Chapter 3430: Midnight Sons (Part 40)

A bolt of lightning struck down solidly.

Thor didn't hold back at all this time, even if he might be pursued for murder by humans, he didn't hold back at all. The output of this thunder was enough to strike an ordinary person to death eight or ten times.

After striking, he remembered to ask: "How did he scold you?"

Before Loki could open his mouth, Shiler repeated what Dario had said: "I really find it hard to imagine that there would be such a superior race as you in the universe. Powerful physical fitness, more powerful divine power, a leader who is almost invincible, no useless, dragging individual. You are simply born for victory..."

Thor's face grew darker and darker, and then he heard a "crack", and another bolt of lightning struck the location where Dario was.

If the previous lightning belonged to a full-force attack, then

The ordinary employees below were running out, shrieking; some tried to stop them, but they couldn't be held back at all. Standing by the window, Shiler saw that many people on the road had stopped to watch; after all, the last time there was such a big commotion was when a plane hit a building.

Loki, standing to the side, suddenly nudged Thor's elbow and said, "Did you file an application with the Anquan Bureau when you came over?"

"No, I came too hurriedly. The Rainbow Bridge sent me directly to the top, and then I teleported over."

"We need to go to the space station. If they can't figure out who caused that light just now, they probably won't be able to sleep tonight. Let's go."

After the two left, Shiler also departed.

As for Dario? He certainly wasn't struck dead; the power that turned him into a Minotaur was quite strong, and Thor only used the thunderous power of Mjolnir, not his own power as the God King of Light, so it was normal that he didn't kill him.

However, this blow was enough for him to suffer. The wound on his chest caused by Otto's high-energy ray gun hadn't fully healed yet, and then he was struck twice more by Mjolnir. When Shiler left the Roxxon Energy Industrial Building, he saw Dario's subordinates lifting a charred, human-shaped object onto an ambulance. Judging by the injuries, he wouldn't be recovering for at least a month.

The treatment session for today definitely couldn't continue, but Shiler had already obtained what he wanted. He had recorded those outrageous remarks of Dario's, and now, he needed to process the things he had collected.

To process this kind of audio file, one naturally had to find a professional. Shiler prepared to go find Eddie, have him perform some special processing on the audio file, and then post it online. He wanted to spread it online before Dario woke up and his PR team could refute the rumors, thereby reclaiming the right to speak in the battle for public opinion.

When he came over today, Roxxon Company had sent a car to pick him up, and Shiler hadn't driven himself, so now if he wanted to go somewhere else, he could only take a shuttle or hail a taxi.

Eddie's studio was in Brooklyn, but not far from Manhattan. Moreover, the anomaly of smoke rising from the top of the Roxxon Energy Industrial Building had triggered traffic congestion below, and even if he got into a taxi, he would probably be stuck here for half an hour.

Rather than that, it would be better to walk a few minutes to the nearby shuttle station, take a shuttle to Brooklyn, and then walk another ten minutes or so to Eddie's studio.

Having planned the route, Shiler walked toward the shuttle station; not long after, he arrived at the stop, bought a ticket, and prepared to board.

The shuttle station was the largest transportation hub in Manhattan. Even on a weekday morning, there were quite a few people in the station, gathered in twos and threes, discussing the smoke rising from the roof of the Roxxon Energy Industrial Building just now.

The process of waiting for the shuttle was a bit boring, so Shiler pretended to play on his phone while actually listening to people chatting on the platform.

"Do you think another plane hit it? Which terrorists are these this time?"

"Doesn't seem like it. I didn't see any planes flying this way; I guess it might just be a normal electrical accident."

"Impossible. You came too late and didn't see it; two bolts of lightning struck the roof of the industrial building. I suspect it might be magic..."

"Roxxon Company is too miserable, getting struck by lightning in broad daylight. I wonder how Mr. Agger is doing..."

"I heard he's fine, thank God. I hope the police can find the culprit soon..."

Originally, Shiler was just listening casually to pass the time, but the content of everyone's chat made him frown. He walked a few steps toward where those people were, and it just so happened that the shuttle arrived at that moment.

The cabin door opened, and Shiler had to board the shuttle first. The content of the conversation he had just heard became a vague shadow, lingering in his heart.

Just a few minutes after Shiler left, a figure swung over from the New York skyline. The people watching exclaimed, "Spider-Man! It's Spider-Man!"

Another figure also flew over quickly. Iron Man followed behind Miles the Spider-Man, and the two approached the Roxxon Energy Industrial Building at high speed.

Miles stopped on the roof of a building nearby. He frowned as he looked at the billowing black smoke rising from the roof of the industrial building and said with some anger, "Who did this?! Are these terrorists really this rampant now?!"

Stark, wearing his armor, opened his mouth. Shiler had said he would come to the Roxxon Energy Industrial Building today to provide psychotherapy for Dario Agger. Not long after he arrived, the roof of the building exploded. No one would believe it had nothing to do with him.

