Chapter 1852

On the other side, although Schiller knew well that Hydra wasn't a good teammate, it was still a useful tool. Schiller had actually reached a deal with the Hydra Baron long ago. The content of the deal was simple: Schiller would testify against Pierce, and the Baron would help Schiller take care of Iron Man.

This was actually still using the advantage of information asymmetry. After all, how could the Hydra Baron know that Iron Man was the protagonist and how powerful he was? But in his view, Schiller being able to help him take care of Pierce was a once-in-a-millennium opportunity.

In his previous conversation with Pierce, Schiller had mentioned a part of it but hadn't gone into detail. In fact, the grudge between Pierce and the Baron could be traced back decades, but if explained in detail, it was just the grudges between the US and Germany during World War II.

Simply put, Pierce had once promised the Baron to stop the US plan to aid the Soviet Union, but Pierce didn't fulfill it. The Baron felt that Pierce had betrayed him and the German people, which led to the failure of the "Little Mustache."

As everyone knows, in the eyes of Nazi Germany, the most hateful weren't the Soviets fighting the Great Patriotic War, but the other countries that supported the Soviets at the most critical moment. Or rather, they were unwilling to admit that the "Giant Bear" had defeated them head-on and preferred to credit others.

In fact, the Baron could have run before Iron Man arrived, but to fulfill the content of the deal with Schiller, he chose to stay in Germany, which led to a series of tragedies later on.

Gathering all three parties at the German Hydra base, Schiller's plan officially began. First, he contacted T'Challa to close the net. The target of the net was none other than Erik, who was stirring up trouble in this universe.

Don't forget, through the hands of the Hydra agents under Pierce, Erik had already been kidnapped to the German base. This meant that Erik had basically lost the power to resist, which meant that as soon as T'Challa arrived, he could receive this dish.

This completely avoided T'Challa chasing Erik all over the world, which would have damaged Wakanda's international reputation.

And on Nick's side, as soon as he arrived, he could immediately capture the group of Hydra agents belonging to Pierce who had kidnapped Erik to Germany. Still the same saying, modern interrogation methods have no secrets they can't uncover.

Nick had been suffering because he suspected Pierce but had no concrete evidence. But this group of agents was ready-made human evidence. As long as they got clues about Pierce working for Hydra from their mouths, or simply had them testify against Pierce, then no matter how well Pierce had disguised himself before, the jury wouldn't have too much sympathy for him.

Just like that, T'Challa was spared the effort, directly captured the traitor Erik, recovered the lost blueprints of the Royal Research Institute, and restored Wakanda's international reputation. Perhaps he might even get clues about the vibranium dealer Klaw from Erik's interrogation.

Nick, when Pierce was forced into a corner and sent people to kidnap, successfully caught his tail and also obtained a batch of witnesses who might testify against Pierce.

Then, if one were to ask what Schiller gained, Stark's shocked expression at this moment was his best harvest. A psychopath driving a flock of sheep together and teasing a certain sheep isn't for the sake of shearing its wool, but just to see the sheep in a panic.

After listening to Schiller's account, Stark stood there, stunned for a full three minutes. Three minutes later, he manipulated the Iron Man suit to step forward and punched Schiller on the cheek.

Schiller didn't dodge.

Everyone, including Erik and Nick, naturally rushed up to stop Iron Man. But Stark was wearing the suit after all, and no one else had much understanding of this suit or understood its power, so Stark didn't spend much effort breaking free from everyone's restraint.

He punched Schiller to the ground again. Schiller sighed on the ground, reached out to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth with the heel of his palm, and revealed an equally malicious smile.

He lay on his side on the ground, turned his eyes to look at Stark, and said: "Angry from embarrassment? I told you long ago, Tony, you always have to pay the price for your own pointless heroic fantasies."

"I said I wasn't a hero, but you made me pay the price for the foolish you who finally recognized this fact. Is this the great hero Tony Stark you wanted to save the world?"

Stark stood where he was, his eyes full of shock and sadness. Schiller climbed up from the ground unsteadily, his forehead and mouth covered in blood. He wiped the corner of his mouth again, stared at Stark with that crazy look, and said: "What do you think a hero is? You hide in a laboratory and build yourself a powerful suit of armor, and you can save the world?"

"Or in your stereotypical prejudice, is it impossible for me, this poor little thing who suffered persecution and was thrown into the dark world without the power to save myself, to have the power to resist and formulate a series of plans to turn the tide?"

"You always imagine yourself as too powerful and noble, and see others as weak and cowardly, but you can never rely on this to become a true hero who saves the world."

Schiller stepped forward, placed his blood-stained hand on Stark's faceplate, and looked into his eyes, saying: "Tony, what I said about getting rid of your childhood hero complex isn't just about becoming a savior from being saved."

