Chapter 4805: The Little Ghost Runs the House (Three)

"Shiler, I need to..." Stark's words trailed off as he caught sight of the figure sitting at the desk. He looked him up and down, seemingly trying to discern which Shiler this was.

"Ahem." Stark coughed, his tone heavy with implication, but Pride acted as if he hadn't heard. Stark seemed a bit helpless; he could only walk in and say, "I have a favor to ask of you."

"What?" Greed asked.

"Little Morgan wants to visit a film set." Stark said, "You know, she's always been interested in magic, and I can't stop her even if I tried. Besides, having her pester Strange is a good idea too; he doesn't get to stay out of this."

"No problem," Greed agreed readily, "but it's not safe for her to go alone. Will you take her?"

"I don't have the time." Stark sighed, "I'd love to accompany her, love to see the look of surprise on her face, but those damn Iron Men have already started construction, I can't fall behind them! Pepper's been busy lately too, she's preparing Stark Interstellar Security Contracting. I'll have Helen take her, or Loki?"

Greed nodded and said, "You want her to play a role too?"

"A role? What role could she play?" Stark said with some confusion, "Aren't those child actors almost 10 years old? Little Morgan's too young, isn't she?"

"Oh, I forgot." Greed only just remembered now; because Little Morgan acted so incredibly smart, he always forgot this little guy was actually still in kindergarten. A child this young couldn't possibly attend Ilvermorny, nor become a classmate of the main cast.

"I don't really want her involved in the performance either," Stark said, "I'm afraid she'll break things and delay progress, and then I'd have to go apologize!"

Stark's tone was clearly verging on a breakdown. Before becoming a father, his mouth was so hard; getting him to say a single apology was near impossible; after becoming a father, he was practically apologizing to people from morning to night, and both he and his wife had to go together to apologize.

The problem was, although Little Morgan was very smart, she was ultimately still too young; she lacked social experience, and causing trouble wasn't intentional on her part. Stark couldn't exactly discipline her, and even had to coax her instead.

Stark had never agreed with Little Morgan learning magic, not because he hated magic all that much, but because he was genuinely worried Little Morgan would cause trouble at Kamar-Taj or Ilvermorny, and then he'd be the one having to apologize to Strange. With Strange's mouth, he was afraid he himself wouldn't be able to take it.

"Alright." Greed didn't press further; he nodded and said, "Then let's just have her visit before filming starts. Conveniently, the second movie is shooting the Christmas scenes, the Great Hall will be decorated very festively, she'll like it."

With business concluded, Stark glanced at Pride beside him again, about to say something, when his peripheral vision caught the property report on the desktop first. Stark picked it up to look; naturally, he couldn't be shocked by that string of zeros — he was shocked by the fact that Shiler was looking at houses.

"You're buying a house?" Stark said with some shock.

"Yeah, so what?" Greed leaned back again, "I have some friends from other universes to host too, can't very well have them stay with me at the sanatorium."

"Oh, nothing." Stark shook his head, "You really should buy a house, staying at the sanatorium isn't proper. But I feel your real estate agent isn't very reliable; the houses they picked... I don't think you'd like them. Let me introduce you to my property team."

"They'll have better options?" Greed asked.

"Of course," Stark grew smug again, "There are many land and property resources that don't circulate on the open market, only exchanged among a very limited few within a certain circle. I have some resources on hand, I think you should take a look."

"Then many thanks," Greed said, "I'll have to pick carefully."

"If there's nothing else, I'll be off." Stark nodded and left. He hadn't even left the sanatorium before he pulled out his phone and started messaging furiously; clearly not assigning tasks to subordinates, but chatting with someone.

Simultaneously, the screens of many phones lit up. Their owners picked them up, and the moment they saw the message, they all wore the exact same wide-eyed, shocked expression.

"I'd bet the news that I'm buying a house has already spread worldwide." Greed said less than 30 seconds after Stark left, "Everyone I know definitely knows by now."

"Then you don't intend to take action to prove his words?"

Both pairs of eyes landed on that property report at the same time.

An hour and a half later, Long Island villa district, the entrance of a mansion. The real estate agent was introducing the house incessantly. Pride and Greed stood at the entrance; Greed tightened his scarf: "This house isn't expensive among all the options, rein it in a bit later."

Pride said nothing, pushed the door open and walked in. He hadn't even taken a step before he saw the raspberries planted in the garden beside him. The agent seemed to notice his gaze and started introducing it incessantly again.

