In the surgeon's office at Presbyterian Hospital, Strange was frowning and checking the matching information, just as Schiller had predicted, and after learning about his brother Victor's condition, he decisively decided to have a liver transplant.

But he knows better than Schiller about the current development of medicine on Earth, in fact, even if there is no explosion of technology in the recent period, cancer is not completely hopeless, and Wakanda has a cure for cancer.

After seeing Victor's diagnosis, Strange immediately contacted Black Panther, but Black Panther told him that although they could use the power of the Leopard God to remove cancer cells, there was nothing too good about genetic problems.

In other words, even if the cancer cells were eliminated once with the power of Wakanda, once the genetic problem worsened again, Victor would suffer again, so Strange decided to simply have a liver transplant.

Normally, this decision is a bit risky, because the biggest problem with organ transplantation is rejection, but in fact, Dr. Connors has an in-depth study of rejection in the human body, and if he were involved in this operation, the prognosis would be much better.

The good news is that with Nick's help, the right liver source was quickly found, and there were more than one, and now Strange is screening for the most suitable one with the help of his old classmates.

But at this moment, with a "bang", the door of the balcony was pushed open, and as soon as Strange turned around, he looked at the chilly mecha rushing in from the balcony, he immediately frowned angrily, raised his voice and said, "Tony Stark!" What do you want?! ”

"You're still asking me what I want to do?!" Stark's tone was higher than his, and with a click, the mecha's cheeks opened, and Stark stared at Strange with a rather cold look and said, "Why did you break the agreement between us, don't you know how much we have paid to stabilize Schiller's mental condition?" ”

Strange's brow furrowed even deeper, he put down the pen and paper in his hand and stood up, turned to look at Stark and said, "What the hell are you crazy about?" Tony, what does this have to do with Schiller? ”

Before Stark could speak, Strange stretched out a hand and said, "Yes, I asked him to help me persuade Victor, but they exchanged for less than three minutes, and he just calmed Victor's emotions, isn't that okay?" ”

The anger on Stark's face disappeared and turned into a deeper expression, he stepped forward and looked into Strange's eyes and said, "I've known him for so long, don't you know what kind of person he is?" ”

"Schiller will want everything to go according to his plan, to make sure that nothing happens at all, and that he doesn't care what the cost is!" Stark emphasized.

He hammered the wall next to him with one hand and continued, "As long as he is involved in something, he will do everything in his power to make sure that the result is as perfect as he intended, even if it may hurt him in the process." ”

Strange's brow furrowed deeper and deeper, and he took a deep breath and said, "Don't sell it, tell me what's going on." ”

"Death came to me last night." Stark tilted his head to the side, turned to look out the window, and said in a deep tone, "Schiller went to her again, you know, there's a deal between the two of them." ”

"All human death inevitably goes to the realm of death, but Schiller can pay the price of having the realm of death turn away certain people so that their souls can go directly to the heaven that Schiller has built."

Stark lowered his eyes and said, "Three days ago, on the night of your brother's transfer, Schiller went to look for death, just like he had changed back to my parents, and he took a part of his soul to make a deal with death, asking him to keep your brother's soul out. ”

"So that no matter whether the liver transplant is successful or not, your brother will not die, and the price will be an arm of Schiller's soul."

Strange's eyes widened slowly, his eyes first looked down, then he stomped his feet on the spot, looked at Stark again with his hands on his hips, and asked, "Are you sure?" I mean...... Are you sure he traded a part of his soul with death for my sake? ”

"Or else?"

Strange opened his mouth for a moment, as if he suddenly couldn't speak, squeezed a clear cough out of his throat, then shook his head and turned to the desk and sat down.

Stark's eyes narrowed slightly, and he saw that Strange's arm muscles twitched a little, and his fingertips were trembling, but it didn't look so much like a symptom of anxiety, but like some nerve reflex that had been there all the time.

Searching for the psychological information he once knew, Stark thought of a term in his mind - "autism".

But soon, he denied that Strange and Schiller's symptoms were not the same, but somewhat similar, so he instinctively spat out a term: "Asperger's syndrome?" ”

"Are you here to be a doctor?" Strange didn't give in.

"Of course not, I just wanted to talk to you, I know that my parents were resurrected because of Schiller, so I have no position to ask you not to let him do this, I just want you to know the consequences that this may have."

Stark put away his mech, walked over to Strange and sat down, leaned back in his chair, put one hand on the edge of the table, and said, "Maybe he won't really go crazy, and he won't put this universe in real danger, because we and the world are his precious treasures, but that doesn't mean he won't suffer." ”

"Schiller's intense desire for emotion obscures this pain, but I insist that there is nothing to be gained in continuing to let his mental state develop."

