章 74: Chapter 74: Mjolnir (Part 1)
"Sure enough, ordinary steel armor is just cannon fodder." When Daniel Davis appeared at the Stark Expo, the battle was already over, with the military wrapping things up. The police, disheartened, had left as soon as the military showed up.
Although Anton Vanko's steel suits were much weaker than Stark's, they still provided the military with significant gains. The arc reactors alone were a considerable prize.
"Daniel, you're here. Can you help fix this?" Stark pointed to a building damaged during their fight as soon as he saw Daniel.
"Do you want to put those construction workers out of a job?" Daniel understood Stark's intention—he wanted Daniel to use his magic to restore the building. However, Daniel shook his head and declined.
"You're right. Forget it." Stark dropped the idea immediately. Previously, he wouldn't have cared about such considerations, but his time in the cave with Yinsen had changed his perspective, allowing him to see the struggles of those less fortunate.
Dr. Yinsen was a genuinely kind doctor. Despite his qualifications and expertise, which could have afforded him a luxurious life in any major city, he chose to return to his homeland to help. Unfortunately, before he could make a significant difference, his homeland was destroyed by terrorists.
"Revitalize." After James left, Daniel cast a healing spell on Stark. Although they had won against Vanko's army of suits, Stark wasn't unscathed. His armor was strong, but Stark was still just a human, and every impact took a toll on him.
Thanks to Daniel's manipulation, Vanko's suits didn't target civilians and instead focused solely on Stark and James. Controlled by computers, Vanko's suits couldn't make flexible moves but could still be directed to crash into targets.
Knowing Vanko's plans in advance, Daniel ensured he couldn't harm civilians.
"You're pretty banged up. Take some time to rest. After that, I should be able to address the issue in your body." Daniel referred to removing the shrapnel in Stark's body and later strengthening him with the Extremis virus.
"Director, this place is a wreck." While Stark was being taken to the hospital, Natasha arrived at the Hammer Industries lab. With Vanko's large-scale actions, SHIELD had to be involved. They might not interfere in the armor battles but could certainly investigate Hammer Industries.
"Come back for now."
At SHIELD's Triskelion headquarters, Fury stared sternly at intercepted emails. Though their content was garbled, the destination addresses provided significant clues.
These were emails Daniel had made Vanko send, filled with meaningless content but triggering a self-destruction mechanism to thwart SHIELD's investigation. This move was meant to paint Vanko as a scapegoat while hinting at a greater mastermind behind him.
Fury quickly moved past this incident because it implicated Justin Hammer, who had collaborated with Vanko under military approval. With Hammer dead, much of Hammer Industries' funds vanished, and their lab was destroyed, meaning some military figures would likely be held accountable. Given the public spectacle of the event, scapegoats were necessary to placate the masses.
"The US military has been in turmoil lately, ever since the Raccoon City incident."
"Melinda, bring Daniel here." After staring at a picture on the big screen for a while, Fury pressed a button to issue the command.
"I should find time to head East. But what kind of business should I start there? Drones? A gaming company?"
After roughly sorting through the equipment from Hammer Industries, Daniel contemplated his future plans. His priority was to enhance his own power, but he also needed to ensure his company's growth.
For now, Daniel needed a qualified CEO. Pepper could manage his company for now, but with the expansion of Stark Industries and his own business, she would eventually be overwhelmed.
Even if Pepper thought she could handle it, Stark wouldn't want her to be so busy that she had no time for him.
"It's a shame that Ada prefers an adventurous life; otherwise, she'd make a perfect CEO." Top agents like Ada and Natasha were versatile and could easily manage large corporations.
"That's illegal trespassing." At his beachside villa, Daniel frowned at the Quinjet materializing out of stealth, watching as Melinda stepped out of the aircraft.
"The Director requests your presence." Melinda's face remained expressionless.
"If he wants to see me, he should come himself. I'm not at his beck and call."
"It's urgent, and the Director is currently occupied."
"Fine, since you asked, I'll go." Seeing Melinda's serious demeanor, Daniel reluctantly boarded the plane.
He agreed so readily because he was curious about what Fury wanted at this moment.
At SHIELD's Triskelion headquarters, in Fury's office:
"This thing, does it look familiar to you?" Fury wasted no time, immediately displaying an image on the big screen.
"Well, this is interesting." The image made Daniel smile. He recognized it instantly—Mjolnir, Thor's hammer, lying alone in a crater.
"So, you know what it is." Fury's eyes brightened at Daniel's reaction.
"I need to verify. Do you have closer photos?"
"Here."
Maria Hill handed Daniel a tablet with numerous detailed images of Mjolnir from various angles, along with extensive scientific analyses.
