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Ch. 284 The Black Meteorite from the Sky
🕑 Added 2024-02-04 16:00:03 +0000 UTCAfter recalling the information about Sif from his mind, Russell couldn't help but look at her a few more times.
In terms of appearance, Sif couldn't compare to the earthly beauty of someone like Diana, but she could still be considered a beauty.
More importantly, Sif exuded an indescribable air of nobility, giving off a sense of a strong and capable woman.
Of course, this was also related to Sif's current attire.
Not to mention someone like Sif, who was proficient in close combat as an Asgardian, even an ordinary Earth woman would look majestic when dressed in such close-fitting armor, wielding a silver sword and a golden shield.
Sensing Russell's gaze, Sif furrowed her brows slightly as she sat atop her white horse.
She knew who Russell was and had heard about Russell's magical duel with Loki yesterday and his feat of lifting Thor's hammer. But she had an instinctual feeling that Russell was not a good person.
Women's intuition!
Especially after seeing Russell now assessing her, she became even more convinced of this idea.
In her view, only someone like Thor, who was not easily swayed by beauty, could be considered a good man.
As for Russell, if he could be called a good person, then Frost Giants and Fire Giants could also be called good people.
Although Sif's assessment of Russell was highly subjective, strictly speaking, her assessment was not wrong.
"Let's go!"
After Russell's arrival, Thor, riding on a black horse, spoke to him.
"Alright!"
As soon as Thor finished speaking, Russell mounted his horse and rode on a black warhorse adorned with simple armor.
After Russell mounted his horse, Thor didn't hesitate and immediately issued the command to depart.
Subsequently, they raced towards the Rainbow Bridge Hall, with Thor leading the way.
Following Thor's departure, Sif and the Three Warriors quickly followed suit on their horses.
Russell had no intention of stealing Thor and the others' limelight and followed them at a leisurely pace.
Behind them was the Asgardian army that had joined them this time to help pacify the riots in Vanaheimr.
Thor didn't plan to lead a large army this time; he only brought a force of less than three hundred soldiers to Vanaheimr. Although their numbers were small, these warriors were the elite of Asgard, not inferior to the Royal Guards of Asgard in strength. Furthermore, unlike the Royal Guards, who had little combat experience, these Asgardian warriors all had multiple experiences in quelling riots in Vanaheimr. In a sense, the force behind them was a specially trained unit that Thor had cultivated.
Rainbow Bridge Hall.
After briefly greeting Heimdall, Thor rode his black horse into the entrance of the Rainbow Bridge, which was shining with colorful light.
When Thor and the Three Warriors had all entered the Rainbow Bridge, Russell also rode his black warhorse into the Rainbow Bridge.
Once again experiencing the feeling of being forcibly drawn to a destination, Russell's view shifted from the colorful teleportation light to a military camp with a distinct medieval style.
After taking a cursory look around, Russell briefly sensed the natural energy concentration in Vanaheimr. Unlike Asgard, where the air was rich in natural energy, the concentration of natural energy in Vanaheimr was considerably lower. Of course, this might be related to their current location. Even within the same world, the concentration of natural energy could vary, much like temperature; some places could have high concentrations, while others could have low concentrations.
From the surrounding scenery, it appeared that this frontline camp of Asgard was located near an ordinary forest. In such a place, the concentration of natural energy would naturally not be particularly high. If they were in the capital of the Vanir, the natural energy in the air might be several levels higher.
Upon arriving at the frontline camp, Thor immediately summoned the camp leaders to the main tent. Russell, too, was called to the tent and participated in the military meeting.
Russell didn't object to Thor's arrangement, but the camp leaders in the frontline camp didn't share the same sentiment. They didn't know Russell's identity or what he had done in Asgard. However, when they discovered that Russell was not an Asgardian but an Earthling, they couldn't hide their open expressions of disdain.
Russell hadn't expected to face racial discrimination, especially not on Earth, but on the distant Vanaheimr.
Although the contemptuous looks from these camp leaders made him uncomfortable, he didn't lose his temper and simply ignored them. There was no need to argue with people who had narrow minds and limited intelligence.
Although Thor had not yet introduced his identity, as long as these camp leaders had a bit of intelligence, they would understand what his presence here meant. Otherwise, Thor wouldn't have brought him here or invited him to participate in the military meeting.
After everyone had gathered in the tent, Thor, sitting in the position of the commander, said, "Tell me, what's the current situation?"
At this moment, Thor exuded an extremely mature and reliable aura, giving off the impression of a seasoned and victorious general.
Upon hearing Thor's words, one of the camp leaders, clad in silver-white armor, quickly stood up. He bowed slightly to Thor and began to report on the current situation.
After listening to the report from the camp leader, Thor remained expressionless and said, "Inform the units currently on missions to return to the camp."
"Furthermore, dispatch light cavalry to gather information on the movements of the Vanir forces."
"Finally, contact the spies hidden within the Vanir city; I want to know how the Vanir view this riot."
Thor quickly made his arrangements.
"Yes, Your Highness!" The camp leaders all stood up and respectfully responded to Thor.
Afterward, they left the tent and began to carry out Thor's orders.
Once the leaders of the frontline camp had left, Thor turned to Russell and the Three Warriors and said, "Be prepared. If anything happens to the light cavalry scouting the Vanir forces, you may need to personally gather intelligence."
"No problem, I haven't sparred with Vanir warriors in a long time," replied Fandral, who had a longsword at his side, with a smile.
Volstagg, the strongest of them, and Hogun, who was a Vanir himself, didn't speak, but they nodded seriously.
