As Peter ate, he said, "The situation doesn't seem great. When I visited Mr. Stark in his lab yesterday, Colonel Rhodes seemed to be constantly persuading him."
Peter added, "Although I don't understand all these matters, I believe that if Mr. Stark's mecha fall into the hands of the military, it might not be a good thing."
"As a friend of Mr. Stark, Colonel Rhodes may be in a difficult position too. After all, he represents the interests of a group of people," Peter stated.
"You're smarter than I thought. I figured you wouldn't quite grasp the current state of affairs."
Peter shook his head and said, "Actually, I don't understand, but I know that everyone wants those mecha because they are really strong."
"No, it's because they are a weapon."
"If it were simply a sweeping robot, even if it could clean New York in an instant, the military wouldn't be so interested."
There was silence for a moment before Peter added, "I don't think the mecha should be turned over, but I know Mr. Stark is under great pressure. What do you think I should do... should I comfort him, or advise him? I can't just sit back and do nothing, right?"
"I think you should focus on your own matters for now. If you can fully control the power of your Spider mutation, maybe these issues will seem like small matters to you?"
As Peter forecast, the next day, Shiller's counseling clinic welcomed an expected visitor. It was James Rhodes, also known as Colonel Rhodes.
Rhodes straightforwardly said to Shiller, "The military needs Stark's mecha technology, but his intentions seem unclear. I just wanted to ask: what is he planning? Has S.H.I.E.L.D. played some role?"
"Actually, you didn't want to come here," Shiller stated. "I can tell."
Rhodes grimaced, saying, "It seems that the exorbitant fees Tony is paying you make sense."
"Obviously, your superiors know not to ask Stark directly, otherwise S.H.I.E.L.D. would get the answer before you did. But there's also no use asking me."
"The military needs Stark's mecha. It can give us an edge in many places... and save many lives."
"You haven't noticed that your reluctance has dried up your language significantly. Colonel Rhodes, I know you're in a tough spot. The military is continually pressuring Stark, but he's also your friend."
"So, you've felt better deceiving yourself. You know exactly what these battle armors will be used for, but by convincing yourself it might be beneficial, you can alleviate some guilt over pressuring your friend."
"Following orders is a soldier's duty," Rhodes argued.
"Indeed, but what about Stark? Your friend? Constantly defying your friend's wishes, forcing him to sell out his interests, leveraging your friendship against him."
"You've always known how much Tony values you. Stark doesn't have many friends, but you are definitely one... perhaps the most important one."
"You know the price he is willing to pay for you, willing to do what he hates the most – compromise and bow."
"You know that, if you are pushed into a corner by your superiors, he will definitely save you."
"Enough," Rhodes said.
He tightly pursed his lips into a line.
Shiller pressed the button of his ballpoint pen. The crisp sound startled Rhodes awake. Shiller said, "Perhaps it's because you possess something he doesn't, that's why he's willing to go this far. The advice I can give you is, perhaps these are the things you should most hold onto. The friendship with Stark is more precious than the military. Not because he's richer –"
"– but because of the qualities that a proud genius sees in you, the qualities that even he does not possess, that make him willing to pay these prices for you. These qualities are more worth your persistence and pride than those hollow honors, aren't they?"
Rhodes fell silent.
The next day, when Shiller arrived at Stark Building, he encountered Rhodes leaving. A lieutenant was also following Rhodes and he looked particularly pleased, seemingly obtaining something they desired.
However, Rhodes' expression didn't improve a bit. His face remained taut. He didn't look at Shiller and walked straight by him.
When Shiller went upstairs, Stark was standing in front of his battle armor, examining his invention carefully.
"So, you've made your decision. They got what they wanted, didn't they?" Shiller asked.
"Alright." Stark turned around, tightening his shoulder muscles first, then suddenly relaxed and let his shoulders drop. He exhaled and said, "I know I should have stuck to your previous advice, it was right."
"But I didn't, even though I knew it was right and it wouldn't cost me anything, I still didn't..."
"I knew it wouldn't work from the start." Shiller said, sitting at the table with a medical record and writing in a notebook. He didn't look up, he just sighed a little and said, "Many people are willing to pay a high price for emotional compensation, especially people like you who are never short of material conditions."
"You'd rather give up the most profitable outcome than see Rhodes being caught in the middle. You paid the price and bought back his temporary friendship with you."
"Yes, I know what you're trying to say. You're friends, at least that's how you both see it. But especially when not both sides are so willing, the friendship can keep going."
"You keep buying at a cost, and there will come a time when you can't afford it. When you can't afford it, perhaps Rhodes will understand you, but this world won't."
Finally, Shiller said, "Once you have whetted their appetites, the price you have to pay for emotions will be endless."
Stark said, "I have thought about this issue, I know that once I give in, I will inevitably keep losing."
"They can persuade me to hand over some of the Mecha technology using Rhodes, then one day, they can force him to persuade me to give up all the Mecha, or to build more war machines for them."
"I've known since I found out how much damage my weapons have done to civilians, wisdom not only brings wealth, but also disaster." Stark said, pressing his fingers to his eye sockets, "I've only recently realized this. The ultimate outcome for a genius is always no retreat."
"When everyone knows you have a brain capable of saving the world, they'd also have ambitions to make you destroy the world."
After a moment of silence, Shiller stood up and went to the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside the window of the Stark Building was the New York sunset. Stark followed his gaze out, the somewhat dazzling light making everything in front of his eyes blur with fuzzy colors. Shiller asked, "What will you do when you can't retreat?"
Stark said, "This is my home, and the home of Pepper, Jarvis, and... all the Starks."
"In the end, no one can force me to give it up."
"If they want more..."
Stark, his eyes always rich with emotion, stared straight into Shiller's, his expression not heavy, but calmly saying:
"...Iron Man never retreats."
Shiller asked as he looked at him:
"So, have you ever thought about overturning this absurd and boring negotiation table?"
"You're like a devil leading people into corruption."
"This is more effective than praying to God."
"I never pray, I don't count on God, I don't believe in those weird tricks, those ridiculous rumors and legends..."
No sooner had he finished speaking, Stark saw all the things in his laboratory starting to tremble slightly.
Then, everything began to float.
In an instant, like a loss of gravity, everything started floating in mid-air—glasses, notebooks, computers, wrenches...
The setting sun outside the window shone in places it shouldn't have, and Shiller stood in the center of everything, the light behind him casting a long shadow in front of him.
The shadows of all the items overlapped into a huge web, and Stark stood in the middle of it all. He stretched out his hand towards a drop of water falling from a glass, landing on his fingertips. Stark looked around and saw countless ordinary objects floating in mid-air, and the normal ceiling and walls overhead—
He saw, the door to a new world.