Chapter 5022: Advance to York, Advance (Fifty-Eight)

"Professor! Professor!"

When the knocking sounded, Shiler had just changed into his pajamas in the hotel room. He walked over and opened the door, finding it was Peter, who was originally the Amazing Spider-Man, now the one from Saint Peter.

"What's wrong, Peter?" Shiler frowned slightly. The Amazing Spider-Man was much more mature than the central universe's Spider-Man, and under normal circumstances wouldn't come knocking so late.

"Miss Pepper Potts has been kidnapped!" Peter spilled the details like pouring beans, "At the time Bruce... that is, Spider-Man, was familiarizing himself with business at Wayne Enterprises when he heard a loud bang on a nearby street. By the time he arrived, he found assassins intercepting the vehicle Miss Potts was in. He rushed to chase the assassins, but somehow, Miss Potts and the agents protecting her vanished..."

"Come in and say it." Shiler made space for him to enter, "Does the Revival Alliance know?"

"They already knew; the Anquan Force has already sent people to look for Iron Man, hoping to get coordinates from him, and also fearing he might act impulsively once he finds the location..."

"He won't act impulsively." Shiler said, "Since the kidnappers chose to abduct, it proves Pepper has what they want."

"That's the problem." Peter said anxiously, "Now this Iron Man, how much feeling he has for Pepper is uncertain, but he absolutely won't want Pepper to reveal his secrets. Once he knows the location, it's inevitable that..."

"Pepper won't say." Shiler said, "Iron Man also knows Pepper won't say; the two of them are clear-headed on this. Or rather, it's this kind of profit-above-all, even somewhat cold-blooded people, who instead can stay calm in such a situation."

Peter opened his mouth, unsure how to rebut, he thought it over and seemed to indeed be the case. These two people are clearly not pure love types; don't look at how they seem when love and hatred surge, not caring even if the universe lives or dies, but actually they are the most shrewd. If they really wanted to destroy the universe along with their wealth, they'd be the first to go mad.

"Who would kidnap her?" Peter said, this being his main purpose for coming here, because he saw the Revival Alliance also had no definite answer. Stark Industries indeed has many rivals, but there's no need to harm Pepper at this critical juncture.

First, those well-informed know they've fallen out. So the best method now is to use appeasement to win over Pepper, making her see you as the next option. Once their relationship deteriorates further, not only could you get a free head steward, but you might even obtain some Stark Industries secrets.

Now you've kidnapped the person, which is like startling the snake by beating the grass, and will certainly provoke Iron Man. After all, not everyone knows what kind of people they are; judging by normal human logic, Iron Man would definitely go mad looking for Pepper who knows his secrets. If he finds her, Iron Man might not believe Pepper revealed nothing, so the best method is to silence both her and the assassins together.

This is also why, after the incident, the Revival Alliance's first move was to send people to Iron Man's side, also fearing that if he finds the assassins and silences them, the commotion would be too big and cause trouble.

Shiler really thought carefully about it, pacing in the living room while saying: "If we can't infer from motive, let's reverse from result. Looking at the result, it should divide into two types. One type is confident Iron Man can't find them; the other is even if Iron Man tracks them down, they're not afraid."

Peter had an epiphany, standing up from the sofa and saying: "Exactly, the kidnapper of Pepper couldn't possibly not consider Iron Man coming after them. So either they think they're hiding well, definitely no one can find them, or Iron Man comes and they get cleaned up together... that latter possibility isn't big, right?"

"Not entirely impossible." Shiler said, "There are many in this world unafraid of Iron Man, but there's a problem. If someone is completely unafraid of Iron Man, they have no need to know his secrets, like Thor—would he kidnap Pepper? What would be the point?"

Peter nodded, saying: "Indeed. If someone can defeat Iron Man head-on, then no matter what secrets Iron Man has, they're not that important to him. Whether it's mech tech or the doomsday virus, there's no need to spend effort investigating. Even if this technology could bring him greater benefit, he could just seize it directly—no need to go around in such a big circle."

Peter thought, then added: "But if someone thinks they're hiding well and won't be found by Iron Man, they must have used some means. After all, Iron Man couldn't not watch Pepper; placing tracking devices on her is possible. Once something happens, coordinates would be instantly traceable. So this person must be able to jam the tracking system."

Peter also began pacing in front of the sofa: "As far as I know, this Iron Man's electronic information technology level isn't high. Though he should be stronger than ordinary hackers, he's not without loopholes. Stark Industries uses the security system left by the previous Iron Man, but if he adds tracking for Pepper, it's definitely his own doing, not high-level enough, and still possibly vulnerable to intrusion and tampering."

Peter spoke while pulling out his phone, obviously intending to call Iron Man to warn him. After connecting, he was about to say something when he slowly furrowed his brow. Not long after, he hung up and looked at Shiler, saying: "We need to go to the Revival Alliance headquarters."

