Chapter 4866

The opening ceremony for "Iron Man" was held in Hampton. Since the first scene was to be filmed at the Stark family's old mansion, even though the area wasn't entirely peaceful, they still managed to clear out some space. Stark hired professional chefs to host a buffet at the old mansion, and the main cast all attended.

Greed naturally came as well. Although the younger version of him would eventually play the role, the younger him wasn't really suited to attend the banquet, so he reluctantly took on the task. Mainly, there was a chef he liked at this buffet, someone he usually couldn't get an appointment with, so he came to eat.

As Greed was selecting a pre-meal drink, he vaguely saw a familiar figure. He casually grabbed a glass of wine from the table, walked up behind the person, and tapped them on the shoulder.

"Oh, God." Eddie let out a startled cry, turned around to see Shiler, and sighed, saying, "You scared the hell out of me."

Shiler was about to ask about Venom when he noticed the small cakes on the table in front of him had been completely cleared away. Eddie's suit sleeve extended a tentacle, which licked the cake crumbs off the tabletop clean.

"Ah, sorry." Eddie quickly pulled his hand back and whispered to Venom, "I told you not to eat so fast—did you get caught? There are plenty of my colleagues around here; could you show some restraint?"

At that moment, Stark walked over holding a wine glass. As he approached, he also saw the dessert stand completely empty. Eddie said awkwardly, "Um, sorry, we shouldn't have cleared the desserts before the main course..."

"Oh, my God." Stark exclaimed, then shouted toward the side, "Evan! Evan! What are you doing?! I told you earlier to prepare sufficient ingredients—how did the dessert table end up empty? How could you let our distinguished guests go hungry?!"

Afterward, he turned back and, somewhat awkwardly, said to Eddie, "Pepper's been busy lately, and that manager I hired for this catering team is a real piece of work. Poor hospitality—I'm sorry. I'll have them replenish the dessert stand right away..."

Having said that, he hurried off. Eddie rubbed his cheekbone with his hand. Shiler clinked his wine glass against Eddie's cup and then said, "You think we're here for this? Not to feast on the rich—who'd willingly come to a lawn banquet?"

Eddie grinned, but it was clearly Venom laughing. Right after laughing, Eddie tensed his face, refusing to let himself look too grinny.

"Was it Tony who invited you here?" Shiler asked.

"Yes. I'm mainly filming behind-the-scenes footage," Eddie said, "Tony really likes my variety-show style, so he invited me to come track the filming's behind-the-scenes material and pseudo-leaks, to be used for promotion later."

Shiler nodded and said, "Have you considered doing a cameo role?"

"Where would my place be?" Eddie shook his head and said, "I'm younger than them. When Tony was young, I should still have been a kid. Otherwise, his most explosive scandal might have been exposed by me."

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to quit journalism." Shiler took a sip of wine and then said, "I thought you'd only grow bolder with each setback."

"I left the media industry not because I was disappointed in it or anything like that. It's just that reporters are too busy, and I need more free time; otherwise, I couldn't feed Venom." Eddie shook his head and said, "But lately I've been applying to be a Starfleet Fleet embedded journalist—time to give Venom a new flavor."

"You've sacrificed a lot for your family." Shiler raised his glass.

Who knew, Eddie swayed a bit, then gritted his teeth and said, "Oh, damn it, Venom, you're too excited. We can't go crazy here, or we'll get kicked out..."

Shiler burst out laughing—he was obviously doing it on purpose. Who let Venom eat all the cake, not leaving him a single piece?

As they spoke, the desserts had already been replenished. Shiler had just picked up a piece, hadn't even brought it to his mouth yet, when the entire dessert table was cleared again. Fortunately, the staff had prepared in advance—however much Venom ate, they replenished that much. Under Stark's financial assault, the blenders and ovens in the back kitchen were nearly smoking, and they finally managed to feed Venom to half-full.

"Shiler." Stark called out to Shiler, "I know you still have a little one with you, but you really can't let him eat anymore, or we'll have to buy ingredients all over New York again."

Shiler laughed and said, "Grey Mist isn't hungry, so you don't need to prepare his share. Where's Stephen? Why didn't he come?"

"He won't finish surgery for another half hour." Stark pursed his lips and said, "Though I heard after every surgery he still has to scold the interns for another half hour, so he should be done soon."

"Today you're filming alone, right?" Shiler thought about the script and then said, "The opening is Iron Man arriving at the old mansion to find the technology of the Ark Reactor, then reminiscing about the past here..."

"Yes, so I haven't de-aged yet." Stark shrugged and said, "Probably another three or four days before we two have any scenes together. Don't forget your lines—I don't want the schedule delayed."

"Me delaying the schedule?" Shiler laughed and said, "Just hope you don't mess up too many times when the time comes."

