Woop~ woop~
The familiar, piercing alarm sounded again.
This time, Nick Fury calmly held his unsweetened black coffee.
A knock came at his office door.
"Come in."
Agent Hill walked in with an urgent expression, holding a document.
"Nick, we have a major problem!"
"Agent Hill, how many times have I told you? As an Agent, you must maintain the composure to remain unfazed even in the face of catastrophe."
Nick Fury slowly took a sip of coffee. Bitter. Extremely bitter. Bitterness at its peak becomes sweetness.
Hill couldn't calm down. She set the document in front of him. "Stop drinking that. Our satellite just detected a humanoid flying object taking off from New Mexico at an initial velocity of one-tenth the speed of light—and circling the Earth three times within a few seconds!"
"After confirming with Natasha, we reached a definitive conclusion—this was caused by Luke punching the armored figure that came through the Bifrost Bridge!"
Pfft!!
Nick Fury couldn't hold it back and spit out his coffee. Before he could even wipe his mouth, he cursed, "Motherfucker! Today is not April Fool's Day!"
Seeing Nick Fury's reaction, Hill suddenly calmed down, even feeling a faint urge to laugh.
"Director, don't get too worked up. Calm down."
"I can't calm down at all!"
Nick Fury slammed the table and stood up, leaning forward with both hands braced on the desk, staring at Hill with an interrogating expression.
"Are you telling me that Luke punched an armored figure of unknown origin so hard it circled the Earth three times—accurately, without any deviation, like some kind of universe-grade vehicle—and then landed smoothly without causing any sign of, I don't know, New Mexico sinking?"
"Is that what you mean?"
Hill nodded. "That's the conclusion after we reviewed the satellite data and confirmed it with Natasha."
"Also… it grazed the Moon on the way."
"Motherfucker!"
Nick Fury kept swearing, as if that was the only way he could stabilize his emotions.
"What kind of thing can fly out of the atmosphere at that speed without being torn apart? Who do you think that is, Superman?"
Hill was silent for a moment, then said with meaning, "I don't know if Superman can do that. I only know that Luke did."
"…"
Nick Fury pressed hard on his temples. "So… would 'Light Speed Punch' be a more suitable codename?"
Hill shrugged. "You're the boss. You decide."
"Damn it!"
Nick Fury collapsed back into his chair. "Have Natasha and Coulson continue monitoring. And later, write me a report detailed down to every minute and second—everything they saw, heard, and even thought at the time."
Before Hill could respond, Nick Fury added firmly, "I don't want 'no.' Only 'yes.'"
"… "
Hill silently mourned for the Agents assigned to this case.
"Yes, sir."
…
"You know you were wrong, huh? I actually preferred that defiant look you had earlier. Why don't you try bringing that back?"
Luke looked at the kneeling Destroyer armor, towering above him even in that position. Despite the ridiculous height difference, it somehow gave the illusion that Luke was the adult and the Destroyer was the child.
The Destroyer armor shook its head.
"I admit my mistake. I repent. And I sincerely apologize."
The Destroyer lowered its once-arrogant head.
Loki remembered very clearly that Luke possessed spatial teleportation abilities.
If Luke followed the Bifrost's trail back to the Golden Palace and slapped him…
Wouldn't he be sent flying around Asgard a hundred times?
He would die. He would definitely die.
Even with his Frost Giant physique, he couldn't withstand that kind of abuse.
"It's good that you know you were wrong. I'll be taking this thing now. Any objections?"
Luke tapped the Destroyer armor with his index finger, thinking about how he should modify it.
It was a shame this Destroyer wasn't the one from the comics.
In the comics, the Destroyer was blessed by Zeus and several other Skyfathers, created specifically as a weapon against the Celestials.
The one in front of him only had the power level from the movie.
Fortunately, since it was a single object, it only occupied one inventory slot.
Maybe it could be used to increase some stamina?
After some modifications later, it could become a pretty decent toy.
"No objections. From today onward, the Destroyer armor is yours!"
"Please accept it!"
Loki dispelled the astral projection, his consciousness snapping back to the Golden Palace. Even in the safest place in Asgard, he still felt lingering terror.
Midgard is terrifying. I want to go home!
The exchange between Luke and Loki left Fandral and the others wanting to speak but swallowing their words.
Ultimately, they accepted that Luke was taking the Destroyer.
After all, Loki was the acting king.
And more importantly, the Destroyer was Luke's spoils of war.
That was the way of the Nine Realms since ancient times.
Want to take it back?
Sure.
Defeat me, and it's yours.
[Abnormal object: Destroyer armor successfully recorded. Gained 2000 Anomaly Points. Current Anomaly Points: 2100 / 2300]
Thor walked over ingratiatingly. "Luke, let's negotiate."
"Speak."
"Lend me the hammer for now. I'll give you the item in two days."
Luke waved his hand. "No."
"Wait!"
Thor quickly added, "What I mean is—following your Midgardian customs—Mjolnir will be considered a loan. I'll write an IOU and include interest."
"Deal."
Luke agreed instantly, catching Thor off guard.
"Now, let's set the terms. My interest rate is a bit high. I'll give you three months. In addition to what you originally promised me, you must provide another item of equal value."
"Three months? That's too much! I only need three days! In three days, I'll hand everything over to you myself!"
"If I don't give it to you within three days, then for every extra day, I'll prepare one additional item for you!"
Thor grinned broadly, patting his chest confidently as he made the promise.
"I think you should think this through. Some words, once spoken, can't be taken back…"
Luke spoke with great seriousness, repeatedly giving Thor meaningful looks.
However, Thor waved him off. "No need to think about it! We're all men—let's be straightforward!"
"Three days. My word is my bond!"
"What if you exceed the deadline? I mean… what if it's late by one or two years…"
Luke thought of the timeline between Thor 1 and Avengers, where Thor took a full two years to return to Earth.
"Hey, that's not going to happen, you know?"
Thor wasn't worried at all. He spoke excitedly, "Don't worry. Even if I overshoot the deadline, it's fine. Asgard lacks everything except good treasures!"
"I absolutely won't break my promise to you."
Luke imagined a scene of pure filial tragedy.
If events followed the movie timeline,
two years later Thor might have to hand over the entire Asgard treasury just to pay off his debt.
Odin would probably be so furious he'd claw his way out of the coffin.
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12 Advance Chapters—Patreon.com/HornyFBI