Chapter 11: The Strongest Agent in the Future
"Drip! Mission completed – the confrontation of the strongest! Reward: A random ability from Captain Marvel. Drawing in progress—"
"Congratulations to the host for acquiring the Super Ability – high-speed flight, which allows you to fly in any environment without external aids!"
As Thor drove Carol to the ground for the third time, the system's notification sound finally came through. She may be strong but her fighting capability and experience is nothing compared to him . Few well placed mjolnir strikes can make her fall to ground and then put mjolnir on her .
While flight may seem modest compared to Captain Marvel's other abilities, it's still quite valuable for Thor at this stage. This means he can no longer need to rely on Mjölnir or Stormbreaker for combat in space.
Natalia, who was nearby, was drowsily scrolling through her phone because Thor had requested they record their fight...
Was it really necessary? In her opinion, the combat skills of this powerful-looking woman were rather crude, at least less refined than her own physical skills. As for the strange uncle, his fighting style seemed quite outdated, even barbaric...
God of Thunder? He seemed more like a Spartan from thousands of years ago...
"I think you really need to hone your fighting skills."
Thor shook his head. "People like Yong Rogg aren't strong enough to be defeated by super abilities alone.
There are countless powerful beings in the universe.
When facing truly formidable opponents, physical skills become crucial.
Attacks that can't harm the enemy, no matter how powerful, are useless."
Not just for Carol, but for himself as well. The main reason Thor couldn't defeat Thanos in the final battle was due to the lack of physical skill. Even though his battle axe was indestructible, he had no opportunity to use it effectively against Thanos except for a surprise attack.
Carol nodded. She was aware of this issue. While destroying Ronan's fleet earlier, she had been very fast, but still struggled to dodge many attacks, relying heavily on her strong defense.
It was a costly defeat, but she was still eager to propose a fight using super abilities. However, upon reflection, she felt a bit hesitant about the potential loss.
…
In the evening, everyone gathered in the living room of Maria Rambeau's house to discuss the plans for the following day.
Nick Fury, with his single remaining eye, showed a sly smile when he saw Natalia, who had been brought by Thor...
"I met this child while searching for mjolnir. She's a natural fighter with the potential to become a top agent." Thor handed Natalia over to Nick Fury, confident in her potential.
"Oh?" Nick Fury was familiar with Thor's arrogance, and it was rare to receive praise from him. He looked at Natalia and asked, "What's your name?"
"Natasha Romanoff," Natalia replied calmly. Now that a new chapter of her life had begun, she no longer used her previous name.
"By the way," Thor suddenly remembered something and added, "I don't know how your agents typically operate, but I must remind you that her abilities surpass those of most male agents.
Therefore, I don't want her to be assigned tasks that exploit her strengths as a woman."
This was necessary; otherwise, it would be no different from the Red Room.
Natalia looked at him gratefully.
Nick Fury clearly understood Thor's point.
He nodded and said, "Many people misunderstand the role of an agent.
For top-level agents, what you've mentioned is actually quite rare.
After all, this is a double-edged sword and may even lead to the demise of our own personnel.
Take, for example, the renowned Agent Carter, who has shown favoritism only once... well, or you can check her right eye."
After a pause, he continued, "The method you described is typically reserved for the lowest-level agents. For training in this area, there are many places in Manhattan at night, with or without S.H.I.E.L.D."
Thor understood; it made sense upon reflection. If beauty alone could solve the problem, why invest so much in training various combat skills?
Natalia's extraordinary abilities led Nick Fury to decide to assign her to Peggy Carter for training. As a legendary figure, Carter would be the ideal mentor, and Natalia was likely to be groomed as her successor.
"This pair of wristbands is a reward for helping me find the hammer. When you have time, study its abilities; it will be very beneficial!"
Thor placed the magical bracelet awarded by the system on Natalia's wrist. The bracelet vanished, but Natalia felt an intrinsic connection with it.
Chapter 12: Parting
"Talos, Ronan the Accuser has left and won't dare to return to Earth for a while. Do you have any plans?" Thor joked, "Otherwise, will you continue to be Nick Fury's boss?"
"Oh, no, no, please forgive me..." Talos shook his head quickly. Since Talos had been impersonating his boss, he had a lot of messy matters to handle when he returned.
"I will help you find a new home and fulfill Mar-Vell's last wish," Carol offered suddenly. She had always felt guilty about the Skrulls and now had a chance to make amends, so she was determined not to miss it.
