Chapter 2698

Loki leaned back into his chair, his arms relaxed, and said, "I know what you're talking about, but at that time we didn't know each other at all..."

"You don't know each other very well now, either," Schiller said.

"So if I came to you because I was worried about gains and losses, what would you intend to do? Tell me the truth?"

"No, of course I would guide you to discover it yourself, or I would suggest you go find the Thor on the main timeline and give it a try. Without Strange's interference, he will give you the answer you want."

Loki let out a long sigh.

Then he asked with some confusion, "Then why didn't you continue? The plan had already reached your favorite consultation session, right?"

Schiller said, "It is indeed his favorite consultation session, which is why he isn't the one who came today. Otherwise, it would be hard for him to resist carrying out the plan. The reason for not doing so is that there is something I would like to ask of you."

Loki looked at Schiller with some confusion.

"I previously fabricated a backstory for myself." Schiller tapped his fingertips lightly on the table and said, "It was crafted perfectly, with absolutely no flaws. The persona was tragic and moving, the story was self-consistent, and it was enough to explain why I am the way I am now."

Loki tilted his head and said, "Isn't that a good thing?"

Schiller shook his head and said, "But it was completely unnecessary. It was because of some hostage complex that I wanted to create a story that everyone would be satisfied with, so they would understand me and deepen their connection with me."

"And you don't want to do that anymore?"

"I just feel that this kind of connection is too fake." Schiller frowned, interlaced his fingers, tapped his index fingers lightly, and said, "I have tried many times to tell them that it isn't because of what I experienced that I became who I am now, but they don't seem to be able to understand."

"Because it is indeed unbelievable." Loki said, "You cannot deny that the environment has a very strong influence on people. We are, in ourselves, a collection of the society we come into contact with. No one can remain unaffected."

"Being influenced and being completely molded into this are two different things." Schiller said, "I never deny the influence, but every time I am influenced, there is never just one path placed before me. The paths I take are all ones I wanted to choose, not ones I was forced to choose."

Schiller lowered his eyelids and said, "This might exceed your imagination, but there hasn't been a single second in my life where I was forced into a corner."

Loki clearly didn't quite believe it, but he still said, "What do you want me to do?"

"I feel that the original backstory isn't good enough; it makes me look like a poor little thing."

"But you said it was very reasonable."

"Yes, it is indeed very reasonable, but this isn't me, do you understand?" Schiller said, "This backstory shapes a version of me in your eyes—the one with a tragic background, full of hidden bitterness, yet still trying hard to heal himself."

"... Aren't you like that?" Loki was even more suspicious and said, "At least in terms of being an ordinary person, your efforts are something we have all witnessed. Isn't this you trying hard to heal yourself?"

"And according to my observations, you should indeed have some tragic experiences. Even if they don't quite match what you fabricated, they exist, so it's not exactly lying. So where is the problem?"

"The problem is that this backstory, in order to please you all, beautified me too much. Everything became a matter of environmental coercion, and my own subjective initiative was almost zero."

"What's wrong with that?"

"False perceptions lead to false connections." Schiller seemed to no longer know how to explain it, and he said, "I know that everyone unconsciously beautifies themselves during interpersonal interactions, but I beautified myself a bit too much, which led to you all never realizing my dangerous nature, and thus always taking actions like throwing stones into a calm water surface, or even trying to skip them."

Loki said in alarm, "Are you not dangerous enough? I mean, actually, what you've shown isn't very dangerous???"

Schiller was also very shocked that he was only just now alarmed, and he said, "Then what have I been saying to you for the last few minutes? Wasn't I emphasizing that the version of me you usually see is already considered quite stable?"

Loki shook his head from side to side and said, "Sorry, I'm a bit confused... I think I probably understand what you mean."

"We know very little about you and can only treat you based on the level of danger you display on the surface. And under normal circumstances, we don't think you are very dangerous, so we will take some relatively radical measures to help you control your so-called illness."

"But in fact, you are much more dangerous than you appear. You think we cannot accept the version of you beneath the calm water surface, so you fabricated a backstory to appease us and express that you are consistent inside and out."

"But now you feel that letting us be so off-guard isn't very good..."

"No." Schiller suddenly interrupted, "I realized that my previous appeasement of you all was born out of a hostage complex I built for myself. But blindly appeasing you like this isn't necessarily a good thing, because I also cannot fully guarantee that you will never see what's beneath the water surface."

"So you feel that your past story is an opportunity." Loki understood immediately and said, "You can show the real you in your past story, thereby letting them investigate and learn about it. This way, their attitude toward you will be more cautious, and it will be less easy for you to lose control."

"Very smart." Schiller evaluated.

"But you didn't lose control last time either." Loki said, "Although you looked very painful at that time, you didn't do anything extreme."

"Because at that time, I was still immersed in the hostage complex. Some things are just like that; if you don't know, you can keep playing along, but if you know the truth, it's very hard to be fully invested again."

