"Hey, old James and my knight Carl, you two are in great shape. Looks like you are not going to live another hundred or two years."
Old James chuckled and teased back.
"Garfield, it is so nice to hear your magnetic voice again. Although I think that voice belongs to a powerful young leader, not an orange cat that sneaks into my granddaughter's bed in the middle of the night."
"Besides, the age you mentioned, if you convert it for Carl and me, is at least 170 years old. In the East, only turtles and tortoises could live that long."
Carl pounced on Garfield, sticking out his tongue and licking all over Garfield's face.
"Alright, Carl, you need to be more reserved."
Garfield pushed Carl's head away and flew onto Old James's desk.
Using his magic to check on Old James's body and confirming there was nothing seriously wrong, Garfield continued to tease his old friend.
"Old James, you are still going strong. But let me warn you. While you are certainly going strong, do not push yourself too hard. After all, you are not young anymore. It would not look good if you died on the job."
Old James understood Garfield's implied meaning and patted his chest.
"Do not worry. We can still have fun for another two years."
Garfield gave Old James a thumbs up.
"Impressive."
Carl looked confused.
The banter improved the atmosphere.
Garfield asked Old James, "How have you been lately? Have you encountered any difficulties that I need to help you with?"
Old James replied, "I have retired. There were a lot of complaints within the department about cooperating with you, especially regarding the demons. But things improved a lot after everything was handled perfectly. Only a few Knights of the Round Table still have reservations."
Garfield perked up.
"Knights of the Round Table. Are they the heirs from the Arthurian legend?"
Old James nodded.
"Yes. They were initially hidden behind the scenes. As their cooperation with the High claw Group improved, they probably felt things were getting out of control. So they came out from behind the scenes."
Garfield scratched his chin.
"Vivienne and the others did not complain to me. It seems they did not cause any trouble."
Old James nodded.
"After they saw Master Baima, they talked to him and then did not say anything more, at least on the surface."
Garfield said, "They are still worried behind the scenes."
Sure enough, this orange cat was shrewd.
Old James admitted, "That is right."
Garfield smiled on the surface, but he knew the Knights must still be unhappy inside.
In their eyes, this place should be within their traditional sphere of influence.
He had taken their job and the honor they had won.
Otherwise, according to normal procedures, if a special event occurred that could not be handled openly, they would descend like saviors to perfectly resolve the situation and gain faith and glory.
Instead, they were forced by the High claw Group to hastily emerge from behind the scenes to seize power.
"Oh dear, I have accidentally taken someone's position. How tragic."
Garfield felt nothing.
He even craved braised chicken rice.
"Thank you for informing me, old James. If you need it, I would not mind if you really lived another hundred years, if you were willing."
Hearing Garfield bring up the question again, Old James still firmly shook his head and refused Garfield's suggestion.
"No. The cycle of life and death is a person's destiny. Society is developing so fast these days. I can hardly keep up. As a relic of an old era, I have reached an age where I should be leaving."
Garfield said, "You are as insistent as ever. Let us drop this topic for today. How is your granddaughter?"
Mentioning Peggy, Old James looked proud.
"Smart, cute, even better than her father."
He gave Garfield a recent photo of Peggy.
Then Old James asked Garfield, "Are you interested in recruiting her? I believe Peggy can definitely stand on her own."
Of course she could stand on her own.
The future Peggy Carter, founder and director of S.H.I.E.L.D., the queen protecting the Earth.
Garfield did not just randomly bestow titles.
At least within S.H.I.E.L.D., she was a queen.
However, Garfield did not want to drag Peggy into his circle too early.
He would still have to deal with the mess left by Captain America.
Despite Steve Rogers being asleep for seventy years, the United States, and even Hydra, had not been idle for a moment in their obsession with super soldiers.
The deaths of Howard Stark and his wife, the birth of the Hulk, the Osborn Corporation's enhancement agents and the Green Goblin, and the research that Spider Man's father participated in, all these were due to super soldiers and their serum.
One day in the future, Howard destroyed Captain America Steve's original blood sample.
But secondhand, thirdhand, and subsequent generations of blood samples already existed.
The Abomination injection, which was used to oppose the Hulk, was a super soldier serum that had undergone several generations of modification and research.
Several super soldier projects had failed.
Most failed due to the Hulk going out of control and destroying its own base, ultimately forcing the project's elimination.
Directly rejecting Old James was not good either.
Having more variables was actually a good thing.
Garfield decided to let fate decide for their Steve.
"Peggy is quite good. Once she officially enters the global stage, I will have Queenie and the others conduct appropriate assessments and training for her. If she passes, she can work for my Highclaw Group or we can collaborate."
Old James could not quite figure out what Garfield meant by collaboration.
But Garfield had already agreed, which made things much easier.
After all, Garfield was still wearing the collar with "Garfield Carter" on it.
That was enough to show that Garfield was a sentimental cat.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
After chatting with Old James Carter for a while, they started eating.
The large table for more than ten people was piled high with delicious food.
Feeling Old James Carter's sincerity, Garfield did not stand on ceremony.
He opened his mouth wide and gobbled down his food.
After the sumptuous meal, Garfield rode on Carl's back and surveyed his kingdom.
Actually, he had originally planned to leave.
But Old James suggested waiting for Peggy, who had missed Garfield for a long time.
Garfield thought to himself, there is nothing much going on.
I will just wait.
He decided to go to the barn to meet the new subjects and Old James's new generation of round faced, chubby Scottish chickens.
Aside from a few horses, the other new barn subjects did not recognize Garfield at all.
They only knew from Carl and the other older animals that they had an orange cat king.
It was not Garfield's fault for not recognizing them.
As livestock, they only lived three to five years before ending up on the dinner table.
Chickens and ducks lived even shorter lives.
As for his Jerry, given the rat reproduction rate, the current generation was probably at least forty or fifty generations removed from the ones he had known.
Poor Jerrys.
Living in the barn, they had to avoid not only the original cats of Carter Manor but also attacks from the round faced, chubby Scottish chickens overhead.
After gathering all the animals together, Garfield perched on the head of a bull.
Meanwhile, Peggy arrived at Carter Manor in a car with her new acquaintance, a young woman from Greece.