As Coulson led the tactical team and several researchers carrying large and small bags through the portal to Mjolnir's vicinity, only Li Feng and Fury remained in the office.
It wasn't that Li Feng didn't want to return to Mjolnir's side to wait for Thor's appearance—it was because Fury had stopped him: "You can leave, but first, you'll have to clarify the situation in Asgard."
To be honest, Li Feng's knowledge of Asgard came from movies. But movies weren't reality—how big was the gap between the two? Li Feng had no idea.
So, before explaining Asgard's specifics, Li Feng decided to give Fury a disclaimer, just in case things turned out differently later. That way, he'd have some wiggle room.
"Let me make this clear—I've never been to Asgard, nor have I seen the Aesir in person. Everything I know comes from books I happened to read or things I overheard from friends who let slip while drinking. As for how much of what I say is actually true..."
Li Feng spread his hands. "I have no idea. After all, people say all kinds of things when they're drunk. I don't even know if my buddy was exaggerating."
Drunken ramblings? A friend who knows about aliens? That wizard friend of yours has some wild connections. Can you introduce me?
Of course, Fury knew full well that Li Feng wouldn't introduce this Asgard-knowledgeable friend to him—not even a phone number. So, he could only nod helplessly.
Fury was genuinely frustrated. Thor's hammer had fallen to Earth, yet the only sources he had were bedtime stories about what kind of god Thor was and Li Feng's unreliable tales.
And here he was, spouting nonsense that might not even be true.
Rubbing his temples, Fury motioned for Li Feng to continue. "Whatever you know, just say it. Maybe I can help analyze some of it."Feeling that standing while talking was quite tiring, Li Feng slumped onto the sofa, leaning against it like a boneless creature with one arm propped on the armrest. He said, "First of all, the Asgardians refer to Earth as Midgard." Pausing for a moment, he tilted his head and asked, "Do I need to explain what Midgard means?"
"Midgard is the realm inhabited by humans in Norse mythology, also known as the Middle Realm—the world at the center," Fury replied, shooting a glance at Li Feng, who looked like he was suffering from high-level paralysis, before continuing to recite the description he'd found in fairy tales.
"Midgard is surrounded by the sea and can be reached via the Rainbow Bridge across the void, leading to the 'Realm of the Gods'—Asgard."
After saying this, Fury mused thoughtfully, "The ocean covers 71% of Earth's surface, just like Midgard in bedtime stories?! So, the content of those stories might not just be tales?"
"Not just that," Li Feng raised an eyebrow. "For the Aesir, technology and magic are essentially the same—both are just methods of manipulating energy. So, if I can open a portal to the Moon to eat mooncakes, why wouldn't Asgard, with technology far more advanced than Earth's, have portals?"
Li Feng smacked his lips, his tone tinged with envy. "The Rainbow Bridge in fairy tales isn't just a portal—it can also be used as a planet-destroying weapon. Forget how long it would take to shatter Earth; just a few shots would be devastating. Tsunamis, massive earthquakes, and other natural disasters would send hordes of humans hand-in-hand straight to hell. That kind of spectacle would be enough to intimidate troublemakers like you."
Fury gave Li Feng an impassive sidelong glance, opening his mouth but refraining from refuting the accusation that he was 'making trouble.' Instead, he silently digested the implications of Li Feng's words.
With just the Rainbow Bridge, the Asgardians could come and go from Earth as if it were their own backyard. Fury might want to greet them as a guide, but they probably wouldn't give him the time of day.
A planet-destroying weapon—damn it, it really feels like Earth's fate is in their hands. If they're unhappy, Earth is done for.
After a long silence, Fury rubbed his temples and asked, "What about the Middle Realm? Or what does it mean that the Asgardians classify Earth as the 'world at the center'?"
"Ah—" Li Feng lazily sat up straight, scratching his brow. "Legend says the World Tree holds the Nine Realms. In reality, the World Tree is just a special space, but the legendary Nine Realms do exist—one of them is Midgard, which is Earth. 'Middle Realm' means Earth is positioned right at the center of that special space."
Earth was one of the Nine Realms, and its geographical position was smack in the middle—an awkward spot that made Fury's headache worse.
Because in mythology, Odin ruled over all Nine Realms, which meant Earth technically fell under his jurisdiction. It's just that, given his 5,000-year lifespan, he was probably just busy at the moment and hadn't found time to inspect his territory in a while. If one day Odin got bored and decided to visit his own Earth, only to find that humans had long forgotten his glorious history and even regarded him as some mythical figure that never existed, don't you think the old man would fly into a rage? He might just grab his spear and rampage across Earth seven times over to show off his former majesty.
