The Crimson Gourd, being a sealing artifact, naturally consumed chakra during its use, but it also had its own sealing abilities.
Although Hela was sucked into it, breaking free would still take her some time without additional chakra reinforcements.
Seeing this, Charles immediately poured 100 units of chakra into the Crimson Gourd to strengthen the seal, preventing Hela from escaping anytime soon.
After securing the situation, Charles swiftly began consuming bowls of delicious ramen to restore his chakra reserves.
One bowl after another disappeared as he replenished his energy, extracting chakra from within his body as he ate.
Once his chakra levels had recovered enough, Charles paused and took out the Crimson Gourd to check on it.
Holding the gourd in his hand, he noticed Hela inside furiously attempting to destroy it, but the chakra he had infused earlier was constantly repairing the internal space.
As a dedicated sealing artifact, the Crimson Gourd required far less chakra once the opponent was sealed. Unfortunately, its only power was sealing—it lacked any ability to refine or eliminate the sealed entity.
Inside, Hela noticed that her efforts were ineffective and stopped attacking. She realized that she was merely trapped, unharmed—either her captor wasn't trying to hurt her, or they lacked the means to do so.
To her, it was just another form of imprisonment.
As Hela pondered her situation, Charles's voice suddenly echoed around her: "Hela, do you think we can talk now?"
Hela, not seeing Charles's figure, responded, "What do you want to talk about?"
Just then, the world around her shifted, and Hela found herself back in the sealed realm of Helheim. Realizing Charles had released her, Hela's demeanor improved slightly.
Charles's 100 units of chakra had completely depleted during the time he held Hela in the gourd.
The artifact, being only a basic-level tool, couldn't sustain a powerful entity like Hela for long.
Without continuous chakra infusion, he feared she might destroy the gourd from the inside.
Smiling, Charles said, "It seems you're still not ready to communicate."
Then, he pulled out a bowl of delicious ramen and a pair of chopsticks from his storage space, placing them in front of Hela.
"You must be exhausted. Feel free to restore your strength," he offered before his figure vanished, leaving the sealed realm.
Hela blinked in surprise.
What was this man, who had just sealed her, trying to express?
The aroma of the ramen wafted into Hela's nose, causing her to twitch slightly.
For over a thousand years, Hela hadn't eaten anything.
As Asgard's goddess of death, she didn't need food to survive, yet she stared at the bowl of ramen for several seconds before picking up the chopsticks and eating.
"Not bad," Hela remarked after tasting the ramen.
To her surprise, as she ate, she felt her energy and vitality rapidly returning.
"So, when he said 'restore your strength,' he didn't mean on my own," Hela thought with a smile.
"Interesting."
After finishing the ramen, she even drained the last drop of broth, leaving nothing behind.
As her strength returned, Hela's divine power surged, and the battle-worn armor she had worn during her fight with Odin began to mend itself.
"Interesting indeed," she murmured, feeling reinvigorated.
…
Meanwhile-
Charles was still in Helheim but had left the sealed location. He pondered how to complete Odin's task.
When it came to Hela, reasoning with her would only be possible after proving his strength. Only then would she listen.
Although Charles had successfully sealed Hela, it was because he had several advantages.
Hela didn't have the power boost from Asgard, she was weakened by Odin's seal, and she had just fought Odin the day before.
Even with these circumstances and a surprise attack from a powerful artifact, Charles had only managed to seal her for a short time.
It seemed he would have to flex his muscles more, but at least he still had two years to complete the mission.
…
Back in Telemark National Park-
Coulson and his team arrived at the scene where the tree had been cut down.
Ward looked at the felled tree and said to Simmons, "If necessary, I can climb up there."
He pointed at the equipment in Simmon's hands, "Just teach me how to use those gadgets."
"It's only about 15 feet. With my current strength, it's a breeze."
Simmons shook her head, "No need. Since I nearly died last time, I've been a lot more cautious."
Ward asked, "You're scared, aren't you?"
"It's normal. The more you think about something, especially fear, the more powerful it becomes."
Simmons nodded and took a deep breath, "I understand."
As Simmons started climbing up, Ward remarked, "I'm curious. Whatever's inside that tree must have been there for hundreds of years, right?"
Killer Bee, astonished, asked, "What? Hundreds of years?"
In his experience, even the Hidden Cloud Village had only been around for a few decades.
Simmons nodded, "At least a thousand years. Carbon-14 dating suggests parts of these trees are over 9,000 years old."
Killer Bee was amazed, "Incredible. Was the tree growing around it?"
Simmons smiled, "I'll need to check the rings to confirm, but Norwegian spruces are known for growing quickly."
At that moment, a forest ranger who had survived the encounter approached Coulson, recounting what he had witnessed.
"She was screaming, full of hatred in her eyes."
Coulson asked, "You said she was holding a silver staff?"
The ranger shook his head, "I'm not sure. It could've been steel. It had some patterns on it."
"Can you describe them or draw them?" Coulson pressed.
The man shook his head again, "I didn't get a good look. I ran the moment I got up."
Tears welled up in his eyes as he added, "Who would do something so evil?"
Coulson nodded, "I'm sorry for your loss."
Meanwhile, Simmons looked at the data from her equipment and shouted, "The object inside isn't from this world!"
Killer Bee's eyes lit up. Could it be an alien 084 artifact? Perhaps it was something Lord Charles needed.
"Fitz, did you get the data?" Simmons called.
"It's not Chitauri, is it?"
Fitz, comparing the data, quickly replied, "Don't worry, it's not a viral threat."
"What it matches is Thor's hammer. Simmons, whatever's inside that tree, it's from Asgard."
Upon hearing this, Killer Bee was more convinced this artifact was one of the items Charles had tasked him with collecting.