Chapter 526: Schiller's Hospital Daily Life (Part 2)

"Disappointment?"

On the hospital bed, Schiller threw a slice of orange into his mouth and said while chewing: "Stark and Bruce are the same type of people. Don't I know what their nature is?"

On the table, Pikachu used his short hands to peel another orange with effort, but was splashed in the eyes by the orange juice. He rubbed his dark, round eyes and asked: "Then you're just staying here? Seriously, even if you really have a mental illness, staying here probably won't solve the problem, right?"

Schiller didn't answer this question, but opened the drawer of the bedside table and flipped through it while saying: "Where is the remote control? I remember the nurse told me that this TV can be watched..."

There is a TV on the wall facing Schiller's hospital bed, which is very rare. Generally speaking, there will be no TV in the ward of a mental hospital, because TV programs are mixed, and some pictures and sound and light may stimulate patients. But it may be because Stark greeted the hospital in advance, the ward Schiller lived in was more like a convalescent ward, and it was the kind that was dead expensive, with all kinds of equipment available.

The hospital bed was raised, the fruit plate was taken, and Schiller turned on the TV switch with the remote control and started watching TV while eating oranges.

Just then, his phone rang. He picked up the phone, glanced at the number, then answered the phone and said: "Yes... are you coming over? Good, I happen to have time now. You told me last time that you were on a TV show, and I was planning to watch it..."

While listening to Peter's somewhat helpless voice on the phone, Schiller pressed the remote control to change channels. Just when he finally found that variety show, with a "clatter," a dull sound came from the balcony window.

"Swish," the balcony door was pulled open, and Peter wearing a Spider-Man suit walked in, took off his hood, threw his schoolbag on the chair next to it, and shook his head with a complex expression after seeing the program being broadcast on the TV, then said: "Actually, there's nothing to watch..."

Peter walked quickly around the hospital bed, high-fived Pikachu, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, took the remaining half of the orange from his hand, peeled off a slice and threw it into his mouth, and then his facial features were wrinkled together by the sourness.

Schiller handed the bunch of grapes in the fruit plate to him. After eating two ripe, sweet grapes, Peter felt better. Seeing the hospital gown Schiller

"Doctor, can you tell me what exactly is going on?"

Peter lowered his head, fiddling with his fingers, and said, "Earlier, at the Avengers base, I heard Mr. Stark say, say that you..."

"Fairy Wood Romance"

"What did he say?" Shiler asked in a relaxed tone.

"He was discussing with the Captain about hiring a doctor for you. They said you seem to have some psychological problems. What is this about?"

As he spoke, Peter looked up and scanned the entire ward, then said, "So, do psychologists have psychological problems too?"

"Of course, Peter." Shiler picked up another orange and said while peeling it, "A physician cannot heal himself. Often, psychologists are more prone to psychological problems than normal people."

"Why?" Peter asked with some curiosity.

"When you come into contact with all kinds of patients, and when you listen to their stories, it often brings invisible mental pressure..."

"Psychological trauma is not quite the same as a real wound. It is not easily noticed before it accumulates to a certain degree, but once it erupts, the accumulated negative emotions will widen the wound, thereby leading to more severe consequences than usual..."

"Are you like this too? Doctor, did you also develop psychological problems because you were treating other people?"

"No, Peter, I don't have psychological problems, but mental ones. Didn't I tell you before? I suffer from high-functioning autism. Although for certain reasons it is basically self-healed now, I am still a mental patient..."

Peter looked at Shiler, who was lying on the bed concentrating on peeling the orange. At this moment, he was not frowning, and his expression looked gentle. In Peter's impression, mental patients should all be very tense and painful.

"Since you have already self-healed, why do you still need to be hospitalized here?" Peter asked. He continued, "I haven't visited the address of the new sanitarium you sent me yet. I heard from my uncle that it's a small town with the most rich people; the environment should be very good, right?"

"You are always welcome to visit, but before that, let's talk about this first." Shiler used the remote control to point at the TV hanging on the wall. At this moment, a huge fancy font popped up on the TV screen—"New York Wonders."

The three-dimensional fancy font rotated twice, then gradually shrank. The lights flashed, and a host in a suit walked onto the stage, raising his hands to welcome the cheers. The host, wearing exaggerated sunglasses, held a microphone and said in a high-pitched tone:

"Welcome to the newest and best program on New York TV—New York Wonders!"

Countless cheers came from the audience, lights flashed, streamers erupted, and the camera zoomed in on the host's upper body. He first recited an advertisement, then said:

"Please allow me to tell everyone here a piece of good news, no, perhaps even more than one piece of good news!"

"You should already know the first piece of good news: this program has been on the air for less than two months and has already won the ratings championship!"

"This is all thanks to those wonders active in New York. They possess all kinds of magical abilities—strong, powerful, handsome, cute—it's you, it's me, and it's everyone!"

"We all love these wonders, right? Their somewhat eccentric masks, brightly colored uniforms, and various somewhat ridiculous codenames—what could be more interesting than watching their antics while doing laundry in the evening?"