"You must profoundly realize that there are countless comrades in this world who can stand side-by-side with you, and if you only keep looking down on them and can't learn to truly recognize and believe in them, you are destined to be just that childish child who pins his hopes on others."

"Back then, you watched your father walk out of that room time and time again, pouring all your emotions into resentment, resenting that he never wanted to stay, but you don't remember that you never opened your mouth either."

"Begging isn't shameful. You always have to understand that if you are going to try to make someone change their mind, manipulation is an essential step, and the essence of manipulation is love."

"Call out to him, use love to make him stay, not only to make up for the regrets he might have left behind due to having no choice, but also to force him to have to face your love."

"Walk into this vast crowd, let everyone who brushes past you and then turns to walk side-by-side with you know that you understand them, let them know you love them."

"Then you will jump into the worldly suffering together, work together to fight against this reality wave that can never be resisted, pour your abundant emotions into others, and naturally receive feedback... Go, Tony, go be the great hero you dream of."

Iron Man clenched his fist covered by the gauntlet tightly. He wouldn't tell Schiller that when he said these words, he remembered the expression Howard had when he looked back at him standing by the door countless times, and Stark's inner expression was always just anger and resentment, without a shred of sorrow or pleading.

But at this moment, he deeply understood the power of exposing his own pain in front of others and showing weakness, which made him never doubt from beginning to end that Schiller was the mastermind behind this series of plans.

He felt he didn't have such power, he shouldn't have such power, because of the past he disclosed, because of a certain fragility he showed hidden behind his strength.

But facts proved that this kind of fragility and alienation was precisely the "killer move" that attracted people to step into the trap step by step.

Is showing weakness a good thing?

Stark had never thought about this question before, because he would give a negative answer without even thinking. He wanted to be tougher and smarter, treat everyone not as smart as him with a contemptuous attitude, and then either gain an advantageous position or make everyone else have no way to deal with his arrogant and overbearing attitude.

But Schiller showed him another situation. He told others about his weaknesses, showed his unstable past, let the other party see his fragile points, and therefore they could never let their guard down, and therefore they actively wanted to do more.

But he called this a manifestation of love, and perhaps it was also the simplest way to obtain the love of others.

Stark grabbed Schiller's wrist. He just wanted to say something when alarms blared inside the mech. Almost in an instant, a sharp buzzing sound pierced Stark's eardrums.

Under the cold and hazy sunlight in the high-latitude region, he saw the descent of a god. It was a god, and it was also himself.

He saw another terror, a greater wisdom appearing in his deepest dream. The phantom descended above the Earth, and then condensed into a figure not much different from him, but with power far greater than his.

"Let him go."

He heard another voice exactly the same as his own say.

Stark focused his eyes and only saw a white and blue mech descending from the sky. The engine's exhaust flame was almost imperceptible, but that low voice had enough deterrent power, condensing the already cold air around them.

The Iron Demon God descended on Earth.

The phantoms of that endless mechanical army made Nick Fury and T'Challa both look up, staring closely at the mid-air with serious expressions, while Stark's attention was on the gaze of this uninvited guest who had suddenly descended. This Iron Man, exactly the same as him, was staring fixedly at Schiller.

"Why don't you run?" He heard this powerful Iron Man ask: "You will ruin his body. You should have dodged."

Schiller deliberately and exaggeratedly wiped the bloodstain next to his lips with his thumb, turned his head to reveal a malicious smile at Stark, and said: "You aren't as calm as you imagine when looking at your own foolish self from another universe, right?"

"Tony, what about that sense of superiority when facing counterparts from other universes? I thought you would watch all this from on high until it ended."

"Now, it's over." The Iron Demon God said in a cold tone.

Schiller dodged his teleportation. The Iron Demon God landed lower, almost close to the ground, but he still had a powerful energy field around him that couldn't be ignored. Just by enveloping everyone and all the equipment present, it had already made the equipment with safety energy alarms ring non-stop.

"You might be wondering why there are two Iron Men here, but it's a great pity that I come from another universe, just to track down the murderer..."

Before Stark finished speaking, in an instant, the control hub of the Wakandan spaceship erupted with evil purple light, and this time, they formed a combat array common to space warships.

This trap, which had been silent for a long time and suddenly appeared, was precisely to catch everyone off guard.

The Iron Demon God clearly wouldn't be hurt by these few small spaceships, but if they went for the Wakandan warriors and the King and caused real casualties, then the biggest suspect would be this Iron Man who had descended suddenly, and Schiller and his group wouldn't be able to get real help in this universe.

But unexpectedly, a massive Helicarrier that blotted out the sky suddenly appeared above the sky. Nick revealed a cold smile and said: "Got you."