Wanda stood outside the window, staring in shock at the chaotic kitchen. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
"Is making roast duck really this difficult?" Wanda said in surprise. "What happened here? Did the oven explode?"
"Of course not, I'm not a kitchen terrorist like Stark. It's the work of a mischievous little guy. Oh, right, let me introduce you, Land Shark Jeff. Cute, isn't he?"
Shiller held Jeff up to Wanda. Wanda let out a shriek, grabbed Jeff, and cautiously petted his head. Realizing it wasn't a toy, she gave Jeff's nose a big kiss.
"Oh my gosh! How can there be such an adorable little shark!" Wanda's eyes were filled with stars. She turned Jeff left and right, flipped him up and down, rubbing him all over as if he were a toy.
"He's a genetically modified creature. Normal Land Sharks are a fusion of shark and dinosaur genes, but he seems to have fused shark and dog genes. You can think of him as a little dog in the shape of a shark."
"Heavens! Which genius scientist came up with this idea?! It's the perfect remedy for the lack of sharks on land and dogs in the sea! I'd award him the Nobel Prize!"
"Not a good person," Shiller said. "Most Land Sharks are quite ugly. To be precise, Jeff is a failure..."
Jeff clearly understood human language. Upon hearing "failure," his four legs and shark fin drooped. Wanda immediately shouted at Shiller, "Hey, don't say that, you're hurting his feelings! Our cute little shark is not a failure. You're the cutest baby in the world! Come here, let me kiss you!"
Shiller shook his head helplessly. He knew Wanda would like Jeff. Wanda's taste in pets was peculiar; she didn't like human-cultivated pets but loved fierce beasts with sharp teeth. Yet her moral bottom line wouldn't allow her to take beasts from nature as pets, so besides a few Cosmic Beasts, she didn't own any ordinary dogs.
"Oh, by the way," Shiller seemed to remember something, "this should be the perfect pet you wanted that doesn't shed fur. Sharks shouldn't shed fur, right?"
Wanda's eyes grew even brighter as she looked at Jeff as if he were a rare treasure. Soon, Shiller poured cold water on her: "But Jeff already has an owner; he's just temporarily staying with me. I'm afraid it would be hard to take him away."
"Ah, why is it like this?" Wanda was visibly disappointed, then she said, "Are there any other shark dogs?"
"In our universe, there certainly aren't any, and the scientist who made him hasn't turned into Modok, so there probably won't be any in the future. But if you look for the scientist in other universes, you might be able to make one."
"No, never mind." Wanda hesitated for a moment, then sighed, "The genetic modification process must be terrifying. No shark or dog should endure such suffering. Even if it's cute, I wouldn't do such a thing."
Jeff understood her words and didn't say anything, just leaned his head against her chest, gently nuzzling her neck with his nose.
"Ah, my little darling! Am I right? That damned scientist must have mistreated you! Don't worry, if I ever go to your universe, I'll definitely give him a good beating to avenge you!"
"By the way, Doctor, I almost forgot the main thing." Wanda patted her head and said, "How's your cooking going? My Provence stew is almost done, just needs the final adjustments. Jarvis's frosted donuts are not bad, he says the Captain loves them the most."
Shiller's alarm bells instantly went off, and he said, "Damn artificial intelligence! He didn't hack S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance equipment for the intel, did he?!"
"Not really, Steve mentioned it a few times..."
"That doesn't count," Shiller said. "You give him anything, and he'll happily say it's delicious, but that might not be what he really thinks. The taste of old-fashioned donuts is too strange; he might actually prefer the modern version."
"But Jarvis is just a Robot; the fact he could make donuts at all is pretty impressive," Wanda said. "Steve will definitely be happy."
"I should never have performed so well before." Shiller lamented, "If I had only scored 10 points before, scoring 30 this time would already be good, but since I scored 80 before, I have to hit over 95 this time..."
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. It'll be a harmonious scene where everyone praises each other's dishes. Ah, maybe except Tony. Oh dear, you reminded me, I think I should go optimize my presentation to avoid Tony picking on it..."
Wanda came and went like the wind, quickly leaving. Shiller knew she was just checking on the progress to make sure she wasn't too far behind. Seeing that most people weren't moving that fast, she was reassured.
Soon, Gwen Stacy returned with bags full. She placed all the shopping bags on the living room table and started unpacking them one by one. There were lots of clothes and bags, as well as various toys, car models, figurines, and so forth.
