Chapter 1285: Greedy for Cicadas (Part 1)_1

On a bed in the Elders Council Hospital's psychiatric ward, Shiller struggled to sit up, only to be shoved back down by a hand clad in battle armor.

"Tony Stark, I'll say it again, I'm not sick!"

"Shiller Rodriguez, I'll repeat myself too, you're currently under watch for signs of relapse from a mental illness; you're not going to be able to slip away unnoticed and keep going crazy. Just stay put!"

As Stark spoke, he manipulated the octopus-like tentacles on the back of his armor to peel an apple. After a while, the door to the ward was pushed open, and Strange, still carrying the chill of the Himalayas with him, came in. First glancing at Shiller, he then turned to Stark and said,

"Tony Stark, what are you doing?! How come he is sick again? He was doing just fine when he was convalescing in Kamar-Taj, how did he end up like this just three days after returning to New York?"

"Steven?! Are you looking for trouble on purpose? Do you think I want this? Are you trying to blame me for not being able to take care of patients, to not care for others, so you can use that as an excuse to snatch Peter Parker from me, to go and meddle with your hocus-pocus dark magic?"

"Is this really the time to discuss this? And, have I wronged you with my descriptions of you? Tony Stark can take care of people, that's the funniest joke in the world. You should wean yourself first!"

"Stop arguing." The voice of Conners came from outside the door. The Lizard Doctor, attired in a white doctor's coat and holding an inspection report in his hand, came in, adjusting his glasses as he said, "I've reviewed Shiller's physical examination result, there's nothing wrong. He's still relatively healthy, but the conclusion from Professor X is not very optimistic. Shiller's brainwave fluctuation is a bit abnormal, and Professor Charles is still investigating."

Stark rested a hand over half of his face, lamenting, "Everything was going so smoothly before, how did there become abnormal brainwave fluctuations? Where are the people from Asgard?"

"Loki is still on his way." Strange grumbled, "His brother is preparing for a wedding, he's been busy round the clock, and probably won't be able to come for a while."

"Those on the magic side are unreliable." Stark remarked sarcastically.

Strange snorted coldly, "Someone is jealous of us because we just developed the Magic Energy Core Central? Without our incredible achievement, how would Peter Parker have changed his heart to come to us? Oh, I forgot, maybe he wanted to do so a long time ago, but someone was too domineering, insisting that it's betrayal."

With a 'whoosh', tentacles from the back of Stark's armor swung over Strange's head. Not willing to show weakness, Strange extended a hand and lightly squeezed, a 'snap', and several tentacles exploded with sparks.

"Conners' right, whether Peter goes with either of you two, he will be corrupted." Another voice came from the doorway, Doctor Octopus Otto came in, followed by Peter.

"Spider-Man 2099 just called me, their world needs some of our technological support. Peter is leaving in two hours, you guys should save your breaths."

Stark and Strange both opened their mouths to speak, but at this moment, Shiller suddenly let out a cry of pain. Everyone turned their heads to look at him.

"What's wrong? Where does it hurt?" Stark immediately leaned over to ask him.

"My heart hurts."

"Call a doctor!...Wait a minute, you're a mental patient, how can you have heart pain?"

"Because when I think about how the idiotic words you guys are about to spew might disrupt the Spiderverse labor dispatch plan Nick and I are working on, and significantly reduce the revenue this plan could generate, my heart hurts."

Shiller clutched his chest, looking out of breath. Stark and Strange both rolled their eyes. Strange grumbled,"Half of Shiller's sickness is Nick's fault! That damn Vampire Leader, all he thinks about is money, money, money, this universe can't even satisfy him!"

"Listen, Peter, you must never pick up bad habits from Nick." Stark stood up and put a hand on Peter's shoulder, saying, "This thing about universe labor contracting, it's not proper business. It's not too late to make money at your age. You should use your brain more, create some revolutionary scientific breakthroughs for humanity..."

"But I'm going there exactly for the testing of space station technology." Peter scratched his head, "The world of Spider-Man 2099 has developed a slightly different space station technology from ours. I think their technology could be useful for us. Also, their environment is ideal for building experimental space stations, and I'm thinking of going and checking it out..."

"So that's what it is, why didn't you say so earlier? You haven't seen your Spider friends for a long time, right? In that case, there are a few old model shuttles left in Stark's warehouse, you can take them as special products from Earth."

"Stop talking nonsense, Tony!" Strange snorted coldly, "The world of Spider-Man 2099 may be in the future, their technology might not necessarily be underdeveloped, but among all the universes, our mastery of magic is second to none."

"That's right, Peter, didn't we make a first batch of magic wands from magical plants before? Take them to your friends to enhance their magical combat abilities."