Chapter 4150: Yes, Sorcerer Supreme (I)

The first snow in New York came later than usual, and colorful gift boxes were placed in the shop windows. When Christmas carols echoed on the streets, this holy winter lady finally fluttered down from between the high-rise buildings. The snowflakes spinning in the breeze under the eaves looked like the hem of her white dress.

The crowds were still in a hurry. In Times Square, people wore thick and long windbreakers, scarves wrapped around their necks, carrying lead-gray handbags or leather bags, wearing wool hats, walking past the shining shop windows. Standing on the sidewalk under the traffic lights, the colors of the flashing advertising screens reflected on their faces, their mouths turned down. When the signal light was ready, they quickly crossed the streets and alleys, their footsteps as firm as if they really knew where they were going.

For ordinary people, this winter was not special. They were still working hard to finish the last work of the year, striving to leave early before Christmas. The lights of the big cities were gradually retreating, and more and more fashionable trendsetters appeared in the frontier towns. No matter where they were, the sardines couldn't treat the cans on the factory assembly line as their true home. They yearned for the ocean, no matter how homesick they were, they would eventually have to go back.

And for the superheroes, this would be an incomparably busy winter. Because they were busy cleaning up the mess, repairing the broken pots and pans from before, and had to clear the house before Christmas in order to have a lively and good year.

As the central universe of the multiverse war battlefield, it suffered greater damage than imagined. Dimensions were shattered, the power of nightmares made everything a mess, Asgard was in a shambles, and many things were broken. They didn't even have much time to conduct post-war reviews before they had to be busy cleaning up the mess.

And, on the other side, the damage caused by the power of nightmares affected more than one galaxy. Many civilizations were involved, and at the same time, the only non-mechanical empire that did not attack Asgard, the Shi'ar Empire, also suffered. The three major empires were equally weakened, but there was no power vacuum. Asgard and humanity had to take advantage of this time to fill the extra vacancy. This was the most difficult thing for them recently.

Shiler was sitting in his office at the sanitarium. He had already filled out all the medical records, but this didn't mean he could be idle. He was preparing the opinion paper needed for the S. H. I. E. L. D. meeting half an hour later.

Regarding what status humanity should obtain in the Interstellar Council, all parties had their own opinions. Of course, it was foreseeable that it would be a drama of conservatives thinking radicals were too conservative, with choices only being radical and more radical, greedy and more greedy. However, how to satisfy one's own greed while ensuring no major chaos would occur was the topic they needed to explore now. Regarding this issue, more than a dozen meetings had already been held.

Because everyone had many opinions and many ideas, before this meeting, everyone was required to submit a personal opinion paper. There were no hard requirements; write whatever comes to mind. Anyway, after summarizing them together, some ideas could be summarized.

Shiler was adding to the opinion paper when the office door was knocked. He looked up and found Strange standing outside.

"Are you here to pick up medical records?" Shiler pulled out the medical records he had just written and handed them to him, then said, "You haven't performed many surgeries this month; are you too busy being a scavenger?"

Strange let out a long sigh, sat down opposite the desk, and said, "Don't mention it. If you count the portal distance and the faster-than-light engine distance, then my average daily steps are probably tens of millions of light-years. I've been running for over a month straight; I even managed to squeeze in time to perform a few surgeries. The title 'Hand of God' really wasn't given to me in vain."

Shiler laughed and said, "How is it? Did you pick up a lot of things?"

Mentioning this, Strange also grinned. The two of them were happy for a long time like two huskies, and then Strange pursed his lips and said, "Indeed quite a lot. Andromeda, Centaurus, Libra, Triangulum, Cygnus... basically all were affected. Hundreds of millions of civilizations were disturbed, leading to countless civilization extinctions and migrations. The equipment that popped out and the relics left behind were naturally countless. If it weren't for the Flerken helping to transport, and Franklin creating a pocket universe for storage, these things alone could fill several solar systems."

"Sounds like the harvest is not bad." Shiler nodded with satisfaction and said, "Have you seen the S. H. I. E. L. D. notice? How is your opinion paper written?"

Strange shook his head and said, "I haven't moved a word. Don't look at me like that; I can guarantee that the vast majority of superheroes can't write anything. We have already contributed all our military force in the last war. This kind of annoying political issue is not our field."

"You are always like this." Shiler sighed lightly and said, "Whenever you encounter such problems, you are unwilling to use your brains, so you never make progress. Is it possible that you are going to hand in a blank paper this time too?"

