But just as the shadow was about to touch his head, suddenly, all the robots stopped attacking and fell silent.

Amid the fading lights and the fading sound of mechanical friction, Steve could hear the inorganic bodies whining like the howling of the sea breeze.

Passing through the giant defensive robot, the door to the laboratory slowly opens in front of Steve.

What appeared in front of him was Tony Stark, who had stopped breathing at this time, with his naked upper body leaning on the laboratory table, and smoking electrodes attached to his heart.

As the lights came back on, Steve's movements began to rewind as he kept backing back to the door of Stark Tower, and before he entered, he looked up. Look through the glass façade of Stark Tower and into Stark's laboratory.

In the lab, Jarvis manipulates the robot's body and puts a strange electric shock device on his arm.

Stark was lying on the bench and was silent, and the only sound in the laboratory was the sound of electricity, making it seem less like a science center and more like a prison full of torture instruments.

Suddenly, a portal appears in the lab, and Loki and Strange emerge from it.

"You're here at the right time...... Stark said, but Loki looked a little shocked, he looked at Stark and asked, "Do you have to kill yourself to find death?" ”

Stark, who was lying on the bench, nodded, and looked confident, not in the slightest intention of wavering.

Stark turned his head to look at Strange, who looked at Loki and said, "Look, I've said it, my mouth has been worn out in the past two days, and I just can't persuade him!" ”

After speaking, he was a little anxious to take a step beside the experimental table, and then said: "I just said, he and Schiller are both crazy, what is there that must kill yourself?!" ”

Loki, who had just received the news, looked at Stark with a frown, and began to figure out his psychology, he thought much deeper than Strange, so he also had a certain understanding of Stark's motives.

A few days ago, Stark found Strange, hoping that Strange could help him complete his next plan, but the first step of the plan surprised Strange, and Stark wanted to kill himself to find death.

Of course, Stark didn't have to use such extreme means to find death, maybe he ascended to the universe and searched carefully, and he could also find traces of death.

But on the one hand. He had to make a quick decision to complete this as soon as possible, otherwise, it would be impossible to hide it from Steve or Professor X, and this group of people with too high moral boundaries would never allow him to take such a risk, and if the goddess of death did not allow him to come back, it would not only be the Stark Group that would be lost.

And the fastest way is to die directly, from the daily communication with Schiller, Stark can also understand that the goddess of death is not completely fair, special souls will get special attention and attention, he believes that as long as he dies, he will definitely be able to see the goddess of death.

On the other hand, Stark and Schiller can be said to be half-hearted, Schiller is because of mental problems and does not accept any imperfections, while Stark is because of his natural sensitivity and sense of responsibility, and does not allow any friends to sacrifice for him.

And when that happens, guilt and self-blame will make it difficult for him to sleep until he has to pay for it with his own injuries and bloodshed in order to make him feel better.

Stark knew that every time Schiller went to the goddess of death to negotiate terms, he committed suicide directly on the spot, and he also knew very well that even if Schiller was a mentally ill person, the pain and fear of death would not be less, that is, in order to save them and the entire human civilization, Schiller died many times.

In that case, then why can't he die once?

He is also the savior of mankind, the most genius genius in the world, why can't he sacrifice what others sacrifice? Why is it that someone else is sacrificed, and not he? This is Iron Man, who will always think so, and will always be tormented by this thought.

During the period of helping Schiller to withdraw, it was not only Schiller who suffered, this group of superheroes and Schiller were tormenting each other.

Schiller felt sad, and the superheroes, who were burdened with the double pressure of morality and friendship, were not much better, and Stark, who was already mentally unstable, had even worse anxiety.

For various reasons, Stark made such an extreme decision, and Strange persuaded him for several days, and the reason was exhausted, but it did not shake his decision, Stark was very firm this time.

But this does not mean that when he really faces death, he will not feel fear, this is not the time when the line of life and death on the battlefield, the adrenaline has soared to the point where he does not feel pain in order to survive, just listening to the electric shock equipment start to operate, Stark has already begun to feel extremely nervous.

In the dark and cramped caves of Afghanistan, when he operated the machine alone to operate on the reactor in his chest, when the original mecha with imperfect safety fell to the ground, Stark never gritted his teeth alone, and never told anyone that he was actually afraid of both the dark and the pain.

Schiller is playing Schiller, Stark is playing Iron Man, and Steve is playing Captain America, everyone can see each other's abnormality, but they all act as if they don't know it, they don't poke each other, and they don't poke themselves.

Stark sighed, looked at Strange and Loki, and said, "If you treat me as a friend, then you should support my decision at this time......"

