The streets in the city were empty, just as Su Ming had predicted, with only a few old people and children left in town, and a strange smell permeating the air, like a mix of seawater and honey.
The civilians reacted to Odin quite differently than Asgard did, hiding away and peeking through cracks in doors as if they were witnessing a monstrous flood beast.
Su Ming looked towards the distant port, where the azure sea constantly churned with waves, but Zemo was not in that direction.
It's said that in Hydra, the Viper was best at guerrilla tactics, and her sewer maneuvers were considered world-class. Now, Zemo's shown stealth abilities were also proving troublesome.
Whether it was invisibility or illusion, when paired with someone as clever as Zemo, blending into a city was like a drop of water into the sea, making it even harder to find him in an unfamiliar place.
"Phew... the craftsmen must also be somewhat valuable, so they should still be in the city."
Gin dismounted, checking the signboards of stores on both sides of the street. The street they landed on sold various ornaments and small trinkets.
Monac couldn't be of help at the moment, everything around was too unfamiliar to him, so during a break in the battle, he started to strangle rabbits.
With eyes bright red and fur snow white, he kept pulling the rabbits out of his hat and pockets, tearfully slaughtering them with his own hands, throwing them onto the street.
No matter how deep his feelings were, he couldn't collect the rabbit corpses, or the resulting pain might diminish, reducing the effectiveness of the cost.
Unbeknownst to him, his seemingly insane behavior led many of the peeking civilians to quietly close their doors.
They knew the Queen had gone to deal with Asgard, but the Queen had not returned, instead, Odin had arrived, and brought along a mage who kept killing rabbits, looking like he might start a killing spree at any moment.
Better close up the shops, hide behind the counters or in the basement...
Gin surveyed for a while; she wasn't too familiar with these streets either, but soon pointed to a shop.
"Boss, over there, that old shop has been around since I was born."
Without hesitation, Su Ming strode to the store door and knocked. The large red wooden door, though slightly worn, had a simple, solid impression.
Knock knock knock... knock knock...
"Open the door, fellow townsman, I am God King Odin, not taking a single stitch from Warnerheim!"
With the knocking sound, Su Ming sincerely yelled into the house, simultaneously trying to gauge whether there was anyone inside through the door crack.
"Boss, they won't understand what you're saying...," Gin scratched her chin, her Chinese was learned after going to Earth with Su Ming.
Su Ming turned to look at her; he seldom knocked during actions, usually resolving matters with Great Sword, and didn't want to say 'Open the door, fellow townsman' unless saying 'Blast unit ready'?
Gin stepped forward, replacing the task of knocking for Su Ming, demonstrating.
First, don't knock with the back of your knuckles, rather use the palm to thump, producing a loud and rich sound.
Next, here all unfamiliar males can be called brothers, females, sisters, which shows boldness and closeness.
Finally, express urgency through the knocking rhythm, and, if necessary, use a boot to kick, or weapons to chop, but never climb through windows, that would be considered theft and will be despised and penalized.
"The door is open, boss."
Gin withdrew her leg from the hole in the door panel, smiled as she tucked her hair behind her ear, and made a gesture inviting him in.
Su Ming sighed and walked into the room.
Contrary to the scene viewed from outside, the interior décor and layout were rather advanced, with the workbench holding fragments of gold and gemstones, alongside a miniature lathe brimming with a sense of technology.
Of course, as a goldsmith's workshop, primitive equipment like furnaces and crucibles were present too; this place had the capability to transform a gold ore into a delicate work of art.
"There aren't any invasion traces on the floor, except ours..." Su Ming roughly surveyed the surroundings, remembering the positions of items, the structure of the room, and spoke softly to Strangulation: "The furnace is still lit, find the person."
Strangulation took over the action part of the host body, walking directly toward a bookshelf, sniffing, before sequentially pulling several scrolls, revealing the secret chamber behind the bookshelf.
The scrolls were sweated upon, and by analyzing the oil and salt concentration in fingerprints, Strangulation could decode any mechanism involving button sequence.
Control returned to Su Ming; he walked directly into the room.
A skinny old man was huddled in the corner, shivering; he wore glasses much smaller than his face, while the secret chamber housed many crafted ornaments, seemingly much more exquisite than those outside.
This was a small treasure room, but without a safe, coastal cities weren't suitable for digging cellars, only a secret room could be built.
But now this old man was hiding here just to avoid Odin, not to evade Frost Giants and Zemo.
Su Ming could see in the old man's eyes that familiar emotion; he feared things he could comprehend, not unfamiliar external threats.
The mercenary gestured to the old man with his chin, and Gin nodded knowingly, stepping forward to inquire.
The reply was as expected by Su Ming; the old man confessed, practically down to the color of his underwear. But it wasn't just him, all craftsmen in town were safe; Zemo hadn't reached out to them.
"Sorry to disturb, have a good rest."
Su Ming walked out of the secret chamber, casually pushed the bookshelf back into place, and heard the mechanism lock with a 'click', satisfied, he nodded and quickly left the small shop.
Back on the street, he looked at the desolate marketplace, picked up a fruit from in front of a store, took a bite, thinking while eating, Zemo's target didn't seem to be the craftsmen, so what could it be?
Suddenly, the mage who had been wallowing in rabbit-death sorrow even stopped his sobbing, blankly turning his face toward the horizon.
In the sky, stars seemed to have yolk poured into a funnel, forming a thin golden line, directly flowing downwards.
Monac almost didn't get a chance to alert Deathstroke about the sky, as the brightness above instantly vanished, and the burning fireball disappeared in a blink.
The whole of Warnerheim plunged into darkness.
Even with a slow reaction to magic, Su Ming still sensed the sudden darkening of the sky, immediately inquiring the mysticism expert in the team:
"Cause? Direction?"
"The fixed star was taken, there." Monac calmed his breath, shook his head, and pointed in a direction.
"Chase after it!"
Gin and Monac mounted the Celestial Horse, while Su Ming flew, sprinting towards where the gold line appeared as the sun vanished.
Everything around was enshrouded in darkness, this sudden change stirred chaos in the city, people hiding at home seemed to immediately rush out, kneeling and praying to the deceased Frey to protect his people.
However, the prayer appeared to have a reverse effect, as a host of Frost Giants seized the night, charging onto the streets from unknown dark corners.