Mr. Wednesday

"Mr. Wednesday, I have some questions for you regarding Dr. Selvig." Nick Fury leaned closer and asked Wednesday, who looked defeated but still proud, "Our staff said that Dr. Selvig came to talk to you last. Do you know where he went?"

Under the very nose of the current Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.., even though the retired agents were unsteady on their feet, they were still quick to hide things like wine glasses and bottles. If you blinked even slightly, you wouldn't be able to see where they hid them. Some of them even concocted some kind of potion on the spot and sprayed it all over the card room with a misting device, quickly eliminating the smell of alcohol and giving off a smell of earth after rain.

Li, who controlled the TV channel (the remote), stood up and had a retired special agent spray him with air freshener to get rid of the smell of alcohol.

These elderly men and women are all veterans of S.H.I.E.L.D.., and they are very skilled at erasing their own traces. Because they lost their family members early or have always lived alone, they spend their retirement years in nursing homes.

Their identities are top secret, and even Nick Fury might not fully know them, so they were very polite to Mr. Wednesday, who might just be a big shot.

Moreover, Black Eggplant's wish is that one day when he is too old to plot anything, he will give up his position Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. and move into this retirement home. At that time, he definitely doesn't want to be treated so rudely by a young upstart.

Even if he only has one arm that he can move by then, he still has a hundred ways to make that brat's life miserable.

Mr. Wednesday glanced at the Black Eggplant a few times, opened his mouth, and then let out a long, drunken burp.

The pungent smell of alcohol hit them like a flood. Nick Fury held his breath immediately. Wei Xiuming, wearing a gas mask, was not afraid at all. The S.H.I.E.L.D.. employee who had been following the two of them and in charge of Dr. Selvig turned red in the face and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Alcohol poisoning." Nick Fury glanced at the employee and immediately diagnosed his condition.

Just a whiff of alcohol from their breath could intoxicate an agent. Were they drinking highly concentrated alcohol during the competition? Or was it a chemically synthesized substance similar to alcohol?

"Selvig, he's a wonderful young man, a talented one, and he speaks so well." Mr. Wednesday, as if drunk, rambled on about Dr. Selvig, then continued, "He came to me and Lee, and gave us some theory about celestial motion, about how the Nine Realms existing in higher dimensions would converge at a specific point in time. To prove this to us, he assembled a bunch of parts into his gravity measuring device, claiming it could stabilize the points where celestial bodies meet... He even borrowed my cane for it."

The drunken manager, being a mid-level executive, was immediately dragged away for emergency treatment. A colleague of similar rank approached and said, "There were indeed some thefts at the sanatorium recently, but nothing valuable was stolen—just a life detector, a small satellite receiver, a microwave, and a few cell phones—these things can't be used for much."

"That's what you think." Wei Xiuming refuted the employee's crude idea. In his hands, the parts of these things could be assembled into more than ten different pieces of equipment. Although they were not very useful, they could still be used in different situations.

"He succeeded?" Nick Fury asked in a question, but with an undeniable tone.

"Yes." The drunken Mr. Wednesday wiped his mouth haphazardly with his long grey coat and continued, "He used those things to assemble what he wanted, then opened a door and left."

Nick Fury asked, "Did he say where he was going?"

"How would I know? He's an astrophysicist, and I'm just a down-on-his-luck old man. How could I possibly know what he's thinking?" Mr. Wednesday said in a tone that seemed to doubt the intelligence of the Black Eggplant.

Having obtained the information he wanted, Nick Fury turned and left. He was now fairly certain of Dr. Selvig's whereabouts— London, Greenwich.

But in the world he couldn't see, Wei Xiuming remained in the card room, standing face to face with Mr. Wednesday.

"Shouldn't All-Father Odin, be in eternal Asgard in Asgard, gathering his strength? Why is he, an ordinary old man on Earth, staying in this sanatorium?"

Wei Xiuming solemnly stated that he did not sense the powerful divine force that should exist in Odin. The strength of the Asgard increases over time, but their bodies do not become stronger. When they are on the verge of death, the person who inherits the power of the God King will have to go through a long period of slumber to refine their own power.

However, Odin is now extremely weak, far weaker than even Thor, and only at the level of an ordinary Asgard warrior, which is not normal.

In Wei Xiuming's eyes, Odin was not some old man in a gray coat. The king of Asgard wore golden armor and a gray Cloak adorned with star-like jewels, but he did not hold Gungnir, the great spear that symbolized him.

"I have entrusted all my divine power to Thor. Although he has not officially ascended to the throne, he is the God King of Asgard —though he still relies heavily on Mjolnir and has not yet unleashed his true power." Odin did not display the majesty expected of God King, but spoke calmly like a retired old man, "Besides, isn't this a retirement home specifically for the elderly? I am very old, and my remaining time is limited, so staying here is most suitable. Thor's martial prowess can awe all realms, Frigga's wisdom can help Thor manage the Nine Realms, Loki's disguise can allow him to become my likeness, deterring potential enemies—he yearns to become the king of Asgard, and this will allow him to indulge in that desire. After that, he will face endless enemies alongside Thor."

Since Odin had already made the arrangements, Wei Xiuming didn't say anything and asked, "What about Dr. Selvig? Unless he can recombine matter, those parts alone cannot assemble a device that interferes with the boundary. God King, did you help him?"

"Moreover, the unification of the Nine Realms is a once-in-five-thousand-years event. Aren't you worried that powerful enemies might take the opportunity to try and overthrow Asgard's authority—such as the Dark Elves?"

