Forty-seven kilometers west of Puente Antiguo, New Mexico.
Jane Foster pulled her car over to the side of the road and gazed at the area enclosed by barbed wire in the distance. Searchlight beams swept back and forth across the night sky, the outlines of several military tents flickering in the bright light. The man who called himself Thor had just jumped out of her car, saying he was taking back what was rightfully his, and then strode towards that restricted area.
She gripped the steering wheel, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally stepped on the gas. The wheels kicked up a cloud of yellow dust, and the taillights receded further and further into the night until they disappeared completely.
A few minutes later, Thor took down the last agent guarding the front gate. Thor's golden hair was soaked and disheveled, hanging over his face, and his T-shirt was covered in mud and sweat. He felt he had never been so exhausted in his life, but he could sense his old friend was just ahead. He could sense its presence. Odin, that old man, sealed his divine powers and threw him into Midgard. The thought was utterly ridiculous. Once he got to the hammer, as long as his fingers touched the handle, everything would be back. Don't underestimate me, old man. I am the King of Asgard!
Another Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. rushed out from the front. He was black, over two meters tall, bald, and yelling "Back off!" as he threw a punch. Thor didn't stop, dodging the big man's punch to the side. Thor seized the opportunity to swing his right fist and slammed it heavily into the man's chin. The man groaned and fell into the sand, motionless.
Thor, panting heavily, looked up at the spot a few dozen meters ahead, a smirk playing on his lips. Closer and closer.
On a distant platform, Hawkeye Clint Barton knelt on one knee, his black tactical bow already drawn, the arrow tip slowly adjusting its angle to follow Thor's movements. He didn't release the arrow immediately, but tilted his head slightly and whispered into his earpiece, " Coulson, the target has entered the quarantine zone. Should we move in? One word."
Coulson's voice came through the headset. "Don't rush, our 'ace' wants to talk to him first." Then came the sounds of laughter and playful banter.
Hawkeye's eyebrows twitched. He gently lowered his bow and arrow, and sighed softly. He hadn't expected that kid to come along too.
Coulson stood on the observation platform outside the quarantine zone. Behind him, Lin Xiao was chewing gum and squinting at Thor.
"You're saying he's Thor?" Coulson's voice was laced with obvious skepticism. "The one with the hammer from Norse mythology? That's just mythology, Lin Xiao."
"Mythological stories?" Lin Xiao pushed his chewing gum from his left cheek to his right. " Carter travels all over the universe, Natasha is almost eighty but looks like she's in her twenties. Aren't there enough strange things in this world? Boss, broaden your horizons."
Coulson opened his mouth, only to find himself at a loss for words. He paused for a few seconds, then looked back at the blond man in the center of the arena. "Are you sure you want to go meet him? This guy's the kind of guy who can send a guard flying with one punch."
Lin Xiao nodded repeatedly at Coulson's previous words, but Coulson's next sentence left Lin Xiao speechless.
You're too rough; if you turn someone to dust, I won't be able to explain myself."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Lin Xiao's lips twitched as he patted Coulson's shoulder, a slight smile playing on his lips. "When have I ever cheated you?"
Coulson glanced at him, said nothing, but his expression clearly said: When have you ever not tricked me?
Lin Xiao didn't waste any more words. He jumped down, landing directly from the observation platform into the isolation zone. The moment he landed, a very faint blue light flashed beneath his feet, as if something had supported him without making a sound. He walked along the pipes to the center of the isolation zone, stopping briefly as he passed the black agent who had been knocked unconscious by Thor, and crouched down to take a look.
He's okay, just took a punch to the chin, and he'll probably be in pain for a few days after he wakes up.
Lin Xiao reached out, his fingertips landing on the agent's chest. A thin blue vine sprouted from his palm, its tip blossoming into a tiny blue flower the size of a grain of rice. It then transformed into a faint blue light and entered the agent's body. The man's breathing calmed down, and his tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
Lin Xiao stood up and continued walking forward.
This is something he recently figured out. Blue Silver Grass itself is not aggressive, but its spores contain a huge amount of life energy. For ordinary people, the life force contained in the grass is simply a natural healing elixir. As long as it's not a broken arm or leg, one spore will guarantee that the pain will disappear instantly.
Thor had already reached the hammer. He crouched down, stretched out his hand, and his fingertips were only a few centimeters away from the handle. He could feel the power contained within it, and familiar lightning flickered on the surface of the hammer, as if responding to him.
Just then, a loud shout rang out, "Let go of that hammer, let me handle it!"
Thor's hand stopped.
He slowly stood up, turned his head, and saw a burly man, half a head taller than himself, standing ten meters away, with his hands in his pockets and chewing gum in his mouth, making him look so menacing that he wanted to slap him.
