Thor's Questioning

So Jane had arrived.

When she woke up that morning and reached for the blankets, she found that the man who had slept beside her last night was already gone, leaving behind only his masculine scent.

Hearing the commotion, she had come over groggily, only to see Thor and Apocalypse throwing wild punches at each other.

Jane rushed over, wedging her small frame between the two men as she tried her best to push them apart.

Thor and Apocalypse had no choice but to stop, lest they hurt Jane.

"Let's call it a day. Once I regain my divine power, I'll definitely fight you again," Thor said.

"Fine! Next time, I won't hold back."

"Heh heh, Tang, you have no idea how strong I'll be once I recover my divine power..."

Hearing that they were arranging another fight, Jane flew into a rage. "Stop it! What problem between two grown men can't be solved with a drink? Do you have to fight in the street?"

Yesterday, she had disliked how much the two men drank. Now, she wished they would drink themselves into a stupor.

Thor said bluntly, "Woman, you wouldn't understand!"

His attitude made Jane grind her teeth in anger!

They had slept in the same bed last night, yet the moment he woke up, he thought she was meddling?!

No wonder Jane had slapped him when they met again in Thor 2. He truly did not understand a woman's heart at all.

But when she saw Thor's blackened eyes and blood at the corner of his mouth, Jane felt a pang of heartache and could not help turning around to glare fiercely at Apocalypse.

Apocalypse spread his hands. "Jane, don't look at me like that. Thor is enjoying himself. You've never fought, so you can't understand the joy of fighting. Once you do, you'll fall in love with battle."

Thor nodded along from the side. Making Tang his friend had truly been the right choice—they got along perfectly.

Jane said indignantly, "I'll never fight in my life. If there's a problem, call the police. Fighting can't solve anything."

"Haha, one day, you'll enjoy fighting even more than Thor," Apocalypse declared.

Jane stomped her foot in anger. "No, no, no! Other than beating you two up, I won't hit anyone!"

Apocalypse chuckled and stopped provoking Jane.

When Jane became the female Thor, she wielded the hammer even more skillfully than Thor did and fought with incredible enthusiasm. It was impossible to connect that with the quiet, timid, rabbit-like Jane she was now.

Jane helped Thor into the bar and carefully tended to his wounds.

Thor clearly looked like he was enjoying it, yet he deliberately cried out in pain from time to time, scaring Jane into becoming even gentler.

Then he amusingly challenged Apocalypse with his eyes, as if showing off the beauty in his arms.

Apocalypse shrugged. Thor was using a beauty to throw his weight around. What an unfair guy.

Once his Black Widow arrived, he would have to show Thor plenty of affection too.

The injuries on Apocalypse's face were all fake. He had deliberately controlled his blood and energy to keep them from healing too quickly, and he could not be bothered treating them. He ordered a pitcher of strong beer and slowly savored it.

Before he had even taken two drinks, a crowd rushed in from outside, shouting, "Master, please accept me as your disciple! I want to learn Eastern kung fu!"

The noisy crowd gave Apocalypse a headache.

"Shut up! I'm not taking disciples. Keep making noise, and I'll throw all of you out."

The crowd instantly fell silent!

Apocalypse's flashy martial arts had been far too frightening. In ordinary people's eyes, he seemed immensely imposing.

Some people who had merely come along for the excitement immediately lost their nerve, and more than half the crowd quickly dispersed.

However, a young man said, "Master, I'm willing to pay tuition. I'll pay however much you want."

"Do I look like I'm short on money? How about I pay you to stop bothering me?"

"Uh..." The young man did not know how to respond.

Everyone knew about how Apocalypse had thrown out a roll of hundred-dollar bills yesterday and treated the entire bar to drinks. He might even have been richer than everyone present.

Of course, although Apocalypse said he would pay them, no one dared actually take his money.

"Master, if you don't accept me, I, Ron, will kneel here until I die!"

With a smack, the young man dropped straight to his knees.

Apocalypse sized up the young man named Ron. He had a fair face, rosy cheeks, and curly golden hair—a typical Western young man.

Seeing Apocalypse examine him, Ron hurriedly straightened his back as he knelt.

Apocalypse said irritably, "Where did you learn all this?"

"In kung fu movies, whenever the protagonist kneels down, the master always accepts him as a disciple in the end," Ron said.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Apocalypse burst out laughing. Who had not been like this when they were young? He simply teased, "I'm only passing through this town and will leave soon. I might never return for the rest of my life. Even if you kneel yourself to death by then, I won't see it. What will you do?"

