Chapter 1369: The Feast's Mystery (Nineteen)_1

(This storyline may involve frequent scene changes, watch out if you get motion sickness!)

On the day of the ball, Shiller didn't go to the restaurant to eat. He ordered a waiter to bring the food to his room. He also got Rocket Raccoon a meal. Rocket Raccoon was sitting on the table, tearing a chicken leg with his paws.

Suddenly a glass of water was placed in front of him. Rocket Raccoon looked up at Shiller, who was handing it over, his eyes filled with confusion. Shiller was staring at him, asking, "Aren't you going to wash up a bit?"

"I am not a raccoon!!!"

Shiller laughed, Rocket Raccoon sighed, and then spoke somewhat nostalgically, "I never thought you'd let me eat at the table. You hairless freaks always treated me like a small pet, thinking it's a great act of mercy not to put a leash around my neck."

"I treat all intelligent life equally. I am more interested in their psyche than their various forms. I can see that you're anxious right now. What are you worried about?"

Rocket Raccoon cocked his head and blinked. Then he tilted it, seemingly puzzled about how Shiller could read his thoughts. But soon he frowned and said, "Don't you think it's all too coincidental? I'm talking about everything related to the M'Kraan Crystal. "

"First, I came here. My basic protocol includes information about the M'Kraan Crystal. Then, the Queen of the Shi'a Empire also came to the banquet in search of assistance due to her troubles with the M'Kraan Crystal. That bald guy is also after the M'Kraan Crystal."

Rocket Raccoon furrowed his brows deeply, his irritated tail was thumping the table, and he stopped what he was doing. "It's as if there is an invisible thread behind all of this, connecting all the clues together and making them explode simultaneously."

"Although there are many coincidences in the universe, I think this matter is not so coincidental. Perhaps there is a larger conspiracy behind it."

"Oh?" Shiller uttered an indiscernible syllable. He was cutting his food while looking at Rocket Raccoon, asking, "What do you think is the truth, and who's manipulating all this behind the scenes?"

Rocket Raccoon's eyebrows were furrowed further until all his facial features were wrinkled up. He sniffed, twitched his mouth, and bared his teeth, saying, "I've been wandering around the universe. I haven't had any contact with anyone significant. I've been hiding in the cargo hold for some time now, not even getting the news. How could I guess?"

However, Shiller shook his head and said, "The key to deduction doesn't lie in the news or big shots. It lies in certain details. Actually, you could find some strange details in your discussions with Professor X, Magneto, and the Queen of Xiea."

"Strange details?" Rocket Raccoon narrowed his eyes, trying to recall everything he had seen and heard.

"I presume, now you are surely pondering over the conversation between the Queen of the Shi'a Empire and Professor X, right?"

Rocket Raccoon nodded and said, "If we're looking for suspicious points, their relationship indeed raises many questions."

"No, you should think back a bit more."

"Think back..." Rocket Raccoon repeated a half sentence and sank into contemplation, but soon Shiller opened his mouth again, "Are you thinking about the conversation between Professor X and Magneto?"

Rocket Raccoon nodded again, and then Shiller shook his head and said, "You need to go back even further."

"Even further?" Rocket Raccoon said in surprise, "But there's nothing further back, is there? If we go any further back, wasn't it when the redhead came looking for you? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sometimes, deduction and investigation need to be counterintuitive," Shiller said calmly as he was eating, "Lengthy dialogues with plenty of information may not necessarily be significant. Circumstances that seem to contain vital information may just be a smokescreen."

"It's the inadvertent and seemingly uninformative details of life that can unearth the tiny clues related to the truth."

Rocket Raccoon's face became more and more confused. He lowered his head despondently, scratching his ear with his paw, and said, "I'm just a raccoon, don't make me think this much. Alright, Sherlock, let's unveil the mystery."

Shiller finally revealed a satisfied smile. He tapped the edge of the plate with his fork and said,

"Can you remember who called before the Scarlet Witch came looking for me?"

"Uh…" Rocket Raccoon paused, then said, "You mentioned a name 'Jarvis' over the phone. It sounded like that woman's boyfriend."

Shiller nodded and said, "Yes, they are in a relationship. Then, can you remember who Professor X called to find Wanda?"

"Uh, it does seem to be this Jarvis." At this point, Rocket Raccoon furrowed his brow, noticing something strange. "Why is it that others contact Wanda by calling her boyfriend, and she also contacts you by having her boyfriend call? Doesn't she have her own phone?"

