Women? They only...

Pierce frowned as he listened to his subordinate's report. After sending him out, Pierce rubbed his brow.

What was wrong with the world these days? A whole bunch of superheroes had appeared out of nowhere, followed by supervillains. Now even gods had shown up. Still, his subordinate had reported that the Asgardians were actually aliens, which reassured him a little.

Like hell it did!

A Bifrost planet-destroying cannon? A planet-shattering god-king? Was this really the Asgard from mythology?

Apparently, ancient people simply hadn't had enough imagination.

Pierce leaned back in his chair and thought things over. The Security Council had just approved the construction of the Helicarriers, but they would build a prototype first to see whether it was actually useful. The other Helicarriers would have to wait a few more years.

Pierce clenched his fists. He hadn't expected so many variables before the plan even began. And now the situation was slipping further and further out of control.

After thinking for a while, Pierce pressed a button. A little later, a bald man walked in.

"Sitwell, immediately feed every piece of information we have on Luke into the Zola Algorithm. I want to know whether he'll interfere with our plans."

Sitwell gave a brisk nod and walked out, pressing a hand to his earpiece.

Pierce let out a breath.

Project Insight was terrifying, certainly, but its core was the Zola Algorithm.

With the Zola Algorithm, Hydra could identify people who would work against it in the future, then quietly eliminate them.

Over the years, Hydra had secretly eliminated tens of thousands of people, but that was still far too slow.

According to the Zola Algorithm, over a hundred million people worldwide would be detrimental to their plans!

And so Project Insight had been born.

Simple and effective. Eliminate over a million people at a time, repeat a few dozen times, and they could easily wipe out all those annoying flies!

The tide is on my side!

Pierce clenched his fist sharply, only for a knock to come at the door a second later.

Fury walked into his office. Looking at Pierce behind the desk, Fury slowly approached.

"You're having people collect information on Luke?"

Pierce froze. How did Fury know? But a moment's thought gave him the answer.

"Why are you being so cautious? You even classified his information?"

Pierce got up, poured a cup of coffee, and pushed it toward Fury.

Fury took a sip without any change in his expression.

Pierce relaxed at the sight. "His background is too mysterious. He's involved with Howard's kid, interfered with the Hulk situation, and now he's even gotten mixed up with those supposed gods. I think something's wrong with him."

Fury nodded. "I've already assessed him. The result: there's no problem. You can stop investigating him. It's a waste of time. You'd be better off getting more money out of the Security Council so we can finish the new headquarters sooner."

With that, Fury walked straight out.

Pierce breathed a sigh of relief. He had groomed Fury himself, and he knew what Fury was capable of. Fury was extremely capable, arguably the finest agent of all, but that wasn't good news for them. After all, they were Hydra, Fury's enemy.

I'll have to think of something. Fury may be useful, but...

Remembering the Zola Algorithm's assessment of Fury, Pierce decided he couldn't keep this pawn around much longer.

Outside, Fury quietly spat the antidote tablet out of his mouth and tossed it into a trash can. Trust no one. Pierce had taught him that.

Fury thought as he walked.

Where exactly had Pierce gotten his information about Thor? After learning where Thor came from, Fury had specifically ordered those agents to report directly to him alone.

What exactly was Pierce trying to do? Why had he planted people among those agents?

Fury didn't yet know Pierce was Hydra, but he decided he needed to investigate Pierce in secret.

Standing in front of the elevator, Fury pressed the button. It arrived shortly afterward.

Seeing Sitwell inside, Fury nodded and let him pass first.

Sitwell hadn't expected Fury to be there either, but he calmly saluted and walked toward Pierce's office as usual.

Fury glanced at Sitwell's retreating back, then entered the elevator.

Pierce watched his deputy walk in just after Fury had left.

"What were the results?"

"The results indicate that Luke won't pose a threat to our plans."

(P.S. Time is something even the Ancient One cannot fully understand or see through, so Hydra's Zola Algorithm being able to see people's futures is just too strange. I've therefore classified it as big data instead. The Zola Algorithm also bases its results on things like past spending records and browsing histories. As for Luke's past spending and browsing history, well, you all understand.)

Pierce sighed in relief. The Zola Algorithm was Doctor Zola's masterpiece. Tracking and observing those samples generally produced results identical to the algorithm's predictions.

