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The plan to find some brains for the Symbiote to eat ultimately failed, because Schiller discovered that the Symbiote was not only eager to express its hunger, but also extremely picky about its tastes.

"What do you think of him? I bet he's got at least a dozen lives on his hands, that gangster thug..."

"No, his brains aren't appealing enough, I won't eat them."

"What about him? Let me see. A lawyer who defends a serial killer should be a smart man, right?"

"It doesn't taste good either, it's not to my taste."

"What about this one? I heard he once robbed the biggest bank in Manhattan..."

"It must be very tough."

Having come up empty-handed, Schiller returned to the psychiatric clinic and argued with the Symbiote in his mind. "Why are you so picky about food? Can't you just make do? Why can't you eat the brains of a few ordinary criminals?"

"Then why don't you drink Americano?"

Schiller opened his mouth, somewhat unsure how to refute; this Symbiote was getting smarter and smarter.

"Okay, but you have to tell me where you want to get your espresso, right?"

Just as Schiller finished asking that question in his mind, the clinic door opened, and Steve had just finished his morning run, walked in. The Symbiote said happily, "... The espresso is here."

Following Captain America was Natasha. Before Schiller could speak, a yellow figure flew over, and Natasha tossed Pikachu into Schiller's arms, saying, "First of all! S.H.I.E.L.D.. doesn't offer pet boarding!"

"But the contract..."

"We just revised the contract; rats are no longer allowed to be fostered!"

"That's discrimination. Dogs and cats are fine, why can't rats?"

"Yeah, right!" Pikachu chimed in, arms crossed. "Why can't we use mice?"

"Shut up!" the others said in unison.

"Now even dogs and cats are excluded. We've canceled this employee benefit, and everyone is in complete agreement."

"I just left it there for a few days..."

"A few days??? How many more days do you want to take??? Coulson changed six phones in seven days, Nick Fury used up his annual leave on the spot and went into hiding, the United Nations leaders who came to inspect left in a hurry after only two days, and even the Army Lieutenant General who usually liked to make things difficult for S.H.I.E.L.D.. bought an economy class ticket at his own expense and left overnight..."

Natasha stood with her hands on her hips in the doorway. The female agent was clearly furious. She said, "The One good news is that the damage he caused and the compensation for the employees' emotional distress will give Nick another 50% increase in his expense report next month..."

Schiller looked down at Pikachu and said, "I remember before I left, you promised me you'd stay put..."

He grabbed Pikachu's two little paws and stared at him, Pikachu staring with its two big, black eyes looking extremely innocent. Then it wrinkled its nose and jumped onto the sofa.

"PIKA—PIKA!"

"You've been gone for quite a long time this time," Steve said, sitting down on the sofa.

"So, has anything major happened recently?"

"Nothing major has happened, but there are a lot of minor troubles."

"Oh?" Schiller asked as he washed a glass at the kitchen sink, "What's the problem?"

"Stark and the military have completely broken ties," Natasha said. "He reportedly found solid evidence that the military was planning the kidnappings in Afghanistan, although I believe it was a divisive tactic by Obadiah."

"You mean, Obadiah actually orchestrated this case and then framed the military? Does he really not want Stark Industries to cooperate with the military?"

"Obadiah is like a hen guarding her eggs. He won't allow anyone to touch Stark Industries. Anyone who dares to touch his life's work will be eliminated by him."

"Even before Stark was kidnapped, Obadiah was already under considerable pressure from the military. The military's appetite is insatiable; they want too much, even touching on Stark Industries' core interests. Obadiah has disliked them for a long time."

"They did initially just buy some ordinary weapons, but Stark Industries' weapons were so good that the military wanted to acquire their technology and then use it to produce their own. Of course, Obadiah wouldn't allow that to happen."

Natasha also leaned back on the sofa. Steve poured her a glass of water, and Natasha said, "Thank you."

Then Steve said, "But I still find it absurd that he hired terrorists to kidnap Stark just to damage Stark's relationship with the military?"

"Obadiah is smart. He knows that Stark will create amazing technology sooner or later. He has to give Stark a reason not to compromise with the military so that his life's work won't be stolen by the military."

"As long as Stark, who controls the core technology, refuses to budge, then at least Stark Industries' core technology will be preserved."

"But that came at the cost of his nephew's life."

"Obadiah wouldn't care." Natasha lit a cigarette and then asked, "You don't mind if I have a smoke?"

"Go ahead," Schiller said.

Natasha looked at Steve, Steve said, "I don't smoke, but there are plenty of people who smoke on the battlefield, so I don't mind."

The female agent slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, seemingly under considerable pressure. Stark's complete falling out with the military was not entirely a good thing for S.H.I.E.L.D..

The current relationship is like this: S.H.I.E.L.D.. and the military have always been at odds because of the allocation of military spending and S.H.I.E.L.D..'s ridiculously large law enforcement powers.

