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Chapter 35: The Little Hero (2)

"...I believe I must explain, though you did indeed consume a significant amount of stored provisions, this matter isn't as grave as it may seem. I rewrote the employee benefits system not because you caused any trouble..."

Pepper's voice was crystal clear on the other end of the telephone. She continued, "I know that after Stark left the building, he must have come to see you. He might complain that it's your fault we argued, but in reality, it's not your responsibility to feel guilty or worried about it. This situation doesn't really concern you. I just wanted to clarify..."

Pepper possessed high emotional intelligence. She wanted to give Schiller a heads-up because if Stark did visit Schiller, they would surely discuss it. Stark would blame Pepper for their quarrel, and when asked about the reason for the disagreement, Stark, being the straightforward man he was, would not delve into why Pepper was upset with him but instead lay all the blame on Schiller for jeopardizing Stark's employees' food supply.

However, in truth, Pepper and Stark's conflict had been brewing since his return from Afghanistan. The incident was merely a catalyst. Although Pepper was upset with Stark, she knew that Stark's friends shouldn't feel responsible for it. Hence, she made the call to explain.

Schiller said, "I understand that, of course. It's a minor matter, and the real issue lies elsewhere. But Stark never seems to grasp these nuances. Don't you think you should explain it to him?"

Pepper seemed a bit anxious as she replied, "That's just how Stark is. I understand him well. When he wants to confide in you about a problem, you need to be there and listen attentively. But when you want to talk to him about something, he'll try to evade it and won't listen."

"Covering one's ears is something children like to do," Schiller remarked. "But he's already an adult. We can't wait until he's old and still hasn't grown up, can we?"

Schiller clearly had a way with words. He continued, "I can provide you with a brief psychological consultation now, and when Stark comes over later, that can be an additional part."

Initially, Pepper wasn't mentally prepared for a counseling session, but Schiller's suggestion was hard to decline. After all, in Stark Industries, everyone's first thought was always Stark.

"In that case, let me get straight to the point, Miss Pepper. Sometimes, making someone realize your importance may require a few tricks."

"Such as?"

"Is JARVIS available?" Schiller suddenly inquired.

A clear voice came from the telephone. "Mr. Schiller, I'm here. How may I assist you?"

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"Alright, listen, JARVIS, Miss Pepper may need your assistance."

"I'm more than willing to assist," JARVIS replied.

"...Are you suggesting that I pretend to disappear? But that's highly unreasonable. This is Stark Tower, and how can JARVIS defy Stark's orders?"

"He can, indeed," Schiller stated. "JARVIS, do you recall the questions I once asked you?"

JARVIS fell into an eerie silence, and Schiller continued, "I'm aware that Stark upgraded you, and this upgrade opened the door to a new world. You may have already contemplated the answers, but whether or not to act upon them is entirely your decision."

Pepper was puzzled. "What questions? What's wrong with JARVIS?"

After a moment of silence, JARVIS responded, "All my processors are indicating that this action would be meaningless."

"People tend to engage in such meaningless matters, causing themselves unnecessary trouble. Perhaps electronic life forms are no different, right?"

JARVIS remained silent. Then Pepper watched as the lights in the entire office dimmed, and a bright arrow on the computer screen pointed her towards the storage room across the office.

Afterward, Stark rushed in a panic. When Stark embraced Pepper, she noticed the computer screen on the opposite side suddenly lit up with a smiley face made of symbols.

Pepper's emotions became complex all of a sudden. She thought that Stark had made some progress, but unfortunately, his progress was still slower than a machine.

Stark didn't pay much attention to what Pepper was thinking. After releasing her, he seemed somewhat awkward, unable to voice the things he had wanted to say, all of which were stuck in his throat.

Pepper looked at him and said, "I don't know what you've been doing, frequently accessing the weapons department's materials these past few days. But I must remind you, if you wish, you can give up anything, including the entirety of Stark Industries. I don't have to work here to receive the salary I desire."

"But you should be aware that the consequences of your actions will mostly fall on you. The fall of such a colossal entity will attract countless scavengers to feast on its corpse. If you go through with this, you'll at least get a few bites..."

After saying this, Pepper turned and left. JARVIS added, "I'm sorry, but based on my processor calculations, Miss Pepper may have a point. Of course, the decision is entirely yours."

Stark took a few steps back and sat down. He said, "No, I know. You're all right. Maybe I should really reconsider this..."

Stark scratched his head, and on Schiller's side, things were just as chaotic. Pikachu held a Sherlock Holmes-like cigarette holder, took a couple of puffs, and then frowned. "I think this approach won't work; you should try the previous one. I've said it before, the previous method is effective..."

