The High Lord appeared very conflicted. He pursed his lips, battling internally, but in the end, he shook his head and said, "If these humans gather all the Infinity Gems, who knows what crazy things they'll do. If they really destroy the cosmos, then I might not escape either, so forget it."
"Alright, I was just giving a suggestion," Shiller shrugged lightly, indicating he didn't mean to force the other party, and then he continued, "But I'm quite curious, which Infinity Gem do you and the Collector each have?"
"The Collector has the Space Gem, and I have the Power Gem. Actually, the Power Gem was originally with the Champion, but he lost a bet to me, so I'm keeping it temporarily."
Shiller was calculating in his mind: the Time Gem should be with Strange in the Central Universe, the Space Gem is now likely with Doctor Strange, the Power Gem is with the High Lord, the Mind Gem is with Loki, and the Reality Gem is embedded in Thor's crown, so only the Soul Gem's whereabouts are unknown.
Marvel's side has actually gathered three gems: the Time Gem - Eye of Agomoto, the Mind Gem - Loki's scepter, and the Reality Gem - King of Brightness's crown. If Doctor Strange brings back the Space Gem he took from the Collector, that would be four Gems. They only need to find two more to complete the set of Infinity Gems.
Moreover, Marvel has a local guide, so surely someone among them knows where the unknown Soul Gem is. Even if they don't, finding it through the Holy Sanctuary is relatively simple.
In other words, except for the one with the High Lord, they are likely all in their hands. Therefore, the Power Gem in the High Lord's hand becomes extremely important. Even if I can't get it, I can't let them have it, or else it's game over. With a snap, DC's side would all turn to white light, and what's the point in fighting then?
Got to find a way to cause some trouble for the High Lord, Shiller thought, even if he couldn't get it himself, he must not let Marvel have it, or else the job would be botched.
Just as he thought of this, someone rushed in from outside. He bowed to the High Lord and said, "Trouble! Boss! Someone's making a fuss downstairs!"
"Just throw them out if they're causing trouble," the High Lord said impatiently, "Aren't the bodyguards eating for free?"
"No, someone broke the pinball machine and found magnets controlling the magnetic springs inside. They say we are a crooked casino, and those gamblers are all turning!"
The High Lord's eyes widened immediately and said, "Magnets? When did I ever put magnets in the pinball machine?!"
"Well..." The Butler was clearly a bit guilty, obviously aware of the situation but didn't dare to speak.
The High Lord, having lived for so many years, wasn't a fool, immediately guessed what was going on. Though he liked gambling and was a casino owner, he didn't really manage the operations, surely some underlings were exploiting the situation to line their own pockets.
The High Lord immediately stepped out from behind the desk and said, "Let's go, let's take a look downstairs, we can't let them make such a fuss, otherwise the casino's reputation will be ruined."
The High Lord quickly walked down the stairs, followed by Shiller and Constantine. On the way down, Shiller gave Constantine a look, although the two had only just met, there shouldn't be any tacit understanding, but Constantine just happened to understand.
He immediately took a step forward, following closely behind the High Lord, as if he was very close to him. Shiller fell back a little, finding a corner to stand in on the way down, and didn't follow directly behind the High Lord.
The High Lord, in a rush, didn't notice and just went downstairs with Constantine. As soon as they got down, they saw the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy making a scene on the floor.
"This damn crooked casino conned me out of thousands of Universal Coins! Do you know how hard it is for us mercenaries to make money?! It's a time of chaos now, not much work to be found, so I thought I'd relax a bit at the casino, and this is what I run into! Crooked casino! Pay up!"
Gamblers never want to believe the ten-gamble-ten-lose principle. Losing money could be due to bad luck, bad Feng Shui, or wrong timing, maybe even the casino cheating, but it's never their own fault.
Originally, they could only console themselves, but this time they really caught the casino by its tail, so they immediately started echoing the complaints.
"Yeah! This damn crooked casino! I've been betting here for over a year and never won a single coin! I knew there was something fishy!!"
"Crooked casino! Pay up!"
"Crooked casino! Pay up! Pay up!!!"
The whole place started joining in the shouting, and some even began to smash machines. The bodyguards immediately rushed up, but such violent acts only fueled the rebellious psychology of these gamblers, causing even louder chaos.
"The crooked casino is out to silence us!!!" Gamora and Drax also led the shouting in the crowd.
Some gamblers panicked right on the spot, knowing that high officials of the Intergalactic Alliance were backing the casino, and feared they might really silence them to protect their wallets, so they resisted fiercely, shouting as they rushed outward.
These bodyguards were all professionals, and when they saw things getting out of hand, afraid the bosses would think they were ineffective, they started using click guns, stun grenades, and smoke bombs. This only solidified the notion of "silencing" them.