"Ring, ring—"
The instant Jane placed the call, a pleasant ringtone suddenly sounded from not far away.
"Hm?"
Jane's ears twitched, and she abruptly raised her head.
What entered her sight was the mysterious wizard she had only seen last night.
He stood there with his arms crossed, staring in her direction with a faint, unreadable smile. Meeting that ambiguous gaze, Jane's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she instinctively looked away.
"Coincidence. It has to be a coincidence…"
An unbelievable guess suddenly surged into her mind. Jane hurriedly took a deep breath and lowered her head with trembling hands.
The call-waiting screen looked especially glaring, while the ringtone not far away continued to play at an unhurried pace.
"There's no way it's that much of a coincidence, right?"
Darcy had clearly realized something too. Her eyes widened as she leaned closer. "Professor, is the number Dr. Banner gave you actually reliable?"
Professor Selvig was no longer quite so confident either. After carefully recalling Bruce Banner's exaggerated academic résumé, he said, "It… should be reliable, shouldn't it?"
The ringtone still did not stop.
Jane blinked. She had originally planned to wait patiently, but for some reason, she suddenly pressed her finger down on the hang-up button.
"Jane?"
Darcy's face filled with disbelief, and she reached out to stop her. "Don't—"
"Beep—"
Her finger pressed down, and the ringtone in the distance stopped abruptly.
"Gulp."
Jane's breathing suddenly grew rapid. After closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she slowly extended her trembling index finger and dialed the number again.
"Ring, ring—"
Sure enough, in the next moment, the ringtone in the distance sounded again.
The sound resumed.
"It really is him!?"
The three of them stared at one another, wide-eyed and speechless.
Jane's heart skipped another beat. She suddenly grabbed Darcy's hand and strode toward Coulson.
"Fenris, you…"
Coulson watched Fenris smilingly put away his phone, then glanced at Jane Foster as she drew closer and closer. The expression on his face suddenly stiffened.
"Sorry, Coulson. Looks like they accidentally found me."
Fenris raised an eyebrow and, with great interest, took out his phone and waved it in front of Coulson.
The corner of Coulson's eye twitched.
Watching Jane come closer and closer, he finally let out a deep sigh. "Do you know them?"
Fenris rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. "I've met them, but we're not close."
"And you still want to help them?"
Coulson's breath caught, his face full of disbelief. "You know how important these materials are."
"Coulson, this information may be top secret to other people, but among those people, that woman is definitely not included."
Fenris threw an arm around Coulson's shoulders and pointed at Jane Foster. "If you trust me, don't make things difficult for her over this."
"You'll thank me later."
Thinking of the Thor he had seen yesterday, Fenris's expression turned unreadable.
"…"
Coulson looked at Fenris suspiciously. After hesitating for a moment, he finally nodded. "Fine. I'll trust you this once."
"Promising!"
Fenris smiled and patted Coulson on the shoulder.
There was a reason this guy had made it this far.
"Um…"
Jane stopped not far from Fenris, her eyes discreetly sizing him up from head to toe.
After two days, this was the first time she had observed this extremely mysterious wizard at such close range.
Tall and upright, with a gentle face, he looked somewhat bright and open. He was far removed from the sinister, eerie image of a wizard in her preconceived notions.
"Sorry, Ms. Foster."
The atmosphere quietly fell silent for a moment. Just as Jane opened her mouth and had no idea what to say, Coulson silently stepped forward from the side. "I think there may have been a slight misunderstanding between us just now."
"Misunderstanding?"
Jane abruptly turned her head, anger hidden in her eyes.
They had shown up in force, overbearingly taken away her lab and all the data she had worked so hard to collect by force, and he called that a misunderstanding?
"I apologize. My wording earlier may have been a little aggressive."
Coulson's gaze flicked discreetly toward Fenris at his side. "On behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D., we are only borrowing your equipment and data for a period of time."
"We apologize for the trouble this has caused you. Any losses resulting from the delay will be reimbursed."
"Would this arrangement be acceptable to you?"
"This…"
The senior agent's attitude had suddenly undergone a complete reversal, and Jane did not even have time to react. All the anger in her chest had already turned into astonishment.
She blinked instinctively. "You're only borrowing it?"
Coulson looked as if he had a headache. "Yes. We guarantee everything will be returned afterward."
"Our only requirement is that you do not publish this data, and that you maintain strict confidentiality. You must guarantee that it will not be disclosed to any unrelated personnel."
"No problem!"
The wild joy of regaining what she had lost surged into her heart. After receiving permission to take away a copied backup of the data, Jane hurriedly agreed, as if afraid the other side might go back on its word.
"That's it?"
Behind her, Darcy was dumbfounded.
The call had not even connected. It had only rung a few times, and the problem had somehow been solved?
And the only condition for getting the data back was confidentiality?
"This was way too easy…"
They exchanged glances. After receiving permission, they hurried forward and retrieved their hard drive from the truck.
"Please be sure to honor our agreement, Dr. Foster."
Seeing this, Coulson could only shake his head helplessly.
"Thank you, honored wizard."
Jane had never expected the huge weight hanging over her head to be lifted so easily. At last, she let out a long breath of relief. She stared seriously at Fenris, her face full of gratitude. "If not for you, all the work I've poured into this over the years would really have gone to waste…"
"You're welcome."
Fenris smiled faintly.
Jane Foster could be considered one of Thor's relatives, and she was also the future Mighty Thor. Casually lending a hand was nothing at all.
Moreover…
Fenris turned his gaze toward Professor Selvig behind Jane.
If he remembered correctly, this man was an expert in the field of astrophysics. He could even extract endless energy from the Tesseract, and later went on to create a spatial device that stabilized the Nine Realms. He was absolutely a treasure-class top scientist.
Most importantly, the energy inside the Infinity Stones was not something a few Arc Reactors could compare to. Perhaps he might be able to make use of Selvig's strength in the future…
Countless thoughts surged through Fenris's mind. He tilted his head slightly and revealed a kind smile. "Professor Selvig, Banner has mentioned you to me many times. If you have time in the future, you're welcome to visit my lab."
"Really?"
Selvig had originally been somewhat restrained in front of Fenris, but when he heard this, his eyes instantly filled with surprise. "Do you truly think so?"
"Please rest assured. Once the matter at hand is over, I will definitely pay you a visit."
Watching Selvig's barely contained excitement, Fenris smiled faintly.
"Of course."
(End of Chapter)
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