Chapter 2781: Star Core Rescue (32)

Ultimately, Sophia and Beck did meet each other in the detention room. Sophia appeared somewhat helpless as she said, "Beck, you know I'm out of money, and such a huge sum isn't something I can just come up with."

"I know, I know, Sophia, I know it's hard for you, but I must get out of here, or else everything I've done before will have been for nothing," Beck said anxiously, grabbing the bars as if trying to stick his head through the gaps. "As long as I can get out of here, I can surely turn the situation around! I can definitely find evidence to prove my innocence and bring that damned Stark to disgrace!"

Sophia bowed her head in thought for a long time before finally looking up at Beck and saying, "I know you'll be hurt, but I still have to say this—you know that all of this started with you. If you hadn't acted on impulse at that time, if you hadn't made mistake after mistake afterward, things would never have gotten to this point."

"I am truly sorry," Beck said, gasping for breath. "But I just need one chance, one last chance."

"I hope you can seize this opportunity," Sophia said. "This really is the last chance, Quentin."

After Sophia left, Beck leaned against the bars, covering his face and gasping for air, nearly on the verge of collapse from the immense pressure and anxiety.

He didn't know how much time had passed before he finally heard footsteps again. When he turned his head, he saw a familiar face—Shiller.

Shiller sighed and said, "We meet again. I'm here to conduct a psychological assessment on you. We must be sure that your mental state won't pose a threat to society once you're out. If you pass, you can go."

Beck exhaled deeply.

He was taken out of the small room and sat down opposite Shiller. Shiller seemed to go about his routine, pulling out a huge stack of forms, placing them in front of Beck to fill out, and suggesting covertly, "Remember our agreement? Let's not make trouble for each other."

"Don't worry," Beck said somberly. "You'll never see me again after this."

"I hope so."

It took Beck about three hours to fill out the huge stack of forms. He had a feeling that some of them were repetitive, but thinking that getting this over with was all that mattered, he didn't mind and quickly finished the stack, thrusting them into Shiller's hands before leaving with the agent.

Shiller, back in the S.H.I.E.L.D. office with all the forms, began to examine them closely. Beck's feeling was actually right; many of the forms were repetitive, and even for the psychological therapy over the past few days, many of the forms Shiller had made Beck fill out were the same, or simply rearranged in order.

This is a common testing method used by psychologists.

Many might think that if I go in with the mindset of getting tested for depression, and if I say I'm depressed, then I must be depressed, right?

Actually, it's not that simple. At least, if the psychologist really wants to get to the bottom of it, it's nearly impossible for anyone to pull the wool over their eyes. One of the simplest methods is to carry out numerous repetitive tests, timed according to the forgetting curve.

Many people can maintain their composure while filling out the first form, thinking that as long as they fill in the worse options, they will definitely get a negative result.

But not all questions have such an obvious positive or negative inclination. For example, if a question asks whether you often feel despondent, and if you want to confirm the diagnosis, you just need to answer 'yes.'

However, some questions ask which way you would prefer to handle certain situations, and the choices aren't clearly inclined either way. In such cases, many people instinctively choose the options that follow their true feelings.

Or rather, deliberately choosing the worse option is a false proposition. You would inevitably be a certain kind of person to think some options are worse. By having discerned your intent, a clearer picture emerges of what kind of person you are through your tendencies in these ambiguous multiple-choice questions.

Shiller applied this method to Beck. Beck was desperate to prove he wasn't ill, so he would try to choose the better options—for example, with questions involving violence, he would have to choose that he never had such thoughts, to prove he was safe, normal, and certainly not a criminal.

With this mindset, Beck imposed too much personal bias on many ambiguous options, which paradoxically revealed what kind of person he was. Combined with repeated testing and constant comparison of his various answers, one could basically obtain a set of survey responses that closely matched his true self.

Some of the analysis went beyond the professional scope of a psychologist, closer to the interrogation techniques of an agent. However, the line between the two was not so clear-cut; a good psychologist is essentially an agent capable of probing into the deepest secrets of others' hearts.

With this final investigation result in hand, Shiller's brow slightly furrowed. Coulson knocked and entered the room, walking up behind Shiller and looking at the forms. But he couldn't understand the professional jargon, so he asked, "How is it? Doctor? Any leads?"

"It's close to what we expected," Shiller said, fingering the papers. "There's something wrong with Beck's mental state, and it's a big problem."

