Another night spent on a S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital bed, Xu Shang-Chi immersed himself into dreamland with a heart full of fear and confusion. He thought that in today's dream he would once again see his distant hometown.
But in the haze, he heard someone calling his name.
"Xu Shang-Chi! Xu Shang-Chi! Hurry out, Xu Shang-Chi, the school bus is leaving."
Although the caller wasn't using Chinese, or any language of this world, but rather more like a thought, Xu Shang-Chi was awakened by the previous life's high school memory of rushing to catch the school bus.
He sprung awake instinctively and shouted, "Wait, don't leave yet, I'll grab a bun!"
But the next second, he paused in place, the mixed-up memories in his brain reminding him that he wasn't in his original world anymore.
Thinking about his mother who woke up an hour early every morning when he was in high school to make breakfast so he wouldn't miss the school bus, Xu Shang-Chi felt an indescribable sadness.
A traveler, even if just away from the city or province, would miss their home. Not to mention being worlds apart?
Even travelers have a day when they can return home to see their loved ones during holidays, but Xu Shang-Chi knew, even in novels, there weren't many examples of transmigrators who could return home.
If the Marvel Universe has countless parallel universes, then other worlds must also be like this, how could he find the one with his mother in this vast sea of worlds?
Just as Xu Shang-Chi was growing more and more mournful, he heard that calm and gentle female voice calling his name again, "Xu Shang-Chi... Xu Shang-Chi! Where is this Xu Shang-Chi? Who, the sailor from Hell, can you come and see, did I read it wrong?"
Xu Shang-Chi heard, the voice seemed to be coming from behind him, so he instinctively turned around to see who was calling.
But as soon as he turned around, a big shadow engulfed him. Xu Shang-Chi was scared and fell on his butt. He looked up dazed, looking at the giant ramming arch that appeared over his head.
It was a giant, unfathomably massive ship. What's more unfathomable was a hippopotamus sitting on the bow staring at him.
Wait, a bipedal hippo?
"So, you're here." The bipedal hippo goddess adorned with various intricate ornaments jumped off the bow, pulled Xu Shang-Chi sitting on the ground up and said, "What's up with you? Why didn't you respond when I called you? You almost missed the school bus, did you know?"
"School bus? What school bus?" Xu Shang-Chi was utterly befuddled.
"Hey, goddess, can you set sail quickly? I'm in a hurry to do my homework!" A younger female voice came from the bow, Xu Shang-Chi looked up and saw a head of green hair.
"Don't worry, Little Lorna, go to my office in the cabin, there's a desk there, you can do your homework there, it's okay if you can't finish, you can go spar with your dad again to reinforce your study content."
Lorna? Who's Lorna?
Xu Shang-Chi completely didn't react, he was not sensitive to English names, without the surname, this English name sounded like a name of a small animal that would appear in children's picture books.
"Whoosh," another head peeked over the edge of the ship and yelled at the bottom, "Can you set sail, please, goddess? I can't beat Magneto!"
"Pietro, shut up! If you hadn't muddled up yesterday's homework task, would we need to come and supplement it this morning?"
"I said not to write the essay, and you insisted on doing it, and you're blaming it on me?!"
As the name Pietro was mentioned, Xu Shang-Chi began to come to his senses, he whispered, "Quicksilver, Polaris? Magneto?... Mutant, why would I dream of mutants?"
That's right, Xu Shang-Chi felt that he must be dreaming right now, if not in a dream, how could there be such a bipedal hippopotamus, looking at him with tender love?
Xu Shang-Chi felt his imagination was really something, he could actually see motherhood shining from the face of a hippo?
The Hippo Goddess patted Xu Shang-Chi's back and said, "Get on the boat quickly, child, or we're really going to be late."
Xu Shang-Chi shrugged his shoulders, and followed behind the Hippo Goddess. He thought, it's just a dream anyway, no matter how bizarre and strange, there has to be a time to wake up.
Instead, the strangeness of these dreams were a rare chance to relax, after all, upon waking up he had to face the Hell start again.
Xu Shang-Chi climbed onto the ship using the ladder, then saw Polaris and her brother standing next to the rope ladder, one on each side, looking at him.
"Hello there." Xu Shang-Chi greeted.
Polaris and Pietro looked simultaneously startled, looked at Xu Shang-Chi as if looking at an alien, Polaris opened her mouth to say, "Do you know me?"
"Ah, I don't, why?"
"No, it's nothing."
Polaris shook her head, exchanged a glance with Pietro. Pietro cocked his head, shrugged his shoulders, as the two watched Xu Shang-Chi following the Hippo Goddess leaving, Pietro lowered his voice, "I bet, after two lessons, he'll be walking around you."
Polaris snorted, strode towards the cabin, and said, "I bet, there's only one desk in the office, if I finish my assignment, I'll tell the teacher that you didn't do your homework!"
"Hey, how could you do that?... Don't fight me for the desk!"
