"It seems the paranormal phenomena are indeed going to erupt on a large scale." Dr. Banner said with some concern over breakfast, "I don't know how many people will die. Although some of them indeed deserve it, too many deaths might also cause panic."
Bucky turned his head to look at Steve. According to logic, Captain America's sense of justice would prompt Steve to intervene at this point. As Banner said, a sudden death of so many people is not a good thing. Even if this group of people had done something bad in the past and getting revenge from ghosts is what they deserve, if too many die in a short period in bizarre ways causing a regional incident, it could be exploited by those with ulterior motives.
Moreover, if it gets exposed that The Avengers were right here but didn't intervene to stop it, it could damage their reputation. Even to protect the interests of The Avengers, as the leader of The Avengers, Captain America has no reason not to act.
But this time, Steve strangely chose to remain silent and did not respond to the conversation. Banner was smart too, sensing Steve's attitude, he didn't bring it up again.
In fact, Stark was also a bit curious. When Steve first arrived, he was more against causing too much commotion; he wouldn't have asked if they should just burn the whole place down otherwise. This indicates Steve doesn't think killing everyone will solve the problem. He should stand up at this time, point it out, and do everything possible to prevent the death incidents from happening.
But now, he's not speaking. It really is a bit unusual. Everyone watched him. Steve seemed unable to remain silent any longer and said, "Let's eat first. Afterward, we have plenty of time to talk about past stories."
Greed turned his head to glance at the weather outside. Shortly after Coulson arrived, it started snowing again. This time, the snowfall was not small, and according to the weather forecast, it might continue for the whole day. So the plans to visit the furniture store or buy some small decorations seem to have gone down the drain. They will be staying in the estate all day to keep warm in front of the fire, it's the best time for ghost stories.
After breakfast, the weather remained gloomy, it didn't look like morning, more like evening. Looking through the window, the sea was shrouded in fog, adding more melancholy to the somber atmosphere.
Everyone sat around the fireplace. There were some snacks on the coffee table. Alcohol naturally couldn't be left out of this scene. The table was filled with canned beer and convenience store-mixed drinks.
"No one here likes that bitter and astringent dry red wine," Greed whispered to Arrogant, "If you really want to drink it, I can pour you a glass."
"When in Rome," Arrogant looked down at the fruit-flavored beer can, unable to resist saying, "'Temptation of Paladin' what's that flavor? Can't they come up with a good name?"
Greed took it and glanced at the ingredient list, then said, "Imitating cactus fruit wine. You don't understand, it's fashionable."
That pile of colorful cans was filled with weird and strange flavors, none of them with a proper name, most piling together nice and catchy words that leave one baffled.
These fruit-flavored beers were more like drinks than alcohol, not very high in alcohol content, sweet and cloying when drunk, typical party drinks, not suitable for formal occasions. But now there's obviously no important event worth opening an expensive red wine from overseas, these drinks would do just fine.
Greed helped Arrogant pick one that wasn't too sweet, while he took a regular beer. Natasha carefully chose but was clearly disappointed with the alcohol content of these drinks, randomly picked one. Stark disdained these cheap fruit wines, directly poured himself a cup of coffee. Others picked the flavors they liked.
"My first job at South Fork was waiting tables at a bar," Steve also opened up, "This job was a complete scam. They weren't hiring a waiter to serve drinks at all. As soon as you started working there, they'd use all sorts of harsh demands to force you to transfer, or they'd introduce you to another job."
"Those so-called perks didn't exist at all. The prerequisite for the negotiated salary and benefits was that you had to agree to their transfer demands. And the main reason I was able to keep this job was that I wasn't good-looking enough at the time."
Natasha almost spat out her drink. Steve smiled wryly and said, "I was in poor health back then, extremely thin and short. Although my looks were similar to now, I was so thin that my cheeks were sunken, not very attractive."
As Steve spoke, he searched his phone for his old photos. In his era, photography was indeed possible, but photo studios were expensive. This was a rare photo Bucky insisted they take together, their only one before his transformation.
Greed hadn't really seen it before. After all, the image in the comics didn't really show much. He took the phone and had a look. Indeed, not much to look at, while Bucky beside him looked much better.