"Right," Shiller looked up at Coulson and said, "I remember Sandman is also called Beck; do they have any family relation?"

"There shouldn't be," Coulson said. "It's a very common surname."

Shiller looked down at the summary he had compiled and said, "So, that Sophia has gotten hold of another sum of money, and it's from Hong Kong too?"

Hands in his pockets, Coulson nodded and said, "Honestly, it's really difficult to monitor funds coming from there. I've already sent someone to investigate. If it doesn't work out, we'll turn to the Hong Kong Temple, and I think we'll have results pretty soon."

Shiller stood up and said, "Alright, let's see what happens next."

Finally, Beck was released on bail. He knew this was his last chance. If he couldn't prove his innocence before the trial, all his prior efforts would have been in vain, and he would spend the latter part of his life behind bars.

Anxiety filled Beck's heart; he couldn't accept such an outcome. He had to overturn the situation within the last few days, and with the help of special effects devices and drones, he was confident he could do it.

To prove his innocence, he had to prove he wasn't negligent, but there was no doubt that there had been a major problem with software security during the space station crash. As the supervisor, he was to blame. To absolve himself, he had to prove there was someone else behind it all, making it look as though he had done everything within his power.

The script had been set that someone was conducting evil experiments on the space station, which opened a rift in space and released the Elementals, and Mysterio had saved the day as a superhero.

At the time, with Beck's team fanning the flames, the evil experiment theory had gone viral online. But as the saying goes, the internet is good at forgetting, and by now, hardly anyone mentioned it.

Beck knew what he had to do was reignite this theory and somehow pin it on the Stark Group. If he could redirect the public's hatred toward the Stark Group, he could come out publicly as a victim, alleging that all the judges and juries had been bought by Stark. Pressured by public opinion, the jury wouldn't dare to harm him.

He knew netizens were fond of conspiracy theories. Even without him bringing it up, there had always been a variety of conspiracy theories surrounding Stark and other major corporations, with countless people firmly believing that these groups manipulated the world behind the scenes, ready to sacrifice the common folk at any moment.

With just a spark, conspiracy theories involving the Stark Group would spread like wildfire, giving him a natural advantage in the realm of public opinion.

Then, by standing with the public in the name of maintaining world peace and judicial fairness, taking the role of a hero who does not fear power, he was bound to gain both fame and fortune.

Once the plan was set, Beck set out to act. First, he needed a platform from which to broadcast his message. Fortunately, he had already made contact with a newspaper owner while preparing the previous script. Now, he just needed to arrange an unexpected meeting to reveal the truth about the space station crash. Once the story was published, it would surely cause a sensation.

Given the urgency of time and the magnitude of the task, Beck didn't have the luxury of preparing further. He directly had Sophia contact the newspaper owner, telling him that Mysterio would definitely appear tonight and to wait at a certain place for the photo.

Beck planned to have the newspaper owner capture his heroic battle first, then make a seemingly serendipitous appearance and speak to the camera.

People idolize heroes, especially those who have just performed acts of justice. Coupled with the positive impression Mysterio had left on the public, his words would carry significant weight. With just a hint of implication, the Stark Group would not escape the whirlpool of public opinion.

The well-animated dust storm was the perfect stepping stone, and Beck could hardly wait to beat it down, venting the anger within him.

In Stark Group's lab, Peter took off his glasses and rubbed his brow. Looking at Sandman, who was sitting on the sofa, he said with a sense of helplessness, "I promise that lunatic won't show up again tonight, William. You don't have to worry..."

How could I not worry?" Sandman William roared at Peter: "That lunatic racked up almost 5 million US Dollars in fines. Even if they make me pay just 1% of it, I could never afford that. I'm definitely not going out again!"

Miles didn't say anything; he was busy doing his math homework.

Peter sat down next to Sandman and tried to persuade him to hold on for a few more days. But Sandman, who was as poor as a church mouse, repeatedly shook his head like a rattle, determined not to get involved in any such incidents.

He would not appear as Sandman again until it was clear whether that lunatic would reappear. If he ended up incurring fines because of that, he would go bankrupt.

Peter sighed deeply. Was Miles' debut as a superhero over before it even began? He was far from ready; at this level, he was no Spider-Man.

But apart from Sandman, there weren't many good options available. Everyone was busy, and no one had the time to train a young superhero.

Just as Peter was about to give up, he suddenly received a phone call. Shiller's voice came through on the other end.

"Peter, how's Miles doing? Do you need my help over there?"