Thor did not answer immediately.
Something clicked in his mind, colliding with his thoughts. Memories of his past life surged, fragments of a certain anime pieced together: a mechanical body, six-colored light, a single slash cleaving a planet in two, the Watcher being chased and beaten...
That can't be such a coincidence.
Infinity Ultron.
That thing was no pushover. Ultron, empowered by the Six Infinity Stones, had awakened to the point where he could sense the Watcher's presence and hunted the Watcher down into the dimensional rifts.
In the original storyline Uatu was driven to a dead end and had no choice but to gather a motley crew of troops from the multiverse to besiege him.
But there was someone else who concerned Thor even more.
Dark Supreme Doctor Strange.
That madman who devoured countless dimensional beings and compressed the entire universe into a Crystal in order to resurrect Christine Palmer.
His strength is ridiculously high; he's at least a Universe Level.
If I could help him resurrect Christine...
Thor pressed his tongue against his back teeth. A Sorcerer Supreme- level henchman who owed him a huge favor—this deal was a win-win situation no matter how you looked at it.
He turned to look at Wanda.
" Wanda, we might have to wait a while before we see the zombie version of you."
Wanda paused, her scarlet pupils flickering slightly, before she could even speak—
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Valeria's voice drifted over from the side. She tossed her golden ponytail, crossed her arms, and wore an expression that was utterly infuriating.
"So you've got your eye on Wanda? What, aren't Emma Frost and Betsy enough for you?--"
Thor waved his right hand.
A spatial rift tore open thirty centimeters behind Valeria, and a golden halo led to the central square of Frost City.
At the same time, his foot had already been lifted.
The sole of the shoe hit the little rascal's butt squarely.
"Awooo! Thor--!!"
Valeria vanished into the portal with a bloodcurdling scream, her golden ponytail swaying one last time before the rift closed.
Thor withdrew his foot, coughed twice, and turned to Uatu without changing his expression.
"Sure, I'll help you with that."
He paused, then said, "I'll go pick someone up first."
Uatu nodded, his 3.7-meter-tall body remaining perfectly still, his Binary calmly fixed on Thor, without urging him or showing any other expression.
Thor put his arm around Wanda's waist, and space tore open, teleporting the two of them.
When it reappeared, it was in a suburb of Earth in Universe 2149.
Alison Blair was standing in the doorway of a half-collapsed house.
Her short, golden hair was disheveled by the wind. In front of her stood a middle-aged woman with slightly graying hair—her mother.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, her thin hands gripped her daughter's wrist tightly, and her lips moved as if she were saying something.
Alison lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Thor stopped fifty meters away and did not approach.
Wanda glanced at him but said nothing.
Three minutes later, Alison let go of her mother's hand.
She turned around, saw Thor in the distance, paused for a moment, and then walked steadily towards him.
Her eyes were red, but there were no tear stains.
Thor didn't waste any words, raising his hand to tear open a portal leading to Frost City. A golden halo hummed in the air.
"Go ahead, go directly to the city lord there." He tilted his head slightly. "You might even know him."
Alison looked at the portal of light, then glanced at Thor.
"... Thanks."
She stepped into the portal, her short blonde hair flashing one last time before she vanished.
The crack closed.
There was silence for a few seconds.
Wanda then slowly began to speak.
"So going to help that Watcher this time... was actually just a side thing, right?"
Thor raised an eyebrow at her; the woman's intuition was as accurate as ever.
"You've been the Sorcerer Supreme for a while now." He changed the subject, hands in his pockets, his tone excessively casual. "How about treating it as a trip to relax and clear your head?"
Wanda was not misled.
"That Infinity Ultron sounds very powerful. I probably can't help you with that."
"It's alright, you're here for tourism, not to fight and kill," Thor said casually. "Maybe you could learn a thing or two from Dazzler. If she weren't Mutants, she'd probably be a top global superstar."
Wanda remained silent for a moment.
"In most parallel universes... has the relationship between Mutants and humans always been like this? Completely incompatible?"
Thor thought for a moment.
