Those time travelers that year

“Sure…” Charles smiled, then turned back. “Go ahead and sue me, I don’t mind. Besides, I’d like to know which human government in this world would dare to issue me a court summons or an arrest warrant, unafraid that I’ll turn an entire city into a graveyard…”

"you!"

"Jane, stop talking!" Thor pulled his girlfriend behind him, a strange expression on his face, as if he had made a decision. "This wizard did nothing wrong. My conflict with Loki shouldn't involve innocent people."

"But, but..."

“If I hadn’t acted impulsively, if I hadn’t been arrogant, none of this would have happened.” Thor gently pulled Jane back from her sobs and said softly, “This all started because of me, so I must bear the responsibility.” With that, Thor turned to look at Charles, his expression serious, and asked, “This has nothing to do with Jane and the others. They are also Midgardians. Will you protect them?”

“…Of course, as I said, all mortals in this city are under my protection.” Ciel, seeing Thor’s serious expression, replied, “It’s a deal. They gave me what I wanted, and I’m responsible for protecting all the mortals in this city…”

“But this protection zone…” Shire gave Thor a deep look, then glanced at Sif, the Warriors Three, and Jane. “It’s limited to Midgardians; those from Asgard are not included.”

“Then, I'll leave Jane and the others in your care.” Thor paused, turned around, and gave Jane a tight hug. He then whispered in her ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear, “I love you!” After saying this, Thor released the distraught Jane, then hugged his remaining Earth friends goodbye before turning and walking towards the Destroyer. As he passed his companions in Asgard, he patted them on the shoulder.

"Thor!?"

"Don't worry, leave it to me!" Thor then ignored their shouts and continued walking forward calmly. "We will fight together, just like before," he said, and both Sif and the Warriors Three looked energized after Thor finished speaking.

"Let us return together to Valhalla and drink fine wine."

"For Asgard."

“Loki, my brother.” Thor walked to the Shire’s side and looked directly at the Destroyer. “No matter what I did wrong to you, no matter what the reason was for you to do this.”

"I'm so sorry."

“But these people are innocent, whether they are the Midgards in this city or Sif and the others. Killing them will do you no good. You will gain neither glory nor benefit…” As he spoke, Thor continued walking forward, soon reaching the Destroyer. “So, kill me!”

"Then end it all."

"Thor!!!" Hearing him say that, Jane, Sif, and the Warriors Three all shouted and rushed towards Thor. Then, Balrog, the Dragon Slayer Armor, and the Greatsword Warrior instantly blocked their way.

"The wizard tells your servants to get out of the way!" Sif screamed. "Otherwise..."

"What else?" Charles turned around with a half-smile. "Can you beat me? Don't try to intimidate me with the name of Asgard; it won't work on me. All of you combined can't even beat one of my servants. What right do you have to negotiate with me?!"

"You! Wizard, I swear, if anything happens to Thor, I will fight you to the death, whether it's a hundred years or a thousand years!" Sif cursed at Shire in anger.

"Even if you had ten thousand years, you still wouldn't be a match for me, but give me a hundred years... heh..." Charles chuckled and ignored him. After all, in the Marvel universe, those who can stand at the top are either god-level or cosmic-level beings, or they are superheroes or supervillains with exceptional talent. People like the Warriors Three and Sif are all outcasts of their time.

A group of cannon fodder of the times.

193. Thor's End (Part 2)

No matter how much Sif and Jane cursed and swore, the Shire wouldn't budge. In fact, at this point, the Thor storyline could have ended. Whether Loki killed Thor or not, Thor could still lift Mjolnir again and reclaim his divine power. The only difference was whether he was killed with a light punch, like in the movies, or burned to ashes by a laser beam. However, he wouldn't truly die either way; Odin, though old, was still the king of Asgard, a true god-father.

Don't forget, in the comics, Thor's biggest power-up is the power of Odin, which is essentially the divine power of his father. As long as he doesn't encounter those with even greater power-ups, he can basically sweep through everything in his path. The movies might not be quite that exaggerated, but the Shire has no doubt that the cunning Odin definitely added his divine power to Mjolnir when he sealed it away. This explains why, after being killed, Mjolnir flew over and helped Thor instantly revive, regaining all his power and then forcefully defeating the Destroyer.

