"Is this the Mjolnir from the Black Gold Diary?"
Inside the temporary base, now empty except for herself, Nick Fury, and Steve Rogers standing in the excavated pit surrounding Mjolnir—which was under extremely tight security—Natasha Romanoff smiled, folding her arms as she looked at Nick Fury.
"You must have seen what Su said in the diary!"
Nick Fury also crossed his arms in response to Natasha's question: "He said Steve could lift this Mjolnir, and that Jane Foster could too."
"So, I wanted Steve to come over and give it a try."
"As for Jane Foster, I've got Phil Coulson keeping an eye on her. I've placed her not far from where Thor and Doris are staying."
"Anyway, Dr. Selvig, who studies astrophysics, is very interested in the celestial changes caused by Thor's fall from the sky, so we can use that connection to manage the situation."
"Who?"
Hearing Nick Fury's words, Natasha turned her head, staring at him with surprise: "You arranged for Jane Foster to stay near Thor and whose residence?"
"Doris!"
Seeing Natasha's surprised look, Nick Fury said without changing his expression: "Is there anyone more suitable than her?"
Watching Nick Fury say the name so calmly, Natasha inexplicably felt a toothache: "Doris... Medusa Doris!"
She looked at Steve standing in the pit, gazing at Mjolnir, and said seriously: "I feel uncomfortable just hearing that name. What she has done is far more evil than anything I've ever done!"
"Even if we're colleagues in the same organization now, I never want to see her again!"
"But seriously, if it's her... that prince from Asgard is really in for a rough time."
"I hope you can keep an eye on her and tell her not to go too far."
After speaking, Natasha took a step forward and jumped directly into the pit, about half a meter deep, landing in front of Steve.
"How about it? Try picking it up?" she said softly.
"There shouldn't be a problem!"
Looking at Mjolnir resting on a platform made of packed earth, Steve spread his hands at Natasha: "I always thought the first mission S.H.I.E.L.D. would assign me would be to track down some heinous criminal."
"Or some more difficult, even daunting task. I'd made some preparations for that."
"I never expected the first task would be to ask me to pick up a hammer!"
Speaking to this point, Steve laughed: "If I'd known it was something this simple, I would have brought Su along too. It would have saved him from being bored alone in the coffee shop."
"He won't be bored."
Hearing Steve's words, Natasha walked a circle around Mjolnir. Then she reached out and took hold of Mjolnir's handle: "He..."
"What's wrong?"
After watching Natasha grip the handle of the Thunder Hammer, a subtle change flickered across her expression. Although it quickly returned to normal, and no one else would have noticed, Steve was sure he hadn't been mistaken.
"It's nothing, I just think this hammer is really heavy!" Letting go of Mjolnir's handle, Natasha smiled at Steve: "Besides, Tony Stark seems to have found something extraordinary."
"So he's invited Su to investigate it with him. Su won't be bored now; maybe he's working hard with Tony on the case."
After speaking, Natasha took two steps back and gestured for Steve to try lifting Mjolnir.
"Actually, I'd really like to investigate that matter with Su and Tony. I think it would definitely be more interesting than trying to pick up this hammer!"
After saying that, Steve took a deep breath and then grasped Mjolnir's handle with his hand.
Steve, who had already braced himself and prepared to use all his strength, found the moment he touched Mjolnir's grip that it wasn't as difficult as he had imagined!
With a slight exertion, Mjolnir loosened instantly.
In the next second, the originally clear sky instantly became overcast with dark clouds.
Seeing this scene, Natasha immediately took two steps back. Not far away, Nick Fury's expression also turned serious.
As Steve slowly lifted Mjolnir, bolts of surging thunder began to flash within the dark clouds above. Even Steve's body began to flicker with dazzling lightning!
"Boom!"
As Steve, holding the Thunder Hammer's handle, lifted it high, a powerful thunderbolt directly connected to the hammer.
"Boom!"
"Crack!"
Instantly, wind surged and thunder roared. Thousands of lightning bolts exploded before Natasha and Nick Fury like doomsday!
Seeing this scene, a complex, inexplicable meaning flashed in Natasha's eyes. Nick Fury, however, instantly jumped into the pit, came to Natasha's side, and said to Steve, "Steve, how do you feel now?"
"A wonderful feeling!"
At this moment, Steve, his entire body constantly crackling with lightning, laughed in response to Nick Fury's question after carefully sensing the changes in his body: "I feel full of strength, just like... just like when the Super-Soldier Serum injection succeeded."
He opened his other hand, watching the dazzling electric currents spark in his palm. Steve turned his head and said: "And I can control this power as I wish, even summon the power of thunder for my use."
Saying that, Steve held Mjolnir, grabbed the leather strap attached to it, spun rapidly, and then the whole person flew into the air!
"Wow, another person who can fly!"
Shielding her eyebrows as she watched Steve take to the sky, Natasha sighed to Nick Fury: "He's not going to pick up the hammer, fly away, and never come back, is he? Will this start a war between Earth and Asgard?"
"But seriously, if only this hammer didn't belong to that Thor, then Steve would get a huge Epic-level buff!"
"The strength of the future Avengers initiative would also increase a lot!"
Hearing Natasha's joke, Nick Fury gave a rare smile but didn't speak. Even Natasha couldn't guess what Nick Fury was thinking at that moment.
However, while Nick Fury's attention was focused on Steve descending through the air, he didn't notice Natasha, who wore a similarly happy and envious expression beside him, quietly placing her other hand behind her back.
Just what it felt like to hold Mjolnir's grip... perhaps only Natasha herself knew.
"Boom!"
Landing from the air onto the ground, Steve swung the hammer lightly and then, without any hesitation, placed it back in its original spot.
"When I first picked up this hammer, I truly felt an extraordinary power."
"However, this power doesn't make one gradually lose themselves, unlike the Super-Soldier Serum back then."
As he spoke, Steve walked up to the two of them: "You should know that the Super-Soldier Serum developed by Dr. Erskine back then didn't just give a person great strength."
"It would magnify both the good and the evil in a person's heart."
"Like me and the Red Skull, John Schmidt."
"This hammer gives me the same feeling, at most it just adds a bit more fearlessness!"
Hearing Steve's words, Nick Fury and Natasha glanced at each other.
"Fine. Sorry for the trouble, Steve!"
"It's nothing!"
Spreading his hands towards Nick Fury, Steve glanced back at Mjolnir: "But I feel that this hammer doesn't belong to me."
"Or it's not waiting for me, even if I can lift it."
"And while it would give me a lot of power, I still prefer my shield by comparison."