Steve Rogers' expression turned serious.
It had been more than a month since he woke up, and during that time he had already gained a decent understanding of S.H.I.E.L.D. He knew it was a global military organization with more than one hundred thousand agents stationed across the world.
After a brief silence, Steve looked directly at Ethan Blake.
"Do you have any suggestions?" he asked sincerely.
Ethan blinked in mild surprise. He hadn't expected Captain America to actually ask for his opinion. After thinking for a moment, he gave a calm answer.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has rotted from the inside out," Ethan said. "Think of it like a tree. If the root system is already diseased and decaying, saving the tree becomes nearly impossible."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"There's only one real solution."
Steve leaned forward slightly. "What is it?"
"There's a saying from the East," Ethan explained. "You can't build something new without first breaking the old. Since S.H.I.E.L.D. has become tangled together with HYDRA, the simplest solution is to tear it down and rebuild from scratch."
He said it casually, as if discussing something trivial.
To Ethan, the existence of S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't something he particularly cared about. Whether it survived or collapsed had little impact on his own plans.
Steve lowered his head and thought quietly for a moment.
Then he looked back at Ethan and nodded solemnly.
"Thank you, Ethan," Steve said seriously. "I'll consider your suggestion carefully."
In Steve's mind, the advice wasn't unreasonable.
Standing nearby, Nick Fury looked extremely displeased.
The entire reason Fury had told Steve about HYDRA's survival was because he hoped Captain America would help purge the organization from within S.H.I.E.L.D. The goal was to eliminate HYDRA while preserving S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.
He absolutely did not want S.H.I.E.L.D. destroyed along with HYDRA.
If Fury truly wanted mutual destruction, the process would be simple. All he needed to do was submit S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence about the large number of HYDRA agents hiding inside the organization to the World Security Council and then make the information public.
Once that happened, the entire world would immediately move to crush HYDRA.
Compared to the combined strength of global governments, HYDRA was nothing more than a nest of underground rats.
But Fury wasn't willing to sacrifice S.H.I.E.L.D. like that.
He also knew that letting Ethan and Steve continue this conversation would only make things worse. If Steve became convinced by Ethan's "break before rebuilding" philosophy, Fury might end up digging his own grave.
After all, Captain America had a tremendous amount of support within S.H.I.E.L.D.
Phil Coulson, for example.
If Coulson ever had to choose between Fury and Steve, Fury didn't even need to think about who Coulson would side with.
So Fury immediately interrupted.
"We can discuss HYDRA later," Fury said firmly. "Right now we have a more urgent issue to deal with."
He turned his eye toward Ethan.
"Ethan, can you explain that hammer in more detail?"
Ethan didn't bother continuing the HYDRA discussion.
"Sure," he said. "Let's talk about the hammer."
He gestured toward the desert outside the command center.
"That hammer doesn't belong to Earth. It belongs to Asgard. It's the weapon of Thor, and its name is Mjolnir. You can also pronounce it as Mjolnir."
"Meow… what?"
Clint Barton blinked in confusion.
"Is the world really this crazy now?" he muttered. "Or did I never wake up from a dream?"
"Thor's weapon?" Natasha Romanoff asked skeptically. "You're not seriously talking about Norse mythology, are you?"
Aside from Coulson and Fury, everyone else in the room was hearing this information for the first time.
Captain America, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton all stared at Ethan in stunned disbelief.
Ethan simply smiled and continued speaking.
"For certain reasons, Thor's father—Odin, the All-Father—stripped Thor of his power and exiled him to Earth. At the same time, Odin left Mjolnir here as well."
He paused before revealing the most important detail.
"There's a spell placed on the hammer," Ethan explained. "Whoever is worthy enough to lift Mjolnir will gain the power of Thor and become the new Thor."
He glanced around the room.
"If anyone's curious, you can go try lifting it."
Ethan knew the truth better than anyone else.
Thor's exile had been entirely orchestrated by Odin as a lesson. It was meant to humble Thor and prepare him to eventually become a qualified king.
In the distant future, Steve Rogers would indeed lift Mjolnir during a desperate battle.
But lifting it now?
Impossible.
Unless someone could surpass Odin himself, the hammer wouldn't budge.
"So Odin's the All-Father," Clint said with a shrug. "Does that mean he's got a brother named Loki?"
"Actually," Ethan replied, "Loki is Thor's brother. He's a Frost Giant from Jotunheim that Odin adopted as a child."
Natasha frowned slightly.
"Frost Giants?" she asked. "What exactly are those?"
Seeing the curiosity on everyone's faces, Ethan considered things for a moment. Since he had already revealed so much, explaining a little more wouldn't hurt.
"Alright," Ethan said. "I'll give you a broader explanation."
He leaned casually against the table.
"First of all, Earth isn't the only world in this universe. Director Fury here should be well aware of that fact."
Ethan glanced at Fury.
Fury remained silent, neither confirming nor denying the statement.
But Coulson, Natasha, and Clint all knew that Fury's silence essentially counted as confirmation.
Ethan continued.
"Among the countless civilizations in the universe, there are nine major realms connected by something called the World Tree. Those realms are Asgard, Muspelheim, Alfheim, Nidavellir, Midgard, Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, and Vanaheim."
He tapped the table lightly as he spoke.
"Together, they're known as the Nine Realms."
"Our Earth is Midgard," Ethan added. "The Frost Giants come from Jotunheim."
He continued calmly.
"More than a thousand years ago, Asgard fought a war against Jotunheim somewhere in Northern Europe. Humans witnessed parts of that conflict and recorded fragments of it in their stories."
"And that's how Norse mythology was born."
Nick Fury suddenly spoke.
"Are there specific requirements to lift that hammer?"
Ethan looked at him and immediately understood what the one-eyed director was thinking.
Fury clearly wanted to test it.
"Of course there are requirements," Ethan said, nodding.
"Courage. Selflessness. A strong sense of justice. Kindness."
He spread his hands slightly.
"Qualities like that."
Phil Coulson's eyes lit up.
"Then the Captain should definitely qualify," he said excitedly.
In Coulson's opinion, no one embodied those virtues more than Steve Rogers.
Natasha smiled faintly and nudged Steve.
"Why don't you give it a try, Captain?"
Steve looked a little hesitant, but he was clearly curious as well.
After a brief pause, he nodded.
"Alright," Steve said. "I'll try."
....
Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)
Free members get 2 chapters free.
Join Right Now