At this moment, Shiller was conducting a checkup on Brod. Since it was an initial checkup without the need for psychological counseling and treatment, the process ended quite quickly. After asking Brod several questions, Shiller had already determined his ailment and its conditions.
In psychology, most ordinary people's symptoms are relatively typical. While the causes of emotional problems vary greatly, the symptoms expressed always accurately correspond to a certain disease.
This is why mental illness is called an illness, not just a simple bad mood. Most people exhibit similar symptoms under certain emotions. This is not coincidental, but because different emotional accumulations cause the body to develop the same pathological changes, which can then be classified as a disease.
Shiller walked out with his completed diagnosis and prescription, handed them to Eddie, and said, "Moderate to severe depression with symptoms of anxiety, it is recommended to use drug treatment, and a change of environment..."
Shiller looked up at the room's condition and said, "Haven't you noticed? It's a bit too damp and dark here. This type of setting can very easily trigger negative emotions and increase psychological stress."
"Furthermore, I noticed. In the room behind, a little girl is living there. I suggest you move to another place. Not only is this not good for a child's emotions, but also the excessively damp and cold environment is bad for a woman's health."
Bob stood up, somewhat agitated, and shouted, "If we could change our surroundings, would we still live here?! Do you think I want to live here?!"
"When I first rented this place, I got a pretty decent place. However, not long after, the landlord rented the house out to another party. Those people are a mob who pointed a gun at us and told me to get lost!"
"And poor little Tina, how could I oppose them? So, I turned to a real estate agency. They showed me a great house at first, only to have me end up here. I wanted to cause them trouble, but I found out they were in collusion with the mob!"
Bob gnashed his teeth and stomped his foot, complaining, "Those damned inhumane beasts! They even wanted me to sell my daughter. I will never fulfill their wishes. I will kill them all!"
The veins on Bob's forehead were bulging as he worked himself into a frenzy. Shiller took a deep breath, looked into his eyes, and said, "Calm down, unless you don't want your buddy's prescription..."
Shiller handed the paper in his hand to Bob. But Bob seemed triggered again, yelling, "You are all the same!! The damned rich, from their high horses!!"
"All you doctors are the same! Holding patients hostage with prescriptions, if we listen to you, you give us the prescriptions. If we don't listen, you won't treat us! Damned kidnapper!!"
"You think this is some kind of charity? I don't need your charity! Get out of here!"
Initially, Eddie was letting Bob share his grievancesing. Bob had said quite a bit in broken phrases and was in the heat of the moment when Shiller told him all this. As such, his already unstable emotions were stimulated further and lost control.
Eddie swallowed hard, more worried that Shiller might be triggered. If Bob went crazy, he would just bang his head against the wall at most, but if Shiller went crazy, New York would be in danger.
Eddie regretted bringing Shiller out. He should've anticipated that Bob, an ordinary man in such a state, couldn't have much self-control. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
In Eddie's career as a reporter, he had seen too many people like this. They had gambled their all, failed their business ventures, didn't prepare ahead, and fell from the upper social classes.
They are often filled with resentment, unwilling to accept reality. They place all faults on society, are hostile to everyone, and become sensitive and aggressive.
Shiller coughed vigorously, crumpled the paper he had into a ball, threw it on the ground, and then started to punch the nearby wall.
Eddie quickly pulled him outside. After they got out of the dark, cramped environment, Shiller appeared a bit better.
Shiller, with his head down, teeth clenched, said, "The mental problems of superheroes are very complicated and difficult to resolve, but I'm not afraid of complicated diseases or difficulties in treating them..."
"I know they are a group of noble good people. If they knew I was helping them, they would never utter harsh words to hurt me..." Shiller became somewhat breathless and intermittently said, "But ordinary people are not like that, they radiate malice to everyone, rejecting anyone who doesn't act according to their wishes..."
At this point, Shiller suddenly froze, then stood in place, mumbling to himself, "The superheroes wouldn't hurt me... Then why did they..."
On the way back, Shiller seemed somewhat lost, which was different from his previous withdrawal symptomatic stupor.
Previously, when Eddie first met Shiller, Shiller was in a state where he couldn't think, as if he had just escaped from mental trauma and fell into numbness.
But on the way back, Shiller seemed like his brain was filled with thoughts. He kept mumbling something under his breath. Eddie tried to listen in, but due to Shiller's strange accent and articulation, he couldn't understand anything.
When they returned to Eddie's house, Thor was moving a Christmas tree indoors. Eddie looked at the tree and said, "Wait a minute, why does this pine tree look... I mean, how is it different from the ones displayed in the store windows?"
