Everyone who caught sight of Foster in that moment froze at first, instinctively assuming Adam had mobilized incredibly fast... and in person, no less. But a closer look revealed that something was off.
"This person doesn't seem to be Adam, and she's definitely not Thor. What's going on? Who is she?"
"I heard a rumor that when Adam was fighting in Jotunheim, his subordinate Reynolds also lifted Mjolnir and defeated King Laufey. But this doesn't look like Reynolds either…"
"Yeah, she has long hair like the others, but her build is much slimmer... not some muscle-bound giant…"
The few people familiar with Mjolnir's picky nature felt a chill run down their spines.
The hammer was notoriously selective. Out of billions of people on the planet, the odds of anyone being able to lift it were astronomically low. And yet, in a short span of time, multiple individuals had managed to do exactly that.
People had already thought Adam's method of cycling Xenomorph embryos between hosts to grant similar abilities to different people was outrageous enough. Now even the legendary divine weapon recorded in human history was changing owners left and right?
How many Thors were popping up one after another? This had to be the fourth, right?
"Check it out... now! It looks like a woman, right? Dig into this. I want to know the real identity of this female Thor!"
"Actually, there's no need to investigate further. We can confirm she's one of Adam's people. I saw her fly straight out of Weyland Tower."
"Just like how Sentry burst out of a building to stop Magneto... raw, direct, and headed straight for the battlefield?"
"So if my eyes aren't playing tricks, Adam has quietly produced yet another new Thor? How does he keep doing this? It's like gods are coming off an assembly line in his hands, appearing one after another without end!"
It didn't take long for people to piece together the connections, and the realization left many feeling helpless. From Reynolds to Laufey and now this female Thor, every time Adam made a move, he brought surprises to the masses and utter disbelief to the few with ulterior motives.
From an ordinary person's perspective, it was hard to say whether Adam acted out of justice or some other agenda during these major crises. But in practice, he always charged straight to the most dangerous front lines, tackling the source of the disaster head-on. To regular people, that made him a protector... a guardian deity. It was no wonder his popularity online was sky-high and why Xenomorphs had gained such a massive following.
But from the viewpoint of certain schemers, analyzing Adam's motives through a lens of paranoia, his constant interventions were becoming impossible to counter. Even when he resolved the crisis, they still had to face a stronger Adam and his ever-growing superpowered forces afterward.
"Every upheaval becomes an opportunity for Adam to seize. He draws strength from the chaos and emerges even more powerful."
It was a bitterly frustrating truth for anyone coveting his power.
Take right now, for example. Adam had casually deployed a brand-new Thor. In an incredibly short time, she had crossed vast distances, hammer raised, and brought it crashing down on the black dragon.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amid countless bolts of lightning and thick storm clouds, everyone watched the female Thor swing her hammer. Each time she raised it high, it seemed to draw the planet's thunder into the weapon before slamming it down onto the dragon's skull.
One strike. Two. Three. Every heavy blow left the dragon writhing in agony. Its massive body shuddered violently with each impact, and large chunks of black matter sloughed off its form amid ear-piercing shrieks.
Others might feel joy, shock, or wariness at the sight. That was fine.
But when Loki burst out from the collapsed underground base onto the surface and looked up, the first thing he saw was a Thor hammering the dragon. His worldview shattered on the spot.
"Who is this woman? Why does she have Mjölnir? No... how can some unknown woman even lift the hammer?!"
Loki had believed his mentality was hardened enough that external events wouldn't rattle him so badly anymore. Yet seeing the hammer... once the ultimate symbol of divine worthiness... casually wielded by a complete stranger and unleashing such terrifying power left him reeling.
His first thought was that Adam had once again transferred the Xenomorph embryo carrying Thor's bloodline into this unfamiliar woman's chest.
But that didn't add up.
Thor's bloodline alone wasn't enough to lift Mjolnir. It also required a pure heart.