In the middle of the night, Carol briefed Nick Fury on a few things and handed him the communicator.
The next morning, Carol bid farewell to Maria Rambeau, Monica, and Thor.
"Aunt Carol, when I grow up, can I drive a spaceship to find you?" Maria pointed to a spaceship parked on the lawn, which Thor had given her.
"Definitely," Carol replied, turning to look at Thor. She didn't want the farewell to be too somber. "Is there anything else you want to tell me? You were the one who started the conversation back then."
"Asgard's concept of time differs from that of Earth. For humans, decades can be a lifetime, but for us, it's merely a blink of an eye. But if you want to say something, why didn't you use the communicator last night?" Thor asked with a relaxed demeanor.
Carol smiled in disbelief, "Haha, I've given you my contact information. As long as it's not too far, I can still receive calls."
After taking a few steps, she turned around and added, "We'll meet again next time. You better make sure you're ready for a good fight.
And don't think I didn't notice you deliberately provoking me to use my energy."
With that, she soared into the sky, disappearing into the bright light.
See you in twenty-three years... Thor thought silently.
Behind him, Nick Fury came up and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't be sentimental. We'll see each other later..."
Before he could finish, his hand was suddenly grabbed, and he was thrown over Thor's shoulder, landing a distance away.
"Oh, my God, what are you doing?" Maria Rambeau and Monica were startled. They then saw Nick Fury, now on the ground, transformed into a young man wearing a green trench coat and looking quite angry.
"Why? How could you see through that?"
Thor glanced at Loki, who was sulking, and said calmly, "You have too many flaws. Your tone and actions are all wrong. Besides, I know you too well."
Loki was stunned. When did his muscle-bound brother start using his brain?
Thor ignored him and focused on the system panel in his mind. The reason he saw through Loki was largely due to a new system task.
"Drip! Congratulations to the host for triggering Loki-related tasks: eating, sleeping, and beating his younger brother. As the god of mischief, Loki often plays pranks on his older brother.
The best way to handle such a mischievous child is to use force to make him understand!
Note: There are no branching options for this task; it can only be accepted or discarded."
"Mission Objective: Hit Loki 100 times. Mission Reward: Master Lying- Increases the ease of convincing others when speaking.
Note: Lies that are too outrageous will not be effective."
A useful ability. If I had received this ability earlier, I might not have failed to initiate a conversation with Carol, right? As for hitting Loki 100 times... well, I wouldn't do it without a mission.
Loki next to him suddenly shuddered, feeling a deep sense of malice, as if something terrible was targeting him.
Shaking off the ominous feeling, he joked, "So, brother, what did you think of that woman? Did you like her?"
Thinking of what Carol had said before leaving, Thor shook his head with a smile and said, "Forget it. I can't bear it. If the two of us fought, we'd probably be at it every day..."
"No, it's not right to put it that way. It should be a unilateral beating from you!"
"As a younger brother, if you don't respect your older brother, you should get a beating!!!"
Chapter Thirteen: Tony Stark Faces Death
The Bifrost took Minerva and the battered Loki away, leaving Thor behind. As he returned to Asgard, Thor planned to enter a long period of rest, so he decided to find a way to trigger more tasks and then return to process them at his own pace.
His main consideration was definitely the well-known original Avengers.
Natalia's situation made him realize that even an underdeveloped superhero could trigger tasks.
At this point, most of the main plot had not yet started. Captain America was frozen, Banner and Hawkeye were still unknowns, and there was no trace of them.
The only standout was Tony Stark.
At this time, Tony Stark had not yet become Iron Man. He was in the most frustrating phase of his life—arrogant and narcissistic, with almost no positive traits apart from his wealth.
Except for Thor, no one would have expected that such a brash figure would become a future savior with a mortal body comparable to a god.
Thor had not yet met Iron Man. Originally, through a contact with S.H.I.E.L.D., he had arranged a meeting, paying with some valuable information.
"Steve Rogers is still alive, and Red Skull is still alive." The first part of the sentence excited Nick Fury, while the second part nearly made him lose his composure.
The latter part was Thor's dark humor.
The meeting that was scheduled for this afternoon was supposed to be half an hour long. Instead, Stark had an appointment with a model at noon and then canceled his meeting with Thor...
Got canceled...
Canceled...
Damn it, if you weren't the future savior, I'd send you off to the far east to deal with a father-in-law situation right now!
Thor finally understood why Killian wanted to kill Tony Stark so much.