In short, the seemingly grand Thor storyline is actually just a boring palace drama with a focus on family connections. The humans were simply unlucky enough to be dragged into the later Battle of New York. After all, in the post-credits scene, Dr. Erik Seviger is secretly taken by S.H.I.E.L.D. to study the Tesseract, and in the underground base, when the dark-skinned Wu Ke shows the Tesseract to Loki, Loki's reflection is visible in the glass next to Erik Seviger.

While movies might use this as an Easter egg, in reality, it goes beyond that. In fact, just as Thor told Loki to use the Destroyer to kill him, the Ciel quickly sensed a strange presence flash by during the brief moment the Destroyer didn't respond.

If one hadn't been mentally prepared beforehand, even secretly activating extrasensory perception might not have been enough to detect this aura. It was a minor spell, like a variant of hypnosis, but in terms of power, Charles felt it was far more powerful and concealed than the Imperius Curse from Harry Potter. This spell flashed across the Destroyer, swept over everyone present, and then instantly entered Eric Sevig's body.

It seems Loki isn't the real Joker after all; he is, after all, the God of Deception. Although Thor's behavior is strange, his instincts already sensed something was amiss. Previously, lured by the allure and taste of power, his actions had become increasingly outrageous, like this time, openly freezing the God of Dawn and bringing the Vault Keeper, Destroyer, to Earth to hunt down Sif and her companions, as well as Thor. To say no one knew would be a joke.

……

On Asgard, just as the Shire had imagined, Loki's heart had sunk to the bottom.

Now, why haven't any of the other Aesir gods spoken up? At this point, Loki felt things weren't going as planned. After all, even though Thor was exiled, only Odin in all of Asgard had the power to decide his fate; the others were overstepping their authority. However, the other gods didn't stop Loki's actions. Baldr, the god of light, and Hold, the god of blindness, remained secluded in their palaces. Tyr, the god of war, led his army out in the field, receiving no news and paying no attention to the changes in Asgard. Brunhilde, the Valkyrie who commanded Valhalla, completely sealed off the entrance and exit of Valhalla, and the god of the primeval forest, Odin's illegitimate son, had vanished without a trace.

Even Loki, the god of deception, wouldn't believe there wasn't a problem here.

So now, the question is whether or not to kill Thor.

Loki, far away on Asgard, watched everything unfold with a slightly somber expression. If it was all pre-orchestrated, then who was it? In all of Asgard, only one person could conceal such treachery from his own eyes and ears, the god of deception: Mimir, hidden in the Well of Wisdom. And the only one on Asgard who could command this old man, Mimir, was his friend, Odin, the Father.

However, Odin's slumber was not a ruse, but it was definitely not caused by Loki's anger that made him faint. Rather, it was due to the flare-up of lingering injuries he had sustained; otherwise, it would be a joke for a god to be so enraged as to faint.

However, the more Loki thought about it, the colder his heart became. Now that things had come to this, whether it was a planned scheme or simply a test from Odin, Loki had undoubtedly chosen the worst option.

"Hahahaha..." Loki, holding Gungnir, suddenly burst into sorrowful laughter, even shedding tears. "So that's how it is. The God of Wisdom truly lives up to his name; even I was deceived."

Loki, his face contorted in rage, slammed his Gungnir into the ground and yelled, "Why, why!?"

Having chosen the worst option, reality no longer allowed him to turn back. Even if his father and brothers forgave him in the future, the other gods would never let him go.

After venting his frustrations, calm returned to the God of Deception. No one was more adept at scheming and plotting than Loki. With this in mind, and using the link between Gungnir and the Destroyer, Loki secretly cast a small spell as a last resort.

It was at this moment that Loki saw the wizard who had come to Midgar from another land, and he looked at Loki with a meaningful gaze. Clearly, the wizard noticed Loki's subtle movement, but said nothing, only slightly nodding before turning his gaze to Sif and Thor's lovers on Earth, who were still yelling at him.

Call ~

Taking a deep breath, Loki felt for the first time that communicating with intelligent people was a good thing. Since the wizard didn't intend to expose him, it meant they had something to talk about. Since the way out was already prepared, let's see if it's as he imagined.

