What is it like to live in a world with superpower users? Let's just say, superheroes are not only superpower users when they need to fight crime; in everyday life, too. Likewise, for ordinary people living in the American Comic World, superpower users are part of their daily lives. They don't just appear in the news; they appear around people, and there's even a whole set of details for dealing with superpower users that need to be noticed.
For example, when organizing any large sports events, participants need to undergo more comprehensive examinations, even background checks, and it must be ensured that they have no superpowers. Meanwhile, participants must also sign a declaration confirming that they do not have superpowers.
Moreover, if someone indeed had no superpowers when participating, but later awakened superpowers, even if the type of superpower is completely unrelated to the competition, they are very likely to have their results stripped and could even be sued by the other participants.
This is because once they awaken superpowers later, there's no way to rule out the possibility that they cheated using superpowers during the competition. Additionally, their superpowers could potentially endanger the safety of other participants. For professional athletes, sports safety is extremely necessary; therefore, the right to retain legal action is reserved.
It seems unfair to superpower users, but actually, whether for the event organizers, the other participants, or the spectators, such requirements are necessary. Imagine a player like Spider Man, blindly throwing a javelin a few hundred meters, randomly impaling a lucky spectator in the stands, what kind of scene would that be?
The freedom for superpower users to participate in sports events can never be higher than the right of others on the field to maintain life safety. Just like the Human Torch in the Central Universe, if he became the Human Torch, he couldn't be a race car driver. After all, if he was driving on the field and suddenly went up in flames like the Ghost Rider, would the other drivers and spectators still be alive?
And as Shiller started watching the volleyball game of these superpowered teenagers, he felt that these rules were very farsighted.
Quicksilver and The Flash were the leaders on opposite sides. Quicksilver served first, and Peter leaped high from the back row, spiking fiercely at the opposite side. His strength was immense, making the ball fly at missile-like speed toward the opposition.
But then a golden lightning flashed on the opposite side, and somehow the ball was back above the net. Quicksilver seized the timing, slapped his hand upwards, and the ball soared high again. Iceman immediately seized this opportunity, raising his hand for a Frost Shock, and the ball was sent to the other side's sky. But Gwen Spiderman had anticipated this, once again jumping up for a mighty spike, only to be blocked by Quicksilver.
The ball hovered in the air for about ten minutes, with no clear winner. The scene became increasingly intense, with everyone's speed escalating; for a moment, the ball became invisible, and only the shadows darting here and there could be seen.
Lucky it was a beach volleyball match, otherwise, the volleyball court floor might have exploded by now. Even so, the original beach had been gouged down by over half a meter, with ice shards scattered everywhere.
The most outrageous part was that when a ball was not caught properly, The Flash would rewind time. Shiller sipped his whiskey six times without actually drinking it, sighed helplessly, and put down his glass.
Fortunately, the True God who sealed the battle appeared. A blue shadow leapt from the water, opening its gaping mouth to bite the volleyball. With a loud pop, the ball was punctured, but it landed steadily on Quicksilver's side of the ground.
"Oh, Jeff!!!!" Quicksilver let out a tragic cry.
Shark Dog Jeff kicked his little short legs a few times where he stood, wagging his tail and started to nuzzle people. Peter picked him up from the ground, stroked his head, and Jeff slobbered all over his face.
"Good dog, good dog!" The Flash picked up Jeff and gave him a good rub, "I grilled the biggest steak for you, you know, creatures from the sea don't often get to eat this stuff..."
The beach volleyball game concluded, and Shiller finally finished his drink. By this time, everyone felt a bit hungry, so they all headed over to the barbecue area simultaneously to check on the meat.
American barbecue actually has a rich variety and is not just what many imagine, throwing a metal grid over charcoal fire and cooking large chunks of meat. Many barbecue chefs have extraordinary techniques for marinating, and aside from ordinary charcoal grilling, there are also smoking, stewing, open-flame grilling, among other methods, all in pursuit of the ultimate Maillard reaction, where the color of the outer crust and the internal juices are the two most crucial judging criteria.
The Rebirth Alliance hired professional barbecue chefs, which is why they boldly made roast whole beef. This could be said to be the most challenging task in the barbecue world, and unless the chef has extensive experience, they would typically not barbecue such a large item.
Apart from this, there was also roast whole lamb and roast piglet, which are also dishes requiring great thought and precise timing and heat. All of these were cooked by professional chefs. However, the essence of American barbecue is in being hands-on, so essentially everyone grilled their own meat.
After skewering the meat, Shiller placed them on the grill, letting the chef keep an eye on them. American barbecue skewers are divided into two types, one with large pieces of meat from the beef shoulder or rump, paired with bell peppers or other vegetables, creating classic American beef skewers.