"Ah, it's more primitive and wild," Thor responded diplomatically.
Eddie stared at him, roaring: "You didn't chop down a tree, did you?!!! Do you know that illegal logging is a crime?!!"
Thor waved his hand and said, "In Asgard, indiscriminate logging is not a crime. I know because I am the Divine King."
After that, he moved the pine tree into the house and said, "I was going to buy one on the street, but the trees you humans sell are weaker than the weeds in Asgard. They lack any aesthetic appeal."
"Look at this tree I brought. It's a handsome fellow that I've named 'Bull's Horn'! See the topmost branch? It could easily hold a string of stars without breaking!"
Eddie was a bit stunned as he looked at the pine tree that was almost as tall as his ceiling and took up half his living room. He didn't know whether to criticize Thor for his excessive pursuit of strength and beauty or compliment him for his careful consideration in choosing a tree that matched the room height.
Shiller sat on the sofa, staring thoughtfully. Behind him, Eddie passed by dragging a string of coloured lights, then Thor with a climbing Santa Claus toy.
At one point, Thor was patting Venom's back, asking him to spit out the Christmas bulb he'd just swallowed, then Venom was strangling Thor to turn off the radio playing Christmas songs at full volume.
As the two idle men decorated the Christmas tree over the entire afternoon, until Thor, clutching his stomach, mentioned his hunger, "I'm beginning to feel a little hungry. Shall we eat something? How about some reindeer meat with sour cream?"
"If you eat reindeer meat near Christmas, aren't you afraid Santa Claus will punch you when he delivers your gifts?"
"Even though I'm not human, I do know that it's reindeer, not camel, that pull Santa's sleigh. And besides, he won't be delivering gifts to me since I'm not a child."
Under Venom's control, Eddie started bickering with Thor. At this point, Shiller came back to his senses and turned to them, "...I'm hungry, is there something to eat?"
Thor raised the spatula in his hand, "Wait and see. You may find the deer meat from Asgard so delicious you'll swallow your tongues."
After speaking, Thor went to cook. Eddie and Shiller sat on opposite sides of the dining table, Shiller put his hands on the table and looked into Eddie's eyes, "About two weeks ago, all the superheroes I knew, my friends, stopped contacting me...".
Eddie raised his eyebrows, sensing some juicy gossip. He poured himself a glass of the rustic Viking beer that Thor had bought earlier.
"At first, they just stopped seeking psychological therapy from me. Even though they were still dealing with various issues and negative emotions in their lives, they just stopped contacting me."
"Then, all the criminals, mob bosses, and frauds I was counseling disappeared."
"And then, all the things I used to divert my attention: tobacco, alcohol, and drugs turned out to be missing."
Eddie's brow furrowed deeper as he listened. He said, "No way. Those guys wouldn't deliberately isolate you, would they?"
"I know them. I might not like some of their personalities, particularly Tony Stark, but I have to admit. They're all good people. They wouldn't isolate someone intentionally."
Eddie stroked his chin, suddenly catching the key point. He looked at Shiller and said, "First off, I'm not blaming the victim, but did you do something previously? Something that might have hurt them?"
"On the contrary!" Shiller raised his voice, starting to become excited and agitated. His hands trembled, continuously pounding on the table as he spoke rapidly, "I've done so much for them! I cured each one of them, solved all their problems! I even..."
Shiller's voice also attracted Thor, who was frying steak. He moved the steak from the pan to a dish, placed it in the oven for low-temperature smoking, then stood behind Eddie, spatula in hand, listening to Shiller's story.
Shiller spoke with a rambling and slightly aggrieved tone, telling Eddie and Thor about everything he had done, and particularly emphasizing the perfect results of his perfect plan.
In the whole of New York, not many people could get such treatment. Even Stark or Loki and Doctor Strange hadn't heard the entirety of Shiller's crystal-clear plan.
In most events, they only knew part of Shiller's plan. Even at the end, they would question whether they had fully deduced Shiller's intentions; the answer often turned out to be no.
But for some reason, Shiller, whose mental state was not entirely steady, revealed his complete plan - designing a sequence of events, stabilizing the superheroes' mental states, mending their relationships, then expanding the map, creating a bigger situation, and uniting everyone to achieve the perfect end goal.
Shiller talked enthusiastically at the table, growing more and more confident in the logic and perfection of his plan.
However, to his view, the faces of Eddie and Thor were becoming paler and paler.
After stopping, Shiller felt something was odd, so he paid closer attention to the looks on their faces. Finally, he detected an implied statement in their gaze:
"Shiller, have you gone mad?!"