Chapter 312 Language! (Part 1)_1

New York, Manhattan, a bustling and busy district where only in the evening does it start to quiet down. By the time the sky is completely dark, the snow gradually stops. The air remains chillingly cold. An entire day's worth of snow is piled up on either side of the streets, lit up warmly by the streetlights.

In the shop windows on both sides of the street, mannequins are already dressed in beige reindeer sweaters, adorned with red and green scarves. One string of shiny bulbs is suspended at the top of the windows, and heaps of gift boxes are displayed in the corners.

Though it's still some time before Christmas, these businesses claiming the best spots of New York are already prepared for the upcoming holiday shopping frenzy.

The huge Christmas tree in the middle of Central Island has been steadily set up, with its twinkling bulbs yet to be lit. Gifts boxes are topped with thick accumulated snow that hasn't been cleared yet, but the crowd taking group pictures there is already unceasing.

In the guest room at the top floor of the west wing of Arkham Sanatorium, Shiller leans against the floor-to-ceiling window with a cup in hand, watching the kids chasing each other in the streets below. Meanwhile, Strange is sitting on the sofa, tidying up some scattered magazines.

"I wonder who was it, who told me just yesterday that he would rather die than wear a deer sweater this Christmas," Shiller doesn't turn his head. But Strange detects a mocking tone in his voice. He snorts through his nose and looks down at his own blue and white reindeer sweater.

It's a regular high-necked sweater that is pale blue from the neck, then white, and then pale blue again. On the white part, there are blue patterns of reindeers and snowflakes. It is safe to say this is the kind of sweater that if worn out on Christmas, nine out of ten times would be a style clash.

While leafing through the magazines in his hand, Strange speaks, " I didn't even give it a second glance when I passed the store window, but I felt bad for the sales clerk who couldn't move the stock, so I just picked one up. I, for one, thought you were the sort who didn't like conforming."

Strange turns his head to look at Shiller, who is also wearing a reindeer sweater. He has a white shirt on underneath with a dark green sweater on top, complete with a white reindeer on his chest. The chance that someone else appears in the same sweater as his is by far smaller than Strange's, but it is not zero either.

"After all, everybody likes dressing like this, and I don't want to be a black sheep," Shiller says after taking a sip from his glass.

Just then, the sound of the door opening fills the room. As Steve walks in wearing a reindeer sweater, he stops dead at the sight of Strange and Shiller. Scratching his head, Steve says, "I thought you guys were the type who didn't like mixing with the crowd."

Steve's reindeer sweater perfectly combines the designs of Strange's and Shiller's with alternating red and green stripes and a white reindeer on the chest.

"I mean, Captain, this color is a tad outdated, did you pick this out yourself?" Strange asks as he looks at Steve.

Steve walks over, sits on the sofa and rests his arms on his knees. "It's a present from Nick. He said that S.H.I.E.L.D. should have some holiday spirit. It wasn't just me, Natasha and Hill also received these gifts. But they think the color and the style are outdated, so they didn't wear it."

"I think it is just right, after all, outdated clothes are fitting for outdated people like me." Steve chuckled.

"God forbid me from seeing a gigantic Christmas tree covered with golden bells or different colored Christmas lights hanging from the eave the next time I go to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base." Strange makes the sign of the cross over his chest, and they all burst into laughter.

"I really can't compliment Nick's taste, even though we are all from the same era, it seems he has yet to realize that the aesthetics from back then aren't considered retro to this day, but rather outdated," Steve shakes his head.

"Let's get down to business." Shiller puts his cup on the table, goes to the other side of the pantry, fetches two glasses and pours water for the two.

"I heard that Nick wants to throw a Christmas ball?"

Before Shiller can finish, Strange raises his hands and says, "My God, have mercy on me, doesn't he know how busy we are?"

"Yes." Steve nods, gently rubbing his cup as he says, "You know, he has always been committed to uniting individuals with special powers into a team…"

"He wouldn't miss out on any opportunity that could bring us together to chat, heart to heart, and enhance our bond. I don't have any qualms about these activities, but just thinking about the tedious process of a ball gives me a headache."

Shiller and Strange exchange glances and say, "The most tiresome part must be finding a dance partner, right?"

Steve lets out a deep sigh, and Strange wanted to tease him, but then he thinks about his own love life and sighs as well.

The biggest problem with his love life is that he essentially doesn't have one. Strange complains, "I'm truly swamped with work. Believe it or not, I have not set foot outside the Sanctum for a week."

"Those demons call me over the tiniest things, from territorial disputes, loan interest rates, and multilateral negotiations, to lost and found, pet-sitting, and chitchats to cure insomnia. What do they think this place is?"

Strange sighs and Shiller asks him, "Isn't Loki around? Isn't he supposed to be a walking encyclopedia?"

"Didn't you know? Both Loki and Thor are still on Sakaar and haven't returned yet; not sure if they will be back here before Christmas..."

