"Okay, ma'am, don't rush — take your time," Shiller said into the phone with a gentle yet firm voice, "Your child is fine, I assure you, no one can harm him. You just need to tell me the content of your dream."
Steam was rising from the coffee next to Shiller, and there was another cup across the table, but the seat was completely empty.
"I see," Shiller nodded and continued, "Ma'am, this entity known as the Middleman is a combination of chaos and order, representing the balance of chaos and order in the universe, so you know, he has no ill will towards you and your child."
"As for that voice, since you haven't seen him, we have too little information to determine his identity for now, try not to worry too much..."
"Yes, I assure you, the Middleman is very powerful. He can use both the powers of chaos and order, enough to protect the child inside you. You will definitely be okay."
After hanging up the phone, Shiller pinched the bridge of his nose, the situation was becoming increasingly incomprehensible to him. That the Middleman had come was not a surprise to Shiller; there was a high chance that his presence was merely an avatar, here to maintain the balance of chaos and order in the universe, and the key to that balance seemed to be the child inside Lisa's womb.
Shiller had suspected that the figure Lisa met in her dreams was an Incubus. It was likely that after Gaia learned this information, she had sought the Middleman to protect Lisa in her dreams.
The only problem was, why would an Incubus, who isn't the meddling type of Demon God, get involved in matters of chaos and order?
Shiller knew that whoever ruled over the world of dreams in any universe had their uniqueness, thus one should never regard the Incubus as a regular Demon God. Yet, his current actions made no sense, making it hard to guess what exactly he was after.
Shiller reviewed all the information about the Incubus in his mind. The creature was strong and weak simultaneously; his greatest achievement probably involved defeating M, the avatar of abstract entities like Eternity and Death, and of course, he also defeated the Court of Life. However, the subsequent appearances suggested that what he defeated was also an avatar.
The strength of cosmic abstract entities maintained in the universe could never truly be gauged from their avatars. In the comics, they generally served as stepping stones for the newer generation of strong characters, which is why the joke about the invincible yet repeatedly defeated Uncle Tong exists.
But their repeated defeats and eventual reappearances show that the strength of a dimensional avatar doesn't mean much; what is crucial is their administrative rights. Whoever manages to secure these rights has genuinely conquered them.
However, so far, most who have killed a dimensional avatar of an abstract entity haven't shown the ability to arbitrarily alter the Omni Universe. Those who possess such power don't need to kill these avatars to prove themselves. Thus, the Incubus's combat effectiveness is somewhat inflated.
Beyond that, the unique aspect of the Incubus likely resides in his control over the dream realm, but the Nightmare Dimension is unlike DC's Kingdom of Dreams—it doesn't connect to all the universes within the larger cosmos, being merely a separate dimension. Thus, clearly, the Incubus's control over dreams is no match for Dream God Morpheus, and his stature is far inferior.
After much thought without pinpointing a probable motive for this villain's sudden contact with Lisa, Shiller decided to let it be for now, especially since, behind the Middleman, the lords of chaos and order were certainly no pushovers.
Even if something truly happened to the child, Shiller could still figure out a way to retrieve him from the Realm of Death. It would just mean making Death suffer a bit more.
Shiller picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, seemingly about to say something, when the phone rang again.
"Hello, what's up? They've finally decided to come back? Then who is the champion of the Turkey Arena?"
Hearing that name, Shiller smiled and said, "I guessed it would be him. When it comes to winning, no one can beat Stark."
As soon as he finished speaking, the light from the floor-to-ceiling window behind Shiller was blocked, accompanied by the buzzing sound of mecha. Shiller turned around, and Stark gave him a big hug.
Shiller laughed and said, "Congratulations on the win, though there's not much to be proud of."
Indeed, there wasn't much to be proud of since winning by playing foul wasn't honorable at all, and a Red Cloak also appeared outside the window, obviously, Doctor Strange was also present.
Stark scoffed, but seemed to remember something, revealing a big smile. He crossed his arms, looking at Shiller and said, "Want to hear about our adventure?"
Shiller frowned slightly, as a matter of courtesy. He knew that typically only a dog that has wrecked the house would be this excited.
Shiller didn't have much room for objection; Stark was not there to ask for his opinion and began his story on his own.
Although this was just Nick's strategy to move everyone off Earth, the situation in Centaurus was indeed tense. Both Earth and Asgard hoped to gain some influence in this no man's land, so Stark and Thor went there majestically.
