The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4267 Island Holiday (Part 2)

Just as Schiller had predicted, a shovel, a bucket, and a sandpit were all they needed to play all day. For children, sand was the most interesting thing. Especially with so many children around, there were even more ways to play: one minute they were competing to see who could dig the biggest hole, the next they were systematically carrying water into the hole, and then they were digging riverbeds; some were building dams, some were repairing tributaries, and others were even developing civilization along the riverbanks. With Helen and Franklin, these two super-powered children, watching over things, the parents were completely free.

With the children no longer needing supervision, everyone's mood improved significantly, and some even felt that not going to Hawaii was a good thing. While Hawaii isn't as popular as it used to be, the beaches would never be completely deserted. These parents absolutely couldn't leave if outsiders were present: firstly, there was genuine concern about potential danger—after all, you never know if any beachgoers possessed superpowers or might suddenly unleash them; secondly, regulations in Europe and America are very strict, and parents who stray even slightly could easily be considered negligent. And if someone filmed them and posted it online, they'd be completely ruined.

Wanda had entrusted her child to Eric's care because she had to work, and US law doesn't allow leaving children alone at home. If a neighbor reported her, she could very well lose custody, even if her husband were a superhuman robot who could monitor the child 360 degrees through electronic devices at any time.

Furthermore, Eric cannot take care of the child in the United States because he does not meet the standards for guardianship. The US has a very complex process for determining a qualified guardian; simply being the child's biological grandfather doesn't guarantee approval. Therefore, many American grandparents don't lack the desire to help care for their grandchildren, but the law prohibits it. Even sending the child over for a weekend could lead to complaints from neighbors, causing just as much trouble.

So Eric would take the children back to New Shangdu or the Andromeda Galaxy, and bring them back when Wanda had time. Although he could travel back and forth using wormholes, opening wormholes inside Earth is currently prohibited, so he could only send them to the space station first, then use the official portal, and finally fly back with the children.

It's alright, though. These kids are all superpowered and basically not under government surveillance. They can teleport back after arriving on Earth, otherwise it would be a real hassle.

Wanda stretched, leaned against the table, and sipped her iced juice while rocking her youngest daughter's cradle. Jarvis was typing on his computer next to her, seemingly working overtime.

The young people had changed into their swimsuits, set up nets on the beach, and were ready for a thrilling game of beach volleyball; while the older folks were preparing to go diving and take some photos.

Natasha looked at the group packing their gear, somewhat speechless. She said, "You guys can move freely in a vacuum, yet you wear diving suits just to dive on Earth. And you, Tony, why don't you just wear your battle armor?"

Tony was struggling to put on his wetsuit, jumping around on the spot as he said, "What do you know? That's the atmosphere we're going for. Besides, my fans are already tired of seeing me taking pictures everywhere in my suit. I have to let them know that I'm a diving expert even without the suit."

Reed scoffed, then said, "Whether it's a diving suit or a symbiote suit, you know the answer in your heart."

Venom kept pulling Eddie aside, saying, "Get away from that rich bastard! He can't subdue me, so he wears the corpses of my fellow humans on his body. You humans are disgusting!"

"Isn't that symbiotic secretions? At most, it's equivalent to the saliva of your fellow humans. The Osborn Group's stuff is what you call a corpse."

"Your words make me feel even more disgusted, ugh."

"So why can't you turn into a wetsuit? I want to take some pictures too!"

"What's wrong with my appearance? Listen to me, let's jump in like this later, I guarantee we'll make the biggest splash!"

Natasha still refused to wear a wetsuit, but she did pretend to wear a goggles and snorkel, showing no regard for the fact that she was going deep-sea diving. Schiller brought a diving bottle, regulator, and fins, but no wetsuit, mainly because it was too much trouble to change into; Steve had struggled for ages to put it on.

After everything was ready, everyone swam directly towards the middle of the sea. Normally, a boat should have taken them there to save energy, otherwise they would be too tired to swim to the designated spot. But these people are not ordinary people, and there were no boats on the island, so they swam on their own.

Because the island wasn't naturally formed, the shallow waters were quite small, and after swimming for a while, the bottom was no longer visible. The group prepared to dive. The seawater was incredibly clear; when the sunlight shone down, the shadows of corals could be faintly seen.

The underwater terrain is not as flat as many people imagine; it's like the land, with valleys, abysses, and caves. The area where the group descended was quite complex: ahead was a shallow, flat area, but further ahead was a cliff with visible cracks.

Schiller first took photos in the shallower areas, where there were many corals and tropical fish, and the scenery was quite beautiful because of the sunlight. There was no mud or sand here, and everyone seemed to be floating in the air.

However, because the environment here was so beautiful, everyone got bored of taking pictures, so Stark pointed to the cliff over there and prepared to continue diving down.

The depth over there was much greater than this one. After swimming over, they found that they couldn't see the bottom at all, which made them even more curious about what was down there. So they all swam over and continued to dive down.