"What are they doing there?" Shiller asks somewhat puzzled, "Isn't that a savage planet?"

"Yes, but you should know about Thor's character; he wants to save the slaves there. As for Loki, I have no idea what he's thinking. He's just fooling around with his brother. The Ancient One has already complained a few times." Strange takes a sip of water, then frowns at his cup saying, "How come this is hot water? Is there no tea or coffee?"

"It's already 10 o'clock at night, are you planning on staying up all night?"

Strange grimaced, put down his cup, and said, "It's good that those two brothers haven't come back, at least we don't have to worry about them causing any trouble on Earth, after all, Thor's divine power has been restored, and Loki's should be coming along soon..."

Steve also nodded and said, "Right, it's acceptable if they have no divine power, but if they have it restored and are living among ordinary people, it's inevitable they could bring danger to them, and Nick would have another headache."

"It seems like you two have been busy lately while I'm the only one with free time." Shiller circled around the couch, sat on one side of it, leaned against the soft cushion behind him, sipped some hot water, and sighed contentedly.

"You should be busy soon because lately, there's been a lot of weird stuff happening, even Spider-Man Peter is super busy."

"What happened again?"

"Recently, I've been busy investigating this issue. Maybe you've heard about the recent paranormal incidents in Queens District?"

"Paranormal incidents? You mean like hauntings?" Strange asked, frowning.

"Exactly, as you know, New York has many residential areas, and consequently, many cemeteries. Lately, several residents claim to have seen undead and skulls near the cemeteries, and there have been many rumors about ghostly flames."

"Aren't these things happening every year?" Strange said dismissively, "The hospital where I work loves to spread gossip like this. Things like corpses suddenly missing from the morgue, ghostly flames seen in the corridors at night, patients who've long been dead suddenly appearing in a window... What's there to discuss?"

"What's different this time is that among the witnesses were Spider-Man Peter, as well as his uncle and aunt."

"The family lives in Forest Hills in Queens, and Forest Hills Cemetery is on the western side of Forest Hills Park. Peter first spotted something resembling a skull while out walking his dog. Following this, his aunt was scared by the ghostly flames, so he's been busy investigating this."

Strange fell silent and Shiller also pondered because they both knew Peter, and he was not the type to exaggerate or sensationalize things.

Steve looked towards Strange and asked him, "This must be something related to the magic realm, right? Can mages resurrect skeletons or command ghostly flames?"

Strange rested his chin on his knuckles, pondered, and said, "In theory, they can. The power of a mage comes from exchange; if the object of their exchange has the attribute of resurrecting the undead, then they should be able to control the undead and skulls."

"But in practice, almost no mage would do this because it doesn't make sense. Every exchange has a cost, and the power gained should be used for something more valuable. What's the use of resurrecting corpses and the undead? To scare people?"

"Hmm…can't they launch an attack or something?"

But Shiller looked at Steve and said, "Captain, you are a skilled fighter, you should know, what's hard about dealing with skulls and corpses?"

"Aren't they just variants of humans? In fact, they are weaker than humans. Without magical protection, skeletons have no muscles and can't withstand any sharp weapon, and corpses, besides being disgusting, are not much different from ordinary people..."

"To make these things have strong combat power requires a lot of magical energy to be poured into them," Strange explained. "You must use this energy to protect their entire skeletal structure, as well as their rapidly decaying muscles, and also give them the power of Soul Fire, enabling them to have the basic intelligence to pick up weapons and fight with enemies...."

"With so much energy, you could actually create monsters stronger than these. Once a black mage in Montana conjured a dark demonic dragon, and a necromancer had commanded a flock of soul devouring birds to attack a hospital...."

"As for the skeletons... at least I've never heard of anyone doing this in Karmatiji. Even being protected by magic, it would require an incredibly large number of them to possibly attack modern human cities."

Steve stroked his chin, nodded, and said, "Indeed, if you have this kind of skill, a large-scale monster invasion of the city would be faster. What do they want to do, merely scare people? To create panic?"

But Shiller shook his head and said, "It doesn't seem like it. If they wanted to create panic, they should have gone for Manhattan or Brooklyn, those two are the center of New York. Although there are plenty of hills and parks in Queens, the population isn't as dense and reporters don't like to go there."

Just as they were discussing this topic, Steve's phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and hit the answer button, hearing a somewhat complacent voice from Peter on the other end.

"Captain, there are skulls! Moving ones! In Forest Hills Cemetery, can you come over?!"

"Listen, Peter, calm down. Is the situation critical? I'll be right there...."

"Um...it's not really that critical, they can't beat me, I just don't know what to do with them. Say, if I give them a punch, will they pass out? They don't even have brains, so they shouldn't be able to pass out, right?"

Steve looked up at Strange, and Strange spread his hands out and said, "Well, looks like I need another cup of coffee. Seems like it's going to be another all-nighter...."