Chapter 4764

"Ma'am, I've suggested psychotherapy to you before," Shiler said. "Since it's a psychological cause, why not address it psychologically and just make you forget the whole thing directly?"

"Right." Strange caught on too. "You were perfectly fine before you knew about it, so why not just delete the memory of this whole affair and be done with it?"

"Let me say this first — I'm not being unsympathetic." Stark looked at Natasha. "But aside from causing you pain, does this serve any other purpose? If it does, then maybe we should consider tackling it by eliminating the pain instead."

"None whatsoever." Natasha said. "It might have restored my fertility, but I have no intention of bearing children. Aside from being able to swindle some overtime pay out of Nick, there's not a single benefit."

"Then why not use psychotherapy?"

"Because the therapist who could do psychotherapy charges too damn much!!!" Natasha roared. "Compared to burning money, I'd much rather bleed!!!"

"Why not have S. H. I. E. L. D. reimburse it?" Matt asked.

"Because they think both of us are Soviets, so they told us to go find the KGB." Shiler said helplessly.

Everyone was momentarily speechless. If you said it was wrong, well, it kind of made sense; but if you said it was right, it felt like something was off.

"Alright, actually I just couldn't be bothered to go myself." Natasha let out a long sigh. "When I was bleeding I wasn't in the mood, and when I recovered I had no time — it just kept getting pushed back like this until now."

"That figures. People never learn." Strange shook his head. "When you're sick, you swear you'll never sleep with the window open again, but a few days after you recover you've already forgotten."

Stark glared at him with his eyes, but Strange acted utterly oblivious. Shiler continued: "I knew your condition wasn't good and still invited you over because I wanted to try and help you solve this problem."

"What method do you have?" Natasha asked.

"First off, there's no work in our universe that absolutely requires you to go do it, so we prioritize solving the pain issue. Compared to the Golden Apple, the Clarkia Flower focuses more on improving constitution — it might be effective."

The others nodded in agreement. Steve said: "Although I don't know the exact principle, if it's an overall improvement of constitution, it's bound to help. You can give it a try."

Natasha nodded. Shiler continued: "But drug development will still take some time, so let's try alleviating the pain first. The hot springs on Clarkia Island are quite good, and there are several vents rich in sulfur — that should be effective for your condition."

"What's the principle behind that?" Natasha asked.

"Some theories of traditional Chinese medicine." Strange spoke up first. "Considering the word 'warmth' has never existed in your life, in TCM theory your dysmenorrhea is very likely because your body is too cold inside."

"Too cold inside the body?"

"Exactly. In their terms, it means you've stored up cold qi. Drinking more hot things, or soaking in hot springs, would bring improvement."

Although Natasha didn't quite understand, she still nodded. She said: "I've heard similar theories. On TikTok there are Chinese influencers teaching women how to brew ginger tea — they say drinking it is good for the body — although I've never drunk hot water in my entire life."

"You're completely ignoring your age issue." Strange pointed out sternly. "Although it may be impolite to say so, you're old enough to be a grandmother. Your appearance hasn't changed, but that doesn't mean your bodily functions are completely unchanged. If you don't pay attention to health preservation, even a modified human will age faster than other modified humans."

Natasha couldn't help glancing at Steve. Steve shook his head rapidly. "I didn't say I'm younger than you. But I do pay more attention to exercise, and although I don't drink hot water, I rarely drink iced drinks either. You use the ice maker at the Avengers base the most."

"That's because New York is too hot, okay?" Natasha couldn't help retorting. "How do you stand not drinking ice water in 30-plus degree weather?"

"Naturally out of consideration for life safety." Now Stark had seized the opening. He said: "That's just you relying on being a modified human and completely disregarding existing medical and health preservation theories. My medical team has emphasized to me countless times that when it's extremely hot and you've sweated buckets, you must not drink ice water directly. I thought that was common sense even children know."

"And then some people don't close their windows on stormy nights." Strange said irritably. "I thought that was something children all understand too."

"Fine." Natasha was also persuaded. "I'll try to eat less cold stuff and drink more hot beverages from now on..."

Steve looked toward Bucky, who hadn't spoken. Recently he and Natasha had been interacting quite closely; logically he should have had the most say, yet he'd stayed silent the whole time.

Just as he was scanning with his gaze, he discovered Bucky had already gone and poured a cup of hot water. He set the cup before Natasha and said: "I figure change can start right now, can't it?"

Everyone drew out a long, collective sound — no wonder you dare pursue the Black Widow.

Steve, though, seemed to recall something, pressing his lips together to stifle a laugh. He was about to say something when Bucky stopped him with a look: "Don't forget our mutual non-disclosure agreement, partner!"

"Fine, I won't say it." Steve pressed his lips tight. The others looked at him curiously, so Steve still let out half a sentence: "This reminds me of when he was young chasing girls..."

