"That's truly impossible!" Thor shook his head repeatedly.
"To break into the Royal City, they would need an army no less formidable than Asgard's. With all due respect, I can't think of anyone in the universe who possesses such an army..."
"However, since the question states it, let's assume that one of the options does indeed have such an army. After a fierce and brutal battle with Asgard, they manage to reach the Royal City."
"But Asgard's Royal City has a defensive barrier! If attacked head-on, even my father couldn't break through it!"
"I don't believe anyone could still possess the power to breach the Royal City's defensive barrier after crippling Asgard's army."
"Even if they did manage to break the defensive barrier, the Royal City itself is guarded by a powerful army, and there's also me, Loki, and my father!"
"Leaving Loki and me aside, my father is the strongest warrior in the entire universe. They would have to defeat the army within the Royal City, and then, under the protection of the three of us, they would have to kill my mother."
"This is simply impossible!"
After Thor's explanation, everyone present also felt it was highly unlikely, as it would be tantamount to completely annihilating Asgard.
Although they weren't entirely familiar with Asgard's structure, this didn't hinder their understanding and comprehension.
Everyone had studied history and could easily relate to the situation.
It was like those medieval kingdoms: if the enemy reached the royal palace and even killed the queen, wouldn't that mean the entire nation had been crippled?
"So, no matter who the enemy is, they possess the strength to destroy Asgard while fighting on Asgardian home turf, correct?" Hawkeye summarized Thor's words.
Fighting on home turf and fighting away are completely different situations.
It's not to say that having a military force of the same caliber as Asgard can destroy Asgard. If both sides were fighting in an equally unfamiliar place, such a comparison would be valid.
But this is an invasion of Asgard!
It would require a military force far superior to Asgard's to achieve that.
"Such a force simply cannot exist!" Thor said emphatically.
If such a vast power truly existed in the universe, how could he not know anything about it? It was illogical.
Such a formidable force, no matter how low-key, would surely be renowned throughout the universe, unless they deliberately concealed themselves, and did so flawlessly.
But if they were already that powerful, what would be the point of hiding themselves?
Furthermore, it's not as if they could hide themselves just by wanting to, unless they completely isolated themselves and never interacted with the outside world.
"Regardless, let's look at the people in the options first," Hawkeye Barton suggested, "See if we can glean anything."
"Dark Elves? Thor, I recall that in the last round of questions, the Dark Elves also appeared as an option. Who are they?"
Captain America looked at Thor, asking with a serious expression.
"When I was a child, my mother told me stories about the Dark Elves. They were born at the beginning of the universe, existing before light appeared! They are elves nurtured by darkness."
Thor spoke eloquently under everyone's gaze, introducing them to the group.
"That doesn't sound like elves," Hawkeye Barton muttered slightly.
"The Dark Elves wield a terrifying weapon called the Aether. Through that weapon, they could plunge the entire universe into endless darkness!" Thor continued.
"Another extremely dangerous individual," Black Widow interjected, "Sounds even more dangerous than Thanos."
Thanos was merely a galactic overlord. Although he invaded Earth, he still failed even with six Infinity Stones.
Moreover, everyone had seen the footage of him fighting Tony Stark, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and other enhanced individuals.
He wasn't powerful to an exaggerated degree.
But the Dark Elves?
Born from darkness at the dawn of the universe—listen to their origin.
They could even plunge the entire universe into endless darkness—listen to their power.
No matter how you compare them, this was an individual more dangerous and powerful than Thanos.
"What happened then?" Dr. Banner asked at this point.
"Later? My grandfather, King Bor, led Asgard's army into a long and brutal war with the Dark Elves, ultimately eradicating them and destroying their weapon, the Aether."
Thor explained to everyone.
"So Thor, the news you have about the Dark Elves being eradicated is limited to stories you heard as a child?"
Captain America asked pointedly and seriously.
"Yes, that's correct," Thor nodded.
"Thor, if that's the case, I have to give you some disheartening news: it's possible the Dark Elves were not eradicated."
After getting Thor's confirmation, Black Widow said to Thor with a serious expression.
This was experience gained from a bloody lesson!
At the time, all of them were absolutely convinced that Hydra had been destroyed, but what was the result?
Not only had Hydra not been destroyed, but it was even more powerful than they had imagined! Even S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated and riddled with holes.
Now, Nick Fury and everyone else had terrible headaches; besides themselves, they dared not trust anyone.
And this was only in a few short decades!
The Dark Elves, on the other hand, were supposedly eliminated in Thor's grandfather's time, thousands or tens of thousands of years ago, making it even less reliable.
"Romanoff is right!" Tony Stark also nodded in agreement, solemnly concurring, "Based on consistent experience from answering questions, things described in the options, even if they are just distractors, have a high probability of happening."
"What's more, the Dark Elves option has appeared more than once; it also appeared in the question about the Bifrost last time!"
"Fine!" Thor nodded, agreeing with everyone's opinion, "Then let's temporarily assume that the Dark Elves still exist."
"So, is it possible for the Dark Elves to destroy Asgard?" Black Widow shrugged.
"The Dark Elves were once eradicated by my grandfather. Even if there are remnants, they are merely defeated dogs clinging to life. How could they cripple Asgard? Not to mention, their weapon was destroyed!"
Thor unhesitatingly ruled out the Dark Elves.
"Thanos, on the other hand, is a possibility!" Tony Stark's gaze now fell on option B, "We've all seen that Thanos possesses a massive interstellar fleet, and he eventually gathered all six Infinity Stones!"
