A Grueling Journey on Sakaar (Part 2)

Life in the Red Ring Mine was far more terrifying than imagined, yet Thor did nothing and said nothing. Several swaying incidents nearly shook him off, but he showed no intention of changing his posture.

When it was time to finish work, the overseer, Carl, came over and said, "You're lucky, it's not hungry today. Get down from there right away, don't waste my time."

The new miners slowly climbed down, and one of them, having been stiff for too long, lost his footing and fell. His piercing scream disappeared into the Abyss, but no one bothered to even glance at him.

Everyone was immersed in the joy of surviving the ordeal, but they were also afraid of the dark Destiny lay ahead. Their expressions were complicated, a mixture of relief and fear. Only Thor remained expressionless.

Thor's unusual behavior caught the overseer's attention. When he brought all the slaves back to the cell, he deliberately pointed Thor at the jailer, who gave a wicked smile and nodded to his companion.

The slaves lived in a very dark place. Each cell was like a coffin, so narrow that they couldn't even turn around. The so-called food was just a cheap supplement commonly found in the interstellar market. Some slaves made noise in their own language, seemingly saying that they couldn't absorb the supplement, but the guards didn't even glance at them. Soon, the cell fell silent, as if everyone had given up in despair.

Thor looked at the supplement in his hand and squeezed the outer packaging. Having fought in interstellar battles for years, he had certainly seen such things before, but he would never have given it a second glance. In fact, even the most ordinary Asgard soldier would never use such a low-quality supplement.

But he still slowly tore open the packaging, then tilted his head back and poured it into his mouth. The strong taste of chemicals assaulted his brain, but Thor paid no attention. He leaned against the wall again, saying nothing and doing nothing.

After that, the lights in the cell dimmed, plunging into complete darkness. When Thor woke up again, he was awakened by excruciating pain.

The jailer tugged at the chain fastened to Thor's shoulder, pulling it repeatedly. Thor bled profusely, but remained silent. He heard the jailer say, "Are you mute? Answer me, or I'll make you regret it!"

Thor stared at him but didn't reply. The jailer seemed to be enraged by his gaze. He yanked the chain hard, and Thor was pulled to the ground. He coughed a few times in a disheveled state, his muddy hair obscuring his vision, and the dust on the ground making it hard for him to breathe.

Thor coughed twice, lying on the ground. Excessive blood loss made his vision begin to black out. He just lay there, letting the jailer drag him forward with the chains. Finally, the jailer stepped on his shoulder and pulled the chains out hard. Thor convulsed and screamed, veins bulging on his neck, his eyeballs almost bulging out of their sockets.

After the spikes were removed, Thor had completely lost feeling in one of his arms. He turned his head to the side, his cheek pressed against the ground, and he could see the fearful expressions on the faces of the aliens in the cell next to him.

But he still said nothing and did nothing. There was no pain or fear in his eyes; they were blank, like those of a Deadman.

The jailer achieved his goal: he took the chain Thor had once used, found another slave in a cell, and drove the spike into his body.

Thor's breathing grew slower and slower, and he slowly closed his eyes. A look of indescribable despair appeared on his face, as if all his emotions had been concentrated in one moment and were about to explode. This expression lasted only for a moment before turning into numbness and blankness.

Then, he slowly dragged his mutilated body out of the cell with the overseer. The light of dawn made him squint, but he didn't see or think about anything. He just kept walking forward. The chains left his body, but the "clattering" sound of the chains being dragged always surrounded his ears, as if it would never stop.

A few days later, most of Loki's body had finally solidified from its phantom form, leaving only a clump of black Slime still working on his right calf. Schiller poured Loki a cup of coffee and then asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"

Loki didn't reply, just mechanically shoveling coffee into his mouth. Schiller glanced at Venom, who was still working, and said, "You have to thank his previous hosts for being incredibly hardworking, able to work for several nights without sleep. Otherwise, you'd still only have one head."

"What are you thinking about?" Schiller pulled up a chair and sat down. "Or rather, what are you regretting?"

"I..." Loki uttered a single word, but Schiller continued, "You didn't think about how much your brother was tormented and suffering, did you? You thought you could enjoy watching him, feel relieved and happy to see him so distraught and tormented, right?"

When you realize you can't, you can't help but start to wonder, why is that?

"You've achieved everything you wanted. Yes, you gave Thor's companions a sound beating, severely injured them all, stripped yourself of your divine authority and started from scratch, and even dumped Thor in the interstellar junkyard, leaving him to struggle for survival..."

"The objective has been perfectly accomplished, the plan has been a great success, and now you should be leisurely sipping your coffee and chatting with me, laughing together at Thor's miserable state. But you find that you can't even act it out."