Following the Hippo Goddess, Xu Shang-Chi realized that there were quite a few people on the ship, some of whom seemed familiar. They appeared to be nondescript superheroes, but since they were not in their uniforms, Xu Shang-Chi could not identify any of them.
They were all dressed in typical British school uniforms, much like the Hogwarts robes in "Harry Potter." However, these robes were not original to "Harry Potter"; they were worn in real English boarding schools as well.
Fortunately, none of them carried a magic wand. Otherwise, Xu Shang-Chi thought, he might very well have ended up in the "Harry Potter" universe.
Xu Shang-Chi suspected that his dream had been influenced by seeing Natasha and the agents holding something that resembled a magic wand, which reminded him of being transported by ship to school in the "Harry Potter" world. The ship was bigger, but the overall process was right.
By this point, the Hippo Goddess had led him to the bottom of the ship, rounded a corner, and led him into a room.
To Xu Shang-Chi's horror, sitting behind the desk was a ghostly figure resembling the White Impermanence, with a long, red tongue dragging on the floor.
"Ah!!!!!!!!"
Xu Shang-Chi screamed. As a Chinese person, seeing such an image in a dream was far scarier than any talking hippo could ever be.
What followed was even more bewildering: The Hippo Goddess stepped forward to shake hands with the White Impermanence and said, "Mr. Xie, the exchange trip between the Egyptian Pantheon and the Han Buddhism God System went smoothly. Thank you for your efforts. Once I've sent these young ones off to school, I'll see you back."
"You're too kind, ma'am," said the White Impermanence, his long, red tongue not seeming to hinder his speech. "The Egyptian Pantheon and the Han Buddhism God System both share a long history. The Netherworld and Hell have always enjoyed a friendly relationship. This exchange event has been mutually beneficial. Ah, I see you have new students. I won't intrude."
The Hippo Goddess chuckled and said, "Please."
Xu Shang-Chi was sure he was dreaming.
Somewhat dazed, he was pushed by the Hippo Goddess to sit behind the desk once occupied by the White Impermanence and began filling out a series of forms.
However, as he was filling out the forms, Xu Shang-Chi started to feel uncomfortable. These forms seemed to be a little too realistic. Why were there physics questions?
Looking at the test questions at the back of the form, Xu Shang-Chi pointed to them and asked the Hippo Goddess, "Am I supposed to complete these?"
"Of course, it's part of your placement test."
"Okay, I get that, but what's this 'Magic Array Energy Flow Theory'?"
"Oh, that's to test your understanding of magical theory. Do you know magic?"
Xu Shang-Chi opened his mouth, but found himself unable to answer. The Hippo Goddess's matter-of-fact tone made him feel as if admitting that he could not do magic was not okay. He did not like lying, so he reluctantly shook his head and replied, "I don't."
"Oh, that's alright. Just leave it blank and answer the questions you can."
Deciding that, given the absurdity of the dream, completing an exam was inconsequential, Xu Shang-Chi began to answer the questions diligently. The Hippo Goddess, who had been arranging the books on a nearby shelf, couldn't help asking, "How old are you? Are you still in school?"
"Technically, I'm 22 this year, but I can't be sure." Xu Shang-Chi referred to the age of this particular body. Judging by his physique, he thought the body might be a bit younger, maybe just 20.
"Oh, so you've just graduated from college then? Which university did you attend? What state?"
Xu Shang-Chi found himself at a loss for words but then reconsidered. It was all a dream, after all, so he replied, "I studied in China at Tongji University. Have you heard of it?"
"It sounds vaguely familiar. I think my son's girlfriend graduated from there." The Hippo Goddess nodded, then added, "You must be a top student. I rarely see anyone who can answer so many questions during the entrance exam."
"I suppose I'm alright." Xu Shang-Chi gave a typically Chinese-modest reply, adding, "Mainly, my GPA is pretty decent, roughly in the top 5% of the class."
"My heavens." The Hippo Goddess gasped. "You really are extraordinary!"
Xu Shang-Chi gave an embarrassed smile and replied, "Well, it's mostly for scholarships and research."
"So, do you attend graduate school at the same university?"
"No, I didn't go to graduate school." Xu Shang-Chi shook his head and explained, "I wanted to start working as soon as possible, and honestly, I'm not a huge fan of studying."
"Must be pure nonsense, kiddo." The Hippo Goddess brought a glass of water to the table, sat it down gently, and said, "You're a good student. Professor Charles will definitely like you."
Xu Shang-Chi thought he heard a familiar name. But he wasn't sure, and he still had a lot of test questions left. So he took a sip of water and resumed the test.
At some point, a plate of cut fruit was brought in, and Xu Shang-Chi found himself back in high school, reading test questions while eating fruit cut by his mom.
When he finished all the test questions and snapped out of it, he turned to look at the Hippo Goddess, who was sitting by his side, dozing off.
Sensing his gaze, she woke up. She was surprised to see the fully-completed test paper and gently tousled Xu Shang-Chi's hair.
Xu Shang-Chi, too, regarded this as quite a nice dream.