After thinking for a moment, Pierce sent Sitwell to try to recruit Luke.

Luke had no idea he had drawn so many people's attention. He was happily playing games. As for Thor, after sitting there grinning foolishly for ages, he finally remembered there was a woman outside waiting for him to return.

Putting on his battle gear with a show of studied nonchalance, he flew straight out.

As for returning to Asgard, he claimed his father hadn't forgiven him yet, so he wouldn't go back.

It wasn't that he couldn't go back. He just didn't want to!

Luke was playing when the internet suddenly cut out.

"Coulson, why did the internet go down?"

Luke called out, but nobody answered. Turning around, he saw that the two big shots had dragged him into the Mirror Dimension again.

Odin looked extremely pleased. His son had finally awakened his divine power, after all, making him feel that retirement wasn't far off.

"So you still aren't going to let Thor return to Asgard? Are you still testing him?" Luke asked in confusion. Wasn't he worried Thor would spend a few decades wandering around Earth with Jane first?

"Thor's power has awakened. His divine power will continue to grow with time, wherever he is. As for the test? He's already passed. To become Asgard's grand general, he only needs strength and the ability to follow instructions. As for being king, I'll be testing Loki."

Good grief, your standards for Thor are that low? He just has to follow instructions? Still, that was true. If Loki became king, Thor, as Loki's sole supporter, would certainly listen to his younger brother.

But what Odin's words implied shocked Luke a little. He actually intended to leave Asgard to a Frost Giant?

Still, even raising a dog for a few thousand years would create an attachment, let alone Loki.

Luke couldn't be bothered to care what Odin thought. As long as Odin would come to his rescue in a crisis, riding his eight-legged heavenly horse and wearing the Destroyer armor, that was enough. As for taking the opportunity to seize control of Asgard's royal court?

Please. Strategy games were what he was worst at, and he was supposed to turn someone else's royal court into a puppet?

Luke glanced at his phone and asked impatiently, "Is there anything else? I've got a game going. Can we hurry this up?"

You trying to explain to your parents that online games can't be paused.jpg

The Ancient One glanced at Odin, who took a book from inside his clothes.

The unfamiliar yet familiar scene filled Luke with anticipation. He remembered how extravagantly the Ancient One had tossed him several books of Dark Dimension coordinates back then.

"These are the Dark Dimension coordinates Asgard has collected over thousands of years. After a thousand years, quite a few of these dimensions may have evolved into intermediate dimensions and changed coordinates, but plenty should still work."

Luke hurriedly accepted the coordinates, beaming.

Anything else you'd like to say-or give me, boss? I've got plenty of time to wait.

Odin said nothing more. The Ancient One drew a circle, signaling for Luke to hurry back to his game before he was flagged as AFK.

Luke returned to the material world, and the game quickly reconnected.

Amid his teammates' question marks, Luke grandly typed: Earth's guardian and the god-king called me over for a chat. I've got something to do now. Logging off.

He quit the game outright, ignoring his teammates' barrage of question marks. Taking out the little book, Luke called Mordo for the first time in a while and told him to gather everyone for a fight.

Entering the Dark Dimension, Luke watched Mordo lead the Mage Corps inside, then casually tapped a coordinate.

"Sorry, the coordinate you have selected is not in service."

Well, this is awkward. Looking at Mordo's solemn expression, Luke felt inexplicably embarrassed.

While Mordo wasn't looking, he hurriedly tapped another coordinate.

"Sorry..."

Luke was speechless. Just how old were the coordinates Odin had given him? One after another, they were all out of service!

He tapped randomly ten times and activated seven valid coordinates at once.

Fortunately, five were micro dimensions, and only two were lesser dimensions. Among these dimensions, the micro dimensions had no enemies, while both lesser dimensions did.

Luke breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, there were only two lesser dimensions. Next time, he should take his time with single pulls. Getting a gold on a ten-pull would be too frightening.

He ordered the Shadow Legion to conquer one of the lesser dimensions first and hold off the other for now.

Luke was now far stronger than when he had first fought Andrews. The Shadow Legion under his command could conquer a lesser dimension on its own. As for the other dimension?

Mordo and the others had already joined forces to cast an enormous magical shield made entirely of dark energy.

The pure dark energy demonstrated its effectiveness, providing far greater defense than their previous shields.

