Chapter 4802: New Version and Film Production (Part 2)

"Rare visitor," Shiler said, walking up and embracing Nick. He wasn't wrong — if anyone needed to find Nick, it was usually him going to S. H. I. E. L. D., not Nick coming to the sanatorium. As the head of agents, Nick basically lived in seclusion, rarely going out on business himself.

Nick sat in the chair, pulling it forward by the armrests, placed his hands on the table, and said: "I naturally don't visit without reason. The second film is about to start shooting — any thoughts?"

"Honestly, I'm still stressing over memorizing lines," Shiler said. "My lines have increased quite a bit compared to the first film. No idea why the director wants to insert a segment of the Dafan Sect's past into the plot. That monologue is giving me a headache to memorize."

"Your memory isn't that bad," Nick said, taking a sip of coffee.

"True. But this villain's mental journey and his anti-social plan — to me they're no different from toilet paper. Yet now I have to memorize all of it and perform it like I genuinely want to do it. It's terrifying."

"Right, how could he compare to you," Nick teased. "You should go tell Chris to let you devise a plan..."

"You think I haven't tried?" Shiler rolled his eyes. "I devised a plan from Saphir's perspective, and Chris rejected it. He said if we did it my way, Ilvermorny would never have been born."

"So what do you plan to do?"

"Arbitrage," Shiler said, sipping coffee. "Back then the magical world also used gold and silver as currency, but the exchange rate differed vastly from mundane society, and total money supply was very low. Arbitrage alone could destroy the entire magical economy in under a week..."

Nick was a bit speechless: "You plan to show this to kids?"

"The adult world is that cruel," Shiler spread his hands. "Pity our director has quite a childlike heart — he rejected my proposal."

"Alright, let's talk business," Nick said. "I hope S. H. I. E. L. D. can make an appearance in the film. That's not excessive, right? After all, any supernatural event falls under our jurisdiction."

"That won't work," Shiler shook his head. "It's the same as my plan. In this kind of fairy-tale world, when an accident happens at the school, it has to be those kids and monsters battling wits and courage, ultimately defeating the invaders — not them making one phone call to bring the police and haul the monster off in a squad car. That's too realistic."

"But we're not police," Nick emphasized. "S. H. I. E. L. D. has superpowered individuals too. We can appear with an image similar to sorcerers. You know Grant, right?"

"Of course, Moon Knight." Shiler hadn't forgotten — he was the genuine Moon Knight, and that image indeed fit a magic film. So he thought a moment and said: "I can ask Chris, but don't get your hopes up too high. He's never been fond of agents."

"Even just a mention in the background works," Nick said. "This is a political mandate too — I have no choice. Can't let the bigwigs funding us think we do nothing."

Shiler nodded; he understood Nick's difficulty. For more funding, Nick had to ensure S. H. I. E. L. D. was an influential organization. Meaning just doing the work wasn't enough — external publicity had to be strong enough to make people feel they could handle anything.

The magical world's background setting happened to overlap somewhat with S. H. I. E. L. D.'s jurisdiction. So adding a line like "S. H. I. E. L. D. is also monitoring this" in some dialogue wouldn't be jarring.

After Nick left, Shiler continued memorizing lines. The more he memorized, the more his head ached. These villains in children's films really have low IQs — they always let the protagonist group escape for all sorts of weird reasons, when catching them would've been easy.

Especially the flashback segment — the part introducing Saphir's background — Shiler didn't know how to deliver it. This Saphir is like a horror movie protagonist, as if his entire world is that one haunted mansion, and he simply never uses any modern methods.

Granted, his era wasn't especially modern, but there were nations and society — it wasn't the primitive tribal period. He doesn't know a shred of social engineering; 80% of the time he just stares at the Sorcerer Supreme alone. The schemes he cooks up are utterly pointless.

Especially when reading the part where they both lose their magic and have to play chess while negotiating — Shiler really wanted to grab Saphir by the collar and ask: Why not just pick up the chessboard and smash him to death???

Almost every scheme in this world pales compared to inviting someone to play chess, then directly smashing them with the board. No intelligence needed, no evidence, no intricate plotting. If they can't escape it's a one-for-one trade, no loss; if they escape, even more profit.

Many of Shiler's own schemes were designed from this angle. Simply put: lure them in to kill, trap those who can't be killed. That's the essence of "leaving them no choice."

As for how to lure them in — even simpler. Everyone has a moment when their own greed topples them; just name the right price and they'll come. And once they come, they can't leave.