Odin, disregarding how Wei Xiuming knew the past of the Nine Realms, said, "I am just a down-on-his-luck old man. The safety of the Nine Realms is the concern of young, strong, and wise men. Even without the Asgard's God King, the Sorcerer Supreme is maintaining the stability of the world. Besides, aren't there still you, a powerful being?"

"As for Selvig, he is an exceptionally talented young man. He has come into contact with the energies of the Space Stone and the Mind Stone, allowing his consciousness to connect with beings born from the rules of the universe. These beings generously revealed the truth of the world to Selvig, Selvig seized this opportunity, acquiring boundless knowledge."

"But acquiring knowledge always comes at a price: money, hardship, energy, time, and health. Selvig inevitably had to pay a corresponding price to gain knowledge; he was already quite lucky to have become a little eccentric."

Odin was absolutely right; you only reap what you sow, and the same applies to knowledge.

Money is represented by something called tuition. When the Buddha's disciple recited a sutra for the family of Elder Zhao in Shravasti, he only charged three pecks and three pints of rice-grain gold, and the Buddha thought it was too cheap.

Suffering is represented by Odin, who sacrificed one of his eyes to obtain a spring of wisdom, and was hung upside down from the World Tree for nine days and nine nights, with a spear piercing his ribs, before finally acquiring the runes.

Needless to say, energy and time are also essential for acquiring knowledge.

As for health, Stephen Hawking is the most apt example. As someone who glimpsed the truth of the most basic rules of the world and withdrew unscathed, he paid the price with his health, leaving him with only three fingers that could move.

"While Gungnir is my symbol, my weapons are not limited to that spear. I also possess the Shattered Holy Sword Gram and a scepter. Though its power is less than Gungnir's, it can open a small Bifrost. In this moment of the Nine Realms merging, even mortals, if they know the correct methods, can go wherever they wish. Selvig believes the merging of the Nine Realms is a disaster for Midgard, and he is trying his best to stop it. I have gone along with it and temporarily lent him my scepter."

Odin was not as indifferent to the outside world as he claimed; he did what he could, such as lending out the artifacts.

The scene before Wei Xiuming's eyes changed rapidly. Odin, who had been a majestic God King, had become an old man in a gray coat. He knew that his meeting with the God King was over.

Although it contradicts the myth in some details, Odin is quite skilled in magic. He just used illusion magic to deceive Nick Fury, making Black Eggplant think that Wei Xiuming had gone with him. After Odin dispelled the illusion, he quickly returned to his original position. As for the drunken S.H.I.E.L.D.. employee, he really was drunk.

It's unclear whether the person who secretly sent Odin to Earth was Frigga or Loki, but they were very thoughtful. The security of S.H.I.E.L.D..'s internal sanatorium was beyond question, and they even left Odin a large quantity of fine liquor. The high-proof liquor used in the "depth charge" was a rare Asgard brew. The average Earthling's constitution couldn't withstand that kind of strong liquor; just a breath of its fumes could intoxicate several people.

"Where is that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. who underwent a full-body modification along with Joseph Harlow?" Wei Xiuming asked after catching up with Nick Fury.

Nick Fury, unsure why Wei Xiuming would suddenly ask about that nobody, replied, "He's conducting human enhancement experiments at a base somewhere—mainly being researched."

"Alright, transfer him to this sanatorium to keep these old folks company and keep them entertained," Wei Xiuming said. "Oh, and change his name to Shadow Moon."

"Shadowmoon? Does this name have any meaning?" Nick Fury murmured the name, feeling that Wei Xiuming had some deeper meaning.

"It doesn't have any special meaning. If you don't like the name, you can have him change it to Bck Sun."

Dr. Selvig's whereabouts were not difficult to find. This old man, cursed by knowledge, did something significant in order to gain media attention and warn the public of the impending disaster.

After buying a ticket and entering the Stonehenge site, he stripped naked, brandished an instrument centered around Odin's Scepter, and ran wildly through the site, shouting things like "I'm saving you."

This behavior will undoubtedly attract media attention. These days, dog bites man is not news, man bites dog is news. Taking things out of context and distorting the facts, as long as it can grab people's attention, unscrupulous media will do whatever it takes.

While it's not common to see people running naked in tourist areas, it does happen, but those are usually just "unconventional" "performance artists" or insane "doomsday theorists" who hold up signs saying "God is dead" and do attention-grabbing things in the streets or crowded places.

But these people did it to expand their influence; in short, it was for fame and fortune. Dr. Selvig, however, did it to warn the world.

Unfortunately, when the media and police arrived, they treated his behavior as a joke.

After all, the media has seen this kind of behavior many times before. A few years ago, a red-haired guy who was studying in England came here and said he was looking for the scabbard of the Excalibur.

Selvig is attracting attention for two reasons. First, he is a professor of astrophysics. Previously, he was just one of the unknowns, but now he is a highly educated expert, which is unprecedented.

Furthermore, Dr. Selvig's other identity is that of a participant in the Battle of New York, and he was on the side of the aliens. Although the United States government has explained that Dr. Selvig was not in control of his own destiny, his fame has not diminished.

Unfortunately, Dr. Selvig's desperate warnings were ignored.

English police did not allow Dr. Selvig to continue. After stopping him, they took out their coats to cover his genitals, then took the gravity detection device from his hand, preparing to take him to the police station for temporary detention, and then contact his family to send him to the hospital for examination.

The policeman had just taken the instrument, which looked like a pile of junk, from Dr. Selvig's hands when he was immediately pulled to the ground by its enormous weight. His hands were pinned down by the scepter, and he couldn't pull his hands off it no matter how hard he tried.

Odin's things are not so easy to obtain; without his permission, the scepter is heavier than a mountain.