Loki nodded. He also realized this point. When he didn't know this was Schiller's act of revenge, he was constantly struggling with his relationship with Thor, and Thor's with him. But once he knew their actions were all being induced, this kind of emotion-first trick was very hard to keep playing. From the perspective of the situation in Asgard, he could even express understanding for Thor locking him up for over a thousand years.

"What do you want me to do?"

"First, I need to know how you separated a branch of the timeline. Give me a timeline branch like yours. After I finish changing the past, you can help me overwrite it onto the current timeline."

"Why not just travel back and change it again?"

"Because it requires repeated modifications and adjustments. I need to control the degree—it must be realistic enough, yet not have too great an impact on the future. If I keep messing with the main timeline, problems might arise."

"I'm asking for it from Kang the Conqueror." Loki said, "Basically, only he can perform seamless separation and overwriting of the timeline without causing any serious consequences. But I'm not sure if he will give it to me if I ask again."

"And most importantly." Loki appeared somewhat worried. He looked at Schiller and said, "I once described some of the world beneath your tower to Natasha. It sounds very dangerous. I understand you want to show some of your true self, but don't be too real. The psychological endurance of superheroes isn't that strong."

"Rest assured." Schiller said, "The first person to investigate my past will inevitably be Nick Fury. He doesn't have such high moral standards. As long as our interests are tied together, even if I had destroyed the universe, he would still cover it up for me."

Loki thought about it and felt it was true. If only Nick were the one suffering, and at most some S. H. I. E. L. D. agents were dragged along, it wouldn't have any impact on the stability of the situation.

To put it bluntly, the moral standards of this group of people are worlds apart from those of superheroes. They only care about interests. As long as Schiller is still useful, they will cover up all news unfavorable to Schiller as if they were covering their own underwear.

But at the same time, for the sake of stability and interests, they will warn the superheroes to make them take Schiller's dangerous nature seriously, rather than doing as they usually do—either letting things take their course or taking radical measures.

Loki didn't let Schiller down. He quickly convinced Kang the Conqueror and obtained another timeline to use for Schiller to compile a brand-new version of his true backstory.

But before that, Schiller encountered another problem. The call was from Peter.

"Something happened, Doctor." Peter's tone revealed anxiety, and he said, "I took Gwen to the Presbyterian Hospital for an examination, and the doctors there said there is a problem with the child."

"What kind of problem?"

"You also know that the latest technology is probably to use a type of radiation to completely remove the fertilized egg, and there won't be any side effects. We just had this surgery, but it was completely ineffective. This is the first case in history."

"The doctor said we could use a more traditional medicinal method, but George and I both disagreed because, compared to that technology, a medicinal abortion would still cause some harm, at least it would make Gwen bleed."

"But considering that dragging it out might lead to bigger problems, Gwen insisted on doing it, but... but it was still useless."

"What do you mean by useless?"

"It means there was no reaction. Gwen took the medicine, and logically speaking, there should be a reaction within three hours, but there wasn't... there was nothing at all."

"Is she feeling uncomfortable?" Schiller asked.

"No, nothing. Logically speaking, she should feel a bit nauseous and have lower abdominal bloating, but she can't feel anything. The child is also fine and hasn't been affected at all. The indicators from all the examinations are also normal. The medicine seems to have disappeared into thin air."

Peter's voice revealed utter bewilderment, and he said, "Dr. Connors and Dr. Ethan have both already arrived, but they haven't seen any abnormalities either. In short, it just doesn't work."

Schiller was also a bit baffled, so he had to return control of his body to Greed, and then said, "Don't be anxious yet, Peter. This means that this child might be unusual. Are there any doctors or mages from Asgard who can come over to take a look?"

Peter clearly choked for a moment and said, "You're saying this child is because of magic... but I have never, I mean, okay, it is indeed too suspicious that he came to be. Gwen and I have confirmed it countless times; we two definitely did not..."

"Okay, I know, Peter." Schiller comforted him, "I know you aren't that irresponsible. You two are both very cautious. It's possible that this really isn't your fault."

He glanced at Strange, who was standing to the side with a dark face, and still said, "I'll let Loki and Stephen go back for a trip. With those two there, no matter what the problem is, it will definitely be solved."

Schiller walked over, grabbed Strange, who was still arguing with Stark, and said, "I know what you're angry about. Loki played with your feelings, and all of this is his scam. But have you ever thought about why you're angry about it?"

"Of course because he is too..."

"Do you remember you once mocked, 'How can there be someone in this world who would be scammed by a god whose name is literally the God of Deception?' You didn't know what his name was, did you?"

Strange's subsequent words were blocked, and a trace of embarrassment clearly appeared on his face. He remembered that he had used those words to mock Stark back then.

"Scammers can only scam those who trust them." Schiller said pointedly, "If Loki realized this, do you think he might have realized something else at the same time?"

"What?"

"Are you the kind of person who easily trusts others?"

"Of course I'm not."

"This is much more effective than you standing on the top of the Kamar-Taj hall looking up at the stars." Schiller pushed Strange toward Loki and said, "Go."