"Everyone, I've had a wonderful time with you all; you are truly great friends."
Thor then spoke, bidding farewell to everyone, "I'm sorry, but I have to go back now."
Originally, Thor's plan was to return to Asgard after retrieving Mjolnir on Earth.
But after learning of Asgard's tragic future, how could Thor remain calm now?
He had to return to Asgard immediately!
First, to keep an eye on Loki.
Second, to warn Odin about the Dark Elves.
As for the hammer?
He'd leave it with Captain America for now.
After all, Thor had already regained his divine power, and his strength was not only undiminished but even stronger than before, so he didn't need to be so fixated on the hammer.
Returning to Asgard was more important now.
"Rogers, you have gained the approval of my hammer. You are worthy to wield it. For now, the hammer will remain with you!"
Thor patted Captain America's shoulder, then took a few steps forward, afraid that the Bifrost portal would harm everyone.
"Heimdall!"
Immediately after, Thor looked up and shouted loudly towards the sky.
However… nothing happened.
"Heimdall! Send me back! Now!"
"Heimdall! What's happening? I need you!"
But Thor called out repeatedly for a while, yet still received no response.
What Thor didn't know was that Heimdall had already been frozen solid by Loki.
Asgard.
Bifrost "Observatory."
"Heimdall!"
"Heimdall, I need you!"
Heimdall, who had already lost consciousness, was vaguely awakened by a familiar voice. He recognized it as Thor's voice.
It was Thor!
Heimdall was instantly invigorated, and a surge of strength began to well up in his body, which had previously been drained of power.
"Ah!"
Heimdall let out a beastly roar, suddenly unleashing a powerful burst of energy.
Crack!
The ice encasing him was instantly shattered by Heimdall.
"Heimdall, you are truly resilient, impressive!"
But before Heimdall could open the portal for Thor, he found Loki's figure suddenly appearing before him.
"Loki, what have you done! You let the Frost Giants into Asgard! How could you do such a thing!"
Heimdall roared at Loki in anger.
He had only been dissatisfied with Loki ascending to the throne, nothing more.
But who could have anticipated that Loki would be so audacious as to even let the Frost Giants, Asgard's enemies, into Asgard!
"You have no idea what I've done!"
Loki's face, however, bore a smug and cunning smile. "I, Odin's son, saved my father's life when he was in mortal danger! I even killed Laufey, the King of the Frost Giants!"
"And what about Thor, whom you serve? What good did it do for him to take a few Warriors Three to Jotunheim? He gained nothing but humiliation!"
"I accomplished what Thor could not!"
"Next, I will completely destroy Jotunheim! I will do what Thor wouldn't even dare to imagine!"
As Loki spoke, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
—That's right.
Because Thor had stayed on Earth for too long, he awakened Heimdall a little late. By this time, Loki had already completed the first step of his plan.
When Laufey was about to kill Odin, Loki appeared as a savior and saved Odin's life.
Next, as long as he completely destroyed Jotunheim, he would thoroughly outshine Thor.
"Loki, you're insane!" Heimdall shook his head repeatedly. "You cannot destroy Jotunheim!"
"I can do whatever I want! Can you stop me?" Loki sneered coldly, walking towards the central device that activated the portal.
"Stop it now!" Heimdall roared, preparing to rush over and stop Loki.
However, Heimdall was severely injured at this point; how could he be a match for Loki?
He was easily knocked down by Loki.
Loki glanced at Heimdall with a sneer, then directly plunged the golden scepter in his hand into the central device.
Crackling!
Blinding electric light immediately flashed incessantly, accompanied by an unbearable energy fluctuation, as columns of ice condensed and spread outwards.
Boom!
An incredibly dazzling beam of light shot straight up from the Bifrost, striking Jotunheim.
"The Bifrost will continue to grow and destroy all of Jotunheim!" Loki's face grew even more excited as he watched his plan proceed smoothly.
