Chapter 4992

Living in a world with superpowered beings, what would the experience be like? One can only say that superheroes are not superpowered only when they need to fight crime; they are also superpowered in daily life. Likewise, for ordinary people living in the comic book world, superpowered beings are part of their daily lives. They appear not only in the news but also around people, and there may even be a whole set of daily details to be mindful of regarding superpowered beings.

For example, when conducting any large-scale sports event, organizers must conduct more comprehensive checks on participants, even background investigations, to ensure they have no superpowers. At the same time, participants must also sign declarations guaranteeing they have no superpowers.

Moreover, if a person truly has no superpowers during the competition but later awakens superpowers—even if the type of superpower is completely unrelated to the competition—they are very likely to have their results stripped, and may even face lawsuits from fellow competitors.

This is because, once they later awaken superpowers, it cannot be ruled out that they might have used superpowers to cheat during the competition. At the same time, their superpowers could endanger the safety of other competitors. For professional athletes, sports safety is essential, so retaining the right to prosecute is necessary.

This may seem unfair to superpowered beings, but in fact, such requirements are necessary for event organizers, fellow competitors, and spectators alike. Imagine a Spider-Man-like athlete who hurls a javelin several hundred meters, randomly impaling a lucky spectator in the stands—what a scene that would be?

One can only say that the right of superpowered beings to freely participate in sports events can never outweigh the right of others on the field to protect life safety. Just like the Blazing Inferno of the Central Cosmos—if he truly became the Blazing Inferno, he could not be a race car driver. After all, if he were driving on the track, burning and running like the Ghost Rider, would other drivers and spectators still be alive?

And when Shiler began watching this volleyball match of superpowered teenagers, he felt this rule was remarkably foresighted.

Quicksilver and Flash were respectively the team captains. Quicksilver's side served first, and Peter in the back row leapt high, spiking the ball toward the opposite side. His strength was immense, making the ball speed tremendous—like a missile—flying toward the opposing team.

But then a golden flash of lightning streaked across, and the ball somehow ended up back above the net. Quicksilver seized the moment, slapped it upward with his hand, and the ball soared high again. Iceman immediately seized the opportunity, raised his hand, and unleashed a frost blast, sending the ball back into the opponent's airspace. Yet Gwen Spider-Man had anticipated this, leapt again for a spike, only to be blocked by Quicksilver once more.

The ball had been airborne for ten minutes, with no clear advantage. The scene grew increasingly intense, everyone's speed increasing, until for a moment the ball vanished from sight, replaced only by the afterimages of several players darting back and forth.

One can only say it's fortunate this is beach volleyball; otherwise, the court floor would likely have exploded by now. Even so, the original sand had been eroded by over half a meter, with ice shards scattered everywhere.

The most outrageous part? If Flash failed to receive the ball, he would reverse time. Shiler had taken six sips of his whiskey without swallowing, sighed helplessly, and put down his glass.

Fortunately, the true god who would decide the match appeared. A blue shadow leapt from the water, jaws wide open, bit the volleyball—*pfft*—the ball was punctured, yet he remained steadily planted on Quicksilver's side of the court.

"Oh, Jeff!!!!" Quicksilver let out a anguished cry.

Shark Dog Jeff kicked his short legs a few times in place, wagging his tail as he began rubbing against people. Peter lifted him from the ground, patted his head, and Jeff smeared saliva all over his face.

"Good dog, good dog!" Flash scooped Jeff up, gave him another round of ruffling, and said, "I grilled you the biggest steak—know this: sea creatures can't eat this stuff..."

The beach volleyball match ended, and Shiler finally finished his drink. By then, everyone was a little hungry, so they all naturally headed to the barbecue area to check on the meat.

American barbecue actually offers a rich variety—not just the common image of throwing a metal grate on charcoal and grilling large meat slabs. Many barbecue chefs' marinating techniques are exquisite, and besides standard charcoal grilling, there are also smoking, braising, open-flame grilling, and other methods, all pursuing the ultimate Maillard reaction, where surface color and internal juices are the two most important judging criteria.

The Revival Alliance hired professional barbecue chefs, thus daring to prepare a whole roasted ox. This can be considered one of the most difficult challenges in barbecue—unless the chef is extremely experienced, they would not attempt such a large piece.

Besides, there are also whole roasted lamb and roasted suckling pig, both requiring great attention and heat control. These are all prepared by professional chefs. However, the essence of American barbecue lies in being able to do it yourself, so basically everyone grilled their own meat.

After Shiler skewered the meat, he placed the skewers on the grill and had the chef watch over them. American barbecue skewers come in two types: one uses large chunks of beef shoulder or beef hind leg, paired with bell peppers or other vegetables, grilled into classic American beef skewers.

