Chapter 3176: "Romantic" Wedding Season (60)

The young Charles who had previously come to this cosmos, and Erik, who had always been arguing with him, had first left, but later returned.

It might be hard to believe, but the mutants in this cosmos were even fairly well-developed, and Charles stayed here hoping to "copy homework," so to speak.

They felt that within the vast expanses of the cosmos, there was much to be achieved, so they roamed around lately, aware that this wasn't their turf, they didn't dare to act too arrogantly, resolving just a few minor troubles without causing too much commotion.

After receiving a message from Professor X, they immediately rushed back, and although they were mutants from another cosmos, Charles was still willing to help his kind.

Magneto and Professor X discussed for a long time, and in the end, each gave in a half step and agreed to let both of them go along with Polaris and others.

Actually, the task wasn't difficult, they just needed to find the Supreme Evolution and ask for some information, mainly to understand why he would trip up Apocalypse and at the same time try to win him over—after all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Dr. Beast went to research viruses, primarily to confirm whether Mister Sinister's recently spread virus was truly resisted by antibodies, ensuring that the mutants wouldn't suffer casualties was of utmost importance.

Additionally, a portion of their manpower needed to eliminate the biological outbreak to prevent it from affecting subsequent plans.

Beside reinforcing the defences of the Andromeda Galaxy, Magneto and Professor X had to lead people to root out Mister Sinister and Apocalypse lurking nearby—capturing even one of them would significantly strengthen their initiative.

And most importantly, spread the word faster about the irreconcilable discord between mutants and the Shi'ar Empire. However, that task was taken care of by Loki and Thanos who were currently the only two allies available for the mutants.

Meanwhile, in Stone House, everyone woke up from their beds feeling bewildered, having almost completely forgotten the contents of their dreams within just a few seconds.

"Dream Power Doctor Strange," Shiller said from the bedside, "You're being a true friend to them, they're lucky to have you. They were on the verge of defeating Helada, but you had me erase the memories of their dream, making them fight from the beginning tonight—are you sure you don't feel the slightest bit guilty?"

"Don't falsely accuse me," Shiller said while brushing his teeth. "When did I ask you to erase their dream memories? That was natural forgetfulness. If it weren't for that kind of protective mechanism, then..."

Dream Power Doctor Strange didn't want to listen to Shiller's long-winded theoretical explanations. He vanished from Shiller's bedroom, while Shiller finished brushing his teeth, washed his face with cold water, stretched lazily, let out a breath, and came downstairs.

He had woken up later than usual that day; it was Peter and the others who were making breakfast. While frying eggs, Peter said, "I had an extraordinary dream last night, but I almost completely forgot about it as soon as I woke up."

"Weren't we supposed to fight Helada together last night?" Wanda scratched her head and said, "Did we fight? I can't seem to remember."

"We definitely fought, and we certainly won," Stark said. "With so many of us gathered together, how could we lose?"

"Do you remember how we won?" Steve asked, pouring ice cubes into his cup. "I hardly remember anything."

"You didn't win at all," Shiller said as he walked down the stairs. "In fact, you lost miserably, and Dream Power Doctor Strange already told me so."

"That's impossible!" Stark protested, but he didn't really have any confidence; although the memory of the dream was mostly gone, he had some vague impressions left. He remembered the sky being filled with flying heads.

"Alright, let's not dwell on dreams anymore," Pepper, glancing at her watch, said, "Today is the first rehearsal. At 9 AM sharp, all the ladies will come with me to the makeup trial, and the gentlemen should head to the island first. The fashion butler will arrive at the mansion at exactly 10 AM..."

Pepper arranged everyone's tasks in an orderly manner.

As the wedding day drew closer, they couldn't afford to lounge around on the farm any longer. Makeup trials, dress fittings, venue rehearsals, etc., all had to be walked through.

Shiller was supposed to head to the island with the other gentlemen, but since Steve went to try on clothes early and he didn't trust Carter, Shiller and Eddie, the two bachelors, stayed to lend a hand to the ladies.

Of course, Pepper would hire the most professional makeup artists, but wedding makeup indeed was a science because besides looking good to the naked eye, it also had to be photogenic. Moreover, with the wedding being a long event, the makeup absolutely couldn't come off, which truly tested the makeup artist's skill.

Carter had been feeling a lot better lately, not throwing up as severely as she did at the beginning, but she still seemed a bit listless. The makeup artist had a difficult time given her pale complexion; a rosy face needs no makeup to look pretty, but if one looks unwell, no amount of foundation—applied like whitewash—would help.

Shiller overheard Pepper complaining softly. She felt that Stark shouldn't have gotten carried away and insisted on dragging so many people into a group wedding, especially not Steve. How could a pregnant person endure such fatigue?