Peter didn't say what it was, but Shiler had already roughly guessed. He returned to the bedroom to change clothes, then went downstairs and pushed open the hotel doors when a wave of heat hit him. Peter parked the car at the entrance.

After the car started, the night wind blowing in through the window cracks was also hot. Peter drove while saying: "I thought the civil war was over, didn't expect it to be just the beginning."

"That depends on your standard for judging chaos." Shiler said calmly, "Pure military conflict has an end, but undercurrents never cease. Human society is like this, the universe is like this—like an endless rotating ouroboros, with no beginning or end."

Arriving at the Revival Alliance headquarters, the inside was already brightly lit. They two were again led to the meeting room. Iron Man stood on the stage, Thor stood beside him, and there were several other superheroes.

Natasha quietly briefed Shiler: "Iron Man's tracking device left on Pepper shows Pepper is still in Jotunheim. Iron Man wants to go in, Thor disagrees."

"So now it's about mediation?"

"Sort of, they asked you to come because the agent was also kidnapped together with Pepper. You also count as family, so we need to hear your opinion."

"Then you should go find the real family." Shiler said this somewhat out of the blue, and Natasha didn't mind.

"I don't believe Pepper is in Jotunheim." Natasha said, "Reed has no need to kidnap Pepper. What would he want from Iron Man? Reed has never lacked money, and he might not even value Stark's tech. They have no grudge; you might not believe this, but Reed Richards is not a supervillain, he wouldn't do something like kidnapping."

Shiler was willing to believe this. The Fantastic Four is a superhuman organization that fights crime on Earth, with very significant results, and is among the few superhero teams with many fans, having a good reputation in New York, not like some superheroes who easily fall from grace and are denounced by countless people.

Mister Fantastic, as the pillar of this team, like other superheroes, has done many good deeds and saved many people. Although his emotional intelligence isn't high, somewhat abstract, and he doesn't pay much attention to experiment safety, but to say he would kidnap someone's family like the Joker does—that's indeed still a bit of a stretch to accuse him of.

Moreover, during the previous civil war over the Registration Act, they were die-hard allies. Both were pro-registration, and worked together seamlessly; saying they were colluding like wolves is a bit much, but roughly so.

Their background, personality, temperament are very similar, not to the point of falling out like this. However, the most important point is also what Natasha said: you can't see what Reed is after. Others might be interested in Iron Man's tech, but Reed is one of the few who can go toe-to-toe with Iron Man in this area.

"I don't believe Iron Man doesn't know this." Shiler crossed his arms, speaking softly to Natasha, "I think he's just using this as an excuse, and also wants to cause trouble for Thor."

"I think so too." Natasha lowered her voice, "But now he's the victim, holding evidence, so we can't be too biased."

"Can't we stop him from going in?" Shiler asked, "I think Reed wouldn't go along with him recklessly."

"Thor is also stubborn." Natasha glanced at Thor beside her, "Getting him to relent probably isn't easy."

"I'll try." Shiler said. After learning the agent was also kidnapped with Pepper, he knew this definitely involved greedy motives. But he hasn't recently offended him, so it shouldn't be to make himself unhappy; giving him a push wouldn't hurt.

He walked to Thor's side, lowered his voice and said: "Do you think this is related to Loki?"

Thor was somewhat startled, turning his head to look at him. Shiler said: "After you killed his clone, you've never found him; where do you think he's hiding?"

Thor paused his action. Shiler's question clearly had an implication. Thor can control the Nine Realms, but for now hasn't found Loki, so the answer can only be one. Loki can only be hiding in a place Thor cannot fully control. Within the Nine Realms, such a place is only Reed Richards' laboratory in Jotunheim.

The shield barrier Thor put up has already been controlled by Reed, who knows what technology he used, turning the entire lab into a vacuum zone Thor cannot fully control. For Loki to escape Thor's eyes, he can only go there.

Thor let out a long sigh. If it's really like this, then it's a bit troublesome. If he now doesn't let Iron Man enter the barrier zone, and later it's found out this is related to Loki, his credibility points will be deducted completely. Originally at the press conference, he didn't read from the script, which already had a hint of favoring Loki; if he does this again, then he truly has no face to see the Revival Alliance again.

"Are you sure?" Thor asked.

Shiler knew he was asking how likely this is related to Loki. Actually Shiler isn't fully sure either; he just feels that Peter's description of the two people "suddenly disappearing" isn't ordinary means, very likely magic. It can't even be called slandering Loki, as he is indeed suspicious.

So he nodded and said: "Cannot guard against."

Thor forcefully closed his eyes, then opened his mouth: "Alright. I can let you enter Jotunheim, but you cannot stay long inside. If the person isn't there, then come out quickly, understand?"