Back in Asgard, Thor had thought about it. In the future, there would be three major opportunities for improving his strength.
The first was the "fat Thor" state during the final battle. At that time, his improvement was mainly reflected in raw strength. Although he was always at a disadvantage, he could already compete with Thanos for a short time. The reason for this, Thor speculated, was that after becoming the king of Asgard, his power would continue to grow—just like Hela's. Under normal circumstances, it would take more than twenty years for this power to fully awaken. But Thor had long considered that the war would end in Wakanda at the latest, so he could only obtain this power in advance through system tasks.
The second was the forging of Stormbreaker. With Stormbreaker, he would be able to counter the power of the Infinity Stones and kill Thanos. In the original timeline, it was the invincible Stormbreaker that allowed him to cut off Thanos' head.
Of course, Stormbreaker could be forged at any time, but the process required exposure to the unimaginably high temperatures of a neutron star—hundreds of billions of degrees. Right now, Thor knew he was far from able to endure that.
The last was the Awakening of the Thunder Force. Although he was called the God of Thunder, in truth most of his power was channeled through Mjolnir. Just like when he faced Yon-Rogg and the others earlier, once he lost his hammer he instantly dropped to the level of a mere high-ranking soldier, almost powerless to resist. Although Mjolnir would return instantly with a thought, what if something unexpected happened? What if, one day, the hammer failed?
After these past two days of observation, Thor realized his situation was very similar to Carol's. Her power had always been locked within her body and suppressed by an external chip. For Thor, it was Mjolnir. That was why he deliberately showed his strength and allowed himself to be captured—hoping to use the pressure of the Supreme Intelligence to awaken his own hidden power, just as Carol had done. And now, he had succeeded.
He felt the surging power in his body, as though every gesture carried the ability to destroy heaven and earth.
Minn-Erva's eyes widened in shock. She immediately shouted, "Quick! Kill him!"
A purple bolt of lightning suddenly burst from Thor's hand, racing across the floor. In an instant, every soldier nearby was reduced to ash.
Minn-Erva rolled desperately out of the way, dodging a thunderbolt, and raised her sniper rifle again in disbelief. But before she could even pull the trigger, there was a sharp "crack"—her rifle turned into a useless firestick, and then her entire body went numb as she collapsed, unable to move.
Thor hoisted Minn-Erva and carried her toward the Skrulls' location. Along the way, more Kree soldiers tried to block his path, but each one was reduced to blackened charcoal the moment they entered the field of crackling lightning surrounding him.
On the other side, Carol handed the Tesseract to Nick Fury before turning to face the pursuing Starforce. Just in time, she spotted Thor striding toward her with lightning in his eyes.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Carol said with a grin, seeing Thor's thunderous aura.
"No, I almost capsized in the gutter," Thor denied quickly, then smirked. "So? How do you feel—like you just leveled up in a video game?
"It feels amazing, Mr. Pikachu…" Carol rolled her eyes, then turned to face Yon-Rogg and the others closing in on them. "The Tesseract and the hostage—Minn-Erva. You can only choose one."
"I don't appreciate your humor," Yon-Rogg said darkly. "It is her honor to sacrifice for the Kree Empire. Kill them both!" he commanded, and the Starforce charged.
But the Starforce was no match for Carol, and now, with Thor at her side, they were easily overwhelmed. Realizing the Tesseract had been taken, Yon-Rogg abandoned his teammates, climbing into a fighter craft to pursue the fleeing Skrulls alone.
Carol chased after him, while Thor dragged Minn-Erva aboard another ship—he still couldn't fly on his own.
Inside the craft, Thor teased her: "You know, I just saved your life."
Minn-Erva's face remained expressionless. She hated Thor, but she hated Carol even more. If it hadn't been for Carol, she would never have ended up stranded in this forsaken place, only to be captured by this infuriating man.
Thor ignored her hostility. "There aren't many decent people in the Kree Starforce," he muttered, "and the only reason you're still alive is because you look halfway civilized." Narrowing his eyes, he focused on the destruction behind them.
In the silence of space, no sound could be heard, but the blinding flash of light still caught Minn-Erva's attention. She turned her head just in time to see a colossal thunderbolt—more than ten meters wide—slam into the laboratory. In the next instant, the massive structure disintegrated into debris.