After realizing Odin could get up at any moment, Su Ming no longer worried about the Eternal Spear; he just needed to focus on finding Zemo now.
The contract couldn't be signed, and the verbal agreement was ignored, but just as Odin thought, neither Su Ming nor The Ancient One could allow the Great Serpent to destroy Earth.
One way or another, they had to confront it; there was no room for slacking off.
Su Ming casually closed the door for Odin, letting him continue enjoying the sauna, and then strolled out, searching for places resembling a documentation room or library.
There was nothing to say; each time he passed by areas with guards, Su Ming adopted a stern visage of Odin.
However, in places without people, he tapped walls and floors, using his cloak to search for traces of magic, hoping to find some secret chamber.
He hadn't found the documentation room yet, but he did find the treasury first. Su Ming merely opened the door and looked; upon seeing the Destroyer standing in a corner like decorative armor, he exited.
The items here were undeniably powerful, but the threshold for using them was high; without significant magical expertise, they were unusable.
The Infinity Gauntlet had no such threshold, but without Gemstones, it was just an ornament.
Once Su Ming attempted to touch the treasures, the Destroyer would activate, and the ensuing battle would be too conspicuous.
Although Odin and Frigga knew his identity, Su Ming didn't want Thor and the others to find out; these were matters for adults, while the children should just enjoy themselves.
After leaving the treasury, Su Ming wandered around; the Golden Palace had several floors, with corridors resembling a maze, making it difficult to navigate.
However, with the help of the cloak, he eventually found the place.
The documentation room was in disarray, with all the tables, chairs, and benches toppled over to one side. Upon opening the door, Su Ming saw a scene reminiscent of a place ransacked by robbers.
A patrolling guard coincidentally passed by and was astonished by the scene.
"Your Majesty, we did not see any intruders."
Su Ming took a deep breath and bent down to check the footprints on the ground.
Both humans and Frost Giants, with footprints lacking dirt or grass, indicating Zemo's team had already visited the Golden Palace before heading to the World Tree.
Yet, no one saw them, as if everyone was invisible.
It was likely the Rune Stones floating above them played a role.
The possibilities for invisibility were numerous, including phase transfer, group teleportation, or altering appearance.
Throughout the Immortal Palace, only Heimdall, with uniquely constructed eyes, could see them.
"Frost Giants... Alright, notify all squads to spread fine sand across all corridors and entrances in the Golden Palace."
Seeing footprints meant the enemy still needed contact with the ground, and scattering powder on the floor was a reliable strategy against invisible intruders.
Even if a transparent person walked by, footprints on the ground would expose them.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Go on, I'll check this area further."
Su Ming waved his hand, dismissing the guards.
He entered the large documentation room, pulling a roll of parchment from under a fallen shelf, only to find it covered in incomprehensible ghostly symbols, as expected.
In the center of the documentation room stood several long benches, surrounding a large hearth, with magically fueled flames still burning within.
The fires in the Golden Palace were eternal flames, enchanted by magic, appearing as mere wood yet burning potentially since millennia ago.
The documentation room had a large balcony, offering a direct view of distant rolling hills and clear sight of waterfalls cascading down the mountains.
If the room were meant for preserving books, it might not be suitable, but for stone tablets, slabs, magical parchment rolls, and such, Su Ming was uncertain of their preservation methods.
Perhaps they require ventilation; after all, books in Kama Taiji were locked with heavy chains for safekeeping.
He surveyed his surroundings and went to check the balcony.
No footprints, no signs of climbing or scaling, and below was the sheer, shiny exterior of the Golden Palace, too smooth for even insects to climb.
Thus, Zemo's group must've come through the corridors, just as Su Ming had, brazenly wandering the Golden Palace.
To manage Frost Giants with discipline and follow orders, Zemo was indeed resourceful.
Su Ming returned indoors, straightened a bench to sit on, and began mentally deducing.
He memorized all the fallen furniture and items, recreating their original placement based on the angles of their fall and deducing the enemy's movement path.
His mind quickly constructed a clear image akin to 3D modeling, featuring enemies matching the number of footprints, moving according to the footprint traces.
Upon reopening his eyes to inspect the scene again for confirmation, he began to replay the mental scenario he had constructed.
He could see Zemo, with the smallest footprints, entering first, leading the way and ordering a search, while the Frost Giants, knowledgeable of Rune Runes, helped him seek out an object.
Their objective was clear, yet the Frost Giants' enormous sizes and disruptive movements knocked over furnishings.
Su Ming paused momentarily; such disturbances must have been noisy, yet no one noticed, likely due to sound suppression by the Runes above them.
As playback resumed, footprints converged to a corner where Zemo supposedly removed some stone slabs from the shelving.
Su Ming stood up, walked to the corner, and observed the traces left behind.
Uncertain what it was, but the removed item appeared to be a 'torch' or small cabinet.
It had four legs, was not very tall, and had been there for a while, leaving drag marks in the dust surrounding its legs, indicating some weight.
"Hm... Zemo came to steal a heater?"
Su Ming casually stuffed the parchment roll into his bag, planning to bring a souvenir back to The Ancient One.
Contemplating, he stepped out of the documentation room.
He went to find Heimdall; as the only person able to see the enemy, Heimdall could no longer rest but instead should join the search operation.
And Su Ming needed help from the Mage; he intended to find Monac.
Though Immortal Palace had many mages, they were not very trustworthy individually, whereas Monac still counted as one of his own.
With WWII having ended long ago, Monac should have recuperated by now.
Adding Gin to the team made four members, sufficient for most situations.
Moreover, with Odin's identity, he could muster armies if necessary.
Returning to the infirmary and explaining the situation briefly, the sturdy guard unhesitatingly donned armor, grabbed his Great Sword, and returned with Su Ming to the Rainbow Bridge.
As for why Odin needed Midgard's mage, Heimdall didn't need to know; he merely followed orders.
"Your Majesty, is it him?" Heimdall asked Odin for confirmation, feeling the description didn't quite match, but the residence and magical energy were correct.
"Hm."
Su Ming chimed, unable to see but assuming it was likely.
Heimdall hesitated not, inserted the Great Sword into the observatory base, instantly activating the Rainbow Bridge, and soon a confused Monac, accompanied by the rainbow, appeared before the two.
Compared to their last departure, the Magic Prince had clearly gained considerable weight, though not normal obesity but a side effect from magic casting causing metabolic issues.
Fortunately, it was only his belly becoming rounder, stretching the buttons on his formal attire, not a major problem, only slightly affecting his appearance.
He seemed noticeably older.
After the war, evidently he hadn't been idle; Su Ming noticed Monac was holding a rabbit in his hand, its legs kicking.