fork to get out the things he had just thrown in, but Schiller put in a bigger piece.

"You need to replenish carbohydrates and sugar. Now is not the time to be picky about taste." Schiller turned his head and looked at the cave entrance and said: "The people who come to save you might not be able to lay the carpet to your feet. You always have to run a distance yourself. Without sufficient strength, you are dead."

Soon, Stark frowned and stuffed the can into his mouth. Although the taste and texture were very poor, his body still reacted honestly to the energy he ingested. Stark gradually felt less weak.

After eating, Stark lay on the bed and rested for a while. After waking up, he found that Schiller was cooking again.

"Do you really plan to spend your whole life here?" Stark asked with confusion: "Never return to the United States again?"

"Probably." Schiller poured the stirred batter onto the steel plate. He was spreading pancakes with pancake powder, so he raised his hand precisely, and the batter fell onto the steel plate, forming a perfect circle.

Stark looked at Schiller's hands, which looked like a doctor's at a glance. He sighed and said: "Your medical skills are very good. You can go back to be a doctor. I will help you."

"Why do you want to help me?" Schiller asked back.

"Because you helped me."

"I was just helping myself." Schiller poured down the last bit of batter, skillfully flipped the first pancake with a fork, and said: "This is my job here, treating kidnapped people, letting them exert their value."

"Yes, suturing my wound is indeed the condition of the transaction between you and them, but these are not." Stark walked to the opposite side of Schiller and sat down.

"Is this also?" Stark looked down at the perfectly shaped pancake and said: "You like eating desserts in the middle of the night?"

"This is to ensure your mental health." Schiller continuously flipped the pancakes with a fork and said: "The experience during the day might have already constituted a certain degree of psychological trauma to you, it just hasn't erupted yet."

"The emotional value provided by sweets is a kind of emotional therapy. It can soothe your emotions and make your mind clearer."

"So you still want to save me and let me leave here."

"Because I'm worried that if you really make very powerful weapons for them, they won't have any wounded, and I won't have a job."

Stark stared at Schiller quite helplessly. He knocked on the bricks of the campfire and said: "Is it so embarrassing for you to save me and help me? What is there to be ashamed of admitting?"

"I am stating the facts." Schiller turned the handle of the fork with his hand.

And Stark retorted: "If you don't want me to research more powerful weapons, you can just kill me and say I died of infection. They can't do anything to you."

Schiller was silent.

And Stark said triumphantly: "Admit it, you just want to save me. You say you have no morals, but that's not necessarily true."

"Perhaps I just hope you can repay me, such as helping me restore my identity, and then giving me a large sum of money or something."

Stark laughed and leaned forward, saying: "It can be seen that you haven't been in contact with society for a long time. You think Stark's repayment would be so simple? A large sum of money? Don't insult me!"

"You recover quickly and get out of here, that is the greatest repayment to me." Schiller looked into Stark's eyes and said: "I have no interest in going back to be a doctor. Don't bother me."

After speaking, he stood up and only left the roasted pancakes to Stark. Watching Schiller's figure walking toward the cave entrance, Stark couldn't help but give birth to a rebellious emotion.

This came from a peculiar guilt-transference psychology—Stark Industries sold arms and killed so many people, he must prove that he can also save people. He must prove that Stark can do good things, using any method.

"Stark can save anyone!"

Stark raised his volume toward the cave entrance and said: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation, terrorists, and the military are all unimportant. I will save anyone I want to save. I will prove it to you!" ===== CHAPTER 1836 =====

Stark raised his voice toward the cave entrance and said, "The FBI, terrorists, and the military are all unimportant. I will save anyone I want to save. I will prove it to you!"