As the bonfire blazed up, the entire coast was set aglow. The firelight danced, casting a warm glow onto everyone's faces. Their enthusiastic yet moist eyes were like the tides incessantly etching the ancient land, making every reflection brighter, eventually overlapping into a firestorm under the night sky.
The aroma of BBQ wafted through the air. Huge chunks of brisket, fall-off-the-bone beef ribs, glossy skewers of barbecued meat, and whole roasted suckling pigs were piled among stacks of red, yellow, and green vegetables. Sweet peppers, asparagus, cauliflowers—all the essence of a whole field was condensed here. Pancakes with eggs and milk, mashed potatoes, borscht, all garnished the feast like rings surrounding a giant culinary planet. And when the whole roast beef was brought up, it became the sun of this star system.
People pushed the beach tables together to form one long table, where the layers of food created an impactful scene. Having exhausted themselves in various intense sports, the ravenous teenagers didn't care about any order; they practically threw themselves into the pile of barbecued meat, looking as ferocious as the Black Dragon gnawing at the roots of the World Tree, although perhaps not as leisurely.
Spider Man always had a good appetite, and his superhuman strength was a great help in consuming BBQ. Peter Parker from the Central Universe held half a beef rib in his left hand and an entire pork leg in his right, while Gwen Spiderman shot a web at the most stuffed roast chicken. Jeff tried to bite at it, but Peter simply wrapped the food in spider silk, tearing at a chicken leg from the opening, looking very much like a real spider.
The Super Speeder was undoubtedly the protagonist of this feast. With a whoosh, half of the pulled pork with salsa vanished; another whoosh, and a whole chunk of turkey breast was gone. A golden shadow flashed by, and the tender shoulder of the roast beef disappeared; a silver shadow swept past, and the filling of the apple pie was missing too.
Thor had to initiate a defense plan for the roast beef; he directly laid a layer of tin foil over the beef's chest and slammed Mjölnir onto it, ensuring no one could move the beef. Sif seized the opportunity to draw her treasure sword, slicing half of the beef with one strike, finally snatching enough meat from the many greedy mouths.
The most refined eater among them was Shiller; he took a bit of each kind of meat, placing them on his plate to savor slowly, though his Saint Heir still took away a choice piece of the rump and two skewers.
The meats crafted by the professional BBQ chefs were undoubtedly exquisite, mostly tender, fragrant, and juicy. Gotham wasn't a place with a strong American flavor, especially far removed from the birthplace of American BBQs, making authentic BBQ a rarity in Gotham.
Shiller wasn't fond of smoky flavors; instead, he preferred meats that were slow-cooked to be more tender and juicy, marinated with meticulous attention to detail to savor various spice flavors. Aside from the beef shoulder crafted by professional chefs, his favorite was actually the turkey made by Thor.
Dealing with turkey, a difficult ingredient, achieving the top standard would likely only reach a normal beef's level, but as it were, Asgard had experience handling this dry and tough meat, and Shiller tasted juicy turkey for the first time.
The ample seasoning Thor injected into the turkey meat worked perfectly. Slicing off a piece of turkey thigh, a gentle squeeze with the fingers released the juices. Even better, the inner meat juices perfectly combined with the outer honey glaze, carrying a hint of mysterious wine aroma. Aside from a slight dryness towards the end, it was simply perfect.
"If all turkeys could taste like this, I'd be more enthusiastic about Thanksgiving," Shiller said to Sif.
Sif looked up from a large tray of BBQ, "Then you could establish another Thanksgiving, specifically to give thanks to those who saved the turkeys."
"I think that's a great idea," Shiller nodded and said.
Sif had a seriously good appetite, gnawing through half a cow, followed by half a roast suckling pig, then consuming two plates of apple pie, along with a cup of hot red wine. Yet, she was still asking, "Is it just meat tonight? No seafood?"
Shiller paused, also finding it odd. Although tonight's bonfire party had an American BBQ theme, it didn't have to be all meat, or rather, grilling seafood was also part of the American BBQ tradition, so why wasn't there even the most common salmon?
Midway through the BBQ party, Carter stood up at the table, patting it and saying, "Tonight, we especially need to thank someone who brought us the final dish of the evening—a seafood feast!"
Suddenly, the sea began to light up, and everyone turned around to see the seawater morphing under magic, forming into dish after dish, all filled with various shaped seafood. Most were raw, but there were also some pre-cooked delicacies, floating beautifully onto the table above with the current, prompting cheers from the crowd.
Subsequently, Namor and his subordinates rose from the sea, leaping up and landing in front of everyone with a broad smile, "Good evening, esteemed guests. I am Namor, the Lord of the Seven Seas. Welcome to the Seven Oceans Brand Aquatic farming base. Allow me to present you with the freshest seafood!"