Just thinking back, when Adam had obtained Mjölnir, he could lift it himself. When facing Laufey, he had first transferred the Thor-bloodline embryo into Reynolds, then used some unknown method to shift his own consciousness into Reynolds' body, allowing Reynolds to wield the hammer too.
But this time? Loki probed with every sense and magical method he possessed and detected no trace of Adam's consciousness in the woman.
"Could she really have lifted Mjolnir on her own? Midgard actually has someone like that... capable of becoming Thor through her own merit?" Loki's composure cracked. Even he couldn't lift the hammer.
What stunned him even more was how much stronger this female Thor's command of the hammer was compared to Thor himself.
Every swing and strike generated divine lightning far beyond what Thor had ever produced with Mjölnir.
And this was after she had only just begun wielding it. Loki was certain that with more time to master its full potential, her power would grow even more formidable.
It was ridiculous. Completely insane. No matter how hard Loki thought about it, he couldn't figure out where Adam had found such a talent.
By his count, this made four Thors now.
"This woman is stronger than Thor. The Thor from a thousand years ago already defeated that dragon. With her, the outcome is obvious... she's going to win."
Though a flicker of reluctance stirred in Loki's chest, reason told him the battle was already decided. The worst outcome was losing the symbiotes, a parasitic race he viewed as comparable to the Xenomorphs. It was deeply frustrating.
This failure made his entire venture on Midgard look foolish.
Just as Loki and the others thought the situation would soon be wrapped up... with the dragon defeated and imprisoned by the female Thor...
A thunderous roar erupted.
The dragon thrashed wildly. An overwhelmingly terrifying spiritual wave far beyond anything it had shown before surged from its body. Ancient, evil, frenzied, and laced with unmistakable rage, the will itself carried powerful corrosive and infectious properties. It spread wildly, engulfing everything nearby.
Foster was hit first. At such close range, there was no avoiding it. Her normally resolute face suddenly showed traces of daze as horrifying fragmented memories flooded her mind.
Flames. Screams. A black planet. Countless writhing symbiotes. A mysterious longsword left behind in some unknown star system.
Foster felt completely lost. She had never encountered anything like this. Just yesterday, she had been an ordinary physicist.
Now her brain was suddenly crammed with vast amounts of fragmented, high-density information. The load was unprecedented, made worse by the strongly infectious, virus-like will mixed in. She couldn't react in time.
This was Foster, with her strong will. Anyone else would have been instantly destroyed by the dragon's terrifying spiritual presence.
"Foster, don't worry. I'm with you. Always trust your own heart. The opponent isn't at full strength. Its overall power is pitifully weak... it can't take you out in a single blow."
Adam's voice echoed in Foster's mind. He was actively helping her resist the dragon's spiritual assault.
Foster listened to Adam while also receiving a flood of unintelligible spiritual language from the dragon. Her instincts told her it was furiously cursing something... maybe venting complaints?
"This dragon is strange. Its consciousness feels completely out of sync with its body."
It was the same question Loki wanted answered.
The black dragon that Thor had knocked out with a single hammer a thousand years ago... how had it become this ferocious? Especially that extraordinary spiritual attack. Its depth, ancient quality, and dark nature left even Loki shaken. Even diluted, it was far beyond anything an ordinary being should possess.
"There must be more to this. But if this black dragon has such a special origin and this level of consciousness, how could it have been… Wait. I think I get it."
Loki's eyes brightened. He remembered how the Casket of Ancient Winters... an artifact capable of instantly freezing an entire world... had only briefly affected the newly awakened dragon before it broke free.
Yet under the female Thor's furious assault and relentless divine lightning, the dragon was completely suppressed. Large sections of its body were being torn away.
"It fears lightning? Not the divine power itself, so… the heat? Or the sound?" Loki felt he was close to the truth.
This explained why the bizarre dragon had been smashed into Midgard by Thor and left dormant for a millennium, only to be released now because of his interference.
