"等等!你打算让我做这个???那你为什么要让我读那么多书呢?
席勒将一个听筒插入斯塔克的耳朵,而斯塔克躲闪并惊呼道:"它在撒谎??!!该死!别这样!我的耳朵!我已经学会了这些东西!我不需要..."
"你真的以为你能在短短几个晚上就学会是什么让我从大学到博士水平?"
"所以你打算成为场外教练!!你这个骗子!是你告诉我的,如果我学不了这些东西,斯塔克工业就完蛋了!!
"在宏观层面上,是的.我说的没有错.总有一天,你必须学习这些东西.那为什么不能是昨天呢?席勒得意地笑了笑.
席勒无视斯塔克的躲闪,仍然设法将听筒插入斯塔克的一只耳朵.他说:"不要大惊小怪.我只是一个远程翻译.这很常见,不是吗?
史蒂夫插话说:"实际上,政客们在谈判时也会做同样的事情.在他们身后是他们的工作人员,即使在重要的采访中,他们也使用这些听筒.当然,这种设备在我那个时代要贵得多,而且很少见.只有最重要的人才拥有它们..."
斯塔克感觉自己被跳蚤叮咬了,他拼命地试图取下卡在耳朵里的听筒.他大喊:"该死的!为什么你之前让气氛看起来如此绝望?你为什么给我这么多书?我熬夜研究它们!
"嗯,这正是原因.如果我不这样做,你这辈子都不会碰它们,"席勒耸耸肩.
"好了,咱们现在不多说了,但你确定它能起作用吗?"
"该死的...我应该早点想到的!你这个吸血鬼医生!如果我早点知道,我就不会使用你过时的听筒了.我会做一个更先进,更完整的监控系统..."
斯塔克后悔地拍了拍额头.他说:"我以前怎么没有想到这一点!我本来可以让你为我做的!我本可以在会议上成为一只鹦鹉.就算我不知道该怎么做,只要你做到了,这还不够吗?!
斯塔克真的很生气,但不是对席勒,而是对自己没有想出这个主意.
当然,这也是席勒的错.当斯塔克来找他寻求解决方案时,他非常着急.席勒用一种非常严肃的语气和言辞,让斯塔克陷入了一种恶性循环,认为他不知道这些事情是不正常的.
如果史塔克关注这家公司,他就会知道俄巴底亚背后有一大群顾问.斯塔克工业不能完全由俄巴底亚的大脑决定.
斯塔克是亿万富翁,他不知道这些事情也没关系.只要他有钱,知道的人就有很多.如果他利用这一整天的时间雇佣一个员工,他现在已经组建了一支超级球队.
But Schiller's misleading made him feel that he was paying the price for his past willfulness, without considering his financial and scientific research abilities.
Not to mention anything else, even if he wrote an AI facial analysis system, it would probably be much faster than him memorizing these things.
"So it is psychology?! You fraud!" Stark grits his teeth, "Your psychology just to trap people in these kinds of dilemmas and then make them pay a high price for treatment?!"
"Don't make me sound like a crock."
"Aren't you a crock?"
"Maybe crock, but definitely not a quack."
"Mr. Stark, the car has arrived," Jarvis reminds, "The meeting is scheduled to start at 10:30, and you are expected to arrive by 10:20."
"Well, well,that's all," Stark still appears nervous, "I have no choice."
Schiller pats his shoulder and comforts, "Don't worry. Once you arrive, you'll see that you're not different."
Stark boards the car and soon arrives at the negotiating venue. He comes relatively late, and most of people have already taken their seats.
Stark glances around and notices that almost everyone is wearing earpieces. Some are even boldly engaged in video calls on their computers. On the other end of the computer are a large group of people sitting around a conference table, forming another small meeting room.
Stark roars to Jarvis, "Deduct Schiller's consultation fee... deduct it all! Don't let me see his name on the year-end financial report! This damn bastard plays me!"