"And who are you?" Thor's tone was unfriendly, his voice low and deep, tinged with wariness.
"Alright, I'll tell you. I am Lin Xiao, Level 7 Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. and co-founder of Vought Company (100 words omitted here)."
Thor's forehead vein throbbed as he heard this. "You talk too much nonsense."
"I have no interest in knowing who you are." Thor scoffed, turning around and reaching for the hammer handle again. "I don't want to waste my time with you."
"You want to take that hammer," Lin Xiao's voice drifted from behind him, unhurried, "But you can't."
Thor's fingers stopped in front of the hammer handle.
These words were like a needle, precisely piercing the spot he least wanted to be touched at that moment.
Thor turned around, the heat in his blue eyes cooling. "What did you say?"
"I told you you can't lift it." Lin Xiao spat the chewing gum onto the sand, rubbed it between his toes, and gestured with his chin towards Thor. "You don't have any divine power left, you'd have a hard time even fighting an ordinary person, right?"
Thor didn't speak. His lips were pressed into a thin line, and his eyes blazed with barely suppressed rage.
"You're talking nonsense!" Thor finally snapped, his voice rising several decibels as he took a step forward, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. "I am Thor Odinson, Prince of Asgard, the God of Thor! You, a Midgardian, dare to criticize me? You said you couldn't lift it! This is mine!"
Lin Xiao's smile widened.
"Then give it a try." He gestured towards the hammer, his tone light. "Go ahead, pick it up. I'll give you three chances, no, five. If you can pick it up, I'll have my men leave immediately. You can take this hammer; anyone who tries to stop you is a coward."
Thor stared at him, his anger practically burning through his T-shirt. He wanted to punch this arrogant Midgardian and smash his head into the sand, but the man's words hooked him like a leash. Let him try, fine, let this bastard watch him raise the hammer.
He turned, gripped the hammer handle with both hands, and pulled with all his might. The silver-gray hammer didn't budge. He gritted his teeth, his arm muscles bulging, veins bulging from his neck to his temples. The hammer still didn't move. He panted heavily and tried a third time. This time he roared, his whole body trembling, his feet carving two deep craters in the sand. The hammer didn't budge an inch.
Thor released his grip, staggered back half a step, as if his bones had been removed. He looked down at the hammer, his eyes filled with blankness and despair, like a king sentenced to death.
"See?" Lin Xiao stood behind him, his voice neither loud nor soft, but every word reached Thor's ears clearly, "Now it's not yours."
Thor whirled around and roared, "That's not yours either, Midgardian! You've angered me!"
"I know it's not mine," Lin Xiao interrupted him, still sporting that smug smile. "That's why I said I'd give it a try. What if it thinks I'm good enough? After all, there aren't many Midgardian as handsome and responsible as me."
Thor stared at him, his anger almost burning through his T-shirt. He wanted to punch this arrogant Midgardian and smash his head into the sand, but he hadn't been able to pick up the hammer, so Thor simply turned his head away, his chest heaving violently.
Lin Xiao waited until Thor had caught his breath before slowly walking over, circling the hammer, and then reaching out to grasp the handle.
Thor sneered, "Someone like you doesn't deserve it."
Lin Xiao ignored him. He assumed a horse stance, focused his energy, and suddenly lifted the hammer upwards. The hammer didn't budge. He changed his stance again, using both hands together, his face turning red, and his feet stomped out two deep grooves in the sand. The hammer still didn't move.
"See?" Thor leaned against a nearby rock, his tone tinged with bitterness and mockery. "It doesn't recognize you."
"If you don't want to admit it, then you don't." Lin Xiao straightened up, brushed the sand off his hands, and showed no embarrassment at being rejected. Instead, his smile widened. "Anyway, I was just giving it a try, and I knew it wouldn't work before I even tried."
"Then you'll still try?"
"How do you know it won't work if you don't try?" Lin Xiao said this with righteous indignation, walked over and patted Thor on the shoulder, the force neither too light nor too heavy, like a brother he had known for over ten years. "Alright, nobody can lift this hammer in your family right now, and you can't do anything by just standing here glaring at it. How about we find another way to solve this?"
Thor cautiously took a half-step to the side. "What do you want?"
"One punch." Lin Xiao extended his right fist and waved it in front of Thor. "Just one punch. If you win, I'll have everyone evacuate. You can figure out what to do with this hammer yourself. You can even stay here overnight if you want."
Thor paused, clearly not expecting this condition. He looked Lin Xiao up and down several times, then glanced at Hawkeye, who was still holding his bow on the distant platform, and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had surrounded him again. After a long silence, he finally spoke slowly, "Will the people behind you listen to you?"
"Of course." Lin Xiao turned around and waved in Coulson's direction, then pointed at Hawkeye. Although the group of agents didn't fully understand what he meant, knowing Agent Lin Xiao's usual behavior, they lowered their riot shields by half an inch. Thor saw this and believed him to some extent.