It's not that there was a big difference in their appearance, but Steve was very tense at that time, his facial expression stiff while taking photos, not even looking at the camera. Whereas, Bucky was much more composed, not only holding Steve, but also with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, showing some carefreeness, just like a typical American teenager. A confident demeanor is always more attractive.
"So how did you get the job interview back then?" Bucky asked, somewhat puzzled. He wasn't there when Steve went for the interview, so he didn't know what happened.
"They were very short-staffed, and the interviewer I met happened to be a little kind-hearted," Steve said helplessly. "I was really short on money at the time, pleaded with him for a few moments, and he softened up, so he let me stay."
Bucky paused with a snack in his hand. He remembered why they had to go to South Fork to find work. Because there was a fire accident in the Brooklyn slums at that time, although it didn't burn down their building, the house where Steve lived was downwind. The thick smoke rolling over almost choked him to death. He was already in poor health, and this worsened his cough. He needed money for aerosol therapy.
Thinking about the past, Bucky didn't look too well. Steve comfortingly patted his hand, then continued, "Most people can't resist higher salary temptation, either going to accompany drinks or doing similar things elsewhere."
"And I, because of my plain appearance and decent tray-serving skills, they let me stay. So I stayed at that job. Until one day, a newcomer arrived, a girl who clearly lied about her age."
Steve didn't elaborate too much, but everyone understood what he meant. Saying it like this usually means reporting one's age as much older.
"I saw her switch to being a hostess too. It was really hard to accept. I thought she must have been deceived. So, taking advantage of a certain off-duty time, I caught up with her and explained everything. Guess what she said?"
"What did she say?" Bucky asked curiously. But actually, only very few people here would be curious about this question; most others already had their answers.
"She told me not to block her path. She said she'd racked her brains to squeeze into this place to hopefully meet her targeted 'patron.' It was a hard-won opportunity, carefully strategized and analyzed by her and her family for a long time. She told me to stay away, not to mess up her good thing."
"I was very shocked at the time. Because she was actually still..." Steve paused but still didn't continue. But he quickly said again, "Later, I discovered this wasn't an isolated incident. These people were not driven by poverty; they weren't even from slums but were from well-educated middle-class or even affluent families. Regardless of their background or various conditions, they were much better off than me."
"They didn't even see this as a bad thing. On the contrary, they regarded it as worth actively pursuing, as a great opportunity for them and their families to change class. They prepared for a long time just to seize this chance. It was those who stopped them that were ruining their good thing."
When Steve talked about these things, his tone was inevitably filled with a sense of absurdity. "I have to admit, there was a moment when I had the illusion that maybe the world was supposed to be like this. Their righteousness was so overwhelming that I felt like I was the one in the wrong."
"Can you imagine? A caddy at a golf course killed his companion just to fight for the opportunity to get into the back-room reception. And everyone covered it up, whether it was his family, the victim's family, the guests at the golf course, the course manager, or even the police. No one took it seriously."
"Those people even joked about it, bragged about it when they were drunk, and everyone else praised it, treating it as a proof of the other party's popularity. And when I angrily pointed out that this was an unjust child murder case, they only regarded me as a madman."
"I was kicked out of the bar and even got beaten up. I initially thought it was that guest or the bar owner. But the ones threatening to kill me if I dared to speak out were the victim's family."
"They got compensation from the course, which was a precious business cooperation opportunity. Continuing to publicize the matter would only ruin their business. That boy was their sixth child, with five ahead and three behind him. Apart from me, no one cared about him at all."
"From then on, I understood one thing: don't uphold justice in upper-class society." Steve placed the can heavily on the coffee table, "It's not because I'm scared of you, nor because everyone is a perpetrator. Quite the opposite; in my view, everyone here is a victim. It's not them who are sick, but this society."
"In such a society, forcing any individual is meaningless. Because these seemingly voluntary unscrupulous acts to gain benefits occur because they have been completely distorted. In their worldview, this is not a problem. Demonstrating how this worldview is shaped is the key."
"At that time, I was still very young and living in wartime. I naively blamed this on the war. I thought it must be because there was fighting, everyone was nervous, and various resources were scarce, so it turned out like this. So after the Pearl Harbor incident broke out, I joined the military with no hesitation, thinking that as long as the war could end quickly, everything would be fine."