บท 77: Chapter 77: Mjolnir (Part 4)
"Ah, Heimdall." After a slight sigh, Daniel Davis glanced up at the sky. The reason he abandoned the idea of obtaining Thor's blood wasn't just because of Thor, but also because of the guardian of Asgard, the one who oversees the Bifrost Bridge and is known for his all-seeing eyes across the Nine Realms.
Heimdall's ability to perceive the Nine Realms with his eyes alone was practically a divine power, one that Daniel couldn't hope to evade at his current level.
"Childhood friends never stand a chance against those who come from the skies." Watching Thor destroy the Destroyer and then seeing Jane Foster rush up to embrace him, Daniel couldn't help but shake his head as he glanced at the somewhat dejected Sif standing to the side.
Fortunately, Thor wasn't just a guy who ignored his friends when with a girl. After a brief hug with Jane, he moved over to Sif and the others, smiling as he embraced each of them in turn.
"Congratulations," Daniel said, approaching with a smile after Thor finished speaking with Sif and the others.
"Thanks to you all. But, you need to return Jane's belongings," Thor replied.
"Don't worry, we'll give them back to her right away," Daniel assured him promptly.
"I'll be back soon," Thor said, turning to Jane with a smile after Daniel agreed to his condition. Then, he and Sif moved aside, and he raised his hammer, shouting, "Heimdall."
This period of being without his divine powers had transformed Thor in a way similar to how Tony Stark had been transformed. Although Thor still wasn't a fully competent king, he was on the path to becoming one.
Boom.
As Thor lifted his hammer, a rainbow-colored beam of light descended from the sky, and in the next moment, Thor and his companions vanished, leaving behind a strange pattern on the ground.
"I wonder how the Bifrost Bridge works?" Daniel murmured as he carefully photographed the pattern left by the Bifrost with his phone before moving over to the destroyed remnants of the Destroyer.
"It's really been thoroughly destroyed. The runes are all obliterated. Was it because he was too excited after regaining his powers?" Daniel muttered to himself as he discreetly pocketed a fragment of the Destroyer.
"Alright, the show's over. You guys can start cleaning up now," Daniel called out loudly, seeing Tony Stark and Agent Coulson curiously examining the pattern left by the Bifrost.
He had initially been interested in the Destroyer, thinking it could be a powerful weapon if restored. However, Thor had thoroughly dismantled it, leaving nothing of significant value other than the materials of its armor. Fully repairing it would probably require Odin's intervention.
Still, even in its destroyed state, the Destroyer wasn't entirely useless. S.H.I.E.L.D., for example, developed a powerful weapon based on its remains. But for Daniel, it wasn't worth the effort to contest with S.H.I.E.L.D. over the Destroyer.
"Still too weak." At his current level, Daniel was unmatched on Earth except for the Ancient One. Even Kaecilius was no match for him. Yet, compared to Thor, the gap was still vast. In terms of superhero team rankings, Daniel was on par with Tony Stark—a second-tier force, while Thor was top-tier.
After hearing Daniel's words, Coulson immediately started coordinating with S.H.I.E.L.D. for the cleanup, and Melinda May received a call from Nick Fury. Due to Thor's restoration of his divine power, the surrounding communications had been disrupted but were now restored.
Daniel's boldness in pocketing a piece of the Destroyer stemmed from this temporary disruption.
Seeing Daniel standing by the Destroyer, Tony Stark quickly joined him. Stark was naturally intrigued by such a formidable robot.
"Alright, you'll have plenty of chances to study it later. There's nothing more for us to do here; we should head back," Daniel suggested. The rest was up to S.H.I.E.L.D.; their cleanup was no longer his concern.
"Get that over to my lab," Stark commanded, though Coulson didn't comply, directing Stark to discuss with Fury instead.
"Take us back," Stark said. He had arrived in his Iron Man suit, but with it now destroyed, he had to return via S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Quinjet.
After a quick call with Fury, Melinda May soon transported Daniel and Stark out of New Mexico. However, instead of heading directly home, they detoured to Washington D.C. Fury wanted to see them, and Stark was eager to get his hands on the Destroyer for research.
