The Lost Dream of Long Aotian

The Lost Dream of Long Aotian

Evenson arrived at the cafeteria. It was no different from usual, except for two posters on the wall. One commemorated the xx anniversary of the world anti-*** war. That was normal enough—World War II had been too brutal, so there was nothing strange about commemorating it. But the other poster shocked Evenson beyond words.

The poster showed a man in a skintight suit patterned after the American flag, blue with stars and stripes. He held a round shield, blue with red rings and a large five-pointed star in the center. The moment Evenson saw the portrait, he had a bad feeling. When he looked up at the title, his suspicions were confirmed.

The title read: Commemorating the xx Anniversary of Captain America's Death. Beneath it was a smaller line: Old soldiers never die. May freedom and glory be with you.

"Captain America... Captain America... How could this happen?" Evenson muttered blankly. He finished breakfast in a daze and returned to his room. Covering his face with both hands, he buried his head in his knees and carefully searched through his memories of the past fourteen years in this world.

Through those memories, he discovered that this was not some prank. He really did have memories of Captain America; he simply had not paid attention to them before.

Captain America, Steve Rogers. The sole successful case of the US government's Super Soldier program during World War II. He led his Special Squad into battle and earned countless merits. In the end, he shattered the plans of the evil ** organization Hydra and perished together with its leader, Red Skull. He was regarded as a symbol of the American Spirit and the greatest hero since the founding of America.

That was Evenson's memory of Captain America, as well as the US government's official propaganda. But according to his memories from his previous life, Captain America was not dead. He should have been frozen beneath the ice, still clutching the Cosmic Cube.

Yet through this, Evenson finally understood the true nature of this world. This was not the America he knew from his previous life. This was America in the Marvel Universe.

"Ah... my dream shattered before it even began." Evenson sighed mournfully. He had originally planned to follow in the footsteps of so many transmigration seniors and live out an American Dream, but cruel reality had crushed all those dreams over the course of a single breakfast.

Because this was the Marvel Universe. One word summed up this world: a trap. It was as much of a trap as Azeroth. Not to mention Thanos, who had always lurked behind the scenes and was likely strong enough to contend with Sargeras, or the so-called gods of Asgard's Nine Realms. Earth's own forces alone were enough to make one shudder.

There was Hulk, who could use Loki like a yo-yo, and Iron Man, who was invulnerable to blades and bullets and flew all over the sky. Just thinking about them made Evenson feel that there was nothing special about himself.

Of course, Captain America was still beneath the ice, Hulk was still playing hide-and-seek with his future father-in-law, Iron Man had yet to be born, and Thor was still fighting little monsters in Asgard.

But what about the nearly omnipresent, meddlesome S.H.I.E.L.D.? It was a colossal force, practically the pinnacle of mundane power.

Walking down the street, an arrow fired by Hawkeye might fly over from who knew where. Taking a sip of water, who knew whether Sweetheart Black Widow had slipped in a poison where a single drop could kill more than a dozen people? Or perhaps, upon waking up in the morning, he might find a battalion of fully armed US Soldiers carrying guns and cannons, squatting outside his home.

As long as someone wanted to play Long Aotian, run around causing trouble, fighting monsters to level up, killing people, and looting treasures, and S.H.I.E.L.D. decided that person was a destabilizing factor threatening world peace, any of those things could happen.

As for proactively joining S.H.I.E.L.D.? Sure. Since you had some special abilities, they would permit you to join. Then you would undergo training to become a full agent. You would gain the rights that came with the appropriate clearance, while also accepting S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supervision and orders. What? You wanted to be like Iron Man, Tony Stark? What a joke. You were an orphan raised in an Orphanage, without family, connections, or social standing. Did you think you were qualified to negotiate terms with S.H.I.E.L.D.? Either obediently become an agent, or get experimented on in a laboratory.

And if you claimed to know the future and demanded special treatment? Even better. Once they confirmed your ability was real, you would be locked a hundred floors underground in a room made entirely of Vibranium. At least an Armored Brigade would guard it outside, and they would probably bury a Nuclear Bomb beneath it as well, just in case of any uncontrollable consequences. You would spend the rest of your life in that room, revealing everything you knew every day under the scrutiny of a hundred Lie Detectors. People without Level 8 clearance probably would not even know you existed, and people without Level 10 clearance could not meet you. You still wanted to run around freely? Keep dreaming.

Do not assume that S.H.I.E.L.D. was a righteous organization, so it would be as kind as some saintly mother. In brains where rational logic outweighed personal emotion, human lives were merely arithmetic. They would not hesitate to sacrifice you if it meant making the whole world happy.

If you did not believe it, just look at the situations of those superheroes.

Captain America had always followed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orders, and as a soldier, he was accustomed to obeying commands.

War Machine was an Air Force Colonel, belonging to the US Military.

Black Widow and Hawkeye were both active Senior Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Those were the ones controlled by S.H.I.E.L.D. or the military. As for the rest...

Hulk had beaten the US Military senseless. Whenever he got angry, an entire block was destroyed.

Thor was no weaker than Hulk and difficult to handle. Moreover, he was the Crown Prince of Asgard. Mishandling him might even trigger an Interstellar War.

Iron Man, Tony Stark, was a world-famous Billionaire, Great Scientist, and Philanthropist. That was not an identity one could casually touch. Besides, although Tony might try to evade things, he would still cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D. Most importantly, he had his ultimate move: my dad is Howard.

See? Those who were not powerful enough were already working for S.H.I.E.L.D. or the military. Those who did not give a damn about S.H.I.E.L.D. either had enormous status in the world and were already cooperating with S.H.I.E.L.D. in many ways, like Iron Man, or possessed overwhelming strength and an even more formidable backing, like Thor. Someone like Hulk, who refused to cooperate nonviolently, refused to cooperate violently, and simply refused to cooperate without any backing at all, definitely had the strength to crush anyone below the atmosphere who dared defy him. Yet he was still chased all over the world, forced to hide his name and conceal himself in slums.

As for Evenson now? Strength-wise, if he solved thirty questions every day and kept it up for three or four years, he might be able to handle Captain America. If he encountered someone like Hulk, he should hurry up and tie a Soul Stone to himself. As for status, what status did an orphan raised in an Orphanage have? Fewer than twenty people even knew him.

As for backing, he did not know whether the Burning Legion counted as his backing. If it did, he would probably die even faster. It was far more evil than Hydra.

So Evenson's decision now was to keep a low profile. At least until he possessed strength like Captain America's, he did not want to attract anyone's attention.

"Ah, look at that running beneath the sunset—that was my lost dream of Long Aotian." Thinking that he would never again have that kind of life where men would bow their heads and pledge loyalty on sight, while women would be instantly captivated and naturally infatuated, Evenson could not help sighing again.