Chapter 61

The weather in New York is far better than in Gotham. Although it is already winter, the weather is still very clear. Looking out from the window on the third floor of the clinic, one can clearly see the heavy traffic on the road at the end of the skyline.

Shiler got up very early. Pikachu pushed the door open all at once with his short little hands, then stretched and said, "That damn old-fashioned kettle of yours is just too loud! Yawn, where did you get such an old antique?"

Shiler walked down the stairs, and Pikachu slid down from the handrail. When they reached the restaurant on the second floor, the kettle was steaming, occasionally emitting a sharp whistle.

Shiler used magic to make the kettle float and placed it on the table. Then he waved his hand, a frying pan flew over, he poured some olive oil onto it, and then began to make breakfast.

Pikachu opened the refrigerator door with a "bang," dived in to rummage for things to eat, and while rummaging, he said with disdain, "I really should throw away these damn blue cheese of yours; how can it be so smelly! Oh... and these damn lettuces, this thing tastes like chewing plastic, let me see... here! My cheddar cheese! Help me put it in the breakfast sandwich later, and this canned luncheon meat I love the most, help me cut it and sandwich it in the middle, remember, it must be cut thicker..."

At this moment, the door downstairs of the clinic rang. Shiler heard Peter's voice coming along with the sound of footsteps going upstairs: "Sir! I'm here! I borrowed a toolbox from my uncle; I'll definitely be able to fix that damn circuit breaker today..."

As soon as he walked up, the open refrigerator door just blocked his vision. He waved his hand and closed the refrigerator door, and then with a "bang," a scream came: "Oh! Holy shit!! My waist!!!"

Peter hurriedly opened the refrigerator door again in a flurry. He found the furry Pikachu clinging to the refrigerator partition. His waist had just hit the bottle cap of the canned goods placed on the refrigerator door.

Peter took him down and said, "You actually still have a waist? Where is it?"

"Hey, kid, don't force me to expose you. That wasn't the circuit breaker being broken yesterday; it was clearly you losing all 30 lives without clearing the level..."

Peter covered Pikachu's mouth and said, making conversation, "Dr. Shiler, what did you make? Why is it so fragrant?"

"Just ordinary fried sandwiches. If you want to eat, I'll make you a large one."

"Okay, but actually it doesn't need to be too big; my appetite has become smaller recently."

"That's really good news." Shiler said while frying eggs, "At least your aunt doesn't have to cook for you every day until her wrists hurt."

While Peter was chatting with Shiler, he caught a glimpse of the ring on his ring finger. The subtle change in his expression was seen by Pikachu. Pikachu looked left and right, then said, "We haven't pulled out the game cartridge from yesterday yet; do you want to play another round?"

Peter didn't understand, but Pikachu flicked his tail, and his furry lightning-shaped tail pointed hard downstairs. Peter understood, and he immediately followed Pikachu downstairs.

After a while, the two came back whispering, and Pikachu jumped onto the stove to look at Shiler.

Shiler was using a spatula to flip the golden fried egg in the center. Peter was winking at Pikachu from behind. Pikachu wrinkled his nose and said, "Um, okay, I think... it's quite hard for you to cook for us, how about we go out to eat?"

Shiler looked at him with great surprise and said, "Did the sun rise from the west today? Usually at this time, you would only ask me to fry the eggs a bit more tender."

"I mean... okay, it's nothing, but I always feel that you humans shouldn't keep everything in your hearts, it's not good for your health..."

"I am a psychologist; I know this better than you, otherwise whose money would I be earning?" Shiler said.

Pikachu flicked his tail. Just as he wanted to say something more, he was scooped up by Peter. Then Peter gave a dry laugh and said, "Haha, doctor, let's go play games for a while first, and we'll come back to help you later."

Pikachu used his tail to slap Peter's face hard, retaliating for him hitting his waist just now. Peter didn't show weakness either, directly grabbing Pikachu's two ears and shaking them wildly. The two went downstairs while playing around.

Shiler felt a bit baffled. He always felt that Peter was hiding something from him.

After a while, Steve, who had just finished his morning run, also came in. He wiped his sweat with a towel and then walked to the second floor following the fragrance. He said, "The structure of this old house is too unreasonable, the kitchen happens to be on the second floor."

"Thank me for still having the money to afford a useful range hood." Shiler said.

"Then you should also thank Nick; he hasn't given you less bonuses, right?"

"What? What name did he use to give you a bonus again? How much did you get? 30% or 20%?"

"Excluding taxes, only 18%." Steve shrugged and said.

"His economic understanding of the distribution of extra income is becoming more and more macro."

Steve draped the towel on the railing and then opened the refrigerator very naturally, saying, "Let me see, where is the steak I put here last time? Oh, it's here, there's still a small half left, I think I can make a beef cheeseburger, what about the cheese? I remember there was still half a block left last time..."