Diving down depths isn't about swimming, but about using counterweights. They hadn't planned to go this deep, and their counterweights weren't enough, so Schiller had to rummage through the fog for other things: bricks he'd brought back from the construction site, an iron pot, and a whole bunch of other odds and ends. Descending with this massive pile of stuff looked like someone who'd emptied Stark Industries' cafeteria and was now rushing to the supermarket to buy supplies and fly back.

Once they reached the crevice, Steve looked up, but the crevice was too small for adults to squeeze through, and it didn't look like there was any space inside. If they forced their way in, they might receive bad news from the cave diving community.

They continued descending. After descending several dozen meters, the current depth was estimated to be close to 200 meters, but they still couldn't see the bottom. This place was probably not ordinary in its depth, but the people here were not ordinary either. These people could withstand the water pressure of a thousand meters without any problem, so they continued to descend with unwavering determination.

Besides water pressure, another critical factor in diving is water temperature. At this altitude, the water temperature is extremely low, and their diving suits weren't very professional. If they didn't have superpowers, they would probably be frozen solid by now.

However, as Schiller continued to descend, he felt the water temperature rise. After diving another 200 meters or so, the group discovered that they were in the geothermal zone, which explained why the water was warmer below.

However, precisely because of this, they couldn't dive any further: the cold wasn't a problem, but if it got too hot, the symbiote might not be able to withstand it. As the water temperature rose, Venom was the first to howl and swim back, and Stark's diving suit also started to shrink.

There wasn't much there; everyone walked around, took a few photos, and then left. During the ascent, they routinely spent some time decompressing, but it wasn't completely decompressed: at a depth of several hundred meters, the time required for decompression is unimaginable, but these people aren't ordinary people, so they only stayed for a little over an hour, and that was about it.

Genetically modified humans like Natasha went up first, and once they were sure everyone was alright, the others floated up. However, even among Supermen, there were differences in physical condition: Stark and Reed were clearly not feeling well, so they had to stay in the water a little longer, while Steve stayed behind to watch over them.

Schiller felt no discomfort whatsoever and floated smoothly to the surface. He took out his phone to upload the video. After waiting a while, everyone else came ashore, and they walked towards the bank.

The children were still playing in the sand, but now they had evolved to building several fortresses and starting to fight as nations and factions: some were making mud bombs with water and sand, some were kneading wet sand into balls, and others were destroying the riverbed upstream. They were having a great time.

Jeff the shark dog also joined in. He was originally balancing the volleyball, but because Deadpool illegally stole the ball, Jeff chased after him and bit his butt. He was penalized and kicked out of the beach volleyball team, and could only play with the kids.

The remaining adults who hadn't gone diving were sunbathing. As Schiller walked over, Wanda handed him a glass of white drink and said, "Here, soybean juice."

"What soy juice? That's called soy milk." Schiller shook his head, took a sip, and discovered that the soy milk was iced. But iced soy milk had a unique flavor and tasted very refreshing.

Nick was very efficient; in no time at all, the rescue planes had arrived. Three small planes, capable of landing on water, were in front and behind, and the passengers quickly began packing their luggage and boarding.

While vacationing with superheroes is great, the insurance payout is more important. The S.H.I.E.L.D. staff said they needed to understand the accident details and provide an official accident report, which would help with the insurance claim, so they happily boarded the plane.

After the superheroes were left on the island, they gathered around a table shaded by a parasol outside the noodle shop and chatted about everything from family and children to community and country, and the hottest topic right now: interstellar society.

However, as the conversation progressed, the topic eventually shifted to the multiverse. As we all know, the debriefing of a war can last for decades, or even centuries, and there is no end to the topics to discuss regarding wars in the multiverse.

However, the details of the war had already been thoroughly discussed, and all aspects of the issues had been analyzed. From the perspective of the superheroes who participated in the war, there weren't as many big-picture issues to discuss as those of the commanders and staff officers, so the topic returned to its basics and began to focus on the rules themselves.

"I don't think this was a pure war, nor did it really achieve the purpose of an exercise. Everyone had their own agenda, including Batman. We all wanted to use this war to gain a place in our own multiverse or to seize benefits for our own universe. It wasn't pure enough in terms of strategy and combat."

Steve nodded and said, "That's true. This doesn't really reflect our state when the multiverse crisis comes. After all, by then, even if the superheroes of the multiverse have their own agendas, they won't dare to go too far. Their unity will definitely be higher than it is now, and they won't have many opportunities to take advantage of their own universes."

"Because of the biased strategic inclination, the intensity of this war was insufficient, and it did not achieve the goal of training tactics effectively. However, since our universe is being used as a battlefield, we should indeed reap some benefits, and I can't think of any better way."

“We can compete in a purer environment,” Stark said. “It’s not about cosmic interests or the status of the multiverse, it’s just a simple tactical contest, trying to be as balanced and limited as possible, so that we can get the training we need.”