Late at night.
Jane was still busy organizing data, occasionally calling Erik to discuss the data situation.
However, at this moment, she suddenly heard vibrating sounds and a high-pitched female voice coming from the next room.
"Late at night, what song is being sung?"
Jane subconsciously lowered her head, then suddenly felt something was wrong, and abruptly looked up to listen carefully. Her expression became astonished and filled with unease.
She tremblingly picked up her phone and called Darcy.
Beep... Beep...
No one answered for a long time, and her heart sank halfway.
Just as she was about to hang up, the call suddenly connected.
"...Uh, hello? Hiss... Jane, what do you need me for? I'm... taking a shower... So refreshing! This water is so warm... S-so much!"
"Why don't you come and try it?"
Jane's heart, which had just started to return to normal, sank again.
She could hear the loud, rapid rushing sound of water hitting the tiles as it flowed quickly. Clearly, the shower experience at this hotel was fantastic—spacious and warm.
"N-nothing. You carry on. Sorry for disturbing you."
"Hey, wait, don't hang up. Okay, maybe you still have something to talk about? Shall we... just chat like this?"
Jane stood rooted to the spot, hearing Darcy's murmuring and the rushing sound of water coming from the phone, unsure what to say for a moment.
After a long while.
"Hiss... Oh dear, I just fell down. Can you come help me in room XXX? My legs are weak, and the water stopped. I really can't move."
"Jane, you'll definitely help me, right?"
Jane stared blankly at the top right corner of her phone. Unknowingly, two hours had passed. The phone was already displaying a battery warning.
"Jane... I really need your help. I... I really can't handle it anymore."
Listening to the other party's hoarse voice, Jane, worried that Darcy had fallen too badly and gotten hurt, gritted her teeth and went to check on the situation.
She opened the middle room.
At this moment, the phone automatically shut down due to depleted power.
Downstairs.
Erik looked confusedly at the busy signal, which now indicated the phone was disconnected, and his face was utterly bewildered.
He didn't know why, but he felt an emptiness in his heart.
Jane, whom he had always regarded as a daughter, seemed somehow different?
And at this very moment.
"Another glass!"
"Haha, Midgardian liquor is excellent!"
At the small town bar, Thor began a new night. He partied all night, with endless beer.
Beside him, Coulson, who had originally clashed with him, risked his life to keep him company. He even brought two famous S.H.I.E.L.D. drunkards to start a drinking contest with Thor.
At the drinking table, all grievances and passions were contained in one glass of liquor. If one glass couldn't dispel sorrow and hatred, then they would have another.
Glass after glass went down.
Coulson was dizzy and confused, yet Thor remained completely unfazed.
"Haha, fantastic!"
"So Midgard is also this interesting. This liquor is great. Cheers!"
Coulson forced himself to drink. Thinking of the mission assigned by Fury, he had no choice but to risk his life.
Soon after.
The drunken Coulson stepped onto a stool. "Drink, everyone drink! I, Coulson, will pay for all expenses tonight! We won't leave until we're drunk! Hiccup!"
"Good! You don't hold your liquor well, but your drinking etiquette is good. I, Thor, son of Odin, forgive your previous transgressions. Drink!"
Thor downed a glass, then heavily smashed it, shattering the glass on the floor.
On the ground, the bar waiter bent down to sweep, his eyes full of resentment.
In the distance, the bar owner rubbed his head, his face filled with distress. "How many glasses do we have left?"
"At this rate, maybe we can last another hour?"
The waiter mentally calculated the speed of the smashing, took out a calculator, worked on it for a long time, and barely managed to reach a conclusion.
However, Coulson and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. members also started smashing glasses as a signal.
"And now?" The bar owner looked even more distressed.
The waiter's brain was practically smoking as he continuously pressed the calculator. "Four people in total, same speed... this way, that way, no, it should be this way, oh right..."
A few minutes later.
"We can probably last another fifteen minutes?"
"Ah, five more minutes have passed? Let me recalculate."
—
The sun rose high in the sky.
Aaron, who maintained good morning exercise habits, after having sandwiches and milk with the two women, and completing sit-ups and squat training, pushed open the door to greet the sun hanging high in the sky.
Erik's face was full of anxiety as he asked, "Have you seen Jane and Darcy? I've been looking for them all morning."
Aaron subconsciously wanted to turn around, but quickly shook his head. "It seems they went out early this morning. They appeared to be buying something?"
Erik felt relieved upon hearing this. Buying things was fine.
Until...
"Hey, Dr. Erik."
"Jane! Darcy! You... you!"
Erik stared in horror at the two people slowly walking out from behind Aaron, then looked at Aaron, and his vision went black.
His apprentice was abducted, and his apprentice's apprentice was also abducted.
Taking both master and apprentice, not letting either go?
At almost the same moment.
Loki returned to the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf. He first went to Jotunheim, and then went to see Odin and Frigga. He then gave Heimdall instructions and a warning.
Finally, he sat on the throne, looked at the empty hall, and felt a surge of heroic ambition.
But subsequently, he thought of Thor, and then he thought of Aaron. All his good mood instantly vanished.
Loki's expression constantly changed. It was the first time he had been threatened, yet he had no choice but to grudgingly accept it.
He could lie to everyone, but he absolutely could not violate the oath sworn using Gungnir as a medium.
Look at the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. Their sacred relic was stolen, their homeland shattered, unable to regain its former glory for a thousand years but they still dared not make a move. They dared not easily break the truce agreement.
On one hand, they feared Odin's power, but wasn't the other reason the oath?
But now, Thor's actions had broken the oath. War was coming.
Loki certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity, and he was willing to give the opponent this chance. But now, he needed to deal with other troubles first.
"Hmph, even if you are a God among men, you are only a God of Midgard, while I am the co-ruler of the Nine Realms."
"Forget it. Seeing how pitifully barren Midgard is, I shall be merciful and bestow some things upon you casually."
Loki mentally prepared himself, and then obediently ran off to Odin's Vault.
Looking at the treasures, each with a glorious history, Loki agonized for a long time, finally settling on two items.
"Taking these two shouldn't be a problem, right?"