It was not just about preventing himself from becoming a sloppy, idle slob. More importantly, he could not let Thanos destroy Asgard.
Thor did not understand, nor did he want to understand, the reasoning behind leaving half of all life alive so the universe could survive better. As the King of Asgard, it was his responsibility to protect the people of Asgard, and he absolutely would not allow Thanos to harm his subjects.
An outcome where half of his people died, Heimdall was killed, and Loki was killed was absolutely unacceptable to him.
As if sensing the King's fury, a layer of dark clouds enveloped the sky above Asgard, accompanied by rumbling thunder.
"I think you'd better control your emotions, my great King, Your Majesty!"
Loki turned his head toward the door, and Stormbreaker also flew in, spinning. This, combined with the strange phenomena in the sky, attracted the attention of the palace guards.
As Thor's most loyal comrade, Volstagg rushed in with an axe in hand and looked around, only to find that everyone there was familiar.
"Huh? Why are there two Clints?"
He immediately pointed his weapon at the Hawkeye from the parallel universe, because the other one was standing with Steve.
"Is it you?"
"Volstagg, relax. This is our friend. It's just that the information he brought has caused His Majesty to lose control of his emotions slightly."
After all this time, although he had not been particularly fond of Loki at first, everyone in Asgard now recognized Loki's abilities and acknowledged his status in Asgard. Hearing Loki's explanation, Volstagg immediately lowered his weapon and gestured to the equally nervous palace guards before withdrawing.
Just then, Sif suddenly walked in from outside. She looked at the situation in the hall with some surprise, but her arrival drew everyone's attention.
It was not because Sif was so beautiful that no one could ignore her. Rather, everyone except Ethan, Tony, and the Hawkeye from the parallel universe knew that Sif had been stationed on the front lines for a long time. She was mainly responsible for monitoring the situation and notifying Thor if anything changed.
Her appearance here meant there was a situation on the front line.
"What happened?"
"Your Majesty!"
Although they had a very good relationship and could chat casually in private, they still maintained proper etiquette in such a formal setting and when discussing serious matters.
"Thanos has appeared on the battlefield."
Hearing that Thanos had appeared, Thor's first reaction was, Perfect timing!
He had just resolved to eliminate Thanos to prevent this universe from ending up like the other one, and the guy had shown up.
"Excellent. As long as we kill this guy, all problems will be solved."
Clint from the parallel universe was about to speak up to stop him, wanting to remind Thor how terrifying Thanos was, but unexpectedly, Tony spoke first.
"Wait."
"What is it?"
"This guy is mine, Thor. Don't try to take him from me."
Tony had specifically come here to have a big fight with Thanos and see what kind of power this guy had to beat his parallel self so badly.
"No way! Thanos's subordinates have been confronting Asgard for so long. He's already my enemy. How can I give him to you?"
Tony also refused to back down. He blocked Thor and prevented him from leaving, clearly intending to snatch the opponent away from Thor.
Watching this scene, the Hawkeye from the parallel universe felt utterly speechless. Can't you two go together? That's Thanos, and you actually want to fight him one-on-one? Are you out of your minds?
Seeing that the two were about to argue, Ethan coughed lightly, drawing both of their gazes to himself.
"At this moment, there is only one way to resolve the conflict between you."
Everyone's expressions became very serious, even Captain America, who was standing nearby, as if some earth-shattering battle were about to occur.
"Let's play rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins gets Thanos."
The parallel universe's Hawkeye, who was very worried that things would go wrong, nearly strained his back. What made him even more speechless was that Thor and Tony from this world actually agreed to this seemingly childish suggestion.
"Wait!"
Loki, who had been silent, suddenly stopped the two.
"Count me in."
Loki walked over to the others, ignoring Tony's very displeased expression, and gave a reason that was impossible to refuse.
"In the other universe, I was killed by Thanos. If we're counting reasons, I'm the one with the most cause to trouble that guy."
"You make a very good point. Alright, you're in!"
"Let's agree beforehand, no using the power of the Stones."
"No problem!"
All three of them possessed an Infinity Stone. If they used the power of the Stones just to play rock-paper-scissors, the commotion would be a bit too exaggerated.
It turned out that although Thor was always smiling and seemed carefree and foolish, he had great foresight. If he had not said that beforehand, the commotion caused by this round of rock-paper-scissors would likely have been even more exaggerated.