"Don't look, did you forget that I have a mouse here that is the same as Jerry? Except for blue cheese that can survive, what cheese can survive past the second day?"

"My God! That was nearly two pounds of cheese, and he ate it all? Not a bit left?"

"That's not the case, it's not just him, Peter made a Margherita pizza last time and put in at least a pound."

Steve shook his head and closed the refrigerator door, saying, "Young people nowadays really don't know how to save. Is there any good convenience store in Hell's Kitchen? I can go buy some cheese slices."

"Go out, turn right, and walk forward for two streets, go to Mrs. Helena's place. Of course, you'd better say straight that you are going to buy cheese, otherwise she might treat you as an applicant."

"Applicant? This damn place, is there any job that needs applicants?"

"Of course there is, Mrs. Helena has three strip clubs under her, business is very hot, she should like your type the most."

Steve curled his lips and said, "I'd better take a detour and buy it after leaving Hell's Kitchen."

Then he walked over and patted Shiler on the shoulder, saying, "Hey, I know you are a doctor, but doctors are also ordinary people, and psychologists are not omnipotent. If you have anything you want to confide, you can come to me, we are friends after all."

After speaking, he turned and left, making Shiler feel very baffled. He just got up in the morning to make breakfast and fry an egg, why is everyone's attitude so strange?

Not long after Steve left, Stark flew in from the window wearing battle armor and holding a large pile of data. The cold wind carried by the mecha poured into the room of the psychological clinic like a howl.

Shiler turned his head to look and was startled by Stark's dark circles. He said, "Holy shit, what happened to you?"

"Oh, don't tell me... did Ms. Pepper ask for leave today?"

"What are you talking about? I did research all night for the data you brought yesterday."

After speaking, he put that large pile of documents on Shiler's table and said, "Neuro-interface technology has almost no progress. Uncle Obadiah is still in a coma, and I can't ask him, but I thought of another path."

Iron Man was still wearing battle armor. He pointed directly at one of the parts on the data with his metal-covered gauntlet and said, "If aging nerves and dead nerve cells cannot be restored, then we will find a way to replace them with machinery, just like replacing a heart."

"I think you don't need to explain the principle to me clearly, I just want to know, what is its feasibility?"

Stark hugged his arms and stared at those data charts. He said, "You have to know, even if I am a genius, it is impossible to conjure technology out of thin air. More importantly, even if I master this technology, it must undergo a large number of safety tests before it can be put into use."

Stark also glanced at the ring on Shiler's finger. He touched his lips and then said, "If you are indeed in urgent need, I can convene a consultation on neuroscience in the name of Stark Group, which can invite the world's most famous neuroscience research experts."

"Of course, you'd better invite the patient, otherwise they won't be able to conjure a method out of thin air either."

"This is probably very difficult." Shiler said.

What he said was the truth. Not to mention how he could bring DC characters to Marvel, even if he could bring them over, the inconsistent time flow between the two sides might lead to many problems and might also generate great risks.

Shiler knew very well that unlike in Marvel, he had a most important task in the DC world, which was to get rid of the entanglement of his enemies.

His enemies were definitely not ordinary people. First of all, he could hire Deathstroke to kill him. The words Deathstroke left before leaving had already revealed enough information. When Shiler wanted to pay the reward to have him kill the employer, Deathstroke's first reaction was "You can't afford this price."

And when Shiler further probed by saying that the world's richest man would pay for it, Deathstroke still left without hesitation, which showed that he judged that even with enough money, it was not worth him completely turning against them.

Being able to make the world's top mercenary Deathstroke make such a judgment was enough to explain the problem. The original owner seemed not to be involved in a simple interest dispute; there must be a bigger conspiracy behind this.

For this reason, Shiler hoped that Victor could become his ally to make up for his shortcomings in engineering and mechanics, so he was willing to help Victor's wife as much as possible to prevent Victor from becoming Mr. Freeze. But this did not mean that he had to take huge risks to bring people to shuttle between the two worlds.

Moreover, this could not solve the problem fundamentally either. If DC's experts and scholars could not cure this disease, then Marvel's ordinary experts probably couldn't either.

Shiler remained silent while thinking. Finally, Stark couldn't help it anymore. He said, "You... I mean... is she okay? Right?"

Shiler said, "What?"

Stark touched his forehead in a dilemma and then said, "I heard from Coulson that your wife's situation is not very good..."

Shiler was stunned. Where did this rumor come from? Where did he get a wife?!

He just said why everyone's attitude was so strange today!

Soon, he remembered the first person he met after returning to Marvel—the future Doctor Strange, the current neurologist Strange.

He really is a little smart aleck!

Shiler said viciously to the symbiote in his mind: "Next time, remember to eat Strange's brain. Anyway, it's useless to keep it."