But Stark also had to admit that the essence of humanity is double standards. If he didn't know that this matter was very likely done by Shiler, he might have been just as angry as Miles.

Both Stark Tower and the Roxxon Energy Industrial Building were landmarks of Manhattan; these two buildings had symbolic significance. Once an incident occurred, it was almost impossible for it to be a simple safety accident, and people would view the culprit of the accident as a terrorist deliberately provoking them.

Facing Miles's anger, Stark had nothing to say. Anyway, Miles didn't know it was Shiler who did it, and he couldn't possibly catch the real culprit, so it didn't matter what attitude he held.

"There should still be people who haven't evacuated," Stark said. "The mecha equipped with fire-extinguishing components is on the way; let's fly in first and save the people."

Miles nodded, and the two flew toward the building together. As soon as Stark flew to the roof, he saw the huge hole. Looking at the charred marks at the collapse site, he guessed that it probably wasn't Shiler who did it directly; the moonlight power wasn't this barbaric.

He flew in through the hole in the roof and saw a messy office. Seeing no bloodstains here, Stark breathed a sigh of relief.

But Miles seemed a bit nervous. He said, "There are some footprints here; could they be Dario Agger's? I think we should protect the scene and wait for the police to come and collect evidence."

Stark narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Saving people is the priority; let's go down and take a look first."

Stark watched Miles jump down through the hole in the floor, and he himself slowly flew down as well.

The mecha equipped with fire-extinguishing equipment arrived quickly, spraying fire-extinguishing foam over every damaged area. By the time the police arrived, let alone footprints, the room's decor had been completely submerged, and nothing could be seen.

Fortunately, directly below Dario's office were not other densely populated offices, but equipment rooms. Most of what caught fire were just some pieces of equipment. Except for two unlucky fellows who twisted their ankles while running out, and three people trapped in an elevator that had triggered an emergency stop, there were no casualties.

Miles sent the last person onto an ambulance and seemed a bit silent. Stark was still directing the mecha to evacuate the crowd, and when he stepped back, he didn't see Miles and bumped into him.

Before he could apologize, he saw Miles glare at him. Stark was instantly a bit unhappy.

"Hey, kid, what's with that look? I didn't do it on purpose. Friction is inevitable when superheroes act in a group; if you don't want to be bumped into by me again, stand further away."

Stark seemed to be expressing his dissatisfaction, but in fact, he was also reminding Miles to stay away from him, as he wouldn't be able to look after him while busy, to prevent bumping into him again.

But unexpectedly, Miles glared at him and said, "Why did you let those bulky mechas of yours spray fire-extinguishing foam everywhere? You clearly saw there were footprints in the office; those might have been the culprits who destroyed the office! You helped them escape punishment!"

In this regard, Stark had never been a very rational person. He noticed Miles's attitude first, rather than the content of what he said.

"Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?" Stark turned his head to look at him and said, "I don't know where you read your books, or perhaps you just have no common sense. Large-scale fire extinguishing should be a saturation rescue, not some precise scalpel tactic."

"If you only spray fire-extinguishing foam where you think a fire might be, the result will be that small sparks hidden in the cracks of the panels will teach you a profound lesson. If it catches fire again after they resume office work, the trouble will be huge."

Although Stark's attitude was very impolite, he still explained with the greatest patience. But Miles seemed completely unable to listen, harping on the loopholes in Stark's language.

"Do you think I'm not worthy of talking to you? Is that your point of view? A white supremacist?"

"Good God." Stark twisted his body helplessly and said, "What does this have to do with race?! I'm saying you shouldn't accuse your teammates without understanding the situation, especially since I'm the leader of the squad. We're still at a disaster relief site; whatever problems you have, wait until we go back..."

"It's precisely because I trusted you too much that I let you turn the crime scene into a mess and let the terrorists go. Are you really qualified to lecture me?"

"Enough, Spider-Man. Why am I understanding less and less of what you're saying? It's very normal to have footprints in an office; they could be Dario Agger's, they could be the secretary's, or they could be from one of his visitors today. This cannot serve as criminal evidence."

"In that situation, our primary task was to save people. You can't feel that we should have stayed in the office, doing nothing, waiting for the police to extract clues, just because no one was actually injured in the end."

Miles just glanced at Stark and turned to leave. Stark stood on the spot with a belly full of anger and nowhere to vent it.

"Jarvis!" Stark shouted, "Use your behavioral analysis module to see what this kid is going crazy about!"

"Jarvis... Jarvis???"

"Sorry, sir, I might not have time to start other modules right now..." Jarvis's voice came through the earpiece.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Wanda discovered that I helped Dr. Shiler conceal the vehicle damage, and she is already opening the front yard gate now... I am using all my threads to back myself up."

(End of Chapter)