Inside the detective agency, Raymond lay half-reclined in his executive chair, receiving a freshly returned set of memories.
These were from the experiences of his sub personality, Orochimaru—including the intense 1-vs-many battle, and how all three of them had sensed that Gideon was pretending to let go while still harboring resentment.
The memories played out like a movie in his mind.
But Raymond didn't care much about whether Stephanie could truly take full control of Hydra within a month.
Just like Orochimaru had told her: if she failed, Raymond would simply find a second spokesperson from within Hydra.
If the second one failed too, he'd find a third. Eventually, someone would succeed.
Just as Raymond was "watching" those memory highlights, the phone on his desk suddenly rang.
He picked it up casually.
"Yeah, it's me... This weekend? Should be fine... Huh? Edinburgh? Why choose somewhere that far... Fine, fine, I'll be there."
After a few quick words, he hung up.
The caller was Carl, a core member of the Hellfire Club.
He had called to inform Raymond that this year's Hellfire Club year-end gathering was scheduled for this weekend, to be held in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.
It was already December, and the year was almost over. Having the gathering now wasn't surprising.
Raymond had just assumed it would be in a place like New York, not expecting a trip across the Atlantic.
He'd been to Europe in his previous life, toured most of the major neighboring countries.
But those were world-class cities—London, Paris, Berlin.
He'd heard of Edinburgh, but never visited.
Now seemed like a good opportunity. If nothing else, it could be a sightseeing trip.
More importantly, he could already hear the "baa baa baa" in his head—reminding him there was wool ready to be harvested.
Back when he first joined the Hellfire Club, Juggernaut had mentioned the year-end gathering.
Raymond had only met four core members so far, and each had brought him valuable exploration points. The others were likely no different.
And meeting more story characters naturally meant more opportunities to harvest.
"Maybe I should bring Clarice along to broaden her horizons…" Now that he'd confirmed his trip to Edinburgh, Raymond immediately thought of his younger sister, Clarice.
The Hellfire Club, one of the oldest mutant factions, was filled with top-tier mutant elites.
Raymond's current strength could rival even the Black King, Juggernaut—but he wasn't a mutant himself.
So when it came to mutant affairs, he'd never have the insight true mutants did.
Even Juggernaut, who like him was a non-mutant among mutants, still knew much more about mutant affairs than he did.
If he brought Clarice along, it would definitely be good for her.
Thinking that, he picked up the phone again and dialed home.
A tall Black man wearing a golden horned helmet stood like a statue on the steps, eyes closed. His hands rested on a huge greatsword, its blade locked into a slot in the floor.
"Jane, can you hear me? Jane, where did you go? Don't scare me... Damn it, where's Thor? He disappears right when we need him most?"
Through the flood of voices echoing in his ears, Heimdall suddenly heard two names that stood out.
Alone, the names weren't strange. But together—they were unmistakable.
Heimdall's eyes flew open, and stars seemed to swirl inside them.
As Asgard's guardian, Heimdall could borrow some of Odin's power, letting him reach Skyfather-level strength temporarily.
But his greatest gift was his ability to hear and see everything across the Nine Realms at once.
This was a power only he had—not even Odin could do that.
So Heimdall had always watched over the Nine Realms in Odin's place.
No major event could escape his sight.
This time, he woke up suddenly because of one specific name.
After the Battle of New York, Thor had brought Loki back to Asgard and asked Heimdall to keep an eye on Earth.
He specifically mentioned one person—Jane Foster.
Heimdall could tell that Thor really cared about this midgardian woman.
With his long life, it was easy for him to see what Thor's feelings meant.
He also knew his sister Sif had been secretly in love with Thor for a long time.
Though she spent a lot of time with Thor and seemed like a close friend or sibling, that wasn't the full story.
But Heimdall also knew Thor didn't feel the same way—especially not after Jane Foster came into the picture.
Still, these love matters weren't important to him.
He wouldn't hide what he had sensed just because of his sister's feelings.
With that in mind, he closed his eyes again.
When he opened them again, he was inside an old, abandoned factory. A few Earth people were running around, shouting Jane Foster's name and trying to find her.
Some even passed right by him, but didn't notice him at all.
He wasn't surprised. He was still physically standing on Asgard's Bifröst. What they saw was just a projection of his mind, sent through the bridge.
Unless he chose to reveal himself, no normal person could see him.
"Strange... she's not on Earth?" Heimdall frowned, realizing this was more than a simple case.
He had only meant to take a look and check on things. But after arriving, he found it was more complicated than expected.
Jane Foster had completely vanished from Earth.
This could mean one of two things—either she was dead and her body had been destroyed…
Or she had entered another dimension or realm, which made her impossible to find.
Either way, Thor would definitely lose control if he found out.
"This is bad..." Heimdall said quietly, with a serious expression.