"Loki, stop it now!"
Heimdall, unable to do anything, could only lie on the ground, helplessly shouting at Loki.
However, all he received in return was Loki's mockery, nothing more.
"Loki, what have you done!"
But suddenly, a voice rang out, and Loki, who had been laughing wildly, froze as if a pause button had been pressed.
His smile stiffened on his face.
He abruptly turned his head and found Odin standing behind him.
Odin had awakened from the Odinsleep just in time.
"Father, I'm about to succeed! You just need to wait a moment longer, and I can destroy Jotunheim for you!" Loki immediately cried out to Odin.
"No, Loki, stop it," Odin said instead.
"What?" Loki was caught off guard. He had gone to such great lengths just to please Odin, but Odin didn't appreciate it at all?
"Father, why?" Loki asked Odin, filled with grievance.
"You cannot destroy Jotunheim, Loki!" Odin said to Loki with a serious expression.
"Why? Aren't they Asgard's enemies? Laufey even broke into your chambers and tried to kill you…"
"Do not fool me! Loki, I may be old, but I'm not senile!" Odin reprimanded Loki.
Although Odin wasn't entirely clear about the whole sequence of events, he was the Lord of the Nine Realms, an All-Father; how could he be so easily deceived?
The Frost Giants' invasion must have been related to Loki.
"Father…"
"I said, stop it now!" Odin roared at Loki.
"It's too late, Father, it can't be stopped now." Loki shook his head repeatedly, his face bitter and incredibly agitated. "Even you can't stop it!"
Odin no longer paid attention to Loki but began to examine the situation. He found that, just as Loki said, it truly couldn't be stopped.
After some thought, Odin made a decision.
He slowly raised the Gungnir in his hand.
"No, Father, what are you trying to do?" Loki cried out in disbelief, rushing forward to stop Odin.
However, he was a step too late.
Odin plunged the spear fiercely into the Bifrost.
Boom!
A terrifying energy exploded, and Loki himself was thrown by the energy, plummeting into the endless abyss.
"No, Loki!" Odin cried out, lunging forward to try and grab Loki.
But he grabbed nothing but air.
He could only watch as Loki fell into the abyss… Thor, of course, was completely unaware of everything happening in Asgard, but he had actually realized something.
In the footage revealed by the Q&A system, Heimdall was indeed absent when Loki used the Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim.
Could it be that now… the events foretold in the footage had already occurred?
Was something wrong in Asgard?
Thor was extremely worried.
However, at this moment, with Heimdall unable to transport him back, there was nothing Thor could do, no matter how worried he was.
"Thor, come back to S.H.I.E.L.D. with us first, and we'll figure out a plan," Black Widow said to Thor, seeing the situation.
Since he couldn't return to Asgard, Thor naturally had nowhere else to go and could only nod weakly.
The group immediately boarded the Quinjet and headed back to New York.
Black Widow also contacted Nick Fury at the first opportunity, briefly reporting what had happened.
"Do as you said!"
A street in New York.
Inside a black Chevrolet "agent car," Nick Fury drove while casually giving instructions to Black Widow.
He had no objections to Black Widow's handling of the situation.
Since Dr. Banner had also participated in the Q&A, and Captain America now possessed a bracelet that could restore the Hulk's sanity, bringing Dr. Banner back to S.H.I.E.L.D. was naturally a logical step.
"I'm driving now, I'll be back in about two hours. See you at the office!" Nick Fury hung up the phone after saying this to Black Widow.
At that moment, the traffic light ahead turned red, and Nick Fury naturally stepped on the brake, stopping the car before the stop line.
Another police car also pulled up next to Nick Fury's car, and the two police officers inside kept turning their heads to look at Nick Fury.
"Do you want to see my driver's license?" Nick Fury retorted impolitely.
But he didn't pay much attention to it.
The traffic light then turned green, and Nick Fury, as usual, stepped on the accelerator and drove forward.
