บท 204: Chapter: 204
"It's the Ten Rings again..." Mark, who was thousands of miles away, had been avidly following the power struggle between various factions for the fake item. But now, due to the sudden appearance of the Ten Rings, his expression turned serious.
Ever since the true Mandarin's intervention to save Trevor Slattery last year, Mark had been paying attention to this mysterious organization that had supposedly existed since the Middle Ages.
However, whether it was the information collected by Baymax on the internet or the intelligence obtained from S.H.I.E.L.D., nothing could dispel Mark's doubts. The Mandarin seemed like a deity existing solely in the imagination of his followers, shrouded in mist and untouchable.
Yet, the sporadic appearances of the Ten Rings around the world made Mark firmly believe that the Mandarin did exist as a real person, not a fabrication of anyone's imagination.
So far, the information Mark had obtained was limited to these scattered incidents, either a terrorist organization claiming to be the Ten Rings in the Middle East or suspicious cases exhibiting the Ten Rings' modus operandi.
For him, the more information he acquired about the Ten Rings and the Mandarin, the more curiosity and questions arose in his mind. The unknown and the mysterious still unsettled Mark.
"Sigh, there's no way to ease my concerns. I can't find any useful information or breakthroughs. All I can do is continue to monitor and wait for them to slip up.
I refuse to believe that they can carry out their actions without leaving any traces. Besides, they have already revealed a loophole..."
The loophole Mark referred to was naturally Trevor Slattery, who had been rescued from prison by the Ten Rings. Trevor was weak-willed, somewhat neurotic, and exhibitionistic. If the Mandarin had taken him away without eliminating him, Mark would eventually have the chance to extract the information he needed from Trevor.
That's why Mark had long ago entered Trevor's personality and genetic information into the database, allowing Baymax to constantly search for a matching individual. Unfortunately, this plan has not yielded any results so far.
Boom!
Just as Old Mark was pondering about the Ten Rings, a thunderous explosion suddenly sounded from the sky. Logically speaking, with the multiple layers of protection in his laboratory and the excellent soundproof design, even if external thunder could reach his ears, it shouldn't be this loud.
Since there were no issues with his laboratory, there was only one possibility—the origin of this thunderous sound was extraordinary. Instantly, Mark thought of a familiar person, as this individual was always accompanied by thunder—Thor, the God of Thunder!
Having Baymax activate the rooftop Hawkeye surveillance drone, Mark indeed saw, not far away on a flat ground, the familiar Bifrost runes appearing on the surface, with the figure of none other than Thor standing on it after being apart for a few days.
And behind him was a majestic horse with eight legs, the very same steed that accompanied Odin in his conquests across the Nine Realms—Sleipnir.
As for the covered carriage being pulled behind him, Mark had no idea what it contained. But whatever it was, it was undoubtedly related to Thor's purpose for coming here.
Since he knew his old friend had arrived, he couldn't neglect him. The ceiling of the top-floor laboratory opened up, and Mark flew out through the skylight, landing directly in front of Thor.
"I didn't expect to see you again so soon!" Mark happily embraced Thor and welcomed him.
"Haha, I promised to come back and thank you properly for your contributions to Asgard and the entire Nine Realms. It just so happens that I need to send Jane back to Earth, so I also bring the Uru metal that my father promised you," Thor said as the curtain of the carriage behind Sleipnir was lifted, revealing Thor's girlfriend, Jane Foster.
Jane Foster first bowed deeply to Mark, expressing her gratitude for his assistance in her recovery. Then she pulled back the carriage curtain and showed Mark the neatly stacked Uru metal inside the carriage.
Mark estimated with his naked eye that there was at least nearly a thousand kilograms of Uru metal in the carriage. Considering the rarity of Uru metal in the universe, Odin's reward was indeed sincere.
Mark didn't hesitate and directly controlled a large number of miniaturized magnetic-axis robots in the company building to come to his side. He unloaded the precious metal from the carriage and transported it back to his laboratory.
"I wonder what you need so much Uru metal for. As far as I know, only the Dwarves in the Nine Realms possess the knowledge of smelting and forging Uru metal. Without proper forging, it's just a slightly harder metal, even weaker than Steve's shield in terms of strength."
At the time of the transaction between Mark and Odin, Thor was occupied with taking care of the recovering Jane and Frigga, so he wasn't aware of the details of their agreement.
Later on, the Warriors Three, who were present at the time, assumed that Thor, being Mark's friend, would have already known about Mark's background, so they didn't mention what had happened in the Great Hall.
"Well, your knowledge base should be updated a bit now. Remember, apart from the Dwarves, there's also an Earthling named Mark Stark in the entire Nine Realms who has mastered the smelting and forging techniques of Uru metal."
Initially, Thor was taken aback by the explosive news Mark suddenly revealed. But upon further reflection, he realized that it wouldn't be surprising if Mark was capable of such a feat.
During the time they had known each other, Mark had constantly challenged Thor's understanding of intelligence. Mark was truly the smartest being he had encountered in his over a thousand years of life, without a doubt.
So, after the initial surprise, Thor quickly accepted this fact and even made a promise to have Mark customize a super weapon for him in the future.
"The items have been delivered to you, and I still need to take Jane back to her friends. Because of our achievements this time, Father has agreed to our relationship and allowed me to stay on Earth to live with Jane.
If you have time in the future, you can come visit us anytime, and we can have a joyous drink together!"
"I can come to visit you, but forget about the drinking part. I haven't reached the legal drinking age yet. Cheers, my friend!"
As Mark watched the eight-legged horse carrying the two of them disappear into the distance, he couldn't help but wonder if the Odin Thor mentioned was the real deal or Loki in disguise.
If it was truly Loki who was impersonating Odin in Asgard, then he hadn't given him any advantage in this incident. How did he manage to escape from prison then?
"If the Odin in Asgard right now is really Loki in disguise, then Nidavellir is in danger. Thanos has had his eyes on them for a while..."
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