Chapter 7: The

When he went to sleep at night, Shiler found that he could actually stay in Marvel all the time. He could sleep, return to DC, sleep in DC, and return to Marvel again. Anyway, time in DC didn't move, so he could stay in Marvel all the time and not breathe Gotham City's smog.

But good times didn't last long. Before Shiler could take Peter and his family for a physical examination on the weekend, S. H. I. E. L. D. came to the door.

It was another workday. Shiler had just finished rounds and was using the hospital's internal system to book a physical examination for Peter's family when his office door was knocked. Shiler sat behind the desk without looking up. Suddenly, his Spider-Sense vibrated. He looked up vigilantly and saw a strange man standing in front of the door.

"Hey, doctor, don't be nervous. I'm Coulson, a S. H. I. E. L. D. agent." The man saw Shiler's nervous posture. Shiler looked at him from above his glasses and said: "Let's go out and talk. These are all my patients."

Coulson nodded hurriedly. The two went downstairs together and sat in the cafe next to the hospital. Shiler frowned and said: "Is S. H. I. E. L. D. out of people? Or is it difficult to find a female agent who can wear a nurse's uniform?"

Coulson was a bit confused by Shiler's attitude. Shouldn't an ordinary person show fear or rejection when such an agent suddenly comes to the door? It seems the boss was right, this Shiler definitely has a problem.

Shiler appeared a bit impatient. He said: "I've already been late for a day, missed work for a day. The whole clinic knows I stay up late drinking and taking drugs. If you have to give me trouble, can't you wait until this passes? I'll be fired!"

"But according to our information, you are only a temporary psychological consultant hired by Presbyterian Hospital, and you are only filling in because the head of the psychiatry department is away..."

"Does that matter? I really need this job now. What if you make me lose my job?"

Coulson said: "I'm sorry, Mr. Shiler. We didn't mean to disturb you either. We just heard that you are Mr. Stark's psychological consultant, and we want to know more about his psychological state. Of course, we will pay the consultation fee on time..."

"One million dollars an hour."

"Pfft!" Coulson sprayed out a mouthful of coffee. He wiped his mouth and said: "If you refuse, you don't have to find such an excuse..."

"If you can't afford it, don't come for medical treatment," Shiler rolled his eyes and got up to leave, looking exactly like an unscrupulous quack.

Coulson didn't stop him. After Shiler left, he pressed his headset and said: "There might be something fishy in that hospital. He was very anxious to take me away, and very anxious to go back... Okay, okay..."

Shiler returned to the clinic. He focused his attention, opened telepathy to the maximum, and then felt the emotions of those mental patients, and expressed some emotions in words as much as possible—the inner world of a group of mental patients was really very chaotic and crazy. Shiler wrote more than ten pages of paper scribbledly and locked them in the drawer.

When he returned to his apartment at night, he found that agents should have searched it. Shiler scanned it with Spider-Sense and didn't find any bugs or cameras, so he didn't care.

Inside S. H. I. E. L. D., Nick Fury stared at the glowing data panel, which contained Shiler's detailed information. Coulson said behind him: "He is very nervous about his work, seems not wanting to leave that hospital. Many wine bottles were found in his home, as well as some drugs..."

"These are some papers we found in his office tonight. Only these, the rest seem to have been urgently processed by him, because we found a large amount of paper pulp flushed down by the shredder in the sewer, unfortunately, it cannot be restored."

Nick took those papers and said: "He has mental illness? No, these don't seem like the ravings of one person. He is collecting psychological data of mental patients in the psychiatry department? How does he communicate with those mental patients?"

"These obviously aren't information that ordinary doctors can get. These records even contain the extreme privacy of patients..."

"He can hypnotize?" Coulson said.

"Our psychiatrists can too. Can he make you say what color underwear you liked to wear in elementary school?" Nick said.

"Perhaps he just made it up," Coulson said.

"He seems to have extra knowledge about the past of Stark Industries and our old friends, and he can hit Stark's weaknesses head-on. Today he even seemed to make Stark's intelligent butler fall into a logical crash," Nick said.

"Do you want him to work for us?"

"He has a way to deal with Stark. We will have more such people to deal with in the future." Nick put the file aside and said: "In short, first figure out what exactly is in that hospital. If possible, transfer him away from there."

"I hate this group of high-level intellectuals the most. They are always too calm, cautious, and unfathomable. This kind of opponent who knows how to use their brains is hard to deal with," Nick said.

