Chapter 2664

Strange looked at Shiler with a suspicious gaze.

"Excuse me, miss." Shiler suddenly stood up and said to a girl sitting in the back row, "We need to discuss some content regarding a confidential medical project, but we have nowhere else to go for the moment. Could I ask you to change seats?"

Strange felt that Shiler's pronunciation was a bit strange, especially the phrase "nowhere else to go for the moment," which sounded very odd.

The girl was slightly stunned. She was now facing Strange, while Shiler had his back to Strange, so Strange could not see Shiler's expression.

"I am truly sorry, miss. This stems from a small mistake I made, and I must explain it immediately, but I cannot risk exposing the project's content..."

"Oh, my god, go ahead and talk, I'll leave right now."

Shiler made a sign of the cross on his chest to express his gratitude. The girl walked out, and halfway through, she turned back to glance at them with some worry; the concern in her eyes did not look fake at all.

Shiler turned back and sat down, and Strange asked him, "What did you do?"

"Just like that." Shiler looked at him with a smile and said, "In this world, no one can blame a victim, and the vast majority of people cannot distinguish between morality and emotional concern; it is too easy to confuse them."

"Are you playing the role of a victim?"

"Only revealing this temperament to specific people." Shiler said, "Let them believe they are your only savior."

"Certainly unhealthy enough." Strange found it difficult to suppress his sarcastic tone.

But he paused for a moment and still asked, "Begging others will lose one's dignity; wouldn't that make people think you are a pathetic little thing?"

"I said, only toward specific people."

"How can you guarantee she won't reveal it?"

"Do you really have to like someone who goes around telling everyone else's faults?"

Strange was choked up for a moment, but he continued to ask, "Wouldn't that make you look... unsociable?"

The word 'unsociable' seemed like a heavy burden to him, but Shiler smiled again and said, "If you are like this to everyone, they will all be your saviors, living around you and acting for you; how could you be unsociable?"

"Didn't you say only toward specific people..."

"There are many people who are natural kidnappers." Shiler leaned forward and looked at Strange, saying, "You just need to give them a feeling, that is, they only need to bestow upon you once, and they can get endless emotional returns from you. Anyone would do such a cost-effective business."

"Is this what you call cultivating a kidnapper?"

"Yes, let them feel that as long as they give you a little, you will return a whole world to them."

"But you can't do it."

"Right, I can't do it."

Strange looked at Shiler.

"But I feel ashamed for not being able to do it, and because of this shame, I often feel endless depression, even full of self-destructive tendencies, making them save me more, because for my initial return, they will only look forward to the more returns that will never come."

Strange stared blankly at Shiler, as if he had seen something he had never seen before.

"I said this is unhealthy." Shiler emphasized.

"But they actually don't need the whole world." Strange seemed to have found a loophole, he said.

"Do you want a billion dollars?"

"I can't say I don't."

"But is it possible for you to obtain it?"

Strange shook his head.

"You knew it was impossible to obtain before answering whether you wanted it or not, but you still couldn't say you didn't want it, because you really want it. So, is it really important whether it can be obtained?"

Shiler placed his hands on the table and said, "Everyone's reason knows that they cannot possess all of a person's emotions, but they just want to. In this regard, I dare say that even demons have never seen such greed as those people."

Strange wanted to say something else, but Shiler leaned forward, forcing him closer. He looked into Strange's eyes and asked, "Don't you want such a person? He will give you all his emotions, treat you only as his best friend, and for you, he would not hesitate to destroy the world, destroy himself; do you really not want it?"

Strange's lips moved, but it was more like a tremor, as if he had nothing to say, just making a gesture.

Because he knew there would be no other answer, just as he could not go against his heart and say he didn't want a billion dollars. In his view, this was even something that could turn his whole life around more easily than a large sum of money.

"You know there won't be such a person." Shiler pulled him out of his thoughts, breaking his assumptions with cold and ruthless reality. Shiler continued, "Your reason, your logic, are all telling you this answer; there can never be such a person, but you still want it like crazy, because this is the inherent inferiority of human nature."

"The closer a person is to their primitive instincts, the more obvious this inferiority becomes, and the easier it is for them to be turned into a kidnapper, extorting endless emotions."

"As long as you always perform as if you can give, they will endlessly ask from you. When there is such a choice, never choose another answer; this is much more reliable than empty words like love or friendship."

Strange fell into obvious thought, and then he said, "But this is despicable; this will ruin someone."