"This is a really big problem," Schiller said, placing his coffee cup on the table beside him. "You've managed to make yourself suffer so much with a series of brilliant moves. I have to say, the title of 'God of Trickery' really suits you. When you get ruthless, you can even deceive yourself."

Then Schiller turned back and asked, "What is it that makes you believe you would be happy about Thor's miserable situation?"

Loki didn't say a word, but Schiller said in a relaxed tone, "I really appreciate how you brothers hurt each other and blow each other up like fireworks to amuse me. If everyone were as sensible as you, life would be so much better."

Then Schiller placed One Hand on Loki's bedside and smiled at Loki. Loki looked at his smile, which seemed no different from that of an ordinary person, but behind it he saw sharp fangs.

"Welcome to Arkham Asylum. We offer a variety of medical services, including helping you quickly recover and get back on your feet within an hour."

Loki stared at him and asked, "What about the cost?"

"It seems you do know me quite well, but if you don't inherit the throne, Thor will definitely be the one paying for it, so you don't need to worry."

Loki didn't look happy at all, but he still pursed his lips and said, "... I accept, hurry up."

"Okay..." Schiller reached out and touched the Venom on his calf. The Venom suddenly paused, and then a pure energy surrounded him. The Venom's size instantly doubled, and its work efficiency increased more than tenfold.

"But you need to think this through..." Schiller continued, "Although your body has been repaired, your divine power and divine authority have not been fully restored. Now, like your brother, you have lost your power and become an ordinary person with relatively good physical fitness... Oh, your physical fitness is not good."

Schiller looked at Loki's body and said, "Now you're just an ordinary human, even less than Thor when he first came to Earth. At least he was stronger than you."

"As the wisest and most cautious person in Asgard, you wouldn't be thinking of traveling a vast distance to that desolate and remote planet to save someone you keep saying you hate, would you?"

After saying that, Schiller picked up his coffee cup and left the ward. Loki lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. After a long while, he murmured to himself, "Ordinary people..."

The situation on Planet Sakaar, however, has changed somewhat, as Thor's special abilities have been discovered by Prince Ashan, who oversees the Red Ring Mine.

Prince Ashan is the youngest son of the Red King Anmo Ashan, the same person Thor saw at the top of the mine that day.

Unlike most Planet Sakaar, he was small in stature, but because of his outstanding intelligence, he was always favored by the Red King.

When Thor was brought before Prince Ashan, he had become extremely haggard. His strong physique had begun to wither due to malnutrition, and his once handsome face with its classical charm had become sunken, with his eyes sinking even deeper into their sockets. He was almost unrecognizable as the strong warrior he once was.

Prince Ashan was different from the ordinary Sakaaran trapped on this planet. He reached out and took a drop of Thor's blood with his fingertip, smelled it, and said, "... The Asgardian?"

He gave a cold laugh and said, "You who pride yourselves on being the richest and noblest race in the universe, how could you resort to such despicable means to expel your own people?"

Thor stared at him, Prince Ashan continued, "Look, an Asgardian has become my slave. I should invite everyone here to see your pathetic state..."

"Are all you Asgardian like this?" King Arthur paced around Thor. "But that makes sense. You warmongers have no brains. All you do is fight and kill. This is what happens to you. You can't even mine properly, you idiot."

Anger blazed in Thor's eyes, but Prince Ashan ignored him and instead said to his subordinates, "Take him away, heal his wounds, and feed him. I need a good dog for the dueling tournament next week."

"Oh, by the way! Did the Grandmaster say that he also captured an Asgardian? They might even know each other..."

"The Grandmaster will probably be participating in next week's dueling tournament, right? That's really interesting!"

Prince Ashan laughed heartily and said, "Asgard loves to preach unity and honor. I'd like to see what it'll be like to see two Asgardian fight to the death."

The Sakaaran escorted Thor said, "I heard that the Grandmaster captured an Asgardian was his enemy, someone who apparently cheated him out of a bet. The Grandmaster gave him a good beating, and he's imprisoned now..."

"If you were to suggest that the two of them duel, the Grandmaster Venerable would be very pleased, and might even put in a good word for you with His Majesty the Emperor."

Prince Ashan clapped his hands happily and said, "Quickly take him away and heal him!"

Then he gave Thor a rather disdainful look and said, "How does he look like Asgardian? Go clean him up, and then bring out that set of golden armor from before and make him wear it. Isn't that how the Asgardian like to dress?"

Prince Ashan stretched out his arms and shouted, "Let all the Sakaaran see how the noble Asgardian tear each other apart like dogs in the arena! Haha...

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I'm not kidding, don't submit it! The author doesn't have a single word in their drafts!

You want me to write 14,000 words a day?! You might as well kill me!!!

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