Mortal Thor, a Journey on Earth

Thor pushed aside the last clump of bushes and tumbled out of the woods. He lay on the ground, panting for a long time, before slowly getting up. His clothes were torn to shreds, his face was covered in mud and dried blood, and his knuckles were cracked and covered with dark brown scabs.

Ye Mo stood on the hilltop three hundred meters away, holding the Vibranium fragment in his hand. It was still vibrating, at a stable frequency of once every three seconds, exactly the same as last night.

"He's still alive," Ye Mo said.

Emma Frost remained silent, her eyes closed, her Mental Network already extending two kilometers, gently enveloping Thor's consciousness. Her brow twitched slightly.

"He's dreaming," she said. "He's dreaming of palaces and supermarket shelves. His mind is fighting."

"Normal." Ye Mo stuffed the fragment back into his pocket. "When a god becomes human, there's always an adaptation period. The system just recorded some data called 'Early Characteristics of Cognitive Reconstruction After Divinity Stripping,' which sounds impressive, but it's really just that the brain is in chaos."

Emma Frost opened her eyes. "He's awake."

Thor swayed as he stood up, tore off the last strip of cloth from his cloak, and wrapped it around his bleeding hand. He looked up at the sky, checked his bearings, and started walking along a dirt road.

Ye Mo opened the interface in his mind and brought up the 15th level of the Gene Spiral Tower. The fragment of ability from last night was still floating there, gray and motionless.

"Passive, status-based." He read the system notification aloud, "The source is the energy stripping phenomenon of the Asgardians. It's unusable now, but residual fluctuations can be sensed."

"Are you planning to use him as a guinea pig?" Emma Frost asked.

"I'm using him as a teaching material." Ye Mo pushed up his glasses. "If someone ever takes away my abilities in the future, at least I'll know how to survive."

The two followed, keeping their distance, neither speaking nor making a move, only watching.

Thor walked for nearly an hour before finally seeing lights ahead. It was a small town gas station, with several trucks parked outside, their signs illuminated.

When he walked in, the cashier was yawning. Seeing the man's tattered clothes, messy hair like a bird's nest, and bleeding hands, she almost pressed the alarm.

Thor took a gold coin from his pocket and placed it on the counter. It gleamed and was engraved with Asgard patterns.

"Warrior, please give me food and water," he said.

The cashier froze, stared at him for a long time, then looked up at his face to confirm that it wasn't cosplay.

"Are you... filming a short video?" he asked.

Thor frowned. "What do you mean? I am—"

"Okay, okay, stop talking." The cashier waved her hand. "Sit down first, I'll get you something to eat."

He turned around, retrieved a sandwich and water from behind, and handed them to Thor. Thor took them and nodded solemnly. "Your good deed will be remembered by the God of Thunder."

The cashier laughed out loud, "You call yourself God of Thunder? Is it snowing outside?"

Ye Mo was in his car across from the gas station, his ear pressed against a listening device. He listened while simultaneously tagging data in the system.

[Language center activity: High]

[Contextual Misalignment Index: Severe]

[Social Adaptation Disorder Level: B+]

"This guy still talks with that same old temple accent." Ye Mo typed a note, "The stubborn linguistic behavior of high-level individuals during their dimensional reduction for survival, added to the case database."

Emma Frost leaned back in the passenger seat, closing her eyes to scan Thor's emotions.

"His anxiety level dropped by twelve percent," she said, "but one sentence kept repeating in his mind: 'I am no longer God of Thunder.'"

"They won't admit it, but they do in their hearts." Ye Mo sneered. "This is just the beginning."

Just then, a truck stopped, and the driver got out to refuel. Seeing Thor sitting on a bench eating a sandwich, looking disheveled, he went over and handed him a sports drink.

"Dude, that's tough," the driver said.

Thor looked up and said earnestly, "Your kindness is like sunlight shining on a snowfield."

The driver was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter. "You're really something! What's your name?"

"Thor, son of Asgard, lord of thunder—" He paused, then corrected himself, "The wanderer."

