civilwarnovels Chapter 4744 X Royal Newcomer (23)
Chapter 4744 X Royal Newcomer (23)
Chapter 4744 X Royal Family: New Life (Twenty-Three)
“Madam, I suggested psychotherapy to you before,” Schiller said. “Since it’s a psychological issue, why not start from the psychological aspect and simply help you forget about it?”
“Yeah,” Strange realized as well. “You were fine before you knew, so why don’t you just erase the memory of this incident?”
“Let me say this first, it’s not that I don’t understand you,” Stark said, looking at Natasha. “But besides causing you pain, does this serve any other purpose? If so, let’s consider starting with eliminating the pain.”
“Absolutely not,” Natasha said. “It might restore my fertility, but I don’t plan to have children. It’s not good at all, except for getting some overtime pay from Nick.”
"Then why don't you use psychotherapy?"
"Of course it's because the therapist who can use psychotherapy charges too much money!!!" Natasha roared. "I'd rather bleed than burn money!!!"
"Why not let S.H.I.E.L.D. reimburse you?" Matt asked.
"Because they thought we were both Soviets, they told us to go to the KGB," Schiller said helplessly.
Everyone was speechless for a moment. You could say it's wrong, and it's also right; but you could also say it's right, and something about it seems off.
“Well, actually, it’s just that I’m too lazy to go.” Natasha sighed. “I’m not in the mood when I’m bleeding, and I don’t have time after I’m healed. It’s been going on and on until now.”
“That’s true. People never learn.” Strange shook his head. “When you’re sick, you think you’ll never open the window again when you sleep, but you forget about it a few days after you get better.”
Stark glared at him, but Strange seemed oblivious. Schiller continued, "I invited you here even though I knew you weren't feeling well, just to try and help you solve this problem."
"What's your idea?" Natasha asked.
"First of all, there's nothing in our universe that you absolutely have to do, so we'll prioritize addressing the pain issue. Compared to the Golden Apple, the Flower of Klakia focuses more on improving physical condition, which might be more effective."
The others nodded in agreement. Steve said, "Although I don't know the specific principle behind your method, if it's about comprehensively improving physical condition, then it will definitely be effective. You can give it a try."
Natasha nodded. Schiller continued, "However, drug development will take some time, so let's try to relieve the pain first. The hot springs on Clarkia Island are quite nice, and there are several sulfur-rich springs, which should work for your condition."
"What's the principle behind this?" Natasha asked.
“Some theories from Traditional Chinese Medicine,” Strange began. “Considering that the concept of keeping warm doesn’t exist in your life, in Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, your menstrual cramps are very likely because your body is too cold.”
"Is your body too cold?"
"Yes. In their words, it stores cold air. Drinking more hot drinks or soaking in hot springs will help."
Natasha didn't quite understand, but she nodded nonetheless. She said, "I've heard similar theories. There are Chinese bloggers on TikTok teaching women how to make ginger tea, saying it's good for your health—even though I've never drunk hot water in my life."
“You’re completely ignoring your age,” Strange pointed out seriously. “It may be impolite to say this, but you’re old enough to be a grandmother. Just because your appearance hasn’t changed doesn’t mean your bodily functions haven’t changed at all. If you don’t take care of your health, even a cyborg will age faster than other cyborgs.”
Natasha couldn't help but glance at Steve. Steve quickly shook his head and said, "I never said I was younger than you. But I do pay more attention to exercise, and while I don't drink hot water, I rarely drink iced drinks either. You use the ice machine at the Avengers headquarters the most."
“That’s because it’s too hot in New York, okay?” Natasha couldn’t help but retort. “How do you guys manage to resist drinking ice water in 30-degree weather?”
“Of course, it’s for the sake of safety.” This gave Stark an opening. He said, “In other words, you’re taking advantage of being a cyborg and completely disregarding existing medical and health theories. My medical team has emphasized to me countless times that you shouldn’t drink ice water directly when it’s very hot and you’re sweating profusely. I thought this was common sense that even a child would know.”
"And then some people sleep with their windows open during stormy nights," Strange said irritably. "I thought that was something even kids understood."
“Okay.” Natasha was convinced. “I’ll try to eat less iced food and drink more hot drinks in the future…”
Steve looked at Bucky, who had remained silent. He and Natasha had been spending a lot of time together lately, so he should have been the one with the most say, yet he hadn't spoken up.
As he glanced around, he noticed Bucky had already poured a glass of hot water. He placed the glass in front of Natasha and said, "I think change can start now, can't it?"
Everyone simultaneously drew out a long syllable—"Otherwise, why would you dare to chase after Black Widow?"
Steve seemed to remember something, suppressing a laugh. He was about to say something when Bucky stopped him with a look: "Don't forget our agreement not to reveal each other's secrets, buddy!"
“Okay, I won’t say.” Steve pursed his lips tightly. The others looked at him curiously, so Steve finally uttered half a sentence: “It reminds me of when he was young and chasing girls…”
“Shut up, Steve! Or I’ll spill all your embarrassing old stories!” Bucky yelled at him. “You remember when you went to the comic book company to submit your work…”
"Hey! Hey! Think about the agreement!" Steve interrupted him loudly. The two exchanged a glance and reluctantly ceased hostilities.
