That Steve's cooking skills are really good.
The pies he made were almost the most delicious Merlin had ever eaten, and the delicious seafood soup and handmade desserts made Merlin feast on this ordinary afternoon.
And this old man is very talkative.
During the meal time between the three of them, he and Merlin had a good chat.
It can be seen that he is knowledgeable and has experienced many things, and he even has a deep understanding of magic. Especially after Ms. Carter told him that Merlin was a rare wizard, the mysterious Steve told his past stories.
"Magic, this thing does exist."
He sat in a chair and talked to Merlin:
"I met the magicians who served in the world during World War II. They would curse our soldiers with weird witchcraft, but they were mysterious and very few. They abandoned Hitler during the period when he was about to lose. I never heard of them again after the war."
"However, I have never heard of the American Magic and French Association."
Steve Older said to Merlin:
"I know there is a powerful mage living in New York, but he should be different from you."
"oh?"
Merlin was interested. He looked at old Steve. The old man didn't seem to be bragging, so Merlin asked:
“Why is it different?”
"In my memory, he did not need a wand to cast spells. He always claimed to be a secret mage, and the magic he released was indeed powerful."
Old Steve said with a look of memories:
"We have faced a terrifying enemy that ordinary people can't imagine together. He is a very powerful man. I have seen him with his own eyes blocking millions of tons of violent floods with magic, which is easy, as if he had done something insignificant."
"What's the name of that powerful mage?"
Merlin said:
"Maybe I know him."
"No, no, you can't know him."
Old Steve smiled and said to Merlin:
"At least at this point in time, you'll never have seen him. Oh, by the way, I heard from Peggy, do you still know Tony?"
Merlin keenly felt that the old man in front of him was changing the topic, but he nodded and replied:
"Yes, I know Tony, a rich man who is very annoying, a young man who has experienced pain, and a wandering young man in the newspaper, but he hasn't been annoying me much recently."
Merlin shrugged and said to Old Steve:
"He's really annoying guy."
"Yes, Tony is indeed that."
Old Steve seemed to be familiar with Tony Stark, and he drank a cup of tea and said to Merlin:
"But believe me, Tony hides a kind soul under that annoying appearance. He just hasn't encountered the destined hardships and has not yet been polished by time. He is like a piece of raw stone. Without being carved, he cannot become a dazzling treasure. But he is indeed a trustworthy person and a good friend."
"Destined?"
Merlin looked at Old Steve and said:
"You mean, will Tony encounter a disaster in the future? Are you a wizard too? Or do you know how to predict or something?"
"No, I'm just an ordinary person, Merlin."
Old Steve said with a smile:
"But people like Tony will always get into trouble, one after another, until they get into trouble that they can't solve. This doesn't require any prophecy to know, it's just the wisdom of a weather-beaten old man."
"Well, you said that."
Merlin nodded. He always felt that the old man in front of him was a little mysterious, and he always felt that his face was very familiar, and he seemed to have seen it somewhere.
"Okay, gentlemen, the chat time is over."
Ms. Carter finished her lunch and said like a hostess:
"I'm going to take a nap. Can you two clean up the table and tableware?"
"certainly."
Merlin immediately stood up and packed up the tableware on the table, and old Steve also helped Ms. Carter back to the room.
A few minutes later, Merlin was washing the tableware in the kitchen, while Old Steve took out two bottles of beer from the refrigerator, stood at the door of the kitchen and said to Merlin:
"Do you want to go out for a walk? Young people, you need to exercise after dinner so that you can keep them healthy. Put those dishes there and I will clean them up. Peggy is really, there is no reason to let the guests do it."
"OK."
Merlin turned around and smiled at Old Steve. He wiped his fingers and took the bottle handed over by Old Steve. The two men walked out of the house and walked in the garden of Ms. Carter's manor under the sun, continuing their topic.
"Speaking of this, Steve, how did you and Ms. Carter meet?"
Merlin took a sip of wine and asked:
"Have you seen Captain America Steve Rogers, too? Do you know the past of that legendary hero and Ms. Carter?"
"I know, I have seen it."
Old Steve basked in the sun, and he replied slowly:
"You know Rogers had a roaring commando, right? I'm one of them, I've been on missions with Silver Bullets, Bucky, and Steve. After the war, Steve disappeared."
Old Steve stopped, he looked to the sky in the north, he said:
"It was a very bad time. Carter lost his love and was confused. Fortunately, God gave me a chance to replace Rogers with her and I accompanied her until now. We supported each other, but I still owe her a lot."
Merlin didn't speak, and after a few minutes he suddenly said:
"I doubt now that you are Captain America Steve Rogers who has been missing for almost 60 years, but I have no evidence."
"Me? Hahahaha."
Old Steve turned around and laughed and patted Merlin on the shoulder, he said:
"Believe me, Merlin, I'm not him. What's more, Agent Free has been secretly searching for Steve Rogers? Their expedition team on the Arctic Ocean has almost browsed the entire Greenland. Maybe they will find it soon. By that time, you will know that I am really not the Captain America you imagined, that legendary hero."
Old Steve took a sip of wine and said to Merlin:
"I'm just an ordinary old man, I've just experienced more than others."
"All right."
Merlin shrugged:
"I'm just suspicious."
"Suspicion is the nature of the agents, which proves that you are a good agent."
Steve Old said:
"Just as Carter told me, you are a new star of S.H.E.L.D. You may take over Fury's team in the future. But I'm quite curious about some things, Merlin, I heard that a few years ago, you killed the Winter Soldier in Oakland?"
"I can't be sure if he's really dead."