The driver patted him on the shoulder. "Okay, Thor brothers, be careful on the road."

He got in the car and left. Thor sat there, staring blankly at the bottle in his hand.

Emma Frost said softly, "He's calmed down. For the first time, someone didn't treat him like a madman."

"It's not the first time," Ye Mo corrected, "It's the first time someone hasn't tried to take advantage of him."

He accessed the system logs and set three data points to be monitored continuously: heart rate interval, speech frequency, and crawling sound frequency. Once vital signs drop below the threshold, the rescue protocol will be automatically triggered.

"I won't save him," Ye Mo said, "But I need to know when he's about to die."

"You're being stubborn," Emma Frost said.

"I follow the rules." Ye Mo activated tracking mode. "The strong must get back up on their own. If someone else lends a hand, they'll never be able to stand up again after falling."

The two left the gas station, drove around to the outskirts of town, and found an abandoned weather station. There were old signs on the walls, broken windows, and a crooked door.

They set up the camera and connected it to a power source. Ye Mo then connected the satellite signal and synchronized the footage to the system backend.

"You're more professional than S.H.I.E.L.D.. now." Emma Frost glanced at the equipment layout.

"I just don't want to misjudge people again." Ye Mo adjusted the lens focus. "Last time I trusted a homeless man, who turned out to be Hydra spy. Since then, I check the data first before doing anything."

Emma Frost smiled. "So, do you believe the data now, or your gut feeling?"

"The data doesn't lie." Ye Mo stared at Thor on the screen. "I have a feeling it will."

It was getting dark, Thor remained seated on a bench outside the gas station. After finishing his meal, he looked up at the stars.

The night wind blew his tattered clothes, but he didn't move.

After a long silence, he spoke, his voice very soft.

"Father, if you want me to learn humility... I am willing to accept it."

Ye Mo pressed the record button and added a note: A sign of a key turning point, archived in the 'Rebuilding the Strong' case library.

Emma Frost looked at the screen and whispered, "He actually knows what happened. He just doesn't dare to admit it yet."

"Admitting it won't help." Ye Mo closed a redundant record. "Now he needs to survive, not think about how to get the hammer back."

Don't you think he needs a helping hand?

"I need it," Ye Mo said, "But not right now."

"Why?"

"Because true power isn't given by others." Ye Mo took off his glasses and wiped them. "It was something he picked up casually when he crawled out of the mud."

In the distance, Thor slowly lay down, pulling his tattered cloak over himself. He closed his eyes, his breathing becoming steady.

Ye Mo put his glasses back on, and a system notification sounded.

[The monitored subject's vital signs are stable]

[Environmental Risk Level: Low]

[It is recommended to maintain the current observation strategy]

Emma Frost leaned against the wall, her Mental Network still active, its coverage radius expanded to two kilometers.

"He's asleep," she said. "There are no palaces in his dream. Only this road, and you just keep walking forward."

"Then let him go." Ye Mo opened the new folder. "From today onwards, Thor's journey on Earth is officially entered into the system."

He entered the title: Van Thor, A Record of the First Stage of Social Adaptation.

The generated file is automatically synchronized to the base backend.

Tony messaged him in the morning, asking about his progress. Ye Mo replied, "God is learning to be human, and I'm learning not to be soft-hearted."

Tony replied instantly, "If you soften your heart, remember to tell me so I can record it as evidence."

Ye Mo deleted the chat history.

He looked at the screen, Thor rolled over, muttering something under his breath.

Ye Mo amplified the audio.

"Tomorrow... I'll try working at the bakery... see if I can get a job."

Emma Frost heard him and turned to look at him.

"You want him to find his own way out?" she asked.

"It's not what I want," Ye Mo said, "It's what he has to do."

He opened the Gene Spiral Tower interface, and the gray fragment on the 15th floor suddenly flashed.

System notification: [A weak energy resonance was detected. Source: Emotional fluctuations of the monitored subject.]

Ye Mo stared at the gray shadow.

It moved.

Like a heart that isn't quite dead.