The other two were drawn to his laughter. Bruce coughed twice and said, "I think I know why Baron Zemo is so panicked."
"You wouldn't be saying..."
"He might think Ant-Man is actually inside this jar."
The Punisher walked over and took the jar from his hand, but it was just an ordinary empty jar, identified as pure big glass.
"Baron Zemo's subordinates went on his orders to capture Ant-Man, but obviously, they didn't catch him. Not wanting to face the blame from their boss, they falsely claimed they did."
"This should have been a clumsy lie, but uniquely, Ant-Man can change his size at will, even becoming so small as to be invisible to the naked eye. Therefore, anyone can bring an empty jar and claim Ant-Man is inside. As for why he hasn't appeared, that's because he doesn't want to cooperate."
"It's a lie no one can debunk because Pym particles are patented by Ant-Man, and no one in the world can replicate them or even figure out the basics. So unless Ant-Man appears elsewhere, no one can prove he's not inside."
The Punisher looked speechless and said, "Zemo just believed it? He doesn't know an ordinary jar can't contain Ant-Man?"
"Not everyone has gone to school," Bruce said, "You can't expect someone who hasn't had much schooling to understand what molecules are. He might prefer to explain Ant-Man's transformation using theories like magic."
"This is getting interesting," Punisher said, "Iron Man is onto him now, and a 'no evidence' claim won't suffice, especially with the unreasonable Doctor Strange..."
Just then, Shiller abruptly turned and looked out the window. As if sensing something, he said in a deep voice, "We should leave here."
They quickly walked out of the secret chamber. Bruce swiftly restored the control panel to its original state and then crossed the office, entering the lounge opposite, acting as if unaware, and sat down to drink coffee.
After a while, a slightly familiar voice came from the office next door: "You better not pull any tricks with me; your petty skills mean nothing to me. Dr. Pym's safety concerns the security of the cosmos, hand him over now."
Shiller took a sip of coffee, holding the cup. The voice was familiar but had a distinct tone. The Main Universe Iron Man had a colder tone, sounding more mature.
Baron Zemo was being pushed into his office, step by step, with a hand cannon pointed at him. Clearly, negotiations had failed.
However, this was expected. After all, Baron Zemo didn't realize the gravity of the situation. He didn't know Dr. Pym mattered to the Avengers' plan against Batman and thought Iron Man wouldn't force his way without evidence.
But the reality was completely opposite. This is a massive matter that could doom the entire universe. The resistance Iron Man and Doctor Strange faced was immensely pressuring, nearly on the brink of snapping. Even the Illuminati, who initially had low moral standards, couldn't worry about such things now.
In short, the immense pressure from confronting Batman and even the whole world next door has driven Iron Man and Doctor Strange to desperation. Neither police nor evidence mattered—if you didn't cooperate, you'd be dead.
The Punisher sat in the lounge, observing coldly, lightly snorting after a while: "Indeed, it's when the knife cuts oneself that one feels pain. No one can live a life of glory forever."
Clearly, he recalled the past accusations by the Avengers against his violent behavior. Though he said this, he didn't step out, knowing everyone could see Iron Man was on the brink of madness; whoever stepped outside might easily get blown up.
Baron Zemo was compelled to press the button on the air conditioning control panel with trembling hands—he pressed it two or three times, but nothing happened. Shiller turned to look at Bruce and saw Bruce's eyes gleamed with schadenfreude.
"Don't blame me," Bruce shrugged, "He messed up the quality himself; it's shot after one dismantle."
Feeling the escalating killing intent behind him, Baron Zemo trembled as he said, "What's going on? Why won't it open? Damn it..."
"I warned you, don't pull tricks with me." The Main Universe Iron Man's voice dropped to the depths.
"I'm not!" Baron Zemo shouted, "This thing must be broken! I should have called a repair worker sooner!"
Luckily, he wasn't completely foolish. He pointed to the wall where the secret chamber was and said, "Here, here is the chamber. The wall isn't thick; you should be able to blast it open."
The Main Universe Iron Man squinted, seeming to judge if this was a lie. But possibly out of desperation, he extended his hand, and two missiles spiraled out, blasting the wall with a bang.
Before the smoke cleared, he landed on the secret chamber's floor. Baron Zemo hurried inside too, picked up the empty jar placed back on the table, and said to the Main Universe Iron Man, "He's inside! I swear I've done nothing to him; he simply ignores me!"
With a crack, the mecha's visor opened. The Main Universe Iron Man stared at him coldly and said, "You're definitely messing with me."
After speaking, he raised his hand. Baron Zemo widened his eyes with disbelief, roaring at him, "You damned madman! Are you going to blow me and Ant-Man up?!"
"My scanner shows that it's just an empty jar. This room has no traces of Pym particles either. Where have you hidden him?!"
Baron Zemo stared wide-eyed at the jar in his hands and shouted, "Impossible! You know Ant-Man can shrink and grow! He just shrank so small we can't see him, like dust in the air!"