"Did Adam specifically send the female Thor to deal with this black dragon purely by coincidence? Or does he, like me, know that Thor once defeated it?"
Loki unconsciously began thinking from Adam's perspective. He had taken so many thorough beatings from Adam that he was falling back into his old habit of copying the man's homework.
Adam, for his part, paid no attention to whatever Loki was scheming. As long as the troublesome God of Mischief didn't target him directly or drag in some catastrophic threat from another world, Adam was content to ignore him.
At least until Odin was gone.
Adam's focus remained on the female Thor and the symbiote dragon.
He wasn't overly surprised that this new Thor... who was already somewhat stronger than the original... could suppress the dragon so effectively right from the start of the fight.
"I didn't expect Loki to actually release this thing… Though it worked out. If I were in his position and learned about something like this, I'd react quickly too and test whether I could get my hands on the symbiotes."
Adam watched the black dragon's every move closely.
He was likely the only person on the planet who truly knew its origins.
Knull... the God of Symbiotes.
Strictly speaking, the dragon's body was essentially one massive symbiote, a creation of Knull's.
The dragon's current consciousness was primarily Knull's own soul and will transferred into it.
A thousand years ago, Knull had shifted his consciousness into this black dragon and gone wandering the cosmos. He accidentally entered the territory of Yggdrasil, where the battle-hungry Thor discovered and attacked him.
Normally, Knull feared no enemy. He was a god born in the primordial darkness at the dawn of creation. He had slumbered in the void until the Celestials' star-forging woke him. In his rage, he had drawn All-Black the Necrosword from the surrounding darkness and slain a Celestial.
Through that blade, he later forged the entire symbiote race.
But the intense heat and constant hammering noises of the forging process left the symbiotes with extreme vulnerabilities to fire, high temperatures, and loud sounds.
Knull, powerful enough to challenge any god, could only do so at full strength... when body and soul were united. Not like now, with the two separated.
He had temporarily abandoned his true body, using the symbiote dragon as a vessel for his consciousness to roam the universe. Unfortunately, he ran into the extremely warlike Thor... the perfect counter with his mastery of heat and thunderous noise. One hammer strike later, Knull was done for.
"Looking at the timeline, Knull's true body should currently be imprisoned by the rebelling symbiotes. His consciousness is trapped in this symbiote dragon, and he's been completely countered by two generations of Thor. No wonder he's losing it."
Adam observed the battle as the female Thor engaged the symbiote dragon in a second round.
Rampaging divine lightning clashed against the cosmic evil god's power in explosive collisions. As time passed, the female Thor steadily gained the upper hand.
She was a natural counter to symbiotes. Even one carrying a god's consciousness couldn't withstand her.
The symbiote dragon... or rather, Knull... was practically furious beyond reason.
A mighty being who had risen by stepping on the corpses of Celestials right from his debut, yet every time he stepped out he suffered setback after setback on a backwater planet like Earth. Knull could not accept it.
Whether he accepted it or not didn't matter. Right now he was only a sliver of consciousness. Ninety-nine percent of his power remained in his true body, which was currently sealed deep within a writhing black planet formed by countless symbiotes at the Earth's core.
"This creature is so strange…"
A hint of confusion and deep wariness appeared in Foster's eyes. Through her connection with Adam, she gradually realized what she was facing.
Then she fought even harder.
Foster's current mindset was similar to Reynolds' when he had first gained power. Suddenly possessing extraordinary strength left her exhilarated. She went all-out with every strike. She should have grown tired from the massive energy expenditure, yet she always found even more power surging from within... like an endless cycle.
The storm of divine power continued to spread. Thick black clouds covered a portion of the planet, turning the surrounding area into a domain of thunder where no one dared approach.
"Stark, how's the situation?" Captain America pressed a finger to his comms, speaking loudly. None of them could fly, so they didn't dare get too close for fear of the lightning striking their jet.