"No, this kind of relationship is unhealthy, but not despicable." Shiler said, "Giving people hope is the noblest emotion in this world. No matter in what way, as long as you can let a person feel hope from you often, you are a noble provider, not a despicable extortionist."

Strange was breathing lightly, seemingly resisting accepting this concept, but in the end, his expression loosened, his tightly pursed lips opened, his brows furrowed lightly, and his thumb circled the tip of his index finger.

"Perhaps you can go and try." Shiler continued, "There will be a football game next week, there will be a party after the game, Renny will attend, and you happen to have a very important observation class that day..."

"Are you saying I should tell her about this, so she will deliberately invite me?"

"The opposite, it means you heard about the party, but you really don't have time to go, and say you feel sorry to her."

"But she didn't even think about inviting me at all. Do I have to act as if someone invited me?"

"No, you have to believe, or at least put on an appearance of believing that she will definitely invite you, and then feel deeply sorry for missing an invitation that doesn't exist."

"This sounds too embarrassing. She didn't even think about inviting me at all; she knows this herself." Strange said, "It's completely like I'm just wishful thinking by myself."

"Yes, she hasn't invited you yet, and you already feel so sorry for not being able to attend. If she warmly invites you, but you still can't go, then she won't see you at the game, and it can make you feel even more guilty toward her. Why wouldn't she do that?"

"Sounds like some kind of... moral extortion?"

"But she is the extortionist; she wants you to feel guilty toward her."

"But Renny is not that kind of person."

"There are no good people who like me." Shiler said, "Playing a hostage means you can only ever meet kidnappers, but if you really think love is greater than possession, you wouldn't have come to me, would you?"

Strange appeared very conflicted. Looking at this younger face, Shiler seemed to suddenly remember something interesting, sighed lightly, smiled, and said, "You can completely go and try. If she says to you, 'Actually, I didn't think about inviting you at all, you misunderstood,' that is exactly when you have liked the right person, proving your judgment is not bad."

"But..."

"She is even so great that she doesn't even extort this kind of emotional capital delivered to her door; would she still spread this matter everywhere? Would she still keep bringing it up to make you embarrassed?"

"If she chooses to extort, it proves that you are actually the same kind of people. You want to possess, she wants to use; you two are just a perfect match, best to harm each other until old age, isn't that right?"

The last sentence was like a sharp awl piercing a piece of ice; Strange almost heard the sound of glass shattering.

"How do you want me to repay your guidance?" Strange asked.

Shiler lowered his eyelids, revealed a smile, and said, "If I say I don't seek repayment, it would appear too hypocritical. If you don't mind, write me a blank check?"

"What?"

"If one day I have trouble, you have to do me a favor. Of course, perhaps you will also receive enough reward from it."

Shiler stood up, Ultron had already started reporting data to him. He nodded at Strange and said, "I still have some things to do, I'll go first. If you have anything else to ask, you can find me at the Psychology Department."

After speaking, he turned and left, while Strange stood there pondering for a long time. After a while, he saw a figure walking over.

"Uh, no intention to disturb, classmate, are you guys okay?"

Strange looked up and saw it was the girl who had just been persuaded away by Shiler. She first looked at Strange, then turned back to look in the direction Shiler had left.

Strange knew what she was thinking, because during the whole conversation just now, he had a straight face and barely spoke, while Shiler sometimes lowered his head, sometimes smiled, and said a long string of words. No matter how you look at it, it fits perfectly with what Shiler said about him making a small mistake, trying hard to explain, and now rushing to make up for it.

And Strange could clearly feel that the girl in front of him was distracted; her attention to Shiler was abnormally high. It's hell, could it really be so immediate?

After the girl exchanged a few pleasantries with him, she also left. It was impossible to tell if she was chasing in the direction Shiler had left.

Shiler here was walking on the school path while listening to Ultron telling him the situation. There hadn't been any major trouble in Manhattan recently, and the political news was all peaceful.

But this is New York, even New York 20 years ago couldn't be as calm as it appeared on the surface, or rather, 20 years ago was when the demons were truly dancing.

Because at this time, it was both America's Golden Age and Hydra's Golden Age.

"Among the cases I searched, there are about 12 arrests with unclear circumstances, six of which were carried out by ordinary police, but there are another six where the people who took action didn't look like police."

"Are they agents? Which department specifically?"

"Insufficient image data, most are photos and text, so it's hard to tell."

"Unless they take action again."

"Right under our noses."

Shiler straightened his collar and walked quickly toward the dormitory building. Behind him were dark, heavy clouds; the first rain of summer was coming soon.