Long Island is located in the eastern part of New York State, with a total of two districts, among which Queens and Brooklyn are both within the scope of New York City, because of its special geographical conditions and superior location, it is known as "New York's back garden".

Arkham Sanatorium is actually located on Long Island, where there are many wealthy villas, wine estates and fine beaches, which is the first choice for wealthy New Yorkers for weekend getaways, and is quite a good summer retreat.

Of course, in winter, the rivers and lakes are a paradise for ice fishing enthusiasts, with a wide variety of bass, trout and pike, which are the easiest to show off.

The staggered scenery of lakes and mountains also avoids the loneliness brought by the endless ice fields, and the ink-colored mountains in the distance give people a sense of surprise when they step into the depths of winter and occasionally see cold and vibrant.

Nick's group chose to stay at a lakeside cottage on a small lake in western Long Island, which is more remote and quieter than the famous parks where the crowds gather.

At about 3 p.m., when the sun was still bright, they arrived at the hut in an electric sleigh run by the locals, cleaned up the shore for rest at sunset, erected a fence against strong winds, set up folding chairs, and built a campfire with stones around it.

Most of this was done by Natasha and Ivan Vanko, and the Russians know too well how to carve out a nest for themselves to rest in a snowy field.

Although the shore here is not actually frozen, the heat stored in the large pebbles has caused the light snow that fell in the morning to melt into streams and disappear deep into the ground, leaving behind damp and icy weeds and grass stalks and some bent reeds.

Magneto Eric, wearing a long, thick trench coat that was out of place with the other men in jackets, used his gloved hand to remove the grass pole in front of him, and walked to the somewhat damp shore with a shallow foot, where he found a nest of mallards.

"They're probably going to forage in the grass." Charles sat in a wheelchair and took off the thick gloves that made his palms sweat, and Eric frowned very disapprovingly as he watched his movements.

"This is the end of the solo adventure, Eric, and we should go back and report this surprise discovery to them." Charles dropped his wheelchair as well, and whether Eric was following him or not, he walked back to himself and said, "Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see a duck or a wild goose returning to the nest." ”

"The geese have long since flown away." Eric was very uninteresting and said: "Migratory birds are not loyal to their nests, and wild ducks just don't have that ability. ”

The two of them made some difficulty through the reeds and returned to the camp, and at this time, Natasha was putting the aluminum pot she had brought on the fire, crouching next to the campfire, and trying to knock the luncheon meat off the box with a very rough movement.

"The German guy is back." Ivan, who was crouching on the other side of the campfire, said to Natasha in Russian: "It seems that he has not asked for the money owed to him, and his face is still so ugly." ”

"Don't say that." Natasha spoke Russian softer, her tone enriched by the "out-of-out" sounds and flicking her tongue, making her tone sound less straightforward than she used to speak Russian English.

"I told you he was a staunch anti-NAZI fighter." Natasha impatiently squeezed the jar of canned luncheon meat and said, "It may be hard for you to imagine, but he went to a concentration camp." ”

Ivan immediately grinned and stopped talking, he crouched on the ground, his arms on his knees, his hands naturally hanging down, and then turned to look at the two people standing in the distance.

His eyes were so good that he could see that when Eric took off his long gloves, he had a string of numbers on the inside of his arm, which was imprinted, a very typical concentration camp number.

"Well, I'll admit he's a real man." Ivan stood up, patted the ash on his hands and said, "I'm going to talk to him, it's better than talking to that Captain America." ”

With that, he walked over, and Natasha simply took a knife from her waist and stabbed it at the bottom of the can of luncheon meat, and the damn piece of meat that was stuck together finally fell into the pot.

Soon, Schiller and Nick, who had gone to find a suitable fishing spot, returned, Nick wore a dark blue jacket and taller boots than anyone else, and he kept explaining the importance of keeping warm to Schiller, who was wearing only a trench coat, but Schiller apparently didn't listen to a word.

"I'm quite disgusted with any high-necked clothes, I think that's going to strangle me." Nick said this, flicking his fingers at the collar of his jacket and saying, "But a coat like this is fine, as long as it doesn't touch my neck." ”

"And then you, and the Germans like you." Nick glanced at Schiller, then at Magneto in the distance, and said, "You chose to be handsome in a trench coat in the weather of more than ten degrees below zero, I can only say that it is very good, you win, you make all of us look like tumblers in the circus." ”

"That's just because we don't get cold."

"That's not what you said when you attacked the Soviet Union in the winter."

"I'm referring to me and Eric...... Whatever you want. ”

The two walked together to sit down on a stool by the campfire, and Nick lit a cigarette, pursed his lips and held it, then took off his left boot and smashed it on the ground.

"Where's our captain?" He asked, "Not without him, for when we were fishing in the Hudson Lake, he was the only one who could catch the big fish that Howard and I had caught but could knock us to the ground with his powerful tail." ”

"He's taken his sketchpads, paints, and stools to the other side of the forest for inspiration, and there's no fishing tonight, and maybe he'll not be back until dark."

