Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Chapter 5870 - 4892: Marvelous Shadows and Wondrous Drama (18)

"Why are you so late?" Stark looked at Steve somewhat curiously, "In the past, when we watched movies, you were always the first to arrive. Are you afraid my personal film will surpass yours too much, so you’re embarrassed to come?""I’ve been a bit busy lately." Steve sighed softly, showing a hint of fatigue on his face. Stark watched him walk towards the cinema with some suspicion and shouted at his back, "Don’t be too surprised later, my movie is definitely going to do better than yours at the box office!"

Steve waved his hand back at him without turning around.

Natasha was wearing a gemstone blue long dress, giving him face. She looked at Stark, who was standing at the door, and asked, "Am I the last to arrive?"

"Not quite, ma’am, there are a few more people yet to arrive." Stark said, "But usually you would indeed arrive a bit earlier than this."

"Ah, it’s because I’m not particularly interested in suspense movies." Natasha shook her head and said, "The Soviet Union was not a very suspenseful country, there’s no atmosphere for things like detective stories there. I can’t imagine how to look for a murderer."

"It will definitely surprise you." Stark smiled and said.

"Oh, by the way, I heard you fainted during filming." Natasha asked with some concern, "Are you okay?"

"Anxiety-induced breath-hold syndrome." Stark sighed, "Then, due to weakened immunity, I had a fever for several days. Fortunately, everything went smoothly after that."

"You should always carry some medication with you." Natasha reminded, "Listen to Shiller’s suggestions more. Don’t let your medical funds go to waste."

After saying that, Natasha went inside, and Stark watched her back, shaking his head helplessly. If not for Shiller’s advice, he wouldn’t have fainted this time at all.

Then Peter and Gwen arrived. Peter explained, "I took some time to pick up Gwen, we’re not late, are we?"

Stark gave him a hug and then said, "No, hurry on in, the movie’s about to start."

The two of them also went inside. Then there was Shiller. Stark examined him carefully, confirmed it was Greed, and then walked over. "Why are you also so late?"

"I received a few more patients." Greed said, "Has the movie started?"

"Not yet." Stark also turned to walk inside, "You’re the last one, we need everyone here before we can start."

They entered the screening room together. This was not a premiere but just an internal preview screening. However, the editing work was almost complete, and there wouldn’t be much difference between this version and the one released later.

In fact, this could be called a low-budget film; not much was invested in sets and personnel. Yet, the director and the crew were quite renowned, giving it a feeling of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Because the team was very professional, the filming progressed quickly, and the post-production was also swift. Altogether, it took only half a year, and before summer fully arrived, they were already in the final stages.

Stark and Shiller settled in the last row, and the movie started quickly. Everyone stared intently at the screen because it indeed had an engaging beginning.

Chris deliberately sped up the opening sequence, first revealing Stark’s identity to raise audience expectations, and then used a corpse dropping from the sky to deliver the first scare.

The moment the corpse dropped from the sky, gasps echoed in the screening room. Considering that these people were seasoned veterans, this scene was quite successful in making them gasp.

Next, the pace slowed down a bit, starting to introduce Stark’s youthful years, emphasizing his anxiety disorder symptoms. Interspersed with some hallucinations, allowing the audience to feel firsthand that Stark’s mental state was not quite normal.

This inevitably led people to wonder whether the corpse was a figment of Stark’s imagination. If not, could he have been the one who killed it?

However, at this point, most people with common sense would consider it impossible. Because after all, this was Stark’s personal film; he couldn’t possibly portray a murderer and ruin his own reputation, could he?

For this reason, most people first ruled out Stark. There’s no way he’d make a movie like this and put himself into a whirlpool of public opinion. Although it’s a reasoning with external factors, it’s also quite logical.

Moreover, Shiller and Strange, who appeared later, practically had "murderer" written on their faces. Everyone silently encouraged Stark to quickly get up and start deducing, or just skip the deduction and arrest the two directly.

Of course, there would also be some detective enthusiasts beginning to discern which of the two was the real culprit. Both of them seemed suspicious, and as the plot progressed, each exhibited some clues of guilt. For instance, Shiller kept staring at Stark and even chased him down the hall. Strange’s attitude towards Stark was somewhat peculiar, as if harboring some animosity.

Most people thought Strange was more suspicious. For one, his appearance was indeed more aggressive; on the other hand, his motives seemed more substantial than Shiller’s.

Shiller and Stark knew each other, and from what it sounded like, they grew up together and were close as brothers. They hadn’t seen each other for a long time, so there shouldn’t be any grudges.

But Strange was a waiter, possibly having a hard life, which might lead him to want to avenge society, or simply loathe the wealthy. Many suspense films feature such perpetrators, lower-class people driven mad by life who go on a killing spree, used to satirize reality.