Strange put away the straps in his hand, frowned and said: "I have said and persuaded me, my mouth has been worn out in the past few days, but you just don't listen, you must commit suicide, what can we do?" ”

"I've said it all, I'm not committing suicide!" Stark emphasized again: "I'm going to the goddess of death to get back the price Schiller paid, this matter can't be solved, right?" ”

Stark curled up his legs and put his arms on his knees and said, "Schiller paid a huge price for Howard and Maria, and I can't simply tell him that it's not right for you to do this, so cancel the deal right away." ”

"That's not fair to him!" Stark looked into Strange's eyes and said, "In the process of seeking treatment from Schiller, I expressed too much nostalgia for my parents, which led to him thinking that I had not been able to accept the death of my parents, so he would take such extreme measures and pay a huge price to exchange them back." ”

"So, now I can't find him and say, 'You're a psychopath, I didn't want to do it at all, it's all your own doing, I didn't ask you to harm yourself to help me, so cancel the deal right away'!"

"Take 10,000 steps back and say, as a friend, I didn't notice that he had some extreme psychology and abnormal mental state, which is also my problem, and I have to take responsibility."

Stark sighed slightly and said, "Besides, if I ask Schiller to cancel the deal, then Howard and Maria may die again, and in the face of the fear of death, one time is enough." ”

"What about you?" Strange couldn't help but say out loud: "You said that once is enough to face the fear of death, so what are you doing now?" Hasn't that trip to Afghanistan made you understand how terrible death is? ”

Loki, who is the most proficient in psychology among the three, crossed his arms and looked into Stark's eyes and said, "Although you think this is a rational decision, I want to tell you, you haven't noticed that you have always had self-destructive tendencies?" ”

"You always blame yourself for all the blame in the world, for your failure to reach the full potential of your genius brain, Schiller has driven yourself to self-harm, you have to drive yourself to suicide, you are half a pound."

Stark sat in place, bowing his head in silence, and only after dozens of seconds did he speak: "It should be said that you, me, Stephen and Schiller, the four of us are like carved out of a mold, and no one can say anything." ”

"You, Loki Odinson, an Asgardian who is not Odinson, or even the Aesir Protoss, have to seek a perfect way out for Asgard, do not allow any loss or sacrifice, and are even ready to sacrifice yourself for this goal."

"And you, Stephen Strange, never allow yourself to make mistakes, never leave yourself a way out, and with an artifact like the Time Stone, you don't want to give yourself a second chance to operate."

Stark took a deep breath and said, "We are all constantly pushing ourselves to accept any imperfections, and we deserve all the pain we have gained for this. ”

The three people in the room fell silent, and Loki, who was good at sophistry, and Strange, who was always hard-mouthed, couldn't find more reason to refute Stark at this time, because they knew in their hearts that in the Radiant Alliance and even in the entire superhero circle, the four people mentioned by Stark were the most similar.

Intelligent, calculating, patient, persevering, greedy and arrogant, he has been constantly pursuing the endless road of perfection, and will eventually embark on a path of self-destruction.

Strange sighed and decided to talk about some practical issues, so he spoke, "I have to remind you that the fear of death is on the one hand, and on the other hand, it must be painful......"

"Even if you don't know any medical knowledge, as long as you think about it with your brain, you should know that the arrest caused by the electric current hitting the heart will bring unparalleled pain, do you remember the pain when you had neurointerventional surgery? It's only worse than him, not to mention, you still have to face death! ”

"Face death...... Stark muttered in a low voice, then closed his eyes, his body began to tremble, and before Strange could ask Stark, he gritted his teeth and said, "I feel a little cold......"

Strange was about to open his mouth to retort, but it was obviously not a tremor caused by a drop in body temperature, but a convulsions of limbs caused by extreme tension and anxiety.

But Stark didn't look at him, but looked at Jarvis, and felt Stark's gaze, and Jarvis said, "Sir, I'll go get you some clothes." ”

After Jarvis turned to leave, Stark lay back on the bed with some weakness, tears began to accumulate in his eyes, like a father who was full of pain but refused to show weakness in front of his children.

Loki sighed, looked out the window, and said, "Thor has always taught me to learn to accept bloodshed and sacrifice. ”

"But the truth is that the most courageous thing in this world is to calmly accept the sacrifice of the people you love on the way to achieve your goals, and after that, you have to regain the courage to go on the road."

"Guilt is a good knife, and those who are stabbed in the heart by this knife and can continue to move forward are the most fearless warriors in the world."

Loki closed his eyes, sighed and said:

"The only thing I admit is that Thor is stronger than me, is that he can not be defeated by guilt and sadness even after the sacrifice and death of countless comrades, and he will rush forward bravely and fearlessly, and always rush forward."

Loki's tone was unexpectedly calm, the little prince who never seemed to bow his head, and his arrogance made him never say such a thing in front of someone like Thor.

"When we faced Ragnarok, I was not afraid to be the first victim like Thor, but that doesn't prove that I was more courageous than him, because the people of Asgard were never afraid of death."

Loki closed his eyes, and there was no depression in his expression when he talked about this topic in the past, only calm and distant.

If there were Asgardians here at this time, he would be amazed at what could make the God of Deception reveal in his tone the same loyalty and steadfastness as every Asgardian.

"Asgardians, I hope they will have a father of the gods who will charge forward and have the courage to sacrifice."

"And I, the last god who has the courage to die, is the new king of Asgard."