CHAPTER 355: CHAPTER 355: THOR SEEKS HELP

After spending a relatively peaceful period in Los Angeles, Tony would visit Ethan’s place every day, mainly to check on his parents.

While there, he would also spar with Ethan. But after one match, where he discovered that Ethan’s current physical fitness was even stronger than Captain America’s, he decisively gave up on this masochistic training method.

"If you want to train, the person best suited to be your opponent here is Ada."

"What?" Tony glanced at Ada nearby, who was wearing a suit and looked every bit like a professional woman. "I don’t hit women."

Ethan stepped back and looked Tony up and down before speaking, seeing the displeasure on Tony’s face. "Where do you get the confidence to think you can beat her?"

Tony was furious, but he didn’t immediately challenge Ada out of anger. Instead, he asked about the others.

By now, Tony had already gotten a general understanding of Ethan’s new companions. Part of it was thanks to Pepper Potts’ strong social skills, and the rest was because these people didn’t deliberately hide their identities, so he could learn everything just by asking around.

"With so many new companions this time, isn’t there anyone suitable to be my opponent?"

"Imhotep has just been resurrected and hasn’t recovered his strength. Jonathan is just an ordinary person. O’Connell is a veteran, but only a regular soldier—not like Steve. They haven’t been on my ship long and have only taken the most basic enhancement potions."

That is, the basic potion that prolongs youth, increases lifespan to some extent, and improves overall health.

The path Ethan arranged for them was to first stabilize their foundation, allowing their bodies to reach their peak before proceeding with further enhancements, rather than boosting their strength all at once.

His suggestion to Tony was the same. Even though he possessed much stronger and better potions, he initially only gave Tony the most basic one, and he didn’t hide it, stating so directly.

"Taking it step by step like this is better for your future."

As for Pepper, he said that if Tony needed, he could provide Pepper with a powerful potion that would directly elevate her beyond the level of ordinary people.

"Let’s talk about that after I get stronger. I don’t want to be bossed around by Pepper at home."

Ethan shrugged and didn’t bring up the topic again.

"You said I could become a sorcerer?"

After spacing out for a bit, watching Ethan’s new companions either training or chatting, Tony thought of the suggestion Ethan had made earlier.

"You really think I can become a sorcerer?"

"Yes. You have the talent."

Otherwise, the Ancient One wouldn’t have listed him as one of the candidates for Sorcerer Supreme. That alone proved Tony not only had the talent to become a sorcerer, but that his potential was top-tier—ranking among the best of Earth’s human population.

"So, do you think I should systematically study magic?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you’re the only sorcerer I know."

As the two were talking, the sky suddenly darkened in the blink of an eye. A very obvious energy fluctuation came from overhead. Ethan looked up at the sky where dark clouds were gathering and pulled Tony back a couple of steps.

"I’ve seen this scene before."

Tony looked up at the swirling dark clouds. Just as he was about to say something else, a beam of rainbow light pierced through the clouds and shot down in front of Ethan and Tony. As the light dissipated, Thor, the God of Thunder, appeared before them.

"I was just about to say this guy was probably coming." Tony smiled and waved at Thor. "Hey, done with your business?"

"Hey." Thor wasn’t in a very good mood. He forced a smile back at Tony, then immediately turned to Ethan with a serious expression. "Ethan, I need your help."

Seeing Thor suddenly appear, Ethan guessed something had happened.

Normally, if Thor came to Earth to relax after wrapping up his business, he would first go find his girlfriend Jane Foster, spend some private time with her, and only then visit Ethan, Tony, and the others.

In that case, he would appear in a relatively "normal" way, such as arriving by car or on foot and ringing the doorbell.

Thor appearing directly via the Rainbow Bridge could only mean he needed help with something urgent.

"What happened?"

Thor’s sudden appearance had drawn everyone’s attention. His entrance was far too eye-catching to ignore. However, most people didn’t recognize him and simply watched from a distance.

Only Logan, after seeing Thor, had been saying something to Ethan. Sensing something was off, he specifically walked over to ask.

"It shouldn’t be a big deal. Probably just a small favor Ethan needs to help with."

"Tell me what happened first."

