The sun was high in the sky.
After a quick wash, Thor waved a hand and conjured a dining table. All kinds of delicious food appeared on it out of thin air.
Smack!
Betsy, dressed in a loose silk robe, walked toward the table. As she passed Thor, she made sure to tease him, giving his backside a sharp smack.
"Hey, Betsy, are you trying to start round two?"
Thor hadn't expected her to tease him right after getting up. She really was asking for it. Apparently, he hadn't taught her enough of a lesson yesterday.
"Thor, you were really rough yesterday. I think I need a few days to recover. Maybe you could go find Emma Frost. After all, diamonds can take more punishment than a human body, can't they?"
Betsy grabbed a hamburger and a fried dough stick from the table with one hand and began wolfing them down without any regard for appearances. Her long, bare legs were pale and cool-toned, with a faint sheen under the room's lights.
She was very pleased with her body. Not only was it identical to her original one, but it also came with a great many powerful skills.
Judging by the abilities her current body possessed, Emma Frost would be no match for her. The thought of being able to bully Emma Frost whenever she wanted made Betsy laugh out loud.
"Hehehe..."
Thor ignored her perverted laughter and gave a question some very serious thought. Emma Frost could turn her entire body into diamond, which in a sense did make her more durable.
But thinking about it that way felt strange... He wasn't that much of a pervert, was he...?
Thor finished breakfast in a few quick bites. After all, there was no nighttime in Knowhere, so theoretically, whenever you woke up from a sleep, it was morning.
He stepped out of the cozy little cabin he shared with Betsy and had a good stretch, planning to explore the modern little city Valeria had put together by hand on the spot.
But when Thor began to take a proper look at his surroundings, he realized something was off again.
Why had several more hundred-meter-tall buildings sprung up in a single day?
And another thing?
Why was there a giant, lifelike statue of Emma Frost next to that building that looked unmistakably like the White House?
What are you two trying to do?
Build up your power and then conquer the multiverse?
It seemed Valeria was not only a perverted mad scientist but also a perverted little girl.
She was a bona fide infrastructure-building maniac!
Thor stared speechlessly at everything around him. The greenery was relatively well developed only around his little wooden cabin. Everywhere else was filled with standard modern buildings, some of them even looking a little futuristic.
"Hey, Thor! I'm sure you and Betsy had a wonderful night yesterday!"
Vroom!
An engine suddenly roared to life. Gambit Remy was racing Human Torch Johnny on a maglev motorcycle, and when he saw Thor, he made sure to tease him.
"Hey! You poker face whose brain Cassandra licked! This is a fucking race, not a race with items!"
Human Torch Johnny was annoyed by the playing cards that kept flying toward him. He waved a hand, sending a tongue of flame at the energy-charged cards.
Bang, bang, bang!
A string of firework-like explosions rang out as the two gradually disappeared from sight, leaving Thor standing there bewildered.
Is this really still Knowhere?
Did I come to the wrong place?
There were even some unfamiliar faces on the street. He hadn't expected Captain Carter's team to have joined them too.
Thor walked toward the presidential residence, watching the various variants along the way.
No wonder Valeria's brother and parents kept her under house arrest all the time. He could already imagine her transforming Knowhere beyond recognition in the future.
"Thor, Emma Frost and Valeria sent me to pick you up."
Elektra descended slowly from the sky on a crimson hover motorcycle, landing beside Thor.
"I was only gone for eight days, but it feels like a whole century has passed here. You've even got freaking maglev now!"
Seeing another familiar face, Thor took the rare opportunity to complain.
"Hmm... These were all Remy, Johnny, and Valeria's ideas. But so far, the results are good, aren't they?"
Elektra spread her hands and smiled at Thor.
"This place isn't the multiverse's garbage dump anymore. It's become a shelter."
Thor swung a leg over the hover motorcycle, no longer knowing what to say.
He'd even just seen a chibi Hulk!
"Thor, hold on tight."
Once Thor had taken the back seat, Elektra twisted the throttle, and the hover motorcycle shot into the sky, heading straight for the White House.
"Emma Frost, the Mutant genes in your body have already been developed to ninety percent. If you go any further, your body won't be able to withstand that level of power and will simply disintegrate."
Valeria was giving Emma Frost a full-body examination in her personal laboratory.
"Is there any other way?" Emma Frost lay on the cold examination table, still unwilling to give up.
Her strength had already surpassed a hundred tons, and her psychic power was enough to rival Cassandra's.
But as far as she was concerned, that was still nowhere near enough. She couldn't even compare to the Thor from Valeria's universe, let alone the Thor on their side.
"Hmm... It's not as if there's no way. It would definitely take something like the Infinity Stones, the Cosmic Cube, or the Heart of the Universe. The Infinity Stones are relatively easy to find, but I've only heard of the other two. Even Franklin has never found any trace of them."
Valeria rubbed her chin as she recalled what she knew.
"And although your body is already strong enough, judging by my model for analyzing the Infinity Stones' energy, you probably wouldn't survive a modification on that level."
"Maybe there's something to learn from the High Evolutionary's technology, but my database doesn't have the relevant technical data."
Valeria spread her hands, indicating that this was all she could do for now. Then she turned to look at a vial of blood on the lab table and continued.
"There is one other way. Based on my analysis of Thor's blood sample so far, he should be able to help you solve this problem."
"What problem?"
Thor pulled open the laboratory door and strode in.
"Whoa! Thor! Don't you know how to knock before entering someone else's lab?"
Valeria had clearly been startled. She rolled her eyes dramatically, looking very displeased.
"Emma Frost, if you want to get stronger, just come to me. Whatever ability you want, I can enchant you with it."
"I only just rebuilt Betsy's body yesterday, so I'm really in the groove right now!"
Emma Frost couldn't be bothered with Thor and looked at Valeria instead.
"Are you sure he's the only one who can help me right now?"
"According to my research, yes. But you could wait for a breakthrough in my research, or until I find the Heart of the Universe or the Cosmic Cube."
Having received a definite answer, Emma Frost looked at the big oaf in front of her and spoke casually.
"Thor, you haven't managed to fulfill either of our two deals. How are you planning to make it up to me?"