Thinking of this, Loki's expression hardened. He immediately issued a command to the Destroyer.

……

After Thor told Loki to kill him, the scene fell silent for a moment. But soon, the Destroyer, who had been standing still, turned around. Just when everyone, except for the Shire, thought Thor had moved Loki with his sincerity, the Destroyer, who had already turned around, suddenly turned back and punched Thor, sending him flying.

"No!" Jane screamed in anguish, ignoring the Charles's servants blocking their way, and charged straight at the fallen Thor. However, Charles ignored them as well, ordering his servants to clear a path before turning his attention directly to the base where Coulson was located.

Not long after, looking into the distance, a plume of white smoke shot straight up from the horizon into the sky and then swooped down towards us.

"Coulson!" Seeing this, Charles smiled and connected with Coulson's communication system. "Thor's hammer has flown out!?"

“Yes, wait, what on earth happened?” Coulson’s anxious voice rang out from the other end of the communication.

"No, it's nothing! It's just..."

"Thor has returned to his position; the palace intrigue is over."

It's past midnight!!! The time to give it our all again has come!!!

194. Thor's End (Part 2)

Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, fell from the sky and was grasped by the seemingly lifeless Thor, looking as if he had risen from the dead. And indeed, it was. Watching the movies before, it didn't seem so strange, but now, seeing Thor, who should have completely lost his life and whose soul was about to leave his body, suddenly stretch out his arm and grasp the hammer that had come to him. This made the Shire, standing nearby, feel that this conspiracy was utterly outrageous. No wonder Loki, who had lived on Asgard for thousands of years, rebelled so easily; this scene starkly revealed that reality was indeed a thick, dark curtain.

Let alone Loki, Ciel estimated that he himself would probably also be destined to rebel. The difference is that he might not leave Asgard as decisively as Loki, but would instead lurk among them and wait for an opportunity to stab them in the back until he kills everyone.

Although we don't know what Loki is feeling right now, seeing the Destroyer standing still, waiting for Thor to be reborn and complete his transformation, Ciel can more or less guess what the God of Deception is feeling right now.

After all, there's no such thing as invincible transformation in reality. Thor is here, waiting to regain his divine power and don his armor amidst the flashes of lightning. Now, anyone with half a brain knows something's fishy going on, especially Loki, the god of deception, who's anything but stupid. Perhaps he was blinded by the sudden power and desire before, but now, witnessing this scene, Loki, skilled in intrigue and manipulation, immediately understands everything. However, if he could, he wouldn't want to be the one who understands; he'd rather be the one who's confused.

"The game is over!" Charles muttered, then waved his hand to recall all the minions he had summoned to gang up on the Destroyer, before retreating to the side without a word.

"Coulson, can you hear me?" The communication link was not interrupted. Watching the reborn Thor swing Mjolnir and fly into the air, summoning a storm that covered the entire city, Shire asked Coulson on the other end of the communication.

"I can hear you. What's going on over there? Why did that hammer just fly off by itself?" Coulson's confused voice came through the comms.

"Thor was originally killed by his brother, but their father was biased," Charles said, pursing his lips. "So now, the already dead Thor triggered the seal on Mjolnir placed by his father. Now, the seal is broken, and Thor has regained contact with Mjolnir. Sensing its master's fall, Mjolnir flew over and brought the dead Thor back to life."

"Moreover, by taking advantage of this opportunity, Thor regained his divine power and returned to his identity and status as the God of Thunder in Asgard."

"In other words, this palace coup has come to an end!" Coulson's voice came through the communication. "It seems that it really was a complete farce! Not only for those two divine brothers, but also for the innocent citizens of Earth."

"Heh, Coulson!" Looking up at Thor soaring through the air, wielding his hammer and whipping up tornadoes and thunderstorms, Coulson watched as Thor distorted the gravity around the Destroyer, pulling it into the sky as the final battlefield. "If you want to see the strength of those from other lands, then let your people have a good look!"

