"Daisy, thanks for picking me up," Liu A'dou said.
"Don't talk to me," Daisy replied, clearly struggling with her driving. She was hunched over the steering wheel, her eyes glued to the road, looking extremely nervous.
"..." Liu A'dou gave up and didn't respond. Jane and Eric were busy analyzing the data they'd collected the previous day, so they had sent their intern Daisy to run the errand. At least they hadn't forgotten him, which was a small blessing.
Back at the research institute, Liu A'dou saw Jane and Eric rushing out in a hurry.
"Did you find something?" he asked.
"A major discovery. Get in the car, we're heading to the hospital." Before Liu A'dou could even get out of the car, they had already jumped in.
"Wait, we have to drive there?" Daisy's face turned pale.
"I'll drive, you navigate," Liu A'dou said as he straightened up and prepared to swap seats with Daisy.
Daisy, relieved, didn't hesitate to climb into the passenger seat, and Liu A'dou expertly started the car and sped off toward the hospital. It turned out Jane and Eric had made a surprising discovery in their thermal imaging scans from the previous day's storm—there was a humanoid figure in the storm. They suspected it was the same big man who had been sent to the hospital. They didn't know yet that Thor was the Norse god, but they were intrigued by the fact that the man had survived the electromagnetic storm and wanted to investigate further.
"So, do you think he could be an alien?" Liu A'dou asked, trying to steer the conversation.
"Impossible. It's probably just a coincidence that the storm and his appearance overlapped," Daisy reasoned. "How could anyone survive in such conditions?"
"We don't know. That's why we're taking him back to the research institute," Jane replied.
Bang!
It sounded like they had hit something again, but Liu A'dou was far more calm than Jane. "Looks like that guy's really unlucky. He saw me backing up into the parking spot, but why would he suddenly jump out?"
"That's him," Daisy said, recognizing the muscular Thor, who was now lying unconscious in the parking spot again.
"Do you think he's okay?" Jane asked, concerned.
Liu A'dou checked. "He's fine. He just fainted from hunger. Even if something's wrong, we can't deal with it here. If he's dead, the best thing to do would be to dump the body in the desert." Noticing everyone's shocked expressions, he chuckled. "Just kidding, just kidding."
The mighty Thor fainting from hunger—what an embarrassment if that got out.
Back in the small town, their first stop was the only restaurant. "Boss, I'll take ten Mexican wraps."
The owner recognized Liu A'dou. There weren't many outsiders in town, so he remembered him. "I have plenty of good food here. Why do you insist on ordering the Mexican wraps? New Mexico isn't Mexico, you know."
"Quit talking, I'm still paying you," Daisy interjected, stepping up.
Thor had woken up on the way but was still weak from hunger. Hearing that food was coming, he became much quieter, no longer shouting.
The drinks arrived first, and Thor gulped down a glass. Then, he tossed the ceramic cup to the floor, "Delicious. Another one."
Clearly, he was used to throwing around the heavenly bronzeware from the Immortal Realm.
"It was an accident. We'll pay for it," Jane called out to the owner, who had looked at them in confusion.
"Really tasty," Thor said, with no sense of shame.
"What's your name?" Liu A'dou asked casually.
"Thor, son of Odin," Thor answered.
There was a pause. Everyone around the table was well-educated and knew that Odin was the king of the gods in Norse mythology, and Thor was the god of thunder.
Thor didn't seem drunk, but could it be that he was mentally unstable?
Only Liu A'dou knew Thor wasn't lying. Thor was honest, upright, and powerful.
In the blink of an eye, Thor had already had two more drinks. The food arrived, and they all ate a little before continuing the conversation.
"Are you really Thor?"
"Genuine article."
"Then, the hammer that fell in the desert must be yours, right?" Liu A'dou said lightly.
"Did you see Mjolnir?" Thor asked, excitedly slamming his hands down on the table.
Everyone else looked at Liu A'dou with curiosity.
"Of course, after you left last night, 'whoosh,' something fell from the sky, creating a big hole in the ground," Liu A'dou said animatedly. "If you ask me, the guy who threw the hammer is a real jerk. Doesn't he know that Mjolnir is a divine artifact? Throwing it around like that is polluting the environment! What if it had hit a child? Even if it didn't hit a child, it's still wrong to smash up flowers and plants, don't you think?"
"…" This line of reasoning left everyone speechless. Thor, especially, was too embarrassed to respond. After all, it was his father, Odin, who had thrown the hammer. He wanted to defend his father, but Liu A'dou's argument was so logical that it was hard to refute. He knew that if he tried, he would just come off as an unethical jerk himself. So, Thor chose to remain silent.
After a long pause, Professor Eric spoke up. "Liu, how do you know that divine artifacts can pollute the environment?"
"…" Typical of the old professor, always asking such direct questions without beating around the bush.
Liu A'dou wiped the sweat off his brow, thinking to himself, Professor, you're too straightforward. I was just quoting a line from an old movie. He quickly changed the topic. "So, tell us, how did you come to be here?"
Liu A'dou was genuinely curious, and he trusted Thor.
But Thor's mind was already focused on Mjolnir. "Take me there. I need to get my weapon back."
"Sure, do you want us to come with you?"
Of course, they wanted to see if the hammer really existed.
The desert looked the same as before, unchanged for a thousand years. But with GPS navigation, they quickly arrived at the crater left by the hammer.
"There really is a hammer!"
Thor wasted no time and slid into the crater, grabbing the handle of the hammer.
Everyone looked on with curiosity. If he was really a god, what would happen next? The three of them widened their eyes, not wanting to miss a single moment.
"Hmm?" Thor tried to lift the hammer but failed. He wasn't discouraged, so he tried again.
"Why?" He still couldn't lift it.
Thor switched to using both hands and put all his strength into it, but the hammer still wouldn't budge. Thor was stunned. He realized that he had truly lost the power of a god. Not even his weapon could be lifted, proving that, at this moment, he was just a muscular man.
"I'll give it a try," Daisy said, unable to resist. She pushed past the dazed Thor, gritting her teeth as she waved her chubby arms. She blushed, but the hammer stayed still. "It's so heavy."
Jane and Eric also tried but were unable to lift it. Eric walked around the hammer, observing it. It didn't seem very dense. If it were truly heavy, the ground couldn't have supported it. The hammer would have sunk into the earth, not been propped up by a small mound of dirt.
"Liu, want to give it a try?" Daisy called out.
Liu A'dou shook his head. "I tried it yesterday, I couldn't lift it."
Eric crouched down and tapped the hammer, his voice low. "Why is this?"
"Because it recognizes its master," Liu A'dou explained. "All divine artifacts have a kind of spiritual essence, and this hammer can only be used by Thor."
"Liar. Thor didn't lift it either," Daisy protested, but Jane, sensing the potential for hurt feelings, quickly pulled Daisy aside.
"Just look at Thor's reaction. It's clear he was cast down by Odin, and it's normal for his power to be sealed by Odin. Only after passing a test can he lift Mjolnir again," Liu A'dou said confidently. "That's how the myths tell it."
"Just because it's a myth doesn't mean it's true," Daisy argued, not buying Liu A'dou's words.
"When history becomes legend, and legend becomes myth, who really knows the truth of the past?" Liu A'dou's wise words made everyone look at him with new respect. They didn't know that this quote was also plagiarized. At that moment, Liu A'dou seemed almost like an ancient sage to them. The line was so classic, perfectly linking the past, present, and future.