"I need to confirm something." Daniel began searching through his own tablet, quickly finding the data he needed and transmitting it to the big screen.
"No doubt about it; it's this." The screen now displayed information about Mjolnir.
"Thor's hammer? You can't be serious." Norse mythology is quite popular in the West, and even those unfamiliar with it knew some characters. Fury and his colleagues were stunned.
"So you're saying the gods of Norse mythology actually exist?" Fury, a staunch atheist, found this hard to swallow.
"In a way, yes." Daniel brought his hands together, conjuring a golden magic circle that transformed into a massive golden tree.
"You've heard of Yggdrasil, right?" As he spoke, nine spheres appeared on the golden tree. "Yggdrasil divides the Nine Realms. The gods of Norse mythology reside in Asgard, ruling over the Nine Realms. Our planet, Earth, is known as Midgard among the Nine Realms."
As Daniel explained, the nine spheres displayed their names.
Before Fury could ask further, Daniel continued, "The reason we have Norse myths on Earth is that Asgardians and Jotuns fought here long ago. Though the Asgardians left after the battle, humans recorded the events, giving rise to our Norse mythology."
"So, these so-called Norse gods are just powerful aliens?" Fury pondered after a long pause.
"You could say that. The average lifespan of an Asgardian is over 5,000 years, with the strongest living tens of thousands of years. So, calling themselves gods isn't far-fetched."
"What were the Asgardians and Jotuns fighting over on Earth?" Fury asked.
"Asgard rules the Nine Realms, and many oppose them. The Jotuns came to Earth intending to turn it into an icy world, another Jotunheim. Asgard couldn't allow that." Daniel paused, then added, "Jotunheim is the realm of the Frost Giants. They wanted to transform Earth into a glacial planet. Asgard stopped them."
Though Daniel didn't elaborate further, Fury and his team could infer the rest.
"You mentioned Asgard rules the Nine Realms, including us. So why haven't we heard of them for so long? Did something happen to them?" Fury quickly grasped the implication.
"Asgard is still one of the universe's most powerful forces, respected even by the Kree Empire and the Nova Empire. The other realms regularly interact with Asgard and must pay tribute. We don't know about them and don't need to pay tribute because we have someone watching over us." Daniel pointed upward as he spoke.
Asgard's Bifrost allows them to traverse the Nine Realms freely, but they rarely appear on Earth, thanks to our mysterious guardian.
"Someone watching over us?" Fury stood up abruptly.
"Yes. In a sense, Earth has a protector. Because of them, Asgardians can't interfere freely here." Daniel nodded.
"Then why are they appearing now?"
"Think of it as a vacation. While ordinary Asgardians can't come and go as they please, Thor, as Odin's son, has more leeway. As long as he doesn't destroy Earth, our protector doesn't mind." Daniel grinned at Fury, adding, "He's the guardian of Earth, not humanity. As long as Earth isn't destroyed, he won't intervene in our affairs."
"So, even if aliens invade, he won't help."
"Exactly." Daniel nodded firmly.
In the Battle of New York, the Ancient One only intervened to protect the New York Sanctum from the Chitauri. Otherwise, the Chitauri would have never had a chance to rampage.
"Where did you find this? Take me there." Daniel stood up, ready to go.
"You want to go?" Fury asked, puzzled.
"With Mjolnir on Earth, Thor must be here too. I should introduce myself, unless you want to handle it yourself."
"Melinda, take him." After a moment's thought, Fury agreed.
"Nine realms, a guardian." After Daniel and Melinda left, Fury sat back, taking a deep breath. Daniel's revelations were overwhelming and raised many questions.
New Mexico.
Daniel and Melinda quickly arrived at the site where Mjolnir had landed. Unable to move the hammer, SHIELD had set up a perimeter around it, even bringing in Hawkeye for security.
At the site, Daniel met with Coulson and Agent Sitwell.
"Seems like I lack Captain America's righteousness." Ign
oring pleasantries, Daniel approached Mjolnir, curious if he could lift it.
In the movie, Captain America could have lifted Mjolnir but chose not to, to spare Thor's pride and avoid embarrassment.
Mjolnir's enchantment is peculiar. Normally, only the worthy can lift it, yet Thor can hang it on walls without it crashing down.
"Room." Daniel activated his Ope-Ope Fruit powers to analyze the runes on Mjolnir. But he quickly staggered back, shaking his head to clear the dizziness.
The hammer's runes were intricate and filled with a strange energy, making him momentarily lightheaded.
"Am I that outmatched?" This was the first time Daniel had encountered something he couldn't analyze. With Mjolnir's secrets beyond his reach, he decided it was time to meet Thor.
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