"It's actually quite simple. You see, there's discrimination among different races, between countries, between people of different heights and weights, between different regions, and even between men and women—this thing just can't be eliminated."
"The main problem is that most Mutants have uncontrollable powers when they awaken, making them prone to injuring people. Plus, Magneto and his gang are always causing trouble, so it's no wonder their reputation isn't good."
Wanda listened without interrupting.
"To be honest, Professor X is also somewhat involved in this," Thor said, pursing his lips. "He was the first to distinguish Mutants from humans and coin the term ' Mutants.' Just like Valeria's father—you could call them wise men, but what they've done... it's hard to describe."
He paused, then suddenly smiled.
"Actually, the best solution is for everyone to come to the Knowhere and increase the population of my city. You've been there, haven't you? Mutants aren't exactly popular there—they're at least close. After all, they're all just reckless brutes who like to fight; who cares if you have a genetic mutation?"
Wanda's lips twitched, but she didn't actually smile; however, her tense shoulders relaxed a little.
In the distant void, Uatu's figure reappeared.
He waited until Thor finished speaking before he spoke.
" Thor, Wanda, come with me."
The blue-robed giant pushed with both hands, and a dark blue dimensional rift opened up in the void.
A dim, warm light shone from the other end of the crack, and the faint sounds of clinking glasses could be heard, along with some kind of... jazz music?
Thor raised an eyebrow.
Tavern.
The tavern nestled in the dimensional rift, across from it is probably just a Dark Strange being with a few minor allies.
He stepped into the crevice, Wanda following closely behind.
The moment the light engulfed the two figures, Thor caught a glimpse of a figure in a tattered Cloak sitting alone in the corner at the far end of the bar, with a dozen or so empty glasses in front of him.
Those eyes—black sclera, eerie green irises, and dark purple veins covering the skin around their sockets—radiated a decaying yet intense magical aura.
Dark Supreme Doctor Strange, raised his head, his murky green eyes landing on Thor.
Those cloudy green eyes held no curiosity, no wariness, only a weariness, almost numb, left behind after being crushed by endless years.
"Another new person has arrived."
Doctor Strange Supreme's voice was dry and rough, like sandpaper scraping against rusty iron.
He glanced down at the empty cup in front of him, then stretched out his hand—a wisp of dark green magic emerged from his fingertips, conjuring a cup of amber liquid out of thin air.
Thor didn't rush forward.
He was sizing up the man.
Tiny, tentacle-like shadows writhed along the edges of the tattered Cloak, traces left after it had devoured countless dimensional beings.
His entire magical field was so dense it was almost tangible, and the air was filled with a strange aura of decay and caramel.
powerful.
He is more than an order of magnitude stronger than Doctor Strange in the Prime Universe. Judging from this energy fluctuation, he is at least among the top Universe Level.
But it's useless now.
This guy ruined his entire universe just to resurrect a woman, but he still failed. Now he's sitting in a tavern in the dimensional rift, drowning his sorrows in alcohol, a complete loser.
Thor's mind raced.
Christine Palmer.
This person is Doctor Strange Supreme's Achilles' heel, his only weakness.
If I could do something that Doctor Strange couldn't do even with all his efforts—
Then this mage, who is close to the Multiverse Level, is someone in my pocket.
" Wanda, please have a seat." Thor patted her shoulder.
Wanda glanced around the tavern.
The space was small, there was no bartender behind the counter, and a few tables were scattered around. Apart from the Dark Supreme in the corner, there were several blurry figures sitting in other places, but their presence was extremely low, like afterimages in a dimensional fold.
She found a table against the wall and sat down, her eyes never leaving the figure in that corner.
The Sorcerer Supreme's intuition was screaming warnings: the magic emanating from that man who looked just like Strange... was very wrong.
It's not just simple strength, but a distorted strength that violates the laws of nature, like forcibly stuffing the entire ocean into a human-shaped container, which could explode at any moment.
Thor had already walked up to Doctor Strange Supreme's table.
He pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down casually.
Stephen Strange.
