Odin's heart stirred like a storm-tossed sea.
The seal he cast contained the power of the God-King and the laws of the World Tree. Even across the Nine Realms—including Midgard—almost no one could see through it.
But that power had not only seen through it; it had easily analyzed the core "worthiness" criteria.
What shocked Odin most was this:
After gaining the ability to break the seal, the other party did nothing—only observed, then withdrew.
"Who did it?"
"Could it be… Lucci?"
The name surfaced instantly.
Within the Nine Realms, Odin could think of no one besides Lucci who possessed such terrifying comprehension—and the capability to contact Mjolnir directly.
Thinking that, Odin immediately called to Heimdall in his mind.
"Heimdall, where is Lucci now? Has he found Thor?"
Heimdall's heavy voice soon echoed back.
"Reporting to Your Majesty. Prince Lucci has found Prince Thor… and Mjolnir has responded. At this moment, they have left the base and appeared in a small town in Midgard."
Hearing that, Odin let out a long breath.
Then came an even deeper sense of relief—and pride.
Lucci had not only found Thor; he had also easily seen through Odin's seal.
Yet he hadn't broken it outright, instead letting Thor continue the trial.
That proved Lucci fully understood Odin's goodwill.
Not only was Lucci's power unimaginably high—his wisdom and broader vision far surpassed ordinary people.
"Not bad…" Odin couldn't help but smile.
"As expected, entrusting Asgard's future to Lucci was the most correct decision I ever made."
…
New Mexico, a small western-style town.
At a roadside diner, Thor sat at the table like a reborn starving ghost, devouring burgers and fries, piling empty plates in front of him.
Across from him, Lucci held a cup of coffee elegantly and sipped unhurriedly.
He didn't have Earth currency.
This meal was Jane Foster's treat.
Earlier, Lucci had teleported with Thor into town and appeared directly in the street.
By chance, they ran into Jane Foster, Dr. Erik Selvig, and Darcy—driving back, dejected.
When Jane saw Lucci, her beautiful eyes filled again with shock and curiosity.
At her warm invitation, they came to the restaurant together.
After days of crying, despair, seeing loved ones, and barely eating, Thor now ate like mad to recover.
When he finally ate and drank enough and let out a loud belch, the excitement of survival faded—replaced by fresh gloom.
He looked at Lucci, who calmly drank coffee, then at Mjolnir sitting casually beside him, and couldn't help asking:
"Big brother… Mjolnir… why did it abandon me?"
Lucci set down the cup and glanced at him lightly.
"Very simple. Because you're not worthy to pick it up right now."
"Worthy?" Thor grew more confused. "What worthiness? I've fought for Asgard for thousands of years and earned great military achievements!"
"For Father's glory, I've defeated countless enemies!"
"Am I still not worthy?"
In his view, everything he'd done was what an Asgardian prince should do.
Lucci looked at him with eyes that said he still didn't understand, shook his head slightly, and did not explain further.
Some truths had to be experienced and understood by Thor himself.
Telling him directly would be far less effective—ten thousand times less.
Growth was filled with confusion.
Nearby, Jane, Erik, and Darcy listened to the brothers' conversation, feeling their brains short-circuit.
Mjolnir…
Wasn't that the name of Thor's weapon in Norse myth—"Thor's hammer"?
Combined with the names in front of them—Thor, Lucci—and their mysterious behavior…
A ridiculous, unbelievable thought surged in Jane's mind:
Could it be… mythology was real?
Could these two men—whose temperaments felt entirely different—actually be… gods?
But how was that possible?
It contradicted everything she had learned as science.
Jane hesitated, about to ask—
A sharp whistle suddenly tore through the sky.
A streak of fire dragged a long trail as it fell from above.
Boom—
With an ear-splitting crash, a tall, cold, metallic giant body slammed into the town's main street, smashing the hard road into a crater.
It was a massive suit of armor made of unknown metal, several meters tall, filled with oppression and destruction.
"The Destroyer?" Thor screamed.
"How… how did it appear here?"
As an Asgardian prince, he knew what it meant.
That was Asgard's ultimate weapon.
A war machine used to suppress rebellion and destroy worlds.
Lucci still sat indifferently in his chair, not even turning his head, and said calmly:
"Obviously, it's here to kill you."
"Kill me?" Thor's body shook. He looked stricken. "How could that be… don't tell me…"
"Father is so disappointed in me he wants me dead…"
The thought froze his entire body like falling into an ice cave.
Smack!
Lucci slapped the back of Thor's head with the back of his hand.
"You've been thinking nonsense all day."
Lucci looked slightly speechless.
"Father just wants you to suffer a bit and remember it. How could he really kill you?"
"It was Loki."
"While we were away, he quietly activated the Destroyer. He wanted you to be stuck on Earth forever."
"Loki?" Thor was shocked again, eyes wide. "Impossible! Why would he do that? We're brothers!"
His simple mind couldn't understand Loki's actions at all.
But before Lucci could continue explaining—
In the street, the Destroyer's armor slowly opened, revealing a deep cavity.
The next instant, a searing, deadly orange energy beam fired from it.
Boom—
The Destroyer didn't find Thor in the street at first and began attacking indiscriminately.
Civilians screamed and fled.
"Hurry! Evacuate the civilians!" In the distance, Coulson led an agent team rushing toward the scene.
They raised high-tech weapons and fired wildly at the Destroyer.
But bullets that could pierce tanks only sparked off the Destroyer's armor, doing nothing.
The Destroyer simply waved an arm, lifted a vehicle, and agents were blown back in humiliation.
Thor stared at the apocalyptic scene, at the innocent townspeople endangered because of him, his eyes blazing with rage.
Reckless and proud—yet kind and righteous to the bone.
