Although it was just a short paragraph, the amount of information it contained was explosive.
"This Odin must be the same Odin we know," Tony Stark said, raising an eyebrow.
"It should be… unless there's another Odin out there," Nick Fury replied, looking slightly bewildered. "But that would be insane."
He had long known about the existence of vampires, werewolves, and other mythical creatures, but hearing that a literal god was real? That was something else entirely.
"Could this really be happening?"
"And considering Mjolnir was mentioned in Luo Chen's diary earlier," Tony continued, "the 'hammer,' the 'Hammer God'—it's gotta be Thor, right?"
He was stunned. Everything seemed to be clicking together too perfectly.
"Who else could it be?" Fury said, rubbing his temples. "Odin, Odin's son, Mjolnir, a hammer-wielding god… all the keywords are pointing in the same direction. Unless Odin had a hammer-wielding kid outside of Norse mythology, this is definitely Thor."
He felt a headache coming on. His responsibilities were growing more insane by the day. It wasn't just vampires, werewolves, and aliens anymore—now he had to deal with gods, supernatural entities, superheroes, and supervillains, all at once.
The mental load was unreal.
"Luo Chen's diary said this Mjolnir appeared in New Mexico," Tony recalled. "That's the same year I became Iron Man. So it should be this year."
The realization hit him like a brick. Before, he'd assumed they were just dealing with aliens. But now, they were talking about literal gods.
"What kind of story is this?" Tony groaned. "Superheroes, supervillains, aliens—and now gods? Are these writers just not worried about ruining the consistency of their universe?"
He couldn't help himself. As soon as the word "god" came up, Tony wanted to roast the screenwriters at this so-called "Marvel" company for writing something so absurd.
He was supposed to be the symbol of science and technology in this universe—and now they were tossing in ancient mythology? That kind of genre clash would ruin everything!
The entire tone would collapse!
Shouldn't it be some cyberpunk version of Asgard showing up next, with Thor rocking a mechanical exosuit?
…Actually, knowing these screenwriters, that wasn't completely off the table.
"Regardless," Fury said grimly, "if this is true, it means we might have to deal with Thor, and even Odin himself in the future. Who would've thought Norse mythology turned out to be real?"
"And right now," he added, "Earth hasn't even taken its first proper step into space. How are we supposed to communicate with literal gods?"
"Diplomacy?" Tony scoffed. "Yeah, good luck with that. We'll be lucky if they don't treat us like ants."
He leaned forward. "Don't forget what happened when European colonists arrived in the New World. That was humans treating other humans like dirt. What do you think actual gods would do to us?"
"We're not even the same kind of beings. If they really are what the myths claim, they'd step on us without hesitation."
Fury's expression darkened. Tony's comparison had hit a nerve. His own ancestors had been sold into slavery and shipped to America in chains. The pain of that history still echoed, even now. And now, here he was—Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., at the peak of power.
Somewhere out there, his ancestors were probably shaking their heads—and possibly laughing.
Tony went on. "You know, I read that some researchers now believe angels might not look human at all, but rather like monsters with eyes all over their bodies.
So what if it's the same for these Norse gods? What if they aren't really human-shaped?
It's too much of a coincidence, don't you think? Aliens, gods, alternate dimensions—and they all conveniently look like humans?
Come on. That doesn't track scientifically."
"Okay, okay, enough with the ranting," Fury cut him off. "You're treating this like it's all part of a fictional narrative. Like we're still in a comic book."
He was nervous now. Tony didn't believe in gods at all. The man was a pure-blooded atheist and a die-hard rationalist. If he kept going on like this, who knew what blasphemies he'd come up with next?
That might've been fine in a godless world—but gods did exist here. And they'd be meeting one very soon.
If Norse gods were real, what about the Greek ones? The Egyptian ones? The ones from China? Japan? India?
Suddenly, it made sense why agents from China's Divine Spear Bureau had such peculiar code names. Some were named after mythological figures—like the Monkey King.
He'd always assumed those were just codenames. Harmless aliases.
After all, even in the underground world, there were assassins who called themselves "Zeus."
But thinking about it now... maybe the Divine Spear Bureau had already made contact with Chinese deities. Maybe they'd known all along.
And that thought just made Fury feel even more aggrieved.
But most importantly—at the peak of all religious belief—was the notion of an all-powerful, all-knowing God. If Tony kept mocking the divine like this, Nick Fury genuinely feared for the man's soul.
If Tony went to hell for this, fine. But Fury had no intention of being dragged down with him.
"Go ahead and blaspheme, just don't get any on me," Fury muttered under his breath.
Tony, sensing Fury's discomfort, finally shut his mouth. He cast a quick glance at him and immediately understood.
Nick Fury wasn't just shrewd—he was a survivor.
[Please support me at my patreon if you want more: patreon/OGCrafter for 20+ chapters]