Chapter 3693: The Mercury Age (Twenty-four)

It was time for the meal—technically it wasn't quite time, but because the duck and goose Schiller had brought were so incredibly fragrant, they moved the mealtime up to ten in the morning—and everyone began to feast.

Without a doubt, the moment Schiller's goose and duck were carved, only the skeletons remained. If Wanda hadn't been quick-witted enough to hold back Venom, preventing him from swallowing the entire goose in one gulp, there wouldn't even have been bones left.

The taste of the roast duck and roast goose certainly didn't disappoint the others' expectations. This dish was actually very well-suited to the American palate: fragrant and rich, dipped in plum sauce and white sugar, with a sweet and sour kick. It was full of fat, the meat was tender and juicy, and since both the duck and goose were quite plump with plenty of meat, in most cases, there was no need to gnaw at bones. If you know how to eat fried chicken, you know how to eat this. If not for the fact that America lacked a traditional livestock industry for ducks and geese, this would absolutely have become the most popular Asian snack in the country.

Everyone ate until their mouths were glistening with oil, including Carter, who had been talking about watching her figure for half the day; Stark, who had to diet after eating too many cheeseburgers lately; and Venom, who had polished off a 12-serving molten chocolate cake just the night before.

"I really want to eat the doctor's brain," Venom roared, "so I can know the recipe for all these delicious dishes!"

"Forget it," Eddie said. "The recipe alone isn't enough. I heard Tony say he experimented over 20 times, and every time the heat and texture were different. Do you expect me to roast ducks for you every day?"

"Why not? You should at least try!" Venom persisted. "Come on, let's go ask him for the recipe. You have to try it at home; I want to eat this!!"

Eddie was at his wit's end, so he had to bite the bullet and go ask for the recipe, but clearly, he wasn't the first; Schiller was already explaining how to control the heat to Steve and Nick.

Nick was holding a duck leg, gnawing on it. He looked slightly disheveled because he had snatched this duck leg from Stark. The other duck leg was clearly with the birthday boy, Steve. His eating style was much more restrained, though he still polished it down to the bone in just a few bites.

"Perfect," Steve evaluated. "Although I haven't tasted all the dishes yet, I must give this rating. I think this is the best dish of the day! Absolutely! Doctor! You never disappoint anyone in this regard!"

Schiller laughed and began explaining the recipe. Soon, he went to taste the others' dishes, and he had to admit that the "Food Judge" was right. Wanda's ratatouille looked beautiful, but the taste was indeed a bit bland; aside from the taste of fresh vegetables being stewed, there wasn't much else. Perhaps Wanda just liked things light.

Seeing Natasha's Olivier salad was very refreshing. Schiller also liked the nut-filled dark rye bread she baked and specifically asked her for the recipe. However, Seeing Natasha cautioned, "This bread must be heated before eating; it gets as hard as a rock once it cools."

Schiller recalled carefully that the dark rye bread he ate as a child seemed to always be cold, and that group of Soviet experts would soak them in soup to eat. And because Schiller had obsessive-compulsive tendencies as a child, he ate his food one item at a time and absolutely did not allow any dishes to mix, so naturally, he could only experience the dry, hard dark rye bread.

Coulson's cake tasted unremarkable—just the flavor of a very ordinary chiffon cream cake—but the fondant portrait was carefully pried off and saved. As expected, Steve gave him a set of shiny little cards, a very rare Western cowboy edition.

Schiller had already tasted Stark's cheeseburger, but it seemed Steve really liked it. Steve liked beef to begin with, and Stark had reduced the salt in the cheeseburger, so he polished off two in one go. Stark became smug again.

"Being a cyborg is really great," Schiller whispered in Stark's ear. "If you ate like that, you wouldn't be able to fit into your armor again."

Stark's expression turned from sunny to overcast instantly, his gaze scanning the cyborgs present. He had just seen Seeing Natasha eat a cheeseburger, a whole goose leg, a plate of cream cake, a palm-sized piece of tiramisu, and half a cup of mulberry wine, and now there was no change in the curve of her abdomen.

Stark couldn't help but curse, "Damn cyborgs!"

Among the other dishes, the one that surprised Schiller the most was the roast pork knuckle made by Charles and Erik. This pork knuckle was simply too fragrant; the skin was sticky and the meat was tender, salty and sweet in perfect balance. Lifting it by the bone on top and shaking it gently even produced a jelly-like texture, and even the sauce shimmered with light, perfect for dipping the dark rye bread into.

Although Charles said it was made by him and Erik together, Schiller felt it must have been Erik's doing. After all, Charles was British; what good food could he have ever eaten?

He really didn't expect Magneto to have such skills. But thinking about his experiences running around in his youth, it was understandable.

The other small desserts and cookies were also quite tasty, and it was clear that everyone had put their heart into it. The diners were also very supportive, whether they were cyborgs or not, grabbing every chance to eat voraciously. The large portions brought by so many people were basically eaten clean.