"Perhaps he is just an ordinary psychiatrist, and collecting the crazy words of those patients is his hobby..." Coulson said.

"Coulson, sometimes you make me doubt that your level 8 agent rank has a lot of water in it," Nick said.

"A psychiatrist who can make Stark lose his composure completely within 30 minutes, and can swagger into Stark Industries the next day—do you think he is an ordinary psychiatrist? Or do you think Tony Stark is really just a playboy who only hangs out with models?"

"Understood, I will make him leave that hospital first," Coulson said.

So, the next day, Shiler received the news that he had been fired in Stark's office. He spread his hands and said: "You see, I have to need your funding, Mr. Stark. You wouldn't just watch your dedicated psychological consultant lose his job and go bankrupt, would you?"

Stark said: "Isn't two million dollars enough for you to open your own psychological clinic?"

"Money is not the problem. The problem is the qualifications required for a psychological clinic. I need to open a legal psychological clinic, not a scam institution that is no different from fortune-telling on the street."

"With your resume, is it hard to apply? Jarvis told me yesterday that you have three Ph. D. degrees and have worked in the best hospitals in six states."

"Yes, it's just that the location of the psychological clinic I want to open is a bit special," Shiler drank ice wine and said.

Stark said while tinkering with the machine: "Where?"

"Hell's Kitchen," Shiler said.

Stark's hand shook, and the poor Mark 2 burst out a series of sparks. He said: "I really can't see that you have a compassionate heart like the Virgin Mary, wanting to save the poor ghosts and addicts in that hellish street block."

Shiler didn't say much. He said: "I need a legal psychological clinic opened in Hell's Kitchen. For this, I can promise you one request."

Shiler put the emphasis on the word "legal."

Stark said: "Do you think I would have anything to ask you for help? Heh, stop joking, I am Stark."

"Don't you want to know if Pepper really likes you?"

Stark's hand shook again, and the Mark 2's leg exploded directly. Shiler stepped back silently, looking at Stark, whose face was also blown black. He rubbed his face in a panic and said: "What did you say? What's wrong with Pepper?"

Obviously, Stark hadn't realized his feelings for Pepper yet.

"I can tell you at an appropriate time whether Pepper really loves you, guaranteed to be accurate. You have seen my ability."

"Pepper certainly loves me. Women all over the world love Stark," Stark said.

"Is that so? Is she just one of the women in the world? Nothing special?" Shiler asked.

Stark was silent.

"I can promise you. Of course, you don't have to come to me for any psychological consultation starting tomorrow. If Pepper looks for you, you can push it off."

"Can't you afford the consultation fee?"

Stark was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He shouted loudly: "Even if you charge ten million dollars an hour, I can afford it! I just don't need any psychological consultation! I'm not crazy! I'm fine!"

Shiler shook his head and said slowly: "I'm afraid Mark 2 doesn't think so."

He and Stark looked down at the armor that was missing a leg. Stark pointed to the door: "LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!!!"

Shiler returned home. He sent a message to Peter: "The physical examination for the weekend has been booked. I will greet the hospital and let them provide you with thoughtful service. But the time for us to meet might be delayed because I have resigned from that hospital."

Peter expressed his concern hurriedly, but Shiler just said it was a change in his career planning and didn't say much. Peter was a bit moved. After all, he could still think of the physical examination scheduled before even after resigning. He said eagerly: "Are you still in New York? If you are, I think we can meet, go out for a meal, or you can come to my house..."

Shiler politely declined Peter and sent a message to Charles: "You said if I open a hospital in hell, what will happen?"

"I'm afraid the devil won't appreciate your kindness."

"You seem to have deep feelings about this."

"I advise you not to do this. Perhaps you are just an ordinary person with talent, but ordinary people cannot resist the devil."

"But only criminals can fight criminals, right?"

Charles, on the computer side, fell into silence after looking at this sentence. He thought, Marx, is that what you think too?

Only by turning yourself into a criminal can you deal with the most heinous criminals?

Charles shook his head. No, justice must have its fair way of realization. If you only fall into hell to fight the devil, it's no different from being in the same boat.

Outside the window, students of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters were chasing and playing on the playground. Storm was scolding them to go back to class, while Jean was watching from the side. Everything looked very beautiful.

It's just that Xavier knew that the shadow of the Dark Phoenix was far from leaving. ===== CHAPTER 8 =====