Before Shiller could rebut, the image on the screen changed again. A killer had stormed into Nick's S.H.I.E.L.D. office, the dark muzzle of his gun aimed towards Nick's shocked expression.
Shiller instantly tightened his grip on the chair's armrests, and Strange's expression also turned serious.
Then the two almost simultaneously turned their gaze to Adam, Adam cleared his throat and said: "Let me explain, this is how it happened..."
Adam began to explain from the beginning his theory of bug fixing, as well and his many attempts to restore the chaotic cosmos to normalcy.
In simple terms, in order for the cosmos not to be destroyed by Shiller and peace not to be destroyed by Shiller, everything must be smoothed out before Shiller's return, bringing the cosmos back to the state it was in when Shiller left, ensuring he doesn't go mad.
"That's why I say you're the root cause of all this," Adam sighed, "I'm just trying to prevent you from ramming our cosmos into something, you understand that, right?"
Shiller stared at him with a hostile gaze, and Adam, already past caring, said, "You'll see. None of this was part of anyone's plan, including mine."
Adam took another look at the screen, which showed Gwen tearfully complaining to Betty. After Gwen left, Betty sat in front of her bed in silence, followed by the scene where she had a dispute with Bruce Banner on the way back to town.
Gwen's words led to Betty's emotional turmoil, and Betty's attitude in turn affected Bruce Banner, causing the befuddled Dr. Banner not to check the particle collider in time, and in combination with King Reed stirring up trouble, the Oblivion Worms made their appearance.
The whole event unfolded without strategy, driven purely by emotions, as if a God of Probability was orchestrating everything, driving events to the brink of chaos.
"Can you really blame me?" Adam pointed to Quill and Rocket Raccoon on the screen, "I gave them the perfect strategy, and look what they did!"
Adam became more agitated as he spoke, the more he tolerated, the angrier he got, the more he backed down, the more wronged he felt. Could he, a high-level entity of the cosmos, actually tolerate this?
"Why is it that not a single human can follow a plan?! Why is it that even when I tell them the truth, not one of them is willing to cooperate with me?!"
Then, Adam turned his head and stared at Shiller's profile, "How did you get them to willingly do what you wanted without knowing anything? How did you control them?"
"So you intended to control them?!" Shiller turned to Adam with a look of shock, "You actually want to control humans??? Mr. Adam, I must retract my earlier statement. You seem to misunderstand not only me, but all humans."
Adam glared at Shiller, about to praise human wisdom and to refute him, words already forming at the tip of his tongue. But Shiller interrupted him, "Are you really relying on the evil, chaotic, self-destructive humans, who never use wisdom for substantial matters, and whose civilization has survived till now purely by luck, for control?!!"
Adam opened his mouth wide. He stammered, "Aren't you...a human too...? Don't you consider yourself...?"
"You thought yourself superior to humans and tried to control them, causing all these messes," Shiller shrugged slightly, "I've been saying all along, I'm just an ordinary person."
"Though I've made a lot of plans that have practically advanced superheroes, human civilization, and the entire cosmos, I'm not the complete control freak that you've misunderstood me to be."
Shiller shook his head and continued, "Or more accurately, a plan that allows for no errors and no tolerance for unexpected events is not a good plan. Anyone who makes such a plan is not a good strategist but rather a delusional egoist."
Adam opened his mouth to say something, but Shiller interjected, tapping on the theater chair's armrest with his fingertip, "In terms of strategy and gamesmanship, many believe in the theory that 'the world is a chessboard'."
"They consider themselves chess players and everyone else as chess pieces. They think that placing the right pieces in the right places will ensure their maximum utility and make everything go perfectly according to their plan."
Shiller glanced at Adam, prompting him to close his mouth. In fact, this had always been Adam's mindset, except unlike those people, he was also holding a chess manual in his hand. He tried to read it aloud to the chess pieces, hoping they would pick up on how to move from it.
"But this is actually an incredibly wasteful and foolish approach," Shiller lifted his gaze, looking at the chaos on the screen, "The key to humans' ability to create miracles is not the order they establish later in life, but the chaos that is encoded in their genes."
"Or perhaps it could be interpreted as 'possibility.' The most precious wealth each human individual possesses is the infinity of possibilities."
