Two months have passed in the blink of an eye since the trip to Wakanda and the battle at the Expo ended.
It has also been two months since Lin Huai became a Magician.
Over these two months, the lives of the Avengers have undergone some minor and major changes. The one who changed the most was definitely Tony Stark. He shaved his head bald, fulfilling the bet he made in Wakanda. In his own words, this was "the art of hairstyling ahead of its time." However, seeing as he had been wearing various hats indoors lately, the billionaire clearly still needed time to adapt to his new look.
This afternoon, Coulson appeared at the Malibu mansion once again. With a solemn expression, he walked quickly toward the group discussing things in the living room.
"Consultant Lin, Tony, the situation is urgent." Although Coulson's words were polite, his speaking speed was much faster. "Two hours ago, in the desert of New Mexico, there was a widespread geomagnetic storm, followed by a high-density metal object falling from the sky. Our people have already cordoned off the scene."
He pressed a few buttons on his wrist-mounted portable device, and a holographic image was projected in front of everyone. In the image was a giant sand pit, with an old-looking metal hammer stuck right in the center.
"We've tried all sorts of methods, but we can't make it budge an inch." Coulson's expression was serious. "Director Fury feels that we should hear your opinion on this matter as well."
In the underground workshop, Dr. Banner, who was debugging the energy model for the new version of claws of rage, also came up and watched the scene curiously.
"Wow, a new toy?" Tony took off his baseball cap, revealing his shiny bald head. "An air-dropped supply crate? It looks like a reject from a medieval blacksmith shop. I bet the locals have already started a bonfire party around it."
"What we're more concerned about is the person behind it, Tony." Lin Huai's expression wasn't as relaxed as his. The images he saw during his promotion divination surfaced in his mind again.
"Which god is it this time?" Dr. Banner asked, adjusting his black-rimmed glasses. He was now very enthusiastic about these super-scientific new topics.
"If my divination isn't wrong," Lin Huai said, looking at the hammer, "the one who has arrived this time is a distinguished guest from Norse Mythology, and he has quite a reputation."
"Norse Mythology?" The playful look on Tony's face vanished, replaced by pure surprise as he leaned toward Lin Huai. "Are you serious? The people who wear linen clothes, sail Viking ships, drink mead, and fight all day? There are... actually mythological figures on this Planet?"
It was as if he had discovered a new continent, and his imagination immediately ran wild. "What about other mythological systems? The Greeks who do family dramas every day, and the Egyptians who love animal cosplay... are they real too?"
"Rather than gods," Lin Huai thought for a moment, trying to explain in terms they could understand, "they're more like a bunch of aliens with incredibly advanced technology who live for a very long time. Their divine realm, called Asgard, can be thought of as a high-level civilization in a different dimension or galaxy. To mortals like us, who don't live past a hundred and are still using chemical fuels to send tin cans into the sky, their act of tearing through space to come to Earth is exactly like what's depicted in myths, isn't it?"
Tony nodded thoughtfully; this explanation clearly appealed more to his scientific mind. But then, he seemed to think of something, and his expression became a bit odd.
"Wait..." He looked at the Beyonder creation on the workbench that he called Vulcan's Hammer and muttered, "Vulcan... is the Roman god of the forge, right? Are you sure some grumpy old blacksmith won't suddenly drop from the sky and ask me for the copyright fees for the name 'Vulcan'?"
His quip lightened the originally serious atmosphere considerably.
"Who knows?" Lin Huai shrugged. "If you actually meet him, you can talk to him about intellectual property protection. But right now, I'm more concerned about this hammer and its owner."
"Then let's go take a look," Tony decided. "I want to see what kind of god could create something that even S.H.I.E.L.D. can't move. I've been playing with hammers lately, so I feel like I'll definitely have some resonance with this piece of art."
An hour later, the quinjet landed at the temporary camp in New Mexico.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had already built a massive circular research Base around the Impact crater. Hundreds of Agents and researchers were coming and going, with various detection devices buzzing around the deep pit.
Coulson led the group directly into the center of the Impact crater.
Up close, the hammer looked even more ordinary. The square head had a weathered metallic luster, and a crude leather loop hung from the short leather handle. It sat quietly embedded in the sand compacted by the Impact, as if it had grown there naturally.
"This is it," Coulson introduced. "We've tried every method you can think of. Physical, chemical—none of it worked."
Tony ignored him and walked over.
He had been dealing with hammers lately, from using one to send his uncle flying to using Vulcan's Hammer to reconstruct claws of rage. He felt his understanding of "hammers" as a tool had reached a philosophical level. So, when he saw this divine hammer that had fallen from the sky, a desire for conquest and a sense of competitiveness against a worthy opponent rose in his heart.
He walked around the hammer twice, as if admiring a rare treasure.
"The design is very... vintage, one might even say primitive," he critiqued, already bending down and gripping the handle tightly with both hands. "But the material density is ridiculously high. Let me think, the correct way to apply force should be..."
He took a breath, his back muscles tensed, and he gave a sudden, powerful heave with his arms!
"Hah!"
The image of the hammer being lifted never appeared. It was as if the hammer was welded directly to the Earth's core. Despite Tony turning red in the face and the veins on his arms bulging one by one, it remained motionless.
"Damn it... Jarvis, scan my angle of force and torque. Is something wrong?" Tony, refusing to believe it, changed his stance and tried again.
The result was the same.
Finally, panting for breath, he let go, looking at the hammer and then his own hands in disbelief.
"Fine, it doesn't like me." He stood up, brushing the sand off his hands, trying to cover his embarrassment with a quip. "It seems our tastes don't quite align. Maybe it likes... something more traditional?" He glanced at Steve beside him.
Steve shook his head. He could feel a resonance coming from the hammer, but more than that, a sense of rejection.
While everyone was chattering around the hammer, Lin Huai quietly backed away to the edge of the crowd. He didn't look at the hammer that was destined to be lifted by only one person; instead, he discreetly activated Spirit Vision, his gaze sweeping across the onlookers at the perimeter of the research Base and the rolling sand dunes.
His gaze slowly swept over the desert. Yellow sand, cacti, and scattered shrubs... everything looked normal.
But soon, his brow furrowed.
On top of a distant sand dune, there was a slight, unnatural distortion in the flow of light and air, like looking through a layer of scorching air. An ordinary person would dismiss it as desert heat waves, but in his eyes, it was a crude yet effective visual deception.
Lin Huai's eyes narrowed, and his spirituality immediately focused.
*Ssh—*
As if a soap bubble had been popped, the distorted light and shadow flickered in his eyes!
A slender figure, wearing green and gold-toned tight-fitting clothes and holding a gem-encrusted Scepter, was clearly exposed in his vision at that moment!
The person was looking down at the group of mortals wasting their efforts on the hammer, a hint of contempt and mockery on his face, as if watching a monkey show.