Nick Fury's eye widened with surprise when he heard Li Yue's words.
"What do you mean?"
"I meant it literally. SHIELD had long been completely overtaken by Hydra members. That includes your former director Alexander Pierce. So it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that you're Hydra's Shield. There are few other than the current Director of SHIELD and your trusted aides that didn't know this fact."
Everyone present fell into a long silence. They didn't want to believe Li Yue's words, but they couldn't refute him.
"Hahaha! I can't hold it in. This is hilarious. The organization dedicated to protecting world peace was actually filled with people from Hydra. You can't make this shit up!" Tony suddenly began to laugh. The faces of Nick Fury's group darkened.
The Black Widow Natasha glared fiercely at Tony, but she could not find any words.
"Mr. Li Yue, are you absolutely certain that you told me the truth?" Nick Fury was the first to speak. His voice was completely serious.
"Of course. If you don't believe me, you can go and investigate. I believe the result would be immediate," Li Yue replied casually. He didn't really care if Nick Fury didn't believe his words.
Nick Fury closed his eye and think. Their original objective was just to investigate Li Yue, whom Natasha had seen appearing in Tony's place.
There was also the problem that Li Yue had mentioned about southwestern New Mexico, as well as the matter of Tony getting attacked. Nick Fury simply wanted Li Yue to debrief him and grasp the general situation. He didn't expect to receive another bombastic news right after entering Tony's villa.
Nick Fury lost all interest in staying here. He handed everything to Coulson and then left Tony's villa with Hill, preparing to investigate this new information.
How many Hydra members were there within SHIELD?
...
Coulson, Captain America, and Natasha were left behind in the villa.
"Mr. Li Yue, Director Nick Fury had arrived here because something had happened in New Mexico, just as you warned," Coulson took the lead and spoke first after Nick Fury left, attracting everyone's attention.
"None of us expected to receive such big news today, so the director had to leave immediately. He had given me full authority to handle this situation. I must ask, how much does Mr. Li Yue know about the situation in New Mexico?"
"So a hammer already appeared in New Mexico?" Li Yue leisurely asked, looking at all the curious eyes that were staring at him.
"Yes. We were monitoring New Mexico due to your warning, Mr. Li Yue. We detected an abnormal weather pattern today. A field survey crew discovered a silver hammer that nobody could move."
(The timeline in this world is slightly accelerated, so it's fine!)
"What, you can't even lift a hammer? What good are you all, then? Just disband at this point!" Tony commented sharply, glancing at Natasha. He clearly still held grudges.
"Alright, Mister Iron Man, why don't you try it yourself? See if you can pick up that hammer!" Natasha retorted, refusing to show weakness. She trusted Coulson; the intel about the hammer being impossible to lift must be true. It shouldn't be a problem with SHIELD, rather, it should be the hammer itself that held mysteries.
"Sure! I would really love to try. I can show you your own incompetence firsthand, SHIELD!"
It didn't seem like Tony would back down against Natasha today.
...
"Let's just listen to Mr. Li Yue. I'm sure he could explain the sudden appearance of the hammer. It couldn't be an ordinary hammer," Captain America suddenly separated Tony and Natasha.
"Yes, as the Captain said, the hammer was not an ordinary object of the mortal world. It was the Thunder God's hammer from Norse mythology."
"Norse mythology? Thor's hammer? Am I dreaming? Is this a prank show?" Tony was clearly shocked, as with everyone else in the room.
Today had been filled with unbelievable news one after another. First, he discovered that Hydra still existed, and now he found out that Norse mythology was real. Nobody could accept that many world-shattering facts in one day.
"Yes, it is Thor's hammer. For some reason, Odin, the King of the Pantheon, had confiscated his son Thor's authority and exiled Thor to Earth. Odin also cast a spell on the hammer: whomsoever holds the hammer, if he be worthy, they shall wield the power of Thor," Li Yue explained.
Li Yue had said "for some reason," but he knew that Odin had planned the entire thing to train the God of Thunder so he could become a wise monarch.
Don't even dream about lifting the Mjolnir right now, unless your strength exceeds Odin—but then again, if your strength already surpassed Odin, you would have no use for Mjolnir.
Li Yue felt that the current Captain shouldn't be able to lift Mjolnir. The hammer might recognize the Captain as worthy, but Odin wouldn't like it if his son's training session was interrupted.
...
"Mr. Li Yue, what you said might be the truth, but you must understand our skepticism. We can't just believe that the myths and legends are true."
The others also nodded in agreement.
"Oh well, I'll explain everything. Earth is not the only realm in the universe. Including Earth, there are nine realms: Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Nidavelir, Midgard, Jotunheim, Niflheim, Svartalfheim, and Muspelheim.
"Asgard is the residence of Odin and Thor. Back in 965 AD, Jotunheim's Frost Giants attacked Earth. Asgard's army defended Earth in a great battle that occurred in the city of Tonsberg, Norway.
"Odin himself led the Asgardian army against the Frost Giant. He even lost an eye before the two sides agreed to end the war. The humans of that time recorded the great battle, the story of which would then become the Norse mythology that we know today.
"The nine realms called Earth: Midgard."
...
Li Yue slowly explained the situation between the nine realms. The legendary scale of the story once again stunned everyone in the room!
"So they really are gods?"
As the one who knew Li Yue the best, Tony knew that Li Yue would not lie. Thus, he was the most shocked among the audience.