Chapter 1857: Madman's Journey (Thirty-Three)_1

In the temporary observation base set up in New Mexico, Thor's hulking frame seemed out of place shrunk into a small interrogation chair. His eyes were firmly fixed on the hammer placed on the table in front of him.

"I..." Thor swallowed, shaking his head, "I heard about Jane's predicament and I was furious. I wanted to help her reclaim her information, but I didn't think things would be this disruptive."

Leaning forward, his arms resting on the table, Nick Fury looked at Thor and stated, "The documents relating to Dr. Jane Foster's atmospheric anomaly research were accessed by S.H.I.E.L.D. legally and within its jurisdiction. No matter who you are, you can't resort to such violent defiance of the law."

"I've told you I didn't intend to attack you!" Thor, seeming somewhat hesitant, looked at Jane Foster's concerned gaze through the observation window and sighed, "I think it was my old injury resurfacing. On my way here, I felt an unbearable pain in my heart."

Thor seemed reluctant to admit his pain, he hammered on the table and added, "It could also be possible that Earth's environment is different from Asgard, so it caused me to fall ill."

With her hand on the hammer handle, Natasha looked at Thor and asked, "You say you have chest pain, have you checked it at a hospital?"

"I don't know what a hospital is. Don't bother me with your human ways." Thor appeared somewhat irritable. He looked around and said, "I thought I just saw Loki. Is this another one of his pranks?"

"Who's Loki?" Natasha asked, playing dumb.

"He's my brother. He especially likes to play pranks." Thor pursed his lips, but he quickly added with a measure of uncertainty, "But he wouldn't really hurt me... he wouldn't make me hurt this much."

Natasha walked over to Nick and said, "Something's off. We should look at his medical report."

Nick simply nodded at Coulson who was next to him. Coulson left to hasten the medical report, and Natasha walked out the door to find a worried Jane Foster waiting outside.

"Will he be sentenced?" Jane impatiently flicked her hair, opening her hands to say, "I didn't let him just barge in like that. I was driving behind him, but he drove too fast. I couldn't catch up with him. I should have stopped him."

"Don't stress out, Doctor," Natasha opened a new page of her notebook, and asked Jane, "Did he show any anomalies previously?"

"He... he might be mentally ill," Jane Foster replied, pursing her lips, "I ran into him on the road one day. He was shouting things I couldn't understand. I thought he was going to attack me, so my intern Tasered him."

"I took him to the hospital, but after he woke up, he caused a scene. I noticed he was lucid, just like a primitive man."

Natasha knew about the situation, pretended she didn't, listened carefully, and wrote it all down. Then, she asked the crucial question, "You said you were following him in a car when he was rushing over here, did you notice any unusual behavior from him on the way?"

"Unusual behavior?" Jane Foster strained to remember, "I don't know, but if I really have to say, he was a little strange when he left the gas station. He was a little shaky when he was walking."

"Gas station?" Natasha thought for a moment before her eyes widened, she looked at Jane Foster and asked, "What did he do at the gas station?"

"I don't know, but when he came out, his hair was wet. I guessed he might have washed his face."

Upon hearing Jane's answer, Natasha immediately seized a crucial point: she suspected that Thor didn't go wash his face, but went to drink water.

During this period, Thor had very little understanding of life on Earth. The last time he was here, the human race wasn't even industrialized yet, so whenever he was thirsty, he drank water from the lake.

But around here, there were no lakes or streams. It's likely that he barged into the gas station asking for water, was mistaken for a drifter, so had to settle on drinking from the faucet in the restroom.

Natasha remembered the gleaming reflections off the coffee she served to Tony Stark. It was coffee and water. Could someone be poisoning the liquids?

But there existed a crucial question, what kind of poison could simultaneously affect Tony Stark and Thor without being detected by Loki?

While Natasha was absorbed in thought, Coulson hurriedly ran over to the corridor with a phone in his hand, yelling at Natasha, "Get on the plane, Iron Man is in trouble!"

Two hours later, Natasha only had time to see Tony Stark's retreating figure, being led away by the police.

Relieved to see Iron Man was still alive, Natasha turned to Coulson and asked, "What happened? What crime did Stark commit?"

Rubbing his forehead, a clearly agitated Coulson replied, "About three hours ago, Colonel Rhodes was found dead in his home. His wife called the police, stating that Rhodes had only been in contact with Tony Stark last night."

"The military believes it was Stark who killed Rhodes. All the testimonies are against Stark now. Rhodes' eldest son, Hancock, said he saw his father act strangely after drinking the bottle of wine Stark brought over. He was groaning all night."

"Rhodes family thought he got drunk and fell asleep on the couch, but they discovered this morning that he had already become a corpse."