It certainly looked impressive. Checking its consumption, Luke found it used nearly 5,000 points per second. It could even have blocked that energy bombardment from back then!

After two hours of fighting, one lesser dimension was destroyed. On the other side, Mordo and the others maintained their magical shield, blocking the entrance outright. Luke had also quietly cast the Great Silence Spell on the opposing Dimension Lord, leaving him afraid to show himself.

Luke comfortably slacked off on the sidelines, watching his subordinates work hard.

Keep it up, everyone. Who knows? I might be twice as strong tomorrow.

After silently encouraging Mordo and the others, he sent his Shadow Legion charging into the other lesser dimension.

Several hours later, the opposing Dimension Lord left a threat and fled. Luke regretted missing out on the other's World Coordinates again as he arranged for Mordo and the others to collect the scraps.

Once the battlefield was cleared, Luke guided the Shadow World to devour these Dark Dimensions, adding nearly three million points of extractable energy.

Nice!

Watching his numbers steadily rise for the first time in a while, Luke was so delighted that he was still grinning foolishly after leaving the Shadow World.

"What's the good news?" Coulson asked. He was directing the agents to pack up the entire base, along with several meters of soil beneath it, and take it away.

"I didn't get a gold in my ten-pull."

?

Ignoring Coulson's puzzled look, Luke turned and left.

What's gotten into him this time? Coulson was puzzled, but the move was urgent, so he left Luke alone.

Luke made his way into town, where he happened to see Thor in a fashionable outfit shopping with Jane. Behind them were Darcy and Doctor Erik, both radiating single-person energy.

"Hey, Uncle!"

Thor spotted Luke first and shouted, waving as he did.

This guy really is socially terrifying-a social terrorist!

Luke looked speechlessly at the large circle of people staring at him and Thor.

Sighing, Luke covered his face and walked over.

"Hey, Uncle, this is my new friend, Jane."

Thor enthusiastically introduced her to Luke, completely forgetting the two people behind him.

"Hello, but didn't you say you didn't know Thor? How are you his uncle?"

Jane gave Luke a puzzled look.

"Because I hadn't befriended his father back then, so I wasn't his uncle yet."

Luke explained naturally, though he only answered the second question.

Still, he had clearly managed to fool them.

"So you're out shopping?"

"Yes, Jane's introducing me to the local customs of Midgard-no, Earth."

Thor spoke like a complete goofball. Luke sighed. This guy had completely lost his head over love.

No! As his uncle, how can I watch him sink this low?

Luke motioned for Thor to come with him. "Want to learn about Earth's local customs? Shopping alone isn't enough. Want to try an exciting combat game?"

"Combat? Game?" How did those two words fit together? Thor gave Jane a questioning look, but she didn't know what Luke meant either.

Luke bought a new phone, downloaded a certain 5v5 game, and showed Thor how to play.

Then...

"Damn it! This guy dared to kill the mighty Thor! Unforgivable!"

Thor roared furiously, struggling to control the electricity coursing over his body so it wouldn't destroy the fragile device in his hands.

Jane had already moved three meters away, afraid Thor's electricity would hurt her. Luke nodded in satisfaction.

Thor, you're still young. You don't understand!

Women! They only...

Completely forgetting that Thor was around two thousand years old, Luke smiled. What's so fun about women? Aren't games much better?

Glancing at the helpless Jane, Luke hadn't done this accidentally. He had done it deliberately.

As an Asgardian, Thor could live for thousands of years, and if he took after his father, he could live even longer. But Jane? With luck, she might live past a hundred. Without it, she might die in a car accident tomorrow.

What future could they have? Their feelings now were nothing more than a temporary hormonal fluctuation.

Though he didn't know why Asgardians and Earthlings could trigger hormonal fluctuations in each other, Luke couldn't be bothered to study this strange physiological phenomenon.

For now, Luke simply wanted them to keep their distance, cool down, and take a good look at their feelings. If they should break up, they should break up.

Of course, if they still loved each other, Thor only needed to sweet-talk him a little more. Once Luke grew stronger in the future, he could form a contract with Jane directly and let her live longer.

Luke couldn't do that yet, but if Dormammu could, there was no reason he wouldn't be able to in the future.

As for the Ancient One and Odin, he merely supplied the dark energy. How they used it was their business. Or perhaps he could go learn the relevant knowledge from them?