"I don't mind, as long as you don't ask me to assassinate the Vanir God-King, Njord, the God of the Oceans," Russell said, having brushed up on his knowledge of the Vanir people before leaving the Golden Palace. He knew that Njord was currently the God-King of the Vanir, just like Odin in Asgard.
"Assassinating Njord? That's something only you would dare to think about," Thor said with a laugh.
"Njord may be a God-King, but he can bleed and be injured."
"Besides, one should have aspirations in life, shouldn't they?"
Although to Thor and the others, assassinating Njord, the Vanir God-King, sounded crazy, Russell didn't see it that way.
"As long as it's a living thing, even a god, I can show you that it can be killed!" While this line may have come from an anime, it was also a fact.
Unless it was an eternal and immortal being, there was always a possibility of successful assassination, even for beings of the level of the Skyfathers.
However, the success rate would be a bit lower, to be precise, it would be significantly lower for Russell and Thor, who were not yet at the Skyfathers level.
Although the Skyfathers level seemed to be only one level higher than the level of Earth gods, the gap between the two was greater than the gap between Earth humans and Kryptonians.
In a way, the Skyfathers level was an existence in a different dimension.
"If you ever have such an opportunity and the ambition to do it, I wouldn't mind assigning you the task of assassinating Njord," Thor said, pretending to be serious and solemn.
"Before you assign me such a task, you'd better be prepared to pay a hefty price; my fee isn't cheap," Russell replied seriously.
Seeing the playful banter between Russell and Thor, Sif, who was sitting next to Thor, sighed in resignation.
She couldn't understand why Thor, who had always been mature and reliable, suddenly became less mature when he met Russell.
The current Thor gave her the feeling of an immature teenager.
After joking with Russell, Thor asked Russell and the Three Warriors to leave the tent and begin planning their next steps.
Once they left the main tent, Russell didn't go anywhere else. Instead, he followed a warrior to his own tent.
Then, he retrieved a divine power book from his system space and began to "cram" his knowledge.
The first day in Vanaheimr passed without any significant events, ending calmly and uneventfully.
The second day.
While Russell and Thor's group were enjoying breakfast and chatting in their tents, a loud explosion suddenly rang out not far from the camp.
Boom!
The deafening explosion not only echoed throughout the entire camp but also brought a strong earthquake-like tremor and a terrifying shockwave.
The moment the explosion sounded, Russell and Thor were the first to leave their tents and quickly flew in the direction of the explosion.
Just over ten seconds later, Russell and Thor, clad in their respective battle attire, arrived in the sky above the explosion site.
This is...
Upon seeing the huge explosion crater on the ground, Russell and Thor simultaneously furrowed their brows.
The immense crater before them, rather than being an explosion crater, looked more like a meteorite crater.
The diameter of the meteorite crater was several hundred meters, and it was more than twenty meters deep.
At the center of the meteorite crater, there was a massive "meteorite."
From its appearance, it did seem like a meteorite inside the crater.
However, it was evident that this was not a normal meteorite.
If it were truly a meteorite that had fallen from the sky, the camp's guards would not have missed seeing it. Moreover, Russell sensed a trace of magic on the black meteorite.
A meteorite guided by magic?
No, even if it were a meteorite guided by magic, it shouldn't have escaped the camp's guards' observation. A meteorite as large as this, falling from the sky, would definitely have been noticed, unless the guards were all blind.
Something's not right!
No matter how they looked at it, this black meteorite was very suspicious.
While Thor didn't possess Russell's magical perception ability, he had divine power. He also sensed the magical aura on the black meteorite.
After exchanging glances, Russell and Thor both flew down to the black meteorite.
They landed near the black meteorite.
Although the impact had already subsided, the area around the black meteorite still radiated intense heat.
After observing the black meteorite in front of them and then the surrounding environment, Thor said to Russell, "Let's return to the camp and discuss this further."
"Alright," Russell replied immediately.
A few minutes later.
Camp Commander's Tent.
Once they returned to the camp, Thor gathered the camp leaders inside the tent.
When everyone had assembled, Thor, seated at the commander's position, spoke slowly, "The recent explosion and earthquake were caused by a black meteorite."
"While we're not yet certain why this black meteorite fell near our camp without anyone noticing, I have reason to suspect that it was an attack against our camp."
Although there was not enough evidence to prove this at the moment, it was strange that such an unusual incident happened just a day after their arrival in Vanaheimr.
Regardless of how they looked at it, it didn't seem like a coincidence.
After Thor finished speaking, the camp leaders and the Three Warriors inside the tent furrowed their brows.
They didn't doubt Thor's judgment; they just couldn't understand how the strange black meteorite had fallen.
If the black meteorite had hit its intended target rather than deviating, it would have turned the entire camp into rubble, judging by the powerful shockwave and tremor from the impact. Everyone, except for Thor and Russell, would have been either killed or seriously injured under such a terrifying impact.
After everyone inside the tent fell silent, Russell suddenly spoke up.
"I think there's no need for us to consider how the black meteorite fell at this moment. Judging from where it landed, even if it was an attack by the Vanir, there's no need to worry too much about it."
"An attack that can't accurately hit its target doesn't need to be taken too seriously."
"Instead of thinking about this, we should consider what kind of gift we can send back to the Vanir."
While this recent turmoil in Vanaheimrhad nothing to do with Russell, he believed in the saying that you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you.
Russell had been enjoying the hospitality and support of Asgard for some time now.
Furthermore, he was getting a bit annoyed.
They were just having breakfast and chatting when someone decided to throw an extremely destructive meteorite at them. Although the meteorite missed, it was not something that could be taken lightly.