"Many people think the starting point of deduction should be 'someone did something in a particular scene,' but really, the starting point should be 'whether it is appropriate for someone to appear in a certain situation.' Deduction should begin with the reasonableness of someone's existence in a situation."

"Looking at this situation, the presence of Jarvis is totally superfluous. Even if Wanda and the X-Men aren't close, they belong to the same mutant camp. Why should they communicate through a third party?"

"Even if Magneto and the X-Men used to be enemies, and consequently, the relationship between Wanda and the X-Men is somewhat awkward. They're too embarrassed to make a direct call, but can't Scott go to Lorna? No matter how bad the relationship between Lorna and Wanda, they're still sisters. It would be far more sensible to contact Wanda through Pietro than to find Jarvis, who they hardly know and isn't a mutant."

Rocket Raccoon scratched his head. He wasn't quite aware of the intricate relationships among the mutants on Earth, and he found Shiller's explanation somewhat confusing.

However, Shiller's point is clear. Mutants always stick to their own and alienate others. Even if the X-Men, under Professor X's guidance, would not harm ordinary people, they mostly do not consider humans as their own kind.

If Wanda is not close to the X-Men, they would be even more unfamiliar with Jarvis. Moreover, Jarvis is not a mutant. For the X-Men, who are all mutants, it would be more awkward to find an ordinary outsider than to approach another mutant, no matter how embarrassing it could be.

"So, in other words, it's very likely that the X-Men are acting under someone's instructions, and someone told them who to turn to when in trouble…" As Shiller cut off a piece of meat and put it into his mouth, he continued, "and there's only one person the X-Men would listen to..."

Rocket Raccoon widened his eyes. "So, it was that bald professor who told his students to find Jarvis? But who is this Jarvis? What's special about him?"

"Jarvis may be a little special, but the person behind him is far more exceptional."

Having said that, Shiller didn't care if Rocket Raccoon understood him or not and started to analyze everything from the beginning.

"As you've mentioned, there must be a puppet master behind this series of incidents, with every power in the whole event being his pawn."

"First is Asgard. If the Divine King were to marry the Queen of the Gods, then his in-laws would inevitably become a problem. Reducing their status and then elevating them is a textbook example of alternating punishments and rewards."

"Under the pretext of repairing the Rainbow Bridge, Heimdall is forced to take a leave of absence, compelling Sif's relatives to make choices: sacrifice others' positions to secure Heimdall's high rank. This is not a conspiracy, but an obvious plot known to everyone."

"So, who conceived this scheme?"

"Thor has indeed matured a lot, and he increasingly resembles a responsible, commanding king. However, in reality, he is still an honest gentleman, does not play mind games, and cannot accept the unprincipled exchange of interests."

"Moreover, even if he were willing to do so, the time he's had to change his mind is too short. He couldn't possibly have mastered statecraft overnight, nor could he have learned to employ such obvious plots so skillfully just after he had started understanding them."

"As for Loki, he's more of a conniver. Odin has never taught him any royal tactics. He excels at deception, not manipulation. Under the circumstances where everyone knows the truth, he forces them to make choices that benefit him. This is more of an overt plot."

"That is to say, it's doubtful that Thor or Loki masterminded this, they can only be considered as abettors. The real authority is someone else."

"Judging from the situation, our opponent is adept at such overt plots. He's excellent at crafting scenarios where only a specific key individual can solve the problem which then allows that key person to ascend to their destined position."

"Furthermore, he would persuade all powerholders to help him construct a scenario, then place all critical components of these powerholders where they should be. By utilizing a scenario, he achieves all his objectives."

"Regardless of whether Thor wants Heimdall to retake control of the Rainbow Bridge, Loki wants Hela to return to Asgard, Thanos wants to acquire territory, the Supreme Magician wants Teleportation Technology, or the mutants want the M'Kraan Crystal..."

"All these goals may converge within one scenario. Then, by employing different motivations and methods corresponding to different individuals, he gets what he wants."

Shiller took a sip from his wine glass, revealing a smile in his eyes. With a tone full of admiration and complexity, he said, "What a clever move."

The flickering reflected light from the wine shimmered in Shiller's eyes. As he looked up again, his gaze passed over the multitude in the dance floor, landing on Tony Stark, who held his wine glass on the other side. Tony Stark was giving him a smiling look, a look that seemed to tell him it was his turn to make a move.

The smile on Shiller's face did not change, but he suddenly stepped forward to stand in front of the Queen of the Shi'ar Empire's corpse. He began to speak, "I think, I already know who killed the queen."

Suddenly, all the participants who came with their own agendas all furrowed their brows.