That's also why many who suffer losses just endure it. On one hand the tactic truly has no counter; on the other, losing to one's own greed is human nature — they know that no matter how many times they try again, they still won't learn. Can only say: not me, but fate.

After that reflection, Shiler still chose to continue memorizing lines. After all, just as Chris said — if villains in children's films weren't a bit stupid, the film couldn't be made. If you really let Shiler go, never mind playing past Saphir — even playing current Saphir, the school would go bankrupt from financial mismanagement within two days.

Not long after, the sanatorium welcomed another guest. This time it was actually Loki. Shiler walked up and embraced him, saying: "How've you been lately?"

"Not bad. Attended 39 interstellar banquets, successfully swindled 16 people, found 4 buyers for those 5 Destroyers made for little Morgan. Three factions from the same star system — when they take it to interstellar court, the lawyer fees split fifty-fifty between me and Matt."

Loki sat down, gulped a large mouthful of tea, then said: "I'm here for actual business."

"What business?" Shiler asked.

"That film," Loki said. "Thor hopes Asgard will have scenes in it. You know, we've always had ties with the human magical world. The Queen Consort was once the Nine Realms' foremost sorceress..."

Shiler rubbed his forehead with some helplessness: "Why are you all jumping on the bandwagon?"

"Who let the first one be such a hit," Loki said. "I know last-minute additions aren't ideal, so we're not pushing actors to perform — just need a mention in the background setting. That shouldn't be excessive, right?"

"Nick just came asking me to mention S. H. I. E. L. D. in the background, now you want me to mention Asgard. The director already designed Saphir's backstory — great, now the whole second film is a massive history book..."

Loki frowned. Though he'd never filmed a movie, Asgard had comics and novels too. He knew that in similar artistic works, too much background and history exposition becomes extremely dull, and no one wants to watch.

Though Thor wants to establish a positive image of Asgard here, if the film's quality drops and no one watches, it could backfire.

"I'll relay your requests to the director," Shiler said. "But whether he's willing, and what form it takes in the end — I can't guarantee."

Though he didn't get a definite answer, Loki knew he couldn't ask for more, so he left.

He'd barely left when Charles arrived. Before he could even speak, Shiler said directly: "Want to add mutant elements to the film, right?"

Charles smiled sheepishly: "There are no decent actors among mutants — just a mention in the backstory..."

"Great, now the backstory has S. H. I. E. L. D., Asgard, and mutants. I'd like to see how Chris writes this one." Shiler had gone from headache to schadenfreude.

"Not just those," Charles added. "Ororo asked me to pass a message — Black Panther is willing to add an investment, just hopes you can mention Wakanda in the backstory, preferably linking it to that Black protagonist's background."

Shiler gave him the same spiel, except he didn't tell Chris right away — he planned to accumulate them all, then dump this pile of demands on Chris at once, to see how he'd handle it.

When Mephisto appeared, Shiler even held out a hand directly: "Mention you and Hell in the background, right? No problem, I'll faithfully convey your request to the director..."

"What the hell?" Mephisto said. "I'm this film's ultimate big villain — I'll appear in due course. Why would I need a background mention?"

"I thought you wanted more scenes too," Shiler said with some surprise.

"This time it really isn't that," Mephisto waved a hand. "You know I have a son, right?"

Shiler froze, then nodded: "Blackheart?"

"Yes. He ran off recently. I wanted the Sanctum Sanctorum to help find him, but their price was too high. So I came to ask if you have manpower to help search."

"Where'd he run to?"

"Don't know. Probably in America?"

"Wait," Shiler interrupted. "He ran to Earth? How's that possible? There's a magical defense network."

"But that thing defends against demon gods, not humans," Mephisto said. "Blackheart has human bloodline. Before, when he caused trouble in Hell, I turned him human. Who knew he could still escape even like that."

Shiler was speechless: "He's already human — why look for him?"

"That's what you said. If he causes trouble on Earth, that's your humans' internal affair." Mephisto said this and vanished in a puff.

Shiler patted his forehead — he really was dizzy from memorizing lines. Mephisto wasn't looking for someone at all; he purely came to shirk responsibility.

Though, he remembered the original work did have this plot. Blackheart was turned human by Mephisto, even joined Avengers Academy. Thought the central universe's Mephisto was busy with finance and wouldn't clash with his son again — didn't expect it still happened.

But once Blackheart became human, he was a genuine human with no superpowers — otherwise he couldn't have escaped the magical defense network's detection. Such a person can't stir up waves on today's Earth, so Shiler didn't take it too seriously.

And next, a most unexpected visitor arrived.