"And if someone defines them as a chess piece with only one function and demands they stay put and perform a certain function regardless of whether their positions allow for their growth, this miracle-creating potentiality is completely crushed."
"A good strategist should be like a gardener; they are only responsible for planting seeds and nurturing seedlings, preserving as much as possible their potential for branching out in different ways. In this manner, as they grow into towering trees, they will have more branches and can produce miraculously surprising fruits."
"The right that should be most assured for intelligent life is the right to infinite development and freedom of choice. To defend this right for them, one must stand among the vast common people, rather than believe that one's insight elevates them above the masses, and then manipulate all and everyone."
"Then why do you ..." Strange's gaze fell on Shiller's notebook.
"If I were the control freak that you think I am, the kind who wants to keep everything completely under control, why would I waste time having tea with you?" Shiller rolled his eyes, saying, "I do not believe that when I steer this universe to collide with the barrier of the larger world, those cosmic gods will not come out and negotiate with me. They'll restore your hand."
Adam and Whirlpool shivered at the same time. Both their gazes landed on Strange's hand. Just when Adam was about to say something, Strange stared at him with a murderous look and said, "Shut up, this is between the two of us."
"I know what you're thinking," Shiller lowered his eyes and looked at Strange, saying, "You think I'm a control freak, so you believe that I keep devising plan after plan to push everyone forward, even at the cost of sacrificing myself, in order to satisfy my intolerant desire for control."
"But the truth is not the case, I just hope to provide all the intelligent life in this universe with more possibilities distinct from the fixed world line, rather than insisting that a particular person transform into a certain form according to my own thoughts, or that events proceed perfectly according to my plan."
"And I am not bestowing grace like a god by doing so. I am simply defending the rights that all intelligent life deserves."
Shiller looked into Strange's eyes and said: "Do not tell me you have not discovered that the potential of life within the cosmos of the vast majority of the larger worlds, besides us, is extremely limited."
"Also, do not tell me you haven't noticed that the tragedies repeated in different universes are not mere coincidences."
Strange looked up into Shiller's eyes; he fell silent because he knew that what Shiller was saying was true. Within the infinite multiverse, the vast majority of lives in the vast majority of universes are progressing along almost identical paths. It's totally contrary to statistics and the inherent conditions of intelligent organisms."
Intelligent life develops as individuals, each incapable of entirely understanding each other. In any given second, a single thought could entirely reverse the trajectory of their lives.
So, how could it be that in the infinite universe, all people have the same idea and follow the same path?
Shiller turned his head back. The dim glow of the screen projected on his eyebrows, making his eyes seem filled with gentle wisdom.
"Striving for infinite possibilities of development is the responsibility of every intelligent individual because it also relates closely to ourselves. Defending our groups from manipulation is also a part of securing freedom for themselves."
"The reason I devise plans to encourage everyone is simply because I have more knowledge and thus should lead those lacking in such resources."
"Until they realize that they should strive for their own right to infinite development, not just blindly accept the manipulation of fate. This applies to each universe, each civilization within the universe, and each individual within a civilization."
"My ultimate goal is not to have this universe or all the other universes under my control. Quite the contrary, I want them to recognize that every individual is the master of their own growth. They should strive for this right, not just assume that the direction followed a million times before is the best choice."
Adam feels cold sweat running down his neck; he swallows, already envisioning the universes which have locked onto fixed world line developments striving for infinite possibilities.
Iron Man is no longer Iron Man. Spider Man is no longer Spider Man. Superheroes no longer save New York simply by throwing punches. The Three Great Empires collaborate sincerely. Asgard escapes its predetermined fate of destruction...
By then, where will they, the gods who maintain cosmic stability and smooth development of the world line, go?
In his daze, Adam saw a bright beacon light up in the sea of cosmic bubbles, like a lighthouse in the storm, or the sun rising in the starry depths.
This is absurd, Adam thought. If everyone stops playing their assigned roles, deviating from the world line, how chaotic would the universe be? Is this what they really want?
Then, to Adam's despair, he noticed an extremely dangerous glow slowly brightening in the eyes of Strange, who sat next to Shiller. A glow like greed, like ambition.
And most significantly, it resembles the most romantic and grand answer humans can imagine-- the realization after countless nights of hard study that their efforts are truly for something. To follow the sun-chasing ancestors and strive for the infinite potential of every class, every race, and every individual.