"Uh..." Ron was left speechless.

Something seemed wrong with this approach. In the movies, the protagonist always knelt at the master's doorway, where the master came and went, so sincerity could be seen at a glance.

But this Eastern master was merely passing through. If he knelt here, the man would not even see him. So should he keep kneeling or not?

Yet if he got up right away, it would seem as if he lacked sincerity, making success even less likely.

Thinking of this, Ron remained kneeling there awkwardly.

Getting up was not right, but neither was staying down.

Ignoring him, Apocalypse chatted with Thor. "Thor, don't you know any cultivation techniques?"

"There are some in Asgard's library, but I have no use for them and have never practiced them. Why do you ask?"

"My potential has been exhausted. I want to find some techniques to increase my strength."

Thor nodded. "As an Earthling, your strength has indeed reached its peak. If you want to improve further, you'll have to break through the limits of your race and bloodline. That's difficult."

Thor had lost his divine power, and his senses had become dull, so he could not see Apocalypse's true strength.

Still, based on the strength Apocalypse had displayed in their fight just now, it was already the limit for an Earthling. Given Thor's understanding of humans, he naturally assumed Apocalypse's strength was only at that level.

"Then I'll have to find a chance to ask your father, Odin, whether he has any methods," Apocalypse said with a sigh.

Thor looked surprised. "You know my father?"

"I spoke to him briefly yesterday. He invited me to visit Asgard."

Jane, who was beside them, could no longer listen. "Tang, are you done yet?! You know Thor isn't thinking clearly right now and has delusions, so stop talking to him about Asgardian myths all day!"

"Hahahaha, Jane, you don't understand. A god opens his heart to you, yet you treat him like a lunatic. Since that's the case, what were you doing with a lunatic last night?"

Jane immediately blushed. "None of your business!"

But Thor's expression turned serious!

"You know I'm Thor?!"

"You've been saying all along that you're Thor. Of course I know."

Thor was at a loss for words. "Uh... I mean, you believed me just because I said so? Jane has never believed me."

The reason Thor had always introduced himself as Thor was not because he did not know it would cause ordinary people to misunderstand. Rather, as a god facing mortals, he disdained lying.

Gods had the pride of gods. They did not need to concern themselves with mortals' opinions!

Mortals took him for a fool, never realizing that the true god stood before them and they failed to recognize him.

Apocalypse said, "I believe you because I know you truly are Thor! I even spoke briefly with your father, and I know you were banished to the mortal world by the Allfather."

Thor's expression darkened. "Did Father send you?"

"No. I'm an Earthling. I learned of your arrival and came to find you for a simple reason: I want cultivation techniques that can help me break through my natural limits."

"You're not lying to me?"

"There's no need to lie to you."

"Are you a follower through whom my father descends?"

In Western religion, followers through whom gods descended were believers who could allow a god to possess them.

Such believers had to be exceptionally devout, selfless and without ego, offering everything to their god.

Their bodies also had to be pure and strong enough to bear the power of divine descent.

When necessary, they could receive divine revelations or borrow a god's power to destroy demons.

Apocalypse said, "No."

"Really not? If you aren't a follower, how could you have received my father's divine revelation?"

Apocalypse smiled. "Thor, if you don't believe me, I can beat you up again. My father's followers would never dare strike Odin's son—the future king of Asgard, would they?"

Remembering that his whole body still hurt and that he had no idea when the two black eyes on his face would fade, Thor said, "Fine, I believe you."

Ding!

System Prompt: Thor's Trust: 20%. Luck Sharing: 20%.

Apocalypse let out a sigh of relief. At last, he had gained Thor's genuine trust.

Although the two of them had drunk so boldly earlier, Thor had only regarded Apocalypse as a mortal, a passerby who could relieve his boredom.

A god would not give his trust to a mortal.

Now, after just a few questions and answers, some of Thor's doubts had been cleared up. And since even his father had spoken to Apocalypse, it showed that the Earthling before him was no ordinary man.

Only then did Thor reluctantly regard Apocalypse as an equal friend, giving him 20% trust.

Thor asked again, "What did my father say to you?"

"He only said one thing: he welcomed me to visit Asgard."

"Why?"

Apocalypse shrugged. "I can't tell you for now. I'm afraid it'll hurt your feelings."

Thor said angrily, "You're not much of a friend. You only tell half the story. Once I get my hammer back, I'll return those two black eyes to you."

"Even if you get Thor's Hammer back, you still might not be my match."

Apocalypse had every reason to say that.