The farce in the woods began with Steve's powerful flying kick and gradually subsided with his exhausted panting.
He threw away the Widow's Bite, which had stopped crackling with electricity, and stared intently at the mangled, almost unrecognizable mass of flesh on the ground, his chest heaving violently.
That's not satisfaction, but an endless emptiness after venting.
Tony Stark silently walked forward, glanced at Nick Fury, who was hanging on by a thread under Thor's power and couldn't even groan, and expressionlessly raised his foot, delivering a final blow to the one-eyed man's face.
"Click."
A crisp cracking sound rang out, and Tony withdrew his foot, not even bothering to check the result.
He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the crowd and landing directly on the man watching the show with his arms crossed.
" Thor." Tony's voice was a little hoarse. He looked down at the familiar Arc Reactor on his chest, then looked up at Thor.
"I remember you died in Ragnarok. What's going on now? You've resurrected us all?"
His gaze finally settled on the silent woman beside Thor.
The woman who wore a horned crown on her forehead and exuded an aura of death.
"And her," Tony gritted his teeth, " Hela... what the hell is going on here?"
This question, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirred up a thousand waves in the hearts of all the resurrected heroes.
Yes, Hela!
The Goddess of Death who wielded Six Infinity Stones and killed them all!
Why is she standing here so quietly?
Moreover, judging from her position, Thor is clearly the one she respects!
All eyes instantly shifted from Nick Fury on the ground to Hela, their gazes filled with wariness, fear, and deep confusion.
Thor shrugged, completely unconcerned about the crowd's reactions. He spoke lazily, his tone as indifferent as if he were discussing a trivial matter. "I don't know anything about her either."
He paused, glanced at Hela beside him whose face had instantly turned somewhat unpleasant, and added, "You can consider her to be my subordinate now."
subordinates?
These two words had a greater impact than Thor's resurrection of everyone.
Tony Stark's brain nearly shut down.
He remembered how he was torn apart by the spatial storm, how Peter had turned to death before his eyes, and that hopeless war.
The Goddess of Death who viewed all living beings as worthless has now become Thor's subordinate?
This is Nick even more outrageous than Nick Fury's shitty plan!
However, before Tony could press further, Thor seemed to have lost interest.
With a casual wave of his hand, a divine force, invisible to the naked eye, silently passed through the crowd and precisely entered Jane Foster's body, who was embracing and weeping with her parents.
Thor knows his ex-girlfriend all too well.
Her stubbornness and self-respect were stronger than anyone else's.
She would absolutely not accept power if it were presented to her openly.
So, he simply and quietly improved her physical abilities to the level of fifty Captain America, and incidentally helped her develop her already intelligent brain.
Oh, and by the way, her parents' lifespans were also extended to the limit of this planet.
That's enough; it's his final compensation for this relationship.
Having done all this, Thor ignored the bewildered Tony and turned his attention to another group of people in the crowd.
Angela, the Enchantress Amora, Lorelei, Heimdall, and Valkyrie.
These are the remnants of Asgard.
"And you?" Thor asked. "Are you going back to Asgard? Or somewhere else?"
Hela spoke almost without hesitation, her icy voice ringing out first. "I'll go with you."
Her answer was crisp and emotionless, as if it were not a choice, but a given fact.
Immediately afterward, the Enchantress Amora smiled seductively, her emerald eyes sweeping over Thor for a moment before declaring, "There's nothing left in Asgard for me to cherish; naturally, I'll follow the strong."
Seeing this, her sister Lorelei weakly chimed in, "Me... me too."
Thor's gaze finally settled on Heimdall and Angela.
"My duty is to protect the King of Asgard." Heimdall, gripping his greatsword, bowed slightly to Thor. "Wherever you are, I will be there."
Valkyrie replied without hesitation, "I'll go with you, but make sure there's plenty of alcohol!"
Only Angela, the strikingly beautiful Huntress with long, fiery red hair, shook her head.
She wiped the Glaive in her hand, her tone cold. "I'm used to being alone."
Thor nodded, not insisting, respecting his nominal sister's choice.
However, just as these people were deciding whether to stay or leave, a roar filled with suppressed anger erupted once again.
"Fuck you, Thor! You're leaving?!"
Steve, his eyes bloodshot, rushed over, grabbed Thor by the collar, and nearly spat in his face.
"Don't you fucking want your Asgard anymore?! Your people are still wandering the universe! Are you going to be a coward and just walk away now?!"
This scene made Tony Stark, who was standing next to him, twitch in the corner of his eye.
He stared strangely at the Old Popsicle spouting "Fuck you!" with only one thought in his mind—was this guy really Steve Rogers?
That moral paragon who even deducts money from his paycheck for swearing?
What exactly happened in the years after his death?
Thor dismissively brushed Steve's hand away and dusted off non-existent dust from his collar.
"No." He shook his head, a hint of impatience in his voice. "I have my own territory now, my own city. Let whoever wants to deal with Asgard's affairs mind their own business."
"You!" Steve trembled with rage, yet he was speechless. The Thor before him was so powerful that he felt both unfamiliar and powerless.
"Well..." Tony Stark interjected just in time; he didn't want to see Captain America engage in a full-blown brawl.
He looked at Thor and asked the most crucial question, "Can we come to you?"
This question made everyone prick up their ears.
Luna Snow Seol Hee, Cyclone Lei Ling, Amadeus Zhao... they all looked at Thor nervously, waiting for his answer.
Thor thought about it and seemed to find the suggestion not too bothersome.
He flicked his finger, and an ancient badge engraved with the World Tree appeared out of thin air and flew toward Tony Stark.
"Take it." Thor's voice drifted over. "You can use it to teleport people to my city, Frost City. Also, if you encounter another crisis you can't handle, crush it, and I'll come running."
Tony caught the badge; its cool, solid touch told him that this was not a dream.
Thor's gaze swept over all the heroes present, from Steve's angry face to Peter Parker's bewildered eyes, and then to the complex expressions of the X-Men and the Dark Avengers.
A dazzling golden beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping Thor, Hela, and the Asgardians who had decided to follow him.
Before the teleportation light completely engulfed them, Thor's voice rang out one last time in the forest clearing, carrying the majesty and blessing of a god-king.
"Get back to what you're doing, guys."
"In the name of the King of Asgard, I bless you."
"Goodbye."
The beam of light shot into the sky and vanished without a trace in an instant.
The forest clearing returned to calm, leaving behind only a group of heroes who had survived the ordeal and a one-eyed man still twitching on the ground.
Everyone remained silent, processing everything that had happened in those short ten minutes—things that were enough to shatter their worldviews.
Tony Stark slowly opened his palm, looking down at the exquisite World Tree badge in his hand. The intricate patterns on the badge gleamed with a mysterious luster in the sunlight.