The Dark Supreme raised his eyelids.
You know me.
"I know a lot of people." Thor crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair. "Like Christine Palmer."
The air froze instantly, and a twisted, dark purple magic slowly rose.
Doctor Strange Supreme's glass hovered in mid-air, the liquid inside rippling slightly.
Those green pupils within the dark sclera suddenly contracted, dark purple lines spreading from their eye sockets to their temples, and their entire magical aura surged in an instant—
The tavern walls creaked and groaned, and several cracks snaked down from the ceiling.
"You--"
"Don't rush me." Thor raised a finger, his tone as calm as if discussing what to eat today. "I'm not here to reopen old wounds."
He leaned forward slightly.
"I'm here to make a deal."
Doctor Strange Supreme did not retract his surging magic; the writhing shadow tentacles emerged from beneath his Cloak, leaving corrosive marks on the table.
But he didn't make a move.
What transaction?
Thor held up one finger.
"I'll help you revive Christine."
He held up his second finger.
"I'll need your help anytime in the future, so please be there for me."
The tavern was so quiet that the hum of the dimensional walls could be heard.
Doctor Strange Supreme stared at Thor, and in his twisted eyes, beneath the stagnant, numb surface, something was churning violently.
"Impossible," he said.
His voice was hoarse, almost broken, and tinged with despair.
"I've tried everything. I've devoured thousands of dimensional beings and compressed the energy of the entire universe, but it still doesn't work. It's an Absolute Point in Time, unchangeable."
Thor tilted his head.
"The methods you tried were methods within the framework of the rules of your universe."
He raised his right hand, his five fingers spread.
A miniature sphere of light appeared in his palm, containing more than thirty kinds of laws of power, gold, silver, scarlet, black, pure white... intertwined and swirling, each representing a fundamental law of the universe.
Doctor Strange Supreme's pupils dilated suddenly.
He is the Sorcerer Supreme, and he knows better than anyone what those lights represent.
"You..."
"I am not bound by the rules of any single universe." Thor withdrew his hand, and the sphere of light dissipated. " Absolute Point in Time are just a math problem for me that takes an extra three seconds."
Doctor Strange Supreme's breathing became rapid, his shadow tentacles wriggled wildly, and a fist-sized hole was corroded into the tabletop.
He stared intently into Thor's eyes, as if trying to find a trace of deception within them.
Ten seconds.
Twenty seconds.
"... If you're lying to me."
The Dark Supreme's voice was so low it was almost inaudible, each word trembling with a near-madness.
"I'll drag you into my stomach, to keep company with those thousands of dimensional beings."
Thor grinned. "Looks like I've got him!"
"Make a deal."
On the other side of the bar, Wanda, holding a cup of hot tea that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, watched as two men reached some kind of agreement across a table riddled with corrosion.
She took a sip of tea.
So this is what Thor meant by "tourism"?
The dimensional rift opened again, Uatu's figure emerged from it.
The blue-robed giant's starry eyes swept across the tavern, finally landing on Thor and Doctor Strange Supreme.
Everyone's here.
He raised his hand, and a holographic projection appeared in the void—a silver-white mechanical body suspended in the starry sky, with Six Infinity Stones embedded in its chest, radiating a breathtaking light.
In the scene, the mechanical entity is tearing open a dimensional wall of a universe with one hand, as easily as tearing a piece of paper.
"This is your goal."
Uatu's voice remained calm as usual, but Thor noticed that this Watcher, who had lived for billions of years, paused for half a second before uttering his next sentence, a rare occurrence.
" Infinity Ultron has already annihilated seven universes. At its current rate of expansion, it will reach the core axis of the multiverse within three days."
Doctor Strange Supreme stood up, the shadowy tentacles on his tattered Cloak receded, and his aura instantly transformed from that of a decadent drunkard, with dark magic surging within him.
"Three days," he repeated.
Thor also stood up, stretched his neck, and his knuckles cracked.
That's enough.
He pointed to the tavern decorations next door, "For this battle, Strange and I are enough; these filler guys don't need to go."