Strange indeed waited until the banquet was nearly over before arriving. He again had a dark expression on his face. Shiler didn't need to ask to know—the surgery went smoothly, but there might have been a few more monstrous forms among the interns, and Strange had gone off to slay demons and monsters.

Strange seemed hungry, but he always maintained his dignity, standing beside the dessert table eating slowly and formally. Stark had intended to walk over and chat about filming, but since he approached from behind, when Strange turned around, the magical light bursting from his hand directly melted the cup.

Stark stumbled back a few steps, extended both hands, and said, "Hey, it's me—what's wrong with you??"

Strange took a deep breath, shook his head, and said, "Nothing. Are we starting filming today?"

"Yes. But you look quite tense," Stark said, "Anything wrong at the banquet? Did you eat some Sichuan peppercorns?"

"No problem," Strange said, keeping a stern face, "I'm just not used to this kind of environment. Don't worry about me."

Stark wanted to intervene but couldn't, so he could only go complain to Shiler: "What's his deal?"

"Probably just a bit nervous," Shiler said, "Banquets usually aren't a good setting for him."

"Uh, why?"

"Maybe he doesn't like this kind of socializing." Shiler thought and said, "You need to understand—99% of people in the world have never attended anything like a proper banquet, let alone a lawn banquet or such. This is the exclusive domain of the wealthy."

"But Eddie Brock isn't nervous." Stark looked at Eddie, who was greedily devouring red wine-braised beef, "I see he loves this kind of banquet."

"That's true, after all, he usually can't eat such high-end ingredients. But Stephen happens not to be someone with strong material desires—fine food and wine can't buy him."

"I'm not trying to buy him." Stark still stubbornly said, "I just think that since he's going to act, he should at least get familiar with the crew and staff, so we can work together more smoothly."

"You think his state is off. I think so too." Shiler said, "Fine food and socializing can soothe the spirit, but they're ineffective on Stephen."

"What exactly is wrong with him?" Stark said doubtfully, "If he doesn't want to act, I'm not forcing him. And he couldn't possibly be afraid of cameras—doesn't the Sorcerer Supreme act just fine?"

Shiler glanced left and right, making sure Strange wasn't nearby, then lowered his voice and said, "Not everyone's youth is worth remembering. Can you understand that?"

"Not really." Stark said, "Of course, I know he came from a civilian background, but he became a myth in the surgical world in just a few short years—isn't that something to be proud of?"

"New York was never Stephen Strange's city—he was destined not to belong here." Shiler looked into Stark's eyes and said, "Here, no group has ever accepted him. Not students, not professors, not patients, not colleagues."

"How could that be!" Stark exclaimed in disbelief, "He's so talented, his abilities are outstanding, so many people are waiting for him to save lives—why wouldn't they accept him?"

"Class barriers aren't that easy to break." Shiler shook his head, "If there were a commercially talented genius with no background, white-handedly built up, who in just a few short years stole much of Stark Industries' business, what would Howard do?"

Stark fell into thought. He seemed to somewhat understand, and said, "Howard would try to win him over, absorb him into Stark Industries. If that failed, he'd have to find a way to suppress him. Because in business, it's always you die or I die—if you can't suppress him, your own business is done."

"Every industry is like this." Shiler said, "People want to protect their existing status; when faced with rising geniuses, if they can't win them over, they destroy them. For geniuses from humble origins, the road is always harder to walk."

"The medical industry is even more so." Shiler took a sip of wine and said, "Surgical opportunities are extremely precious—one more patient means one more experience. Competition among surgeons is fierce, which is why there are so many cases of over-treatment. If it weren't for Stephen's exceptional talent, no one could have obscured his brilliance—he absolutely couldn't have achieved today's success."

Stark let out a long sigh, then couldn't help but say, "Then isn't this talent a bit too strong?"

"That's just how geniuses are." Shiler clinked cups with Stark and said, "You're no different, are you?"

"I haven't been rejected by anyone." Stark said, "The bunch of idiots in Hampton don't count. The vast majority of people treat me well—even if I choose to be a playboy, no one dares bring it up to my face. Everyone praises me for achieving greatness at a young age."

"Ah." Shiler reached out and clinked cups with him, "Perhaps that's why he acts unnaturally in your presence."

"How come it wasn't like that before?" Stark spread his hands and said, "In front of me, he used to act arrogantly to the point of fury—I'd say one thing, he'd curse me three times."

"Now it's naturally like this. But if we're going to relive our youth together, many things will change. He'll definitely feel pressure."

"I understand." Stark nodded and said, "My youth is my beautiful memory, while his youth is his black history. So he doesn't want to meet me with a young face—just thinking about it makes him tense."

"Yes. So when our opposing scenes begin, you'd better adjust your attitude." Shiler advised, "Don't provoke him, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll protect his fragile heart." Stark tilted his head back and drained the wine in his cup, "Besides, who ends up unable to tolerate whom is still uncertain."