Chapter 4991

Natasha glanced at her watch, then looked up at Shiler and said, "You're running late—the bonfire party is about to start."

Shiler let out a soft sigh, about to say something, when his phone rang. He answered and said, "Hello? What? Okay, I got it—I'll be there on time."

"The bonfire party's location has been changed to Long Island," Shiler said to Natasha. "Carter told me it's because of sponsorship from Seven Seas Seafood Company—they pulled back some of their cash investment and switched to providing food and venue instead."

"This is clearly off," Natasha said, pulling out her phone, intending to call Carter, but pausing before adding, "Do you know who's on today's tour group?"

"Everyone from the first day will be going," Shiler replied, also pulling out his phone. "I need to warn Thor to keep him and Sif careful."

Natasha put her phone away and said, "Then maybe we should just wait and see what they're up to."

"Aren't you afraid of trouble?"

"The more afraid you are, the more likely trouble will come," Natasha said. "I'll have people set up ambushes around the area—if anything happens, they'll respond quickly."

"Better find a superpowered person," Shiler said. "Maybe we can contact the mutants—they're also victims in this and should be willing to help."

Natasha nodded, walked toward the car, and said, "I'll take care of it—you be careful yourself."

Shiler also returned to his car. As the city had grown larger, the drive to Long Island took longer, and there was some traffic. By the time he entered Long Island, the sun was already setting, the horizon ablaze with fiery orange-red twilight, the sea glowing unusually beautiful—though perhaps concealing something unusual and dangerous.

Upon arriving at the beach destination, a server in a vest immediately approached to greet them. Shiler saw that the blue vests bore a mermaid pattern, with cursive English beneath reading "Seven Seas Seafood."

If Atlantis Seafood is Arthur's enterprise, then this Seven Seas Seafood, which opposes them, should be Namor's enterprise. Though both are Sea Kings, their portrayals in comics differ—Arthur is a Justice League member, while Namor is an antihero, revealing their differing conduct.

Still, Namor isn't foolish—he should clearly understand the consequences of opposing the Revival Alliance at this critical juncture, especially since he's doing so under his real name.

As the car came to a stop, Shiler suddenly heard someone calling his name. He turned and saw a figure dash across the road toward him.

"Professor, it really is you—I almost didn't recognize you!" Dick said, holding an ice cream, panting, "Rachel saw you from afar—I even thought she'd mistaken you…"

Shiler recognized this Dick as his own universe's counterpart. Soon, Raven came running over with an ice cream, both in swimwear, Raven still holding a swim ring—clearly just off a swim.

Dick flashed a bright smile: "Now that's more like it—who wears a suit to the beach? Professor, your car is really nice…"

Seeing the flicker in his eyes, Shiler knew what he wanted. He stepped out of the car and said, "The Revival Alliance's vehicle—drive it carefully."

Dick cheered and jumped straight into the car. Raven opened the door and climbed in, not forgetting to toss the swim ring to Shiler.

"Professor, you really should go for a swim—the water temperature is perfect, and the sunset over the sea is beautiful! We're off—bye!"

The two sped off. Shiler shook his head helplessly, grabbed the swim ring, and walked toward the beach, where he could already see a huge bonfire pile and a large circle of American barbecue area, with several people already busy.

The sunset was slightly glaring, so Shiler put on his sunglasses. A figure spotted him and ran over in quick steps: "Doctor! Why are you here so early?"

Shiler paused, realizing the Spider-Man before him might be mistaken. He studied the man, concluded he was likely Peter from the main universe, and said, "I'm not a doctor."

Peter widened his eyes, stepped back, reassessed Shiler, shook his head, and said, "Impossible—you can't be the Professor. He never wears casual clothes, and he never wears sunglasses…"

"Obviously, you don't know the Professor well enough," Shiler said, removing his sunglasses.

"Alright, you really don't sound like a doctor," Peter said, waving his hand. "I didn't expect to misidentify someone either—it's just that you've changed so much, Professor."

Shiler smiled and said, "Does the Doctor not change much either?"

"Compared to you, he's changed far less," they said, walking together along the beach toward the barbecue area. Peter added, "Or perhaps the outward changes aren't that noticeable—just that he's been quiet for a long time. We're wondering if he's truly stopped, or if the next upheaval will be even greater."

"What do you think?" Shiler asked.

"I think he couldn't have truly stopped, but at least he's slowed down a bit," Peter said, turning around. His floral coat fluttered in the wind as he spread his arms, back to the sunset, and said, "Every decade of life brings change—except puberty, many shifts aren't easily noticed, but they still exist, don't they?"

With his back to the sunset, his face glowed orange-red, his features sharp and vivid, not blurred but more real and beautiful—like the ending of a coming-of-age film, where the car stops by the roadside and the protagonists gaze out at the distant sea.

Thor, who had been adding firewood to the sandpit, looked up: "Oh, Professor, this is really nice."

