"I understand." Shiller's tone didn't change. He hung up and looked back at Thor. Thor was also looking at him, his expression indicating he wasn't eavesdropping on the call but was waiting for Shiller to finish and tell him.
"We need to go to the Rebirth Alliance headquarters," Shiller said. "I'll explain in the car."
Thor lowered his hand, which was about to open a teleportation portal, and followed Shiller, leaving the hotel and getting into the car. While turning the steering wheel, Shiller said, "The Rebirth Alliance found out that Loki controlled a chemist to poison the sea, creating large and aggressive fish."
"Why?" Thor asked.
"Maybe he wanted to disrupt the Rebirth Alliance's activities to welcome visitors from other universes, or simply wanted to poison the human race."
"I see," Thor paused and then said, "But you don't think it was him. You think he wanted to help me by confessing to being the culprit, so it would highlight me as a hero."
"The timing of the evidence's appearance was too convenient," Shiller said. "As soon as the photos were exposed, Loki's evidence was immediately found. It's hard to say it wasn't intentionally arranged."
"Even if he didn't do these things, I wouldn't be in trouble," Thor said. "He dug a trap for me to fall into, then pulled me out to make me indebted to him. I'm not that foolish."
"The problem is the trap wasn't dug by him," Shiller said. "Think carefully, since the Civil War ended, you've been keeping him locked up; he hasn't had the time to poison."
"I... I'm not sure if I've actually kept him locked up," Thor said, still lacking confidence, fiddling with his fingers. "Maybe he escaped without me noticing."
"Really?" Shiller asked, "Think again, especially about his state before he actually escaped."
Thor naturally thought of the last argument he had with Loki, realizing that's when Loki must have swapped identities. Since then, Loki had become very calm, even gentle, clearly the center universe Loki.
During that argument, his real brother was hysterical, completely uncommunicative, smashing everything he could in the room, which was indeed unusual.
"Perhaps you could try observing emotions," Shiller suggested. "Loki can't completely maintain his composure in front of you, even if he wants to hide it, there will be flaws. You're too unique to him."
Thor fell into memories again. Thanks to the Aesir's good memory, he found some clues in many scenes he didn't want to remember. Loki always had extreme emotions towards him, either mocking or speaking maliciously.
Even when he feigned calmness, it was not the same as the genuine calmness of the center universe Loki. Without a comparison before, Thor didn't see it as a problem, but thinking back now, a disguise is just a disguise. Loki was always aggressive in front of him, an aggression that couldn't be hidden, always surfacing in every detail.
"If he's that irritable, maybe he really didn't escape," Thor said. "Then why would he take the fall for the behind-the-scenes manipulator? Just to create my heroic image?"
Shiller didn't speak but slowly put on sunglasses.
Thor frowned, saying, "It's nighttime."
A sharp screech of an emergency brake tore through the night. The crowd scrambled through the street, police cars with the Rebirth Alliance emblem closed in from both sides of the intersection.
Shiller opened the car door and got out. Thor also got out from the other side. He wanted to know what was happening, but soon, thick shadows swept in from one side, and a tidal wave taller than buildings roared in.
Shiller looked up in the direction of the wave, and Thor roared, extending his hand. Instantly, all the seawater froze. He flew into the air, roaring, "What are you doing?!!"
"Namor, you're insane!" Arthur's voice came from the other side of the wave. He leaped up, perhaps the timeline was still early, his face didn't appear that haggard, looking somewhat young.
Thor reached out and grabbed Namor directly from the water below. He struggled, shouting, "This bastard poisoned my fish farm! He wants to poison you all!!! Let go of me!!!"
Thor loosened his grip slightly but didn't completely release Namor, as he already noticed the tidal wave was caused by Namor, his power was everywhere in the water.
"I've never done anything like that!" Arthur said.
"Bullshit! I already found the magical traces of your sea route, the residual energy can't lie, you poisoned the fish farm and transported the problematic seafood to Forward York City!"
"I did open a sea route from the Atlantic to Forward York City, but that was to transport my seafood," Arthur explained. "With the demand rising, the nearshore farms aren't enough. I had to build new ones in deeper waters, so I had to open a route for transport. What's that got to do with poisoning?"
"It had to be you! Otherwise, no one else could have done it..."
"You two, wait a moment." Thor said, "Is there anyone here?"
Thor looked down at the car on the ground, and a red-haired figure emerged from it. She pressed a button on her earpiece and then used a hook to reach the rooftop of the building.
"You're mistaken, Namor," Natasha said, "We've investigated thoroughly. The poison was administered by a human chemist under Loki's control. Loki is a powerful magician; transporting seafood isn't difficult for him."