When he said this, Stark sighed again and said, "In the face of Schiller, I always have a feeling of powerlessness. ”

"Every failure makes me more anxious because I see how my patience is being worn out, which means that one day I will give up, and I can't give up on healing Schiller."

Strange just sat across from him and listened quietly, Stark couldn't see any expression on his face, and Stark didn't know if it was a symptom of Asperger's syndrome's inattention when socializing with people.

"I'll fix this." Strange stood up in a send-off gesture, and Stark sat down in his chair and looked up at him, then lowered his head and shook his head after a moment.

As if feeling that Strange didn't really understand him, another pessimistic mood welled up in Stark's heart.

Of course, he knew that Strange was capable of stopping Schiller from going crazy, and even if he didn't, Strange could go to the realm of the dead like him and exchange something else for Schiller's soul.

But what about next time? What about next time? Can everyone stop Schiller or recover what he has lost, as they did? Does everyone have the patience to save Schiller?

Or is it really possible?

After a long time, Stark once again felt the irrepressible wave of anxiety engulf him, as if he was floating on the ocean, knowing that the ship would not come, but not wanting to give up, feeling that his efforts to struggle were in vain, but there was nothing else he could do.

He didn't see any emotion on Strange's face until Stark left Strange's office, and he thought that maybe not everyone was as worried as he was.

Most people and Schiller himself thought Schiller was good, and only he was like a madman, constantly playing the annoying roadblock on this seemingly smooth road.

After Stark left, Strange still didn't say anything, he just took out his phone and dialed a number, and said.

"Hey, Schiller? I've already selected the source of the liver for transplantation, and the conditions are very good, and the surgery will be done in about a week, but I feel a little nervous now, can I go to your place? …… Okay, we'll see you in the evening. ”

Strange didn't rush to the appointment, he first processed all the liver transplant materials, went to the head nurse to confirm the schedule for the day of the operation, and even performed two minor surgeries for a colleague who was absent from work, until it was completely dark, and he drove to Arkham Nursing Home.

Schiller, who seemed to have just finished eating, invited Strange to sit down on the single couch on the side of the office, brought a stack of scales for psychological assessment as usual, pulled out one and handed it to Strange and said, "Let's do a stress test first." ”

Strange didn't say anything and started filling out the form, and when he was done, Schiller took the scale, glanced at it, and said, "Mild anxiety symptoms caused by stressful environments, not a big problem." ”

Then Schiller looked at Strange's eye movements again, and then noticed that his eyes were slightly unfocused, and after noticing that Strange's arm muscles were stiff, Schiller frowned and said, "Some of your mental conditions may affect your nerve reflexes, which may affect your performance in front of the operating table." ”

"Tony came to me today." Strange abruptly changed the subject and said, "He said you went to find death and wanted to use one of your arms to make sure Victor didn't die, and this physical reaction of mine was not from anxiety, but from anger." ”

Strange leaned forward, put his arms on his knees, looked Schiller in the eye and said, "I hope you can stop doing this." ”

Schiller paused as he flipped through the scale, he glanced up at Strange, then withdrew his gaze and asked, "Why?" ”

"Because you're questioning my surgical skills." Strange said very seriously: "Because you think the operation will fail, but this is absolutely impossible, I will not make any mistakes in front of the operating table, and your protection is completely unnecessary." ”

"I'm just hoping for an extra layer of insurance." Schiller continued to rummage through what he was holding and said, "I hope you understand." ”

"I don't understand, and I want you to stop doing this immediately." Strange kept staring into Schiller's eyes.

"Okay, then I'll go cancel the deal tonight, I want to ......"

"I don't just mean Victor." Strange immediately interrupted him and said, "It's all the same thing, you treat us like babies who can't walk on our own, and questioning our abilities will mess everything up, so do everything in advance - stop all this behavior at once." ”

Schiller's hand movement paused, and when he raised his eyes to look at Strange again, there was a hint of indifference and anger in the usual calm in his eyes, and he stared into Strange's eyes and said.

"You should know that I'm helping ......"

"I'm not Tony Stark." Strange also stared into Schiller's eyes and said: "Your moral kidnapping is completely useless, because I have no morality, I am not trying to persuade you, but to inform you that if you don't stop this behavior, you will pay for it." ”

"Do you know what you're talking about? Stephen Strange. Schiller called Strange by his full name for the first time, and his tone had begun to take on a chill that he had never revealed to his friends.

"Of course." Strange got up from his chair and walked towards the door, and before leaving, he looked back at Schiller one last time.

"Stark can't cure you just because he's cowardly, and I'm not like him, I'm not afraid to pay any price to achieve my goals, and I'm not trapped by any moral shackles, so ......"

Strange dragged a long note, stood straight in the doorway, raised his chin slightly, and said, "You can try it, Schiller." ”

(End of chapter)