บท 54: Goodbye, Master Ancient One

Li Yue was struck by lightning, but he didn't feel any pain. Instead, the lightning felt very comfortable. He felt something changing within his body.

The lightning contained a massive amount of energy, all of which flowed through Mjolnir and Li Yue's bodies.

Li Yue saw the starry sky inside his soul. The energy from the lightning coalesced into points of blue light that revolved around the central spheres.

A small amount of energy was absorbed by a point of light that slowly became brighter, joining the two bright lights that marked the universes that Li Yue had visited.

Li Yue closed his eyes, feeling the energy flow through his body. It was an unexpectedly soothing sensation.

...

In a shop not far from the hammer's drop site, four people sat at a table. One of them was an eye-catching tall man with golden hair, who inhaled a mug of coffee in a single breath!

"I like this drink. Another!" He shouted loudly, smashing the mug to the ground.

The shocking actions gathered the attention of the other customers in the shop.

The beautiful woman that sat opposite the man quickly apologized to everyone around them, excusing the man's behavior.

"What are you doing?!"

"The drink is good; I want another cup," the man replied innocently.

"You should've just asked!"

Suddenly, the man stood up, his face full of shock.

"This is...the power of Mjolnir!"

"Meow? What meow?" A girl with glasses asked in confusion.

(It was actually in the script. That's why in Chinese the Mjolnir is often called "meow meow hammer")

"Mjolnir—it's my weapon. I have to get it back now!"

The man wasted no more words and quickly ran in the direction that his sixth sense pointed. He ignored the traffic on the road, causing a barrage of curses from the drivers.

"What should we do now?"

The girl with glasses was the first to react.

...

At the same time, on Asgard. Odin the Allfather was sitting on his throne, holding Gungnir in his right hand. His eyes were closed: he was in deep thought.

His "Odinsleep" had become more and more frequent, recently. The divine power of Asgardian gods was proportional to their age, and at a certain point, they need to adjust their divine power through sleep. Odin's Odinforce was exceptionally powerful, to begin with, so he needed to periodically go through Odinsleep to adjust his divine power.

Odin could feel that his end was coming. That was why he was so eager to pass the throne to Thor. However, Thor was much too like his past self, eager to recklessly pick any battle without considering the collateral damage and suffering his actions would cause. The current Thor was not qualified to rule Asgard.

So Odin banished Thor to Midgard, hoping that Thor could understand the traits needed in a monarch.

Suddenly, Odin snapped out of his thought and opened his left eye in disbelief. The spell he had cast on Mjolnir had been broken, and the one that picked it was absorbing the divine power of the God of Thunder.

Odin couldn't let this happen. Mjolnir was a weapon he had bestowed to Thor. No one else was allowed to touch it.

Thus, Odin stood up from the throne and slammed his Gungnir spear on the floor, sending an invisible ripple that radiated from Asgard to all nine realms.

Loki, who was on his way to meet Odin, was shocked by this ripple. He had never seen such a sharp divine power. This ripple had shown him that beneath the aged exterior, Odin was an immensely powerful god.

...

"Just what could cause the wrath of the Allfather?"

On a certain planet, a bloody massacre was taking place, with a giant in battle armor and wielding a broadsword right in the middle of it. He raised his head, revealing his confused purple face. No one knew what he was thinking.

"Sir, about this energy reading—"

"It is irrelevant. Go back to work!"

Odin was arguably the strongest being in all of the nine realms. Countless powerful beings were shocked by his anger. No one had any idea what could have angered Odin so much for the first time in thousands of years.

Ancient One was meditating when she felt Odin's aura. Unlike the others, though, she immediately knew the reason for his wrath. She made a few strange gestures with her hands, opening the Eye of Agamotto in front of her chest. It glowed with dazzling green light.

She then stood up and opened an orange portal, going directly through it.

...

Li Yue was obliviously enjoying the baptism of thunder and lightning, with the Mjolnir hammer in his right hand raised above his head. Suddenly, the hammer that was as light as a feather became as heavy as a mountain.

(Don't ask why he suddenly held it with one hand when he pulled it with both hands. It was just less awkward with one hand.)

Li Yue could no longer lift the heavy hammer, and the invincible power that flowed through it also disappeared in an instant. He opened his eyes to find that everything around him seemed to be suspended in time. The shocked expression of the people around him was frozen to their faces, and the lightning above his head became like a dazzling sculpture.

He let go of the heavy Mjolnir, but the hammer stopped in midair. It didn't seem like it would fall. Li Yue couldn't help but think that Newton must be spinning in his grave right now.

Suddenly, Li Yue heard a familiar voice. A familiar figure walked out of a yellow circle of light, wearing a yellow monk robe.

"Li Yue, long time no see," the figure said with a smile.

"Master Ancient One, why are you here? And what's happening?" Li Yue asked in surprise, pointing at Mjolnir in the air.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just came here to see just what made the Monarch of the Nine Realms, Odin, angry enough to take direct action. I just froze time for a little bit," Ancient One replied, still smiling, as if she was just sightseeing.

"Damn it, Odin, that old crafty fox. He said that anyone who could lift the hammer would have the power of Thor. It's a scam!"

Li Yue immediately understood what just happened. Odin must have done something that stopped him from lifting the hammer. Naturally, he didn't actually say it out loud.

"That...Master Ancient One, will Odin come and kill me?"

Fear grew in Li Yue's heart. He had meddled with Odin's plan; Odin might want to have him silenced. His superpower excelled in running away, but Odin's divine weapon, the Eternal Spear, had the special characteristic of "Once thrown, it will always hit its target." His compatibility couldn't be any worse.

"Don't worry. Odin is already too old to personally take action."

Ancient One's words reminded Li Yue about Odinsleep. The next one must be nigh. Asgard would have more problems to worry about, so hopefully he could slip through the cracks.

"But still. It would be best if you don't touch Mjolnir again."

"I understand, Master Ancient One."

"Well, that's that. Goodbye, Li Yue."

Ancient One turned around and walked into the yellow circle of light, which disappeared along with her. The world around Li Yue suddenly returned to life.

Li Yue watched in astonishment as the Mjolnir smashed into the ground, sending a shockwave that stirred dust and smokes around it. The dark cloud in the sky immediately disappeared, as if they were never there.

The hammer created a deep crater in the ground.

The people around Li Yue had zero context of what just happened. Why did the hammer suddenly fall back down to the ground?