"You're asking me? Captain, you should use your own eyes. And since we can communicate clearly without interference, it already proves I'm at a safe distance from the battlefield." Tony shot back, clearly annoyed. Sometimes he genuinely felt his teammates held him back. He was already on the Mark XII, while the rest of them were still stuck in place.
The issue of being too outstanding for his teammates had become a growing source of frustration for Tony, slowly eroding what little patience he had left.
"If I were you people, I'd be figuring out ways to increase my own strength instead of hiding in the back asking questions!" Tony shouted. "Captain, didn't you get the super-soldier serum? Then find a way to take more of it and get stronger, so you don't always end up asking questions from the rear when we face supernatural threats! Otherwise I'm starting to think you're perfectly content just busting a few smugglers and low-level dealers every few days."
On the jet, Captain America fell silent, lost in thought. Hawkeye and Black Widow's expressions darkened. Dr. Banner actually laughed.
"We've become the clowns again, haven't we? That's fine. In your eyes, I've always been the clown anyway."
"If you don't want to be the clown, then why did you join the team in the first place?" Hawkeye shot him a cold look.
"Hah, you think I wanted to join? You people forced me into it! You hunted me across the globe. Maybe I shouldn't have wasted my time on you. If I had gone to Adam instead, would you have dared pressure me? Would S.H.I.E.L.D. dare provoke someone like him?"
Dr. Banner had once believed people like Adam... operating outside the established order... were destroyers of peace who would eventually be dealt with. They had no future.
But he had changed his mind. When power and influence reached a certain level, they created their own order. And once order existed, many problems solved themselves.
"If I weren't worried that the Xenomorphs couldn't survive the gamma radiation in the Hulk's body and would die the instant they tried to bond with me, I would have gone to him already! I don't believe I'd end up like Abomination." Dr. Banner spoke with a cold smile.
Among the group, only he was filled with resentment and anger. The more he spoke, the angrier he became... until he started transforming into the Hulk.
"Oh damn, why now? We're still on the jet! Clint, you shouldn't have provoked him." Black Widow complained. "Hold it together, big guy. You have to hold it!"
The others panicked. They grabbed parachutes and bailed out immediately. Staying meant being smashed to pieces by the Hulk.
The Avengers' disastrous performance left Nick Fury in despair. He couldn't help but wonder if assembling this group into a hero team had been a mistake from the start. They were a complete mess. The enemy hadn't even acted, and they were already falling apart internally.
"Stark, I haven't seen you lift a finger this whole time. Weren't you so confident in your armor? I've never actually seen what the Mark XII can really do," Fury said.
"It's stronger than you can imagine. But forget it. Since Adam's people have already stepped in and clearly hold the upper hand... practically turning that black dragon into a pile of broken pieces... I have no interest in picking up scraps. This joke of a 'super-boy' team has proven with real action that it's a failure. Don't blame me. If you had a bunch of completely unreliable teammates, you'd lose patience too. Look, one of them is already coming straight at me."
With that, Tony looked up to see the Hulk leaping furiously toward him.
Tony cursed inwardly, creating distance and opening fire on the Hulk.
Their pathetic display was witnessed by many. The Mark XII's incredible mobility and firepower were genuinely impressive. Those in the know recognized that the armor likely incorporated adamantium, allowing it to withstand several of the Hulk's punches without damage.
"Stark's armor is quite strong. Even you would need some effort to deal with him," Professor X said with a smile to Magneto on Krakoa.
Not viewing the disaster from the perspective of ordinary humans or world peace helped Professor X relax considerably and approach things with greater calm.
Magneto nodded, then shook his head. "True, I would find it difficult to destroy adamantium. But difficult doesn't mean impossible to control. His armor is still a sophisticated high-tech weapon. It can't be made entirely of adamantium. I only need to sabotage a few key components or rip out some wiring to neutralize it."