"Writing a few words casually is fine, right?" Strange said a bit uncertainly, "Even if we write seriously, our opinions won't be adopted, so it's better to write casually and save some time."

"How do you know it won't be adopted?"

"With our political brains, the most perfect tricks we can think of aren't even half as insidious as those of the Congress lords. Don't ask us to do this kind of thing; otherwise, what are they for? They are sitting in their positions and doing nothing 365 days a year. Now that it's finally their field, if they don't hurry up and shine, they should really be buried."

"Although within the scope of intelligent life, political laws are basically common, ordinary people cannot become the political leaders of Earth. Although their physique and lifespan have been greatly improved, compared to this, they are still a bit too fragile. Although they can become aides and congressmen, the representative figure still needs a sufficiently omnipotent super-powered person to be."

"What's wrong with Captain America?"

"You said it yourself, he is Captain America; can other countries agree? And, although his political literacy is relatively good among you, he still lacks the ruthlessness that a politician should have."

"So the problem now is that we need to elect a leader figure? Is this opinion paper a ballot?"

"You can understand it this way." Shiler nodded and said, "As long as a leader can be elected, subsequent problems are easy to solve. But the problem is that choosing is very difficult."

"Then Nick." Strange said again, "The S. H. I. E. L. D. he leads is quite good, the Time Variance Authority is also managed well, and Spider-Man listens to him very much, which proves his leadership ability is quite strong. And the ruthlessness you mentioned, he certainly has it too. Can't we choose him?"

"Then how much of the future Interstellar Council's appropriations can fall into Earth's hands, and how much will go into his own pocket?"

Strange was a bit speechless.

"However, he does have many supporters." Shiler said, "Similarly, the Director of S. P. E. A. R. also has many supporters. Iron Man is also one, Doctor Doom is also very popular, and Magneto, Professor X, Jarvis, etc., everyone has a group of loyal supporters."

"Then who did you vote for?" Strange asked curiously.

"Don't worry about that for now. I'll ask you, who do you want to vote for."

A difficult expression appeared on Strange's face. He said, "I have to admit that the few people you mentioned each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Each one looks good, but if you think about it carefully, they all have some problems. By the way, can I vote for you?"

"Of course not." Shiler shook his head and said, "If I could, everyone would vote for me, but I would refuse."

"Why would you refuse?"

"I am not a good leader, do you understand what I mean? I have many good ideas, know how to handle complex things, can guide a matter in the direction I hope it develops, and can handle many complicated problems at the same time, but this does not mean I can become a political leader."

Strange seemed to understand a little, but not completely, so he said, "Why is that?"

"What kind of person is Odin? What kind of person is Magneto? And what kind of person are you? Where do you think the difference between me and you lies?"

Strange really thought about it very seriously and said, "I think the common point between us is that we are all paranoid, and because of paranoia, we are firm. You are also paranoid, but your paranoia is different from ours; I can't say exactly what it is."

"It's not that kind of problem." Shiler shook his head and said, "The key is that you can comfortably put yourself in the position of a leader and then dispatch others. This is a quality that a good leader must have."

"It sounds like you dispatch others quite a bit." Strange said with disdain.

"That's different." Shiler still shook his head and said, "I have never ordered you to do anything. I can guide, I can seduce, I can use various means to leave you with no choice, but you always have to choose. Even if there is only one option, you have to choose it yourself, rather than me pointing where you should hit."

"So why isn't it?" Strange asked with some confusion, "I mean, why don't you directly command others?"

"If I command you, will you listen? Don't forget who it was that gave me the cold shoulder for half a day just because I was late when I first came to this world. If I commanded you to do something at that time, would you do it?"

"Doesn't that also blame you for being late?" Strange retorted righteously, "I had dozens of surgeries waiting, and I waited for you in the conference room for a full half hour, and in the end, I only scolded you a few times. Do you know how long I would scold you if you were my intern?"

"Alright, let's not talk about this." Shiler waved his hand and pulled the topic back, saying, "Compared to directly commanding others, I would rather take a big detour, help him eliminate all options, and then let him choose that only option himself. Even if you value my opinion very much later and will listen to me, I will still choose to do so. This is not your problem, but my problem."

"So why?"

"You can understand it as the last insurance measure on this broken engine of mine. If it weren't for this behavioral pattern slowing down my efficiency, our universe should be crashing through the entire great world at billions of times the speed of light right now, and with one head-on collision, it would knock OAA into the holy spring of the heaven next door." ===== CHAPTER 4151 =====