Ethan would definitely help. Even if it was something difficult, he wouldn’t refuse. Thor had always treated him like a brother, sincerely and without pretense. Now that he had come to ask for help, Ethan couldn’t just say he was busy.

"Jane. I can’t find her."

Tony rolled his eyes. He had thought something serious had happened. He remembered Ethan saying Thor was busy pacifying the Nine Realms. Could he have encountered a formidable enemy and come asking for help?

He hadn’t expected to hear just this one sentence.

"Uh... your girlfriend? Maybe she just went out for something?"

Tony didn’t understand the situation, but Ethan knew exactly what Thor meant.

"Heimdall can’t find her either?"

"Yes. He could see her before, but now she’s gone."

Although Tony didn’t know who Heimdall was, the conversation between the two made him realize something was seriously wrong.

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

"I’m not sure, but she’s definitely not on Earth."

Now Tony was interested. He rubbed his chin, thinking about what they could do to help Thor find his girlfriend. Ethan casually asked, "Where was Jane last seen?"

"I think it was called England?"

Thor severely lacked common sense about Earth. Being able to say "England" already showed he had done some homework. But Tony just wanted to roll his eyes... Were they supposed to search all of England?

Fortunately, Heimdall had provided the precise location. Ethan decided to go take a look first.

"Do you guys want to come along?"

Imhotep and the others weren’t considered. Evelyn was interested but was held back by O’Connell. He could tell that Ethan and the others might face danger on this trip, and with their current strength, they would only be a burden if they went.

"In that case, you guys stay here. If you get bored, feel free to go out and explore. It’s best to have someone familiar with the area guide you, like Logan."

"Don’t I need to go too?" Logan thought he’d be needed, since with his heightened senses, he was definitely good at tracking people.

"You stay here and look after our new companions. Thor and I will go ahead and check out the situation."

"Wait, I’m going too."

How could Tony miss out on such excitement? If he hadn’t heard anything, fine. But now that he had, there was no reason not to go.

"But give me a moment to change."

He had just finished exercising and was still in workout clothes, definitely not suitable for going out. However, since he might take a while, Ethan directly tossed him an amulet.

"Thor and I will go ahead first. Once you’re ready, just crush this amulet and I’ll summon you over."

Tony could see that Thor was anxious. Plus, he needed to shower and fix his hair, which would take some time, so it wasn’t good to keep them waiting.

"It’s settled then."

Ethan and Thor nodded. Ethan casually opened a portal and stepped through first. Kamar-Taj’s teleportation spell required the user to have a clear and accurate mental image of the destination. In other words, it was difficult to teleport to places one had never been to or wasn’t familiar with.

But what Ethan was using now was the power of the Tesseract. As long as he had the coordinate data, he could open a teleportation channel without needing to understand the area.

Of course, the Tesseract’s teleportation was more convenient, so he usually used it. Unfortunately, it only worked within this universe.

Exiting the teleportation channel, Ethan found himself in a deserted factory. There were workshops everywhere that looked long abandoned, with old cars parked around that seemed to have been left for years.

None of that was particularly noteworthy. What stood out was the fact that some containers were stacked like building blocks, trucks were tipped over, and some were even floating in midair.

Ethan sensed the area and found that the fluctuations here were extremely chaotic. Various energies filled the space, interfering with the basic rules of this area.

"This place is a bit strange."

Thor’s senses weren’t as sharp as Ethan’s, but as the God of Thunder from Asgard, he could also tell something was wrong. Thinking that Jane had disappeared in this kind of place only made him feel worse.

"Don’t worry. We may not know what happened to Jane, but panicking won’t help. What we need to do now is figure out what’s going on here and bring Jane back."

"You’re right."

Thor had matured a lot since they last met. He was no longer the hot-blooded, impulsive warrior he once was. He understood that the more anxious he was now, the more likely he was to make mistakes. Calmly searching for clues and figuring out what had happened here was the right approach.

Just then, a familiar figure walked out of a rundown factory building, looking around anxiously while constantly dialing on her phone.

Thor immediately recognized who it was.

"It’s Daisy."

Daisy was Jane Foster’s assistant. Although they hadn’t found Jane, seeing her assistant might give them a lead on what happened.

Unfortunately, Daisy didn’t know where Jane had gone either, because at the time, she had been happily observing a spatial anomaly.

(To be continued.)