Capítulo 79: Chapter 62 Normal Life in Early Winter (Part 2)_1
As a social animal, humans always tend to converge. Being in a certain environment means that you will inevitably be changed by it, and Stark was feeling the full force of this reality now.
Peter spends every day in sweet harmony with his childhood friend Gwen. Since they officially started dating a while back, they began going out on dates two to three times a week.
Spider-Man, who hasn't yet reached the phase of meeting his girlfriend's father, has been bubbling with joy lately. Everyday he excitedly talks about the small gifts he receives from his girlfriend and the delicious dishes at various restaurants they go to.
Stark must admit, even though Peter's tales may seem a bit juvenile and the restaurants they dine at are mere roadside stalls that a tycoon like Stark would never go to, he could fully sense the happiness Peter was experiencing.
Apart from Peter, the story of Shiller and his wife became increasingly rich and poignant after going through Strange's silver-tongued embellishments.
Initially, the information was obtained by Coulson during a routine investigation into Strange. But being major gossip, he couldn't keep it to himself. The next day, Natasha and Nick heard a very realistic and detailed version from him.
A few brief sentences from Strange were elaborated into a story by the brilliant S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Coulson. And once this story reached Natasha and Nick's ears, Natasha, being a woman, took great interest in this romantic love story. Her feminine sentimental side added even more romantic details to the narrative, making it feel more plausible.
And as for Nick, being a skeptic, he set out to investigate.
His investigation managed to unearth some leads.
He found out that the medical fees paid to Shiller by S.H.I.E.L.D. and Stark were sitting in an American account of his. But just recently, the substantial sum of money was transferred to an international account in Switzerland. From there, Nick was unable to track the money's movements. He speculated that this money may have been used by Shiller to maintain his wife's life.
Some time ago, Shiller had informed everyone that he'd be away for a while. At that time, Nick intended to trace his whereabouts, but his agents could not find any traces of him despite a comprehensive search. Nick assumed Shiller might have used magic to go to his wife.
Nick believed that to be a good agent, besides meticulous logical thinking, you also needed the ability to think divergently. Oftentimes, an unexpected idea could lead to unforeseen changes in the mission.
So, based on these various factors, Nick was almost sure about his supposition.
He thought that Shiller's wife was probably not American, as he couldn't find a record of such a missing woman in the files. Shiller probably met her while studying abroad. After falling in love and getting married, the lady might have developed a currently incurable disease that progressively worsens. Given Shiller's mention of cryogenic technology to Strange, Nick inferred that Shiller might have mastered a cryogenic technique to preserve his wife and halt the illness's progression, continuously looking for a cure in the meantime.
Nick's interest in this story wasn't just because of the tragic romance. He had long hoped to turn Shiller into a complete S.H.I.E.L.D. supporter, working for them. If S.H.I.E.L.D. could contribute to curing his wife, then Nick believed that S.H.I.E.L.D. would soon gain another powerful ally.
So, Nick started reviewing information of various neurology experts, hoping to find someone qualified to solve the problem.
If Shiller heard Nick's thoughts and knew about the story he'd concocted, he'd surely applaud the king of special agents. Wasn't this just the love story of Mr. Freeze, Victor, and his wife?
The story of Mr. Freeze was excellent, now it's mine to leverage.
Later, when the story reached Stark's ears, he naturally assumed that Nick must have had definitive evidence. So he also came to believe that Shiller had indeed been striving for many years to find a cure for his wife.
This fact was quite shocking to Stark. After all, most of the people he met in his growth journey were hedonistic rascals like his father.
However, a more lethal blow came from Captain America Steve.
A few days ago, Stark noticed that Steve had stopped his morning runs and decided to ask Shiller what was going on. Shiller said that Steve had been in low spirits lately.
Stark was overjoyed. If Captain America felt bad, Iron Man felt good.
When Steve returned, Stark intended to mock him severely, but Steve looked very haggard at the time, while Shiller looked solemn and sad. Peter just didn't dare to say a word.
In the days since Pepper left, Stark wandered around, gradually getting a bit of a knack for reading the room. Seeing everyone in such a state, he held back his sharp words.
Afterwards, he went to Shiller again to ask what was wrong with Steve, but Shiller just shook his head and told him to ask Steve himself.
Could Iron Man possibly take the initiative to ask Captain America anything?
But ultimately, Stark's overpowering curiosity prompted him to look for Steve.
Then he learned from Steve about his romantic century-spanning love story with Peggy.
