Thor was utterly in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, nor could he believe that his son had grown into someone like this.
But unfortunately, this was the reality.
"Modi! My son! What happened to you?" Thor could hardly comprehend what was before him. He couldn't understand how Modi had become like this.
At that moment, Modi raised Mjolnir high, pointing it at the former God of Thunder.
His face twisted with rage. "You abandoned me in the World Tree, Father. Like a beast's hide buried underground—some things are meant to be hidden and forgotten."
"The flow of time within the World Tree is different. To you, it may have been only a few months, but for me, a thousand years have passed."
"The World Tree revealed many things to me—the past, the future, the fate of the gods, the hearts of men."
"I saw what happened, Father. I saw them destroy Asgard." As Modi spoke, his expression darkened ominously.
"The runes on my ring represent Othala—nation, inheritance, legacy. These things were stolen from me. I want a kingdom of my own." Modi's words carried an infectious fervor as he spread his arms wide, painting his vision before his father.
"A land so powerful they will forget Asgard ever existed. And to fuel the birth of my new empire, I need the dying flames of the old one."
"The fall of America!"
At that moment, Thor began to understand why Modi had become like this.
"My son, listen to me. The World Tree has corrupted your soul. Even your uncle Loki would not commit such evil. You cannot destroy—" Thor tried to persuade Modi to turn back, but it was already too late.
"I don't need to. They will destroy it for me. Othala's opposite is chaos, prejudice, racism, fear. I am merely unearthing what lies within them." As he spoke, a disturbingly pleased smile spread across Modi's face.
To Thor, this was utterly unacceptable.
"End this madness, my son. End it before I do." Thor pointed at Modi, his voice thundering with authority.
But Modi no longer regarded his powerless, forsaken father as a threat. He only looked at Thor with disdain.
"You? Someone as lowly as you has no right to judge me. A father who abandoned his own son."
"I did it to save you!" Thor knew the truth—at that time, the only way to ensure Modi's survival was to place him within the World Tree. But he had never foreseen that the World Tree would corrupt him.
(As mentioned in Chapter 41, Asgard was destroyed.)
At that time, Asgard was annihilated by the Children of Tomorrow, led by the Creator, Reed. Faced with utter despair, Thor had no choice but to hide Modi within a pocket of space inside the World Tree to protect him.
That space existed beyond all worlds, where the past replayed endlessly.
"You left me to grow up alone in an infinite void beyond all worlds. You are neither a god nor a human. You let mankind destroy our home—our Asgard."
Modi glared at Thor with burning hatred.
"You made me what I am. I am the last Asgardian. Your only god. And you, Father... you are a disappointment." Modi locked eyes with Thor as he clutched a glowing gem tightly in his hand.
"Now, kneel. Submit."
"No—Modi! My head—!" Thor clutched his skull in agony and fell to his knees.
"Yes, my son. I submit."
At that moment, aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Captain America and the others frowned as they watched the footage before them.
Carol couldn't believe what she was seeing—Thor, kneeling before that child.
Even if that child held the last remnants of Asgardian godhood.
Captain America and the others did not want to believe what they were witnessing, but the man who had presented it to them was known as the Bat.
"Mr. President, forgive me for asking, but how did you obtain all of this?" Iron Man was deeply curious. Even Anthony couldn't just waltz into Project Pegasus' military base.
Yet Bruce had effortlessly acquired all the footage from inside.
Carol, however, had a rough idea of how Bruce had managed to get into the Pegasus base.
"You must have planted a backdoor in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system long ago." Carol recalled how Bruce had once silently infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s network.
Logically, even someone as brilliant as Reed or Iron Man would trigger at least some security warnings when attempting to hack S.H.I.E.L.D.
When Bruce invaded, the S.H.I.E.L.D. system didn't issue any warning, which was already quite telling.
"Project Pegasus had already split from S.H.I.E.L.D. when America fractured, but they still use the same system as S.H.I.E.L.D. So, the backdoors you left behind are just as undetectable to them."
Carol was arguably the one who suffered the most.
After S.H.I.E.L.D. was infiltrated by Batman, Carol immediately assembled the scientific division's brightest minds to conduct a thorough inspection of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s entire system.
But they found nothing.
Not even the slightest trace of Batman's intrusion.
As for the so-called backdoors, those geniuses stood no chance of uncovering them.
If they weren't still somewhat useful, Carol would have fired every single one of them.
"I think we can infiltrate them," Captain America proposed an idea at this moment.
Almost everyone turned their gaze toward him.
But Captain America looked instead at Batman—his plan could only proceed with Batman's approval, as Batman was now the President of the United States.
Batman nodded. He was also curious to hear what this WWII veteran had in mind.
"Since the enemy is gathering Hydra's forces, we can replace some of their personnel and slip our own troops into Hydra's ranks."
Captain America pulled up a schematic—it was an overview of Hydra's forces advancing toward Wyoming.
However, this schematic wasn't from Batman. It was compiled by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence department, based on various sources of movement data.
"If we set up an ambush along their inevitable route and force the battle onto open plains, we can minimize civilian casualties."
"Most of Hydra's troops lack experience, but they outnumber us ten to one. We need to rally every hero and super soldier we can muster."
"We'll take them down in one decisive battle here."
Captain America's gaze was firm as he looked at the screen. This was the best plan he could come up with.
"So, Mr. President, what do you think?" Captain America didn't forget his current position and turned to Bruce for his opinion.
"What if the enemy has mind control abilities? Or telepathy?" Bruce raised a concern that Captain America hadn't considered.
However, the world's most powerful telepath, Professor X, had already passed away.
The remaining mutants had been rounded up in Sentinel-controlled areas, making escape impossible.
Asgardians had never been known to possess telepathic abilities either.
Bruce walked up to the screen, manipulated the controls, and displayed footage of Thor under Modi's control.
"At first, Thor resisted Modi's influence and even tried to fight back, but in the end, he still succumbed to him."
Bruce zoomed in on Thor's face in the footage.
Thor's expression was twisted in agony as if he were enduring immense suffering.
"Judging by his willpower, he wouldn't be swayed by mere words and turn traitor. This suggests that Modi likely possesses mind control abilities or an artifact that allows him to manipulate minds."
"If we infiltrate Hydra's ranks, Modi will be able to identify, at a glance, who is Hydra and who is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."
Staring at Thor's contorted face on the screen, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fell into a heavy silence.
Phew, that's the end of three updates. Back to two updates per day from now on.
(End of chapter)
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