This type of beef skewer generally uses leaner, chewier meat. When grilling, heat control is crucial—because the meat is lean, overcooking makes it tough, but if the heat is just right, the lean meat becomes springy, with juices bursting directly in the mouth. The beef's milky fat aroma is subtle, but the beef flavor stands out, making it ideal for those who love the natural aroma of beef.

Shiler already liked eating lean beef, so in American barbecue, his favorite dish is this classic beef skewer. Of course, large chunks of lean steak are also good, but he is not particularly fond of relatively fatty cuts like beef chest and beef ribs.

Of course, many people love these parts, because when beef fat is sufficiently grilled, it releases abundant juices and rich fatty aroma.

If the meat lacks sufficient fat, there is another artificial method: make it into a filling, then bind and grill it into skewers. This allows manual adjustment of fat ratio and the addition of more spices—such as rosemary, thyme, parsley, black pepper, etc. —to produce a richer flavor.

Beyond beef, poultry cooking also has its unique aspects. Although turkey is not very tasty, as a necessary item for expressing ritual feeling, one must grit their teeth and prepare it. The Asgardians have considerable expertise in handling this tough, dry food.

The pit Thor dug in the sand earlier was for braising. After digging the pit, he filled it with charcoal and waited for the temperature to build up. After preparing the turkey, he took care not to break the skin, poured large amounts of spiced water into the cavity until the whole chicken was plump, then sealed the opening completely with needle and thread before beginning to baste it.

The first layer brushed on must be oil-based—this is a kind of oil-sealing barbecue technique that reduces internal juice evaporation, very effective for dry, tough meats. Then comes a thick layer of dry seasoning to prevent lack of flavor. Finally, a syringe is used to inject the seasoning liquid inside to avoid blandness.

The whole turkey is wrapped in thick banana leaves, with the opening also sewn shut. Placed in the fire pit, he continuously fanned the pit to raise the charcoal to maximum heat. Intense roasting prevents the chicken meat from becoming soggy. Finally, he covered the pit with sand and waited a few hours until it was ready.

But obviously they couldn't wait a few hours, so Thor used a bit of divine power to speed up the cooking process, while constantly using X-ray vision to monitor the interior, preventing the fire from getting too large and burning the meat.

The turkey had been injected with a lot of water, so when roasted, white smoke rolled out, drawing everyone over. However, not everyone can use X-ray vision; after looking for a while, finding it boring, they each went their separate ways.

Only Loki remained, crouched by the pit. He had just reached out when Thor slapped his hand back: "Don't touch—do you want to get burned?"

"How fragile do you think I am?" Loki said, slightly widening his eyes.

"If you still want to play my brother well, remember that I fear fire." Thor said quietly.

Loki's hand froze, he lifted his gaze to Thor. Thor looked into his eyes and said: "I've heard of your glorious deeds—being able to face Surtur's frost giants head-on is impressive. If you could have warned your brother in advance, it would have been even better."

"How did you recognize me? Just because I'm not afraid of fire?" Loki asked.

"No brother would fail to recognize his own brother. Although I'm willing to treat every Loki from every multiverse as a brother, clearly my brother is more special."

"Indeed, I've never heard of any Loki in any universe who loves going to prison." Loki said, curling his lip, "It was actually he who proposed the swap."

"He just wanted to figure out your universe's World Tree model. Compared to wandering around the city and attending barbecue parties, this holds greater appeal for him." Thor gently shook his head.

"Since you've figured it out, why not expose us?" Loki asked.

"I said he wanted to do it, and he could do it—so why should I expose him?"

"You're not afraid I..." Loki paused, then said, "You're not afraid I'll release something again?"

"You should be in cooldown now," Thor said, "and you know you shouldn't cause trouble too often, or your brother will truly get angry. Of course, you'd better be careful here too—the queen is pregnant; if you cause any trouble that affects her..."

"Got it, got it," Loki said, face full of impatience, "You two will definitely give birth to a bunch of blonde little monsters..."

"You even know Sif is blonde—so why is she black-haired now?"

Loki bolted away in a flash.

Thor watched his retreating back, then saw Shiler walk over and crouch down.

"Oh, professor, you figured it out too, huh."

"Of course." Shiler smiled and said, "The Loki of the Central Cosmos is much more composed—this one clearly hasn't learned his lesson yet."

Thor blinked slightly, then said: "But the lesson he received was far more severe—it's hard to imagine he was once killed by his own brother."

"Everyone marvels at the madness of their isotopes." Shiler said, "Perhaps this universe's Thor also thinks you're crazy for making Loki a prince."