Despite their words, both men looked visibly impressed. Tony's rate of progress was astonishing. In such a short time, he had already pushed forward to the Mark XII... and this was only the armor he had revealed.
Professor X and Magneto had every reason to believe Tony had several other specialized suits for different situations, including anti-magnetic ones.
Their suspicions were confirmed when, at Tony's command, a large armor descended from orbit. It was clearly designed to counter the Hulk. The two clashed fiercely in an uninhabited area.
"This is probably the advantage of a high-intelligence superhero. The longer the fight drags on, the faster he can upgrade his technology and widen his lead," Professor X observed.
"But no matter how great his advantage, it can't compare to ours. We've already recruited so many capable mutants into our mutant nation. The total population has reached seven thousand, and it will only grow. Our country is developing in the right direction."
Even though the vast majority of those seven thousand mutants were ordinary civilians with no combat ability.
Magneto's eyes rarely showed such strong hope. The world was indeed dangerous. Strange and difficult threats could appear at any time... like the bizarre black dragon currently being handled by the female Thor.
But that was fine. They simply needed to continue relocating every mutant willing to join them to Krakoa.
"What about Adam? What's your plan regarding him?" Magneto suddenly asked. It was an extremely sensitive topic.
Professor X glanced at him and switched to mental communication. They both knew Adam could monitor the situation through Xenomorph embryos.
"Adam is growing stronger and stronger. We've watched him rise from an ordinary civilian to what he is today. His forces now include more and more powerful individuals. Honestly, I think some may even surpass Jean," Professor X's voice echoed in Magneto's mind.
Magneto remained silent. Thinking of Reynolds, then this female Thor, and the underground rumors that Adam had slain a Skyfather-level being… Given Adam's personality, he had likely gone to such lengths to obtain a Skyfather Xenomorph.
Add in Deathbird, Abomination symbiotes, and other troublesome subordinates…
Adam had become an absolute force on the planet that could no longer be ignored.
"Let's bring this up in the council meeting. Like last time, we council members will discuss it mentally."
Magneto thought for a moment and offered only that suggestion.
They both understood each other's concerns. If Adam's power ever reached the point where he could disregard everything else on the planet, would he extend his reach toward the mutants to further expand his strength?
Against traditional human forces, the two believed their gathered mutants gave them a fighting chance... at least enough for self-preservation.
But if a overwhelmingly dominant, highly aggressive faction that needed large numbers of quality hosts appeared, that would be another story.
An unbalanced world was a terrifying thing. Just thinking about it caused deep anxiety.
"We should go talk to Destiny. We need to bring her into this. She shouldn't remain outside our circle, no matter what futures she has seen."
…
The moment Adam took action, no one doubted he would ultimately prevail... even if he had only sent a previously unseen subordinate. The only question was in what manner he would defeat the enemy.
The facts proved it. The black dragon was strong, but it looked utterly miserable under the female Thor's onslaught. Its once massive body was steadily stripped away with every heavy blow, growing smaller and weaker as the fight continued.
Finally, under countless watchful eyes, the black dragon let out a roar that everyone clearly heard.
"Grendel."
The female Thor paused. At such close range, she sharply sensed that the consciousness behind this voice felt different from the one that had been controlling the dragon before.
Then the dragon fled.
"Don't even think about running! This is my first battle as Thor!"
Foster's face lit up with excitement. She swung her hammer and gave chase, striking as she pursued. To outsiders, she looked brutally fierce. People watched and drew in sharp breaths, calling it savage.
The symbiote dragon didn't flee elsewhere. It dove straight down toward the place it had broken free from, swallowed Loki in one gulp, and rapidly escaped toward outer space.
For a god's consciousness, this was utterly humiliating. If word got out, Knull would never live it down in divine circles... being chased off by a bunch of inferior mortals.
"What is this thing thinking? Does it want revenge on me? Perfect. I was worried the woman would beat it to death."
