PFC Chapter 3707 The Age of Mercury (The End)
Chapter 3707 The Age of Mercury (The End)
Chapter 3707 The Age of Mercury (The End)
Everyone else was stunned, clearly not expecting Schiller's unconventional thinking. Reed scratched his head, stood on tiptoe, and cleared his throat, saying, "As for me, I don't have any objections, but it mainly depends on the woman..."
After saying that, he looked at Susan. Susan was also surprised at first. She thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I'm a little confused, but since Franklin has already returned from the future, then he must have been born, right?"
“Not necessarily,” Charles said. “Don’t feel pressured, we’re not trying to…”
"No, no, no, what I mean is, he calls me Mom, which means I must be his mother. But has he ever said who his father is?"
Reed immediately panicked, jumping up and down as if to say something. Schiller slapped him away and said, "As far as I know, the Franklins of other universes are bound to you, which means that no matter who you marry and have children with, the child will always be Franklin."
“As expected,” Susan said. “Having a child is part of my life plan, so I would very much welcome Franklin’s arrival. However, since the father is uncertain…”
“No!” Reed shouted at the top of his lungs, “Of course I will be…”
“Alright, sir, please step aside.” Stark, unable to bear it any longer, shoved Reed aside and said, “Beautiful lady, there are many talented young men in Stark Industries’ labs. I think if I introduced you to one now, you two could date, get married, and have a child—it would be perfectly fine…”
Reed was frantic. Only Charles kindly nudged Eric with his elbow, and Eric glanced at him, then reached out and tossed a shiny object into Charles's hand.
Charles shoved the object into Reed's hand. Reed looked down and saw it was a large, sparkling diamond ring. He quickly pushed through the crowd and knelt on one knee before Susan:
"Ms. Susan Stone, will you marry me?"
Susan finally smiled and nodded demurely. Reed practically sprang to his feet, embracing Susan tightly, amidst enthusiastic cheers from the surrounding crowd.
Steve laughed too, clearly relieved. If Susan was planning to have a child, then all they needed to do was ensure that nothing went wrong for the next year or so, and the rest would be easy to handle.
After all, while Rogers Jr. was strong, he couldn't compare to Franklin, who could directly modify the parameters of the universe. Moreover, Franklin was clearly conscious in the womb, meaning he might not even need to endure for over a year; he could simply wait a few months for the embryo to develop its brain.
Eric was clearly the one who breathed a sigh of relief. After all, if Franklin and Rogers Jr. were separated, one on Earth and the other in the Andromeda Galaxy, both his old home and his new home would be in danger. No matter how powerful he was, he couldn't possibly hold down an Omega-level mutant with one hand.
This was the best possible outcome, even a close call. However, Schiller still told Steve, "Until Franklin is officially born, you must move to my sanatorium, otherwise I can't guarantee I'll be there immediately if anything happens to little Rogers. If things get out of control, it could be a real problem."
“Thank you so much, Doctor,” Steve said. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. And your new nursing home has moved next to Central Park, right? The land there is very expensive. We’ll pay the rent on time.”
“No need for that.” Schiller looked at Nick. Nick shrugged and said, “S.H.I.E.L.D. is responsible for global paranormal security. Your two sons’ safety index has clearly exceeded the limit, so for at least the next year, I’m assigning you two to go to Dr. Schiller’s sanatorium to take care of our little bomb. This is your only field mission for the next few years, and all expenses will be provided by S.H.I.E.L.D.
"In addition, as a specially appointed safety officer, I should naturally be entitled to an extra safety fund."
"Yes, it's a very reasonable request. I will talk to Congress, and I believe they will be happy to provide the money once they have collected some of the test data on cosmic energy from the various laboratories."
He had barely finished speaking when Peter's phone rang. He picked it up, said a few words, and then said, "Excuse me, one of my cosmological observation teams just detected a dark matter burst, and the data is astonishing. The Solar System Development Project safety oversight team has already gone there, and I'm afraid I have to go there immediately..."
Stark's phone rang too, and he said almost the same thing. Clearly, even though the gray fog had stopped the solar system's accelerated revolution, some aftershocks remained, and they needed to deal with them as soon as possible.
This was naturally a top priority. Steve couldn't care less about the birthday party; he quickly saw the person off and then took his wife and children home to pack their bags.
Schiller also had to return to the sanatorium; he needed to prepare a room for Steve and his family of three. Luckily, the hotel's second-to-last floor had a luxurious presidential suite, perfect for Steve and his family.
Although the hotel was closed, many of the original cleaning staff remained. Schiller directed them to clean that floor specifically for the Rogers family.
By the time everything was finished, it was completely dark. The Rogers family rushed over. Manhattan was still terribly congested at this time of day, but the flying car was a huge help, allowing them to ignore the traffic jams on the ground and drive straight there. Wanda helped them move, and then, using her magical housework skills, quickly got everything organized.
Little Rogers hadn't been sleeping well since his powers kicked in, and he kept fussing. Carter had to carry him back to soothe him. Steve gently closed the door, took a step forward, but stumbled and leaned against the wall.
Schiller walked down the corridor and said, “Relax, Captain. Natasha and the others are waiting for you downstairs.”
Steve nodded and said, "I might have to go to S.H.I.E.L.D. for a security consultation tonight. Could you please look after Carter and Tommy for me?"
Schiller just smiled and didn't say anything. Steve went downstairs, but instead of seeing fully armed agents, he saw a large pile of colorful gift boxes.