Seeing that Carter was still not in good spirits, Shiller took some time to hypnotize her again. The effects weren't very pronounced, and Shiller actually wanted to give her a tiny slice of a Golden Apple, but she feared it might affect the fetus and ultimately gave up the idea.

Applying makeup might seem easy, but going back and forth for trials took almost three to four hours. By the time they arrived at the island, the men had pretty much finished changing their clothes.

Shiller and Eddie went to change into their groomsmen outfits. Of course, there were more than just the two of them, with others arriving intermittently over the past few days. Since it was a group wedding, a particularly large number of groomsmen were needed; basically, every acquaintance was invited.

There were also quite a few bridesmaids, like Natasha and Hill, but after their arrival, they didn't go to the farm. Instead, they stayed in the manor on the island, which was more convenient for the rehearsal.

The groomsmen suits were silver and had been tailored a long time ago. After changing, Shiller saw Helen dressing up the flower boy. Rocket Raccoon and Pikachu also had flower boy outfits, but seeing a raccoon and a mouse in white poofy dresses was quite the odd sight.

However, those two were considered lucky. Shiller had no idea if Crocodile Loki was still supposed to hold the bouquet, but she thought it unlikely because in Asgard, if you threw a crocodile backward, someone might dare to catch it. On Earth, probably not.

The groomsmen attire was relatively simple. After changing, Shiller went to check on the groom's attire, which was more troublesome—they had to wear pure white suits and carefully select ties, cufflinks, and badges. The bunch of gentlemen took ages to decide and still couldn't quite figure it out.

Pepper's wedding dress had been ordered long in advance, but since the others were in more of a rush, theirs were still being made. So, they were due to be delivered a few days later. Shiller had a feeling that trying on and altering the wedding dresses would be the real devilish process, with far too many choices to consider.

The ladies gave quite a few suggestions for the groom's and groomsmen's outfits, which were more or less finalized. The grooms still needed to get their hair done since a haircut looks bad for three days; they couldn't wait until the day before the wedding to get it cut—they needed to give the hair some time to grow.

They were so busy that they didn't even have lunch, just snacking on something to fill their stomachs. By the time everything was finished, it was nearly evening.

No one had time to cook this time; everyone was kept on their toes by the styling team. Shiller didn't waste much time in the clothing trial, but styling his wavy hair in this cosmic body was rather difficult. It took a while to set and then again to take down, making him one of the last to come out.

Stark had ordered the manor's chefs to prepare a large table of dishes, but this was also part of the wedding preparation process. They had to test the chefs' cooking to avoid any surprises of unpalatable food at the last moment.

Shiller took a quick glance and noticed a selection of cold dishes, probably part of the wedding day buffet. However, the food standard was absolutely not low, quite the opposite—it was very high. Shiller had already spotted some of the most premium bluefin tuna belly beckoning to him.

He and Matt dove headfirst into the world of top-tier seafood, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Perhaps because of the sheer exhaustion, the others weren't very hungry and chatted while eating.

They talked about the card game.

In truth, if they had played the game to their heart's content in one go, they probably wouldn't be as fixated. But the problem was they had just played a round and hadn't even had much fun before they had to stop and do something else.

It was like a fun new game came out on a weekend night, you only got to play for two hours before bedtime, and then you couldn't stop thinking about it at work the next day.

That was the state they were in now, sitting together, continually discussing how to beat Helada.

While eating, Shiller chuckled to himself. Beating Helada was impossible. For one thing, it was all a dream that would be forgotten the next day—as if the game had been reset. Moreover, the stronger the superhero, the more powerful Dream Power Doctor Strange made Helada—it was dynamic difficulty.

And there was a reason why every move they made couldn't beat Helada. They were in the Dreamworld, after all, and Dream Power Doctor Strange could read their moves. How could he not know how to respond?

All things considered, with Stark's stubborn spirit, this one set-up could drag them on for at least half a month. Even if they did beat Helada, no big deal—Shiller himself could step in. Then, he could have Dream Power Doctor Strange recreate all the bizarre Shillers from his High Tower, dragging it out for a year if necessary.

Thinking this, Shiller still took out his phone and sent a message to Ultron to inquire about the Andromeda Galaxy status. The reply he received was quite unexpected—the Mutants had already captured Mister Sinister.

That guy was spreading poison just for the sake of it but insisted on taunting others publicly, thinking that with brainwave-shielding gadgets, Professor X wouldn't be able to touch him. He became distracted, failed to conceal his presence, and Magneto, on patrol, caught him red-handed.

When Magneto captured him, Mister Sinister was busy ranting about Professor X. Hearing the colorful description from Ultron, Shiller could only mentally light a candle for Nathaniel.