As soon as Billy and his brother saw Little Jack and Little Morgan, they ran over to play with them. Susan turned her head, looked around, and then asked, "Where's my fellow countryman?"
Everyone knew she meant Stark. The two of them were both born on Long Island, New York, making them the most genuine fellow countrymen. Stark and Reed didn't get along, but they both held Susan in high regard. Even someone like Stark, who never judged a hero by their background, often mentioned he was Susan's fellow countryman.
"He went to get something for Little Morgan," Pepper shook her head and said. "You wouldn't believe it, but when we left the house today, he recited the names of over thirty sunscreen brands, plus their ingredient lists and benefits. I just found out there are so many sunscreen brands in the world."
Susan immediately laughed and then said, "They're always like that, overly focused on ingredients and chemical reactions. If you want to get back at him, just tell Reed his conclusions, and they'll definitely argue about which ingredient list is more scientific until the holiday ends."
Pepper also laughed. Reed and Stark had very different personalities, yet in some ways, they were alike. Meanwhile, Pepper and Susan were both very emotionally intelligent and socially skilled, and they had countless common topics about complaining about their husbands.
Reed soon rushed over, but he clearly looked a bit anxious, appearing rather disheveled. Shiller curiously asked, "What happened to you?"
"Uh, the teleportation portal test had a bit of a problem. I accidentally made a wormhole go to Battleworld, causing them to shut down for maintenance for three hours..."
Shiller was somewhat speechless. Then he heard Reed continue, "But that's not the issue. The problem is that the hole accidentally ended up in the Bat nest. As soon as I landed, I saw a bunch of Batmen..."
"You're lucky to be alive; you're really something." Shiller gave him a thumbs up.
"Well, as soon as I landed, I got pinned down. If I hadn't run fast myself, I definitely wouldn't have made it out."
Shiller genuinely admired Reed. Not to mention how he managed to create a wormhole into Battleworld—the barrier there was made by the creators on both sides —fireproof, theft-proof, but not Reed-proof.
Moreover, he also managed to accurately place a wormhole right into Batman's base. Shiller could guarantee that Batman was more bewildered than Reed seeing him land there.
And lastly, for him to successfully escape was surely not due to his quick reflexes. No matter how fast he reacted, he couldn't be faster than Batman. It must have been Batman who teamed up to throw him out. If a nuclear bomb inexplicably landed in their home, wouldn't they try their hardest to toss it out?
Reed's performance in the multiverse war was known to all. Batman schemed for ages and only managed to punch a hole in the Nine Major Kingdoms' barrier. Reed, with a casual move, made Asgard look like a sieve. This guy's ability to stir things up was unparalleled.
After a while, another group of people arrived one after another, though it was clear they weren't used to getting up so early. Those under 30 were yawning non-stop, and those over 30 not only yawned continuously but also had dark circles under their eyes.
"Doctor!" Xu Shang-Chi came over and waved to Shiller. He said, "I finally made it back! How have you been lately?"
"Not bad. Where did you return from? Neptune Port or Mercury?"
"Of course, from the construction site of Centaurus." Xu Shang-Chi sighed, "It seems I can't escape the fate of dealing with dust all my life. You wouldn't believe how difficult those Aliens are, each one relying on their robust body, not wearing a life-sustaining collar, and even daring to headbutt asteroids. I shouted myself hoarse with them every day."
"So are you the safety supervisor?"
"I'm just acting in that role, mainly still in charge of engineering. The previous safety supervisor drank too much and fell into a planet. In the meantime, they couldn't find anyone else, so I had to cover the position temporarily."
"Looks like Pikachu's tavern is thriving."
"That it is; it's pretty much packed every day now, and I can't even get a place. Luckily, I secretly built a stove behind the dorm to cook something myself. Alien food is quite unpalatable; I'm considering opening a segment on my account to rant about it..."
Shiller chuckled. Xu Shang-Chi's Chinese palate was even more authentic than his. He had to eat hot food with every meal, wouldn't eat anything cold, and particularly enjoyed brothy noodles or wontons. He couldn't adapt to Caucasian food, let alone the mushy alien fare.
The young people had already begun playing tabletop games beside the table in the lounge. Those with kids were watching them, and both sides were harmoniously coexisting, without disturbing one another.
Among this group of children, the most lively was Little Morgan, and it seemed she inherited her father's exceptionally fast thinking. Coupled with the abundant curiosity of her age group, it caused her to ask questions about everything she saw. At first, she was merely playing toys with the children, but after a while, she got bored and went to watch the young adults play tabletop games.
First, she asked about the rules and then observed the board, silently contemplating. Just as Deadpool was about to place a piece, she dashed over to stop him and said, "Don't place it there, or you'll regret it next round."
"Why?" Deadpool asked, puzzled.
