"Loki?" Shiller called out with some confusion.
"You've mistaken me for someone else." The female reporter smiled at him and shook the press card hanging from her neck.
Shiller sighed, "The correct way to deny is to admit you're Loki and then say you're from another universe. If you don't want to be Loki, then don't change to look so much like him."
The other person paused, lowered her gaze and said, "At this point, it's pointless to expose me."
"Who said that?" Shiller spoke as if casual chatting, "You appearing here can't just be for entertainment. I have every reason to suspect you're here to cause trouble..."
"I'm not." Loki glared at Shiller, "I just... just wanted to watch that fool make a fool of himself."
"Loki, you always lose to Thor, and it's not all because Odin's biased. You're too fascinated with drama."
"If I could watch such a drama every day, what does it matter if I can beat Thor or not?" Loki said, deliberately mimicking a theatrical tone, "Watching that high and mighty Heir of Asgard solemnly apologize to this bunch of little ants. Such excitement, I cannot miss."
"How do you know he's here to apologize?"
"The fact we're brothers has long been exposed. I've caused such a fuss that people will only say he failed to manage me. Even if he kills me, he'd still have to apologize on my behalf." Loki twirled his black hair with his hand.
"Then just find a safe place to watch the news, it's the same. The risks of being here far exceed what you can bear. Unless you're still hoping for something." Shiller seemed to see what he was thinking and said, "Whether it's something good or bad, Thor rarely disappoints you, doesn't he?"
Loki stared at him intensely, but Shiller didn't speak further. He got a notebook and pen from Eddie and started writing. But he wasn't composing any meaningful sentences, just randomly doodling.
The moment the press conference started, the sound of camera shutters never ceased. The superheroes all entered dressed in suits. They no longer entered as teams like The Avengers and Justice League but each went to their respective department positions with work badges. The involved parties all sat together.
When Iron Man walked in, the shutter sound grew more frequent and louder. He was still as before, waving to the cameras like a big star, behaving nothing like a mental patient.
Shiller noticed that Thor's gaze remained fixed on Iron Man. Other superheroes looked slightly unnatural. As the saying goes, running fast avoided being caught, but it doesn't mean the anger in people's hearts fades over time.
When he didn't use the excuse of mental illness to leave the Rebirth Alliance, everyone's mood was okay, and they could interact with him normally. His departure only made people angrier. Some wouldn't even give a glance.
Iron Man, however, sat down nonchalantly. His eyes roamed among the reporters. Shiller was seated relatively far back, with his head down writing, so Iron Man didn't seem to notice him.
"Today, the Rebirth Alliance gathers here with everyone mainly to explain and clarify the many events that occurred recently. Thank you all for attending this press conference despite your busy schedules. Next, I will briefly outline the course of events..."
Nick sat at the microphone reading the script. He gave a brief overview of the recent events, mostly following chronological order, from the discovery of the fish problem to the present, including well-known news about Asgard brothers fighting.
"After investigation, the culprit behind the poisoning of York City's seafood and the targeted disruption was actually Loki, originally the Second Prince of Asgard. He used mind control..."
Nick recounted Loki's crime process, which basically involved mind control and poisoning, and then played a video. When the video played, Thor's gaze shifted to Shiller because the perspective indicated it was taken by Shiller.
It was precisely the day of the tsunami, when Thor flew up to stop the two quarrelling Sea Clan members. Since Shiller was standing on the ground the whole time, looking up, the tsunami wall appeared particularly grand, and Thor looked very heroic.
Of course, only the involved parties knew who filmed it. Others seeing the view assumed it was a passerby snapping a photo of a fire. But the video was indeed useful, as it showed Thor's attitude in solving the problem.
The tsunami wall might truly have been just visually intimidating; if it really came down, it'd be no more than rain. But if the quarrel was allowed to escalate, it wouldn't just be a tsunami wall, but a full-scale tsunami. Thor truly protected Forward York City by stopping their quarrel.
"Really like a big hero." Loki exclaimed.
Shiller glanced at her but didn't respond. Loki seemed to need someone to agree with her, but in this setting, she couldn't find anyone apart from Shiller willing to continue the topic. With Shiller not engaging, she went silent.
"Next, let's hear from the parties involved." Nick finally finished reading the script, first looking at the two Sea Clan members beside him.
"We deeply apologize." Namor also picked up his script, "Although the Seven Seas Company was purely a victim in this mishap, I still need to apologize for my recklessness..."
Arthur shared a similar tone, even though he wasn't responsible for the seafood issues or the tsunami, he appeared in the crucial video, after all.
However, for both of them, it's not entirely a bad thing. This is a globally watched press conference. Having their company's brands appear at such a conference counts as strong advertisement. That's the main reason they were willing to come. Making money, after all, isn't shameful.