"Oh, and don't forget the adamantium." With that, Charles hung up the call without waiting for Coulson's reaction. He looked at the imposing Thor in the sky with disdain. Indeed, even though Thor was displaying an aura of absolute power, Charles felt he was still utterly weak. Don't let Thor's current demeanor fool you; he might seem like a weather controller from Red Alert. But honestly, if Thor didn't use the Odin's power cheat, Charles was confident he could easily defeat him.

However, despite this, Thor's displayed power should not be underestimated. Looking at the thunderclouds covering hundreds of kilometers above the small city, Thor, as the God of Thunder, didn't even need anything else; simply controlling the clouds to unleash a thunderstorm downwards would be enough to wipe out a modern army. Furthermore, due to the electromagnetic interference emitted, long-range weapons like missiles wouldn't be able to hit him, unless he were determined to launch a nuclear explosion.

This also explains why S.H.I.E.L.D. had known about the Tesseract for so long, but only decided to use it to develop new weapons after Thor appeared.

Why, for so many years, has the UN Security Council been unwilling to allow S.H.I.E.L.D. to develop the Tesseract's potential? Howard Stark discovered the Tesseract so long ago, yet he hasn't been able to develop a sufficiently powerful weapon. While one possibility is the limitations of the era or other external factors, the fact that they only began researching the Tesseract after learning of Asgard's existence in the following decades ultimately led to the seeds of the Battle of New York.

After the Battle of New York, Nick Fury arbitrarily allowed Thor to take the Tesseract and Loki back to Asgard. The reason why the members of the World Security Council were so furious shows just how incompetent the World Security Council behind S.H.I.E.L.D. really is.

……

Thor was gone. After his rebirth, he used his super-powerful abilities to shatter the Destroyer's body. Keep in mind, before that, Ciel had already repeatedly pulverized the Destroyer, effectively strengthening it several levels, yet it was still instantly killed by Thor's hammer. While Ciel didn't know what Loki's expression was in Asgard, he figured it was definitely no better than being utterly humiliated.

Then, after dealing with the Destroyer, he went and threatened Coulson, demanding the return of the equipment and items belonging to his girlfriend. Thor had also wanted to warn Ciel, given Ciel's less-than-friendly attitude before. However, seeing Ciel calmly handing over all his subordinates, he abandoned the idea and rushed the group to the opening of the Rainbow Bridge, urgently calling the gatekeeper. Even Jane, who wanted to cause trouble, or Sif, who wanted to utter a harsh threat, obediently shut their mouths upon seeing the Balrog, the Dragon Slayer Armor, the Greatsword Warrior, the Giant Black Wolf, a pack of three hundred wolves, thirty Farron Undead Legion members, and their captain, Red-Eyed Guy.

Heaven has mercy, even if Sif and the Warriors Three were together, they could only face one of them at most, and their chances of winning would be infinitely close to zero.

When fighting the Balrog, if it's a group fight, it will immediately activate a series of buffs such as Scorched Earth and Flame Cloak. If it's a one-on-one fight... Balrog (Doom Guardian): Come and call me daddy.

For a greatsword warrior, in a one-on-one fight, use Storm Fist to stun, then follow up with Battle Cry and God's Power; the same strategy applies to group fights, but it will be much worse.

A giant black wolf and a pack of up to three hundred wolves: They'll overwhelm you with sheer numbers.

Thirty members of the Farron Immortals, plus their captain, Red-Eyed Guy, declared: Let's sway together, sway together...

After considering all the options, the Dragon Slayer Armor seems to have only a slight chance of winning.

But the premise is that he doesn't activate his transformation mode (Dragon Knight).

Now you know what that was all about, right? If Thor himself were to fight, he might have a chance of winning. Otherwise, if it were those four Asgardian trash, the Shire would be fine even if ten more came.

Although this display of strength quickly landed him on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s file, the terrorists within S.H.I.E.L.D., despite having the title of an alien visitor, didn't intend to bring him into S.H.I.E.L.D. for constant surveillance. Instead, they raised his rank several levels, making him a level more dangerous than Thor after he regained his original powers. He became the first outsider in history to reach the highest danger ranking on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s list.

Incidentally, the second person on the list is Thor. He came up because he demonstrated sufficient strength and showed trepidation towards the mythical power of Asgard behind him.

