The thought had barely crossed Thor's mind when his body reacted immediately.
Without even greeting anyone else in the hall, his figure became ethereal, enveloped by the power of Law of Space, and in the next second, he vanished without a trace from before the Fantastic Four and the others.
The Asgard palace above Frost City.
This is Emma Frost's office, and also the highest point in the entire Frost City.
The pure white crystal floor was so shiny it reflected light, and outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows lay the Eternity, unchanging chaotic sky of the Knowhere.
A ripple spread through the space, and Thor's figure emerged from it.
There were two people standing in the office.
Emma Frost Frost wore a white suit that accentuated her perfect figure, her long blonde hair cascading down her back, her face maintaining its usual coldness.
Betsy stood to her side and slightly behind, dressed in a dark purple bodysuit, arms crossed, as quiet as a statue, barely breathing.
Thor's appearance did not surprise the two of them at all.
"What do you need me for?" Thor asked bluntly. He didn't believe Emma Frost was using that commanding mental communication just to invite him for afternoon tea.
Emma Frost didn't answer immediately. She raised her hand, her fair fingers lightly tapping the smooth desk.
A cylindrical, transparent container made of star-shaped diamonds slowly rose from under the table and came to rest on the table.
"Look at this." Emma Frost nodded her chin toward the container.
Thor stepped forward and looked down.
Inside the container, a beetle the size of a fingernail lay quietly, its body completely black, with chitinous barbs on its back, and six slender limbs curled under its body, appearing to be dead.
"An insect?" Thor looked up at Emma Frost. " Frost City is infested with insects? Should I strike it with lightning?"
Emma Frost rolled her eyes at him; the usually icy queen rarely showed a hint of human emotion.
"Don't talk nonsense." She tapped her finger on the outside of the container. "This thing is much more complicated than you think."
Thor raised an eyebrow, no longer joking.
He knew Emma Frost's personality; she would never ask him for help unless she was truly facing a difficult problem.
"Recently, when I used my mental powers to scan the entire city, I discovered that some citizens were behaving very abnormally."
Emma Frost crossed her arms and paced back and forth. "They're like puppets, mechanically repeating their daily routines, but their emotions are practically nonexistent."
Thor listened quietly without interrupting.
"I hacked into one of their brains." Emma Frost stopped and turned to face Thor. "And then, in his brainstem, I found this."
She was referring, of course, to the black beetle on the table.
"It controls the host by consuming neurons and releases a special kind of mental wave that blocks the host's own emotions and thoughts."
Emma Frost's narration was calm, but Thor could hear the anger lurking beneath it.
Frost City was her territory, the kingdom she had built from scratch.
For someone to pull such a dirty trick in her kingdom is tantamount to slapping her hard across the face.
"It died immediately after I removed it from that person's brain," Emma Frost added.
Thor extended a finger and touched the outer wall of the star diamond container.
A barely perceptible wisp of Law of Analysis energy spread from his fingertips, silently seeping into the container and beginning to analyze the beetle's corpse.
"Besides this, have you found anything else?" Thor asked as he analyzed the situation.
"Yes." Emma Frost's expression turned serious. "I traced it back using the lingering mental link from this insect."
"Although the connection was very weak and broke the moment the bug died, I still managed to catch a bit of information."
Emma Frost paused, as if organizing her thoughts.
"I sensed an immense, chaotic, and hungry consciousness. It was like a queen of a nest, and these insects were its extended tentacles."
It has a name.
Betsy, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke. Her voice was soft, yet it had a metallic quality.
" Oblivion."
Betsy has a special sensitivity to the Law of Oblivion; even the faintest remnant is enough for her to detect.
Emma Frost nodded, continuing Betsy's sentence.
"The message transmitted by that consciousness contained a title."
" Annihilus."
The moment the words left his mouth, Thor's fingertips paused slightly.
Annihilus, the Annihilus?
That ruler of Negative Zone, the notorious catastrophic wholesaler of the universe, the guy who unleashed several " Oblivion Wave "?
Countless pieces of information about this tyrant flashed through Thor's mind in an instant.
This guy's goal is never some small-scale infiltration and control; every time he goes out, it is accompanied by the destruction and Carnage of the entire galaxy.
It's set its sights on the Knowhere?
Yes, the Knowhere itself is a massive energy aggregate, a junkyard of countless fragmented timelines and cosmic debris. For Annihilus, who lives by devouring and destroying, it's a buffet paradise.
Emma Frost and Betsy clearly didn't realize the true meaning behind the name.
In their view, this might just be a powerful, unknown enemy, a threat that needs to be taken seriously.
But for Thor, who possesses memories of his past life, these four words represent a catastrophe that will sweep across the entire universe.
"It seems... it's targeting us." Emma Frost's voice held a hint of seriousness. "I can feel that enormous consciousness approaching the coordinates of the Knowhere."
Thor withdrew the Law of Analysis, his expression unchanged, showing no sign of change.
"I see."
He responded indifferently, as if he had only heard the name of an ordinary enemy.
He raised his hand, curled his fingers, and gently tapped the outer wall of the star-diamond container.
Thump.
The crisp sound echoed in the quiet office.
Inside the container, the black beetle, which should have been completely dead, suddenly had its chitinous barbs on its back stand up one by one, its six curled limbs suddenly unfold, and its tiny, dense compound eyes, through the crystal wall of the container, turned firmly towards Thor.