"Loki, Mother!"
The previously dejected God of Thunder was now brimming with excitement; he even wanted to return at once.
But that was clearly impossible.
At the very least, Thor could no longer stomach the idea of spending the rest of his life on Earth, because his simple mind had been so easily convinced by Zod—this was a conspiracy, a deception. His own little brother knew nothing of it. So now the most important things were to guard against an attack by the Frost Giants, regain the power of Thor, and return to Asgard!
"So, the only force on Earth capable of protecting you now is us—Shenjian Bureau," Zod stated, matter-of-fact.
"I'm in!"
Thor agreed right away, and Miss Foster could say nothing more.
Coulson and Nick Fury, however, felt this was far too reckless. Directly intervening in a war between two other worlds, or races, without even fully understanding the situation—were they really just going to side with Asgard like that?
"Good. From now on, we will protect you. Focus entirely on learning what it means to be a worthy king. Coulson, gather every piece of material on successful kings and rulers from around the world and bring it to him," Zod instructed Coulson.
Coulson felt like he was about to lose even more of his hair, but for the sake of all humanity, he rushed off to find the materials.
"So we just went straight for Asgard. I feel like the Frost Giants have more potential," Nick Fury couldn't help saying to Zod Hess, who had just walked out.
"The Frost Giants invaded Earth long ago, and Asgard waged a great war to stop them. They nearly turned Earth into a full-blown ice age—an ice age lasting tens of millions of years. In other words, to us, the Frost Giants are simply like monsters," Zod said, shaking his head.
"The UN wants you to provide a detailed report and explanation on this incident," the sharp-eyed Nick Fury said, narrowing his one good eye.
"As for Asgard, the myths already cover most of it. But for what isn't in the myths, I've only found some scattered folk versions. So far, most of them don't match up." Zod made it clear that what he knew was merely gathered intelligence, not—as some suspected—that he had been to Asgard himself.
Honestly, your guesses are ridiculously off. Why would I go to Asgard instead of becoming emperor of the universe?
"If we train him into a king, will he become the God of Thunder again?" Nick Fury followed up.
"No. The king Odin wants him to be is a completely different concept from our idea of a successful king—poles apart. But that Thor, for his brother's sake, can summon twelve-tenths of his passion and effort to study. I look forward to him becoming a qualified king, because then he'll recognize Earth's interests and value, rather than coming to Earth just to find a woman and fall in love," Zod said with a smile.
"..."
Nick Fury fell silent. He had assumed the All-Father Odin was dead, just as Thor had said. If Fury knew the All-Father was actually still alive… he'd probably blow a fuse.
This was nothing short of stirring up trouble.
Sure enough, Thor threw himself earnestly into studying the materials on successful kings and rulers—though every few days he'd slump over the desk and snore loudly, only to be yanked awake moments later.
"Is he really the crown prince of Asgard? Why does he feel like a golden-haired gorilla turned human? I have never taught such a stupid student!"
Thor was dozing off, but he forced himself to stay alert, because Zod came over and told him: "Every day you waste, your mother and Loki are in danger for one more day. When you return, you might find only Frost Giants and corpses everywhere. The Frost Giants will surely cut off the heads of your brother, your mother, and your father as trophies of honor. You have no time to waste."
The moment Loki was mentioned, Thor's entire demeanor changed—of course, the All-Father and Queen probably had something to do with it too, though how much was anyone's guess.
Now fired up, Thor even cleverly sought out Foster to teach him. Foster wasn't a history major, but with that intellect, a genius like her could memorize the entire body of knowledge backwards and forwards in a single night—more than enough to teach Thor. Plus, she would add her own perspective and understanding.
She wanted Thor to become a good king.
Of course, the tutoring team Zod arranged was also quite luxurious—a full roster of beautiful female history PhD candidates.
Interest is the best teacher, after all.
"Aren't we basically leading the future king of Asgard astray?" Coulson asked, with a headache.
The other agents remained expressionless; they were only responsible for handling logistics and security.
...
The satellite detected a new energy fluctuation, identical to the one when Thor first arrived on Earth.
"Thor, you have visitors," Coulson quickly told him.
"Huh?" Thor looked up blankly, still not out of his girl-chasing—no, studying—daze, looking exceptionally dopey and adorable. "I don't know anyone else on Midgard."
Once the light and smoke of the large teleportation array faded, four warriors in full armor emerged. Without a moment's hesitation, they headed straight for Thor's location and soon reached the town, literally swaggering down the street, the four of them spreading out and taking over the road.
An agent who truly knew how to enjoy life, sitting at the town entrance with a milk tea in one hand and a burger in the other, stared blankly at the four oddly dressed figures, but then a touch of pity crept into his gaze.
"These aliens really have no concept of stealth. So, do we fight them off or report to the higher-ups first?"
"If you've got the guts to step up, I wouldn't mind looking after your daughter for you." The other agent looked at him like he was an idiot, but his expression was itching for a fight.
"Sir, we've spotted Xena, Jackie Chan, and Robin Hood here."
"What kind of weird sighting is that? Are our chairs even going to survive this?"
In truth, these were Thor's subordinate warriors, a five-man squad including Thor himself. Although there was a woman among them, the team was the type of hard-headed squad that believed as long as you knew how to charge in recklessly, you could survive anything. Loki could only be considered an auxiliary member, because Loki didn't know how to charge in recklessly and even used magic and cunning schemes. Thus, Loki, as a straightforward fellow, got ostracized (laughs).
Incidentally, in Norse mythology, Thor's wife is the sole woman in this group—originally one of the only two female warriors who knew how to use their brains. But Thor, as the protagonist, is dopey enough on his own. Without a little intelligence-dampening aura, how could it work, right? Anyway, following Thor lets you clear everything like a musou game; who needs brains?
/-\
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