Even so, the commotion caused by the three of them was not small.
Loki used illusions to deceive their sight, making them think he had already made his move, then waited to see what the other two played before making his own.
Although Tony did not use the full power of the Stone, he had already mastered the ability to alter reality to a certain extent. He directly twisted Loki's illusion into reality, preparing to solidify that result.
It seemed Tony was set to win, but when Thor made his move, he directly erupted with divine lightning, shattering the magical energy the other two had cast and shocking them both. The slight paralysis slowed their movements by half a beat.
"Alright, neither of you made a move. I win!"
Thor retracted his fist, which was still flashing with lightning, and happily grabbed his axe, ready to go. Tony and Loki could not even speak to stop him. It took a full three seconds for them to clear away the lightning Thor had released, and by then, the winner had already been decided.
The Hawkeye from the parallel universe was completely dumbfounded, while Captain America Steve and this world's Clint covered their faces, feeling particularly embarrassed. They were embarrassing themselves even in front of someone from a parallel universe.
"Anyway, let's follow them and see!"
Ethan had not originally intended to deal with Thanos, but if Thanos truly displayed overwhelming power, he would not mind making another impressive display of strength.
However, his chance to intervene was slim. Even if this world's Thor could not kill Thanos, he would not be easily defeated by him. Plus, they also had Tony, Loki, Hela, Steve...
On the way to the front-line battlefield, Ethan also learned about Asgard's situation over the past few years from Loki.
Hela had behaved herself and had not caused trouble because her two brothers were too strong. Under absolute suppression, Hela had no opportunity to cause trouble at all.
Besides that, Thanos had also indirectly helped.
Since Hela's power gradually increased, Thanos's subordinates began coming to Asgard to cause trouble. With enemies around to expend Hela's excess energy, she naturally did not think about causing trouble.
"So that's how it is."
"During this time, Hela has been the front-line commander of the Asgardian army. It's precisely because she's stationed there that Thor and I can be so relaxed."
If not for Hela, one of them would have had to be stationed on the front line to prevent Thanos from suddenly appearing and to deal with his subordinates.
During the conflicts over this period, several of Thanos's powerful subordinates had appeared in turn. The most troublesome among them was Ebony Maw. This guy not only possessed telekinetic abilities but was also very cunning, making him much harder to deal with than Thanos's other warriors.
They traveled by Asgardian skiff to the Bifrost, then arrived at the front-line battlefield through the Bifrost.
Contrary to Ethan's expectations, the front-line battlefield was not near Asgard, but on a more distant planet. The Asgardian army and Thanos's subordinates were in a standoff on this planet, which had a relatively good environment.
When they arrived at the front-line battlefield, Thor was already standing at the very front of the Asgardian formation. Holding Stormbreaker, he was enveloped in streaks of blue-white lightning and radiated an astonishing aura.
"Thanos, come out!"
In fact, Thanos was already moving toward the front from among his subordinates. The tall and muscular Thanos wore full battle armor and a helmet, and in his hand, he carried a double-bladed weapon.
His expression was calm, as if this were not a battlefield between two armies, but a visit to Asgard as a guest.
"Thor... Son of Odin, if you hand over the Power Stone, I can promise you that at least half of the Asgardians will survive."
Thanos's plan was to randomly eliminate half of all life in the universe. This random half did not mean leaving half of each species, but randomly calculating from all life in the entire universe, so it was possible for an entire species to turn to dust.
As for the original plot... or rather, the parallel universe where Earth kept half its life, that was a promise Thanos made to Tony.
"Keep dreaming, Thanos. Your goal will not be achieved. Today, you will die by my hand!"
Thor stepped forward. There was a large open space between the two armies, enough for him to fully display his power.
To ensure there were no accidents in the battle against Thanos, Thor summoned the Leo Gold Cloth.
After Ethan gave him the right to summon this Cloth years ago, he had never used it in a real battle, but this time, he was not going to hold back, especially after learning of the alternative outcome.
An opponent like Thanos should be faced with full power and decisively killed!
Amidst flashing lightning, the Leo Gold Cloth was already on Thor's body, without the helmet, and the purple Power Stone was embedded in the Gold Cloth on his abdomen, replacing the original decorative stone.
Purple lightning filled the heavens and the earth. The terrifying power even shocked Thanos.
"Prepare to die, Thanos!"
(To be continued.)