The cave was deep.
So deep that light did not exist there.
An orange shape drifted slowly through the water… round and faintly glowing under layers of defensive magic.
From a distance, Garfield looked less like a cat and more like a slightly chubby orange sea jellyfish.
The tunnel twisted endlessly, bending left, then right, then downward again. Strange shadows slid past the cave walls.
Along the way, Garfield encountered several enormous hairtail creatures, long and silver, floating like living ribbons.
He reached out lazily, grabbed one as it thrashed in panic, stuffed it into his mouth, and continued onward as if nothing had happened.
About ten minutes passed.
Garfield finally reached what seemed to be the end of the tunnel. He stopped and looked around.
Nothing.
No guardian or seal.
Just a single pippi shrimp floating nearby… badly beaten, missing a claw, and quietly crying to itself.
"That's not right." Garfield narrowed his eyes.
He extended his senses forward.
…Wait.
Could it be?
Garfield surfaced. Suddenly, light.
A vast underground chamber opened before him, illuminated by clusters of glowing plants clinging to the cavern walls.
Their soft green and blue light reflected off wet stone.
Garfield climbed out of the water and shook himself violently, spraying droplets everywhere.
"Yep," He muttered. "Most cats still don't like water."
He scanned the surroundings.
The cave was damp, littered with crabs and shrimps crawling between rocks. For safety, Garfield seized control of one unlucky shrimp and nudged it forward.
"Go on. Pathfinder No. 1."
The shrimp obediently waddled ahead.
Garfield followed at a safe distance. Nothing happened.
They wandered through the underground space for another ten minutes, unchallenged, until they reached the far end of the cavern.
There, carved directly into the rock, stood a solitary chamber.
It resembled a prison cell.
Intricate sealing patterns covered every surface, glowing faintly as immense power pulsed outward in steady waves. This was not decoration.
Garfield sent Pathfinder No. 1 closer.
The moment the shrimp crossed the boundary~
CRACK
The shrimp was instantly roasted into something resembling caramelized seafood.
Garfield stared.
"My Pathfinder No. 1…" He said mournfully. "Such a tragic death. I can't help drooling a little."
He cautiously stretched his head forward and peeked inside the prison.
Dark green light filled the chamber. Bare arms pressed against the barrier.
Messy black hair hung forward like something out of a horror movie.
Garfield wrinkled his nose.
He could smell… endless resentment, hatred aged for a thousand years.
Hela.
This violent old woman.
Garfield rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"She's doing the full Sadako routine," He muttered. "Is she still mentally stable enough for conversation… or should I just leave?"
Despite everything he'd done on Earth, Garfield was not stupid.
In the movie version, They couldn't even weaken the Three Warriors. And people really underestimated them.
They were written weak to save budget and make the protagonist shine, but the serious Three Warriors? Each of them once matched early Thor.
Garfield remembered a version of Thor, empowered by Odin, shattering a planet larger than Earth with a single hammer strike.
…Yeah.
Let's not. Garfield turned around.
Left.
Sometimes, a cat should be cowardly when cowardice is the correct decision.
He took one step.
Then another.
Then…
"Orange cat." A voice echoed from behind him.
"Stop."
Oh.
At times like this, Garfield thought, I must pretend to be mentally deficient.
He ignored her and kept walking.
"Bastard." Hela snarled.
"Orange cat. Stop right now, or when I get out, I'll hang you on the Bifrost of Asgard."
Garfield stopped and sighed deeply.
"This woman is really something," he muttered.
For someone who prided himself on hiding his presence perfectly, being detected this easily was humiliating.
He turned back, poked his head out, and saw Hela's face pressed flat against the glowing prison barrier… like a tiger clinging to a glass wall.
Like a pancake stuck to a pan, Garfield thought.
"Big sister," He said politely, "Would you believe me if I said I was just passing by?"
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Hela looked at him like he had insulted her ancestors.
She pointed toward the tunnel behind him.
"This place is guarded by deep-sea monsters and sealed by Odin himself. No ordinary orange cat could reach it, even if you look vaguely like a sea cucumber."
"…" Garfield smiled awkwardly.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
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