"Shut up, Steve! Or I'll spill all your embarrassing stories from when you were young!" Bucky shouted at him. "You still remember when you submitted to the comic club..."

"Hey! Hey! Think about the agreement!" Steve interrupted loudly. The two exchanged a glance and reluctantly called a truce.

Matt sighed from the side: "Having a buddy you grew up with is like this. He's seen all your embarrassing moments, so you have to constantly guard against him spilling your shameful stories."

Everyone laughed. Natasha laughed along twice, but soon started coughing, then collapsed onto the table in pain. She forced herself to lift the cup and drink two sips of hot water, tasted it, and said: "Not bad."

"I heard Chinese medicine can treat this." Stark said. "Out of respect and concern for this lady, I think we should immediately go to a pharmacy in Hong Kong and get her a prescription."

"There you go again." Shiler couldn't help saying. "You just have to make everyone taste Chinese medicine, don't you?"

"I'm truly doing it for her own good." Stark nodded to himself, then looked at Strange.

Strange shook his head: "This kind of issue related to individual constitution requires the person to be present for examination. Buying ready-made medicine packets isn't ideal. If you're serious, I can help you make contact — I met a few very skilled TCM doctors when I attended a medical exchange conference in Sichuan..."

"Thanks, but not for now." Natasha said. "Judging by Tony's tone, I can roughly tell how awful that stuff tastes. I don't think I could stick with it — might as well go find Professor X and have him delete my memory directly."

They ate lunch — just simple grilled steak and vegetables. Because there was a banquet in the evening, everyone ate lightly, then sat on the living room sofas to digest.

"Speaking of, what's the deal with that hot spring?" Bucky asked.

"What about the hot spring?" Steve countered. "I went to see it — it's built pretty well."

"You said it's a natural hot spring, heated by volcanic geothermal energy. But how would a volcano exist on an island?"

"Plenty of islands have volcanoes, right?" Steve thought a moment. "Doesn't the island of New Attilan have a volcano?"

"But that one's way bigger, isn't it?" Bucky said.

"Not that much bigger." Shiler thought a moment. "Equivalent to one of those islands, maybe slightly larger."

"So that's how it is." Bucky nodded. "How was the hot spring discovered on this island? Wasn't it said the mutant situation in this universe is bad? How did they have the bandwidth to develop this?"

"Actually I find it a bit strange too." Steve scratched his head. "But mutants are active on this island — they might go north occasionally, so bumping into it would be normal."

"Although that's true, those thermal springs aren't open-air — they don't even have a vent. Unless someone deliberately drilled underground, they'd be very hard to discover." Stark shook his head. "But then again, who knows — maybe there are spelunking enthusiasts among the mutants."

"Their hot spring bathhouse is already built?" Natasha asked. "How is it? How many private soaking pools?"

"Lots." Strange thought a moment before answering. "Just the large pools comparable to swimming pools there are three or four, and there are even more various private rooms. And their water diversion system seems able to pipe the spring water into the hotel bathtubs. If you don't want to go out, you can soak there."

"That's exactly what I want." Natasha said listlessly. "It's more comfortable lying in a bathtub — remember to have them add extra sulfur for me."

"Don't worry. You still don't know just how meticulous Charles is? He definitely prepared for it long ago."

They chatted a while, then everyone dozed on the sofas for a bit. Because tonight was definitely an all-night revelry, if they didn't catch up on sleep during the day they might get drowsy by midnight.

After waking up refreshed, they prepared to head to the hot spring bathhouse. Because construction had been rushed and supplies weren't abundant, many personal items needed to be brought themselves. Fortunately they'd all come with suitcases, so they just dragged them over.

Once everything was ready, they waited in the living room. Logically a mutant with flight ability should come pick them up, but Strange grew impatient waiting and simply opened a portal himself to go over.

The moment his portal landed, right in front of him was the main-universe Avengers. Main-universe Doctor Strange gave him a helpless sidelong glance. Captain America asked him: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. This damn nouveau riche never understands the meaning of conservation."

Captain America laughed: "They really are rich—just this short stretch requires a portal."

Still, there's no denying the portal is convenient. A few of them arrived at the destination without extra walking, stepping straight into the hotel lobby. Charles was already waiting for them there.

"Welcome, welcome." Charles shook their hands solemnly and said, "Welcome to the hot springs resort on Clarkia Island. This will absolutely be the best hot spring you've ever experienced."

"That's great." Matt said, "I'll definitely bring Erica and little Jake here someday, hoping the service and scenery remain just as good."

"Of course." Charles said, "You go to the hotel first and put your things away. Later, a mutant will come to deliver the map and introduce the pools."

Then he specifically turned to Natasha and said, "I know you're not feeling well, ma'am. The bathtub's water supply is automatic—just turn on the switch and it'll fill. Also, there's an outdoor pool on the balcony; you can try the open-air hot spring, which is equally wonderful."

"Thank you." Natasha said, "I only hope this actually works."