"Drip! Congratulations to the host for triggering Iron Man-related tasks: Iron Man Forever—After the Killian incident in the future, Stark will choose to give up his Iron Man identity temporary.
Later, when the world faces a crisis, Stark will don the armor once more, only to ultimately die when Thanos snaps his fingers."
"Mission Objective: Prevent Iron Man from retiring and keep him as an Avenger forever."
"Mission Reward: Extremis Improved Formula. (Maya Hansen provided all the data on Extremis to Tony before her death.
Tony Stark made improvements based on Extremis.
After the improvement, Extremis became milder, with a weakened strength enhancement effect, the high-temperature explosion effect removed, but with a greater increase in self-healing ability.)"
"Note: This task is open-ended. There are many ways to complete it. Please explore it yourself!"
? ? ?
The sudden task alarmed Thor. How could the task trigger without meeting Tony?
After some thought, Thor realized that even though he hadn't met Tony, there was still an intersection. The task trigger was random, much like Carol's task, which didn't appear until Ronan was defeated but was triggered as soon as Natalia appeared.
The task content was somewhat confusing...
Frankly, the mission rewards were very generous. Extremis was on par with the Super Soldier Serum and the Heart-Shaped Herb from Wakanda.
Moreover, Extremis was easier to distribute on a large scale compared to the latter two. Though the enhancement effect had diminished, the self-healing ability had greatly improved. As the prince of Asgard, he could create an army of nearly invincible warriors!
However, the problem lay with the mission objectives.
According to the task prompt, there were two main parts to this mission.
The first was to dissuade Stark from retiring after the Killian incident.
This was quite simple. No matter how dangerous Killian was, he was only a threat to ordinary people.
Thor could even prevent the Mandarin event from occurring entirely.
The real challenge was the second part: stopping Stark from sacrificing himself by snapping his fingers. This was a significant difficulty.
Although Thor had already decided to end the war in Wakanda and eliminate Thanos early to change the future, this would delay his mission for more than twenty years...
Besides, while Thanos could be crushed, Extremis was a different matter.
Thor's frustration with Stark had deepened. The task was exasperating...
Could it be that the great master of Marvel—Tony Stark's exclusive mission—was simply to be abandoned?
Chapter Fourteen: The Vengeful Thor
As Thor pondered his situation, he suddenly realized something was amiss.
The mission's focus was on preventing Stark's death.
After all, the Mandarin incident wasn't particularly crucial.
Iron Man's retirement wasn't a permanent departure.
Even if Thor did nothing, Tony would eventually return.
This part of the task seemed superfluous.
Why was this included in the mission?
Moreover, mission rewards are typically proportional to their difficulty. What makes Extremis so significant that it warrants a hellish challenge?
Perhaps, this was a hint that to complete the task, Thor needed to address the Mandarin incident.
It was impractical to wait more than ten years for the plot to unfold, and solving this problem would likely require going to great lengths.
Two key figures are central to this plot: Aldrich Killian, the mastermind behind the Extremis, and Maya Hansen, the botanist and creator of Extremis.
At this time, Killian was still a fan of Tony Stark, making him hard to locate. However, Maya Hansen, being a renowned botanist, likely began her Extremis research around now.
Thor decided to enlist S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help to find Maya Hansen's whereabouts.
Though his scheduled meeting was rejected, it wasn't too much to ask for help in locating someone, right?
…
On a beach in Hawaii, Maya Hansen, who was vacationing, looked at the man who had suddenly appeared before her.
"Sorry, I don't have an appointment," she said, clearly mistaking Thor for someone who had come to chat her up. Though she wasn't entirely wrong.
She had a vision that, if successful, would greatly advance human development. However, her research was still in its early stages, with many problems to solve. Furthermore, without sufficient funding, few believed her ambitious idea would work.
She was here to relax and had no interest in men or women, though Thor's appearance was undeniably striking.
"I know you don't have an appointment because your mind is occupied with your laboratory. Am I right, Miss Maya Hansen?" Thor smiled. Female scientists are usually very focused on their work, and my future girlfriend, Jane Foster, seems to be of this type as well.
"You know me? You... know about my experiment?" Maya Hansen asked, her surprise mingled with skepticism.
"Absolutely. Although your vision may seem unrealistic to many, you are actually on the right track."
Thor's expression grew serious. "However, your research faces significant resistance and disbelief from others.
Many people view the world from a narrow perspective.
