The Destroyer descends

Mephisto made his move.

Evil Thor was enveloped in black mist. When he opened his eyes again, everything around him was scarlet and scorching hot. As far as he could see, the entire space was ablaze.

The scorching air made him frown.

With the Power of Thor, he barely felt it.

"Thor, Son of Odin, future heir to Asgard..."

Only after the voice rang out did evil Thor realize that he was not standing in some space at all. He was standing on a hand!

The palm was enormous. He looked up, and a red-skinned demon with pointed horns came into view!

"Where is this? And who are you?" Evil Thor had already changed into his armor.

He stared straight at the demon before him, his eyes full of arrogance and disdain.

"Don't be nervous. I just want to make a deal with you. I can help you absorb your good side and suppress him. All you need to do is help me with one thing in the future. What do you say?"

Inside the base, rain pattered crisply against the glass overhead.

Below it, Li Ang frowned, his eyes filled with irritation.

Mephisto's intervention had caught him off guard. His intention had been to let Thor lift his hammer again and remember how his good side felt, so that Thor could gain some insight.

That way, he could show Thor what kind of person was worthy of Mjolnir.

But plans could never keep up with changes. Mephisto's intervention had disrupted his plan.

"It's back! It's all back!" Good Thor was still hugging his hammer excitedly.

He held the hammer in one hand and half of the Tiger Talisman in the other.

"You really did it! Don't worry, I'll repay you properly!"

While Thor was still caught up in his excitement, a door nearby opened and Coulson walked in. "Mr. Li Ang, we detected some strange fluctuations just now."

The fluctuations he mentioned were probably the magical markings on the ground.

Li Ang inwardly cursed his luck, then turned to Coulson. "All right, what happens next isn't something S.H.I.E.L.D. can get involved in. Tell Nick Fury I'll handle this."

Since his own plan had been disrupted, he ought to put it back on track.

He would not run from it.

Good Thor coughed twice, seemingly realizing that he should not be so happy.

"What was going on with that other me earlier?"

Although he had been surprised by the appearance of another version of himself and had noticed the changes in himself, the excitement of lifting his hammer had made him overlook that question for a while.

That certainly fit Thor's thickheaded nature.

"It's simple enough..." Li Ang explained.

He did not explain the Tiger Talisman in detail, only saying that the stone separated a person's good and evil sides.

The good would become better, and the bad would become worse!

And now the evil version of Thor had been abducted by another demon.

"What?!" Good Thor looked stunned at the news. Once he recovered, he said gravely, "Then we have to stop him!"

After thinking for a few seconds, good Thor said, "I need to meet up with Jane first. My evil self will definitely go looking for her!"

With that, he began swinging his hammer, using its momentum to fling himself into the sky. He smashed straight through the glass and left.

Rain poured down, drenching Coulson. He stepped aside with a helpless expression. "Mr. Li Ang, I'll report everything to the director exactly as it happened."

As an agent, Coulson was well versed in the art of avoiding blame!

Big or small, every matter had to be left to the boss to decide. Most importantly, there had to be a paper trail.

Li Ang paused just as he was about to fly away. "Right, did you confiscate some scientists' research materials earlier?"

After retrieving the notebook, Li Ang left through the main entrance. After flying some distance, he located good Thor.

They had already returned to town.

Only a few scattered lights shone in the town at night.

Li Ang flew down and landed outside Jane's workshop. The rolling shutter nearby stood wide open, and good Thor sat leaning against the wall outside, his eyes vacant.

"What's with the long face?"

Seeing Li Ang arrive, good Thor raised his head, his eyes wet. "I... I got my father killed!"

At that, he burst into tears!

A burly man nearly two meters tall curled up and sobbed nonstop as though Brother Jie had gotten his hands on him. Li Ang did not have the heart to criticize him.

In the movie, Loki had apparently seen Odin fall into his sleep and used that as a pretext to deceive Thor.

Even the normal Thor had cried with guilt, let alone the current good Thor.

"It was all because of my warmongering and arrogance." Thor leaned against the wall, looking utterly drained.

His warmongering had sparked a war between Jotunheim and Asgard, and his arrogance had made his father pay the price for him.

Every time he thought of it, the pain pierced his heart!

As the saying went, without poverty, it was hard to mature; without setbacks, one stayed naive forever. That was exactly how Thor was now.

Li Ang said nothing, simply sitting quietly beside him.

Only when the morning sun rose, bathing the distance in golden light, did Li Ang say, "So you just believed him?"

At those words, Thor turned his head, seeming to recover a little from his daze.

"You believe everything your little brother says? He says your dad's dead, so he's dead? If he said he was the Lord of the Nine Realms, would you believe that too?" Li Ang asked.

"Would you like some coffee?" Jane's voice rang out as she emerged from the workshop carrying a cup of coffee.

Jane froze when she saw Li Ang, then surprise and delight flashed in her eyes. "You... you're Li Ang?!"

Inside the workshop, Jane's intern Darcy Lewis heard her. She ran out excitedly, and when she saw that it really was Li Ang, her eyes practically turned into little stars!

"Li Ang, in the flesh! Can I take a picture with you?"

Darcy ran back inside, then came running out again with a camera.

Li Ang had not expected Darcy to be his fan. Naturally, he had to be warm toward a fan.

As soon as the camera was set up, Darcy wrapped her arms around Li Ang's waist, trapping his arms against him as well.

While the two were taking pictures, four people came running over from nearby.

They were all dressed like Vikings. From a distance, they looked as though they had run straight off a film set.

There were three men and one woman. Every one of the men had a bushy beard, while the woman wore her hair in a braid over her chest and was dressed in close-fitting armor.

They were Thor's friends from Asgard.

Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral.

They ran toward Thor, all happy at first, but when they drew close and saw the state he was in, they froze for a moment.

The Thor they remembered would never have looked like this.

In the past, whenever Thor encountered a problem, he would immediately charge headlong into it. He would never have cried like a woman the way he was now.

"Thor?"

Their faces showed heartache, while Thor looked happy when he saw who had arrived. "Sif? I'm not dreaming, am I?!"

They hugged one another first. When they pulled apart, Sif asked with concern, "What's wrong, Thor?"

At her question, Thor looked sad. "Loki said my father died..."

They exchanged glances, all looking puzzled. "Odin only fell into a deep sleep. He isn't dead!"

"Nani?" Thor looked bewildered too.

While Thor was still bewildered, something changed in the sky.

The white clouds seemed to be stirred by something, and then a beam of rainbow-colored holy light descended from the heavens!