Thor appeared

Under the moonlight, the hat lay on the ground, like a charred stone. Ye Mo stared at the man's face, his pupils black and devoid of any light. He didn't move, and neither did Emma Frost. The smell of rust in the air grew stronger.

The Vibranium fragments were burning hot in Ye Mo's palm, the frequency now changing to once every five seconds, each time they lit up with a slight vibration. Just as he was about to speak, the signal jammer in his backpack suddenly emitted a "buzz" sound, the screen flashed blue light for a moment, and then went out.

"Power off." Ye Mo immediately unplugged the power cord, flipped the circuit board over, and pressed it into the crevice in the rock.

Emma Frost pressed her fingers to her temples, her brow twitching. When she opened her eyes, her lips were a little pale.

"It's here," she said. "Not a person, but... an existence."

The words had barely left his mouth when a silver-blue bolt of lightning struck down from the horizon, not from the clouds, but from high above, tearing the night sky apart. Lightning surged from the cracks in the ground, spreading like veins along the rocks. The wind stopped, and even the loose stones ceased to roll.

A figure fell from the light.

He wore a tattered cloak, and his boots created shockwaves with each stomp, sending surrounding rocks flying half a foot into the air. Moonlight illuminated his face, making his features appear as if they were carved by a knife. Without even glancing at the crowd around him, he walked straight to the hammer in the center of the pit.

"Thor," Ye Mo said in a low voice.

The system didn't beep, but it felt like a video had been shoved into his mind—Norse mythology, Asgard, the son of God of Thunder being banished to Earth. He remembered the plot, but something was wrong with the current situation.

Thor stood in front of the hammer and reached out to grab the handle.

In that instant, the runes on the hammer were slowly flashing, like breathing. But the moment his fingertips touched the metal, all the light went out. The tremors in the ground stopped abruptly, and even the air became still.

He pulled hard.

The hammer didn't move.

He pulled again, his arm veins bulging, muscles tense, and sweat beading on his forehead. The ground cracked slightly from his force, but the hammer seemed welded to the rock, remaining completely still.

"It's not that I can't lift it," Ye Mo squinted, "It's that I was rejected."

Emma Frost stared at Thor's arm. "There's no energy fluctuation in him; he doesn't seem like a superhuman."

"So now he's just an ordinary person." Ye Mo stroked his chin. "His divine power is gone, all he has left is strength."

Thor released his grip, took a step back, and looked up at the sky. His expression changed, from determination to shock, then to anger. He suddenly kicked at the hammer, but the recoil made him stagger back two steps. He gasped for breath and slammed his fist into the ground.

Boom!

The shockwave exploded, sending debris flying everywhere. The previously still crowd turned their heads, staring blankly at him. Even the man in the hat slowly turned his neck, his black pupils reflecting the moonlight like two deep wells.

No one spoke, no one approached, and no one ran away. They just watched, like a group of puppets programmed with a set routine.

Thor stood up, wiped his face, and reached for the hammer again. This time he used both hands, gritting his teeth and straining, his shoulders trembling. But the hammer still wouldn't budge. He roared, his voice hoarse, "Why! This is the weapon my father gave me!"

He looked up at the sky and shouted, "Odin! I have defeated the Frost Giants! I have crossed the Bifrost! Why can't I pick it up!"

As soon as the words were spoken, dark clouds churned, and a golden light streaked across the sky, illuminating the hammer's surface. For a fleeting moment, the hammer dipped slightly, as if pressed down by something, before returning to its original position.

"Access is locked," Ye Mo whispered.

Emma Frost closed her eyes, and her mental energy quietly probed out. Her fingers trembled slightly.

"He's in pain," she said.

"Who?"

"Thor. It's not the physical pain, it's the feeling in my heart... of being abandoned."

Ye Mo glanced at her. Emma Frost rarely said such things. She usually didn't express her feelings, only her facts.

"So now he's a true god turned mortal." Ye Mo put the Vibranium fragment into his pocket. "Nobody taught him how to be an ordinary person."

Emma Frost opened her eyes. "Aren't we going to make a move?"

"No." Ye Mo shook his head. "First, we don't know who's controlling these people; second, although Thor doesn't have divine power now, his temper hasn't changed at all, and I'm afraid he'll beat me up as soon as he comes in; third—" He paused, "The system didn't give any notification."

"You're using the system as an excuse again."

I'm all about logic.

In the distance, Thor knelt down. Not in surrender, but because he couldn't hold on any longer. He braced himself with one hand on the ground, his breathing becoming heavy, his cloak hanging in the mud, covered in dust. His face began to turn pale, and his body temperature was dropping. That kick and punch had not only exhausted his strength, but also the last bit of energy he had left.

"Divine nature is being stripped away." Ye Mo observed his vital signs. "His heart rate has dropped from eighty to sixty per minute, his blood pressure is low, and his metabolic rate is close to the upper limit of normal. In a few hours, he'll be just like us."

"Then what?"