He couldn't bear the thought of defenseless humans suffering because of him.
After all, this war machine was targeting him.
"Stop!" Thor roared, suddenly charging out and planting himself before the Destroyer, shouting at the cold armor with all his strength.
"Your target is me! Come at me!"
"Spare these innocent people!"
At that moment, he wasn't doing it for personal glory, nor Asgardian dignity.
He only wanted to use his own body to protect those weaker than him.
In that moment, a seed called "sacrifice" and "responsibility" quietly sprouted in his heart.
But ideals were full.
Reality was thin.
Thor stepped forward, trying to stop Asgard's strongest war machine with nothing but flesh.
His courage was admirable.
But his action was no different from an insect trying to stop a car.
The Destroyer's cold mask turned toward Thor.
In the empty void behind it, there seemed to be procedural doubt—wondering why this once-powerful target was now so weak.
But the command was clear:
Kill Thor.
The giant metal arm rose and slammed down with a merciless backhand.
Bang—
A dull, massive sound.
Thor was blown away before he could react, his whole body flung by irresistible force.
He traced a parabola through the air, smashed a fire hydrant, and finally crashed heavily to the ground over ten meters away, kicking up dust—lying motionless, unclear if alive or dead.
"Oh my god… he… he won't die, right?" Jane and Darcy covered their mouths, terrified.
Lucci looked calmly at Thor on the ground.
"Don't worry. He won't die."
Jane and the others stared at Lucci with strange expressions.
At a time like this, how could this man still be so calm?
In the street, the Destroyer confirmed the target wasn't dead, raised its head again, and the energy core behind its faceplate rapidly condensed.
The blazing orange light grew brighter and brighter, clearly preparing to end Thor completely with a beam.
Seeing that, Lucci frowned slightly and glanced at Mjolnir beside him.
The "worthiness" runes Odin had set were already glowing.
Clearly, Thor's actions had touched the seal's core criteria.
Mjolnir was about to break free and return to Thor's hand.
However—
The Destroyer's energy beam had already condensed to its peak.
And Mjolnir's final "unlock" still needed another second or two.
"Too late," Lucci murmured.
At this speed, before Mjolnir could fully activate and fly away, Thor would be vaporized by the high-temperature beam.
"Fine. I'll do it," Lucci sighed softly.
He'd wanted Thor to stage a dramatic, bloody "king's return."
But now there was no chance.
So at the moment the Destroyer's beam was about to turn into a torrent of destruction and fire at Thor—
Lucci's thoughts moved.
The power of time—activate.
Buzz—
Centered on Lucci, an invisible, supreme force of law instantly enveloped the entire town.
In an instant, everything around fell into absolute stillness.
The fleeing crowd froze mid-step, fear locked on their faces.
Dust hung motionless in the air.
Bullets fired by agents in the distance stopped in front of gun barrels.
Even the condensed energy beam from the Destroyer's face froze in front of Thor.
The whole world looked like a gigantic, motionless oil painting.
The only "living" being was Lucci.
He stepped forward; his figure vanished from the diner entrance in a blink.
The next moment, he appeared calmly before the Destroyer—standing in front of Thor.
He stared at the frozen energy beam, enough to melt everything, and his face didn't change at all.
He raised a finger.
At his fingertip, a tiny invisible golden light glittered like a shard of stars—compressed to the extreme, containing true fire of the laws of "causality" and "destruction."
Then he gently tapped the frozen beam.
Time resumed.
Boom—
The Destroyer's beam arrived as scheduled.
But the moment it touched the golden light at Lucci's fingertip, there was no shocking explosion.
Instead—
Retreat.
As if the beam had slammed into a black hole, it was forced to flow backward by an incomprehensible, irresistible power.
The energy beam rebounded at a hundred times the speed it came—carrying the terrifying force of shattered law—straight into the Destroyer's face.
The warframe didn't even have time to react.
A crisp click sounded, and its so-called indestructible faceplate was pierced by its own attack.
Cracks spread from its head like a spiderweb, racing across its entire body.
Before anyone could even comprehend what happened—
BOOM!
With an earth-shaking explosion, Asgard's ultimate war machine detonated.
Countless metal fragments and turbulent energy whipped through the air.
But the shockwave and shrapnel—enough to tear ordinary people apart—vanished silently as if striking an invisible barrier a few meters behind Lucci.
He simply stood there, shielding Thor absolutely safely behind him.
When the aftermath faded, only metal debris and a massive crater remained.
The town fell silent.
Everyone stared, stunned.
Jane's group, Coulson, the agents…
Their minds had stopped.
A single finger.
Just one finger—killed the metal monster that had rendered them helpless, like a demon god.
Could it be…
No—this Lucci…
Was he truly a god?
The answer was obvious.
…
At the same time.
On the other side of the world, deep within the Himalayas, in the secluded mysterious temple known as Kamar-Taj—
In a secret chamber, a bald woman in yellow monk robes sat cross-legged, her aura enigmatic.
She was Earth's protector: the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One.
At that moment, her face was slightly pale, sweat beading on her forehead—clearly enduring great pain.
To protect Earth, she had to draw power from Dormammu, lord of the Dark Dimension, and that power constantly backfired against her soul.
But then, she suddenly opened her eyes.
They were filled with unprecedented shock.
She had felt it:
The flow of time that covered the whole Earth had undergone an extremely brief yet unmistakable abnormal fluctuation.
Someone had used the power of time.
More than that—this time manipulation was precise and dominant, not dependent on external artifacts.
Beyond imagination.
"What's going on?" The Ancient One's heart churned like storm waves. "On Earth… besides me, is there someone else who can touch the domain of time?"
"Who is it?"
…
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