Camping and Barbecue (Three Chapters)

In his previous life, the Avengers members Li Chuan admired most were Captain America Steve and Tony Stark.

Though neither of them was the strongest in the Avengers, they were the two most dependable.

Thor was powerful, but his intelligence was rather worrying. Loki often fooled him round and round.

Banner was fine in human form, but once he became Hulk, he was basically uncontrollable. He loved smashing things and was always angry.

Because of her upbringing, Wanda was rather extreme psychologically. She also could not perfectly control Chaos Magic, and she eventually went dark.

As for Star-Lord, the Son of a Celestial who matched mortals with a god’s body and punched out Avengers 4, he belonged in the category of most unreliable teammates.

Doctor Strange was the king of slacking off.

Spider-Man would have been dependable if he were the Tobey version, but this world’s little Spider-Man was still a child.

"Wanda, make Captain Rogers a cup of tea."

After instructing Wanda, Li Chuan turned to Steve and said,

"Wait a moment. I’ll be right back."

He stepped forward, grabbed Whitehall, and Apparated to the interrogation room to hand him over to Li San. Only after having Li San send Whitehall to the Sokovia base did he Apparate back.

He had originally asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to keep Whitehall for him so that he could send him to Jiaying for disposal. Now that Jiaying’s memories had been erased, there was no need to send him over.

Whitehall had gained immortality by transplanting Jiaying’s organs, and his body had some research value as well. Sending him to the Sokovia base to be dissected and studied might yield something.

It would be a good thing if they could develop medicine that restored youth and extended lifespans. Even if they discovered nothing, there would be no loss.

"All right, Captain Rogers. You didn’t come here just to deliver Whitehall, did you? Is there something else?"

Returning to the living room, Li Chuan handed Steve the tea Wanda had prepared and asked.

If it had only been about delivering Whitehall, any agent would have done. Whitehall was merely a scientist and posed no danger.

Since Steve had personally brought him here, he must have had something to discuss with Li Chuan.

Sure enough, after hearing Li Chuan’s words, Steve looked embarrassed before finally speaking.

"Here’s the situation. I heard from Fury that you’re Tony’s best friend, so I’d like to ask you for a favor."

Steve then explained what had happened with Bucky, hoping Li Chuan could act as a mediator and help reconcile them.

"I don’t have anything I can offer you. But if you ever need me in the future, as long as it doesn’t violate the law or my principles, I’ll help you. Consider it repayment for this favor."

Before coming here, Nick Fury had warned him that Li Chuan liked fair exchanges and was somewhat mercenary.

But Li Chuan merely waved his hand.

"No need. I make deals with Nick Fury because, in my eyes, he isn’t exactly a good person. Doing things for him for free leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

"But you’re different, Captain Rogers. And Tony is my friend too. This matter isn’t necessarily bad for him, so I’ll help."

As far as the issue between Tony and Steve was concerned, Li Chuan felt there was no real right or wrong. It was simply a matter of perspective.

From Tony’s perspective, Bucky had killed his father. It was only natural for Tony to be furious and want revenge for his father. If it were Li Chuan, he certainly would not let Bucky go, even if Bucky had been controlled.

If it had been him, he would have killed Bucky, who had carried it out, Pierce, who had orchestrated it behind the scenes, and the entire Hydra organization.

But from Steve’s perspective, Bucky was his brother-in-arms and best friend. He had fought for justice his entire life and had even made sacrifices in the end. He was unquestionably a good man, a war hero.

Everything that happened later had been because Hydra controlled him. It had not been his own will. Bucky was a victim too.

Still, Li Chuan was closer to Tony, so he naturally leaned more toward Tony.

Thus, his proposed mediation would also favor Tony somewhat.

"Thank you so much!"

Hearing Li Chuan’s words, gratitude appeared in Steve’s eyes.

Li Chuan did not seem as mercenary as Nick Fury had claimed.

Thinking about it, someone who risked his life to save the world and often helped citizens in cities without asking for anything in return could hardly be that mercenary.

And the good deeds done by the company he ran benefited all of humanity.

Compared with that, the words of Nick Fury, the head of the spies, really were not as trustworthy as Li Chuan’s.

"Don’t thank me yet. The final decision will still be Tony’s."

Li Chuan set down his tea, took out a sheet of paper, wrote down an address, and handed it to Steve.

"Bring Mr. Bucky to this place later. I’ll call Tony over."

"All right, I understand."

Steve nodded, took the note, and left.

Bucky had now been freed from Hydra’s control through Hydra’s hypnosis method by S.H.I.E.L.D. He had returned to normal and regained his memories. He was recuperating at S.H.I.E.L.D., consumed by guilt.

After Steve left, Li Chuan immediately called Tony.

"Tony, are you free to come barbecue and camp with Pepper Potts?"

"Today might be… all right. Maybe I should relax. Where?"

Tony had been in the laboratory researching the newest flight-pod Mark suit. He had originally intended to refuse, but when he saw Pepper Potts looking at him with resentment from across the room, he immediately changed his mind.

Li Chuan gave him the address, hung up, and Apparated directly with Wanda to the campsite for this barbecue.

It was a place with very pleasant scenery on the outskirts of New York.

"Looks like Jane and the others haven’t arrived yet."

Wanda looked around and found that, aside from the two of them, no one else was there.

Li Chuan opened his small cloth bag and controlled all the prepared supplies as they flew out one by one.

"Then let’s set everything up first."

Wanda nodded and began casting magic as well.

Under the effects of magic, the camping tents, barbecue grill, blankets, and other items were all set up automatically. The vegetables and meat were also cut up automatically and threaded onto metal skewers in perfect order.

Before long, all preparations were complete.

Seeing this, Li Chuan secretly sighed. Sometimes, magic truly did make life much more convenient.

"Thor and the others are here!"

Just as they finished preparing, a black dot suddenly appeared in the distant sky and gradually grew larger.

It was Thor, flying over with Mjolnir in one hand and Jane in the other.

"Sorry we’re late. Jane spent a full forty minutes putting on makeup in her room!"

After landing, Thor complained without thinking.

But Jane quickly stomped on his foot hard.

"I wanted to come help, but I didn’t expect you to have everything ready already."

"Don’t mind it, Jane. This is very easy for us."

Wanda stepped forward, took Jane’s hand, and replied with a smile.

She actually admired this older sister, who was only a few years older than her yet already a famous university professor. After they met, the two had gotten along quite well.