None of the three were as tall or strong as Thor, but the issue was, two of them were holding guns.
These mob enforcers weren't like the mechanics they appeared to be, at least they had genuinely used guns. They knew how to handle a gun with both hands and how to maintain balance. Even if Thor could unexpectedly grab one gun, he would still fail to handle the other.
But Thor had no choice. He turned, standing in front of White, and the moment one of the mob members raised his gun, Thor lunged, knocking him down successfully. Rolling on the spot, he narrowly missed a flash from the second gun.
But before he could reach for the fallen gun, a gunshot echoed, blood sprayed out. Thor turned his head, seeing Old White lying painfully in a pool of blood, unable to scream. The garage owner was holding a gun, saying, "Looks like my gun skills haven't declined…"
Thor could feel a rush of anger, his arms trembling. He lunged forward quickly to pick up the gun.
He had never truly used human firearms. As he fumbled with the location of the bullet, another gunshot echoed, and Thor felt a violent pain in his right shoulder.
"Ugh…" Thor grunted in pain. Thankfully, he was battle-hardened and did not let the pain distract him. He staggered towards a pile of debris to take cover, narrowly avoiding another shot.
At that moment, the sound of something whistling through the air followed by several bangs. When Thor peeked out again, he saw a figure holding a cane in the street.
"Matt!!" Thor yelled, "Over here! Quick! Someone's been shot…"
"No need to tell me—I smell it." Matt's cool voice echoed. He walked up to Thor, discovered whom Thor meant, Old White had been shot in the leg. Hearing his labored breathing, Matt came over, knelt down, and said, "Make a call for an ambulance."
"But…" Thor, clutching his own shoulder, difficultly said, "He doesn't have money to cover the ambulance fees."
"Is this the time to discuss this?" Matt looked at Thor, "You need to go to the hospital too, make the call."
When the ambulance arrived, the nurse looked at Thor, saying, "You again? How come…"
Matt told the nurse, "Enough talking, there are two gunshot victims here, let's get them on the ambulance."
Once in the ambulance, Thor even tried to chat with the female nurse, asking, "What's your name?"
The nurse looked at Thor and thinking about how he had helped save people, she said, "My name is Jane, Jane Foster."
Thor grimaced but spoke fluently, which surprised Jane. "You've been shot in the shoulder, doesn't it hurt?" she asked.
"Hurt? It does, quite a lot." Thor continued in a strong voice, "But it's fine, compared to the injuries I have sustained in the past, it is nothing."
Jane was even more astonished. "Injuries from the past? You're not..." She examined Thor more closely, "You don't happen to be a retired special forces soldier, do you?"
Thor didn't respond. He knew there was no need to delve into the details of his past, but Jane was curious. In her many years as a nurse, she could tell Thor was not just putting on a brave face—he was genuinely tough.
On hearing that Thor was hospitalized, the Asgardians residing in S.H.I.E.L.D couldn't sit still and rushed to see him. To prevent any chaos from them, Hill followed them.
When they arrived at the hospital, the bullet in Thor's body had been removed and he was lying on a hospital bed. Fandral looked at Thor's wound and said, "Luckily it's not serious. It's surprising that the Father of All Gods didn't leave you with healing abilities— doesn't He fear you getting hurt?"
Thor shook his head and said, "Will you go to the room next door and check on someone named White for me, see how he is doing?"
"White? Who's that?"
"Just an... old man, an unfortunate person." Thor swallowed hard, touched his own wound and took a deep breath.
When the other three left, Sif sat next to Thor's bedside, "You seem a little dispirited. What's the matter? I wouldn't have thought that just a little wound could turn Asgard's bravest warrior into this."
"...A little wound, right? Maybe. But compared to the wounds I sustained in Centaurus, this is nothing." Thor said, half closing his eyes, "But I am an Asgardian, while old White is just an ordinary person, an ordinary human being without any special abilities. He got shot in his leg too— it must be hurting."
"Why was he injured like this? I don't know..." Thor spoke to himself while Sif quietly listened.
"He's not a general, or a warrior, he didn't fight on the battlefield, he didn't commit a crime, but still he had to suffer such fate."
"His own kind caused his injury. If anyone dared to do this in Asgard, I would…"
With that, Thor closed his eyes and fell silent for a while. He said, "Why do humans do this? It eludes me. Their lives are already so short, why do they waste time causing harm to their own kind?"
"Why did the owner of the garage behave this way? I don't understand. His viciousness was groundless—he just attacked everything around him madly. I've never seen a person like that before..."
Sif poured Thor a glass of water and said, "The cosmos is vast; it's not surprising such people exist."
Her voice was tranquil, like a solemn divine sound. After changing into civilian clothes, the Valkyrie's fierce temperament had diminished. Instead, there was that common solemnity and sanctity of the Goddesses of Asgard.
"Are you feeling disappointed?" Sif asked Thor, "Feeling that humans are not worth saving? Feeling that even after you save them, they will still harm each other?"
Thor didn't answer, though it was evident he had accepted Sif's remarks. All along, he had been eager to regain his divine powers and weapons because he saw them as the glory of Asgardians and believed he should return to Asgard to fight and protect as soon as possible.
But now, he was beginning to question all of it. After having his divine powers and weapons taken away, he felt helpless. And now, the humans, whom he so desperately wanted to protect as part of the Nine Major Kingdoms, were finding pleasure in harming their own kind every day.
It felt as if his past existence, and everything he did, had no meaning.
"Perhaps you haven't noticed, Thor, years of war have changed you somewhat," Sif looked at him, Thor noticed a hint of sentiment in her eyes.
"You're always concerned about the outcomes of war, victory, and glory. Of course, these are all matters a warrior should consider, but you are not just a warrior…you will also be the King of Asgard."
"As a king, you must not only look at the outcomes but also the causes and the processes that lead to them. What you can rely on is not only your powerful strength but also…"
Sif pointed to her temple. Thor looked at her, and as they locked eyes, the only sound in the room was the faint dripping of the IV.
The night deepened, clouds floating across the sky making the moonlight dim. After a while, a sigh sounded from the hospital room. It resounded like a heroic soldier wallowing in melancholy, and as a young king deep in contemplation.