Meanwhile, in Washington, at an underground facility.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion Headquarters.
Nick Fury stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, holding a cup of black coffee, his eyes fixed on the massive display screen on the opposite wall.
The screen was looping news footage from Harlem.
Golden-red flames, amber eyes, a slender figure, and that single finger holding back a giant palm.
He had watched it three times.
Then, he pressed the button on his desk.
"Natasha, come to my office."
Less than a minute later, the door was pushed open.
A red-haired woman walked in.
She was wearing a black bodysuit, with a S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical vest over it, and two pistols tucked into the holster at her waist.
Her wine-red hair was slightly curled at the ends; she had a slender figure and a beautiful face, but in her eyes, there was a sharpness and vigilance that only a seasoned veteran possessed.
"Director," Natasha Romanoff stood in front of the desk. "You wanted to see me?"
Fury turned around and pointed at the screen.
"Have you seen it?"
Natasha's gaze fell on the footage, lingering for two seconds.
"I have," she said. "Last night's incident in Harlem, a mysterious woman repelled the monster codenamed 'Abomination'."
"Any thoughts?"
Natasha thought for a moment.
"Very strong!" she said concisely.
"That monster, the form Bronski takes after transforming... according to field reports, it can throw cars with its bare hands, machine gun bullets can't pierce its skin, and it can suppress Hulk head-on, but this woman..."
She paused.
"She won very easily; it even felt like she wasn't taking it too seriously."
Fury nodded.
"Go on."
Natasha walked closer to the screen and zoomed in on the image.
She pointed to the moment in the footage where Mavuika caught the Abomination's fist.
"She didn't use any force; her posture was too relaxed. Her shoulders weren't hunched, her feet didn't shift, and she didn't even brace herself. What does that tell you?"
"It means her strength is far beyond the Abomination," Fury finished for her. "She didn't need to use any effort at all."
Natasha nodded.
Then she looked at Fury.
"You know her?"
Fury was silent for two seconds.
"Sixteen years ago," he said. "During the Skrulls incident, she appeared."
Natasha's eyes narrowed slightly.
The Skrulls incident was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top-secret files, and as Fury's confidante, she had seen the relevant records.
The file mentioned an "unknown high-level combatant" who helped Carol Danvers repel the Kree and then vanished.
"Is it her?" Natasha asked.
Fury nodded.
"Her name is Mavuika," he said, his voice low. "The sun goddess of Asgard."
Natasha was silent for two seconds.
"...sun goddess?"
"I know what you want to say," Fury raised his hand to stop her.
"Figures from mythology appearing in reality sounds ridiculous, but after the Skrulls incident, I researched a lot of information. The Asgard of norse mythology is real, and the Nine Realms system is also real."
He paused.
"And Mavuika is Odin's eldest daughter, the sun goddess of Asgard. According to mythological records, she participated in the unification war of the Nine Realms along with her sister, Hela."
Natasha processed this information.
"So..." she said slowly, "a goddess from an alien divine realm has been living on Earth for so many years, and we had absolutely no idea?"
"Not entirely no idea," Fury said.
"Howard Stark knew, Tony Stark knew, and there were those scattered clues in our files, but we just never managed to piece them together."
He turned around, looking at Mavuika on the screen.
"She has been living a low-key life, working as a race car driver, an antique appraiser, living in an ordinary apartment in New York, and has never caused any trouble. If not for this incident in Harlem..."
He didn't continue; Natasha understood.
If not for this incident in Harlem, Mavuika would have continued to keep a low profile, continued being an ordinary person, and continued living the life she wanted on Earth.
And now, the whole World has seen her.
"What should we do?" Natasha asked.
Fury was silent for a long time.
He had originally wanted to wait a little longer.
Wait for more leverage, wait for a deeper understanding of this sun goddess, and wait to find a more suitable entry point before making official contact.
But now, time waits for no one.
The Harlem incident has made global headlines; governments, various factions, and all sorts of organizations will start searching for this mysterious red-haired woman.
Some will want to thank her, some will want to use her, some will want to study her, and others... will want to eliminate her.
They don't know who she is, don't know how strong her power is, and don't know the consequences of angering her.
But Fury knew.
Or rather, he knew a part of it.
He knew she was Odin's daughter, and he knew she had single-handedly repelled the Kree fleet sixteen years ago.
He knew she wasn't an enemy, at least not for now...
But what about those who don't know?
What about those who will do stupid things?
If they anger her, if they mistake kindness for weakness, if they raise weapons against the "sun goddess"—
Fury didn't want to see that day.
"Prepare yourself," he finally said, his voice filled with a sense of finality. "You're coming with me to meet someone today."
Natasha looked at him.
"You mean... take the initiative to find her?"
Fury nodded.
"We can't wait any longer," he said. "Before she is besieged by the whole World, before she gets pissed off by those idiots—"
He paused.
"We need to help her prevent all of that from happening."
Natasha was silent for two seconds, then nodded.
"I'll go prepare right away."
She turned and walked towards the door.
"Natasha."
She stopped and turned back.
Fury looked at her, a complex emotion in his single eye.
"Do you know what this means?" he asked.
"We are going to meet a true deity. Not those lunatics who call themselves gods, not those guys who get cocky just because they have superpowers, but an existence who has lived for thousands of years, experienced the Nine Realms unification war, and watched human civilization walk from the Bronze Age to today with her own eyes."
Natasha didn't answer immediately.
She thought for a moment, then said, "But she is also the one who saved that little girl."
Fury was stunned for a moment.
Natasha continued, "A god who has lived for thousands of years—if she were truly aloof, if she truly didn't care about humanity, she wouldn't have intervened. But she did; she saved that child."
She paused.
"So, perhaps we don't need to be so nervous; perhaps she isn't that scary."
Fury was silent for a few seconds.
"You're right," he said. "Let's go."
Natasha nodded and pushed the door open to leave.
Fury turned back and looked at Mavuika on the screen.
The image froze at the moment she caught the Abomination's fist, her golden-red hair flying in the air.
Fury watched for a long time.
Then he turned off the screen and picked up the black trench coat draped over the back of his chair.
Outside, Natasha was already waiting for him.