“You left in such a hurry, without even taking the gifts. They’ve been preparing for so long,” Natasha said, arms crossed. “We sent everything to you. Nick told you not to worry, he’ll handle Congress and the Security Council. Xu Shangqi called his boss in Shenzhen, he’ll fly back to China tonight to explain the situation. Charles and Eric have returned to New Shangdu, they’re preparing a global announcement about the situation. Reed and Susan are preparing for the wedding. Everything will be alright soon.”
Steve stood there silently, seemingly unsure what to say. Schiller stepped forward and said, "Don't expect any reaction from our good captain. He's too shaken to handle it. Let's move the gifts to the warehouse first..."
“No,” Steve suddenly said, “I’m going to take them apart before my birthday is over.”
Schiller glanced at his watch and said, "There are less than two and a half hours left. Are you sure?"
“Yes.” Steve said and immediately got to work, bending down to pick up a box from the ground and starting to open it. Then he beckoned to Schiller and the others, saying, “Help me arrange the gifts, the big ones over here, the small ones over there…”
“Alright,” Schiller said with a smile, “you still have some helpers.”
After speaking, Schiller sent a few messages in the group chat. A short while later, a group of young people in hospital gowns rushed down:
"Captain America!!! The doctor really brought Captain America back to us!!! Long live Captain America!!!"
Steve was squeezed into the crowd with a helpless expression, and then they tossed him into the air as if celebrating a victory, shouting "Hooray!" repeatedly.
The young people worked quickly and soon sorted the gift boxes. Steve was also fast; although there were quite a few gifts, they were just cardboard boxes, and he finished unpacking them quickly.
Because it was unpacked so quickly, he didn't get a good look at it. Schiller had prepared a large box and a trolley for him, and he put all the gifts in the large box.
Schiller shook the bottle in his hand and said, "I'm afraid I'm the only one who can celebrate midnight with you. Let's go."
They went to the kitchen. Schiller went to get a glass and poured wine, while Steve examined the gifts one by one.
Bucky gave him a set of art supplies. Steve shook his head and said, "He's still so unoriginal, giving me the same thing every year. But at least he's alive to come to my birthday party; that's the best gift he could have given me."
Strange gave him a sling ring, the kind that can open a small portal through a person. He'd been busy in Kamar-Taj lately, so he hadn't come to the party; the gift was brought by someone else.
Loki didn't come either; he's been very busy lately. However, he did send over an Asgardian shield. It's said to be the one Thor used when he was young, but Schiller and Steve didn't quite believe it, because Thor didn't seem like the type to use defensive equipment.
Nick gave Steve a pair of shoes, the kind of tactical boots he loved to wear when he was younger. Steve couldn't help but exclaim, "I can't believe this brand is still around. But these shoes are really good for marching and hiking; we all wore these back in the day."
Xu Shangqi gave him Chinese cigarettes. Steve was delighted when he saw it. Although he didn't smoke, he was worried about what gift to bring when visiting his old comrade-in-arms.
"Essan was a real heavy smoker; he was the biggest smoker during training. He not only smoked himself, but he also stole cigarettes from the neighboring company. He got caught once..."
Steve rambled on about the past, occasionally taking a sip of his drink. Schiller didn't respond, just listened quietly, but he could glean a glimpse of the idealists of the Lighthouse from Steve's narration.
"Oh, what's this?" Steve took something that looked like a book out of the box, gently stroked the cover, and looked at it closely, saying, "My God, could this be a hand-drawn comic?!"
Schiller laughed and lightly touched his glass to Steve's. Steve looked up at him in disbelief:
"You drew this?!"
Schiller nodded.
Steve lowered his head and gazed silently at the cover, then began to flip through the pages. The first chapter wasn't long; even with careful reading, it wouldn't take much time. Then he closed the comic and looked at the title on the cover:
"Why the 'Mercury Age'? I thought..."
“You think I’d use your usual ‘Golden Age’?” Schiller said, shaking his head slightly. “The Golden Age is always the present. No matter how good the past was, it’s like mercury—shiny and beautiful, but it will slip through every crack and you can never hold onto it.”
Steve remained silent for a moment, then turned to look out the window. The moonlight was beautiful tonight, and the flying vintage car was parked on the lawn. The moonlight shone on its shiny surface, almost obscuring its original dark color; the whole car looked like flowing mercury—just like the era it belonged to: bright, mysterious, with a touch of cruel indifference, flowing more finely than sand, more joyfully than a stream, and like mercury, its beautiful appearance made people overlook its dangerous nature.
Steve looked again at the pile of things lying in the box. They were disorganized, lacking both exquisite beauty and sculptural purity; they looked ordinary and trivial. But as Steve gazed at them, he heard the sound of a harp being plucked, each note distinct, an echo of his own heartstrings.
“You’re right,” Steve said. “Now is the best of times, it’s time to say goodbye to the past.”
“The way to say goodbye to the past is not to forget, but to record. When something is written on paper, it becomes history, forever trapped between the pages or in people’s oral traditions, rather than living in the present,” Schiller said, looking at the comic book in Steve’s hand.
“Then write it all down, Doctor,” Steve said with a laugh. “I have a feeling this comic book will be a bestseller.”
It's so annoying, every time I try to add an extra chapter, something goes wrong. My house is being renovated, and a worker fell from the roof without a safety harness. Luckily it was only two stories, but it was still a serious fall, and he's in the hospital. I've been running back and forth between the two buildings lately. Everyone renovating, please make sure to have someone supervising you at all times! Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely all safety precautions must be taken!!
(But it's best not to renovate at all; renovations drive people crazy.)
(End of this chapter)