The morning in Puente Antiguo was not quiet.
It happened to be the twice-monthly market day, and the small town in the desert had woken early. The damp air, not yet dried away by the blazing sun, mingled with the last cool breeze of the night. It was the most pleasant time of day.
"Did you hear? Last night, someone saw a golden butterfly a few hundred meters wide flying over outside town. Its speed was just…"
"Bullshit. Someone just said a hammer fell out of the sky, too. A butterfly a few hundred meters wide? Who'd believe that?"
"It's true. They say yesterday's sandstorm was caused by it. Didn't you notice the roads are covered in thick sand this morning?"
"When are the roads here not covered in sand?"
Although the strange phenomena in the night had been deliberately contained, they were still among the few lively topics this town had. On the market street, quite a few people were discussing them with great interest, whispering among themselves.
"Beep, beep—"
As the sun gradually rose, the sound of horns came from the road. On the not particularly wide street, several low-profile black cars drove into town from outside, one after another. They moved in neat formation, heading straight toward a secluded building in town.
The crowd instantly fell silent. They stared blankly at the unfamiliar shield-shaped logo printed on the vehicles. "Whose cars are those? Why have I never seen them before?"
"Are they from some secret department?"
"See? I told you something must have happened outside town yesterday…"
…
At the end of the block, on the very edge of town, inside an astrophysics lab that had been temporarily rented out.
"Jane, I think for a god, he is seriously hot."
"Look at that body. It's like someone carved it with a knife…"
On the cramped bed, Thor, who had passed out cold, had already been stripped of his shirt by Selvig in his sleep like a helpless little lamb. Darcy stared at the heroic, handsome man with glowing eyes, her right hand sneakily reaching downward.
"Darcy!"
A crisp smack rang out, and a glaring red mark instantly appeared on the back of Darcy's hand.
"He's a god from legend. Don't grope him…"
Jane looked at her with open disdain, then stared at those sculpted muscles before her and imperceptibly swallowed.
"Hey, he moved! His eyes moved!" Darcy suddenly cried out.
"It hurts. Where am I…"
Chattering voices rang beside his ears. As Thor's consciousness slowly returned, the stiff ache coming from his back made him instinctively grimace.
He had no idea how many centuries it had been since he last felt this kind of pain.
After raising a hand to shield himself from the glaring white light before his eyes, Thor finally opened them in a daze.
"Hi, Your Highness Thor?"
Jane cleared her throat and forced out a friendly smile.
The first thing Thor saw after opening his eyes was a beautiful face, and he froze in confusion for an instant.
In the next moment, after coming back to himself, he immediately sprang up from the bed and stared at the two of them warily. "Who are you?"
"Where is the sorcerer? Where did he go?"
"The sorcerer?" Jane and Darcy looked at each other. "Didn't you split up with that sorcerer? We're the ones who rescued you."
"…"
"Fenris didn't come back to find me?"
Thor fell silent for a moment.
"That's right. We saw him get into a car and leave not long after you walked away."
Jane stared at Thor without blinking.
"Where am I?" Thor staggered to his feet. Beyond the bright floor-to-ceiling window, the wilderness outside town stretched endlessly into the distance.
"Puente Antiguo. A small town in New Mexico."
After a pause, Jane continued, "This is the only human settlement nearby. If you want to find that person…"
Jane's words abruptly woke Thor up. After everything that had happened last night, he had fully realized that without Mjolnir, and without the power of the God of Thunder, he had nothing. In this unfamiliar Midgard, even moving an inch was difficult.
Never mind finding a chance to return to Asgard. Even how he was supposed to survive here was a problem.
And now, the only person he could count on was that powerful sorcerer.
"Tell me where he is."
After figuring this out, Thor's eyes lit up. He excitedly reached out and gripped Jane by the shoulders.
"That hurts."
Seeing Jane's brows knit in pain, Thor curled his lip and let go.
"You can try looking for him at the hotel in town, if he hasn't left yet…"
Before Jane could finish speaking, Thor's eyes brightened. He casually grabbed a coat from the side, put it on, and hurriedly crashed out through the door. "Thank you, mortal. I will remember you."
"Huh? You're just leaving?"
Before Jane could recover from the pain in her shoulders, she watched helplessly as Thor's back vanished around the corner of the street. "My research, and the data…"
"Jane, I've figured it out. This God of Thunder is just a brute." Darcy curled her lip from the side. "You were counting on him to help you complete your data?"
"Sigh."
Jane stared longingly out the floor-to-ceiling window, still somewhat unwilling to give up as she murmured, "But he's still a god…"
"A god?"
The sound of several vehicles braking in succession suddenly came from outside the window. In only a few moments, the temporary lab had already been surrounded layer upon layer by dozens of cars.
The door was forcefully pushed open without any permission. More than a dozen men in neat suits filed in from the entrance, surrounding the important instruments inside the lab.
Professor Selvig, who had been organizing data beside the computer, was forcibly pulled aside as well. Looking at these people who had appeared out of nowhere, he spread his arms to shield Jane and Darcy behind him and glared at them in anger. "Who exactly are you people?"
"Sorry, Miss Jane Foster. If I heard correctly just now, you said god, didn't you?"
The crowd slowly parted, and a sharp, mild-looking man removed his sunglasses and walked calmly up to Jane. "Doctor, it seems you know quite a bit. Since that is the case, I'm sure you can understand our sudden visit."
With that, he did not wait for Jane to respond. After sweeping his gaze around the lab, he gave an order.
"Take everything."
The others immediately went into action without another word. Very soon, the expensive experimental equipment in the lab was dismantled and carried away piece by piece. Even the inconspicuous hard drives were all removed and taken.
"Who are you people?"
Watching the equipment and data that represented countless hours of her painstaking work being forcibly loaded onto cars and taken away, Jane could no longer sit still. She abruptly shook off Selvig and strode forward to stop them. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Sorry, Doctor Foster. Because your research involves a classified matter, I am now officially informing you that your records, along with your astronomical and atmospheric data, have all been requisitioned by us."
The man in charge smiled and took a business card from his jacket, handing it to Jane. "I am senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Coulson. This business card should be enough to compensate you for your losses. Please cooperate with our operation."
(End of Chapter)
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