The camera is in place, flashlights are on.
Eddie opened the notebook in his hand, lowered the brim of his baseball cap, looked up at the well-dressed man opposite him, and asked, "Professor, I've heard you were the first to determine that Tony Stark has mental health issues. Is that true?"
"Yes, it was at the Rebirth Alliance's mediation site. His behavior was indeed a bit off, appearing to have a paranoia attack." The person sitting across from Eddie was Shiller, with the camera aimed at him.
"Do you think he's really having an episode, or is he trying to use this to escape the trial?" Eddie asked again, "You can express your opinions freely. When the interview is published, all information regarding you will be concealed, and we'll just refer to you as a trusted psychologist."
"Out of professional ethics, I can't lie about this. Tony Stark indeed has long-term anxiety issues, and paranoia follows closely beside anxiety. Even in court, I can't label him as a healthy, normal person."
"I see, it looks like the Stark Group is in danger."
"If his symptoms have become severe enough to need long-term care, he might indeed be unable to support the group." Shiller seemed to be choosing his words carefully, "However, considering the existing patent technology of the Stark Group, perhaps things still have room for recovery..."
"Thank you very much." Eddie seemed to not listen to Shiller's polite attempt at retraction, starting to sort through his interview notes.
Soon, this interview was published. To all readers, this was a journalist who went to the Rebirth Alliance's psychological advisor to verify Iron Man's current situation.
Although the psychologist's name was not signed, during the interview, he revealed that he was at the Rebirth Alliance's mediation site when he discovered something wrong with Iron Man. This meant he was a professional brought in by the Rebirth Alliance, which must be quite authoritative, otherwise, he wouldn't be involved in such mediation.
Of course, the general public wouldn't doubt his identity because if he were a fraud, or simply a rumor, the Rebirth Alliance would definitely come out to refute. The Rebirth Alliance is quick in its response to public opinion. Previously, several rumors were quickly clarified. This time, their lack of action proves there is indeed such matter.
This professional scholar's judgment on Iron Man's mental state made it almost certain. The stock price of the Stark Group has not just plummeted, but can be described as parachuting down.
Thomas Wayne also made a move. Wayne Enterprises began large-scale headhunting, mainly targeting the mid-level of the Stark Group. This strike came fast and hard, and without Pepper, other managers and shareholders were caught off guard. Already crippled, the Stark Group now experienced a concussion.
Not only the headquarters of the group was in precarious danger, factories across the Federation and around the world also started to panic. The vultures on Wall Street acted swiftly, waiting for the Stark Group to fall so they could swoop in to feed.
In Jotunheim, within a lab established by mutants. Iron Man spun his chair around, continually criticizing the Rebirth Alliance and complaining that the greedy scheme didn't provide him with enough support. Reed shook a test tube beside him.
"I say you're just overthinking." Reed said, "They won't dare do anything to us, you see I'm still perfectly fine right now?"
"To be honest, seeing your situation here, standing in court doesn't frighten me as much." Iron Man said, "Maybe you're right, they wouldn't dare do anything to us, we are indeed the future of human race development."
"I say, they won't even put you on trial." Reed said, "They didn't publicly try me either. They brought me to this place because the experiments I conducted are too dangerous for them to handle, not because they really want to imprison me."
Reed said as he walked to the side, picked up the remote control and said, "Otherwise, why don't they stop me from contacting the outside world? I can video call my family every day, and I can even watch TV."
After speaking, Reed pressed the button on the television remote, and the TV screen lit up. Iron Man said in surprise, "How can you receive a signal here?"
"It's the mutants." Reed said, "I don't know if it's Magneto or another person who controls electrical signals, but they hooked up the TV signal here. I can receive more than fifty channels, even more than at the Fantastic Four base. Mutants are truly genius hackers."
Iron Man also laughed. He knew Magneto could do it, if Magneto couldn't, Thor could, this is no big deal for them. Though it might seem like a minor favor, it could also be seen as a show of attitude.
Indeed, they had no intention of treating Reed Richards as a prisoner, just as Reed said, they brought him here because the experiments he conducted were simply too dangerous, and to prevent tragedies from happening again, they had to find him a quiet place to continue his work.
Seeing this first-hand eased Iron Man's emotional tension a lot. At least he was certain that even if he was forced to stand in court, it wouldn't be a big deal, the worst result would be being placed in this lab for a period.
He might not even have to stay here, as long as he doesn't walk publicly under the name of Iron Man or Tony Stark, it'll just be giving the Rebirth Alliance some face.
