Chapter 1031: Astonishing the World (Part 8) _1

When Shiller walked into the room, it was as silent as if there were no one there at all, even the sound of breathing was suppressed. Steve was sitting on a booth sofa next to the bar, and there were two unopened cans of beer on the table.

When Shiller sat down opposite him and touched the surface of the two beer cans, he found that one was at room temperature and the other was cold.

There was also a bottle of strong liquor under the table which looked like a base for cocktail mixes. But because it was too close to Steve, Shiller didn't reach for it and could only tell from the appearance of the bottle that it was a strong liquor.

The room was actually the recreation room of the Avengers Base. Where the members would spend their time when not on mission, chatting, drinking, playing pool, or table football.

It maintained the consistent design style of the Avengers Base, with smooth metal plates as wallpaper, dark-colored floors with rivets at the sides. Industrial-looking lights and decorative pipes lined the walls, two bright light strips ran under the bar counter, providing the only source of light in the room.

Steve was sitting on the sofa, his elbows leaning on his knees, and his hands covering his face.

Hearing a hiss of deflating air, Steve's hand moved slightly, but he didn't look up until Shiller placed the other opened can of beer in front of him.

Steve whimpered, shaking his head, and then covered his eyes with his hands again, like a drunk who had lost consciousness.

"Steve, stop pretending, I know you haven't been drinking." Shiller took another sip of the room temperature beer. The brew, not being cold enough, carried a somewhat astringent bitterness that he was not accustomed to. Therefore, he put the can down.

"Based on what I saw near the table, I think your actions went like this: you began feeling uncomfortable, sensing an onset of a condition. You thought of numbing yourself with alcohol."

"You walked over to the bar and instinctively picked up a cold beer. After returning to your seat, you remembered that you had just finished working out and couldn't drink something cold due to sweat, so you went back to fetch a room-temperature beer."

"Just as you were about to open the room-temperature beer, perhaps contemplating its bitter taste or feeling it wouldn't be able to drown your sorrows, you headed back to the bar and fetched a bottle of strong liquor."

"But then Peter came over. You realized that though he is of legal age to drink, getting blackout drunk on strong liquor wasn't done. You couldn't set a bad example for the young."

"So, instinctively, you hid the liquor under the table, placing it near your leg."

"You didn't originally want to call me, but under Peter's constant urging, you had no choice but to do so, lest you come across as an old-timer who is too proud to seek treatment."

"Enough." Steve spoke, but Shiller continued his rapid-fire analysis, "You care deeply about this. You really didn't want anyone to find out that the spiritual leader from the last century, in this day and age, is completely out of touch."

"You've learned to use a smartphone and adapted to modern life, yet in a blink of an eye, Stark Group comes out with a bunch of things that even modern people don't understand. Like, if you want to take a shuttle, you must apply for a transit card. But applying for the card is an entirely automated process."

"This is not like your experience in the last century where there would be an agent to offer you a warm service when you go to a bank for business. If you want to apply for a shuttle and sky-train transit card, all you need to do is head to the automated service center near the transit administration. You don't even need to operate the machine, just tell the AI what you want to do."

"It's a very straightforward process; so straightforward that even a few-year-old child could manage as long as they find the location. But you refuse to do it because you worry excessively about the potential mishaps that may occur in this simple process."

"Or, perhaps what bothers you most is that now is the peak period for applying for transit cards. The automated service center must be crowded. You don't know how to interact with the AI. You fear asking dumb questions and fear more that others could hear your dumb questions."

"Stop it, Shiller, please." Steve's voice trembling, he said, "I'm not worrying about these things. I can learn them all. I am Captain America, my learning capability has been enhanced too."

"Who told you that?" Shiller asked.

Steve was left a bit stunned by Shiller's question. He took his hands off his face, his hair dishevelled, covering his clear eyes, making him look somewhat weary.

"I guess, maybe it was the people who transformed you that told you?" Shiller took another gulp of the unpleasant room temperature beer. He really couldn't take it anymore, so he took the cold beer in front of Steve, opened it, took a few big gulps, and sighed:

"After your transformation, the scientists told you that you had been turned into the most perfect human being of this era. Incredible physique, a smart brain, exceptional learning ability, an incomparable kind heart."