Finally, it was Thor's turn to speak.
He looked down at his script, expressionless as he began to read.
"Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend the press conference. Regarding the previous events, I have a few things to address. First, I must apologize for what my brother Loki has done to Earth. He poisoned the farms of the Seven Seas Company... with the purpose of... disrupting my rule over the Nine Major Kingdoms... sowing discord between me and the Rebirth Alliance..."
He stumbled over his words, hesitating after almost every word, and by the end, he was silent for several dozen seconds. Nick nudged him with his elbow, bringing him back to attention.
"Loki is the God of Mischief and Deception," Thor continued reading, "and I have been deceived by him several times. But this time, I exposed..."
Thor fell silent again, drawing everyone's attention. Thor squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fist, saying, "I exposed his plot. And to safeguard Earth's safety... I..."
Thor fell completely silent. He wiped his face with his hand, took a deep breath, and subconsciously looked up ahead. When he saw those green eyes, he froze.
Thor "jumped" to his feet, startling everyone. The camera shutters clicked even louder, like an omen. He stared blankly at that spot, but there was no one there.
Thor closed his eyes, slightly lowered his head. He stood there, took a deep breath, and after a few seconds of silence, he directly picked up the microphone, saying, "Sorry, I just lied."
"The real mastermind behind these events is not Loki." Thor frowned, a pained expression on his face, "He's been locked up by me all this time, unable to even get out, let alone commit such acts. Even if he got out, he wouldn't do something like this. We grew up together, I know him well..."
The first to change their expression was not the members of the Rebirth Alliance, but Iron Man seated in the audience. Thor continued to speak in a low voice, "He did indeed do many wrong things, causing chaos across the Nine Major Kingdoms, but he definitely didn't do this; I can't defame him..."
"I didn't kill him to uphold justice, I just lost control. I... due to some misunderstanding, I thought he wanted to kill me. That's why I acted. But even that wasn't him, it was just his clone. He's definitely still alive."
"Failing to discover the poisoning of seafood is indeed my responsibility. I will thoroughly investigate to find the perpetrator. As for the Rebirth Alliance, they simply had too little time to investigate. Their inability to uncover the truth was ultimately my oversight..."
Thor's breathing became a bit rapid: "I didn't do it on purpose; I want to do the right thing. I know you may never fully trust a truly existent god, but I will give you an explanation."
With a "bang," someone slammed the table. Iron Man stood up, glaring at Thor, seemingly wanting to say something but unable to speak, his chest heaving with frustration.
On Shiller's phone, Brainiac's message popped up: "Iron Man has gathered evidence, ready to expose the Rebirth Alliance."
"It was him, right?"
"Yes. The mysterious compound is the Extremis Virus."
"He's not afraid of being discovered?"
"The dosage is very low, causing minimal harm, almost no effect on humans. The critical part of this isn't the Extremis Virus."
Shiller naturally knew this. Iron Man wasn't truly trying to poison all the citizens of Forward York City via the fish. He wasn't even trying to profit like before by having people renew their Extremis Virus subscriptions. He knows this trick won't work anymore; chemistry isn't always the answer.
But the Extremis Virus is indeed a good thing. Unlike other aspects Iron Man excels at, like mechanical engineering, White Can's biological technology and chemistry are also quite impressive. The Extremis Virus isn't only useful for the human race; it's equally effective for fish.
Or rather, the Extremis Virus can make most animals, not just humans, more beautiful. But when applied to deep-sea fish, bigger is naturally more beautiful. And the so-called aggressiveness is really just enhancing their vitality. After being captured by humans, they have more room to struggle.
The purpose of poisoning the fish isn't to poison humans through the fish, but to have the fish disrupt the hospitality plans, embarrassing the Rebirth Alliance in front of guests from the multiverse.
But this is merely a surface plan. The real purpose is to distract the Rebirth Alliance, making them think someone is trying to poison the citizens, thereby expending great effort searching for the culprit. Resources are already tight; if many people are diverted to this investigation, other areas will suffer oversight.
Iron Man's true trump card is Jane Foster. He sent people to awaken Foster's memory, intending to have her stand up and accuse Thor, but unexpectedly, Sif and Loki got ahead of him. Though the memory was awakened, Foster didn't want to stand up and accuse Thor. Meanwhile, Sif also alerted the Rebirth Alliance, and Foster was protected, leaving Iron Man without a move.
At this time, Loki had an incident. Due to a series of misunderstandings, he was killed by Thor in the Rebirth Alliance hall. Iron Man happened to leave a backdoor in the Rebirth Alliance's surveillance system, conveniently exposing this event, having the same effect as making Foster stand out and accuse Thor.