Because Thor is indeed too powerful, Iron Man is actually very worried about being tightly monitored. He knows very well he couldn't endure such a life, being locked up in shackles every day is worse than death.
Now having seen it, it's like a heavy stone has dropped from his heart. Iron Man stood up, stretched, and said, "Next, I just need to resolve the Pepper problem..."
He hadn't even finished speaking when he heard a voice from the television: "Stark Group stock price dives again, a professional psychiatrist's conclusion ignites Wall Street. Next, let's invite financial expert Mr. Ogway to analyze this week's financial trends in detail..."
Iron Man stared in disbelief at the television, which was showing Nasdaq, focusing on the Stark Group's Nasdaq 100. The numbers looked like they'd been executed.
Iron Man was stunned, his expression and actions silently screamed - "My money!!!!!"
Shiller, who was strangling Luther's neck, suddenly felt his hand empty. Luther appeared in another corner of the room. The robot quickly stepped forward to shield him behind it as he desperately gasped for air.
Shiller squinted his eyes; Luther couldn't use this trick. He turned to the screen, but the person was already gone. Suddenly, a green light flashed, and a familiar silhouette appeared in the room.
"Loki?" Shiller raised an eyebrow, "I said Luther couldn't have been so neat. Those assassins were just a cover, it was Loki's magic that teleported them here."
"Welcome to my homeland," Loki laughed, "Too bad you can't personally experience the extreme cold outside..."
As he spoke, he saw Shiller draw a revolver from his waist. The revolver looked ordinary, but it indeed had a strange energy fluctuation. This energy gave Loki a feeling of unfamiliar familiarity, similar to divine power, yet different.
Gun raised, aimed, trigger pulled.
Boom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not just the person was blown away, but the entire studio collapsed. The scene Luther had painstakingly built, resembling a Jotunheim laboratory, was directly blasted open, revealing Luther Group's underground lab.
Fortunately, Luther was smart enough not to place the room in the Luthor Building, otherwise, the entire building would have collapsed. And because it was a certain distance from the surface, the shock transmitted to the ground wasn't that intense, or else the whole street might have bounced.
Shiller didn't clearly see whether Loki dodged. If he did, Luther should be dead. If he didn't, both he and Luther were seriously injured.
As the dust settled, it was shocking that Loki dodged, but Luther wasn't dead either. He had an energy shield on him, but for some reason, it didn't trigger earlier when Shiller attacked him; it saved his life now.
Shiller himself wasn't feeling great, dizzy with blurry vision, a dislocated arm, and bleeding ears. He immediately turned to check on Pepper; the gunshot's impact wouldn't kill her, but she'd likely be seriously injured.
Unexpectedly, although Pepper was blown away, she staggered and climbed up, making Shiller realize something was wrong.
Just then, a sharp laugh came from across, drawing Shiller's attention. Luther, dirt-covered, climbed up, but let out a rampant laugh.
"Check out the latest news, you crazy woman!!" Luther said, holding a phone, "Tony Stark has been diagnosed by the Rebirth Alliance as a mental patient, and Stark Group's stock price collapsed again, Wayne Enterprises is seizing the opportunity to poach, Stark Group is going down the drain!!!"
Pepper froze; hadn't Stark Group's stock price plummeted earlier? Luther seemed to have just found out? She felt something was wrong, quickly pulling out her phone.
This room had been blocking signals, but Shiller's shot collapsed the entire room, so now there was weak signal. Pepper usually subscribed to various financial media, and as soon as she opened her phone, she was greeted by the Nasdaq 100 chart.
Pepper fell straight backward; Shiller's gunshot hadn't caused as much damage as that chart did.
Shiller quickly rushed to support her, shouting, "Ma'am! Ma'am!"
"Hahahahaha!" Luther was still laughing, "Stark Group is about to close down, soon Stark's things will become worthless! Only fools would think to keep secrets for him, Pepper Potts, if you beg me now, I might even..."
Shiller felt an ominous premonition, which came true the next second. Pepper suddenly pushed him away.
Shiller was shocked; his shoulder was pierced by a bullet, arm dislocated, eardrums ruptured, and when he went to support Pepper, he couldn't control his strength, yet she pushed him away?!
The furious Pepper rushed at Luther, pinned him to the ground, drew a pen from her front chest pocket, and stabbed it into Luther's eye socket, with blood splattering.
"Hiss..." Shiller gasped coldly, rushing up to pull Pepper away, but surprisingly couldn't move her. Shiller widened his eyes.
No way, sis, if you are Spider Man, why didn't you say so earlier!