Natasha looked down at her watch, then looked up at Shiller and said, "You're running out of time, the bonfire party is about to start."
Shiller sighed lightly. Just as he was about to say something, the phone rang. He picked it up and said, "Hello? What? Okay, I understand, I'll be there on time."
"The location for the bonfire party has been changed to Long Island." Shiller looked at Natasha and said, "Carter told me this is because of the sponsorship from the Seven Seas Seafood Company. They withdrew part of the cash investment and instead provided food and the venue."
"This is clearly not right." Natasha took out her phone, intending to call Carter, but paused for a moment, then said, "Do you know who's visiting today?"
"Everyone from the first day will be there." Shiller also took out his phone, "I need to remind Thor to be careful with Sif."
Natasha put away her phone and said, "Then we might as well wait and see what kind of trick they're playing."
"Aren't you afraid something might go wrong?"
"The more you're afraid, the more likely something will go wrong." Natasha said, "I'll have people pre-positioned nearby, once something happens, they will respond quickly."
"It's best to find superpower users." Shiller said, "Maybe we can contact the mutants; they are also victims in this matter and might be willing to help."
Natasha nodded, walked towards the car, and said, "I'll make the arrangements, be careful yourself."
Shiller also returned to his car. As the city became larger, it took longer to get to Long Island, and there was a bit of traffic. By the time he reached Long Island, the evening sun was setting, the sky was ablaze with vibrant colors like fire, the orange-red sea looked extraordinarily beautiful, but perhaps it also concealed an unusual danger.
Upon arriving at the destination beach, a waiter in a vest immediately approached to greet him. Shiller saw a mermaid pattern printed on their blue vests, with "Seven Seas Seafood" written in fancy English below.
If the Atlantis Seafood is Arthur's industry, then this opposing Seven Seas Seafood should be Namor's industry. Although both of them are sea kings, their positions in comics are quite different. Arthur is a member of the Justice League, but Namor is more of an anti-hero, which shows their different styles of action.
However, Namor is not stupid. He should be very clear about the consequences of opposing the Rebirth Alliance at this critical moment, especially when it's done under his real name.
As the car stopped, Shiller suddenly heard someone calling his name. He turned around and saw a figure running across the road towards him.
"Professor, it's really you, I almost didn't recognize you!" Dick said breathlessly, holding an ice cream. "Rachel saw you from afar, I thought she was mistaken..."
Shiller recognized this was the Dick from his universe. Soon, Raven also ran over with an ice cream. Both were wearing swimsuits, and Raven was holding a swim ring, obviously having just gone swimming.
Dick showed a bright smile, "That's more like it, who wears a suit to the beach? Professor, your car is beautiful..."
Seeing his eyes twinkling, Shiller knew what he wanted. He got out of the car and said, "Rebirth Alliance's company car, handle it with care."
Dick cheered and immediately jumped into the car. Raven also opened the car door and got in, not forgetting to toss the swim ring to Shiller.
"Professor, you should really have a swim. The sea temperature is perfect now, and the sunset over the sea is very beautiful! We're off, bye!"
They rushed off. Shiller shook his head helplessly and walked towards the beach with the swim ring. From afar, he could see a huge bonfire pile, and next to it was a huge American barbecue area, with several people already busy there.
The sunset was slightly glaring, so Shiller put on sunglasses. A figure saw him and ran over in two or three steps: "Doctor! Why are you here so early?"
Shiller paused, realizing that this Spider Man might have misunderstood. He looked at the person and thought it should be Central Universe's Peter, so he said, "I'm not a doctor."
Peter widened his eyes, stepped back, re-evaluated Shiller, and shook his head, "Impossible, you can't be the Professor. He never wears casual clothes and doesn't wear sunglasses..."
"Clearly, you don't know the Professor well enough." Shiller took off his sunglasses.
"Alright, you do sound different from the doctor." Peter waved his hand, "I didn't expect I could get it wrong too, but ultimately it's because you've changed too much, Professor."
Shiller smiled and said, "The doctor's change isn't big?"
"Compared to you, it's still a lot smaller." They walked together along the beach to the barbecue area, Peter continued, "Or rather the changes visible on the surface aren't many, it's just that he's been quiet for a long time. We've all been wondering if he's really stopped, or if the next time will be even more groundbreaking."
"What do you think?" Shiller asked.
"I think, he can't really stop, but at least he's a bit slower." Peter turned around, his floral jacket flapping in the wind, he opened his hands back to the sunset and said, "Every decade of life brings changes, it's just that apart from puberty, many changes aren't easy to notice, but they still exist, don't they?"