"Asgard, Thor—are you sure you're not joking?" After a call to Pepper to assure her of his safety, Stark began questioning what had transpired. Upon hearing Daniel's explanation, Stark nearly jumped out of his seat.
Even though Stark had witnessed Thor's powers firsthand, learning that Thor was indeed the Thunder God and that Asgard from Norse mythology was real left him incredulous.
"No joke. Asgard rules the Nine Realms," Daniel replied, giving Stark a brief overview of the Nine Realms.
"So, they're aliens, essentially," Stark concluded after a long silence, finding it easier to conceptualize them as aliens than gods.
"In a way, yes." The alien analogy was more palatable for Stark than the idea of divine beings.
"Send that thing to my lab first," Stark demanded directly upon reaching Fury's office in the Triskelion.
"So, you're agreeing?" Fury asked calmly.
"I'll think about it a bit more."
"Fine. You can have it to study first, but you must share your findings with us, and you only have three months," Fury stipulated after some thought.
While S.H.I.E.L.D. had numerous scientists, none compared to Stark.
"Deal," Stark agreed after a brief hesitation. Fury, as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was within his rights to set terms, but Stark knew he could manage. After all, what he chose to reveal or keep hidden from the Destroyer research was up to him.
In research, sheer numbers rarely guarantee success.
After reaching an agreement with Stark, Fury turned his attention to Daniel, who was quietly sitting nearby. "I want to know if Asgardians always fight like this," Fury said, showing footage of Sif and the others battling the Destroyer.
Daniel understood that Fury was probing whether Asgardians commonly used melee weapons in battle.
Modern warfare had moved far beyond melee weapons, except for exceptional individuals like Hawkeye. In the modern world, everyone knew guns were the way to go.
If Asgardians predominantly used melee weapons, it would be somewhat reassuring for Earth's defenses—though Thor and the Destroyer's powers were another matter entirely.
"More or less. It's their tradition. To die on the battlefield is the highest honor for an Asgardian," Daniel confirmed, nodding in agreement with Fury's assumption.
With that, Daniel stood up, ready to leave. He had no further interest in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dealings with Asgard. How Earth and the major powers interacted with Asgard wasn't his concern.
But as he prepared to depart, neither Fury nor Stark wanted him to leave just yet. They had many more questions about Asgard.
"Don't ask me about Asgard. I've never been there. What I know comes from books," Daniel said, exasperated by their barrage of questions.
This was reality, not a movie. Unlike the talkative Spider-Man mentored by Stark, Daniel didn't have detailed foresight about Asgard's future.
Even if Asgard was destroyed by Hela as in some tales, it didn't necessarily mean its people would come to Earth. The Nine Realms offered plenty of habitable worlds for Asgardians. The idea of them settling on Earth and declaring a 'New Asgard' was far-fetched.
"This concerns Earth's relationship with Asgard. Aren't you worried?" Fury pressed, sensing Daniel's reluctance to delve into details.
"Worried about what?" Daniel laughed, looking straight at Fury. "Worried about Asgard declaring war on Earth? You're overthinking it. Do you know about the Bifrost Bridge?"
Before Fury could respond, Daniel continued, "The Bifrost isn't just a transport link for Asgardians; it's also a star-destroying weapon. At full power, it could slice Earth in half like a cake in about an hour." As he spoke, a golden magical circle appeared in Daniel's hand, and a virtual planet materialized before them. A beam of energy cut through the planet, splitting it in two.
Fury and Stark were stunned into silence. Earth had always been under the threat of a star-destroying weapon?
"Relax. Asgard doesn't use the Bifrost in such a way under normal circumstances. This applies to all the other realms as well, so there's no point in worrying," Daniel reassured them before opening the door and leaving.
"Dr. Erik Selvig, we've brought you here to study a particular object," Fury said in a secret underground facility, leading Dr. Selvig to a reinforced glass case containing a glowing blue cube—the Tesseract, the Space Stone.
Dr. Selvig, who should have been with Jane Foster waiting for Thor in New Mexico, had somehow been brought here by Fury.
Dr. Selvig's eyes gleamed with excitement as he gazed at the Tesseract.
Neither Fury nor Dr. Selvig noticed that as they examined the Tesseract, someone else was also watching them—Loki.
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