"It is quite ironic that our President Ellis just finished acknowledging the horrific actions of our government during the Vietnam War, only to find himself on the verge of repeating the same mistakes."
Jonah Jameson conducted his reporting without a hint of politeness, specifically creating a special feature titled "Atlantis: Who Exactly is Backing Roxxon?"
Jonah had parsed through every logical link of the entire event up to this point. It all began when Roxxon Energy obtained an oil drilling permit from the U.S. government and subsequently headed for the Atlantic.
In reality, the location where Roxxon swore "a rich oil field lay" was actually an Atlantean city. Furthermore, after learning this, Roxxon did not choose to stop; instead, they colluded with an internal opposition faction within Atlantis to incite a civil war.
More critically, in the face of these facts, why has the White House remained silent? They already know that the extraction area contains absolutely no oil, yet they have chosen to tacitly approve of the war. They have failed to revoke Roxxon's permit to drill for oil on land that possesses none. What followed was even more bewildering.
"How does an energy giant manage to intervene in the civil war of an undersea kingdom and provide support to rebels? Do they expect to do it by selling oil to the Atlanteans? I certainly cannot imagine any engine starting underwater. Or has Roxxon been a tool from the very beginning? Perhaps our heroic Navy and intelligence departments are actually prepared to seize control of the world's oceans?"
JJJ's characteristic stance of objective neutrality (Spider-Man related topics excepted), combined with leaked intelligence and footage from "anonymous sources," made the narrative feel incredibly real. With the revelation that Loki's subordinates were involved, the gravity of the situation escalated further.
"Whether the White House is aware or not, they must now face one fact—they are engaging in military cooperation with a war criminal who caused thousands of casualties in New York and led an invasion against the United States, all to overthrow another nation. Wow." JJJ remained as cool and dryly humorous as ever. "Why am I not surprised at all?"
"I have to say, sometimes it's a good thing that New York has J. Jonah Jameson—except when he's reporting on topics involving me. I find it hard to imagine why he has such a massive problem with me."
Peter still had to admire Jonah's courage; at least the man truly dared to speak out. On the other hand, based on what the Avengers currently knew, Jonah had revealed very little of the actual truth, and some of it was even misleading.
"This is the extent of the truth we can tell JJJ, even if it is incomplete. We now know that Roxxon joined this plan not because of the Enchantress's magic, but because they hope to obtain oil drilling rights in Svartalfheim. Combining that with the possibility that Roxxon is a division of Hydra, everything becomes even more troublesome."
After Captain America finished speaking, he finally remembered to ask a question. "Thor, what is the situation with this Svartalfheim and their king, Malekith?"
"Malekith is the King of Svartalfheim and the leader of the Dark Elves. He is one of the greatest sorcerers in the Nine Realms and has trained a formidable army. They ride black horses, lead hounds, and travel within the storm. In Midgard, they are known as the Wild Hunt."
"The Wild Hunt... the black knights from mythology who pursue souls. Many people always thought that was Odin."
"That is a misconception, though the All-Father also commands the storms, which led to the confusion." Thor continued, "Originally, though the Nine Realms had their own tyrants, each world was relatively balanced. The war between the Dark Elves and the Light Elves lasting for thousands of years without a victor is an example. But that balance was shattered a few years ago."
"My brother, Loki, in order to secure his right to the throne of Asgard and appease my father, the All-Father Odin, killed his biological father, Laufey, King of Jotunheim. This broke the balance of the Nine Realms. Svartalfheim itself possesses portals to other worlds, and so the brutal King of the Wild Hunt quickly occupied all of Jotunheim and began training an army of giants."
Thor spoke of the wartime situation in the Nine Realms, details that were completely unheard of on Earth. "Currently, the Light Elves are struggling to hold on; they cannot even form a proper defensive line. And with Fimbulwinter fast approaching, only I and a few of my friends have gone to support them."
In reality, the situation was even worse than Thor described. Queen Elsa of the Elves had already begun migrating the Light Elves into the dwarven realm of Nidavellir, hoping to rely on dwarven armaments and fortresses for defense.
"If Loki has joined Malekith's alliance, the situation will be even worse. His daughter Hela is the Queen of Hel, and Loki is surely aware of the threat posed by the Fire Giants. When the time comes, four of the Nine Realms will form a powerful army of evil, threatening all the realms."
"Or perhaps we can stop him," the Captain comforted Thor over the comms. "We can disrupt their deployment right here. Whatever they are doing, we must stop them."
Central Africa, Congo.
The Congo was a paradise for mercenaries, a lawless zone where a large number of metahumans lived. Naturally, the metahumans living here were usually either villains or mercenaries.
Or villainous mercenaries.
Carl Creel was one of them. He had gained the ability to transform his entire body into whatever material he touched during a gamma experiment. He used this to commit crimes, was defeated by the Hulk, and locked away in the Raft. He had escaped during the prison break initiated by Otto Octavius.
Currently, he was scraping by in the Congo.
He poured his latest commission—a small bag of gold—into his hand, and his entire body turned into gold. At that moment, accompanied by a swirl of green mist, a scantily clad sorceress appeared before him, accompanied by a dim-witted brute.
"The Absorbing Man? I heard you're a mercenary who can get a job done."
"I am. So, who's the target, and what's the pay?"
"The pay is a magical potion that will allow you to control your transformations at will, and... a piece of Uru metal." As the Enchantress spoke, she had the Executioner hand a piece of Uru to him. "This is the same metal used in Thor's hammer. Believe me, you're going to like it."