Merlin sat on the steps of the garden, raised her head calmly and said to Old Steve:
"At that time, I found only the broken right arm of the Winter Warrior in the ruins of the explosion, which was a metal arm. I thought he was dead at the time, but as my understanding of the Super Warrior Serum became deeper and deeper, I now feel that maybe he escaped the explosion of destruction and is now hiding in a corner of the world."
"All right."
Old Steve nodded, a light flashed in his eyes, he said:
"The Winter Soldier is actually a very sad person. During the Cold War, Pegg and I had faced him more than once. He was brainwashed by that organization and turned into a ruthless war machine. In fact, if you really killed him in Oakland, he actually gave him real relief. After all, he did a lot of wrong things, and his hands were stained with the blood of innocent people."
The old man took a sip of wine and said:
"If he really dies, it's a sin."
"You said you have faced the organization that controls the Winter Soldiers?"
Merlin's eyes became sharp at this moment, and he asked:
"Can you tell me more? About that organization, although they haven't appeared since the Auckland incident, I can feel that they are still there!"
"They are indeed still here, Merlin."
Old Steve's expression also became serious, and he said to Merlin:
"That organization, called Hydra, was once the intelligence agency of **. A madman named Red Skull Schmidt once controlled it to confront the Strategic Science Legion for almost the entire World War II. After the war, they not only did not die, but also passed on it through more secret means. Their eyes were spread all over the world, even in S.H.E.L.D.
Speaking of this, Old Steve suddenly stopped, and he seemed to have told some amazing secret.
"What?"
Merlin looked at Old Steve and said:
"What's wrong with SHIELD?"
"nothing."
Old Steve was drinking, and he said casually:
"I just said that SHIELD may not be safe either, and that organization has very, very strong penetration. Merlin, if you decide to track them down, then you'd better be careful. Maybe some familiar people around you are their members."
"Hydra"
Merlin nodded and said solemnly:
"Thank you for your reminder, I will pay attention. However, I always think you are mysterious, Steve, who are you?"
"I'm an old agent."
Old Steve said to Merlin with a calm expression:
"You think I'm mysterious, just because I've experienced a lot of things. From decades ago to now, I've experienced those strange encounters. It's like the things that SHIELD is trying to deal with now, supernatural events, war madmen, mutants, Asgardians, Kerry, etc."
Old Steve shook his head:
"What you have experienced is like a portrayal of the things I have experienced. As a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., these embellishments are always indispensable in our lives."
"Wait, Asgardian?"
Merlin looked up and looked at Old Steve, a hint of curiosity flashed in his eyes:
"Does the Asgardians really exist? I thought they were just mythical characters?"
"They do exist, Merlin."
Old Steve said confidently:
"More than a thousand years ago, when the passage between the Asgard divine realm and the earth was still open, those divine realm people often traveled to and from the two worlds as gods. Those characters who left a rich story in the legend were actually from another world, well, you can understand it as aliens. Although in their civilization, there is indeed the concepts of 'divine nature' and 'divine power'."
"But in this era, the communication channel between the earth and the divine realm has been closed."
The old man said to Merlin:
"You may find traces left by the Asgardians, some magical objects, some dictionaries, or some problems, etc. What are you holding in your hand?"
Just as Old Steve spoke, he saw Merlin wearing gloves and taking out a silver cane that was about 1 meter long from his narrow pocket.
"This is something I found after an ancient legend."
Merlin put the Furious Warrior's Cane in front of Old Steve, he said:
"Let's take a look at the text above."
"This thing looks broken?"
Old Steve squatted in front of the cane, he cautiously did not reach out to touch it. He took out a pair of reading glasses from his pocket and put them on his eyes. He looked carefully at the pattern on the cane. After a moment, he said to Merlin:
"It is indeed the Lun rune, the words that only the Asgardians and their worshippers would use. This thing is a magical object, look at the colorful light it emits in the sun, Merlin, this is Ulukin, even in the Asgardian civilization, it is a very rare magic metal. It should indeed come from the legendary blacksmiths of the Divine Realm people."
"Can you understand these words?"
Merlin asked, Old Steve nodded, shook his head again, and he said:
"I am not a full-time linguist. I can only barely tell the meaning of these words through my past experiences."
"It tells a story about the Legion of the Brutals, but the runes on it are incomplete, and I can't understand what the story is about unless you find the complete cane, but I can tell you, Merlin, that this cane is not as simple as it seems."
Old Steve said with a serious expression:
"During the Cold War, Peggy and I discovered and contained or destroyed many dangerous magical items. The cane gave me the same feeling as those items. Once it became complete, it would be difficult to control by mortals. You may not know that it was, but from my experience, the weapons of the Asgardians have their own will."
"Those Divine Realm people like to play such tricks."
Old Steve stood up and said helplessly:
"They always like to set up many trials. Only those who pass the test are eligible to use such things. This is a powerful item, and I think you'd better find it, and it may become your help in the future."
"That's the problem, Steve."
Merlin put the broken cane back into his pocket with some regret, and he said to the old man:
"The clues in my hand are broken, and I can't find the two remaining items."
"Okay, that's a pity."
Old Steve was also helpless. He looked back at the mansion and said to Merlin:
"It's getting late, I have to go back and pack the dishes. Otherwise, Pegg, who loves clean, will yell at me again after waking up. Her temper is actually quite bad."
"Also, recently, Page and I are preparing to take a long trip around the world."
Steve Older said to Merlin:
"We are not young anymore, we have to seize this last good time, so in recent years, we may not be in New York. Please tell Fury about this, of course, if you can, please hide my existence."
"Why? Old Steve."
Merlin looked at him and asked:
"Why don't you want to be known?"
"Because of the secret."
Old Steve pointed to his heart, then to Merlin's heart, and he said:
"We are all people with secrets. Only by protecting the secrets can we better protect our lovers and relatives. Carter left you some past information in the garage, which may help you."
Chapter completed!