As soon as Thor resorted to violence, the surrounding guards immediately dropped what they were holding and raised their electromagnetic rifles, aiming at him.
Seeing the weapons pointed at them, Jane panicked and quickly said, "I'll leave right away, don't shoot!"
But at that moment, Wade looked at Thor with a hint of interest in his eyes.
"This guy's not bad. Come on, let's have a little match. If you win, I'll give you back your stuff."
Hearing this, Thor pushed Jane aside.
"Can you make that decision?"
"Relax, I definitely can. Everyone here listens to me. Whatever I tell them to do, they—"
"Alright."
Before Wade could finish speaking, Thor swung his fist and charged forward.
Wade reacted quickly, spinning out of the way to dodge Thor's sneak attack, then immediately stomped his foot down on Thor's face.
"Heh, a rookie like you trying to play tricks on me? You must have a death wish—"
Before he could finish his taunt, Thor took advantage of his distraction, flipped over, and pinned Wade to the ground.
"Oh, you big oaf! Get off me, you're pressing too hard…"
Hearing those strange words, everyone around them froze for a moment.
Seeing that Thor wasn't letting go, Wade sighed and said, "Alright, I give up. You can have your stuff back."
In truth, he could've used the Blacklight Virus to turn the tables, but he had never really cared about keeping these items in the first place.
After all, he was Deadpool.
There was no way he'd willingly work for Umbrella.
The only reason he was involved with them was because of a contract he signed.
Back when he underwent the Blacklight Virus experiment, it wasn't a free deal—he had to sign a fifty-year contract.
If the experiment had failed, it wouldn't have mattered. But since it succeeded, there was no way Umbrella would let a test subject roam free.
At the time, Wade had been in the final stages of cancer. Figuring he was going to die anyway, he signed without hesitation.
But the moment the experiment succeeded, he regretted it.
Just like his counterparts in other universes, the first thing he did after gaining his abilities was betray his handlers.
However, Umbrella wasn't just some no-name lab. He couldn't openly defy them, so he did the next best thing—he slacked off, messed with them whenever he could, and made their lives miserable.
Seeing that Deadpool had surrendered, Thor released him.
A short while later, the items were returned, and Jane's group started to warm up to Wade.
But they didn't have time to chat. Their priority was finding the meteorite, so once they confirmed their belongings wouldn't be taken again, they hurried off toward their goal.
...
Meanwhile, in Asgard~
Odin lay within a golden energy field, deep in slumber.
Only Loki and Frigga stood by his side.
Frigga gently stroked the energy shield, gazing at her sleeping husband with deep affection.
"I'm not used to seeing him like this. But he's delayed his Odinsleep for too long… I'm starting to worry."
As the King of Asgard, Odin wielded immense power through the Odinforce. But this power came at a cost—it placed a tremendous strain on his body.
As he aged, the burden became even heavier, requiring him to enter Odinsleep periodically to recover.
He should have done so years ago, but with constant unrest in the Nine Realms and his concerns over Thor and Loki, he kept postponing it.
No one expected that the recent events with Thor would push him to his limits, forcing him into slumber.
At this moment, Loki had only told Frigga that Odin was heartbroken over Thor's actions, which led to his sudden collapse.
He didn't mention that he had deliberately provoked Odin.
Loki watched his father for a moment before asking, "How long will this last?"
He was calculating how much time he'd have as the acting king and whether it would be enough to execute his plans.
Frigga, unaware of Loki's scheming, shook her head with a look of sorrow.
"I don't know… This time is different. We weren't prepared for it."
"Why did he lie to me?"
"He kept your origins a secret because he didn't want you to feel like an outsider. He didn't want others to look at you differently."
"You are our son, Loki.
We are your family.
We must not lose hope. Your father will wake up—sooner or later."
Frigga looked at Loki with deep emotion and added, "And so will your brother…"
But she didn't realize that these words struck at Loki's deepest insecurities. A decision formed in his mind, though he only showed a look of confusion.
"What hope does Thor have?"
"Your father has his reasons for everything he does."
'Alright then, you brought this on yourselves.' Loki lowered his head, but a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
With Odin in his slumber, Loki automatically became the acting king of Asgard.
....
Time passed~
Back on Earth.
By the time Jane and her group, along with Thor, arrived near the meteorite, it was already night.
It had taken them so long because Umbrella had set up roadblocks around the area, preventing anyone from entering.
They had to take detours through rugged mountain paths to reach the restricted zone.
As they crested a hill, they finally saw bright lights illuminating a valley below.
Jane quickly hit the brakes, afraid of being spotted. The four of them got out of the car, and the sight before them left them in shock.
The area was surrounded by walls made of shipping containers.
Floodlights mounted on the walls lit up the surroundings as bright as day, making any attempt at sneaking in nearly impossible.
Guards patrolled the perimeter, carrying rifles and scanning the area carefully.
Inside the enclosure, additional lights and makeshift buildings were visible. But what exactly lay within, they had no way of knowing.
"Damn Umbrella! They can't just trample over our free land like this!"
Darcy had spotted the Umbrella logo on the containers and immediately fumed with indignation.
Eric nodded in agreement.
"That's right! This is a free country—we should be able to go wherever we want!"
Jane sighed at their remarks, unsure how to respond.
Did they think they could just walk into a military base? Sure, U.S prided itself on freedom, but that freedom had limits.
But despite their angry words, Darcy and Eric didn't dare take a single step forward. After all, those soldiers didn't look like the type you wanted to mess with.