[60] : A Serious Problem

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"Oh, my God, I can't believe something so terrifying happened in the world…"

"…The Avengers have saved us once again, but we've lost our Iron Man forever, Tony Stark!"

"…The new member of the Avengers calls himself 'Superman.' It's rumored that during this rescue operation, it was Superman who helped the Avengers save the world! Unfortunately, Superman is unwilling to accept any interviews…"

Inside the Avengers' base, the large screen displayed news from around the world.

It had been six days since the end of the zombie crisis, and the world had gradually begun to return to normal. 

At the very least, the basic operations at the ground level were functioning without much issue.

Of course, this was largely thanks to Captain Marvel, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the help they received from their alien friends.

However, when it came to alien friends, Roger had just learned from the Guardians of the Galaxy that Xandar, the planet he had planned to seek aid from, had been annihilated by Thanos.

Xandar had been harboring the Power Stone, so before the zombie crisis even began, Thanos had destroyed it.

Roger had just found out about this, having assumed that Xandar still existed.

There were two reasons for this assumption: first, the original Avengers storyline didn't delve much into Xandar's fate; second, in the What If…? series, there was a scene of Ultron annihilating Xandar when he obtained the Infinity Stones after killing Thanos.

So, Roger had subconsciously believed that Xandar still existed in the zombie universe.

But regardless of what had happened, that was now in the past. 

Whether Xandar existed or not, Earth had returned to its normal state, and the zombie virus had been eradicated from the universe at its root by the Infinity Stones.

"Oh… there you are."

Roger, still dressed in his black Superman suit, was sitting on a sofa in the base when he suddenly heard Ant-Man Scott's voice.

He turned his head to see Scott, now modified into a mechanical body, clumsily walking toward him and saying, "Everyone's looking for you to start the meeting. I figured I'd familiarize myself with my new body, so I came to find you… What do you think of my new body?"

Scott's body had been modified into a cybernetic form similar to Nebula's, a process that took a full five days and was completed just yesterday when he awoke from the operating table.

Scott was quite fond of his new body, as it allowed him to use Pym Particles without wearing his suit, among other capabilities.

The only downside was that, for the time being, his body didn't support any romantic activities with Hope.

Roger looked at Scott's new mechanical body, turned off the television, and replied, "I'll be there soon. By the way, Scott, would you like to hear a suggestion?"

"What suggestion?"

"Now that you're like this, why don't you stop calling yourself Ant-Man and go with 'Cyborg' instead? It suits you."

Roger joked as he patted Scott on the shoulder.

Scott seriously considered it, saying, "Cyborg… Cyborg… A body made of steel bones? It seems… fitting? I didn't know you had a knack for naming…"

"…I was joking."

Chatting with Scott, Roger made his way to the Avengers' conference room.

Inside the room, the remaining members of the Avengers had already gathered.

In addition to the Avengers who had been with Roger, Captain Marvel and the Guardians of the Galaxy were also present.

There were also those who had recovered from the zombification: Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, and Wanda, along with War Machine, Rhodey, who had been at the base all along.

This was probably the most complete gathering of the Avengers since the zombie crisis had been resolved.

As Roger and Scott entered, the other Avengers turned to look at them.

"I heard you're having a meeting?" Roger asked as he stepped into the room.

Meeting Roger for the first time, Captain America nodded at him and said, "That's right. We need to discuss the recovery efforts ahead. We lost a lot in this event…"

Steve Rogers' expression was complex.

Although none of them retained memories from their time as zombies, knowing the nature of the virus, they were painfully aware that they might have consumed human flesh while infected.

They were now forcing themselves not to dwell on such horrifying and hopeless thoughts, fearing that doing so might make them lose the will to continue living.

Roger refrained from making any inappropriate comments and found a seat, saying, "Then you don't really need me here. You must know by now that I won't be staying in this world for long."

"I know. We all know you won't be here permanently, but at least until you leave, you're one of us. We won't hide anything from you, no matter what we do."

Captain America spoke sincerely.

Though he had never met Roger before today, he had complete trust in him, not because of anything else, but because Roger had saved Earth and possibly prevented the world from falling into despair.

"Oh, you're making me feel touched," Roger teased Captain America, then asked, "So, what's the plan?"

Captain America sighed and looked toward Black Widow, Natasha.

Natasha opened her mouth and, after organizing her thoughts for a while, addressed the group. 

"This… zombie event exposed many of our shortcomings, including how we respond to world-altering crises and how we handle them. We made many mistakes."

Listening to Natasha, War Machine, Rhodey, suddenly asked, "So, whose bright idea was it to have the plane land right in the middle of a horde of zombies?"

"…"

The room fell silent; no one answered the question.

"Alright, maybe I shouldn't have asked that," Rhodey said, noticing the varied expressions on everyone's faces, and decided not to press further.

Captain America took a deep breath and continued, "No matter what, we must remember everything that happened this time… and about those aliens…"

As he spoke, he looked at Captain Marvel, Carol.

Noticing Captain America's gaze, Carol responded, "Don't worry about the aliens. You can handle most of them on your own. If not, you can always call me…"

"You don't need to worry about that," Thor, wielding his battle axe, said to Carol. "We can handle Earth's problems."

"Oh? Can you really handle it?" Carol asked with a half-smile.

If the Avengers could truly manage Earth's problems, things wouldn't have escalated into a global disaster.

As the discussion continued, Roger remained silent. The future of this world didn't concern him much; it was something for the Avengers to handle. All Roger needed to do was patiently wait for the portal to recharge.

The Avengers started a lively discussion, while Roger, like an outsider, simply watched. As he did, he suddenly felt that something was missing.

Turning to look at Scott, who was quietly snacking, Roger suddenly realized something and asked, "Where's the red cape?"

"Huh? What red cape…?" Scott didn't immediately understand Roger's question. After eating a few more chips, he finally got it and replied, "Oh, you mean that magical flying cape? I don't know. It hasn't been seen for days. Why?"

"…No, I just suddenly thought of another problem."

Roger suddenly stood up from his seat and addressed the group, "Everyone, let's pause the discussion for a moment. I've just remembered a very serious problem."

The others looked at Roger in confusion as he scanned their faces and asked, "Who is the current Sorcerer Supreme?"

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