"Where is he?!" Namor roared, "He almost ruined my business, I want to make him pay!"
"He's already dead," Thor said, "I killed him myself, right at the Rebirth Alliance headquarters, everyone saw it."
Namor froze, filled with anger but unsure how to vent it. Natasha looked at him and said, "I understand you mistook Arthur for the culprit, and chasing him into the sea wasn't enough, so in your rage, you pursued him onto land. However, your current actions have severely endangered the citizens' safety in Forward York City. Please come with us and cooperate with our investigation."
Namor felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. He indeed had no intention of flooding Forward York City; he purely got into a sea fight with Arthur, and when Arthur ran to the land, he chased him. But the Sea Clan is used to controlling the seawater, so they brought the water along. If Thor hadn't stopped them in time, Forward York would indeed have been flooded.
"I... I didn't mean to," Namor quickly explained, "I didn't intend to endanger Forward York City, I just..."
"That's precisely why we're asking for your cooperation in the investigation," Natasha said, "Otherwise, we would have already used the Divine Power Chain."
Namor's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, looking at Thor with a meaning clear enough—the owner of the divine power is already here, no need for the chains. Yet he felt somewhat fortunate; if Thor hadn't stopped the water, they both would've been shackled in a cell for ten days or half a month.
Ever since Thor provided the Rebirth Alliance with a bunch of divine power equipment, they indeed have ways to deal with these superpower users. The Divine Power Chain is somewhat like the Lasso of Truth, automatically tracking once thrown and impossible to open once bound. No creatures from the Nine Major Kingdoms can break free. The Divine Power Shackles are similar to human handcuffs but can suppress superpowers, allowing those wearing them to be imprisoned like ordinary people.
Namor had actually been jailed once before, also because he failed to restrain the Sea Clan from fighting on land. He himself was captured and held for seven days, and since then, he became much more polite, or accurately speaking, much more timid.
"Considering the fact that you are also a victim in this matter, we have not taken capture actions," Natasha further explained, "Please cooperate with our work."
Namor had no choice, glaring fiercely at Arthur, before leaping from the building, transforming into a stream of water, and diving into the police car.
Shiller gently tapped the side of the leg of his sunglasses, speaking as if to himself, "The heroic figure of the main force of the Nine Major Kingdoms turning the tide might be worth seeing by more people."
When Thor returned to the car, Shiller was already sitting in the driver's seat. He sighed and said, "Right now, we do urgently need a culprit; otherwise, who knows how many people will fight. Loki is indeed the most logical explanation, but like you said, it doesn't seem like him."
"Why change your mind?"
"You might not know him well," Thor recalled, "His mind magic is strong enough to deceive even me sometimes. If he wanted to do such a thing, he wouldn't need to control the human chemist; he could directly control these two Sea Clan members, maybe not even that—since they already hold grudges, a slight provocation would naturally lead them to fight. That commotion would far surpass any incident of someone getting slapped by a fish, achieving his purpose of causing trouble."
The car started moving again as Thor continued, "Perhaps you don't know how adept Loki is at such things. If he wants, he can turn any plan or event into chaos and then extract himself flawlessly, leaving no evidence behind you can use."
Many times, Odin wasn't unaware of his intentional disruptions, but Loki's actions always aligned with the interest of certain parties. If you want to act against him, those people won't agree—that is the fundamental reason he's able to walk away each time."
"Sounds indeed experienced," Shiller commented.
"So if he wanted to disrupt the Rebirth Alliance, he'd definitely find someone to back him up, someone whose interests conflict with the Alliance and who is eager to see this event fail. The Sea Clan clearly isn't such a party—not to mention their stance, but their powers are too weak."
"And if he created this mess to do me a favor, this trouble is too insignificant. Accusing the Sea Clan of inciting conflict obviously isn't enough to make me, who killed him, look like a hero."
"Even though Forward York City was nearly flooded?"
"The scene might have looked intimidating," Thor shook his head, "But the water they brought onto land just amounted to a few hours of rain, not enough to drown Forward York City."
"Seems like you need a bigger problem."
The car stopped in front of the Rebirth Alliance headquarters, and almost simultaneously, another group of people clad in black suits descended from the air, coincidentally meeting Shiller who had just stepped out of the car, making his words seem prophetic.
"Good evening, Dr. Lensherr," Shiller removed his sunglasses, gazing at the silver-haired man whose face bore the marks of time, yet whose eyes remained as sharp as a hawk's.
"Doesn't seem so good," the other's English carried a hint of a German accent, sounding particularly harsh and like a hammer ready to strike, "It's been a long time since anyone made such a wrong decision against mutants. I'm here to correct it."