"This house has a very beautiful front garden; besides the roses everyone likes, there are also many pretty wild berry bushes. Imagine, you sitting at a table in the front yard entertaining friends and family, treating them to berries picked with your own hands..."

"Did you know? Transplanting berries in winter causes their canes to present a different state. On the side facing away from the sun, white traces appear." Pride looked at that raspberry bush, "This bush was transplanted here probably only a little earlier than us, right?"

The agent's face froze; he said, "Uh, this one was indeed just transplanted, but that's so it can fruit by next quarter..."

Greed could barely stand listening: "Who transplants berries in winter and expects them to survive? Is this your first day in New York?"

The East Coast winter is actually quite cold; generally speaking, no one chooses to transplant outdoor plants in winter, because they have to adapt to new soil and the cold, it's a bit too much for these bushes. If transplanting is a must, it's either autumn or early spring. Although there are experts who dare challenge winter transplanting, if done properly, there wouldn't be traces like this on the canes.

This situation only proves the house's yard hasn't been maintained for years, and the agent, wanting the garden to be a selling point to make the house look decent, hastily got a batch of bushes and planted them in the dirt; in reality, these plants won't survive the winter at all.

"Let's go." Pride seemed to have run out of patience.

Although Greed had anticipated this result, he didn't expect them to dare be this perfunctory. After getting in the car, Pride exhaled a breath of cold air, then said: "Should've let Miss Esley give them a taste of their own medicine."

Greed seemed to think of something; he laughed, then said: "Do those things she makes still hit people?"

"How could they not?" Pride said with some helplessness, "And Brainiac just had to let her research giant crops; few people can beat them."

"By next Halloween, remember to send me a few giant hitting pumpkins; I've disliked those dinosaurs Nick raises for a long time."

They drove back to the sanatorium. Greed glanced at the property report a few times, then said: "These few were sent by another agent; might they be more reliable?"

Pride took it and glanced; seeing no obvious issues on the surface, they decided to try once more. At first it was fairly normal; this agent looked more professional than the last, and much more polite.

Until the car drove north all the way, nearly reaching Massachusetts, Greed sighed and said: "If this keeps up, I can just go to the set early. Ma'am, what exactly is your dissatisfaction with the current administrative divisions of 'New York'?"

In fact, the car was no longer in New York State, and had nearly left the Greater New York area. The two hadn't even reached the house the agent prepared to show them before turning back directly.

After all, Greed didn't want to spend five hours commuting every day, and that was even with taking a sky-shuttle.

Then they found another agent; this time confirmed to be within New York City proper, the house was original, no emergency renovations, looked decent in all aspects. Result: the listed price was only a deposit, the actual price was terrifying, and they required cryptocurrency payment. Greed had to pass again.

Three viewings, none worked; Greed and Pride had to admit, buying a house in New York requires connections and channels, and very high-end ones at that. Even the ones introduced by a lawyer like Matt weren't very reliable.

This definitely wasn't Matt deliberately screwing him; more likely these agents really are authoritative in Matt's stratum. But Matt's at most an elite middle-class; the houses they buy are basically ordinary small villas in middle-class communities, while Shiler wants a mansion in a villa district.

These people don't have those resources, but don't want to let go of such a big client, so they dig up all sorts of weird marginal assets, the kind no one who actually knows the business would ever buy.

They don't really worry the client will spot it either, because people truly of that stratum have their own channels. Those who'd buy such a house yet come to these agents are either people with shady money sources desperate to park it in tangible assets, or nouveau riche who know nothing and are guilt-free to scam.

"That's about enough." Pride said, "At least these agents will definitely go complain to Matt that you're too picky."

"You're the picky one," Greed said, "Those agents were nearly scolded to tears by you. I reminded you to rein it in."

"I did rein it in. At least they didn't drive the car into the river on the way back."

Greed laughed. These few trips out weren't really hoping to find a house they liked, just to put the word out. By now, the rumor Stark spread about him buying a house was probably confirmed as fact.

Indeed as he predicted, Shiler rushing out for a few trips made the originally somewhat skeptical crowd completely believe Stark's words. But Greed hadn't expected this news would cause the Avengers to assemble urgently.

Not just the Avengers; S. H. I. E. L. D., mutants, Asgard, Kamar-Taj, even the Galactic Council, all assembled.

?? A warm, Christmas-themed slice of life