"What are the findings from the forensic examination?"

"Sudden Cardiac Paralysis." Coulson sighed, hands on his hips, "But the military does not accept this explanation. They believe the Stark Group bribed the coroner."

"The military has long been dissatisfied with Stark Group's shutdown of its weapons department. Colonel Rhodes' death gave them a reason to accuse Stark, who is not known for his survival instincts, and did not resist against the accusations and arrest."

"I have to meet him." Natasha looked at Coulson, "Tell Nick, I must see him!"

Coulson said anxiously, "Nick is trying too, but the military won't give in so easily."

Natasha raised her hammer and said, "Isn't the military also concerned about the object that fell from the sky in New Mexico? Give them this hammer and the alien to study, I want to meet with Tony Stark!"

Nick appeared behind her and said, "S.H.I.E.L.D. can't possibly hand these things over…"

"Nick Fury!" Natasha turned around and scolded Nick, "Don't tell me you haven't noticed yet, there's an invisible killer hovering over us, ready to kill at any time."

"Last time when my meeting with Tony didn't go as he planned, he turned his attention to Colonel Rhodes. Thor's ordeal is also evidence. If we don't catch him, everyone will die one after another."

Nick stared at Natasha's angry face, and eventually he nodded and said, "They can have the hammer, they won't be able to lift it anyway, but the so-called alien, Thor, is a no go. If the killer has already targeted him, the military won't be able to protect him."

After saying that, he turned around to pick up his phone and said, "I will talk with the military and arrange a secret meeting."

Natasha stared at Nick's back, clenching the hammer in her hands. Things were more troublesome than she had imagined, the killer's target was a member of the Avengers.

But the problem was, the Avengers haven't even been established yet, where did he get the list from?

Later that same day, Natasha saw Tony Stark in a special cell. As soon as she walked in, Tony stepped forward and grabbed the bars, looking at Natasha between the bars and said, "You were right, someone's trying to kill me."

Then he lowered his head in regret and said, "I should have trusted your intelligence. How could I take a killer to Rhodes? I got him killed."

"Let's not talk about this now." Natasha stood in front of him, arms crossed, frowning and said, "You and Rhodes aren't the only ones who were attacked. The alien that just came down from the sky is being targeted by them too."

Natasha reached out and grabbed a bar, looking into Stark's eyes and said, "Tony, you're the only one with the technical means to find this elusive killer. You should know what I mean by this."

"I can't... I can't... I have to take responsibility for Rhodes' death."

"Rhodes has a wife and son, do you think the killer will let the witnesses off so gently?" Although Natasha knew that the killer's target was not Rhodes, she still played the bluff and said, "They would want a testimony against you, undoubtedly threatening the safety of Rhodes' family…"

Stark's grip on the bar got tighter and tighter. After a while, he made a decision. He looked left and right, then said, "So we can't use Stark Building. I'll remotely access Jarvis and give permission. You help me move the equipments out."

Natasha nodded and walked away.

In Odin's palace in Asgard, a figure in a green cloak with a double-horned crown stood before Odin, his body emanating a bracing chill.

He had just learned from his own father's mouth that he was not a bloodline of the Asgard's royal family, but the son of Laufey, the king of the Frost Giants. His identity was a scam from start to finish, all the familial relations of father, brother, and kin were all false.

Just as Loki turned around, he thought he saw a mirror behind him because he saw an identical version of himself standing in front of him.

"You are feeling sad." A deep voice echoed throughout the palace, even Odin behind Loki was surprised to see the figure.

"But why are you sad? Because of deception, estrangement, because you finally found an answer for being overlooked."

Loki took two cautious steps back, looking at the Loki in front of him and said, "Who are you?"

"I am Loki."

"I am the real Loki."

"I didn't say you're not." Loki picked up his scepter, staring at the dazzling gem on it, and said, "You are Loki, and I am Loki, but who we are is not important. I am here to tell you that someone wants to kill your brother, he is close to death."

"Liar!" Loki's eyes gleamed with a cold light, and with a "sizzle", a magic beam hit the other Loki's scepter.

But Loki crossed his hands in front of him and then slowly straightened his body and looked up.

"Bang!"

As the scepter came down, endless magic ripples spread out, the dazzling light enveloping the entire palace.

When the light dispersed, the other Loki was gone. The remaining Loki looked up at the sky in shock and said, "Who are you? Answer me! What did you mean by what you said about Thor? Damn it…"

Loki looked around helplessly, and when he turned back, he saw that Odin had fallen into a deep sleep. He grabbed his own scepter and quickly left the palace.

And just after he turned around, Odin, who was previously closing his eyes, slowly opened them. He quietly stared at Loki's back, his face filled with contemplation.