Even if Odin doesn't have that kind of temper, consider Earth's precarious position.
Historically, when major powers went to war, the kingdoms caught in the middle always suffered the most—damned if you do, damned if you don't.
And if things got out of hand, the warring kingdoms might decide fighting on their own lands would ruin their fertile soil, so they'd just move the battlefield to Earth. After all, any destruction would only deplete Earth's resources while their own people remained unharmed.
If the conflict escalated to the point where they started pulling out their most devastating weapons, how would Earth—still not even spacefaring—possibly defend against such firepower? Humanity would probably be beaten into endangered species status.
"What's Asgard's attitude toward Earth?" Fury asked with a trace of bitterness.
"Relatively friendly, I'd say," Li Feng shrugged. "To them, Earth has no valuable resources, human civilization is hopelessly backward, and we pose zero threat. It's like a superpower facing primitive tribes deep in the Amazon—when you completely outclass someone, why would you randomly bomb them with missiles?"
"That analogy..." Fury said with exasperation, "isn't exactly comforting."
So now Earth's reduced to a primitive tribe? Then what does that make me, the mighty Director of SHIELD? Some lowly security squad leader?
Fury pressed, "What else do you know?"
"What else?" Li Feng scratched his head, feigning deep thought before shaking it. "Nothing. Maybe after I gain the ability to open portals to Asgard and take a vacation there, I'll consider sharing new intel when I return."
Seeing he wouldn't get more from Li Feng, Fury changed subjects. "I heard you know an angel?"
"Not true," Li Feng rolled his eyes. "Like I've said before, I've never even heard rumors about angels on Earth, let alone met one."
Fury frowned. "Coulson told me—"
"That's a pseudo-angel," Li Feng cut in, waving his hand. "They just look like angels superficially, but are far from the real deal."
As he spoke, Li Feng pulled a pseudo-angel feather from his satchel. "I assume you've figured out I lean toward the darker side of magic?"
Fury nodded. Though the one who outed Li Feng as a dark mage was the utterly untrustworthy Mephisto, considering the source was one of the Hell Lords, it seemed unlikely he'd lie to Li Feng's face about something like that. Combined with Fury's previous speculations about why Li Feng became a wandering mage, he found the idea that Li Feng leaned toward evil and was a dark mage quite plausible.
Seeing Fury nod, Li Feng continued, "If this really were an angel's feather, I don't know how Mephisto would react to it, but I'd definitely be rolling on the ground by now."
Fury carefully examined the pseudo-angel feather and asked, "So what exactly is this?"
"This indicates that Leonor is evolving toward the path of an angel," Li Feng said, reluctantly closing the wooden box to avoid wasting the pseudo-angel feather. "In the eyes of mages, so-called gods are actually the future evolutionary direction of humanity. Ordinary people lack the ability and can only passively accept evolution, but we mages have magic and can control our evolutionary path. So, this is just a feather that grew when Leonor reached a certain stage of evolution."
Fury narrowed his eyes at Li Feng and said quietly, "If one day you surpass human limits, could you sell me a few feathers? Coulson told me these things are quite effective against demons."
"Get lost!" Li Feng snapped. "I'm not evolving into some birdman. My path was decided long ago—wings have nothing to do with it."
"What could you grow, then?" Fury said with an air of extravagance. "As long as it's material from your body, I'll buy it at a premium. Even a strand of hair would do."
Li Feng retorted, "How about my shit? Want that?"
"Yes," Fury affirmed. "And I don't even need to wait for you to evolve. I'll take what you produce right now."
Damn it. Li Feng suddenly felt Fury's gaze had a faint green glint, like a pack of wolves starving for ten days in the wilderness spotting a piece of fatty meat.
"Get lost, you damn pervert," Li Feng said, feeling increasingly creeped out in the office. With a wave of his hand, he opened a portal and stepped straight through, returning to his RV.
Back in the RV, Li Feng grew more and more uneasy. He couldn't shake the feeling that Fury had already studied his genes. However, Li Feng's supernatural abilities came from his magic. While any detached tissue could retain some vitality for a short time due to residual magic, magic was ultimately just energy. Without Li Feng's maintenance, it would eventually dissipate.
By then, no matter how much Fury studied it, he'd only be examining Li Feng's genes in their ordinary human state. As for trying to understand what magic was by studying the residual energy in the genes—save it.