But at that moment, another police car suddenly burst out from a cross-intersection and violently crashed into Nick Fury's car.
This was just the beginning.
Immediately after, three more police cars simultaneously drove up from different directions, a total of four cars, from front, back, left, and right, boxing in Nick Fury's Chevrolet tightly!
It couldn't move.
Then one of the police cars moved aside, and three other agent cars drove up, with a large number of armed personnel pouring out of them.
Each of them held a submachine gun, surrounding Nick Fury outside.
"Shit!"
Inside the Chevrolet, Nick Fury couldn't help but curse under his breath, but he didn't show much panic.
Nor was he injured.
Because at the very first moment the car shook, the Black Panther suit that Nick Fury always wore around his neck immediately "activated," extending to cover his entire body.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Outside, there was an immediate sound of dense gunfire, with bullets raining down on Nick Fury's car like a torrential downpour.
Fortunately, Nick Fury's car was bulletproof, so it wasn't immediately riddled with holes.
"You motherfuckers, do you think I'm easy to deal with!" Nick Fury sneered, calmly picking up a gun.
Then he pushed the door open.
And walked out with an incredibly domineering presence.
What the hell?
The special agents on site, who had been mercilessly pulling their triggers, couldn't help but be stunned. Had this bald guy's head been caught in a door?
Was he trying to die faster by actively walking into the line of fire?
Although they were puzzled, the special agents on site were very quick in their movements, turning their guns and firing at Nick Fury.
All the bullets hit the Black Panther suit, but they had no effect on Nick Fury.
Instead, the Black Panther suit absorbed a good deal of energy.
Nick Fury didn't dodge or flinch, completely ignoring the special agents' gunfire, and calmly pulled the trigger on the special agent closest to him.
Bang!
It hit the opponent squarely between the eyebrows, and the guy immediately fell to the ground.
Bang, bang!
Two more shots, and two more special agents were taken down.
"Cover, cover!"
Someone shouted, and the other special agents no longer dared to confront Nick Fury directly, scrambling to hide behind nearby cars.
Using the vehicles as cover, they continued to fire at Nick Fury.
However, it was still useless.
Boom!
Nick Fury punched an agent car, releasing the kinetic energy absorbed by the Black Panther suit, and the car was directly overturned.
The few special agents hiding behind it were crushed into pulp.
Hiss!
A plasma lightsaber instantly pierced through a stone pillar, and the special agent hiding behind it was also impaled.
With the enhancement of the Black Panther suit, Nick Fury's combat power was off the charts, and he easily wiped out all the special agents on the scene.
Boom!
Immediately after, Nick Fury punched and overturned another car blocking his way, then calmly got into his own car, started it, and drove away.
"Hill!"
While driving, Nick Fury contacted Agent Hill and issued a series of related orders.
"What did you say, the operation failed?"
Pierce, inside the Triskelion, received the news immediately, and he instantly showed an incredibly astonished expression.
So many special agents against Nick Fury alone, and it still failed?
This was simply unbelievable!
The kind of setup he deployed, unless it was against a super-powered individual, it should have been impossible for anyone to deal with!
That's right, the one who sent people to assassinate Nick Fury was, of course, Pierce.
This time, Pierce wasn't trying to kill Nick Fury because Nick Fury had noticed something wrong with Project Insight; Project Insight hadn't even been conceived yet.
Pierce was trying to assassinate Nick Fury this time because Nick Fury knew too much and posed a great threat to Hydra.
The other party had even stolen the Winter Soldier, reaching a point where he absolutely had to be eliminated.
However, what Pierce didn't expect was that Nick Fury would be so difficult to kill.
But amidst his shock, Pierce quickly calmed down and made one phone call after another, arranging a series of follow-up plans.
He would do his utmost to erase all traces of this operation, leaving no clues.
At the very least, he couldn't let himself be under any suspicion.