Chapter 1030: The Shocking Commoner (Part 8)

When Shiler walked into the room, the entire space was so quiet it felt as though no one was there; even the sound of breathing was suppressed. Steve sat on the booth sofa beside the bar, with two unopened cans of beer placed on the table.

When Shiler sat opposite him, he touched the surface of the two beer cans and discovered that one was at room temperature, while the other was cold.

Under the table sat a bottle of high-proof liquor, which looked like a base spirit for mixing cocktails. However, because it was too close to Steve, Shiler did not reach for it, only able to judge from the bottle's appearance that it was a strong spirit.

This room was actually the recreation room of the Avengers base. When there were no missions, the base members would stay here to chat, drink, play billiards, or play a round of foosball.

This place also adhered to the consistent interior design style of the Avengers base: the walls were smooth metal panels, the floor was a darker color with rivets along the edges, and industrial-style pendant lights and decorative pipes covered the walls. Beneath the bar were two bright light strips, which, at this moment, were the only light source in the room.

Steve sat on the sofa, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands covering his face.

Hearing a "hiss" of air escaping, Steve's hands moved slightly, but he still did not look up until Shiler placed another opened can of beer in front of him.

Steve whimpered, shook his head, and then covered his eyes with his hands again, just like a drunkard who had reached the point of unconsciousness.

"Steve, stop pretending. I know you haven't been drinking." Shiler took another sip of the room-temperature beer. When the liquid wasn't cold enough, it carried a puckering bitterness. He wasn't used to drinking it this way, so he put the beer can down.

"Judging by the situation near the table, your course of action just now must have been this: you felt somewhat uncomfortable, experienced the precursors of an episode, and so you wanted to use alcohol to numb yourself."

"You walked to the bar and instinctively grabbed a can of cold beer, but after returning to your seat, you remembered that you had just finished working out, your sweat hadn't dried, and you couldn't drink anything cold, so you went back to grab a room-temperature beer."

"Just as you were about to open the room-temperature beer, you seemed to think of its somewhat unpleasant bitter taste, or perhaps you felt that beer wouldn't be enough to drown your sorrows, so you returned to the bar again to grab a bottle of strong spirit."

"But just then, Peter came over. You thought that Peter is young, and even if he is an adult and allowed to drink, getting himself blacked out on strong spirits is not good; you cannot set a bad example for a young person."

"So, you instinctively moved the strong spirit under the table and placed it by your legs, wanting to hide it."

"You originally didn't want to call me, but under Peter's repeated insistence, you had no choice but to do so, because you didn't want to appear like an old fogey who avoids doctors and evades treatment."

"Stop talking," Steve said. But Shiler continued, speaking at a rapid pace: "You care very much about this matter. You really don't want others to know that the spiritual leader of America from the last century is completely out of touch in this current era."

"You learned how to use a smartphone and adapted to modern life, but in the blink of an eye, Stark Industries churned out a bunch of gadgets that even modern people can't understand. For example, if you want to ride a shuttle, you must apply for a transit card, but the application process for the transit card is entirely automated..."

"It's not like in the last century, where if you went to a bank to conduct business, a staff member would kindly serve you. To apply for a shuttle or inter-city train transit card, you only need to go to the smart service hall next to the Transit Administration. You don't even need to operate a machine; you just tell the smart butler what you want to do..."

"This is a very, very simple process, so simple that even a child of a few years old, as long as they can find the place, could certainly get it done. But you just refuse to go, because you have too many excessive worries about the accidents that might occur during the process of this simple task."

"Or rather, what troubles you most is that now is the peak period for transit card applications, so the smart service hall must be packed with people. You don't know how to communicate with the AI, you're afraid of asking stupid questions, and you're even more afraid of your stupid questions being overheard by others..."

"Stop talking, Shiler, I beg you." Steve's voice trembled continuously. He said, "I'm not worried about these things at all. I can learn all of this. I am Captain America; my learning ability has also been enhanced..."

"Who told you that?" Shiler asked.

Steve was caught off guard by Shiler's question. He moved his hands away; the hair on his forehead was very messy, covering his clear eyes and making him appear somewhat exhausted.

"I guess, perhaps it was the group of people who modified you who told you that?" Shiler took another sip of the hard-to-swallow room-temperature beer. He really couldn't stand it anymore, so he took the can of cold beer from in front of Steve, opened it, gulped down a few mouthfuls, sighed, and said:

"After your modification was complete, the scientists told you that you had been transformed into the most perfect person of this era: an incredibly strong physique, a brilliant brain, extreme learning ability, and an unparalleled heart of kindness..."

"Everyone said so, right? They said that Captain America is the banner of this era, a truly perfect person in every sense, and so, you believed it." Shiler squinted at Steve and said.

"However, there is no such thing as a perfect person in this world. And even if you were a perfect person in the last era, you are no longer one in this era. The era that belonged to you has already passed."

"In the last era, the American people who had experienced the Great Depression and the New Deal were so full of vitality, brave, hardworking, and intelligent. That was when the lighthouse was at its brightest, and you were the brightest lightbulb on that lighthouse."

"You had to become the number one person in America's Golden Age, the synonym for the American spirit." Shiler looked into Steve's eyes and said, "Everyone told you this, and you did indeed do it."

"Their demands on you were not excessive, because at that time, this place was still the lighthouse of the world. People from other countries might not admit to anything else, but they had to admit that America truly had a period that was the most prosperous and glorious."

"At that time, the people around you were sufficiently excellent: self-disciplined officers, scientists with genius minds, hardworking and capable staff. In such an atmosphere, people called you their role model, so naturally, you had to be the best."