"And what if you win?" Thor asked.
"I won—" Lin Xiao drawled, rubbing his chin as if seriously considering the question, "Come with me, I'll provide you with food and lodging. Didn't you want this hammer back? With me, you can come back and keep an eye on it anytime. And if you recover someday, you won't have to go through all this trouble of traveling back and forth."
Thor's expression changed several times, from anger to doubt, from doubt to confusion, and finally to the kind of resignation that only a desperate person would show.
Lin Xiao saw all of this and added fuel to the fire, "Besides, in your current state, wandering around the Midgard all by yourself, unfamiliar with the place, you'll starve to death. I may not be good at much else, but I can certainly support a down-on-his-luck Thor. And don't you want to know why you were thrown down here? I might know."
Thor looked up abruptly, his eyes lighting up again.
You know?
"I don't know much, but more than you." Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes. "If you beat me, I'll tell you for free. If you lose, come with me, and I'll tell you slowly."
On the distant high platform, Hawkeye pulled the bowstring tighter, aimed at Thor's back, and whispered into his earpiece, " Coulson, I have a feeling Agent Lin Xiao is abducting a mythical figure?"
After a few seconds of silence in the headset, Coulson replied, "You'll get used to it. He's convinced half of S.H.I.E.L.D.."
Hawkeye's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything more.
Thor took a deep breath and straightened up. The night wind dried the sweat on his forehead, and his blond hair was blown backward by the wind. He stared into Lin Xiao's eyes, remained silent for about five seconds, and then took a step and stood three meters away from Lin Xiao.
"Okay, just one punch."
Lin Xiao spat his chewing gum onto the sand and rubbed it between his toes. He took off his tactical jacket and tossed it aside, slowly raising his right arm and clenching his fist. Thor also tucked his T-shirt into his waistband, lowered his center of gravity, and slowly clenched his right fist.
Neither of them called "start," they just stared at each other. Then, at a certain moment, Thor moved.
He kicked off with his right leg and charged towards Lin Xiao. Even without any divine power, his speed was ridiculously fast for an ordinary person. The wind from his punch swept through the air, kicking up a cloud of yellow sand.
Lin Xiao didn't dodge. He took half a step forward with his left foot, pulled his right fist out from his waist, and met Thor's fist head-on.
The two fists collided.
With a muffled thud, like two bones colliding in the sand, the shockwave propelled the sand and dust half a meter away. Thor felt as if his entire right arm had struck an iron wall; his fist and shoulder went numb instantly. The recoil forced him back five or six steps before he barely managed to stay upright by stepping into the sand.
He looked down at his right hand. Blood was seeping from his knuckles, his whole arm was trembling uncontrollably, and he was in so much pain that he could barely clench his fist.
Lin Xiao remained standing, not even moving his feet. He slowly retracted his right fist, glanced down at it, shook it, and grinned at Thor: "Not bad. That punch had one ten-thousandth of the Hulk's flair."
Thor looked up, sweat streaming down his face. He knew perfectly well that he had lost. He had lost completely. It wasn't luck, it wasn't a sneak attack, it was just a pure difference in strength. The person in front of him had sent a sealed Asgard prince flying with just one punch.
Lin Xiao stepped forward, picked up his coat and put it on, then walked up to Thor and extended a hand.
Thor stared at the hand for a long time. Finally, he sighed, extended his still trembling left hand, and grasped it. Lin Xiao gently pulled him up from the sand, and even brushed the dirt off his clothes.
"Let's go, I'll take you to get something hot first." Lin Xiao let go of her hand and turned to walk out of the quarantine area. "It's freezing cold here at night. You're wearing such thin clothes, you'll definitely catch a cold tomorrow. Don't tell me Asgardians aren't afraid of the cold; you're no different from an ordinary person right now."
Thor stood still and glanced back at the hammer.
It lay there quietly, angled against the rock, its silvery-gray hammerhead gleaming faintly in the moonlight. It ignored everyone's calls, and heedless of their despair.
He turned around, started walking, and caught up with Lin Xiao.
On the distant high platform, Hawkeye lowered his bow and spoke into his headset, "It's over. Agent Lin Xiao has taken the target."
Coulson's voice came through the earpiece, his tone carrying a complex, indescribable quality. "... From what you're saying, it sounds like Lin Xiao recruited them?"
"More or less." Hawkeye stood up, brushing the sand off his knees. "Anyway, the man went with him, not with S.H.I.E.L.D.. You figure out how to write the report."
Coulson sighed, watching the two figures disappear into the night. Lin Xiao walked in front, Thor followed behind, the two of them, one tall and one short, separated by half a body length. The night wind swirled up dust, casting long shadows of them.