Chapter 135: The Trial

“Sean?”

Seeing Gu Zhongyan suddenly appear, Thor froze. He instinctively released Loki. “A test? What are you talking about?”

“Let me explain,” Gu Zhongyan said.

“Do you remember when Loki and I discussed cultivating the ability to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D.? Aside from that, we also discussed something else: helping you earn the recognition of Mjolnir and reclaim your divine power.”

“According to our deductions, for Mjolnir to recognize you, you first had to understand the true meaning of war—to understand how a king ought to face it.”

“So I arranged for you to live in this small town, allowing you to view and experience war from the perspective of an ordinary person.”

“At the same time, Loki secretly returned to Asgard and deliberately created the appearance that your agreement had been broken. He then dispatched the Destroyer to attack the town, testing whether you could shoulder the responsibility that belonged to you.”

“If you truly understood all this, Mjolnir would surely sense your sincerity and restore you as the God of Thunder.”

“If you failed, we would stop everything before it went too far, devise a new plan, and find another way to restore your power and enable you to lift Mjolnir.”

“Clearly, not only did you pass our test, but you also earned Mjolnir’s recognition. So put Loki down. He is not your enemy.”

“So all of this was merely a test?” Thor asked blankly. “Everything I went through was fake?”

“Not at all.” Gu Zhongyan shook his head. “Although Loki and I arranged what happened behind the scenes, all we did was send you to live in the town and dispatch the Destroyer.”

“Every choice you made and everything you encountered during that time was real. Only the real you could earn Mjolnir’s recognition.”

Thor fell silent for a moment. Then he lowered his head and looked at the hammer in his hand.

After a long while, he said, “Even so, you should not have used the town as the price. What are they supposed to do now?”

Thor gazed sorrowfully at the devastated town. Remembering how peaceful and beautiful it had been not long ago, he was overcome by wave after wave of guilt.

If not for him, it would never have ended up like this.

“Don’t worry. How could we possibly fail to handle the aftermath?” Gu Zhongyan said with a smile.

“Hm?” Thor instinctively turned toward him.

Gu Zhongyan merely smiled and spread open his hand. A black spellbook appeared in his palm.

The Darkhold began turning its pages slowly. An invisible force lifted Gu Zhongyan into the air, and as he moved his fingers, a spell instantly enveloped the entire town.

“Restore!”

A scene that left everyone speechless unfolded before their eyes. Under the spell’s influence, the ruined town seemed to flow backward through time. Shattered fragments flew back to their former positions and fused together once more.

Severed power lines, ruined houses, and fractured earth were rapidly repaired by the magic.

In scarcely a moment, the entire town had taken on a completely new appearance, restored to the state it had been in before the battle.

If not for the Destroyer’s wreckage scattered across the newly leveled road, Thor might have wondered whether the battle had ever happened at all.

Even Loki stared at Gu Zhongyan in surprise.

As a fellow mage, he knew perfectly well how difficult such magic was.

Repair was always harder than destruction, to say nothing of restoring an entire town in a single stroke.

The ability to cast a restoration spell of this magnitude was enough to demonstrate the terrifying depth of Gu Zhongyan’s power. Perhaps, when the two of them had fought that day, he had not even used his full strength.

The miraculous scene left every person in the town dumbfounded, including Nick Fury, who had known for some time that Gu Zhongyan possessed such abilities.

Fury knew Gu Zhongyan could perform this kind of magic, but repairing the Statue of Liberty and restoring an entire town were worlds apart.

The difference was not merely one of range. The difficulty belonged to entirely different levels. No matter how thoroughly one repaired a statue, it was still only a statue. But restoring an entire town—from its buildings down to every delicate component—was practically equivalent to turning back time.

In that instant, countless thoughts about Gu Zhongyan’s abilities flashed through Nick Fury’s mind.

An idea he had once abandoned surged back to life, more fiercely than ever.

If only he could bring Gu Zhongyan onto his team, what would there be to fear from battle casualties in the future? One restoration spell, and every loss would be undone. The savings would be astronomical, and the possibilities endless.

While everyone else reacted in their own way, the restoration spell returned the town, which had been reduced to ruins, to its former splendor.

As he watched the astonished crowd, Gu Zhongyan quietly flipped through the Darkhold. A shadow silently spread outward, swallowing the Destroyer’s remains like a black hole.

This was a valuable prize. Although there was little chance it could ever be rebuilt, it had nevertheless been forged from uru metal. The material alone made it worth taking.

Ever since obtaining the Philosopher’s Stone, Gu Zhongyan had held a certain idea in his mind. The appearance of uru metal could not have come at a more opportune time.

Although Gu Zhongyan’s removal of the Destroyer’s remains was discreet, it did not go entirely unnoticed.

At the very least, Nick Fury and Loki—two exceptionally shrewd men—saw everything. Yet perhaps the spectacle of the restoration spell had been too astonishing. Though they noticed what had happened, neither made any comment.

With the town restored, the last trace of resentment in Thor’s heart vanished as well.

“Loki, my brother, and Sean, my dearest friend, thank you for everything you have done for me. I hardly know what to say.”

“However, please do not do something like this again. Sean, although you can repair the damage left by battle, what if something had gone wrong and the civilians in the town had been injured?”

“Even if no one had been hurt, frightening them like that would still have been wrong.”

Loki rolled his eyes, clearly tempted to make a cutting remark. Gu Zhongyan, however, understood the mindset of these superheroes all too well. Hearing Thor’s words, he said, “Don’t worry. We only acted this way because the circumstances were unusual. We would not normally do anything like this.”

“Besides, we have already devised a compensation plan. The townspeople will not suffer any losses.”

“If you still feel guilty, you can discuss it with Loki after returning to Asgard and provide them with some compensation. Consider it a token of gratitude for helping you regain your divine power.”

Seeing Gu Zhongyan signal him with his eyes, Loki immediately understood and hurriedly took up the thread.

“Exactly, Thor. We did a great deal to help you successfully regain your divine power this time. Taking the earlier destruction into account, we ought to offer them something of real value as compensation.”

“Without further delay, we should return to Asgard, formulate a plan as quickly as possible, and compensate them without wasting another moment.”