"What should I do? Should I go find him now?" Spider-Man asked. "But if I leave now, they might find out. I don't want to escalate the conflict between both sides."
Shiller shook his head and said, "The conflict already exists, and if left unchecked, it will inevitably worsen. Only by taking proactive action might there be a glimmer of hope. What is the attitude of The Avengers?"
"Initially, everyone was hesitating, thinking the electronic life form that escaped wouldn't cause much trouble, and this matter might just pass with some covering up. But they probably already learned through Spider-Man who went to the dark universe just how bad the situation is in the neighboring world. Batman's retaliation is bound to come; there's no room for wavering anymore."
Spider-Man's voice trembled a bit, and Shiller also sensed the difficulty of the situation. The situation now is that if the electronic lifeform only causes trouble in this big world, there's still room for discussion. The worst result is merely the Prime Universe giving up its leadership role and being content in a corner within the upcoming Multiverse Alliance.
But unfortunately, this electronic lifeform went to other worlds and caused such a big mess. The main victims are the Batmen from various universes, and with so many Batmen joining forces to investigate thoroughly, the 616 Main Universe has no room for excuses.
In its own big world, negotiations could use the special status of the Prime Universe as leverage, but for Batman, the Prime Universe of this big world is meaningless. They have their own Prime Universe, and the status of the Prime Universe here does not reduce the guilt; instead, it makes them feel that the Avengers of this Prime Universe are very irresponsible.
The electronic lifeform caused such a big mess over there, Batman will definitely not let it go. So now, the Avengers of the Prime Universe have only one choice, which is to fight to the end. Because even if they yield, they won't be forgiven or let go; there's no room for negotiation, and there's no other choice but to grit their teeth.
Shiller can also understand the Marvel Prime Universe's mindset. Fighting for one's individual universe's interests in the multiverse is like rowing against the current; there's no advancing without retreating. If they retreat once, there'll be twice; they must either retreat entirely or hold firm without retreat. Cosmic interests are not to be conceded.
They have this confidence. Although indeed they are not in the right in this matter, between universes like between countries, ethics may matter, but interests are more important.
As Marvel's Prime Universe, even if they're wrong, they can't let Batman recklessly act here because they represent not only their individual universe but an entire big world. If they retreat here, they'll always be weaker when facing neighboring universes in the future.
So they actually have an inherent advantage. It's fine if Batman doesn't make a move, but if he really wants to start a war, most of Marvel's universes will have to stand by their big world, even if they feel the Prime Universe is wrong; they'll have to reluctantly support them to drive Batmen out.
In short, now the Avengers of the Prime Universe probably intend not to retreat at all, to tie all of the universes there to the chariot, and if worst comes to worst, just explode together, betting that Batman doesn't dare to destroy the universe.
For anyone, this is the worst outcome. Once a multiversal war occurs, no universe can remain unaffected, including the two universes Shiller is in. With so many universes fighting, in the end, it can only lead to a massive reboot on both sides.
However, rebooting is uncontrollable and might not even be under the control of the universe administrators. You never know how long the reboot will take; if it lasts one or two years, it's fine, but if it just resets everything, it's really back to square one.
After pondering for a while, Shiller said, "Is there really no possibility of wavering?"
Spider-Man hesitated slightly and said, "Actually... the most likely to waver is Dr. Pym. Although he's Ultron's creator, he's actually the person most reluctant to see things develop the way they have. He doesn't care much about cosmic interests; he just wants to resolve the issue."
Shiller sighed. Actually, at this stage, whether Ultron can be completely dealt with is no longer the critical issue. Moreover, Ultron has already changed his form of life, and Pym as the creator can't do much about it; his role is quite limited.
Just as Shiller was about to continue speaking, Spider-Man's phone rang. He answered, and the spider's compound eyes on his mask widened instantly. "What did you say?! They've locked up Dr. Pym?? Are they crazy?!"
After Spider-Man hung up the phone, he seemed a bit dazed. Shiller looked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Spider-Man opened his mouth but momentarily didn't know what to say, then after a while said, "Dr. Pym has disappeared. The captain suspects… suspects Doctor Strange is responsible."
Shiller was silent for a moment. Spider-Man pursed his lips and said, "Previously, Dr. Pym proposed going to the Central Universe to find JARVIS. He thought only JARVIS from the Central Universe could completely defeat Ultron, but Doctor Strange and Iron Man stopped him."
"Afraid he'd leak information?"
"Exactly. They don't want their universe's culprit running around, as it could provoke public outrage. And now, they might be worried Dr. Pym would confess, so..."
Shiller thought about it. Iron Man and Doctor Strange doing this is not surprising. It sounds inhumane, but it's indeed the best approach right now.
Since they've decided to be stubborn to the end, rather fight Batman than give in, it's impossible to hand over Pym, the culprit, for trial; otherwise, they'd lose three points in momentum. What kind of fight would they be fighting then?