Jarvis responds, "The earpiece is connected for thirteen minutes."
Schiller's voice echoes in Stark's ear, "It's alright, you can deduct my money. But this kind of political consulting service comes with a cost, $200,000 per minute..."
"Damn it, you vampire doctor!"
"If you disagree, I'll hang up immediately."
"No! Wait... wait! I think we can talk about it . $200,000 is too expensive. But don't hang up. The negotiations are about to start. What should I say?"
On the other side, in the psychology clinic, Peter and Steve sit at the table, listening to Stark's anxious voice. Steve is quite amused, enjoying the situation, but Peter feels a bit sorry. He hesitates, "It seems a bit too expensive, Doctor. I think we can go a bit cheaper..."
"Now, you're also part of Stark's team. We'll split it 50/50 once money's transferred."
Before Peter can say anything else, Stark's voice comes through the earpiece, "Hello? Hello? The negotiation is about to begin.What should I do ?"
"Nothing, just wait. In fact, for the first 30 minutes, you can completely sit there in a trance. There's no need to listen to."
"Really?" Clearly, Stark is in a highly nervous state. It's his first serious involvement in such a situation, and he always feels like he should immediately do something great to prove himself.
"Trust me. Just stay there."
Afterwards, Stark sits there in half doubt. Soon, he realizes Schiller's words make a lot of sense. Because the first person to speak, surprisingly, begins with World War II.
The military representative starts reminiscing about their glorious days, starting from Pearl Harbor. Before even reaching 20 minutes, Stark is already feeling sleepy. The spokesperson sent by the military can list various battles like a robot. When praising the military's achievements and glories, it's always the same set of adjectives.
No one can endure listening to these speeches for more than 10 minutes. In the end, when the military finishes their first round of speeches, more than half of the audience is dozing off.
Next up is the representative from S.H.I.E.L.D. As soon as he starts speaking, Stark wishes he could fall in a lethargy immediately. Because he begins with a speech about the Iron Curtain.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is slightly better than the military representative, accurately recounting various information warfare and special operations history. But Stark thinks, he came to participate in the negotiation, not to study history.
After about 40 minutes, it's Stark's turn to speak. Schiller says, "Open the first draft and read it. Just read it."
When Stark opens the draft, he feels his eyes go dark. Because this speech draft starts with the Industrial Revolution.
He struggles through a full 20 minutes of reading the draft before finally stumbling to the end. After finishing, he opens the earpiece and cries, "Oh my God, this is the first time I fully understand the developmental history of Stark Industries..."
What makes Stark despair is that it isn't over yet. Immediately after, a new round begins with the military. They start discussing the methods of future military organizational evolution, the development direction of future weapons systems...
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that follow are the same. Their mouths constantly speak about the importance of the agency's independence from oversight systems, the future development of individual combat and intelligence warfare, the establishment of a global intelligence system...
Stark whispers into the earpiece, "I demand to split the consulting fee for this part in half. It's meaningless, it's completely different from what I had in mind..."
"What did you think?" Schiller's voice comes from the earpiece. "Conspiring in a dark room about various conspiracy theories?"
"You need to understand, the negotiation is just a formality." Schiller continues.
"Everyone knows what cards the other side has. Everyone also knows what cards they have. The outcome of today's negotiation has already been predetermined from the beginning. Even if you act like a weirdo as you did before, not thinking and not listening, the result wouldn't change."
It makes Stark feel even more absurd than learning those theoretical knowledge. It's like studying all kinds of fancy combat techniques, but in the end, defeating the enemy still only requires one punch.
Next, when it's Stark's turn to envision the future, he has already learned to close his eyes and read the script, even if the development directions for mechanical industries written on it are totally nonsensical to him.
The draft clumsily combines various terms to create seemingly sophisticated words, resembling those used by technology cheaters. But Stark shuts off his brain and reads it without any fluctuations.
