In The DC World With Marvel Chat Group

Chapter 312: Language! (1)

New York, Manhattan, this incredibly prosperous and busy district, only becomes somewhat quiet at night. Until the sky is completely dark, the snow gradually stops falling. The air remains cold, and the accumulated snow from the whole day piles up on both sides of the streets, illuminated by the warm-colored streetlights.

Inside the shop windows on both sides of the street, mannequins have already put on off-white reindeer sweaters, adorned with red and green scarves. Strings of shiny light bulbs hang from the top of the shop windows, and exaggerated gift boxes are placed in the corners.

Although Christmas is still some time away, the businesses occupying the best locations in all of New York have long prepared for the upcoming holiday shopping frenzy.

In the middle of the central roundabout, the enormous Christmas tree is in place, but the scattered light bulbs on it have yet to be lit. The gift boxes are covered in thick snow, waiting to be cleaned, but there is already a constant stream of people gathering for group photos.

In the visitor room on the top floor of Arkham Sanatorium's west side, Schiller leans against the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a cup and watching the children playing and chasing each other on the street below. Strange sits on the sofa, organizing some scattered magazines.

"I wonder who told me yesterday that they would never wear a reindeer sweater for Christmas," Schiller says without turning his head, but Strange senses the mockery in his tone. Strange lets out a scoffing sound from his nose and looks down at his own blue and white reindeer sweater.

It is a very ordinary turtleneck sweater, with light blue on the collar and shoulders, followed by white, and then light blue again. The white part has a blue pattern made up of reindeer and snowflakes. It can be said that this is a typical reindeer sweater that is likely to be worn by many people during Christmas.

While flipping through the magazines in his hand, Strange says, "When I passed by the shop window, I didn't even give it a glance. It's just that I felt sorry for the salesperson there who couldn't sell all the stock. So I bought one. As for you, I thought you were the type of person who doesn't like to join in the crowd."

Strange turns his head to look at Schiller, who is also wearing a reindeer sweater. He wears a white shirt underneath, with a dark green reindeer sweater on top. There is a white reindeer on the chest. The chances of this sweater clashing with others are much smaller than the one Strange is wearing, but it's not entirely impossible.

At that moment, the creaking sound of the door opening is heard, and Steve walks in wearing a reindeer sweater. He is taken aback when he sees Strange and Schiller's outfits. Steve scratches his head and says, "I thought you guys were the type of people who don't like to join in the crowd."

Because the reindeer sweater he is wearing perfectly combines the styles of Strange and Schiller, with red and green colors and a white reindeer on the chest.

"I say, Captain, this color is a bit old-fashioned, did you choose it yourself?" Strange looks at Steve and asks.

Steve walks over, sits on the sofa, rests his arms on his knees, and says, "It was a gift from Nick. He said SHIELD should have a festive atmosphere. Not just me, Natasha and Hill also received this gift, but they thought the color and style were too old-fashioned, so they didn't wear it."

"I think it's just

right. After all, old-fashioned clothes suit old-fashioned people," Steve says with a smile.

"I hope that next time I go to the SHIELD base, I don't see a huge Christmas tree with golden bells hanging all over it or various small lights hanging from the eaves," Strange crosses his chest, and the three of them laugh.

"I can't compliment Nick's aesthetics. Although we are all from that era, he clearly doesn't understand that the aesthetics of that era are not considered retro for the present, but rather old-fashioned," Steve shakes his head.

"Let's get to the point," Schiller walks over, puts the cup on the table, and then goes to the other side of the dining table, taking two more cups and pouring water for the two.

"I heard Nick wants to organize a Christmas dance party?"

Before Schiller could finish speaking, Strange raises his hands and says, "Oh my god, spare me. Doesn't he know how busy we are?"

"Yes," Steve nods and rubs his cup with his hand. He says, "As you know, he has been dedicated to uniting these individuals with special abilities and forming a team..."

"He won't miss any opportunity to gather us together for a chat, heart-to-heart conversation, and to strengthen our cohesion. Although I have no objections to such activities, just thinking about the tedious procedures of a dance party gives me a headache."

Schiller and Strange exchange glances and say, "The most headache-inducing part should be finding a dance partner, right?"

Steve sighs deeply. Strange was about to tease him, but when he thinks about his own love life, he also sighs.

The biggest problem with his love life is that he doesn't have one at all. Strange complains, "I'm really about to work myself to death. I haven't left the Sanctum for a whole week. Can you believe it?"

"That group of demons would call for even the smallest matters, from territorial disputes and loan interest rates to multi-party negotiations. And even for lost and found items, pet boarding, and insomnia chat, what do they think this place is?"

Strange sighed, but Schiller asked him, "Isn't Loki there? Doesn't he claim to know everything in the universe?"

"Don't you know? Loki and Thor are still on Sakaar Star and haven't come back. I don't know if they'll make it back before Christmas..."

"What are they doing there?" Schiller asked in confusion. "Isn't it a desolate planet?"

