As for Nick Fury's words, Du Mu didn't care in the slightest.
It was like in a game, when an NPC said the world would be destroyed unless the players acted quickly, yet they still took their time mining and searching for treasure chests everywhere, not taking it seriously at all.
Seeing Du Mu's attitude, Nick Fury helplessly rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Anyway, keep a low profile for a while. Coulson needs support on a mission in New Mexico. I was originally going to send Hawkeye, who's on leave, but I'll have you go instead."
[NPC Nick Fury has issued you a new quest]
[Quest: Support Coulson]
[Objective: Go to New Mexico, find Coulson and meet up with him, then assist him with his mission]
[Reward: Experience +1000, S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation +20, Items *2]
"Yes, sir."
After accepting the quest, Du Mu drove to the desert region of New Mexico that same day.
He soon found the small temporary base S.H.I.E.L.D. had set up and met Coulson, the person in charge.
"Village Chief, long time no see. Why's your hairline receding even more?"
Coulson: "..."
As Nick Fury's trusted right-hand man and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most dedicated employee, he barely ever got time off. Every day, he was either carrying out a mission or on his way to one. He hardly ever got to see his girlfriend, the cellist.
The long hours on the road, coupled with the woes of middle age, had left his hair growing thinner by the day.
Coulson just didn't get it.
Du Mu ground through quests even more diligently than he did. How come the guy wasn't losing his hair?
Coulson pretended not to hear Du Mu's comment and got straight to the point. "Not long ago, we detected an Einstein-Rosen bridge—a wormhole—opening above this area. Something from outer space fell through it."
Du Mu asked curiously, "What did it look like?"
"It was a hammer!"
Du Mu: "..."
Why had he suddenly started cursing in the middle of a perfectly normal conversation?
Seeing Du Mu's expression, Coulson explained, "I mean the object was a hammer. Never mind. Just come with me."
With that, Coulson led Du Mu to the innermost part of the small base.
Just as Coulson had said, Du Mu saw a hammer: a square, silver hammer that didn't look special at all.
Coulson looked serious. "According to our tests, no one has been able to lift it so far. Even using a heavy-duty crane, we couldn't shift it by even half a millimeter."
"But strangely, this doesn't seem to be because of the hammer's weight. We even tried digging out the soil beneath it. Even with just a little bit left, the soil still supported the hammer."
"That's amazing."
Du Mu immediately grew interested and walked over to the hammer, grabbing its short handle.
Just as he tried to lift it, the system's voice suddenly rang out.
[You do not meet the requirements to use this equipment]
[Requirement: Justice Value ≥ 1000]
"Justice Value?"
Du Mu was a little surprised.
This was the first time he'd seen equipment with usage requirements, and the requirement was for Justice Value, which he'd only unlocked recently.
Du Mu opened his character status panel and checked. His Justice Value had already risen to 136.
According to the system records, he'd earned those points by saving quite a few people while carrying out missions recently. He'd also gained a large amount of Justice Value for defeating Super Villains like Abomination.
"Looks like I've got what it takes to be a superhero after all."
Du Mu thought smugly.
As for his Sin Value, which was close to two hundred, he conveniently chose to ignore it.
"What is it? Did you find something?" Coulson asked curiously after Du Mu stood in silence, gripping the hammer's handle for a long while.
He knew Du Mu was no ordinary man. Maybe he'd noticed something.
Du Mu promptly let go of the hammer's handle and nodded. "There are conditions for lifting this hammer. You probably have to be the kind of person who's just, brave, upright, and responsible. So it's no surprise you can't lift it."
Coulson: "..."
Why did it feel like he was insulting them by talking around the point?
After that, Coulson assigned Du Mu a job: all he had to do was keep an eye on the hammer until they'd finished their tests.
It was an easy job.
Du Mu somehow produced a folding lounge chair and set it down not far from the hammer.
He stretched out on it, sipping some mysterious drink and flipping through a comic book. He looked so relaxed, you'd think he was on vacation.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents patrolling nearby watched him with gritted teeth.
They already hated being at work!
Seeing this just made their fists clench!
Night fell.
Rain suddenly began pouring from the sky.
Du Mu was engrossed in his comic book when Coulson's voice came through his communicator.
"Du Mu, someone's broken into the base. Looks like they're heading your way."
"Got it."
Du Mu reluctantly got up from the lounge chair.
He wanted to see which idiot was bold enough to break into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s territory.
After the sounds of a fierce fight and pounding footsteps drew closer, Du Mu soon saw the idiot.
"Oboi?"
Du Mu's eyes widened.
The intruder was a muscular, long-haired blond man. His wet hair clung to his face, and he looked remarkably like an actor Du Mu remembered.
Hearing Du Mu's words, the muscular man loudly protested, "I'm Thor, the great God of Thunder, Son of Odin!"
Du Mu immediately laughed. "You're the God of Thunder? Then I'm Qin Shi Huang."
"Fool! How dare a mere mortal blaspheme a god!"
Thor flew into a rage.
He let out a roar and charged at once, swinging a fist at Du Mu.
He really was fast, and his strength far surpassed that of an ordinary person. No wonder he'd broken through the agents stationed outside and made it all the way here.
But to Du Mu, an attack of this level was nothing special.
He didn't even bother using a skill. He merely raised a hand and caught Thor's fist with ease.
"How is this possible?"
Shock filled Thor's face.
Even without his divine power, his body was far beyond the strength of any mortal.
Yet the man before him had stopped his punch so effortlessly!
Thor gritted his teeth and strained with all his might, but still couldn't wrench his fist free of Du Mu's grip.
Looking at Thor's flushed face, Du Mu asked with interest, "You say you're the God of Thunder. I bet you're pretty resistant to electricity, then?"
"What are you—wh-wh-wh-wh—"
Before Thor could finish speaking, a violent current surged through his entire body. He began convulsing uncontrollably.
A few seconds later, his eyes rolled back, and he fell rigidly to the ground, thin wisps of smoke rising from his body.
Du Mu turned off Professor Yang's Ring on his finger.
He looked at Thor sprawled on the ground and sneered. "Some God of Thunder you are."