Within the Mirror Dimension, the Ancient One spoke to Dan:
"The Destroyer armor is one of Asgard's ultimate weapons. However, if you wish to study it for a period of time, that's not really a problem.
I can negotiate with King Odin, but we'll need to set a time limit.
Odin will never abandon the Destroyer armor."
Hearing this, Dan did not answer directly. Instead, he gently stroked the Destroyer armor and asked,
"Master Ancient One, if I were to dismantle a piece of uru metal from the Destroyer, King Odin wouldn't mind, right?"
A metal capable of carrying laws was an extremely precious material anywhere in the universe.
The Ancient One coughed lightly and replied,
"In theory, the true core of the Destroyer armor lies in the law runes left behind by the ancient gods.
As long as those law runes are not damaged, the Destroyer armor will continue to possess an immensely powerful energy source.
Uru metal is indeed priceless, but Asgard still has quite a large stockpile of it.
Even if the Destroyer armor were missing a part, it should be possible to repair it immediately."
The implication was clear: if necessary, it was acceptable to remove a small piece.
Dan smiled slightly.
"Understood. Thank you for your guidance, Supreme Sorcerer.
I'll be on my way, then. In three days, once the consortium's research is more or less complete, I'll naturally hand the Destroyer armor over to you.
At that time, I'll trouble you to return it to the King of Asgard."
With that, he disappeared from the Mirror Dimension together with the Destroyer.
"So he's dumping all the troublesome matters on me?" The Ancient One shook her head and chuckled softly, already beginning to consider how she should explain and negotiate this with Odin.
...
After ordering his agents to deal with the damage caused by the battle with the Destroyer, Coulson followed Nick Fury's instructions and went straight to intercept Kent.
"Sir, my superior would like to have a talk with you."
Kent had originally planned to find a place to deactivate his transformation and leave with Leah, but he was stopped by Coulson.
"You're that old friend of my dad who came to visit our house earlier," Leah said when she saw Coulson stopping Kent, running over with a slightly surprised expression.
Hearing this, Coulson turned his gaze to Leah and immediately recognized her as Ryan's daughter.
Although he had only seen her once, it had been just a few days ago, and as a senior agent, he could recognize her at a glance.
Seeing the closeness between Leah and Kent, he immediately understood that the two knew each other and tentatively said,
"You're Mr. Ryan's daughter. Then this must be… Mr. Kent.
Hello, I'm Phil Coulson, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Seeing that Coulson had guessed his identity, Kent nodded and introduced himself.
"Clark Kent."
"Clark… Kent…" Coulson said with his habitual smile, but halfway through his sentence he froze.
"Clark Kent? The same name as Superman?"
Leah nodded excitedly.
"That's Superman's name on Earth.
Uncle Coulson, what kind of organization is S.H.I.E.L.D.? Did my dad work for S.H.I.E.L.D. before?"
Coulson did his best to maintain a friendly smile.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is a special department dedicated to handling situations like today—supernatural incidents that pose massive threats."
"So, what does S.H.I.E.L.D. want with me?" Kent asked thoughtfully.
Coulson glanced at Kent and Leah.
"This isn't a convenient place to talk. How about we go to Mr. Ryan's home and discuss things in detail?"
"Alright."
...
"Director Pierce, this is the situation," Sitwell reported while directing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to resettle civilians and observing Coulson's actions.
"Gods from Norse mythology?" Pierce frowned and murmured to himself.
"It seems those gods from myth and legend truly exist. The Tesseract that Red Skull found in Norway during World War II was the so-called Dragon Treasure of King Odin.
Perhaps these gods were actually a higher-level civilization that visited Earth in ancient times.
Because of the immense power they displayed, ancient humans worshiped them as gods."
"And that guy who lifted Thor's hammer is clearly SHOCKER's modified No. 1.
Should we take any action? Capture No. 1?" Sitwell asked quietly.
Pierce shook his head slightly.
"The people from Foundation X—especially the one codenamed 'Eternal'—also appeared at the scene. That shows this mysterious Foundation has been paying attention to No. 1 all along.
We shouldn't act rashly.
Besides, Nick will definitely want to recruit No. 1. Coulson has already begun making contact.
There's a good chance Nick will obtain information about the SHOCKER organization directly from No. 1.
That's interesting.
Let's do this—just notify Dr. Zola and let the SHOCKER organization handle it themselves."
"Understood," Sitwell nodded.
...
"Director, although Mr. Kent didn't directly agree to join S.H.I.E.L.D., he did express a friendly attitude and said he'd provide help when needed.
Before I came to New Mexico, you promised me that once this mission was over, I'd get a vacation.
I nearly got vaporized this time by a steel giant straight out of Norse mythology," Coulson complained as he walked out of Ryan's house, hearing through his earpiece that Nick Fury wanted him to head immediately to the Arctic Ocean for another operation.
Coulson seriously suspected that Director Fury was venting his frustration on him because things hadn't gone smoothly with Ryan and Kent.
"Well then, it seems the mission to recover the Captain will have to be handed over to someone else," Nick Fury said, sounding somewhat regretful.
"Director, what did you just say? The Captain is…?" Coulson's eyes widened in disbelief, his voice filled with excitement.
A sly smile appeared at the corner of Nick's mouth.
"We've located where Captain America is frozen and are preparing to dispatch personnel to recover him.
You were my first choice to lead the operation.
But judging from your attitude, you don't seem very willing.
Since you want a vacation so badly, I'll assign someone else to handle the recovery."
"Director, I've thought it over. Vacation really isn't important.
As a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, I should always fight for the stability and peace of the world.
You can leave the Captain's recovery mission to me," Coulson said solemnly, his tone resolute.
"Very well. You're the one voluntarily canceling your leave this time—don't say I'm exploiting your vacation hours later.
Before heading to the Arctic Ocean, make sure you finish the cleanup work at hand.
Have people keep an eye on that 'Superman' gentleman.
And bring back that Dr. Erik as well. His research materials, after analysis by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s technical specialists, have proven to be extremely valuable.
Now that beings from myth and legend have appeared, Earth is becoming increasingly unstable.
We need to develop more powerful weapons and equipment to deal with potential threats from beyond Earth in the future," Nick Fury said, narrowing his eyes as he gave his orders.
"Understood," Coulson nodded.
"But Director, what's your opinion on that SHOCKER organization Mr. Kent mentioned?
We had no idea such an organization even existed before," Coulson hesitated briefly, then asked.
Nick Fury's gaze hardened, his expression darkening slightly.
"If it exists, it will eventually reveal itself.
When even mythical gods suspected to be alien high-tech civilizations have appeared, a secret organization conducting human genetic modification doesn't really count as a major surprise.
I'll send people to gather intelligence on it."
Although Nick's words sounded casual, the gritted tone beneath them made it clear that he was far from calm on the inside.
(End of Chapter)