After eating, everyone lay back on the sofas to digest, and naturally, the men began to discuss politics, from the October Revolution to the War of Independence, from the Pacific War to the Atlantic situation, but in reality, there were no profound insights, just pure bragging. The main debaters were Stark, who thought "Congress is a pile of dog shit," and Steve, who said, "It's already quite good; you don't know how it was back then."

The ladies basically went to see the baby. Carter's condition during labor hadn't been great, and the baby was a bit weak when born, so they hadn't wanted to disturb them. Now that they had caught their breath, they naturally went to see the cute little baby.

Although there was a prophecy that little Tommy would have a power surge today, there was a Scarlet Witch among those who went up, so to speak, even if it were the son of Eternity lying there, it wouldn't matter.

After the digestion was mostly done, they went to the swimming pool in the backyard to play. Iceman breathed on the pool, and the water instantly became icy cold. The others dove in with a splash and began splashing water at each other frantically.

Seeing Natasha didn't go down, claiming the water was too cold for her health, but from the way she stared at the wet upper bodies of the muscular men, it was clear health wasn't her primary consideration.

Bucky chose to stay on the shore with her, while Barton chose to go into the water. It was hard to say who won between the two of them; anyway, as far as Schiller knew, neither of them seemed to have beaten Seeing Natasha in the first round of skirmishes.

According to reports from the Presbyterian Hospital, Bucky lost to Seeing Natasha by three punches and two knives, and Barton lost to Seeing Natasha by two arrows and one Taser shot, and both showed signs of excessive exhaustion.

Schiller didn't go into the water. He never swam and didn't understand why these Westerners always ended up in a pool whenever they had a party. He just sat in the shade of a tree nearby, listening to the laughter from the pool.

Just as Schiller was getting sleepy, he suddenly saw everyone in the pool "whoosh" onto the shore. He didn't understand what happened; was the pool leaking electricity?

He leaned over to look and realized that Jeff the Shark-Dog was swimming in it, with a shark fin visible on the water's surface.

"Wait a minute," Steve scratched his head, "we should be swimming in a swimming pool, not the ocean, and there are no sharks in the ocean off New York!"

Stark also turned to look, clearly a bit confused. Everyone looked blank, not understanding why a shark would appear in the pool; this thing was clearly alive, not a toy.

Only Wanda rushed up in one stride and dove into the water, picking up Jeff. "Ah, my cute little shark! You came too! You can't scare people like that! Shall I teach you how to blow bubbles?"

Watching Wanda carry Jeff ashore, the others were even more confused. Peter opened his mouth and closed it, then asked, "Did I see that right? A shark with four legs?!"

Stark had already started pulling out his phone. He pressed the voice button and said toward the other end: "Reed Richards! Get down here from upstairs right now!! Did you conduct some dangerous biological experiment again?!!"

Soon, Reed came down looking nonchalant. Sue's face was a bit flushed, looking like they had wanted to do something but were interrupted.

"A long-legged shark? Are you crazy, Tony Stark? You've only had two mixed drinks, and you're this drunk?! Do I need to tell you that sharks can't have legs?!"

Then he turned his head and saw Jeff, who was learning to blow bubbles from Wanda.

"Holy shit! What the hell is that?!"

Sue's eyes lit up. The other ladies also ran over, taking turns picking Jeff up to pet and kiss him.

"Alright, I know this must be a conspiracy against men," Nick curled his lip, "this little guy will use his cute face to attract the attention of all the beautiful ladies, while the male creatures at the party will be completely ignored..."

"Isn't that perfect? We can finally play some real water games." Stark grinned and reached out to drag Reed into the water. A great battle began.

By the time they were dragged out of the pool by their respective partners like drowned rats, the sky was approaching dusk. Then, as expected, the drinking began. In the afterglow of the sunset, glasses filled with fruit wine of different colors clinked together, and water splashes exploded in the golden twilight.

"Gift time!" Steve patted his knees and said, "Come on! Let me see what you've all prepared! I won't deliberately say nice things this time; I'll evaluate them truthfully. You'd better not try to fool me!"

"Doesn't matter, I've already passed anyway," Stark said, arms crossed, "I firmly believe that none of you could possibly send a gift cooler than mine."

"We all prepared carefully," Nick said, "although Steve won't go back on his word easily, I think he could totally give out tied gold medals. What do you think?"

"I have confidence," Peter said, "you won't believe what Gwen and I came up with."

"Alright, let's start!" Steve clapped his hands, "Clockwise order, Eddie first."

(Author's note: My grades have dropped quite a bit lately, so I'm preparing to write a full-subscription side story. It's a dual-protagonist dungeon run for Hunt and the Agent, mainly involving escape rooms, puzzle-solving, and satisfying kills. Woo-hoo!)

(But it's best not to renovate; renovation makes people go crazy.)