"Look here, there's a negative effect here that will decrease your dice points by 2. The expected value of your dice roll is not optimistic, even if you're lucky enough to roll a 6, it's better not to move this round..."
Little Morgan found it a bit challenging to convey such a complex idea, which left Deadpool utterly baffled. It was only when Franklin flew over and said, "If you move this round, next round you're likely to lose life points with a small chance to break even; not moving this round gives you a high chance to break even next round, and a small chance to profit. So don't move."
"Now I get it," Deadpool scratched his head, "Just tell me how to move directly, there's no need to explain the probabilities since I don't understand any of that stuff."
Peter, observing the situation on the board, stroked his chin and moved his pawn one square forward. Little Morgan frowned again, but before she could speak, Peter said, "I'm also doing expectation management; you'll see once we're further down..."
Very soon, Stark flew in through the window. He landed, put away his battle armor, and opened the little pink umbrella. Little Morgan screamed and ran over, throwing herself at him.
"Great! It's my Hello Kitty! Give it to me, Dad..."
Stark crouched down and patiently said, "Of course, you can have it, but you have to promise to only use it in Hawaii, not open it in the cabin, and definitely don't use it to poke people..."
"Got it, got it..."
After waiting for a while, the plane arrived. The flight attendants orderly guided everyone onto the plane. You could tell they were quite nervous, likely it was their first time hosting a superhero.
S.H.I.E.L.D. does have special aircraft, but right now it's hard to get the flight route approval, so they basically use whichever private plane they can get a route for, there's really no choice.
The plane they're taking today is neither S.H.I.E.L.D.'s special aircraft nor Stark's private jet. It's a new plane launched by a new flying shuttle company. It looks like a plane but is actually more like a large flying shuttle. The advantage is that it flies fast, and it won't take long to reach Hawaii. The downside is it's very new, just recently put into use.
Shiller actually knew that this was probably just the company testing the plane. But they also knew that if it wasn't a test plane, they wouldn't get a flight route approved, and then they'd have to use a teleportation portal or take the near-orbital route. If they were going to another continent it'd be fine, but for Hawaii, which is so close, it's really not worth the hassle.
After getting on the plane, they found it was indeed quite spacious. Shiller casually chose a window seat to sit down, with those with kids sitting on the right and those without on the left, and the crew sat at the front.
After takeoff, the flight attendants started taking orders. Shiller ordered a cup of hot water, thinking they'd be off the plane soon, so he didn't bother with any food.
The kids' side was quite lively, holding menus and discussing what to eat. After much deliberation, they only ordered some snacks like fries, with a cup of milk each, and eating made them quiet down significantly.
After serving the meals, the plane quieted down. The young people were all catching up on sleep, the kids, having eaten, were also drowsy, sleeping in a disheveled manner; the adults were playing on their phones or watching movies, while Shiller worked on medical records.
Since Strange became Councilman, he's been even busier. Although he does fewer surgeries, the medical records still need to be written, and Shiller was doing it for him.
This vacation, Strange was coming too, but because he was busy, he'd arrive a day later than them. Loki was the same way.
Finally finishing a medical record, Shiller put away his pen, intending to turn his head to look out the window. When he turned his head, he noticed smoke coming from the right side of the wing.
"Wake up, everyone, wake up!!!" Shiller shouted, "Security officer, security officer!! Why is the plane smoking?!!"
"Sorry, sir, please calm down. That's not where the plane's engine is." A flight attendant quickly came over and said, "We are the most advanced antigravity aircraft, operating on the same principle as a flying shuttle, not like traditional planes..."
She hadn't finished speaking when the plane jolted violently. The children started crawling into their parents' arms, beginning to scream.
"What's going on?!" Stark just woke up from a nap, "Turbulence? No, there's no alarm, right?"
"Smoke, smoke!" Little Morgan shouted, pointing outside the window.
Stark looked out and gasped.
"That's not the engine..." The flight attendant continued.
"Of course it's not the engine, that's the damn antigravity stabilizer! Open the window, let me out!!!"
Just as he was pulling out his mecha, Franklin yawned, flew straight through the window, tinkered a bit on the wing, and came back with a scorched component, showing it off to Reed, "Look at this, I took it off intact."
"Let me see." Reed took it from his hand, looked it over, then said, "This version is a bit too old. Judging by the burnt marks, it wasn't caused by intentional damage, just an issue with the circuit design. You should have your designer update it..."
"Is that stabilizer broken?" Deadpool turned his head to look, and then said, "Then how is the plane still flying?"
"A plane has four stabilizers, missing one isn't a big deal."
"What if two are missing?"
"There might be a risk of imbalance, but as long as it's not two on the same side missing, it should be fine..."
Deadpool pointed outside the window. The smoke, which had just stopped, started again.