Chapter 1968

Dinner was still the large portion of roast meat and borscht cooked by Natasha and Steve. Earlier, Steve had hunted a deer in the woods, Ma Te had caught fish, Natasha had found some potatoes that hadn't gone bad in the warehouse, and combined with freshly picked berries and mushrooms, as well as the butter left by the original owner of the cabin, they cooked several large basins of steaming hot meals.

When entering and leaving the game, the physical state wouldn't be reset, so the group decided to be cautious and not get injured at will. So far, the results were quite good. Aside from the small scratch Steve left behind to save someone, everyone else's physical state was quite good.

But high-calorie and rich-tasting food would make people's mental state more vibrant, so as soon as the food was served, everyone couldn't wait to tuck in.

"Peter should at least come back to finish this meal," Stark bit into a pancake and said. "Even if he wants to go out to learn knowledge, he doesn't have to be in such a hurry. Besides, does he expect that dark guy to provide him with a warm residence and delicious food? He will definitely turn the camp into a prison."

"Stop complaining," Natasha placed the last basin of vegetables on the table, sat in her seat, and sighed, "You're just dissatisfied that your child left with another rich guy."

"Don't make Peter sound like someone who only cares about money. He's not like that," Stark raised his voice and said. "He's a very loyal child. I'm just worried Batman will abuse him."

"Besides, what's the necessity of learning those so-called criminal investigation techniques?" Stark said while chewing the food in his mouth, speaking indistinctly. "I don't know these things and I'm living just fine, aren't I?"

Then he rambled on: "I don't have any opinion on Nick, but he always seems to want to turn Spider-Man into an all-around agent. How old are they? Does a person really have to finish learning everything within thirty years old? He hasn't even participated in a basketball game. They should be learning how to enjoy life more."

"Do you know how strong his sense of responsibility is?" Steve said while cutting the pancake with a knife. "Your extreme sense of responsibility for a certain cause will appear like a ghost in every corner of your life, following you like a shadow, unable to escape, constantly urging you to complete it."

"Not everyone is born with as much as you. If we want to complete our mission and ideals, we have to struggle while we still have the energy. Peter knows what he wants, and of course, we should support and help him."

"I didn't say I wouldn't support him, but you don't know what kind of person Batman is," Stark sighed lightly. "I know I don't have the qualifications to sympathize with him, and he doesn't need anyone's sympathy. But when he lived in my brain, I saw a small part of his past."

"He does have a large family," Stark shook his head lightly. "But it's not like the Avengers, united by ideals. They are more or less sympathetic to each other, more like huddling together for warmth."

"Others in the Bat-family are very dependent on and trust Batman. Sometimes I've thought, if Peter were this dependent on me, that would be great. But I thought about it over and over, if that were the case, I would definitely find a way to drive him out, just like Jarvis. They must have their own lives."

"Letting Jarvis leave was perhaps the most correct decision you've ever made in your life," Ma Te stood up and scooped a spoonful of soup. Natasha held his bowl from underneath, and Ma Te nodded to her in thanks, then continued: "I heard he's recently trying to figure out how to handle his future father-in-law. This will definitely be a major challenge in his life."

Stark laughed and said proudly, "I knew he was a good kid. Wanda is a very excellent girl. Erik will never have the chance to mock me for being a shell of iron again."

Natasha turned to look at Shiler, who was burying his head in his meal. She could feel that Shiler was in a bad mood, so she took the initiative and said, "Doctor, don't you plan to give Jarvis some advice? Magneto isn't that easy to deal with."

"Sigh," Shiler let out a long sigh.

"Alright, Doctor, stop sighing. You know this day would come sooner or later," Natasha gave him another pancake and said, "This is the consequence of fishing. If it really doesn't work, just let your symbiote change your image."

"They are denouncing me," Shiler said with a sigh. "Saying it's all my fault for acting too aggressively, causing them to have no fun left to watch."

"They?" Stark said with some confusion.

Natasha used both hands to gesture the shape of a high tower. Stark then suddenly realized that Shiler was referring to his other personalities, so Stark immediately changed the subject and said, "This can't be blamed on you. Just like Natasha said, this day would come sooner or later. You can't expect yourself to remain unknown forever."

"Rather, it's because your other personalities are too distinctive that others can remember you after seeing you once. If it were only you, people would only think you're a psychiatrist who charges a high fee."

Shiler immediately looked at him with great emotion and said, "Then can I raise my fee even higher?"

"No way," Stark picked up his bowl and took a sip of soup, saying, "You know this trick doesn't work. I won't fall for your trap again."

Natasha poured the vegetable soup over the pancake, pointed at the water glass to Steve, and Steve stood up to pour her water, then said, "You can indeed consider Natasha's suggestion. Changing your image might make things okay."

"Actually, I didn't want to use this trick originally," Shiler sighed for a while and said, "But they forced my hand."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a "bang, bang, bang" knocking sound on the door. Steve, who happened to be standing by the door, walked over and opened it. Standing outside the door was a figure everyone was very familiar with.