Everyone also largely agreed with Tony Stark's statement.
"I agree with Stark's point," Black Widow nodded in affirmation, "Thanos has a powerful force that can deal with Asgard's army, and he himself has six Infinity Stones, which could break through defenses even Odin couldn't. And ultimately, kill your mother!"
"If he could truly accomplish such a thing, I think it's possible."
Thor also fell silent.
He hadn't seen Thanos's fleet, but when he shared intelligence with Nick Fury and others before, they had described it.
So Thor had some understanding.
Thanos's fleet indeed had the strength to go head-to-head with Asgard's army.
And for Thanos, with six Infinity Stones, breaking into the Royal City, defeating Odin, and so on, did indeed seem plausible.
After all, those were the Infinity Stones!
"You make a good point," Thor said, nodding in agreement after some contemplation.
"What about Hela? We all know how powerful she is; she crushed Mjolnir with one hand." Captain America now looked at option C.
"Yes, Hela is indeed very powerful. She crushed my hammer, but I don't believe she's more powerful than my father! At most, she's on par with him."
Thor shook his head.
"Nothing is absolute. We don't know Hela's true strength. What if, and I mean what if, she is actually more powerful than your father?"
"After all, our only knowledge of her is that she crushed your hammer with one hand, and that's it."
Tony Stark put forward a dissenting, yet reasonable, hypothesis.
"So Hela is also a possibility, right?"
"Let's put Hela on standby," Captain America concluded, "Let's look at the next one."
Their understanding of Hela was simply too limited, and based on that, it was insufficient to make any effective judgment.
"Surtur? If I'm not mistaken, he's a figure from myths and legends. I can't believe he actually exists." Hawkeye Barton sighed, "It seems I need to re-evaluate this world."
"I think Surtur can be ruled out," Thor said, taking over from Hawkeye, "Because Surtur's artifact, the Eternal Flame, has already been taken by Asgard and is kept in Asgard's vault."
"Without the Eternal Flame, Surtur is nothing to worry about."
"So what if Surtur had the Eternal Flame?" Tony Stark asked in a deep voice from the side.
"I haven't seen it myself, but I heard my father tell me that my grandfather once waged war against Surtur, and at that time, he was no match for Surtur."
"That's why my grandfather sent my father to steal the Eternal Flame, greatly weakening Surtur's power, and only then was he defeated."
"Well!" Tony Stark shrugged, "The problem is precisely here: we don't know if Surtur will obtain the Eternal Flame in the future, or if something might happen and he gets it."
"That's impossible," Thor shook his head, "Asgard's vault is one of Asgard's most important strongholds, guarded by the Destroyer. No one could possibly break in and steal the Eternal Flame."
Of course, Thor was speaking too absolutely. Perhaps in the future, someone truly could break into the vault; after all, no one can guarantee what will happen in the future.
But this type of question relies on probability and possibility, not 100% certainty.
It was enough to judge the likelihood.
"So our analysis concludes that A and D can be excluded, B has the highest probability, and C is pending?" Dr. Banner summarized.
"Thor, this question is about you. You should answer it," Captain America said, glancing at Thor.
"Wait a minute!" Just as Thor was about to choose, Tony Stark suddenly remembered something and interrupted Thor.
"Stark, what have you thought of now?" Thor immediately asked with some excitement.
He had already witnessed Tony Stark's intelligence, so at this moment, he was still very much looking forward to what insightful views Tony Stark might offer.
Not only Thor, but everyone else present also turned their gaze towards Tony Stark.
"Our analysis just now was based on one premise: that the enemy killed Thor's mother through a direct assault."
"But this is just our fixed mindset; things don't necessarily have to be that way!"
"What if the enemy didn't use a direct assault, but instead acted from within Asgard? If they infiltrated Asgard, infiltrated the Royal City in some way, wouldn't it be much simpler?"
Tony Stark's words indeed made everyone's eyes light up.
Compared to crippling all of Asgard, Tony Stark's hypothesis was indeed more logical.
"Stark, you've hit the nail on the head!" Thor, in particular, nodded repeatedly in agreement, "An entire fleet sneaking past Heimdall, that's truly impossible. Infiltrating with spies from within, that's certainly more plausible."
"But then the problem arises: 'infiltrating Asgard' isn't an effective filtering condition. Theoretically, anyone could do it."
But then, Dr. Banner shook his head and said.
"Indeed, theoretically, it's all possible, but whether the probability is high or low, I think we can still determine that," Tony Stark continued to speak eloquently.
"To infiltrate Asgard, one needs to have a sufficient understanding of Asgard! Only then can they properly disguise themselves."
"Even if they didn't understand before, they must have had a unique advantage in investigating Asgard and gathering intelligence on Asgard."
"Of course, the most important point is that they need an opportunity to interact with Asgard! That's how they'd have a chance to sneak people into Asgard."
"For example, Asgard's external procurement, foreign campaigns, or diplomatic exchanges, etc... In other words, their circle must overlap with Asgard's circle!"
As Tony Stark analyzed this, the question, which had been somewhat unclear, began to gradually become clearer.
"If that's the case, I think Thanos and Hela have the lowest probability."
Black Widow followed Stark's line of thought, "One is a galactic overlord, and the other is so powerful, yet Thor has never heard of them!"
"This suggests that their circles probably have very little overlap with Asgard's! Perhaps they live in galaxies very far from the Nine Realms, or similar situations!"