The conflict between Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D.. mainly stems from his Stark's reluctance to be kidnapped by an official organization.

The main conflict between Stark and the military lies in the military's excessive Greed and Stark's reluctance to use his inventions in war.

Neither side wants to see the other two sides unite, because one of these two sides will inevitably be its enemy, and if that enemy's power grows, it will certainly be in trouble.

However, they also do not want the two sides to completely break up, because once the two sides break apart and start fighting on the spot, a third party will definitely have to clean up the mess.

Schiller said pointedly, "Stark's falling out with the military is probably not solely due to Obadiah's influence, is it?"

Natasha said, "It's classified, I have no authority... Well, it's not really classified. Stark wanted to work with the military on medical technology and exoskeletons, but you know, that's not what the military wants. They want bigger weapons, more powerful weapons."

"So, S.H.I.E.L.D.. used this to sow discord between them?"

Natasha tapped her cigarette ash and said, "We only gave it a gentle push from behind; more importantly, Obadiah had already laid the groundwork."

Steve asked with some doubt, "Didn't Stark realize that this might be Obadiah's conspiracy?"

"He might have thought of it, but he's Tony Stark," Schiller said.

Natasha shook her head and said, "Obadiah understands his nephew well. If he can blame everything on the military and preserve their uncle-nephew relationship, then Stark will definitely choose to deceive himself and vent his anger on the military."

"More importantly..." Schiller poured himself a glass of water and said, "Obadiah is still lying in the hospital in a coma; he has become a victim."

"And whoever the victim says is the murderer, is the murderer."

Steve sighed and said, "When Howard founded Stark Industries, he probably never imagined this day would come."

"Perhaps he thought of it, or at least he must have thought of it, that his brilliant mind and the skills he possessed would be targeted by people with ulterior motives," Schiller said.

"The situation is on the verge of exploding. Stark is taking a very tough stance, even slamming his fist on the table with a group of Admiral. General Johnson's affair has been exposed, and the military is starting to distrust Hammer Industries. They are very eager to force Stark to back down."

"How do you think this matter will ultimately be resolved? By force?" Schiller asked Natasha.

The female agent shook her head and said, "They've already fought one battle. General Johnson lost. The robot army couldn't do anything to Stark. And Stark somehow got hold of some Nano-Armor technology. If he were to give everyone a cigarette, that would be terrible."

"The military is in a hurry, but they don't dare to take action easily. I think they will eventually return to the negotiating table for the exchange of interests."

"There has to be another battle," Schiller said. "The military won't be happy to come to the negotiating table so soon because they know that if they don't give Stark a tough deal, they won't have any Chip to exchange for Stark Industries' technology."

"At least we're allies for now," Natasha said. "Stark needs S.H.I.E.L.D.. to share some of the pressure for him."

"What do you want? His Nano-Armor technology?"

"I don't know, it depends on Director Fury's opinion, but S.H.I.E.L.D.. takes a different approach than the military. Even if we get a lot of Nano-Armor, we don't have personnel to arm ourselves with it. Agent are not suited to wear those things. Perhaps Nick has other plans."

"Did he never even consider having Stark custom-make armor for the agent?"

Natasha stubbed out her cigarette and said, "You don't quite understand how agent work. Simply put, for tasks that require wearing armor, adding another suit of armor won't significantly increase the success rate, and for tasks that don't require wearing armor, wearing armor won't make any difference."

"Agent are not superheroes; most of us rely on our brains for a living."

"Brain! Eat!" the Symbiote shouted in Schiller's brain.

"So those medical collaborations between Stark and the military have also stalled?" Schiller asked.

"Actually, it didn't start very far. Stark didn't directly provide the technology; rather, the two parties collaborated on research and development. The military had already brought in some experts, and Stark provided some technical data and financial support. Of course, the collaboration should have ended by now."

"Any results?"

Natasha shook her head and said, "Scientific research is not child's play. How can there be any major achievements in such a short time?"

"If they can really unite as one, many soldiers could benefit from it," Steve said.

"That's impossible. Neither side is willing to back down until a winner is decided. They both feel they can gain more benefits. It's just an exchange of interests, not something that truly benefits anyone."

Steve seemed to be in a bad mood again. He said, "Actually, I understand the logic. Before we can truly start full cooperation, both sides need to conduct countless tests until they figure out each other's bottom line before they can establish a cooperative relationship."

"But sometimes I think, if we could really use our technology and resources where they are needed, we could save many more lives. If people think that such wasteful behavior is necessary, and I don't stop it, then who will sympathize with those who are not saved because of the waste of these resources?"

"Captain, I understand you have a compassionate heart, but you don't need to take the blame for this mistake," Schiller said.

"I just feel like we can do better, and I have a bad feeling about it," Steve said, pursing his lips.

"Those people who are considered to be unable to speak out will one day stand up, and when that happens, their way of speaking out will not be through polite inquiries."