Politics is like this; right and wrong are insignificant in the face of standing for one's position. Anything not aligning with position, even if done right, can't be mentioned, and even if done wrong, can't be acknowledged; otherwise, it's a downward spiral.
Moreover, the Illuminati is no stranger to abstract actions; they once had a glorious track record of exiling The Hulk from Earth. So, it's plausible to say that they're now restricting Pym's actions to protect the interests of this universe.
But Shiller still felt something was odd. He said, "How did Captain America know? Did he see Doctor Strange make a move?"
"No, it's just that Dr. Pym went missing. Captain America and Black Widow discovered traces of suspected magic damage in his rented apartment."
"What about Pym's equipment? I mean, the Ant-Man Suit and Pym particles."
"Not sure." Spider-Man shook his head and said, "I didn't have time to ask in detail."
"Call the captain now and tell him not to act rashly. There might be something else going on here. We have to go to the scene to make a judgment."
Spider-Man quickly dialed the number. After the call connected, he hurriedly said to the other end, "Captain, don't rush. There might be something different here, and I need to check the scene. Don't..."
Spider-Man suddenly held the phone away from his ear. Shiller vaguely heard Captain America's roar, but it wasn't directed at Spider-Man; he was likely already arguing with someone else over there.
"Forget it, give me the address and I'll go myself. You quickly go back and hold down Captain America," Shiller said, "Also, inform Nick that if The Avengers plans to directly confront Batman, their current preparations are far from enough. He'll know what to do."
Spider-Man nodded. Spider Silk shot out, and his agile figure quickly disappeared into Manhattan's night. Shiller picked up his phone, dialed a number, and said, "Bruce, how's it going over there? Alright, I got it. Get the Punisher, meet at the usual place."
The "usual place" referred to the territory of the Jigsaw at the Edge of Brooklyn. It was called a territory, but it was really just two streets. As soon as Shiller arrived, he saw Bruce and the Punisher sitting side by side on a bench by the street.
"Seems like you two are getting along well. Enough with the chatter, Dr. Pym has been kidnapped. Captain America suspects it was Iron Man and the others, but I don't think so. We need to investigate his residence and hopefully rescue him."
This leap in topic was too strong, and the Punisher couldn't help but frown. Shiller put the sniper rifle back in its case, took a look at his phone, and saw Spider-Man had already sent him the address. He put the phone in his pocket and said, "I'll explain on the way, get in the car."
The three of them got in the car. Shiller succinctly relayed to the Punisher what Spider-Man had told him. The Punisher was at a loss, apparently, he hadn't gone to the Battleworld. He had the tickets, but perhaps he was too busy with his revenge activities.
However, the Punisher is quite a perceptive person. He said, "I knew there was a period when the number of Spider-Men in the city increased. I thought they were all Spider-Man impersonators, but I didn't expect it to be from other universes."
He sighed and said, "Can I summarize it this way: Our universe released a particularly dangerous creature, which wreaked havoc on a large number of heroes from the neighboring universe. In response to potential retaliation, our universe's Avengers chose to stay defiant, and so locked up the main culprit, Dr. Pym, to prevent him from chickening out before the battle?"
"The first half is correct, but not necessarily the second," Shiller said while driving. "Logically, they have the motive to do so, but it shouldn't be now."
"How so?"
"Almost every Batman from neighboring universes has united, and that's quite a powerful force. The Avengers of this universe can't handle that alone. If they really want to fight, they need to contact Avengers from other universes and form a viable force to stand a chance in direct confrontation."
"And contacting multiverse allies takes time. In a situation where they lack justification, this process might take even longer, far exceeding the time it takes for Batman to defeat Ultron and then free up to launch an attack."
"To buy themselves time to win over allies, The Avengers can only go the route of diplomacy first, that is, a gesture of wanting to talk. The key to the negotiation lies with Dr. Pym."
"Even though Electronic Life has now transformed its life form, how much influence Dr. Pym can exert is unknown. But since he is its creator and once used the underlying code to deliver a severe blow, the plan to completely eliminate Ultron in the neighboring world might still need him. Using him to delay Batman's time is a clever strategy."
"If Dr. Pym is forced into negotiation, Batman, being so smart, will definitely realize that The Avengers doesn't really want to talk sincerely. So, even to stall Batman, they have to first appease Dr. Pym, using words about cosmic interest to 'kidnap' him, and let him negotiate with Batman, while they use this time to pull in allies."
"To truly fall out with Dr. Pym, they would at least need to gather some allies from the multiverse, ensure that they can definitely face Batman head-on, and then restrict Dr. Pym."
The Punisher nodded after listening and said, "Sounds like a plan they might come up with. So what's happening now?"
"If it's not a coincidence, then someone intentionally kidnapped Dr. Pym to frame Iron Man and Doctor Strange, thus splitting The Avengers and throwing them back into internal conflict."