Outside New York, at Avengers Tower.
After an unsuccessful search, Tony and Pietro returned to the base.
At this time, Natasha, Clint, and Bruce also rushed over upon hearing the news.
"Steve was attacked? What happened? Who was the assailant?"
Facing Natasha's barrage of questions, Hill shook her head. "I'm not sure. As soon as I received Steve's distress signal, I immediately confirmed the coordinates and forwarded them to Tony and Pietro. But it seems we were still a step too late. Tony, Pietro, did you find any clues?"
Tony laid out all his findings, "When I arrived, Barnes had already lost vital signs, Steve was severely injured and unconscious, and the assailant had already left."
"After an on-site investigation, no traces of thermal weapons were found nor were any footprints of the assailant found on the ground, so I suspect the person flew away."
"Additionally, there were residual powers on Barnes and Steve. This power is extremely similar to the power on the seven hammers that recently arrived on Earth from outer space."
Hearing what Tony said, everyone's brows furrowed.
"Now, four of the seven hammers have been secured, leaving only three lost. It seems that at least one of these three hammers has found its master."
"But why would the hammer's wielder attack Steve and Barnes?" Natasha wondered.
"No, it's not necessarily the lost hammers. I heard that the Military also obtained a hammer, and given the Military's style, they would certainly covet its power and conduct research on it." Bruce offered an alternative view.
This was also his personal experience.
"Let's wait for Steve to wake up and ask him. For now, everyone be careful and try to stay hidden. I have a feeling this person is targeting us, the Avengers." Hill sighed.
With the enemy hidden and them exposed, the situation was very unfavorable for the Avengers. She didn't want anyone else to die from an attack.
— — —
Deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, there was a nation built underwater—Talokan.
The King of Talokan was Namor McKenzie. He was a descendant of the Mesoamerican Mayans from the 16th century. Due to persecution by Spanish colonists, the villagers ingested Vibranium-affected herbs and evolved into underwater humans.
Namor, influenced by the herbs in his mother's womb since childhood, evolved into a mutant, capable of living on land and in the ocean, and also able to fly.
And today, his rule was challenged.
Namor's right-hand man, Attuma, suddenly instigated a rebellion.
Attuma found the Serpent's hammer at the bottom of the sea.
Namor, who had always had a great advantage in all physical aspects, was easily defeated by Attuma in their battle and nearly died.
He only escaped with his life thanks to the protection of his royal guards and citizens.
But Talokan became a river of blood under Attuma's power.
Namor decided to seek help from his friend T'Challa to reclaim Talokan.
Coincidentally, in northeastern Africa, Wakanda encountered a similar situation.
Wakanda, outwardly a poor and backward agricultural country, was actually the most technologically advanced nation on Earth, possessing the unique rare resource, Vibranium.
Relying on Vibranium, Wakanda developed technology fifty years ahead of the world and cultivated the Heart-Shaped Herb, similar to the Super Soldier Serum.
The ruler of Wakanda was known as Black Panther.
The current Black Panther was T'Chaka.
The Black Panther's heir was T'Chaka's son, T'Challa.
When T'Chaka exposed his brother N'Jobu's rebellion plan years ago, N'Jobu, enraged, attacked T'Chaka. In self-defense, T'Chaka accidentally killed N'Jobu.
N'Jobu's son, Erik Killmonger, became an orphan, lost to the outside world.
And today, Erik Killmonger, wielding a strange hammer, returned to Wakanda. He was invincible, with no one able to withstand a single blow from his hammer.
Slaughter and fear swept across all of Wakanda.
T'Chaka chose to die with his kingdom, perishing in battle on the spot.
His successor, T'Challa, was severely wounded and taken away by his sister Shuri.
After T'Challa awoke, he decided to seek help from his friend Namor to reclaim Wakanda.
The events in Talokan deep in the Pacific Ocean and Wakanda in northeastern Africa were still unknown.
But news of the incident in Paris, France, spread across the globe in a very short time.
A unknown person, wielding a hammer that fell from the sky, turned many Paris citizens into statues.
A wave of fear began to spread from Paris and was about to engulf all of France.
Just then, another man wielding a hammer, bringing thunder and lightning, descended from the sky.
The newcomer had a lion-like mane of golden hair, wore silver armor, and was powerfully built.
It was Thor.
"Who are you? Why are you slaughtering these innocent citizens?!"
As soon as he landed, Thor raised mjolnir and angrily denounced the unknown person wielding the hammer.
The unknown person said nothing, merely swinging his hammer at Thor.
Thor wasted no words, swinging mjolnir to meet him.
Compared to the hammer in the unknown person's hand, Thor's mjolnir seemed somewhat small. But the result of their collision was the opposite of their sizes.
Rumble!
With a roar, a shockwave wildly spread out, destroying buildings in the nearby district. But faster than the shockwave was the figure of the unknown person flying backward.
Just one hammer blow, and the difference was clear.
The unknown person's power was completely incomparable to Thor's.
"Are you Thor?" The unknown person finally spoke.
"I've heard of you, Thor. I heard you once broke through a dimensional barrier with three hammer blows."
Thor looked at the unknown person, waiting for him to continue.
"You and another person named Lucas, really scared us back then. But now I have the power of the God of Fear, the All-Father Serpent, and I'm not afraid of you!"
The unknown person roared, then swung his hammer again, bringing it down on Thor.
Thor was unfazed, swinging mjolnir to meet it.
Just as the two hammers were about to collide, a gray energy wave suddenly shot out from the hammer in the unknown person's hand, firing at the unsuspecting Thor.
Although it was a sneak attack, Thor still reacted in time, switching from offense to defense, using mjolnir in his hand to block the energy wave.
The energy wave hit mjolnir, having no effect whatsoever and simply bouncing off.
Wherever the wave passed, it turned some fearless, curious onlookers into stone statues.
"Ahhh!!!"
A commotion erupted again in the crowd.
"I'll ask you one more time, who are you!"
Thor closed in, mjolnir in his hand summoning thunder.
An upward hammer swing sent the unknown person flying heavily into the air.
Rumble!
A silver lightning bolt descended from the sky, striking the unknown person.