"Apparently, he wants more." Steve interrupted Stark's complaining, "So, I'll bet Dr. Strange's disappearance was no coincidence. You said you saw some kind of mysterious energy flickering purple. Could that be his handy work?"
T'Challa also chimed in, "That little prince from Asgard is the most suspicious. Don't forget he's known as the God of Mischief. The Black Panther God complains to me every day that he's too dark."
"The kids have also disappeared." Eddie pointed out. "To me, Helen and Doctor Schiller are like two peas in a pod, in terms of their 'bite everything' kind of character."
"Come on, can't you guys be more specific?" Stark said impatiently, "Isn't everything you're saying obvious? Motive, method, gain, you need to guess at least one right."
"I'll guess the motive." Natasha took the initiative again and chose the simplest one, "Give the villains of some universe a hard time and harvest the resources of their universe on the side."
"You might as well not have guessed." Stark scoffed. "I'll guess the hardest one: Schiller probably sent Ultron to get the Infinity Gem, then pretended to be a villain to trick other villains into a self-entrapment plan. In this way, he could trap them all and harvest their resources."
"Don't you also sound like you didn't guess?" Venom sneered, "Maybe Schiller thinks your medical fees are too low and he's looking for another big spender."
"Stop talking nonsense, Venom." Eddie quickly stopped Venom, gave Stark a sheepish smile, before saying, "Actually, I can provide you guys with a clue. Before boarding the ship, Schiller told me to bring the camera equipment."
"Oh, I get it!" Steve said, "A few days ago when we were watching a documentary together, I heard Dr. Schiller complain that filming a combat scene was meaningless. He wouldn't be stirring up a real war just to shoot a combat scene, would he?"
"You might just be right." Natasha snapped her fingers, "This sounds exactly like Schiller's style. Go, Venom, swallow the camera."
"Why don't you go, you bad woman!"
"Don't change the subject." Stark rolled his eyes. "That must be one of his purposes, but definitely not the main one. Making movies doesn't need this much fuss."
"I think you haven't been listening carefully to Dr. Schiller." T'Challa said calmly, "He said he was going to save the universe. Could it be that a certain universe is in danger, and he's actually trying to save it?"
Everyone rolled their eyes at him, even Steve looked unconvinced. They immediately dismissed the possibility T'Challa proposed, thinking that stirring up a war between several universes to shoot a movie was more like Schiller's style.
While the discussion was fervently ongoing, Schiller and Nick clinked glasses over at the bar, exchanging mysterious smiles.
"Honestly, I want to know who the Principal really is." Nick, leaning forward on the bar, asked, "I can't think of anyone who can afford to hire you to save the universe at such a high price."
Schiller tilted one side of his mouth, pressed the rim of the glass to his lips and said, "Maybe it's another big spender?"
On the other side, two Spider-men brought Hope from another universe to the one where Dr. Pym had turned dark and attempted an assassination.
At this time, Hank Pym was still locked up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison, because he refused to cooperate and Nick had no way to deal with him.
Although he had regained consciousness, he was devastated by his daughter's death and refused to cooperate with Nick, his daughter's killer who concealed the news of her death. Nick, feeling guilty, was unable to force him.
The two were at a deadlock until Hope reappeared. She practically flew into her father's arms, unable to hold back the sorrow of watching him plunge into the Quantum Realm. She broke down in a fit of sobs.
No father can stand by while his daughter cries. Though Dr. Pym still suspected this was a trick by Nick, the daughter in front of him felt too real.
With a painful look, he closed his eyes and patted Hope on the back to comfort her. The two Spider-men and Nick left the room to give father and daughter some privacy. In the meantime, Spider-man told Nick about the disaster encountered by the other universe.
"We don't think this is a coincidence." Spider-man put forth his views first, "Anyway, it's too unlikely for two universes to be infected with the same zombie virus."
Nick speculated, "I don't think simply releasing a zombie virus to wreak havoc makes much sense to the mastermind behind this. There must be a reason to his madness. Besides destruction, it definitely brings him some benefit. So, the question you need to look into right now is the purpose of his actions."
The Spider-man from the Zombie Universe paused before saying, "We're planning to investigate the nature of the zombie virus, but it's a bit difficult. Although it's called a virus, in fact, it's more like an extremely minute factor. It can't be observed the way normal viruses are."
Spider-man had a sudden realization, "We can make use of the Pym Particles. Let Dr. Pym, using the Pym Particles to shrink, observe the state of the virus. This could solve our problem."
Nick thought for a moment before saying, "Without a doubt, Hank has better control over the Pym Particles than Hope. I'm not sure if he's willing to cooperate, but I can help you guys ask him."
Nick entered the room, and after a while, the three of them came out together. Hope, wiping away her tears, said, "My dad agreed to help. After all, if it weren't for the zombie virus, I wouldn't have lost my home and my friends..."
"And you nearly lost your life." Pym glared at Nick, "Nobody's worth your sacrifice, Hope. That's not something a child should do. No one will remember your contribution."
Nick turned his head away helplessly, but Pym still followed the two Spider-men back to the universe where Hope came from. Because it had captured zombie samples that were not cured by air purification, it was the best place to observe.
Pym, indeed a master of controlling the Pym Particles, went directly inside the zombie sample after scaling down without any preparation.
Soon, a puzzled voice came over the communicator.
"This is quite surprising, really."
"What's going on? What exactly is the zombie virus?" Spider-man asked anxiously.
"Zombie virus... No, this is not a virus."
"Then, what is it?"
Pym, standing in the midst of the cells, stared at the thing in front of him, a particle smaller than a molecule. However, it had no biological structure. From the microscopic level, it was a robot with a mechanical structure.
"This is... a Nano Computing Module."