Shiller watched her empty half the room and said a bit helplessly, "Are you planning to use the Exhaustion Method?"
"Of course not, I'm sure he likes these things. I asked about it."
"Asked who? Captain America?"
"No, of course, the screenwriter... I mean, the person from our universe who draws comics. He said Captain America likes these. Look at this model car, I'm planning to assemble it myself and give it to him. He'll definitely love it!" Gwen Stacy admired the model toy in her hands with delight. It was a somewhat retro model car.
Shiller shook his head. He didn't think so. The Captain America in their universe was different from the one in the Prime Universe. Also, even if Steve liked cars, with the invincible cool flying car Stark gave him, he probably wouldn't care about a model toy.
Of course, Steve would cherish every gift. But if Gwen Stacy wanted to stand out with this gift, it was unlikely.
Shiller was also thinking about what kind of gift would truly touch Steve's heart and amaze everyone.
After all, his dish preparations were still at a standstill. If it couldn't reach perfection by the banquet day, he'd have to rely on the gift to score some extra points.
Shiller had no idea initially, but meeting Gwen Stacy today gave him a bold idea.
He was a transmigrator and believed he had traveled into the comic world. But others didn't know that; Shiller never told them. In his world, superheroes were just comic characters.
So, Shiller could completely draw a comic of their past stories and give it to Steve. Steve loved comics and could draw himself, so this gift would surely be to his taste.
Speaking of comics, Shiller actually never drew them before. However, he had an art foundation, had painted oil and acrylic before, and since Marvel Comics' style was quite realistic, he could draw something fairly similar with more understanding of comic storyboarding.
But when it came to storyboarding, that was the challenge. Comic storyboards were different from film ones since they were static. Trying to convey a story with static storyboards wasn't easy; either it'd be verbose, straightforward, and lack impact, or it'd be too fragmented and unclear.
No one around him had experience in this area. Eddie had shifted to directing but only excelled in using dynamic shots. Chris's film storyboards were good, but still different from comics.
Upon weighing it, the only person with some comic knowledge was Gwen Stacy. Before transmigrating, Gwen Stacy was a die-hard fan of Marvel Comics, so she had some exposure. Thus, Shiller shared his idea with her and planned to have her help consult.
"You're going to draw a comic?!" Gwen Stacy was very excited. She said, "Then you must include me. Can I be the main character?"
"I'm afraid not. I'm drawing a Captain America-themed comic. He's already married and has children. The main character must be his wife, Agent Carter."
"Alright. Are you going to draw their love story?"
"Not exactly. I'm not very good at drawing love stories. I want to draw a personal issue for Captain America, depicting his life story over the past 100 years. I think he would really like it."
"That makes some sense." Gwen Stacy nodded, saying, "But if you start drawing from the beginning, it might look like a chronicle. One-year-old this, five-year-old that, ten-year-old something else—no reader would want to read that. You need to focus on the key points."
Shiller nodded and said, "Indeed. In your opinion, what does Captain America consider the most representative event in his life?"
"You mean what he thinks?" Gwen Stacy, holding her chin with her hand, thought carefully. She said, "If it's from a fan's perspective, they'd definitely consider defeating Hydra significant. But from his own viewpoint, I think it's possibly being frozen."
"Oh? Why?"
"Defeating the Red Skull seemed natural for him. He knew this evil regime would inevitably fail, and victory would belong to justice. But being frozen beneath the ice, skipping decades of life, had significant personal meaning. It represented crossing an entire era. In a brand-new era without his old foes, everywhere became adversaries—not a clear distinction of good and evil but full of chaos. He must have worried about this, felt anxious, even considered retreat, but ultimately overcame everything. This is more worth boasting about than physically defeating any enemy."
"Indeed." Shiller showed great agreement. He quickly went upstairs, grabbed paper and pen, laid the paper flat on the table, and hesitated before writing on it – "Captain America's Golden Age."
Shiller gazed at these words, seemed to have thought of something, shook his head a bit dissatisfied, crossed the words out, and wrote a new line below – "Steve Rogers' Liquid Silver Age."
Then he quickly sketched a cover: under a thin layer of ice, countless years floated like liquid silver, a pair of bright blue eyes immersed within, Steve extending one hand, with cracks spreading from his fingertips through the ice.