A helpless newbie in the military camp met a gallant female officer who cared deeply about him. After this new recruit became the famous Captain America, they faced life and death together, each being the most perfect soulmate to the other. Even after a century, Captain America was still firm in his belief that Peggy was his most perfect dancing partner.
But the end of this romantic story was lamentable. A few days ago, Steve saw Peggy, frail and aged, on her sickbed and learned from the doctor that she might not live much longer.
The photo of him she had been keeping was not of the strong Captain America after serum injection, but of the bullied, timorous Steve who had just arrived at the training camp. After being transformed into Captain America, it had been a long time since Steve had allowed himself to cry to the point of fainting.
He was on the verge of breakdown. He even irrationally dashed into Nick's office and asked if there was any special serum that could save Peggy's life.
Regrettably, in the end, Steve had to accept the conclusion with immense anguish and helplessness.
This story gave Stark a bigger shock because his father Howard participated in the entire story according to Steve. He and Peggy were also friends.
This made Stark wonder, was he being a little too eccentric?
Stark was never short on women, be it magazine models, party girls, or Hollywood actresses. He switched it up daily, sometimes even several times a day.
But when it came to real love, Stark pondered and found that his memory was blank.
Throughout his life, he never had a love life that he could show off or deeply resonated with his friends.
First love? He vaguely remembered something, but after racking his brain he had to admit that he didn't recall much of it.
Peter and Gwen had each other, Shiller and his wife went through life and death, Captain America never got a chance with Peggy.
Surrounded by these people, Stark couldn't help but wonder with his genius brain, what made him so different?
"Lately, Pepper's look at me has been kind of strange." In the S.H.I.E.L.D. cafeteria, Stark, Shiller and Peter were eating. After Shiller expelled Stark, Pepper had no choice but to keep him at S.H.I.E.L.D., much to Stark's displeasure. If he didn't go, he would be homeless.
"Strange? How so?"
"I'm not joking, I mean it. Her look, it's indescribable. It's a bit worried, a bit relieved, but also seems a bit sympathetic."
"I should give you my job, being able to see so much from just a look."
Stark casually waved his hand and said: "Come on, I've seen hundreds if not thousands of women. I can tell what they're thinking just by the look in their eyes. What's up with Pepper?"
"Well, that depends on how you've been acting lately, anything happened to you recently?"
"Me? I couldn't be better."
Shiller put down his fork, snapped his fingers, and said, "Jarvis, can you analyze if there's been any change in your master's behavior lately?"
After Jarvis made two beeping sounds, Stark propped his face with his hand and waited for his AI butler's answer.
"According to my analysis, you have declined 18 invitations from the opposite sex within a week. That's the only unusual behavior compared to your usual routine..."
In an instant, Stark saw a look on Shiller's face that was almost identical to Pepper's.
"Damn it, I am not..."
"No need to explain. If you've come to realize something, then congratulations. If it's not coming from your heart..."
Shiller shrugged and said, " ...then you deserved it."
Shiller knew that in the comic books, this guy was a major player. Forget about his first love Meredith and the treacherous Bane; Gamora, Captain Marvel, Wasp Woman, Spider-Woman, the female Hulk, he would bed them after wooing, and then ditch them.
"I'm not..." Stark put down his cutlery, put his hands on the table and said, "I just don't think there's anyone good out there..."
"Who was it that used to brag about attracting swarms of women?"
"Alright." Stark deflated like a punctured balloon and said, "I've never had a decent relationship. You guys always talk about love and romance, those romantic stories."
"I thought they were enough, sexy, charming, temporary yet passionate. What could possibly be wrong with that?"
"But Peter mentioned yesterday that his girlfriend likes to listen to how he makes his machines. They spent an entire afternoon chatting about this topic!"
"We actually still wanted to talk more. The next day we went to the exhibition again, the one by Stark Industries. The machines there are so cool. We spent the whole day there and didn't get tired..."
Under Stark's murderous gaze, Peter quickly filled his mouth with his sandwich.
"...Alright, no one ever want to listen to me talk about these things. They usually prefer hear about Hollywood gossip, high fashion runways, the latest winter or spring clothes. Who in the world would be interested in how I build a mecha?"
"But you really want to talk about these, don't you? In your opinion, the mecha is much cooler than those designer coats."
Stark pouted, looking like a sourpuss.
"But there's no use talking to us about it. You should be talking to Pepper."
"But she doesn't understand anything about mechas, and she's already really busy."
"It still goes back to what I said, as long as you want to talk, she would be willing to listen."
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