Luke sighed. “We have to wait for the owner of the Mjölnir hammer to appear before we can confirm the time. Let’s set it for a week.”
Selina was slightly relieved, but also a little embarrassed. “That’s a little long. I think we’ll have to think of a way to keep them in Houston after a few days have passed.”
Luke said, “Don’t worry. We have money. It’s not a big deal. Mr. Bobby Max, the company’s PR manager, will take care of everything.”
Selina was stunned. “He can?”
Bobby used to be a beast tamer. He was definitely better at getting animals to listen to him than people.
Luke didn’t explain. He simply said, “He won’t be alone. He’s also bringing a team from our company here. They’re very good at dealing with complicated matters.”
Selina didn’t say anything else.
A large-scale adjustment would require a lot of manpower and a professional plan of action. A team would definitely be more useful than one person.
She simply continued, “I’ve already asked around the police department and every ranch in town this morning. No strangers have shown up here.”
Luke frowned. “None?”
Selina shook her head. “No, especially that tall, blond, and muscular man you mentioned, and that strange pattern on the ground. At the very least, nobody in the police department has seen them.”
Luke hummed and operated his fake phone. “I left a few drones at home. They’re in the air now. You can link to them at any time.”
Selina was relieved.
She was already used to sending out drones for reconnaissance on their two-person operations, while in the last few hours, she had to rely on making calls and inquiries to confirm intelligence, which wasn’t reassuring.
With the drones, it would be much easier to search the area around Shackelford. They could also provide intelligence for any emergency situation they might face later.
Intelligence was too important.
After seeing Selina off, Luke returned to his pickup. When he got out, he had a bag in his hand and some small inconspicuous items on him.
Luke approached the hammer and activated the monitoring devices he had just taken out of his inventory.
There were faint gamma rays and constant electromagnetic interference, but nothing else was unusual.
Currently, it was like Mjölnir was sound asleep, as unmoving as a mountain.
After more than ten minutes, the devices finished taking readings of all sorts, and Luke drove off decisively.
Was Mjölnir important?
It was very important to Thor; even his nickname was Brother Hammer.
Of course, Luke had only watched the first instalment of the Marvel movie; he didn’t know how many powerful opponents the God of Thunder had killed with this hammer.
It was practically an extension of the god’s body, like how the transformation rod and the pretty female protagonist were inseparable.
But it wasn’t that important to other people.
Thor was the owner of the hammer, and according to the simple plot of the first Thor movie, the big android was sent to Earth by Loki just to kill Thor.
Only danger followed Thor.
The problem was that Thor would definitely come looking for his Mjölnir hammer. Once he came, so would the big android.
So, the simplest logic was that most ordinary people were safe as long as they didn’t go near Thor.
Of course, Luke wasn’t going to place his hopes on finding Thor and keeping him away from Shackelford.
Sometimes, things developed in a way that completely deviated from the plan.
What he wanted to do was prevent any possible accidents from happening.
Robert had already dispatched all the police officers by the time they returned to Shackelford.
In fact, what he needed to do most was tell the residents of Shackelford not to gather in the town center.
As long as the residents were scattered, less lives would be lost if an accident happened.
If they really were dragged into the conflict, that could only be considered bad luck. Nobody could say for sure.
Shackelford was a ranch town. Most of the residents worked on the surrounding farms, or members of their families did.
In places like convenience stores and fast food shops, Robert simply gave them a copy of the security tape and told them to play it on repeat in the store. The staff had to memorize the steps to take in an emergency.
He didn’t need to explain anything to these people. He just needed to keep them under control, because he didn’t have much time right now.
The video wasn’t complicated. There were only three main points: Firstly, don’t let the customers run around and get killed. Secondly, tell the customers to hide in a more secure room at the back of the store and not stand in front of the glass window as a spectator. Thirdly, don’t come out until they heard the broadcast.
In summary, there was only one word for it: coward.
In the face of a “battle of gods,” ordinary people really only needed to cower.
At home, Luke made a call to someone he knew at a “related department” before he set up an information center at home to receive the signal from the military-grade drones in the sky.
At that moment, Drax arrived.
When he saw Luke, he asked unhappily, “What’s going on? Why do I have to go to Houston? Do you think I can’t tell that those two kids are acting spoiled?”
Luke wasn’t too worried about his grandfather. The old man was a veteran who had fought on the battlefield in Vietnam.
After a brief explanation, he spread his hands and said, “Catherine is alone over there. I’m worried that she won’t be able to control those short-tempered guys, so I can only trouble you to go over.”
After a brief silence, Drax snorted and put on his cowboy hat. “After saying so much, aren’t you just trying to trick me into going over?”
Luke’s eyes creased as he smiled at the crabby old man.
As he walked to the door, the old man just said, “You young people are making a fuss over nothing.”
Luke simply let the old man grumble as he sent him out to the car.
This time, the old man hadn’t driven his beloved car, but had come over with Ferreira, the vet.
Ferreira asked, “Back to the ranch?”
The old man’s face darkened. “Go back to the ranch? Go to Houston. I’m giving you a break to enjoy yourself. Happy?”
Ferreira: “Huh?”
The old man said, “Drive. Why are you just standing there?”
Watching the car drive off, Luke waved goodbye.
In the car, Ferreira was still at a loss. “Old Drake, when did you learn to joke like Luke?”
Drax spat out the window and said, “I’m serious. Take your wife and daughter with you when you get back. We’re going on a holiday. I’ll cover food and lodging, and you can go take part in whatever family activities there are. You don’t need to pay anything.”
Ferreira said, “…I have a thermometer in the glove box. It’s for cows, but you can use it for now.”
Drax: “F*ck you!”