Loki smirked coldly. Even inside the dragon's belly, with black viscous matter already spreading toward him, he remained calm. He had been hoping for this.
Just as Loki was considering what magic to use to forcibly control the dragon and turn himself into a dominant host like Adam...
An overwhelmingly oppressive consciousness, small in quantity but vast in scope like the cosmos itself, suddenly detached from the dragon's mind and appeared before Loki.
"@￥##%...!@#!"
This immeasurably powerful consciousness spoke to Loki in what sounded like extreme urgency.
Naturally, Loki didn't understand a word. It was divine language... extremely ancient, nearly a description of the universe's fundamental rules from its birth.
The consciousness spoke faster and faster, finally exploding with rage. It immediately commanded large amounts of symbiote matter to attach to Loki while its own consciousness successfully bonded through the collective.
"Damn it, I understand now. He is the true master of the symbiotes. This is completely separate from the Grendel symbiote dragon… This guy is similar to Adam. He can transfer his consciousness!"
Loki's expression changed. He tried to expel the symbiote from his body, but stopped the next second. He quietly watched as the unknown consciousness forcibly took control of his form, nearly draining him dry as it opened a spatial portal.
Spatial teleportation? Like the Bifrost?
Loki frowned, growing suspicious. A being capable of tearing open space like this was at least Skyfather level. He clutched the Casket of Ancient Winters tightly, feeling the symbiotes rapidly enhancing his power while the mysterious consciousness made no further attempt to invade his soul. He understood the situation.
"You want my help? I don't know who you are, but why should I risk myself for some unknown entity? What do I get out of it? Don't give me nonsense about my life. Right now, you need my help. I'm not begging you to spare me."
Loki's eyes flashed with deep greed as he felt his strength growing rapidly.
Symbiotes really were incredible... far beyond his expectations. Even someone of his level could see such obvious improvement, with the potential to grow even stronger over time.
What if he could control more symbiotes? Or even seize control of this consciousness, whether it belonged to a god or something else?
As Loki spoke, he carefully controlled his thoughts, slowly lowering his head to show willingness to cooperate. For the God of Lies, manipulating his own mind to produce the "right" thoughts for deception was second nature.
Loki stepped into the spatial portal. Undoubtedly, this was the limit of what the consciousness could open with its remaining power.
Almost the instant he was swallowed by the portal, the surrounding symbiote matter shuddered violently. The entire dragon let out a horrifying wail and plummeted from the sky.
Not only had the female Thor acted... several Xenomorphs had joined in as well, ensuring the creature couldn't escape Earth and vanish into the vast cosmos.
"Hm, Loki disappeared? Interesting. Looks like Knull, with no other options, reluctantly chose Loki as his proxy in the physical universe to help him break free."
Adam observed everything from afar and immediately understood what had happened.
Truthfully, for a cosmic god of Knull's level... born at the dawn of creation... to end up in such a miserable, desperate state was rare.
But then again, Knull had always been reckless. He just had to transfer his consciousness into a symbiote dragon far weaker than his true form.
It didn't matter. Knull's mind had never been entirely stable anyway. Nothing he did would surprise Adam too much.
The female Thor looked down at the dragon, now half its original size after crashing to the ground, and prodded it with her hammer.
"What a strange creature. I'm not even sure it qualifies as a traditional lifeform… No distinct internal organs, just writhing black matter throughout. Rip off any piece and it becomes a symbiote?"
"No need to overthink it right now. No matter how difficult the puzzle, it will eventually become nothing more than a light breeze before our constant progress. For now, Foster, bring Grendel back. I have use for it." Adam gave the order directly.
Foster carried it out without hesitation. She grabbed the dragon by the tail, her face wrinkling in disgust at the sticky sensation. She could feel the black viscous matter instinctively trying to spread toward her body, attempting to bond with her.
A burst of lightning later, the substance immediately behaved itself.
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