As Shiler narrated in a calm tone, Steve seemed to truly see that scene, or rather, these images had always existed in his memory, never fading.

That was the true Golden Age.

But the next second, Shiler's words were like a heavy punch, shattering his fantasy. Shiler's voice sounded in his ears once again:

"But you woke up and found that the world had changed."

"That vibrant country began to become somewhat chaotic. Various ideologies and various groups took to the streets, obsessing over issues you had never even heard of, causing a huge scene and leaving behind a mess. So, you don't like going out on the streets much anymore."

"You loved reading the content in the newspapers, but that too changed from technological development and human progress to 'you curse me, I curse you,' and you don't even know what you're cursing about. One moment it's political party attacks, the next it's commercial competition. So, you don't like reading newspapers much anymore either."

"You learned how to use a smartphone, so you started going online, and then you discovered that the internet seems to be full of extreme lunatics; no one can think rationally or discuss rationally. So, you don't like using smartphones much anymore either."

Shiler sighed and directly pointed out Steve's problem: "A giant who grew up in the Golden Age is unwilling to bow his knees to this decadent and chaotic era."

"You are unwilling to become the Captain America of this era, yet because of the patriotic education you once received, you feel guilty for the resistance in your heart."

"You know clearly in your heart that the ways of the previous generation no longer work, but you don't know how to be a perfect person in this era. Should you join them in their corruption? Should you abandon your persistence? Should you cater to the masses and entertain yourselves to death?"

"Your personality and your mission have come into conflict. You feel sad and distressed about this, yet you have no one to confide in, because those who bestowed this mission upon you have long since died."

"Rather than saying Captain America is the banner of America, it is better to say that you are merely the wake of the Golden Age, the last orphan of the American spirit."

With a "pop," the sound of a cork being pulled out echoed in the silent room like an earthquake. Steve's arm trembled as he picked up the strong spirit and gulped it down.

"You're right, you're right..." Steve said incoherently, "I am just an old fogey. I don't want to apply for any transit card. I think walking is great; it can strengthen the body and allow me to see the scenery on the streets..."

"But Captain America cannot be an old fogey. I cannot rush into some service hall knowing nothing, be left speechless by a group of robots, be filmed by people, uploaded to their forums, and then use my stupidity and pedantry to slander their fathers..."

"When clearly, their fathers and grandfathers did much better than them!" Steve slammed the bottle onto the table and said for the first time in such an extreme tone, "The people I knew would not preach nihilism and death, would not slander others at will based on a single photo, would not advocate for some decadent spirit, and would not speak of irresponsibility as if it were so natural..."

"It was clearly the efforts of that generation that brought about today's results. I cannot let them mock us!" Steve raised his voice and said, "This is simply unfair to those who have died!"

"They are dead, so no one can know their contributions. No one can know that they could have spent their time on entertainment, but they chose to work hard, which is why they built such a great country."

"If the role model of that generation, which is me, also behaves very stupidly and pedantically, it will make that era and everyone there a laughingstock..." Steve covered his eyes in pain.

"Do you remember when we first met?" Shiler took a sip of cold beer. He didn't let the gray mist control his body, and because as a doctor he couldn't drink often, his tolerance wasn't very good; he was already feeling slightly dizzy.

"At that time, we talked about this topic..." Shiler paused and continued, "I said long ago that it's not that you can't learn to use a smartphone; you just don't want to learn, because you feel that the lifestyle of the last era is by no means inferior to the present. The people of that time were spirited and full of vitality."

"It was like that to begin with." Steve wiped his mouth with his palm and said, "Agent Carter wanted to go on a date with me. We set it at a restaurant in Brooklyn. After it was set, she asked me how I was going to get there. I said I could walk there, and she looked very surprised."

"I know that very few people in this era walk five or ten kilometers in one go, but the feeling of exercise is really great. When walking, I can also see what changes have been made to shop signs, and whether new products have been replaced in the display windows..."

"I don't like shuttles and inter-city trains. When they start up, that overly regular vibration makes me feel like my muscles are going to dissolve."

"But I cannot speak freely about this part of the topic!" Steve frowned, lowered his head, and said painfully, "I have to say I like it, I have to say I understand it all..."

"Captain America certainly has to like these fresh gadgets and certainly has to understand them. But Carter's question came too suddenly, and I let it slip. But I couldn't take it back, and I didn't know how to deal with it, so I could only reject her. After the date location was already set, I ran away like a coward."

"Don't... don't feel worried..." Shiler gulped down two more mouthfuls of alcohol, his speech becoming somewhat unclear, but he was still trying hard to say:

"I am a... I am a professional psychologist... I can analyze it for you from the beginning... Steve, Steve... listen..."

"Wait a minute, you can't just drink beer!" Steve, who had gulped down half a bottle of strong spirit in a short time, was also a bit tipsy. He walked to the bar, brought over a few more bottles of alcohol, handed them to Shiler, and said:

"You remind me of when I used to drink and chat with my comrades... Come! Open it! Ah, no, no, I'll open it for you. You... you drink this bottle, this one is mine..."

Shiler took a sip of the strong spirit and choked, coughing continuously. But when the burning liquid entered his chest, he felt a cluster of flames being ignited, and his brain became clearer.

"Drink... drink!" Shiler said somewhat incoherently, "If you can't outdrink me, I'll tell Tony... all about your embarrassing moments..."

"Hiccup! Don't be silly... his dad couldn't outdrink me!" ===== CHAPTER 1031 =====