They spend their lives trying to expand this narrow view to learn more.
But when they realize that the world could be much larger than they ever imagined, they reject the possibility."
Maya Hansen's eyes began to shine with hope, and she smiled expectantly. "I'm starting to believe that you didn't just come across my information by accident and that you've come to help me."
Thor smirked. "No, I'm here to invest in you and to assist you along the way!"
I hold grudges deeply. If you dare to cancel on me, I'll make sure you regret it!
"Hahaha..." Maya Hansen laughed, not taking it too seriously. "If what you say is true, I don't mind."
Though she was skeptical that this young man, who seemed to be around her own age, had the resources to support her, she knew that if what he said was true, it was an opportunity not to be missed.
"Alright, we're almost set."
Thor glanced around to make sure no one else was present. "I will provide you with ample funding, the most advanced materials, and the best assistants," he said quietly. "But as I mentioned, the world is much larger than you think.
Many of your current beliefs and views will be challenged.
If you're ready to take this step, then follow me."
Seeing Maya Hansen's puzzled expression, Thor led her to a secluded spot. Maya Hansen hesitated but followed.
Thor took Maya Hansen's hand, narrowed his eyes, and a faint electric glow appeared beneath his feet. The next moment, they soared into the sky.
Chapter Fifteen: True—The Butterfly Effect
"Ah ah ah ah ah--"
Flight has been humanity's dream since ancient times, and countless people have aspired to it throughout history. But being pulled and passively lifted into the sky is another matter entirely.
In an instant, Maya Hansen found herself at several thousand meters in altitude, with the howling wind deafening her ears. Her mind went blank as she clung tightly to Thor like a drowning person.
Thor, slightly distracted by the embrace, had little time to think about it. Just as he soared into the sky, the system's notification chimed.
"Beep! Mission Accomplished - Iron Man Forever! Reward: Improved Extremis Formula."
Thor: ??
He was still contemplating how to proceed with the next task when this unexpected system prompt left him bewildered.
What's happening? I haven't done anything yet, and the task is marked as complete?
The completion of the mission implies that Iron Man's death in 2023 has been averted. Yet, the only change Thor had made was holding Maya Hansen in his arms like a koala...
This butterfly effect is astonishing!
Through communication with the system, Thor understood the cause and effect.
During the task, aside from the basic mission introduction, no hints were given, leaving everything to be understood and discovered on one's own.
However, once the task was complete, the system had no qualms about clarifying any doubts and providing relevant information.
According to the original plot, Killian would make his move 17 years later, and Maya Hansen, as the creator of Extremis, was his partner.
Unfortunately, Maya Hansen's descent into darkness was not complete.
When she saw that Killian was testing the unfinished Extremis on ordinary people, her scientific integrity and humanitarianism clashed with Killian's methods. This led to her breaking away from him and ultimately being killed by him.
The saying holds true: the villain rarely ends well. Just look at Loki, the god of mischief...
In fact, there was an additional scene that had not yet aired at this point—after Killian left, Maya Hansen, despite her dying state, managed to get up, transfer the Extremis data to Tony Stark, and said, "Destroy it, then recreate it. Begin anew." She ended her life in the most honorable way.
Later, Pepper Potts was injected with Extremis. To better understand the virus and find a solution, Tony Stark also injected himself with it and eventually developed an improved formula.
Tony Stark became a superhero through his armor, not through physical enhancement, so the improvements were not apparent.
In the final battle, it was Extremis's powerful regeneration abilities that allowed Tony to withstand the effects of the Infinity Stones and end the war with a snap of his fingers.
"I am—Iron Man."
Without Extremis, Iron Man would have been unable to snap his fingers, possibly sustaining severe injuries or dying the moment he donned the gloves. However, apart from the irreversible snap, such injuries could be healed using the Time Stone. In a sense, death was avoided.
This meant that the final snap had to be carried out by someone else. Who would it be? Carol? A legendary hero? Banner with one arm left? Or even Thor himself?
Forget it; there's no point in dwelling on it. Thor would never let the crucial event go awry.
Stark, Stark, I've done enough for you—I saved your life without even meaning to!
…
The improved formula requires the use of the incomplete Extremis. Extremis would have been successfully developed in four years, but with Asgard's resources and technical support, it would certainly be released ahead of schedule.
With the mission complete, there was no need for Thor to remain on Earth any longer. After saying his goodbyes to S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, and Natasha Romanoff, he used the Bifrost to leave Earth.