"Move! Get out of here!"
"Leave the village!"
Valkyrie shouted as she directed the people in the fishing village to evacuate.
Most of these Asgardians had no ability to fight, and there were quite a few elderly people and children among them. Valkyrie didn't want to see them get hurt.
Asgard had already suffered too many disasters. They had even lost their homeland. Now, all that remained of the vast Asgard was this tiny handful of people.
If anything else happened to them, Asgard might well be wiped out completely.
Valkyrie certainly didn't want to see that happen.
But just then, she noticed that the people who had been panicking and fleeing suddenly stopped.
They all became eerily quiet.
Men and women, the elderly and children alike, all looked in the same direction.
Valkyrie looked over as well and saw Thor, surrounded by lightning, descending from the sky and landing in the square. The impact of his landing was so great that the paving stones on the ground were continually torn up.
Thor carved two black tracks into the square with his feet, then raised his head and looked at Homelander hovering in midair.
"Do you really have to hover up there?"
Homelander spread his hands and said with a smile, "I like looking down on people."
He looked at Loki, who was standing not far away.
"Didn't you say you'd pledge your allegiance to me?"
"Now's your chance."
"Bring me your brother's axe, and I'll believe you."
Thor looked at his younger brother, "Loki, you're not seriously going to do this, are you?"
Loki spread his hands and flashed a charming smile, "Haven't I always been like this?"
Thor turned back to Homelander, "No one's taking Stormbreaker from me today!"
"Don't be so sure."
"Do it."
Homelander said.
Loki immediately conjured up one figure after another and walked toward Thor with a smile.
"I don't want to do this, but I have no choice. The Conqueror is too powerful. I can only obey him."
"Besides, he just wants to borrow your axe. What's the harm in lending it to him for a bit?"
As soon as one Loki finished speaking, another picked up where he left off, making it impossible to tell which one was real and which was an illusion.
Thor, however, laughed, "You're still the same as ever, Loki."
"But I'm not."
"This might hurt a little. Just bear with it."
With that, Thor raised his Stormbreaker. Lightning flashed and thunder roared across the sky. He let out a loud shout and swung the axe toward the ground. Bolts of lightning immediately descended from the sky, striking Loki's illusions.
One illusion after another shattered.
Then one of the Lokis let out a scream as a lightning bolt sent him flying. The other Lokis disappeared afterward.
Clearly, the God of Thunder had hit the real one.
Loki landed on the ground, his entire body twitching as currents of electricity surged up and down him. Still being shocked, he was temporarily unable to move.
Thor looked up at Homelander and said, "Come down here and fight me."
"It's not my turn to step in yet," Homelander refused.
Thor was about to leap up and knock Homelander down with his axe when he suddenly saw a boy running over without saying a word.
He was startled and shouted, "It's dangerous here! Don't come over!"
Thor looked at Valkyrie, "Didn't I tell you to evacuate everyone?"
Valkyrie shouted, "They won't leave! They've all stopped moving. Something's wrong!"
Before she had even finished speaking, a man ran past Valkyrie and charged into the square.
Then one Asgardian after another sprinted into the square. From above, they looked like ants rapidly crawling across the ground.
Throughout the entire fishing village, everyone except Valkyrie and Thor seemed to be possessed. The other Asgardians poured into the square with a clear target in mind, heading straight for Thor.
The boy who had first rushed into the square had already wrapped his arms around Thor's lower leg.
Just as Thor lifted him up, a woman lunged at him from behind and clung to his back.
"Oh, I know I'm popular, but you people are a little too enthusiastic."
As he spoke, Thor reached back and lifted the woman off his back.
But then another elderly man wrapped his arms around Thor's waist.
One Asgardian after another grabbed hold of Thor. He was a big man, but before long, he was completely buried under a crowd of Asgardians.
He didn't dare hurt his own people, so all he could do was shout desperately.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm Thor! Get off me, now!"
Valkyrie was dumbfounded.
A small mountain of people had formed in the square.
Thor was right in the middle of it. If these people had been enemies, he could have simply unleashed his lightning and freed himself with ease.
But they were all Asgardians. Thor couldn't bring himself to act recklessly for fear of hurting them.
Valkyrie abruptly looked toward Homelander. She saw a golden-yellow stone glowing on the Infinity Gauntlet on his hand.
The Mind Stone!
She immediately understood that her people had been hypnotized by the Mind Stone.
Her guess was correct.
Homelander had used the Mind Stone to hypnotize every Asgardian in the fishing village, making them fight for him.
At that moment, he floated above the small mountain of people, and his eyes gradually began to glow.
Although he was buried beneath the crowd, Thor could still sense that Homelander was gathering energy.
"What are you trying to do?"
"They're innocent!"
Thor shouted from within the crowd.
Homelander clasped his hands behind his back and said calmly, "If you don't want your people to suffer heavy casualties, let go of that axe!"
Thor couldn't help hesitating.
Valkyrie began running. She couldn't just stand by and do nothing. The Valkyrie drew her sword, accelerated, leaped onto a car beside the square, and then jumped toward Homelander in midair.
She let out a loud shout.
She thrust her sword.
She hadn't expected her strike to hurt Homelander. But as long as she could distract him, there would be a chance to break his control over her people through the Mind Stone.
But before her sword could hit Homelander, Valkyrie's vision suddenly went dark.
Black Panther, T'Challa, pounced on her.
He knocked her out of the air. The two rolled across the square several times before separating.
T'Challa slowly straightened up, swept his hands outward, and extended the claws from all ten fingers.
"You're not going anywhere, ma'am."
Valkyrie shook her head, "A big black cat can't stop me."
T'Challa smiled, "You can try."
The two then charged at each other at the same time and began fighting fiercely, their swords and claws constantly throwing off sparks.
For the time being, Valkyrie was tied up and couldn't help the God of Thunder.
In midair, the golden light in Homelander's eyes had already spilled beyond his eye sockets, making the entire square unbearably hot.
Thor, buried in the crowd, felt the abnormal heat and cursed under his breath before quickly shouting, "I'm letting go!"
"I've let go!"
"Don't hurt the innocent!"
He released Stormbreaker.
Immediately, the Asgardians clinging to Thor began passing Stormbreaker out of the crowd, one person after another.
At that moment, Loki finally recovered. Although his body still twitched from time to time, he was able to move again.
He approached the small mountain of people. When a man passed Stormbreaker out, Loki took it and hesitated for a moment.
"Mr. Loki?"
Homelander's voice came from above. Loki raised his head and saw Homelander beckoning to him.
Looking at Homelander's Infinity Gauntlet, Loki finally gave up resisting and smiled.