When he turned his back to the sunset, his face was illuminated orange, and his features weren't blurred, but instead became more real and beautiful, like the end of a youth film, where the car stopped by the roadside, and the protagonists gazed at the distant sea.
Thor, who was adding firewood into the sand, raised his head: "Oh, Professor, this is quite nice."
"What do you mean?" Shiller asked.
"I mean, this outfit looks much better than the suit you used to wear that seemed like it was going to choke you." Thor continued to lower his head, stuffing apple wood into the newly dug sand pit.
As he stuffed enough wood in, he created a spark. But as soon as the spark touched the wood, it whooshed up, igniting Thor's golden hair.
"Hahahahahahaha!" A somewhat smug laugh came from the other side, Loki laughed so much he was out of breath.
Thor extinguished the flames in no time, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Loki!!!"
Loki flashed to his side with a swoosh, only to be caught by Sif, who had rushed over.
"Let go of me! Let go of me!"
Thor said helplessly, "How old are you? Still playing with fire???"
"Cough, cough..." Loki chuckled but got a bit choked up, twirling the magic wand in his hand, "And yet, you still got burned?"
Sif released him, shaking her head in resignation. Thor walked over and brushed the sand off him, "If you've got nothing better to do, go help set up tables and chairs. Oh, and stay away from the bonfire, don't light it up again!"
As Loki walked away, Thor quietly said to Sif, "Quick, find Iceman to freeze the bonfire, or there won't be a bonfire party anymore."
Sure enough, as soon as Thor mentioned it, Loki started circling the bonfire. Peter noticed and quickly went over to intervene.
"What's going on?" Shiller looked at Thor and asked.
"I was just about to ask you." Thor looked around and whispered, "What's happening tonight? Why do we need to be cautious?"
"It's unclear now, the probability of any harm is minimal, but it's best to stay alert."
"I just want some meat," Sif said, "Hope there's a whole cow tonight."
Shiller glanced toward the sea in the distance where a few people were swimming, all teenagers, seemingly mutants. Sure enough, as soon as they came ashore amidst laughter and splashing, there was Gwen Spiderman, Iceman Bobby, Quicksilver, and The Flash, among others.
They weren't too interested in the barbecue or bonfire and went to the bar to drink and chat. Shiller walked over to Eddie, who, along with Venom, was skewering meat, eating half the time, and leaving only bell peppers on some skewers.
"Venom!" Eddie said through gritted teeth, "Where's my meat?"
"Can't you pick fewer bell peppers?" Venom still in the same tone, "We need to cooperate, okay? If you pick fewer veggies and skewer slower, the meat will just be enough..."
Eddie couldn't help but cover his face. Shiller picked up gloves and a skewer next to him. Eddie pushed all the meat over to him.
"Damn it, are you trying to take me down with you?" Venom roared.
"That's right, I'm planning to starve myself!" Eddie shouted back at him, "As long as the host dies, so does the parasite! If you don't listen, I'll starve myself!"
"Don't be stupid, I'll control you to eat, I'll devour everything here, including their heads!"
"No way!"
Eddie started shaking his head side to side again. Shiller sighed and turned to him, "Are you okay?"
"Sorry, I might be a bit..."
Eddie's face momentarily turned into Venom's and roared at Shiller, seemingly trying to scare him away, but Shiller just watched him silently.
"Want some alcohol?" Shiller asked.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he took out a glass and handed it to Eddie. Eddie, likely wanting to drown his sorrows, didn't even check what it was before downing it.
After two sips, Eddie shuddered, and Venom suddenly went quiet. Eddie shook his head vigorously, "God, what was that, I feel..."
"A symbiont's heartfelt recommendation." Shiller chuckled.
"Wait, that black parasite..."
"Not a parasite," Shiller said, "It's a symbiont."
Eddie opened his mouth, then somewhat eagerly said, "Is that some kind of insecticide? Can I have more? I..."
"You can see his memories," Shiller said, "From the moment you bonded, there are no secrets between you. You think he's overpowering, always knowing your thoughts, controlling your body, because you haven't taken the initiative to control him."
Eddie seemed a bit shocked. Shiller said, "You're the leader in this, even he desperately wants you to lead, but you've been resisting. Seize this opportunity to look at what's in your mind now."
Eddie sat there in a daze. Shiller put the skewers aside, turning to look at the other end of the beach.
The youngsters were organizing a beach volleyball match, and Peter was called over too. Just at that moment, the smoke from the barbecue started rising, choking the whole area, so Shiller headed to the bar, watching the volleyball game while sipping his drink.
Honestly, Shiller didn't know how they dared to organize a match with Quicksilver and The Flash, but soon realized Iceman could shoot ice cones, Peter had spider-sense, and others all had their own tricks, each of them a master.