Chapter 146: Piece of Junk

"There is a curse placed upon it, and I have a way to directly bypass such a curse."

"That is why it was naturally not difficult for me to pick it up by force."

"However, you will come to understand later just how difficult it truly is to lift it without earning Mjolnir's approval."

Seeing Tony looking as though it had been effortless, Harvey spoke up.

Possessing Kassadin's hero template and a vast reservoir of knowledge related to the Void power, bypassing the enchanted curse Odin had placed on Mjolnir could not exactly be called effortless, but neither was it difficult—it only required disrupting the curse so that it could no longer take effect.

"Is that so? But why did Mjolnir arrive right after Thor?"

Seeing Harvey's serious expression, Tony believed him in his heart, but a new question quickly arose in his mind.

"As for these matters, you will understand once you chat with Thor in a few days."

"Since you brought the hammer back, however, if you want to return it to its rightful owner, you had better release some information."

"Otherwise, it won't be all that easy for Thor to find you."

Hearing this, Harvey did not offer a lengthy explanation, but instead gave a suggestion.

"Alright, I'll find a way to transmit a message to Thor tomorrow."

Tony nodded upon hearing this.

As for why he was entirely unafraid of Thor, firstly, he possessed considerable confidence in his current strength.

Secondly, Tony knew that the Allfather Odin was essentially the guardian deity of Earth.

As the son of the Allfather Odin, Thor the God of Thunder was also one of Earth's guardian deities, which meant Tony had no need to worry that Thor would pose a threat to the planet.

"Then I'll be heading back first."

"Next time you encounter something, don't always panic and make a fuss."

"Even if this hammer has had an impact on you,"

"Your body is not that frail now anyway; as long as you can avoid dying, there are plenty of ways to recover."

Seeing that Tony had completely calmed down, Harvey placed the hammer back onto the table, stood up, and directly opened a Void black hole as he spoke.

"It's not like I have any experience with this."

Tony touched the back of his head upon hearing this, a somewhat embarrassed expression appearing on his face.

Although Tony felt embarrassed, should another sudden emergency arise that he could not figure out on his own and that caused him anxiety,

he would still turn to Harvey for help at the very first instance. This was because Harvey was simply too mysterious and understood many things of which Tony was completely ignorant.

Seeing Tony's expression, Harvey understood what he was thinking, yet did not say much more. Merely revealing a sliver of information could hardly be considered a trouble.

随后, Harvey stepped into the Void black hole and went straight home.

After Harvey left, Tony picked up Mjolnir once again and played with it for a moment, sensing that invisible third arm seeming to extend outward, and fell into deep thought.

"Tony, didn't I just hear Mr. Harvey's voice?"

"Where is Mr. Harvey?"

At that moment, Pepper, dressed in a rather formal and elegant long dress, walked down from upstairs and asked upon seeing only Tony in the spacious hall.

It was precisely because she knew Mr. Harvey had arrived that she had deliberately changed into a new outfit before coming down, so as not to leave a poor impression on him.

"Because something came up, Harvey dropped by for a bit."

Seeing that Pepper had purposely changed into a proper, formal attire, Tony also guessed her thoughts and spoke up.

"What kind of thing could have happened?"

"Enough to make you specifically summon Mr. Harvey over?"

Pepper walked closer as she asked.

"I picked up Thor's hammer."

Tony replied.

Immediately afterward, looking at Pepper, Tony recalled Harvey's words from just a moment ago.

Wasn't the perfect candidate to test Harvey's words right here?

Pepper's evolution speed was relatively slow, but having joined the Void for close to two and a half years, the number of her evolutions had already reached ninety times, and her physical fitness far surpassed that of ordinary people.

"Right, Pepper, why don't you try and see if you can pick up this hammer."

Tony's gaze flickered slightly as he placed the hammer back on the table and spoke.

"Thor's hammer? Just this beat-up piece of junk?"

Hearing Tony's words, Pepper glanced at the hammer on the table and said with a hint of skepticism.

"I didn't believe it at first either, but Harvey said this hammer that doesn't look like much is indeed Mjolnir."

Tony said with a deeply sympathetic expression.

"Oh, if Mr. Harvey said so, then it's fine."

Upon hearing Tony's words, the skepticism in Pepper's heart instantly vanished.

Tony might be full of hot air, but Mr. Harvey's words were absolutely trustworthy, because a giant among men like him had no need to speak falsehoods to deceive others.

Following Tony's instructions, Pepper placed her hand on the handle of Mjolnir and tried to lift it.

She discovered that its weight completely defied what the hammer's appearance suggested; it was impossibly heavy.

However, Pepper had undergone multiple evolutions after all, and she could usually pick up very heavy objects with just a casual exertion of strength.

"I simply refuse to believe it."

With those words, Pepper no longer attempted to hold the hammer with a single hand. Instead, she placed both hands firmly on the handle and exerted all her strength.

Yet even though the floor cracked with a sharp snap beneath the force of her exertion, the hammer remained utterly motionless.

Seeing this scene, Tony fell into deep thought. It seemed Harvey was right; he had underestimated the sheer difficulty of trying to lift Mjolnir through brute force alone.

At the same time, this served as indirect proof that Harvey's strength was powerful to an unpredictable degree.

"Tony, why can you pick it up while I can't?"

After trying for a while and realizing she could not budge it in the slightest, Pepper asked with a touch of defiance.

"There are only two ways to pick up Mjolnir according to Harvey..."

"So there's no need to feel discouraged or anything."

Seeing Pepper's somewhat displeasure-tinged expression, Tony explained the situation and offered words of comfort.

"How is a heart of justice judged, anyway?"

Hearing this, the rebellious defiance in Pepper's heart dissipated, but she posed a soul-searching question instead.

"I don't know that either."

Faced with this difficult question, Tony threw up his hands in a gesture implying he was completely out of solutions.

"Forget it, let's not discuss such metaphysical issues."

"However, Tony, judging by what you mean, Thor should be coming to look for it in the next few days?"

"Which means you'll have to wear your Iron Man armor even when you're at home over the next few days."

Seeing Tony's look, Pepper stopped dwelling on it and cautioned him instead.

"Damn it, how could I have forgotten about this?"

"Why on earth did I have a moment of leisure and bring this wretched thing back?"

"Fortunately you reminded me, Pepper, or else I wouldn't even be able to let Thor leave casually when the time comes."

Hearing Pepper's words, Tony belatedly cursed aloud, then looked at Pepper with a sense of lingering fortune.

Ordinarily, his movements on Earth were already restrained enough, and his home could be considered his only sanctuary to relax in peace.

As a result of bringing Mjolnir back on a whim, he would now have to wear his Iron Man armor for the next few days to prevent Thor from showing up suddenly and exposing the fact that he had grown younger.