"Then he'll be taken away by the police, or besieged by the media." Ye Mo took out his phone and glanced at it. "Right now, the whole of United States is broadcasting news about the 'mysterious giant object's arrival. The FBI, S.H.I.E.L.D.., Hydra are probably all on their way."

He can't stay here.

"Of course not." Ye Mo stared at the man in the hat, "But we can't show ourselves now either. Look at his right hand."

The man in the hat raised his right hand again and drew a symbol in the air—first horizontal, then vertical, and finally a dot. The movement was very light, like writing.

"New instructions," Emma Frost said.

"Yes. They're recording reaction data. Thor is an unexpected variable; they need to reassess him." Ye Mo tightened his backpack. "If we move now, we'll become the next test target."

"Then let's wait?"

"Wait."

The two fell silent. Ye Mo leaned against the rock wall, his hand still in his pocket, clutching the Vibranium fragment. Its temperature was still rising, and its frequency remained stable at once every four seconds. This indicated that the energy field was still functioning; the hammer wasn't broken, but was waiting for a true "qualified user."

Thor sat on the ground, leaning against a rock. He took off one glove and rubbed his wrist. His movements were much slower, lacking his previous domineering air. He looked down at his hand, as if seeing it for the first time.

"He's hungry," Emma Frost suddenly said.

"What?"

"His stomach is contracting, and his blood sugar is low. His superhuman abilities have suddenly deteriorated, and his body can't take it."

Ye Mo thought for a moment, took out a pack of compressed biscuits from his backpack, and then put it back in.

"We can't give it to him," he said. "If we give him food now, it's like telling him, 'I know what you need.' He'll be suspicious."

"So when do you plan to make your move?"

"Wait until he falls."

"What if he pulls through?"

That means he can still fight.

Emma Frost glanced at him. "You're really ruthless."

"I'm not ruthless, I'm just cautious." Ye Mo grinned. "Last time I kindly helped an old lady cross the street, but it turned out she was Hydra agent who almost ripped my head off."

Emma Frost didn't laugh. She stared at Thor, her expression somewhat complicated.

"He shouldn't have done that," she said.

"What should each hero be like?" Ye Mo countered. "Tony was wearing a tattered suit of metal when he was kidnapped; Banner blew up his own lab the first time he transformed; Peter couldn't even shoot his webs accurately when he first became Spider-Man. Who didn't start out looking pathetic?"

But they weren't being watched by the whole world.

"Nobody's watching him right now." Ye Mo pointed to the crowd. "These people have their eyes open, but they can't actually see anything. The media hasn't come in yet, and the surveillance cameras are probably blocked. This is a private moment; it's not a public execution."

Emma Frost remained silent.

Thor slowly stood up, walked to the hammer, and squatted down to examine it. He reached out and gently wiped the dirt off the hammer's surface, his movements surprisingly tender.

"Do you think he knows?" Emma Frost asked in a low voice.

"What do you know?"

"I know this isn't failure, it's a test."

"Maybe he knows," Ye Mo said, "But he can't accept it."

"Why?"

"Because the hardest thing for the strong to learn is not fighting, but bowing their heads."

The man in the hat moved his right hand again. This time he made a fist and then slowly opened it.

"Evacuation order." Ye Mo immediately tightened his body. "They're closing in."

The crowd began to move slowly, turning around one by one and walking back down the mountain along the original path. Their steps were synchronized, without any communication, like a silent procession. The man wearing the hat walked at the very back, leaving his hat behind.

Thor didn't notice any of this. He sat by the hammer, hugging his knees, head down. The wind blew his hair, and a corner of his cloak was weighed down by gravel, but he didn't bother to pull it up.

Ye Mo looked at him, tapped his fingers three times in his pocket, in sync with the rhythm of the Vibranium fragments.

"We still have to keep watch tonight," he said.

Emma Frost nodded. "He won't last until dawn."

"Not necessarily." Ye Mo stared at Thor's retreating figure. "This guy can hold his own longer than I thought."

"So when are you planning to make your move?"

"Wait until he asks for help."

He won't speak.

"Then let's wait until he passes out."

Emma Frost sighed, closed her eyes again, and kept her Mental Network running at its lowest possible power.

Ye Mo looked up at the sky. The clouds parted a little, revealing a few stars. He suddenly felt that this scene was somewhat familiar—a person, a hammer, and a desolate valley.

The difference this time is that the hammer did not recognize a master.

He touched his glasses and muttered to himself, "This script is written backwards."

Thor raised his head and looked into the distance. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only exhaled a breath of white air.

Ye Mo looked at him but didn't move.

Emma Frost opened her eyes and glanced at him.

Ye Mo shook his head.

The two remained hidden deep in the ravine. Forty meters away, the exiled god sat in the mud, like a lost traveler.

The Vibranium shard lit up again.

Four seconds exactly.

Thor raised his hand, wiped his face, and slowly stood up. He didn't touch the hammer again, but turned and walked in the opposite direction from the crowd.

His steps were steady, and he didn't look back.