Chapter 499: Tonight, the Moon is as Red as Blood (Part 1)_1

When Shiller and Khonsu entered the room, the man in the middle of the room opened his eyes. Khonsu didn't see any violence or madness in his eyes. His gaze seemed very calm, even indifferent.

Shiller stepped forward, unlocking the chains as he asked, "Since you've been inside Mark's mind, you should know his current condition. How many personalities does he have?"

"Two," Khonsu replied.

Shiller glanced at him and then said, "He should have more than two personalities..."

Khonsu did not deny it, instead explaining, "He indeed only has two personalities now, but it seems another one is forming."

"What are the known personalities called?" Shiller stopped what he was doing, turned his head and asked Khonsu.

"Jack," Khonsu answered.

"I thought so." Shiller continued working as he murmured, "An extremely rare case."

Then, he looked up at Khonsu and asked, "Can you have two agents at the same time?"

Khonsu was baffled by his question. Shiller was the first human he met who seemed not to mind working with others. All the Moon Knights he had met before all wished to be unique superpower users.

"Do you know? Mark's situation is extremely rare in psychological research. He's a fantastic case study. If we could conduct a series of treatments on him, perhaps my new paper could be finished."

"I can." Khonsu agreed without hesitation. Whether giving power to Mark or Shiller, it all meant very little to him.

All cosmic sorcerers were like this. Although their agents obtained great power through them, this power was insignificant in comparison. Like the Great Shadow Cision, who could contract with the Scarlet Witch and Lady Hydra at the same time, Moon God Khonsu could also contract two agents at the same time. For him, even if there were one more agent, the loss would be almost negligible.

"Alright, since he's very interested in my status as a spy, let's go execute the mission to eliminate Amit together."

By the time he finished speaking, Shiller had unlocked the chains on both walls. Then, he asked Khonsu again, "Do you know what caused Mark's mental condition?"

"It's from his childhood."

Upon hearing this, Shiller paused his work again. He turned around, looked at the shadow in the room and beyond the door, then continued fussing with the chains, saying:

"90% of multiple personality disorder patients have had traumatic childhoods."

After saying this, he quickly added, "Yes, I have seen many similar cases, such as a guy with a powerful, green personality..."

With a "clank", the final chain hanging from the ceiling was also unlocked. Shiller moved next to Khonsu, looked at him, and said:

"If I remember correctly, the battlesuit that Mark summons seems to be formed from mummy bandages. Honestly, this brings back some memories..."

Then, Shiller paused, seemingly lost in memory, and spoke with some regret,

"While I was in this straitjacket, I often fantasized about being a mummy in a coffin."

Shiller turned his head and together with Khonsu, they looked at the shadow in the room, wearing a straitjacket. He said:

"It's a bit similar, isn't it?"

As the moonlight fell on the shadow, the locks on the straitjacket slowly came undone.

In the Avengers base, Natasha stood in front of the meeting table and said seriously, "Just now, I received a message from Director Fury, Doctor Shiller has been arrested by the Central Intelligence Agency!"

As soon as the words fell, the attendants showed different reactions. However, the urgent atmosphere Natasha had predicted did not arise. The first to speak was Stark. He made a cross sign on his chest, then said, "God bless the CIA."

Steve touched his chin and said, "Shiller arrests the CIA... Ah, I mean, the CIA arrests Shiller, why?"

"They claimed someone reported Shiller as a spy..."

"That's not wronging him at all!" Stark said in annoyance. Clearly, he still remembered that Shiller's other personality was associated with Hydra.

The only one who seemed a bit anxious was Peter. He said, "So, should we go save him?"

"Forget it." Stark waved his hand and said, "We should be saving the CIA, which arrested Shiller. But what would we do that for?"

"We shouldn't put it that way." Barton coughed and said, "Doctor Shiller is our friend after all, and he has helped us a lot..."

"The biggest help he's given me is making Pepper gasp in astonishment at my medical expenses on the year-end financial statement for three whole days, and then giving me weird looks for three weeks!" Stark said angrily.

"You actually put the fees for psychological treatment under medical costs?" Steve looked at Stark incredulously, then added, "I heard my psychological treatment costs were reimbursed as weapon wear and tear."

Barton immediately covered Steve's mouth and said, "The director has a different understanding of economics from the rest of us. Let's not talk about this!"

However, Stark mockingly retorted, "Yeah, if you're a weapon, you haven't worn out to the point of being trashed yet. Truly a marvel in the field of human weapon maintenance..."

Seeing the pair about to start arguing again, Natasha banged on the table and said, "Shiller is an employee of S.H.I.E.L.D, and The Avengers are managed by S.H.I.E.L.D. Hence, rescuing Doctor Shiller is our next task, and we cannot refuse!"

Matt pondered for a moment, then said, "You mean Shiller was reported? It wouldn't be Nick Fury, would it? If Shiller is arrested, there won't be any need for his hefty treatment fee..."

