Thor's eyes snapped open.
At that moment, there was no sound, no halo, and no visual sign whatsoever.
Only one aura emanated from his body, spreading throughout the entire world without any concealment.
Felicia was the first to give up.
She was closest to Thor, and her knees buckled, causing her to kneel down.
She didn't even have time to think about the word "danger." All that surged in her mind was a pure, primal fear—the instinctive trembling of an ant when looked down upon by a higher being.
She ran on rooftops in New York for seven years, witnessed the Hulk smashing through buildings, Doctor Strange opening portals, and Magneto lifting an entire bridge.
Those scenes were terrifying.
But compared to now, those were just "stronger".
But the Thor before us is something from a completely different dimension.
Wanda took a half step back.
The Sorcerer Supreme's robes fluttered behind him without wind, instinctively signaling a defensive reaction.
But she quickly suppressed the impulse; any action she took now would be suicidal.
The level at which this aura resided was beyond her reach.
She's only at the Highfather Level now, not even touching the threshold of the Universe Level yet, and the man with the battle axe is no longer at this card table.
Doom stood ramrod straight, his dark green Cloak fluttering in the wind from the aura emanating from him.
Behind the iron-gray visor, he remained motionless, not because he didn't want to move, but because he dared not.
Doctor Doom has lived for decades, negotiated with Odin, arm wrestled with Reed, and traded his Soul Stone with Mephisto, the Lord of Hell.
He believed there were no more than five beings on this planet that Doom could be wary of.
But now, he has updated that list for the sixth time.
No, they just tore up the list.
"This..."
Morgan le Fay managed to squeeze out half a word, then swallowed the rest.
The wisp of dark purple magic thread at her fingertips snapped with a snap, scattering into powder on the ground.
She has fought Thor from their universe.
When Thor came to Latveria and started causing trouble with Mjolnir, Doom and she teamed up and fought for three days and three nights before barely managing to force him back.
She knew exactly what level Thor was at.
But now, standing in front of her was a blond man—
They're not even the same species as that Thor.
" Thor, could you please accept this?"
Wanda spoke up to remind her.
"Good."
Thor agreed, and with a swift and clean movement, he withdrew his aura, plunging the entire ruins into silence.
Felicia's knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Cold sweat had soaked through her combat suit.
Thor then turned his head and saw the two extra people beside him.
"Why?"
He tilted his head, pulled the Stormbreaker from the ground, and slung it over his shoulder.
"Isn't that Doom?"
He glanced at Doom, then shifted his gaze to Morgan, scanning him from head to toe, and clicked his tongue.
"You didn't get bitten by those zombie heroes?"
He pointed at Morgan.
"Is it because you have another old flame?"
Doom didn't respond.
Morgan didn't respond.
Under normal circumstances, anyone who dared to make fun of Doctor Doom like that would have been blown to smithereens by now.
The man who dared to mock Morgan le Fay has already had his soul turned into a lantern in the Underworld.
But at this moment, the two of them remained unusually silent.
Doom's shrewdness allowed him to complete a full calculation of the pros and cons within three seconds.
The best approach to engaging in dialogue with this kind of being is to remain silent.
Morgan's judgment was more direct.
Over the past few centuries, she has seen too many men who thought themselves powerful, and every single one of them eventually died because of her schemes.
But with the person in front of her, she couldn't even find the starting point for her schemes.
Charm?
The other person can rewrite her entire personality in a single thought.
Black magic?
The aura the opponent just exuded contained at least five types of energy fluctuations she had never seen before.
Not talking back is a sign of good manners.
Keeping quiet is a way to save your life.
"Hiss..."
Thor yawned to himself and put Stormbreaker back into his spatial storage.
That aura he just felt was proof that he had entered the Multiverse Level. Once that shell was broken through, he felt as comfortable as if he were soaking in a hot spring.
He's now Multiverse Level being, which barely qualifies him to be considered a worthy guest. Although there are still many beings in Marvel stronger than him, this is still progress.
Thor's gaze fell on Valeria.
"What's going on?"
Valeria stared at the rapidly scrolling energy readings on the holographic projection screen, muttering things like " Multiverse Level threshold breach," "Data acquisition failed," and "That old man has leveled up again."
She didn't even look up when Thor asked her question.
" Victor wants us to go with him to his Doom Fortress."
She paused, glanced at Doom, and added.
"Not my godfather, but the one of this universe."
Thor nodded.
