Doom looked at Reed slowly falling in front of him, then looked up at Shiller who was rubbing his wrist, then looked down at Reed again, took a step back, and said, "Doom thinks it's not the time to quarrel. We need to unite to save the cosmos."
Peter on the side, however, looked as if he had let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't restrained himself from punching Reed earlier. Now, thinking back, hitting someone was still wrong. When Shiller had just appeared at the door, he had been a little nervous, fearing that the doctor would discover he had resorted to violence.
But now Peter realized that the doctor himself had used violence, so it seemed that Reed really deserved a beating and he couldn't be completely blamed for it.
Reed shook himself and stood up from the ground. He wiped under his nose to find it was all blood, then, with some surprise, he looked at Shiller, who was of similar appearance and build to him.
Reed had always been engaged with near-Earth research. In the comic plot, it was when he was working on the space station that he was exposed to radiation and became a rubber man, capable of stretching any part of his body at will.
But in this cosmos, he hadn't been involved in near-Earth research for very long before he was pulled back due to a lack of people on Earth. The cosmic radiation event did occur, but it only impacted the signal of the Stark Group's robots on the Mercury Base and threatened none of the scientists, thus the Fantastic Four were obviously not born either.
Reed was now an ordinary scientist. Using the language of Emotional Intelligence, the person who had the hardest time when Spider Man had punched Reed just now was his brain because if he exerted even a little more force, Reed would be turned into pulp.
Shiller gave Reed, who had managed to stand up, a smile, Reed opened his mouth and was about to speak when "Bam!" another punch landed.
Retracting his fist, Shiler who was taller looked down at Reed, saying, "Sorry, my hand slipped."
Reed got up from the ground again, this time his nose was definitely broken. He glared at Shiller angrily then pointed at Dr. Banner, saying, "He's also in the wrong. Why are you only hitting me?"
"I can't beat him." Shiller stated with righteousness.
At this, Reed, having lost his temper, looked around the room. Now, he couldn't afford to offend anyone.
You don't have to talk about Spider Man, everyone in New York knew about the guy whizzing through the New York sky and pulling trains. Not to mention The Hulk, if his fist landed, the opponent would have to be collected at the molecular level. Doom himself was not very strong, but he held the superiority of the Slavic race and was fully armed. Otto's mechanical tentacles were itching to get into motion for a while now. Out of everyone present, he looked the most like a villain.
Reed finally realized that he truly didn't have the upper-hand to speak loudly; whenever a scientific researcher gets close to so many monsters, it's best to behave, otherwise, consequences would be much worse than a broken nose.
Reed sighed, holding his nose and said, "Alright, then what's your plan? We have to have a plan before we shut down the portal, right?"
"The plan has changed. We are no longer planning to close the portal." Shiller walked over to the lab bench and said, "We intend to exterminate these creatures in our cosmos, clearing out the antimatter universe, making it another one of our labs."
"So now we have to come up with an efficient plan to exterminate these creatures. Any ideas?"
As soon as Shiller said this, Peter was the only one who slightly furrowed his brow, while the others accepted this sinister genocide plan without a second thought. After all, who wasn't a great villain?
"The most efficient way to exterminate certain beings would be an explosion." Otto made the first suggestion, waving his mechanical arm, and saying, "Many of the failures in my artificial sun experiment can cause a rather violent explosion."
"Absolutely not." Reed refuted, "Haven't we just seen it through the Observer Robot? Those bugs can evolve on the spot. You might be able to blast them a few times at most, then they will immediately evolve a thick shell to withstand the blast."
"Even the star explosion created by Magneto only destroyed a star system of bugs, and once its power decreased even slightly, it could no longer cause any damage to them."
Doom narrowed his eyes and said: "Doom believes that the best way to deal with these creatures is a virus, preferably a genetic one, to eliminate their ability to reproduce."
"Pedantry." Reed countered, "They can even iterate their genes in just tens of minutes. They are the masters of manipulating genes. If poison is rashly used and they figure out the human way of making viruses, it's more likely they'll concoct a super virus to threaten carbon-based life."
"What about an army of machines?" Peter made another suggestion, scratching his chin and saying, "They can make countless bugs, we can also make countless robots. The production efficiency of Stark Group and Iron Demon God's assembly lines may not necessarily be weaker than their hives."
"By the time the mechanical army and the bug army have finished fighting, there would be no need for the entire cosmos." Reed snorted, "If we fight on the level of quantity, even if we won, the entire universe would definitely be devastated. The Three Great Empires are indeed a threat to us, but without them, the cosmos would be even more chaotic."
Reed had just finished his speech when he found three disapproving glances on him. Looking at everyone else with their skills and comparing his smart but non-combative self, Reed swallowed and turned his head to say, "I'm not just picking on you for the sake of it, but my wisdom tells me that what you're doing won't work."