Natasha threw the chopped vegetables into the pot and began to squeeze the tomatoes desperately, Schiller leaned his head over and asked, "Is this borscht?" But how can there be luncheon meat in it? ”

Natasha rolled her eyes and said, "Borscht means what to put in, do you want me to carry a cow here?" ”

"Don't describe it like that, ma'am, tomorrow you'll have delicious fish in your soup." Nick raised his voice like an aria and said, "Only the biggest and best fish can be lucky enough to die at your hands." ”

"I just hope we can actually eat fish tomorrow." Natasha shook her head and said, "But not counting on you, never." ”

Schiller turned his head to the right and saw Ivan Vanko, who had already talked to Magneto and Professor X, which was actually quite shocking.

Everyone who can insert themselves into this grudge couple must be quite self-aware, and they don't look at each other, and Ivan happens to have both, but rarely, they actually talk well.

"You know where the Yenisei River turns, right? I was born in the village of Oznachennoye, and then I followed my father further east, trekking all the way to Siberia. ”

Squatting on the shore of the reeds, Ivan continued: "Of course, there is also Lake Baikal, which is bottomless, and it is a good place for real ice fishing. ”

"It's cold in there." Eric said, but it didn't sound like a rebuttal, more like an exclamation.

"Yes, there's no place in my hometown that isn't cold." Ivan did not shy away from it at all, and said: "We always have to wear thick cotton clothes and cotton shoes, and walk clumsy like a penguin, but we have long been used to it." ”

"Everyone who underestimated the cold there paid a terrible price, and Hitler was especial." Ivan went on to say: "The lightning of Europe came here, tripped over the snow of the cold winter and broke his leg. ”

Charles looked at Eric with some concern, but he couldn't see any expression on his face, the atmosphere was silent, but not embarrassed, and it took a few minutes for Eric to say, "Most of the decisions he's made in his life are wrong, and people who think he's a genius are really stupid." ”

"That's why you say that because you're a Jew?"

"Because I'm German."

"It's unusual." Ivan lowered his head and lit a cigarette while saying in a slurred tone: "I thought that every defeated country would only hate them for not succeeding back then. ”

"The vast majority of them are."

To the surprise of both Charles and Ivan, Eric did not deny it, his attitude was too bland and even a little confusing.

After a while, a hot wind in the icy air blew from the camp, and Natasha was gone, and it was Schiller who was looking at the food in the pot, staring at the luncheon meat that was turned out from time to time in the red tomato soup.

"Looks like the meal is almost ready, we should be over." Charles turned his wheelchair again and said, "Don't let everyone wait for us, that's rude." ”

So Eric walked back after him, and Ivan, who was finally on his feet, grinned side by side with Eric, showing his untidy teeth, and said, "He still treats you like a baby." ”

Eric said nothing, showed no signs of anger, and seemed mild-mannered and almost not like him, and Ivan quickly added the second half of the sentence: "If you can meet someone who will actually replace your parents in the second half of your life, you don't know how lucky you are." ”

Eric's brow suddenly spread like a cloud before sunset behind him, and his straight back was more like a tall green pine than the shadow of a tree against the light, cold and resolute.

They quickly sat down on the fishing benches by the campfire, and before it was too early or too late, Natasha and Steve returned, and the drawing board that Steve was carrying was covered in frost dew, as were his eyebrows.

Steve casually placed his sketchpad at the entrance to the windshield wall, walked over and sat down on a folding stool, Nick snuffed out the second cigarette in his hand, and Schiller took the chopsticks from his travel bag and handed out cutlery to everyone.

The metal lunch box is a must-have for camping, and no one in the room has any objections to this retro-shaped iron lunch box, except for Schiller, who handed the lunch box to Nick and said, "If Peter were here, he would have yelled for a long time and asked if we had brought it back from the museum." ”

"I'll tell him yes." While serving soup to everyone, Steve smiled and said, "I would say that this used to be displayed with my shield and toured around the country. ”

Nick laughed, as if choked, then looked down at the unfilled lunch box and said, "Is this really old enough to make children think of antiques or something?" ”

"It's not new." Ivan said: "But Russia is not new either. ”

"There's nothing new here. Is that right? Schiller smiled and said, "There are no young people or things, and there is no desire to follow the trend." ”

"You could just say that it was a good idea not to bring Tony Stark." Nick snorted coldly and said, "He'll use a two-thousand-word tirade to judge our cutlery for nothing." ”

"Then I'll engrave the words 'Made by Stark Industries' under the lunch box." Schiller pressed the flying cabbage leaves back into the bowl with a fork and said, "I'll show him when he's done with his thesis." ”

"I can already imagine his choked expression." Steve couldn't be happier.

"But from what I know about him." Natasha spun the rectangular lunch box in her hand, hissed, looked up at Steve and said, "He'll say it's a birthday present he's going to give you to show off his trendy sexuality, and he'd rather die than break ties with us old guys." ”

"Oh my God, spare me!"

(End of chapter)