Let's go then.
Anyway, this universe has gone through so many cycles, and the ending is always the same: either you become a zombie or you get eaten by a zombie. A few minor accidents are perfectly normal.
"OK."
Valeria finally raised her head and leaned closer.
"What did you learn this time?"
Her eyes were filled with scientific fervor, and she pointed the holographic projection at Thor, as if she wanted to pin him down on the table and perform a slicing analysis right there and then.
Thor glanced at her.
"We can solve this zombie virus."
Valeria's fingers paused on the projection screen.
Doom's fingers, which were behind his back, also paused.
Wanda suddenly looked up.
"Real?"
"Hmm." Thor nodded, "But we'll have to wait until the next cycle, when it just begins. Look at us now—"
He casually pointed to the zombie remains scattered all around him, and the lingering gray-red haze in the distant sky.
"There are hardly any living people left in the entire universe; there's no point in taking action now."
Felicia got up from the ground, dusted off her knees, and then asked a question that everyone was concerned about.
After reincarnation, will we still have our memories?
Thor thought for two seconds.
"Very few."
Felicia's shoulders slumped slightly.
Thor added another sentence.
"If you want to stay, I can implant this memory back into your minds."
Felicia quickly waved her hand.
"Never mind, never mind."
A rare, bitter smile appeared on her face.
"It's better not to remember such an unforgettable experience."
Watching her city turn into a graveyard, seeing familiar faces turn into zombies and lunge at her neck—why remember all this? To give her nightmares every night?
Before they could speak again, Thor casually waved his hand in the air.
The next second, the ruins beneath everyone's feet vanished.
In its place was the metal floor of the circular monitoring room on the highest level of the Latveria Doom Fortress.
Doom and Morgan paused simultaneously.
For a full second, the two locked eyes.
Morgan's fingertips began unconsciously drawing out magical threads again. This time, she didn't wrap them around her wrist; she just twirled them in the air and let them dissipate.
She quickly reviewed the technical details of the teleportation in her mind.
There is no portal.
There is no magic circle.
There was no incantation.
No target coordinates.
This man had never been to Latveria, never seen this hall, and had never even glanced at Doom's magical signature.
Then he casually waved his hand, and the five of them were standing there.
Strange couldn't do, Thor could do with ease in front of him.
Before Strange teleports, he must at least draw a golden magic circle and lock the coordinates.
Furthermore, Doctor Strange can only teleport to places he has already been.
"Oh."
Morgan forced a half-smile out of his throat, not even knowing what he was laughing at.
She mentally defined personalities for herself and Doom--
The two most powerful magicians on Earth.
If the two of them were to go to another universe, they wouldn't even be able to touch the barrier of that universe, let alone pinpoint its location or teleport a team of people.
The difference is so huge it's almost unbearable to look at.
Doom's fingertips twitched beneath his Cloak, but he said nothing in the end.
Thor had already walked outside.
He didn't even wait for Doom to call him before turning and entering the corridor on the east side of the fortress, his steps light and practiced.
Doom paused for a moment.
That direction—that's the dungeon.
He didn't invite the man to the dungeon; he didn't even mention in a single sentence that his fortress had a dungeon.
But Thor left without even a moment's hesitation.
Doom followed.
Morgan followed closely behind, a genuine seriousness appearing in his turquoise eyes for the first time.
At the end of the corridor, Thor raised his hand and placed it on the three-meter-high alloy door.
Magic lock, biometrics, quantum encryption—three layers of protection, melted silently beneath his fingertips like butter melting in the sun.
Doom paused half a step behind him.
He designed that door himself.
The door opened.
The lights in the dungeon turned on automatically, one by one.
In the innermost row of cells, there were three people locked up. One man was sitting on the floor against the wall, his straitjacket covered in scratches.
The other two are women.
The one on the left, with long green hair and a suppressor on his wrist, is looking up warily at the doorway.
A familiar face, Magneto's daughter Polaris, Lorna Dane.
The blonde woman on the right wore a blue cropped top with yellow stars over a tattered brown jacket. Her pink belt was askew, and the pink scarf around her neck was so dirty that its original color was no longer visible. One of her gloves was torn, and one of her knee pads was loose.
She heard a noise and looked up.
Thor looked at the woman in front of him, quickly found her information in his mind, and grinned.
"Hey, Dazzler, what are you doing here?"
Alison Blair opened her mouth, but couldn't close it for a long time.