"Therefore, this brand-new program has become the most popular rising star program in the history of New York TV! This is all thanks to you, these wonders active in New York, or rather, the superheroes!"

"Alright, there's no need to mention past glories. Let's talk about another piece of good news. Bob, the most famous wonder scout since the show started, has sent me a huge piece of good news!"

"Guess who he met on his scouting route? You absolutely won't believe it, he met the famous—Spider-Man!"

"!"

The host's tone was almost cracking from excitement. Shiler turned his head to look at Peter, and Peter shrugged and introduced:

"This is a new variety show launched by New York TV called New York Wonders. There are 12 scouts in this show who will scour all of New York to find those wonders with special abilities, let them be interviewed, and even explore their lives."

"Wonders, what kind of people are they?" Shiler asked.

"They are superheroes who possess special abilities and take fighting crime as their duty. There are quite a few such people in New York recently."

Peter scratched his head and said, "There are more and more superheroes wearing uniforms and masks, but most of them are ordinary people, though occasionally one or two really do have special abilities."

"The scouts will communicate with them to understand their stories and show their lives to the audience..."

"There was an episode before where they interviewed a mutant who used special abilities to fight crime, which caused a lot of controversy. You know, mutants have never been very popular. Learning that there are superheroes among them, some people felt surprised, and some felt afraid..."

"But this all brought great popularity to the show, making it the hottest variety show right now."

Shiler stroked his chin, watching the host who was constantly introducing the rules and procedures, and then looked at Peter and asked, "So, you participated in this show?"

"Actually, I didn't participate on purpose." Peter sighed and began to recount what happened yesterday.

After Shiler was killed by Ammit, the Iron Demon Stark shook the seals of all the gods on Earth, causing many demons to break free. The mysterious forces of various countries on Earth gathered urgently, and with the cooperation of Kamar-Taj and the Earth Defense Network, most of these demons were stewed.

However, this incident still produced some aftermath. After the seals located in cities or suburbs were broken, the surrounding residents were affected; some had poltergeists in their homes, and some became delirious.

The mages sent people to solve most of the problems, but due to the chaos that occurred for a period of time, the crime rate rose, the police were too busy to handle it, and superheroes like Spider-Man helped fill the gap.

Ever since the two superheroes Iron Man and Spider-Man, who could soar through the skies and burrow into the earth, became popular in New York, there had been no shortage of imitators. Most of them just imitated the appearance, but some indeed had special abilities.

Being willing to become a superhero, even if just role-playing, shows that the person is essentially trying to do good. And when encountering chaos, many of them stepped forward to fight crime and help the police solve troubles.

Therefore, the group of superheroes began to be more active in the public eye, and New York TV grasped this hot topic well and launched a variety show called "New York Wonders."

And ever since confessing his identity to Gwen, the relationship between Peter and Gwen had heated up rapidly. However, Peter had to be busy with his superhero career and also had to take care of his research at the Connors Lab. Gwen started looking for internships, attending summer camps, and preparing for her university. Both were very busy, almost becoming like the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, unable to see each other even once a week.

Just yesterday, having finally finished the work at hand, Peter heard that Gwen was also on vacation, and the two were overjoyed, preparing to go see an exhibition after a long time.

However, precisely because he was too excited, Peter didn't take his web-shooters when he left the Connors Lab, and crawling through the sewers before going on a date with his girlfriend didn't seem right, so he just walked through the streets and alleys, intending to run to the date location.

But it just so happened that the wonder scout from this variety show was scouring the streets for these superheroes.

In the past, popular stars like Spider-Man and Iron Man were always high-profile, either flying in the sky or swinging on buildings. Ordinary scouts couldn't possibly reach them. Therefore, although this show received a lot of attention, it hadn't found a truly red-hot superhero as an interview subject.

The scout encountered Spider-Man by chance and was so excited he almost had a heart attack. The way he rushed up made Peter almost think he was a highway robber.

But afterwards, he explained his purpose, which made Peter a bit interested. After all, he grew up in New York and had been watching New York TV programs with his aunt and uncle since he was a child, so he was still full of longing for being on TV. Hearing that it was just a simple interview, he didn't think too much and agreed.

At this moment, the host on the TV screen raised one hand, the camera panned up, and the scene switched to a table in front of a Mexican street stall. Shiler widened his eyes slightly, and Peter said helplessly:

"I don't know how that scout dared to drill into Hell's Kitchen, but anyway, I just happened to run into him at the place where we ate tacos before..."

Speaking of this, Peter sighed helplessly again and said: "Doctor, you'd better turn the volume down a bit."

"Turn it down? Why? Is your voice very loud?" Shiler asked with a smile.

At this moment, the rough voice of the bearded scout came from the TV screen:

"Look at our Spider-Kid! New York's best superhero! I'm your super fan. If you can't sign my T-shirt later, I'll go home and cry while hugging my teddy bear..."

Peter on the screen laughed until he was doubled over. The two clinked their drink cups, and then the interview officially began.