As soon as the door opened, Owen walked in.

"What's wrong, Shiler? Why did you call me over in such a hurry? Joker and Batman are fighting quite fiercely over there."

Shiler glanced at Owen and looked around, finding that everyone else was eating their own food and didn't express any surprise at Owen's arrival.

"Why are you looking at me?" Stark raised his head from the soup bowl, turned to look at Shiler, and said, "You don't expect me to be dumbfounded and stuttering like I was when I first learned about your plan, do you?"

"Oh, my God, Doctor, this whole game couldn't be a big plan you planned, could it? I'm truly surprised," Stark said, waving his hands exaggeratedly with wide eyes.

The next second, he returned to calm, rolled his eyes, and continued to pick the cinnamon out of the vegetable soup.

Steve got a pair of slippers for Owen, washed his hands, brought the water glass to Natasha, and looked at Shiler, saying, "Although I know this is useless and you won't listen even if I say it ten thousand times, I hope you'll greet us next time. Because even if you don't greet us, we won't be surprised."

"God, is there any disaster more terrifying than this?" Shiler also said exaggeratedly.

Owen had just sat down when there was another knock on the door. Steve, who had just gone to get tableware for Owen, walked to the door again and opened it. This time, standing outside the door was a blond man everyone didn't recognize.

"Lucifer, you're here," Owen looked back at Lucifer and said.

The blond man called Lucifer waved his hand, greeted everyone, walked over, and sat down. Shiler took a sip of water and pointed at the two people opposite, saying, "Let me introduce them: the owner and creator of Battleworld, the Beyonder Owen, and the Archangel Lucifer."

Others weren't too surprised that Owen was the Beyonder, after all, he stood on the stage of the screening hall so high-profile that anyone who had been to the screening hall could guess he was from the organizer's side. But Lucifer's title was more surprising.

"Archangel? Are you the lead singer of some university rock band?" Stark looked at Lucifer and said with some surprise.

Lucifer was already accustomed to similar doubts. With a "whoosh," blinding holy light descended into the room, and three pairs of massive wings spread out from behind Lucifer. The voice came from the void, holy springs flowed behind him, and flowers flew around him.

"You humans seem to only know this one angel image," Lucifer said helplessly. "What's sad is that those newborn angels are the same. Once, I went to Heaven to handle business wearing a motorcycle suit and was almost kicked out."

"Wait," Natasha was truly surprised. She looked at Lucifer and said, "You aren't really Lucifer, the fallen angel in the legends, are you?"

"He isn't a fallen angel anymore," Shiler pursed his lips at Lucifer and said, "He has returned to Heaven and become the first light of creation again."

"Speaking of this," Lucifer looked at Shiler with some resentment and said, "What kind of bad idea did you come up with back then? I really believed your nonsense and actually returned to Heaven just to anger Gabriel."

"After I went back, I remembered why I ran out in the first place. Do you know how annoying Michael is? And that Uriel—I don't understand what's so good about checking appearance and grooming. What's wrong with me dyeing my hair black?"

"Wasn't he guarding the Garden of Eden before?" Shiler also knew some of the situation in Heaven and said, "Why did he return to the Holy City now?"

"Because God isn't there, and the Holy City needs more manpower," Lucifer sighed and said. "I heard from the angels on duty that God seems to have found Gabriel, but Gabriel is unwilling to return."

"Michael, that peacemaker, wants me to go and persuade them, but he doesn't think about how awkward it would be if I went."

Everyone had a very strange feeling. The scenes depicted in the "Bible" turned into the trivial family matters in the mouths of the people in front of them, which inevitably gave a subtle sense of displacement, as if Heaven and the place where they worked were about the same—a bunch of annoying people and a bunch of annoying things.

"No mistake," Stark drank the water in his cup and said, "So God can hear my prayers for the accuracy of reproducing experimental data?"

"Of course not. Heaven has a reception room. These kinds of prayers are usually classified by newborn angels into the category where it's more useful for you to work hard yourself. Usually, they don't reach God's ears."

Stark made a "pssh" sound.

"Back to the point," Lucifer took the water glass from Steve, nodded to him, and said, "Isn't the game going well? Why did you call us over?"

"Is this what you call going well?" Shiler said with great dissatisfaction. "Don't you see they are all avoiding me?"

Lucifer laughed with schadenfreude and said, "Then who can you blame? Even God knows to change into a few different images when inspiring and helping people in the human world. You have the same personality traits and always wear the same set of clothes. Even a fool should have remembered you."

Owen nodded and said, "I also don't understand why you aren't willing to change your image. Those scammers—I mean, those friends of yours who have the same hobbies as you—they all use magic to change their images. This is a necessary skill for scamming."

Shiler sighed and said, "Remember? I'm playing the role of an ordinary person."