Naturally, they couldn't help but challenge all the local forces, but the key was to display their own military power. Thus, Stark and Strange sparred.
With Thor and Loki around, they obviously couldn't start a fight. They barely exchanged a few moves just for show, to dazzle the spectators. That wasn't the main point, after all.
Let's put it this way, there are many formidable people in the universe, and Earthlings have always been known for their fighting capability, but even the mightiest among them is just another Asgard, far less significant in scale compared to other beings. Hence, merely showcasing fighting skills couldn't bring enough deterrence.
So Stark and Strange made a bet, whoever found the Guardians of the Galaxy first would be the winner.
Finding people is indeed a skill. Although street fights often seem trivial, in critical moments, it all depends on how many people you can rally. This showcases not just street fights but real connections.
In lawless zones like Centaurus, being good at fighting isn't considered a true skill. Frankly, even if you wiped out this area, you wouldn't fundamentally shake the cosmic situation.
Just like the Golden Triangle on Earth, today somebody shoots someone, tomorrow another family gets wiped out, it really doesn't affect the international situation.
But the day when a major nation issues a notice demanding active cooperation from certain authorities, that truly turns everything upside down.
Therefore, having strong support here is what's most critical. It's all about which support you can muster that fundamentally decides the outcome.
Of course, humanity's biggest support is Asgard. There's no need to elaborate on that. Even without Stark trying to gather people, Thor showed up. However, Asgard's civilization also has its flaws. Its deterrence is still not sufficient.
On Strange's side, the main team consists of Cosmic Sorcerers. You know, the senior members of The Sanctum basically do whatever they want in the universe. They might not ride roughshod over empires, but when the two sides meet, even the Three Great Empires make a detour.
Stark's team doesn't have such a high level, but it makes the observing forces feel more tangible because what he rallied are the core forces from the Three Great Empires and the Intergalactic Alliance.
For various reasons, most civilizations in the universe are technology-based. Even if they eventually advance beyond what seems like technology, they are still classified under technological civilizations rather than mystical, magical creatures.
Since they fall under technological civilization, it's hard to avoid dealing with Iron Man. Stark is considered the smartest human on Earth, but his intelligence is also highly ranked in the universe. Only Reed can compete with him.
No technological civilization wants to offend such a smart person who is also a scientist. Don't look now, but even though Earth's technology isn't developing that well, having such a genius, catching up is just a matter of time.
Moreover, precisely because Earth's technology isn't developing that fast, this genius can afford to provide sound advice to our interstellar colonization factories and science institutes. Even if it's not very useful, at least it's an idea.
Stark has actually been discreetly cooperating technologically with these advanced civilizations. The technology he currently uses on Earth may not be of much use to advanced civilizations since they have evolved beyond that. But that does not mean he cannot study and develop even more advanced technologies when inspiration strikes. Even Eternity strolled past, and he was able to optimize some code.
Additionally, because these civilizations developed early and at a high level, they are not a barrier for Earth at all. It would take Earth thousands of years to catch up to them. Currently, there can be no conflict, and technological cooperation is mutually beneficial.
Therefore, these civilizations are also very willing to support Stark. After all, it's just good business.
Both sides used unique strategies. The Cosmic Sorcerers began to infiltrate the real world through their dimension to find traces of the Guardians of the Galaxy, while all the great civilizations notified their subordinate units to cast a wide net.
In the end, unsurprisingly, Stark won, since it was originally Nick's assignment. Although there was a slight hiccup because of Star Lord's reckless probing, the Guardians of the Galaxy managed to resolve the issues and retreated to a very discrete tavern, the kind only native civilizations could locate.
"You said you made a bet?" Shiller asked curiously, "A bet on what?"
Both gazes fell on Shiller, who was somewhat puzzled. Doctor Strange pulled out the Eye of Agamoto, and Shiller saw two small fragments floating inside, one larger and one smaller.
"Someone has been very busy lately," Doctor Strange said sarcastically: "How come Nick didn't charge you with violating regulations and bankrupt you?"
Shiller glanced around, cleared his throat, and said, "Ahem, I wasn't really trying to hide it from you..."
"Indeed, you just deleted the two timelines related to us and replaced them with a past that satisfies you," Stark said, crossing his arms.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Shiller said. "Our stories haven't changed, everything remains as it was. Only the history of the mutants has been slightly altered."
"Yes, that was the case," Stark added. "But now that I've won, the timeline I own will be reinstated. Long time no see, Xier."