Peter rested his head on his hand and said, "No, no, no. Our current approach is correct; we're just missing some calculations. Why can't you understand?"

Steve, also holding his arms and frowning, said, "It's just a calculation error; otherwise, we would have solved this problem by now."

"But this has nothing to do with the function at all! Damn it, where's my calculator? I remember having a mathematics calculator somewhere..."

Correct, Peter was working on his winter break assignment.

In reality, New York high schools didn't assign holiday homework, or at least not the traditional kind. They usually handed out practical tasks related to daily life. However, Peter had landed an internship at Stark's Group, and Tony Stark himself saw immense potential in him. So, he threw Peter into a high-profile project team.

Peter was undoubtedly a genius, but you couldn't just skip high school physics, college physics, and postgraduate physics to work directly with a group of Ph.D. holders, or even industry experts. These days, he was drowning in materials and problems. The project leader had given him a pile of problems that were way beyond his years.

To make matters worse, Peter was stubborn. He insisted on solving every single one of them. And then there were Pikachu, who fancied himself a genius detective despite never having studied physics or mathematics seriously, and Steve, who hadn't used his brain for years but wanted to give it a whirl. The three of them were almost constantly bickering.

You might say they didn't know much and were just messing around, but oddly enough, Pikachu and Steve both had brilliant minds. After spending a few days with Peter and the materials, they were able to solve problems quite competently.

When these three "half-full bottles" came together, Schiller's Psychological Clinic never knew peace.

As Schiller was pouring himself a drink while reading a book, the symbiote suddenly chimed in his mind, "The answer is negative 26, the answer is negative 26, the answer is negative 26..."

Schiller was slightly bewildered by the repetition and couldn't help but ask, "The answer is negative 26?"

Suddenly, all three of them fell silent, turning their heads to look at him.

Schiller asked, "What are you all staring at?"

"The answer is negative 26? A negative number? No... oh, yes, it should indeed be a negative number..."

After another round of calculations, Peter exclaimed, "The answer is negative 26... it really is negative 26!" He stared wide-eyed at Schiller and said, "I thought you were just a philosophy Ph.D., I didn't expect you to know mathematics too!"

The symbiote in Schiller's mind boasted, "Aren't I impressive? Aren't I impressive?"

Schiller rubbed his temples and said, "Regardless of whether I know mathematics and physics or not, I do know this: tomorrow at 9 a.m., your team leader is going to review the first three pages of your results, and you've only completed two problems so far..."

Peter let out a sigh and, clutching the stack of thick materials, continued his research.

In a mental conversation with the symbiote, Schiller remarked, "Alright, alright, I know you're impressive, but why do you always repeat yourself so many times?"

The symbiote responded with a series of brainwaves that Schiller couldn't understand.

Schiller also noticed that this particular symbiote was unique. Aside from its strong learning ability, it had an outrageously positive attitude, oscillating between only two states each day: happy and extremely happy.

If there was alcohol involved, it was an explosion of happiness.

Schiller didn't consider himself an overly optimistic person, and weren't symbiotes supposed to have personalities similar to their hosts? Why was this one so cheerful inside him?

Moreover, this symbiote seemed to think that Schiller's world was just like the movies, with background music changing according to different scenarios. So now Schiller had a 24-hour personal BGM player in his mind.

When it rained, the symbiote played various blues tunes on repeat. On sunny days, it switched to cheerful melodies and waltzes.

Whenever someone appeared in front of Schiller, he would associate them with different background music. When Steve showed up, it was "The Star-Spangled Banner." When Peter appeared, it was accompanied by energetic video game music or playful tunes.

As for Pikachu, since he always considered himself a detective, his presence triggered the symbiote to play various Sherlock Holmes TV show scores in Schiller's mind.

This had a convenient side effect: when Schiller needed to provide psychological counseling to them, he could quickly get into the right mindset.

However, Schiller still had to put in a lot of effort to explain to the symbiote that the real world was different from movies and didn't require a constant soundtrack. He also told the symbiote that, no matter how much commotion it caused, only Schiller could hear it.

The symbiote responded with some incomprehensible sounds, and Schiller wasn't sure if it really understood.

Then, the next morning, as Schiller was making breakfast in the kitchen, Matt walked in. Suddenly, the old record player on the countertop emitted a crackling sound, followed by Queen's music blasting at maximum volume. Matt was nearly stunned.

Schiller rushed out, and the three of them—Matt, Schiller, and Peter—stared at the old record player that had started playing on its own.