Matt sighed, “That’s what it’s like to have a childhood friend. He’s seen all your embarrassing moments, and you have to be constantly on guard against him spilling all your embarrassing stories.”
Everyone laughed. Natasha chuckled twice, but soon coughed and collapsed onto the table in pain. She forced herself to pick up her cup, took a couple of sips of hot water, savored the taste, and said, "Not bad."
“I’ve heard that traditional Chinese medicine can treat this,” Stark said. “Out of respect and concern for this lady, I think we should go to a pharmacy in Hong Kong immediately to get her a prescription.”
“You’re at it again,” Schiller couldn’t help but say. “Do you really have to make everyone try Chinese medicine?”
“I really did it for her own good.” Stark nodded to himself, then looked at Strange.
Strange shook his head and said, "These kinds of problems are related to individual constitutions, so the person must be present for an examination. Buying ready-made medicine packets isn't a good idea. If you're really interested, I can help you make some connections. I met some very skilled traditional Chinese medicine practitioners when I attended a medical exchange conference in Sichuan..."
“Thank you, but not for now,” Natasha said. “Judging from Tony’s tone, I can roughly tell how awful that stuff tastes. I don’t think I can stand it. I’d rather go to Professor X and have my memories erased.”
They had lunch, which was a simple grilled steak and vegetables. Since there was a banquet in the evening, everyone ate a little something and then sat on the sofa in the living room to digest.
"Speaking of which, what's the deal with that hot spring?" Bucky asked.
"What's up with the hot springs?" Steve asked back. "I went to see them, and they're quite well-built."
"You say it's a natural hot spring, brought about by geothermal activity from a volcano. But how can there be a volcano on an island?"
"There are quite a few islands with volcanoes, aren't there?" Steve thought for a moment and said, "Doesn't the island of New Shangdu have a volcano?"
“But that’s much bigger than this, isn’t it?” Bucky said.
“Not much bigger,” Schiller said after thinking for a moment. “It’s about the size of one of the islands, maybe even a little bigger.”
“I see.” Bucky nodded. “How did they discover there are hot springs on this island? Aren’t the mutants in this universe supposed to be in bad shape? How come they have time to develop this?”
“Actually, I also find it a bit strange,” Steve said, touching his hair. “However, mutants live on this island, and they might also go north, so it’s normal to bump into them occasionally.”
“That’s true, but those hot springs aren’t open-air; they don’t even have a chimney. Unless you deliberately burrow underground, they’re hard to find,” Stark said, shaking his head. “But you never know if there are cave-exploring enthusiasts among the mutants.”
"Is their spa already built?" Natasha asked. "How's it going? How many individual pools are there?"
“There are many,” Strange replied after thinking for a moment. “There are three or four large hot tubs that are comparable to swimming pools, and even more small private rooms of all kinds. Moreover, their water supply system seems to be able to bring the hot spring water into the hotel's bathtubs. If you don't want to go out, you can soak there.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Natasha said weakly. “It’s so much more comfortable lying in the bathtub. Remember to have them add plenty of sulfur.”
"Don't worry. Don't you know how meticulous Charles is? He must have been preparing for this for a long time."
After chatting for a while, everyone took a nap on the sofa. Since tonight was definitely going to be a night of revelry, if they didn't catch up on sleep during the day, they might be sleepy by midnight.
After waking up and feeling refreshed, we prepared to head to the hot spring resort. Because it was built rather hastily, supplies were limited, so we had to carry many of our personal belongings ourselves. Fortunately, they had all brought suitcases, so we could just drag them over.
After everything was prepared, they waited in the living room. Logically, a mutant with the ability to fly should have come to pick them up, but Strange was getting impatient and simply opened a portal and went there himself.
As the portal landed, he found himself facing the Avengers from the main universe. Doctor Strange from the main universe gave him a somewhat helpless look. Captain America asked him, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. That damn nouveau riche will never know how to save money."
Captain America laughed: "They are indeed very rich; they need a portal for such a short distance."
To be fair, the teleportation portal was indeed more convenient. Upon arriving at their destination, the group didn't need to walk far; they went straight to the hotel lobby. Charles was already waiting for them there.
“Welcome, welcome.” Charles shook hands with them with great seriousness and said, “Welcome to the hot springs on Clarkia Island. This will definitely be the best hot spring you’ve ever been to.”
“That would be great,” Matt said. “I’ll bring Erica and Jack here sometime sooner or later, and hopefully the service will be just as good as the scenery.”
“Of course,” Charles said. “Go to the hotel and put your things away first. A mutant will come to deliver the map and information about the hot tub later.”
Then he looked specifically at Natasha and said, “I know you’re not feeling well, ma’am. The bathtub’s water system is automatic; you can just turn on the switch to fill it. Also, there’s a soaking tub on the balcony; you can try the outdoor hot spring, that’s just as wonderful.”
“Thank you,” Natasha said. “I just hope it works.”