This type of beef skewer generally uses less fatty, more muscular lean meat. The heat is very important when grilling, as being low in fat means that over-grilling will make it tough, but if the heat is just right, the lean meat will be very chewy, its juices will burst right in the mouth. The dairy aroma of the fat is faint, but the beef flavor becomes very prominent, which is perfect for those who prefer the original aroma of beef.
Shiller already enjoys eating lean beef, so his favorite dish in American barbecue is this classic beef skewer. Of course, large lean steaks are also nice, but he is less fond of beef brisket and ribs, which tend to have more fat.
Of course, many people love these parts because when the fat in beef is adequately grilled, it yields more abundant juices and rich fatty aromas.
What if it doesn't have enough fat naturally? There is another method of manually adjusting; that is, making it into a stuffing and forming it into skewers to grill. This way, not only can the fat ratio be manually adjusted, but more spices can also be added, such as rosemary, thyme, parsley, black pepper, etc., to create a denser flavor.
Besides beef, there are also distinct methods for cooking poultry. Although turkey doesn't taste very good, as a must-have for a sense of ritual, they had to make it despite it being tough. Asgardians have a knack for handling such tough and dry ingredients.
The pit Thor dug in the sand earlier was used for roasting. After digging the pit, fill it with charcoal and wait for the temperature to gradually build up. Once the turkey is prepared, be careful not to break the skin, and inject a large amount of spiced water into the cavity until the whole turkey is plump, then sew the opening shut completely with needle and thread and start applying the marinade.
The first layer applied must be an oil-based marinade—this is a kind of oil-sealed roasting technique that prevents the juices inside the meat from evaporating, which works well for various types of dry and tough meats. Next, apply a thick layer of dry marinade to ensure it absorbs the flavors. Finally, use a syringe to inject the marinade inside to prevent it from being flavorless inside.
Wrap the entire turkey with thick banana leaves, sewing the openings shut too. Once it's placed in the fire pit, continuously fan the pit to get the charcoal to the highest temperature. Roasting with high heat prevents the turkey meat from getting too soft. Finally, cover with sand and wait a few hours until it's ready.
However, they obviously can't wait for a few hours now, so Thor used a little divine power to speed up the roasting process while constantly using X-ray vision to check the internal condition to prevent it from burning.
As the turkey had quite a lot of water injected, it smoked heavily while roasting, attracting everyone's attention. But not everyone could see through it, and after watching for a while, they lost interest and went their separate ways.
Only Loki remained crouched beside the pit. As he reached out his hand, Thor slapped it away: "Don't touch it, do you want to get burned?"
"I'm not that fragile." Loki widened his eyes slightly.
"If you still want to play the role of my brother well, remember that he is afraid of fire," Thor said softly.
Loki's hand paused as he looked up at Thor. Thor looked into his eyes and said, "I've heard of your mighty exploits, facing Surtur's Frost Giants is quite impressive, it'd be even better if you could give your brother a heads-up in advance."
"How did you recognize me? Just because I'm not afraid of fire?" Loki asked.
"There's no brother who wouldn't recognize his own sibling. Even though I'm willing to treat every Loki across the Multiverse as a brother, clearly, my brother is more special."
"Indeed, never heard of a universe's Loki that loves being jailed," Loki pouted, "It was he who suggested the swap."
"He just wants to figure out the model of your universe's World Tree. Compared to wandering around the city and attending BBQ parties, that is far more appealing to him." Thor gently shook his head.
"Since you found out, why not expose us?" Loki asked.
"I told you, he wants to do it, and he can do it, so why would I expose it?"
"Aren't you afraid I'll..." Loki paused and then said, "Aren't you afraid I'll let something out again?"
"You should be in a cooling-off period recently," said Thor, "You know you can't cause trouble too frequently, otherwise your brother would really get angry. Of course, you'd better be cautious here too, the Queen of Gods is pregnant, if you cause any trouble and affect her..."
"Got it, got it," Loki said impatiently, "You two will definitely have a bunch of blonde little monsters..."
"You do know Sif is blonde, so why is she now a brunette?"
Loki made a swift exit.
Thor watched his retreating figure, and then saw Shiller walk over and crouch down.
"Oh, Professor, you noticed too, didn't you?"
"Of course," Shiller smiled and said, "The Loki of the Central Universe is much steadier, this one clearly hasn't learned from past mistakes yet."
Thor was slightly taken aback, then said, "But the lessons he endured were much harsher, it's hard to imagine he was once killed by his own brother."
"Everyone marvels at the madness of their own counterparts," Shiller said, "Perhaps the Thor of this universe would also think you were crazy to make Loki a Prince."