Then, it enters the part where both hosts and guests enjoy themselves. One of the slightly graying generals says to Stark, "I still remember the glorious era of Stark Industries. All of you Starks are geniuses, your father was, and you are too. Back then, the hovercar he was researching was truly astonishing. But you know, due to some conservative needs, the military didn't cooperate with him. We really regret it..."
Before Stark can respond, Schiller says through the earpiece, "He is insulting your dad, saying he can't do anything, and insulting you is even worse than insulting your dad. Insult him back."
Stark hesitates for a moment, then repeats Schiller's words through the earpiece, "Indeed, I believe that most of the people in the military, just like you respectful generals, have a long-term vision. It's just that the development of this era is too fast..."
At this moment, Nick Fury, sitting at the end of the negotiation table, interrupts, "In large-scale land invasion battles, conventional weapons still have some usefulness. Although exoskeletons can significantly enhance individual combat capabilities, adaptability for group operation needs to be considered..."
Schiller's voice comes through the earpiece, "He is giving you a way out and trying to ease the tension. You can respond with a smile."
Then Stark smiles at Nick. Nick is covered in goosebumps from his smile. He thinks Stark is extremely strange today, incredibly strange.
Both the military and S.H.I.E.L.D. notice that Stark is acting a bit off, so they cut to the main topic earlier than usual.
Stark soon realizes the main topic of this negotiation takes up less than one-tenth of the entire negotiation time.
First, Nick Fury points out the possibility that the military has kidnapped Dr. Connors. The military retaliates, accusing S.H.I.E.L.D. has staged the whole thing. After some back and forth, the military slightly loses the argument and declares that they will condemn some accountable officers who may have acted excessively.
Listening to their dispute, Stark asks Schiller through the earpiece, "Do they really not know that we hid Connors?"
"The military may not, but Nick definitely knows. He just needs such an attitude, to show we should unite against the military. He already promised it to me before. You can rest assured and respond..."
Next, Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. join forces, making it difficult for the military to resist, for they hold many cards: the real identity of the Lizard, the cure serum that Connors possibly developed, some evidence held by S.H.I.E.L.D., the suits delivered by Stark Industries to the military, and so on.
In the end, the negotiation ends in a fast-paced and absurd manner. Everything plays out just as Schiller predicted.
The military introduces a scapegoat, the Tartu faction led by Robert. They are purged, and the issue is resolved. The military and S.H.I.E.L.D. unite to fabricate losses, demanding an increase in the military budget.
Stark Industries will establish a stable cooperation system with the military and S.H.I.E.L.D., providing auxiliary individual armor exoskeletons and restarting medical research projects, with a larger stake in the achievements.
Back in the psychology clinic, Stark takes off the earpiece and exclaims angrily, "You damn doctor..."
Before he can finish, a voice comes from behind him, "You damn bastard!!! Stark..."
Stark turns around, and Pepper rushes in, her eyes teary. Stark hugs her tightly, hearing Pepper's rapid heartbeat.
Pepper cries, "I went to look for you earlier, but you were gone! You weren't even wearing the suit! I asked Jarvis, and he didn't say anything. I thought something happened to you! You scared me so much, you idiot..."
Stark holds Pepper tightly, comforting her in a low voice.
In the dim room, there is only the sound of Pepper sobbing softly and Stark's muffled voice.
The path of a genius is always destined to be more difficult than others. The sensitive inner world of a genius like Stark is always more tormented than an ordinary one's.
But at least, when this fledgling bird is about to leave the nest, there are still branches willing to let him land when he flies hard in the biting cold wind.
He sees Peter hiding behind the entrance, waving and smiling at him, along with Schiller and Steve standing there.
He sees the TV in the clinic's living room flicker, and a smiley face made up of symbols appears on the screen.
He thinks, Stark, you are definitely a genius.
Not only the smartest genius in the world but also the luckiest genius in the world.