But Arthur couldn’t bring himself to laugh.
His mind was in turmoil, filled with images of Colonel Phillips, Agent Carter, and the Man…
Faces came and went, never giving him a moment’s peace.
He must be dead to everyone by now, right? After all, the last he remembered, he disappeared right in front of Steve.
Surviving that? What was that? A magic trick?
Just thinking about it made Arthur feel melancholy. What expression would Colonel Phillips have? Anger? Sadness?
What about Agent Carter?
Had she read the letter he had written for her?
And what about the Man? His last fight with Schmidt seemed to have damaged the Valkyrie’s controls… would he end up as a popsicle again?
Wait, why did he think “again”?
As these questions raced through his mind, another concern quietly surfaced.
“Am I still in the Marvel Universe, or… have I returned to my own time?”
While he was lost in thought, he heard footsteps approaching again.
This time the girl came in carrying two bowls.
Arthur hadn’t felt hungry while he was lost in thought, but seeing the noodles made him ravenous.
After three bowls, he finally felt somewhat satiated. As his physical abilities increased, so did his appetite.
But he didn’t dare ask for more; after three large bowls, asking for ten more might get him kicked out by the girl.
“Uh… what’s your name?” Arthur asked, looking at the girl.
“Why?” The girl was careful. “Just because I helped you this time, don’t push your luck. When you’re away from home, you can only rely on yourself. Don’t think that just because you know my name that I’ll continue to help you. We’re not related… I’m Li Xiaomi.”
“Xiaomi…” Arthur blinked, unsure if he should comment or not.
“Say what you want,” Li Xiaomi said, confused. “Why are you holding it in?”
“Uh… I just ate,” Arthur said helplessly. “I was just thinking, were your parents afraid you’d starve to death? Is that why they named you Xiaomi?”
“Che!”
Li Xiaomi didn’t take it seriously. “That’s none of your business. I just like the name. What’s your name? Da Mi (Rice)?”
“We’re not related,” Arthur laughed. “My name is Arthur (Xia Zhiye).”
“Arthur (Xia Zhiye)??”
Li Xiaomi was stunned, then burst out laughing. “Arthur (Xia Zhiye)? What kind of grudge do your parents have against you to give you such a strange name?”
“I was born in the summer. My mother insisted that on the night I was conceived, she had a beautiful dream of a pure, starry sky. They decided… it had to be ‘Summer’s Dream’. But that sounded like a girl’s name, so they called me Arthur (Xia Zhiye) instead.
With their names full of humorous details, the two laughed heartily together.
After laughing, Arthur decided to get out of bed and move around. He noticed that he was wearing a loose-fitting pair of pajamas.
“Whose are these?” Arthur asked Li Xiaomi.
“My father’s old ones.”
“Old ones?”
Arthur found it strange. “What do you mean, old ones?”
“He passed away,” Li Xiaomi said with a smile. “Both my parents did. They were traveling and died in a plane crash… Oh, and I had someone else change your clothes, so don’t get any funny ideas!”
Arthur fell silent.
Li Xiaomi shouted, “Wait, why did I tell you that so easily? Let me be clear, just because you know that I live alone, doesn’t mean you can do anything to me. My family runs a martial arts school, you know? I can take on three guys like you!”
Looking at Li Xiaomi bouncing around like a fighter jet, Arthur shook his head and chuckled. “I won’t hurt you.”
“As if you could hurt me!” Li Xiaomi scoffed. “Everyone on this street knows what kind of person I am! If you try to act tough in front of me, I’ll knock your teeth out.”
“Yes, that’s something I often do,” Arthur said, standing up but still feeling unsteady.
It was a strange sensation, like the disorientation one feels after a long train ride. Even after the trip ends, the dizziness lasts for a few days.
“Hey, are you okay?” Li Xiaomi asked, worried about Arthur’s wobbly posture.
Arthur shook his head. “I’m fine, I just need to get used to it. Can I take a walk?”
“Go ahead,” Li Xiaomi said. “But I’m telling you, when you’re done, you have to leave. I’ve told you my situation. If you’re grateful for my help, don’t give me any trouble, okay?”
Arthur nodded. It wasn’t that the girl was cold; she had already done a lot for him.
She had taken him out of the garbage, brought him home, and even made him some noodles. Even though he wasn’t full, she had done more than most would for a stranger.
Given her situation, living alone in America after losing her parents, Arthur felt it only fair not to burden her further.
Leaving the room, he found himself in a hallway with a staircase leading down. In the corner was a small table with a telephone on it.
Arthur approached it and noticed a newspaper under the phone.
He picked it up and looked at the headline, “Stark Industries’ Unshakeable Position!” with a picture of the Stark Tower.
“Well, that confirms it…” Arthur sighed. He was still in the Marvel Universe.
It wasn’t disappointing, since he had already suspected it.
But it was clear that he was no longer in the WWII era; he was now in the 21st century.
How did the energy surge from the Tesseract transport him from the WWII era to here? The Tesseract contained the Space Stone, not the Time Stone, unless…
Arthur remembered the chaotic, ever-shifting spaces he had experienced and slapped his forehead. “Unless this unknown flaw pushed me into a spatial rift, where I was stuck for nearly seventy years until the Disassembler absorbed the Tesseract’s scattered energy and released me?”
The Disassembler couldn’t speak, so this theory was just a guess.
But did it matter whether he was right or wrong?
Whether his guess was accurate or not, the reality was here… he was now in the 21st-century Marvel world!
……
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