"What do you mean?" Shiler asked.

"I mean this outfit—it looks much better than that suit you used to wear that felt like it was strangling you," Thor said, continuing to lower his head and stuffing applewood into the sandpit he'd just dug.

The wood was nearly in place when he sparked a flame. But as soon as the flame touched the wood, it whooshed up instantly, igniting Thor's blond hair.

"Hahahahahaha!" a somewhat arrogant laugh came from the other side—Loki laughing uncontrollably.

Thor slapped out the flames in two or three motions, took a deep breath, and roared: "Loki!!!"

Loki blinked into appearance beside him—only to be grabbed by the scruff by Sif, who had come running at the sound.

"Let go of me! Let go of me!"

Thor said helplessly: "How old are you? Still playing with fire???"

"Cough cough…" Loki coughed while laughing, a bit choked, then turned the scepter in his hand and said, "Then you'll still get burned?"

Sif released him, shook her head helplessly. Thor walked over to help him shake off the sand: "If you're really bored and have nothing to do, go help set up the tables and chairs. And—keep away from the bonfire, whatever you do, don't light it!"

After Loki left, Thor quietly told Sif: "Go find the Ice Man to freeze the bonfire—otherwise, this bonfire party won't have a bonfire."

Sure enough, when Thor didn't mention it, it was fine—but once he did, Loki began circling the bonfire. Peter saw it and rushed over to stop him.

"What's going on?" Shiler asked Thor.

"I wanted to ask you the same thing," Thor said, glancing left and right, lowering his voice. "What's going to happen tonight? Why do we need to be careful?"

"We don't know yet—the chance of anything harming you is extremely low, but it's best to stay alert."

"I just want to eat meat," Sif said. "I hope there's a whole cow tonight."

Shiler gazed out at the sea—several people were swimming, all young, looking like mutants. Sure enough, the teenagers were splashing and laughing in the water, then came ashore—there was Gwen Spider-Man, Iceman Bobby, Quicksilver, and the Flash, among others.

They weren't particularly interested in the barbecue or bonfire, heading instead to the nearby bar to drink and chat. Shiler walked over to Eddie, who was skewering meat with Venom—eating half, saving half, and eating only meat, no peppers or similar, which sometimes left skewers with nothing but peppers.

"Venom!" Eddie said through gritted teeth. "Where's my meat?"

"Can't you take a little less pepper?" Venom replied in the same tone. "We two need to cooperate, get it? As long as you take fewer veggies and eat slower, the meat will be just enough…"

Eddie couldn't help but cover his face. Shiler picked up a glove from beside him, put it on, and grabbed the tongs. Eddie shoved all the meat over to him.

"Damn it, are you trying to drag me down with you?" Venom bellowed.

"Exactly—I plan to starve myself to death!" Eddie shouted back. "If the host dies, the parasite dies too! If you don't listen to me again, I'll starve myself to death!"

"Don't be stupid—I'll control what you eat. I'll eat everything here, including their brains!"

"In your dreams!"

Eddie started swaying side to side again. Shiler sighed, turned to him, and said, "You still okay?"

"Sorry, I might be a bit…"

Eddie's face turned into Venom's for a moment, and he roared at Shiler, as if trying to scare him off, but Shiler just watched him silently.

"Want some alcohol?" Shiler asked.

Having said that, he pulled out a cup from somewhere and handed it to Eddie. Eddie probably wanted to drown his sorrows in drink too badly; he didn't even look at what it was, just tilted it back and gulped it down.

After those two mouthfuls, Eddie shuddered, and Venom suddenly went quiet. Eddie shook his head hard a few times: "Good God, what is this stuff, how come I feel..."

"Symbiote's heartfelt recommendation." Shiler smiled.

"Ah, wait, that black parasite..."

"That's not a parasite." Shiler said, "That's a symbiote."

Eddie opened his mouth, then said somewhat desperately: "Is that some kind of bug-killing medicine? Can you give me some more? I..."

"You can see his memories." Shiler said, "From the moment he bonded with you, there have been no secrets between you. You feel he's too domineering, always able to know your thoughts, control your body, because you haven't actively controlled him."

Eddie seemed somewhat shocked. Shiler said: "Between you two, you're the one in charge, and he's even desperately hoping you'll take charge of everything, it's just that you've been resisting all along. Take this chance to take a good look at what's been added to your head."

Eddie sat there stunned. Shiler put the cooked skewers to the side and turned to look toward the other end of the beach.

The young people organized a beach volleyball match, and Peter was called over too. Right then the smoke from the barbecue kicked up, the whole barbecue area getting a bit choking, so Shiler went to the bar, drinking and watching the volleyball match.

Honestly, Shiler didn't know how they dared organize a match with Quicksilver and Flash around. But he soon found out, Iceman would shoot ice spikes, Peter had spider-sense, the others all had their own tricks, every single one was an expert.