Avengers Barbecue Party! The Strangest Gossip in the Universe

Weekend, Avengers base in the suburbs of New York City.

On the sunny lawn in the backyard, a plume of white smoke, full of the aroma of cooking, was rising.

"Tony, that Wagyu beef is already smoking. Doesn't your nanotech armor even have an automatic flipping function?"

Captain America Steve Rogers, wearing a simple white T-shirt, points helplessly at the grill.

"Old popsicle, what do you know? This is called the Maillard reaction; a crispy texture is the Soul Stone of barbecue."

Tony Stark, wearing sunglasses and holding a pair of tongs, was defiantly flipping the grilled meat.

Buzz.

A faint green ripple appeared on one side of the lawn as Jiang Li and Gwen emerged right on time.

"Sorry, I took care of a group of bank robbers on the way, so I'm a few minutes late." Jiang Li waved the case of chilled beer he was carrying.

"It's not too late, the meat's just been grilled to a crisp. Come sit down!"

Natasha, the Black Widow, sat under the parasol, smiling and waving. Dressed casually, she handed Gwen a glass of freshly squeezed juice.

"Tony said you two went back to your 'parents' home' for a long vacation? How was it? How was the scenery in the other universes?" Natasha winked gossipy.

Gwen took a sip of her juice, and recalling her experiences in the Spider-Society, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"The scenery is so-so, but the biodiversity is extremely rich."

Gwen sat down on the recliner and looked around at the Avengers. "Steve, Tony, can you imagine a two-story-tall Tyrannosaurus Rex wearing a red and blue bodysuit, swinging on Silk between the skyscrapers of New York?"

"Cough cough..."

Steve, who was drinking water, choked. "Tyrannosaurus Rex? Swinging on Silk? Can its forepaws even reach the launcher?"

"Not only Tyrannosaurus Rex."

Jiang Li placed the beer on the table, pulled out a chair, and casually added, "There's also Spider-Man from another universe, who's a pig. And his profession isn't a student; he's a senior reporter for the Daily Bugle."

The entire room fell silent for two seconds.

"A pig writing news in a newspaper?" Tony turned around, his eyes wide, holding the tongs. "JARVIS, write this down. Next time that old fox Nick Fury cuts the Avengers ' budget, I'll suggest he recruit a pig as an agent."

Everyone was amused.

"What's this!"

With a hearty laugh, Thor strode out of the base carrying a huge oak barrel in a distinctly Nordic style.

He slammed the barrel down on the table, his face beaming with pride.

"Asgard has seen countless strange and wondrous creatures throughout the Nine Realms. What's so special about a few pigs and Tyrannosaurus Rex?"

Thor pulled the cork from the barrel, and an extremely strong aroma of liquor with a hint of kiwi fruit instantly filled the entire lawn.

"Come, come! To celebrate Jiang Li's return, try this! This is a thousand-year-old Asgard wine that I stole from Odin's wine cellar... cough, I mean, from the Immortal Palace! A single drop from it will keep a mortal asleep for three whole days!"

Steve and Natasha exchanged a glance and tacitly moved their cups a little further away. They didn't want to lie on the lawn until next week.

But Thor had already poured Jiang Li a full glass, the amber liquid shimmering in the sunlight.

"Jiang Li, although you're a fierce fighter, when it comes to drinking, Asgardians are absolutely number one in the universe!" Thor provocatively raised his glass.

Jiang Li looked at the glass of "Asgard Liquor" in front of him, which was said to "intoxicate for three days with just one drop," and a playful smile appeared on his lips.

Jiang Li picked up the glass, and under Thor's expectant gaze, tilted his head back and gulped down a large glass of Asgard liquor in a few gulps.

He didn't even frown.

"It tastes good, a bit like expired grape juice. Do you have any more?" Jiang Li put down the empty glass and even smacked his lips.

Thor's smile froze on his face as he stared at Jiang Li as if he were a monster.

"You... you don't feel dizzy? Or have blurred vision?"

"No. My metabolism is probably tens of thousands of times faster than yours; alcohol stays in my body for no more than 0.1 seconds."

Jiang Li leaned back in his chair with an extremely Versailles-like air, and casually added, "By the way, Thor, since you think other universes are nothing special, have you ever seen a 'Frog Thor '?"

"What? A frog?" Thor was taken aback.

"Yes." Jiang Li slowly picked up a skewer of grilled meat. "In the Earth-97161 universe, there is a frog named Simon Walter who wielded your Mjolnir, wore your miniature cape, called himself ' Throg,' and even formed Pet Avengers in Central Park."

"Puff--!"

This time it was Tony's turn to spit out his beer. He pointed at Thor, laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight.

"Hahaha! Throg! Thor, I swear, from now on, I'll make a little red cape for every single frog in my lab!"

"Nonsense!" Thor flushed red, and he waved his arms frantically. "How could the great Mjolnir possibly approve of a frog! Jiang Li, you must be making this up!"

"If you don't believe me, next time we go to the Multiverse, I can take you to Central Park to get its autograph," Jiang Li said seriously.

A burst of uproarious laughter erupted on the lawn, as if the roof had been blown off.

Even the usually composed Steve couldn't help but clutch his stomach and burst into laughter.

Just as everyone was enjoying their barbecue in a very harmonious atmosphere...

A faint red light suddenly flashed at the edge of the [Omnitrix] on Jiang Li's wrist.

Jiang Li's smile faded slightly, and he lowered his head, his gaze falling on the watch face.

This is not an enemy attack alert.

Instead, it was his "Omni-Sensory Radar" set up in the outer space of the Main Universe that detected an extremely large and destructive cosmic energy source that was approaching the Solar System at a stellar speed.

"Gentlemen."

Through Tony's sunglasses, Friday's slightly urgent warning came through. "Deep Space Monitoring Station has issued a maximum alert. A man-made warship larger than the moon has just jumped out of a jump point near Jupiter."

Tony's smile vanished instantly. He put down the tongs and pressed the armor summoning button on his wrist.

"Looks like our weekend holiday is coming to an early end."

Jiang Li picked up a tissue, wiped her hands, and stood up.

"It's alright, I just finished eating."

Jiang Li patted Thor on the shoulder.

"Let's go see who dares to disturb our barbecue."