The third one is the Hulk. Hmm, it seems that S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't know exactly how powerful the Hulk is yet, otherwise they wouldn't have ranked a guy who could shatter the Earth when he's furious to the extreme in third place.

The fourth watch of the night...

195. A Tumultuous Era (Part 1)

After Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three crossed the Bifrost and left Earth, this encounter of the third kind in New Mexico finally came to an end. However, those at the pinnacle of power on Earth had the right to know everything that had happened. For the first time in history, these people at the top of the pyramid discovered that the world was no longer the way they knew it.

Reality became utterly alien. Supernatural forces, having traversed millennia, descended upon Earth once more, gradually shedding their veil and revealing themselves to all. Those who had reached the pinnacle of human society suddenly discovered that everything they were so proud of was utterly insignificant. Status, power—be it their position or their authority—were nothing but lambs to the slaughter in the face of a supernatural being wielding such power. What did their wealth and power matter? This being could effortlessly unleash devastating power amidst a vast army, wielding boundless might with a single individual.

In the past, although mutants existed as a special group, and many people had a considerable understanding of superpowers, internal strife and divisions among mutants, coupled with their small numbers and lack of understanding of how to develop and explore their talents, led them to rely solely on brute force, believing that their insignificant abilities made them a superior race to humans. Basically, aside from Magneto, that extremely troublesome individual who is still alive and kicking, most others who thought this way have been riddled with bullets and thrown into laboratories.

If it weren't for the existence of a figure within the mutant community who claims to be capable of wiping out all of humanity, serving as the greatest deterrent, mutants would have long been captured and dissected in laboratories by ambitious individuals. Therefore, outwardly, to avoid provoking this world-threatening figure to completely align with the radicals, many tacitly accept the existence of the X-Men and their conflict with the Brotherhood of Mutants. Of course, they also condone William Stryker's constant trouble-making of the mutant community. They are simply using this anti-mutant figure as a tool for manipulation.

This time, however, times had changed. For the first time, humanity learned of the existence of civilizations beyond the stars, and Asgard, a name that should have existed only in mythology, appeared on the desks of all those in power. Mythology is not merely a story, but another kind of reality.

Furthermore, a genuine 'god' has descended upon Earth, and many people clearly realize that Earth is simply a place they can come and go as they please. The power and status they take pride in are, in their eyes, nothing more than the level of a village chief. If those aliens were just a group similar to mutants, that would be fine; after all, while mutants are powerful in many ways, their weaknesses are also very obvious.

Those mutants with immense power, posing a nuclear threat, are physically only equivalent to an average healthy human. Conversely, those with terrifying physical abilities are weak in many ways. At least many know that capturing Colossus doesn't require burning him with fire or sending a large group to surround him. A few sonic weapons or white phosphorus bombs are sufficient. The vast majority of mutants have obvious weaknesses, limited abilities, and are still flesh and blood that can be torn to shreds by firearms.

These pieces of trash dare to try and replace humanity? Hah...

However, these outsiders exceeded everyone's expectations. Their bulletproof bodies were far more terrifying than many mutants. Their formidable firepower, enough to crush heavy tanks, was undeniable; a mere hundred of them could be equivalent to a tank force. Their terrifying dynamic nerves allowed them to far surpass humans in judgment. Calculations showed that fighting those Asgardian warriors was essentially fighting a group of multi-level (Level 3) mutants. Moreover, these mutants had virtually no weaknesses and knew how to utilize group advantages and weaponry.

Ignoring most modern heavy weaponry, possessing strength measured in tons, speed far exceeding that of ordinary track and field athletes, and stamina ten to dozens of times greater than that of a normal person. However, this is only among the soldiers of their kind, not even considering the "gods" class. The abilities Thor has displayed are entirely worthy of the legends. With a wave of his hand, hundreds of kilometers of dark clouds gather, lightning flashes and thunder roars, magnetic fields and gravity are distorted, and lightning is created. His body is far beyond imagination, easily shattering and ignoring rays powerful enough to shatter atoms. If the computer simulations are accurate, once Thor fully unleashes his power, it won't just affect the weather over hundreds of kilometers; it could potentially shake the entire Earth's climate.