Everyone was just feeling a bit bored with meat, and after consuming so much fat, there was an intuitive craving for fresh, flavorful foods. The timing of the seafood couldn't have been better, and it looked of excellent quality, leaving nothing to say but to dig in!
But Shiller didn't hurry to pick up his knife and fork. He looked at the sashimi of tuna, remembering how Greed loved eating raw fish, hence able to recall nearly all information on raw fish from his memory.
Namor had prepared some exceptionally high-quality bluefin tuna belly, but the issue was, this belly was a bit too big.
The so-called "belly" is a Japanese term for the best part of the bluefin tuna's abdomen, also known as the "gold of the sea." In fact, quality belly meat is more expensive than gold by weight, and a major factor affecting its price is the scarcity of bluefin tuna belly meat—out of a 200-pound fish, getting six or seven pounds of belly meat is considered quite good, and the most balanced, best-tasting part might only yield a small plate.
Yet Shiller quickly realized that all the meat arranged on different plates came from the same fish, which could be determined by observing the flow of the fat marbling, and if estimated by this weight, the bluefin tuna might weigh over a ton.
Even the largest Atlantic bluefin tuna, especially after wintering when they are fattest, couldn't possibly weigh this much. This exceeds the limits of biological evolution. If tuna could reach such sizes, even whales might not dominate the oceans.
Although the tuna humans bring up might not be the largest, these Sea Clan members can go deeper and further to fish, perhaps bringing up the ancient ancestor of tuna itself. Yet Shiller noticed that not only the bluefin tuna, but also slices of salmon, octopus, bass, and others were abnormally large.
Carter had mentioned before that the Sea Clan had some special means to raise Deep Sea fish that humans couldn't, making them plump and large. However, given the recent series of incidents regarding seafood, Shiller had to be vigilant.
Seeing Sif bringing over a platter of large belly, ready to feast, Shiller quickly stopped her: "Don't eat it, ma'am."
Sif paused for a moment and then said, "Do you think there's a problem with the seafood?"
"I can't be sure," Shiller replied, "so the best course is not to eat it."
Sif hesitated briefly but put down the knife and fork. Humans are quite professional in this poisoning thing, and the Aesir aren't immune to all toxins, so it's better to be cautious.
Thor wanted to eat too, but he was stopped by Sif. Similarly, the Mutants there didn't touch their forks, probably because Professor X had specifically advised them not to eat seafood recently. Shiller also instructed Peter, and so Peter didn't eat either.
This made the scene a bit awkward, with half the people ready to feast and the other half looking at each other, not making a move.
Namor's expression changed as well. He wasn't known for his temper, and this time, he had prepared this to promote his seafood, so everyone's lack of interest made him ready to explode on the spot.
"Sir, I have a few questions." Shiller stood up and looked at him, "I believe everyone can see these seafood are abnormally large, do you know what's going on here?"
"This is our special cultivation method," Namor emphasized, "just because you humans can't do it doesn't mean we can't. Those Deep Sea fish don't eat feed, but we can force them to. Naturally, the fish we raise are big and good."
"What are you feeding them?" Shiller asked again, "Or have the recent feed ingredients been modified?"
"What do you mean?" Namor glared at Shiller, "You can't be suspecting me of poisoning you all, right? What good would that do me? Even if I poisoned you, would the Rebirth Alliance spare me?"
The others hesitated as well, not seeing how Namor would benefit from poisoning multiverse visitors. They had no past grievances, and no one's death here would affect the Sea Clan. Moreover, such a public poisoning, how could it not be caught?
"I'm not accusing you of poisoning," Shiller said, "there's no need for you to do that, and if something happens, you wouldn't get away with it. But aren't you worried about being used?"
"What on earth are you talking about?" Namor said, "Our fish have been big not just for a day or two. The Seven Oceans Brand supplies half of New York, and no one has had any issues eating it…"
"Let me explain something here," Carter extended a hand, "there have been some problems recently."
She briefly told Namor about the compounds found in a fish they caught during a night fishing trip and the incident on bar street.
Namor's eyes widened in shock: "Someone poisoned the fish? Who would be so malicious?"
Everyone's eyes fell on him, and Namor suddenly felt he couldn't make himself clear. He said, "I didn't! Why would I do that?"
"I heard you have a competitive relationship with the Atlantis Aquatic Company," Shiller continued.
"That makes it even less likely I'd poison. If discovered, wouldn't I be unable to sell anything?" Namor argued, "These things would be detected from harming just one person. I wouldn't be that foolish. Why don't you suspect that Arthur instead?"
"The leads we've investigated previously point to Long Island, which just happens to be your breeding ground. The seafood you served tonight looks unusually large. We are all willing to believe you might be misled, so have you changed the feed recently?"
"I… hold on, let me ask." Namor finished speaking and turned to dive back into the sea.