Natasha turned her head away and coughed softly twice, then said, "None of that matters. What's important is that we have to complete this emergency mission."

"Doctor Shiller is medical staff in the logistics department; he's not even combat personnel. If we don't rescue him, he might be subjected to coercive questioning by the CIA..." Natasha sought for words from her mind, explaining.

But everyone else was either looking at the ceiling or at the table. None of them responded.

At that moment, Natasha's phone suddenly rang. The female agent glanced at it and picked up the phone, saying, "Hello? I'm in a meeting, planning an emergency mission. Whatever it is, can it wait please..."

"Wait? He's missing?"

Everyone immediately turned their heads to look at Natasha. Natasha furrowed her eyebrows and said into the phone, "Are you saying that Doctor Shiller disappeared from the CIA? Another agent named Mark also disappeared. Where did they go?"

While Natasha was on the phone, the battlesuit hanging on a nearby rack zoomed over. Stark immediately suited up.

"Can't trace them? Why? Isn't the surveillance working? A cloud of gray mist and a strange man with a hoodie, what exactly are you talking about?"

Steve stood up from his chair at the table, went over to the pool table at one side to pick up his shield, Matt went to check the ammunition warehouse at the side, Spider-Man toyed with his Spider Silk Launcher on his wrist, and Eric, the vampire hunter, started sharpening his knives.

"Alright, rescue mission is temporarily terminated... I understand, I'll tell them."

After saying that, Natasha put down her phone, shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, now you won't need to go. Doctor Shiller disappeared from the CIA base, and we can't locate him for now. The meeting is now adjourned, you may leave."

At this point, Natasha turned her head and saw Steve who had walked up to her. The two of them stared at each other for quite awhile before Steve said, "Thank you, ma'am, for the prompt meeting. Could you kindly move aside a bit?"

Natasha took a step to the side. Steve stood in the center of the long table and said,

"Eddie, Matt, I need you two to come up with three battle plans within five minutes. Send them to everyone's communicators via computer..."

"Tony, Peter, and Shadow, you guys head to New York to search for any possible traces. Once you've found something, immediately contact me via communicator!"

"Natasha, Barton, the two of you return to S.H.I.E.L.D to request access to all surveillance in New York State. Prepare helicopters and planes, ready to provide support at any time..."

"I, along with others, will head to the CIA to investigate any possible leads and track down their whereabouts..."

"If there are no issues..." Steve looked around the room, raised his shield, and stated, "Avengers, assemble!"

"Wait! I have a question!" Eddie raised his hand and, with everyone's gaze on him, asked with some hesitation,

"Who are we making a battle plan against?"

Stark, at a complete loss, turned his head to one side. Steve shook his head like he was deflated. Even Venom deep inside Eddie's brain gave a deep sigh.

Eddie spread his hands and looked at them. Stark looked at him and said, "Who else could it be? Of course, it's Shiller!"

Seeing the gazes of Eddie and the others, Stark, with his metal-covered gauntlets, knocked on the table, making a clear sound which drew everyone's attention. He then said,

"The CIA received a report, planning to arrest Shiller, which implies that Shiller is scheming something, trying to drag the CIA into it, and trick them. The CIA's successful arrest of Shiller shows that Shiller is likely planning a major deception..."

"The CIA arrested Shiller, and we didn't receive the news until hours later, which implies that Shiller wanted to join hands with Nick and trick the CIA in a big way..."

"And the big problem is, Shiller mysteriously disappeared from the CIA!"

Stark, who has read quite a lot of books on psychology, affirmed in a definite tone, "You guys forgot? Shiller has always paraded himself as an ordinary person. If nothing had happened, he wouldn't have strangely disappeared. He could probably have left the agents who interrogated him speechless, or go to court to clear his name and then leave..."

"Now, since he inexplicably disappeared, it signifies that he must have used abilities beyond those of an ordinary person. Which implies that it is not the CIA he wants to deceive, but the existence of possibly others with special abilities..."

Steve also sighed, saying, "I remember that soon after I couldn't reach him via phone the last time, the Nebula of the Fairy Constellation suffered a calamity."

"You reminded me," Stark hit his forehead and said, "Natasha, you contact The Sanctum later and ask Strange if he's seen him. Then ask Strange to contact Asgard, ask Loki, and also the mutants..."

"Wait!" Blade Warrior Eric asked, "Do we really have to rush? He only just disappeared... um, hours ago."

"He's been missing for hours already!" Stark suddenly raised his voice. He rubbed his temples, frowning, "My God, quickly check the nearest stars to Earth, and the nearest Cosmic Sorcerer..."

At his comment, everyone became anxious. After everyone had started to spring into action, Natasha walked out of the room in haste, hurriedly took out her phone, but before she could even ask, Nick's voice sounded from the other end,

"No need to ask, the disappearance wasn't part of our plan. Hurry, notify the spies, pass the information to all the enemies we can contact, letting them hide!"