With a booming sound, Baron Zemo was blown away. He spat blood as he fell, the jar shattered upon the impact, but nothing happened. Ant-Man did not appear, and Iron Man turned and walked away.
Returning to the office, the Main Universe Iron Man looked towards the lounge door. At that moment, Shiller emerged from inside.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Iron Man."
Main Universe Iron Man was momentarily stunned, but quickly clenched his fist. It was clear he realized something.
"You must be very disappointed that it's me, the traveler from another world, who showed up here. You've heard of me, and know you probably can't contain me. If it were someone else, you might have been able to lock them up and make sure they don't cause trouble in their own universe."
Shiller hit the nail on the head regarding Iron Man's concerns. He said, "But even if you could hold me, it's too late. The Multiverse must have already spread the word."
"How is that possible?" Main Universe Iron Man clearly didn't believe it. He took a step toward Shiller and said, "Even if they've seen Ultron, there are many Ultrons in the cosmos, how would they know it's our universe that's having issues?"
"After Ultron escaped, your biggest mistake was not letting Spider-Man go to other universes to help." Shiller spoke bluntly, "Almost all the Spider-Men went to the dark universe next door to help the people there, while the Spider-Man of the Prime Universe vanished. Do you think that's reasonable?"
Main Universe Iron Man paused. His lips moved, but he said nothing. Shiller continued, "I don't know what others think, but I find it very unreasonable. So I came."
"I didn't stop him from going," Main Universe Iron Man said through gritted teeth, "Do you know what could happen if something went wrong mid-way?!"
"Are you worried Batman would lock him up?"
"Don't tell me Batman wouldn't do it," Main Universe Iron Man took another step forward, squinted at Shiller, and said, "Even if he wouldn't, I would never give Spider-Man the chance to have a change of heart and stand with them. I won't give him the opportunity to betray us."
Shiller lowered his eyes and said, "Then is everything okay now? Because of his disappearance in the Multiverse, everyone is suspicious of you. Are you still going to blame him for it?"
"Of course not. Since it was my decision, the responsibility falls on me. He just needs to stay with us—I'll deal with all the troubles."
"Alright, that's you, Iron Man. But I have to remind you, I'm certainly not the only one who noticed something was off. The moment you found me, it proved that otherworld travelers might be everywhere."
Main Universe Iron Man's fist clenched again. The muscles in his neck trembled, he kept swallowing, and blinked rapidly. But the more he did, the faster his universe-renowned smartest brain worked.
"Someone kidnapped Ant-Man, if it wasn't that cursed Hydra, then who could it be? Which universe do you come from?"
"That's not important. You just need to judge one thing right now." Shiller also took a step forward, and now they were very close. He looked into Stark's eyes and said, "—whether it was Batman who kidnapped Ant-Man."
Main Universe Iron Man's eyes widened suddenly, his breathing visibly chaotic. Clearly, he was very aware of the consequences if Ant-Man fell into Batman's hands—that would mean they would completely lose all initiative, and their plan to resist to the end would become a joke.
"Tell me, was it him?" Main Universe Iron Man asked.
"I don't know. All I can give you is this." Shiller pulled out his phone and showed him the picture on it—it was the scene inside Ant-Man's apartment.
"Known it's not Doctor Strange, nor Hydra, then who do you think could leave such traces?"
Main Universe Iron Man seemed to be seeing the scene for the first time. Upon seeing those traces, his pupils contracted sharply, a flash of recognition passed, as if he remembered something, he pursed his lips.
"Whiplash," he said, "Those are marks from his Energy Whip. Damn it, this isn't some magic trace at all!"
Upon hearing the name, Shiller was also somewhat surprised. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Why would this guy kidnap Dr. Pym? Do the two have enmity?"
"He has no enmity with Ant-Man, but with me." Main Universe Iron Man answered absentmindedly, clearly searching for something within his mecha.
"Then it doesn't add up. He couldn't have accurately targeted your weak point and crafted such an effective plan to hit you hard without knowing your plan."
"What do you mean?" Main Universe Iron Man looked at him.
"As far as I know, he doesn't have a Battleworld ticket, he couldn't possibly know anything about the Multiverse, and certainly wouldn't be aware of the Ultron incident, he's clueless about your plans. Even if he wanted revenge on you, he'd be more likely to attack the Stark Group directly, rather than kidnapping Dr. Pym and creating a colossal problem for you."
Main Universe Iron Man calmed down. He took a deep breath and said, "Unless someone told him all this, but that's impossible. Only the members of The Avengers know our plan, they wouldn't work with that guy."
"True. But are The Avengers only made up of Avengers members?"
Main Universe Iron Man paused slightly. Of course, he knew Shiller wasn't speaking in riddles, he vaguely understood what he meant.
"Besides, probably even The Avengers members might not know all your plans. Someone else has been much closer to you lately—deep down, you know who it is."
Main Universe Iron Man was silent for a long moment, then with a slightly trembling voice, uttered the name:
"...Jarvis."
"I'm here, sir."
When the familiar mechanical voice sounded, Main Universe Iron Man suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.