"That's right, but you should know Thor's personality. He wants to save the slaves there, and Loki, I don't know what he's thinking, but he's causing trouble with his elder brother there. The Ancient One has mentioned it a few times," Strange said, taking a sip of water and then frowning at the cup. "Why is this hot water? Don't we have tea or coffee?"

"It's already 10 p.m. Are you planning to stay up all night?"

Strange pursed his lips, put down the cup, and said, "It's actually better if those two brothers don't come back. At least we don't have to worry about them causing trouble on Earth. After all, Thor's powers have been restored, and Loki is probably close behind..."

Steve also nodded and said, "You're right. It's one thing if they don't have their powers, but if they regain them and continue to live among ordinary people, it's inevitable that they'll bring danger to them. Nick will have another headache."

"It seems like both of you have been busy lately, and I'm the only idle one," Schiller said, bypassing the sofa and sitting on one side, leaning against the soft backrest, taking a sip of hot water, and letting out a satisfied sigh.

"You're going to be busy soon because there have been quite a few strange events recently, even Peter has been busy."

"What happened?"

"I've been investigating this matter recently. Perhaps you've heard about the recent paranormal events in Queens?"

"Paranormal events? Are you talking about hauntings and such?" Strange frowned and asked.

"That's right. As you know, there are many residential areas in New York, and there are also many cemeteries. Recently, residents have claimed to have seen necromancy, skeletons near the cemeteries, and there are many rumors about ghostly lights."

"Don't we have these kinds of things every year?" Strange said disdainfully. "The hospital I work at loves spreading this kind of gossip—suddenly missing corpses in the morgue, seeing ghostly lights in the corridors at night, deceased patients appearing in a window. What's there to discuss?"

"The difference is that this time, the witnesses include Spider-Man Peter and his uncle and aunt."

"They live in Forest Hill, Queens, and the west side of Forest Hill Park is the Forest Hill Cemetery. First, Peter saw something resembling a skeleton when he was walking his dog, and then his aunt was scared by ghostly lights. So he's been busy investigating this matter recently."

Strange fell silent, and Schiller also fell into thought because they both understood Peter well. He wasn't the kind of person who liked to make a big fuss or exaggerate things.

Steve looked at Strange and asked, "This should be a matter for your Magic realm, right? Can your Magic practitioners resurrect skeletons or control ghostly lights?"

Strange pressed his knuckles against his chin, thinking as he said, "In theory, it is possible. The power of a Magic practitioner actually comes from exchange. If the exchange object carries the attribute of resurrecting the undead, then they should be able to control necromancy and skeletons."

"But in reality, hardly any Magic practitioners would do that because it doesn't make much sense. All exchanges must come with a cost, and the obtained power should be used in more useful ways. What's the use of resurrecting corpses and undead? Are they just meant to scare people?"

"Well... can't they be used for attacks or something?" Steve asked.

However, Schiller looked at Steve and said, "Captain, you are a melee warrior. You should know that skeletons and corpses are nothing difficult to deal with, right?"

"They are actually just variations of humans. It's even better to say that they are weaker than humans. Without Magic protection, skeletons have no muscles and can hardly withstand the strikes of any sharp weapon. Corpses, apart from being disgusting, are not much different from ordinary people..."

"To make these things have strong combat abilities, a significant amount of Magic energy needs to be infused," Strange explained. "You have to use that energy to protect their bones and muscles, which have already begun to rot, and give them the power of a soul flame, so they have the basic intelligence to pick up weapons and fight against enemies."

"With so much energy, one can actually create more powerful monsters than these things. There was once a Dark Sorcerer who conjured a dark dragon in Montana, and an undead mage who controlled a group of soul-eating birds to attack a hospital..."

"But skeletons... at least I haven't heard of anyone doing that in Kamar-Taj. Even if these things are protected by Magic, a very, very large number of them would be needed to launch an attack on a modern human city."

Steve rubbed his chin and nodded, "Indeed, if they had that capability, it would be faster for large-scale monsters to invade the city. So, what are they trying to do? Just scare people? Create panic?"

However, Schiller shook his head and said, "It doesn't seem like it. If they wanted to create panic, they should go towards Manhattan or Brooklyn. Those two places are the center of New York. Queens has more mountains and parks, but the population is not dense enough, and journalists don't like to go there."

Just as they were discussing this topic, Steve's mobile phone suddenly rang. He picked up the phone and pressed the answer button. On the other end was Peter, sounding a little anxious.

"Captain, there are skeletons! Moving skeletons! They're in the Forest Hill Cemetery. Can you come over?!"

"Listen, Peter, stay calm. Is the situation really urgent? I'll be there right away..."

"Well... it's not that urgent. They can't beat me, but I don't know what to do with them. If I punch them, will they faint? They don't even have brains, so they shouldn't be able to faint, right?"

Steve looked up at Strange, and Strange shrugged, saying, "Well, I guess it's time for a cup of coffee. Looks like another all-nighter for today..."

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