While the others were about to rebuke him, Shiller was the first to say, "So, Dr. Richards, tell me, what do you think would be the best method?"
"I need a specimen of the Insect Race for research." Reed suggested, continuing his explanation, "From my observations, this type of life couldn't possibly have come about naturally, nor does it appear to be a divine creation. I must analyze their life structure as minutely as possible, trace the marks of evolution on their bodies, and understand their living environment so as to possibly identify their fatal weaknesses."
When Reed is serious, he is indeed a scientist standing at the peak of human science. It seemed as if he was trying to convince Shiller, Reed also suggested, "In this respect, you should invite Doctor Connors. He will surely agree with me."
Shiller turned his head to Peter and said, "Peter, go find Doctor Connors. He's an expert in biology, we should hear his professional opinion."
Peter nodded, turning to exit with the intention of seeking Doctor Connors. But not even a minute after he left, he rushed back into the room alongside Connors.
"So you guys are indeed here," Connors sighed with relief, "I heard about the Destroying Worms from Nick, he said he would try to get a corpse sample for me. These things couldn't have possibly evolved naturally, there must be something wrong in the antimatter universe environment."
Reed shrugged and gestured as if to say "I told you so".
"Good, let's do it that way." Shiller nodded, then looked around and said, "But don't count on Nick and his team to lend a hand. The frontline situation is grim. The Universe Civilization Allied Army is continuously retreating. It's like a giant meat grinder, don't expect any troops to preserve intact corpses of the worms for you."
Connors frowned and pushed his glasses up his nose, saying, "Even if it's just fragments of their body, it's better than nothing. The more complete the specimen, the better I can analyze how they were born."
Just as Reed was about to criticize the people on the frontline, Shiller interrupted him with a glance, then said, "Even if they can bring back the corpses of the worms, most of them will be from the lower hierarchy, the ones born in large quantities from the hive. Their bodies hold no research value, we need to capture a higher-ranking being."
"Stop relying on others, I have the unlock command for a ship at Pluto Star Harbor. Let's go, we'll do it ourselves."
Everyone in the room stared at Shiller in shock. Their astonishment was clear to see. Peter, speechless, managed to say, "What did you just say? We're going to the frontline together?!"
After he said it, he realized his tone was off, and quickly explained, "Ah, I didn't mean that I can't go to the frontline. In fact, I wouldn't mind fighting alongside them. But you all can't, you're scientists!"
Shiller took a step back, gestured around the room, and then said, "Peter, tell me, do you see even one normal scientist here?"
"Uh..."
Peter looked at them one by one, his gaze finally resting on Reed. Reed raised his voice and said, "Are you kidding me? Why would I risk my life on the frontline against those bugs?! I'm just a regular human, don't drag me along if you want to die!"
As soon as Reed said this, everyone's attention shifted from Shiller to him. Connors rolled his eyes, saying, "Coward."
Otto shook his head in disdain, "You're weak."
Peter was angry and said, "Shirking duties during tough times, you're a disgrace to humanity."
Doom was even more direct, he rained down a string of insults, "Coward, weakling, waste..."
"Enough!" Reed shouted in anger, "You damn superpowered freaks, those bugs could bite me in half in one go!"
"So, to prevent you from becoming monster poop, we need to strengthen you before we leave," Shiller gestured to Otto without a second thought, who understood his meaning immediately.
"Strengthen? What strengthen? I don't nee..."
"Whoosh!"
The mechanical tentacles on Otto's back swung around at high speed towards Reed. Startled by the sound, Reed turned around, only to be hit in the face by the tentacle, knocking him out cold.
Shiller immediately signaled the others, "Quick, quick, quick, carry him. We're going to the spaceship, there's a lab there."
The others had been enduring Reed for quite a while now, so carrying him to the stretcher was less about medical compassion and more about settling old scores.
The group carried Reed through a portal to the former Kree escort ship docked at Pluto Star Harbor. The experienced surgeons Connors and Doom, along with the developer of the mechanical tentacles Otto, moved into the lab to begin modifying Reed, with Banner assisting them.
Meanwhile, Shiller and Peter stood outside the lab aboard the escort ship. Peter asked with some confusion, "Why do we absolutely have to bring this Reed Richards along? We can execute the plan without him, right?"
Then he quickly added, "I don't mean there's a problem with your plan, Doctor, but he's seriously annoying. Every time I see him I have to control my fists."
Shiller chuckled mysteriously, "Don't get angry, Peter. As the saying goes, waste is a misplaced resource. No matter how bad Reed's attitude is, there will always be a place where he can be put to good use, and you'll see that in a bit."