Chapter 593

A chilly wind brushed the rooftop of the Empire Building; car horns were faint, drowned out by the robotic tone of the announcement.

【subscriber】 Sorry, the user you are calling is temporarily unreachable.

Su Lin stared blankly at his phone for a moment, opened his mouth as if to curse, then stopped himself.

The Holy Grail War was halfway through when they suddenly called it off, promised rewards were delayed, and they were told to go home and wait for notice—ask you if you're even the Fallen God.

What, did the God of Capitalist Stories decide to pull an April Fools' joke on your worker god?

Put down the phone, gazed into the distance,

"Go back first," Su Lin turned his head and smiled gently: "Leave this universe with everyone else."

"What are you going to do?"

Yi Leina had been in a heightened state, alert to someone's uncontrollable lust, but now saw his eyes utterly void, as if buried in darkness, sunk into some terrible condition.

"Blow myself up here to make them remember Allah Hu Akbar."

"Calm down!"

It wasn't faked at all—he genuinely seemed to be planning to do it.

"Relax—I'll sacrifice the Light of the Heavens and detonate all the Creation Laws together; it'll cause permanent damage to the Omniverse."

"Stark's house is still here."

No one knew what had triggered this guy.

Yi Leina half-lidded her eyes, studied him for a moment, stepped forward, measured his height, then slowly floated to a point slightly above Su Lin.

"What?"

Before Su Lin could finish speaking, slender hands gently cupped the back of his head; the faint, elegant scent of bergamot and lemon leaf mingled with lavender on his clothes and filled his nose.

"I saw people comfort angry kids like this," Yi Leina murmured, lips slightly pursed: "Hey, don't move!"

Su Lin's mouth twitched: "At least let me change position—it's digging into me."

"Say another word and I'll kill you."

"."

He'd actually meant the pendant on his chest was pressing against him, but hadn't expected this woman, with her 36.9°C body temperature, to say something so cold.

Scared, Su Lin—whose durability hadn't yet recovered—let her cradle his head.

Yi Leina closed her eyes, her chin resting on Su Lin's head, a faint smile on her lips.

Gray hair, lapis eyes, clad in a long black robe utterly out of place in this gaudy metropolis—who is the woman who soothes the mood of this fool in her arms?

That's right—it's me.

"So what exactly happened?" Yi Leina asked softly: "Can you calm down now?"

"It seems we worked for nothing—Loki's planning to default on payment," Su Lin said.

"Default?" Yi Leina repeated, stunned: "Huh?"

"The reward we were promised."

"Is there a resurrection item that lets you self-destruct more times?"

This shitty witch.

With nothing more to learn about Loki's madness, Su Lin decided to return to Stark Tower and eat first.

Yet while waiting for the elevator on the first floor of Stark Tower, Su Lin spotted several familiar figures.

"Good afternoon," Nick Fury retracted his instinctive hand-shaking gesture: "How should I address you?"

Su Lin shrugged: "Names are just labels—without them, the sun still rises and sets."

"Makes sense," Nick Fury raised an eyebrow.

Ding!

Unfortunately, it wasn't a renewal of Wind Spirit Moon Shadow—it was the elevator doors slowly opening before Su Lin.

"After you," Nick Fury gestured.

"Thank you, Fury."

Su Lin took Yi Leina's hand and stepped into the elevator; the other Avengers followed one by one.

"Why not just change your name to Fury? Furry."

Steve passed by and said: "That's a divine omen."

"."

Nick Fury fell silent for a moment, stepped into the elevator, and pressed the top-floor button.

"Did Stark invite you here today?"

"Yes, Mr. —excuse me, may I ask—"

Steve smiled, turned to Su Lin, and opened his mouth to speak.

"December 21, 2012 wasn't the end of the world—the Maya miscalculated the calendar," Su Lin interrupted.

"That's great!" Shi Difen reacted, then blurted: "Wait—what do you mean 'miscalculated'?!"

"Because today, the universe is going to explode," Yi Leina said flatly: "Over unpaid debts."

"She's joking," Su Lin pinched her cheek—this clearly provoked resistance from Yi Leina.

Due to the vast gap between their imagined and biblical depictions, everyone except Thor felt immense pressure just sharing the same elevator.

They subtly glanced at the runes on Yi Leina's wrist, then quietly averted their eyes.

To summon 'God' and be this affectionate…

Is she the Virgin Mary?

No—it's Witch Yi Leina.

Even without mind-reading, Yi Leina knew roughly what these people were thinking; she cleared her throat, pulled away from Su Lin, and turned her gaze to the cityscape rising outside the elevator.

"You've done a lot of good in the Kitchen lately; many citizens have directly or indirectly benefited from your actions."

Natasha suddenly spoke up: "Are you trying to remind people to learn to do good?"

"It's just neighbors helping each other—hardly counts as a favor."

Su Lin shook his head. Seeing the others didn't understand, he explained: "If I tell them to believe in a religion, they won't necessarily believe. But once we're familiar, if I tell them to go cut someone down, they'll almost certainly go."

Damn it.

Even agents with little faith felt something inside their spirits shatter.

I originally wanted to take this chance to talk more with him, even hoped the elevator would move slower—but now I just want to end this walk with a god as soon as possible.

Ding!

The elevator doors slowly slid open.

Before their eyes appeared a renovated living room composed of layered spatial structures: snow-capped mountains, vast skies, emerald seas, and forests.

A group sat around Su Su Tuoni Stark's newly purchased indoor bar counter, the atmosphere subtly tense.

Su Lin's first glance went to Lu Mingfei—not because this guy had become a black-haired, golden-eyed young lady, but because

Wait a minute?

Su Lin rubbed his eyes and looked again at the exact same spot.

There.

A girl with waist-length black hair and golden dragon eyes sat listlessly on a high stool before the bar counter, while a man with shoulder-length black hair, dressed as a bartender, offered her a cocktail with a sly smile.

Loki softly said: "This 'Black Knight' is for you, great Odin."

As soon as he finished speaking, a conical martini glass slid into view.

"This 'Light Bearer' is for you."

Liquid light swayed along the glass wall; a brass eyeball with tentacles emerged, staring fixedly at Loki, its pupils reflecting the knowledge of countless worlds.

Loki: "."

"I hope our financial disputes won't affect our friendship. Cheers."

Su Lin placed his right hand on Lu Mingfei's shoulder, while with his left hand propping up his head, he sat beside him, watching the other's moved expression.

Loki spread his hands: "So this social circle doesn't welcome unemployed people?"

Su Lin smiled faintly and asked: "What do you mean?"

"I told you I got fired."

Loki glanced with his eyes at the career storage box at his feet, inside which lay a Cosmic Cube, a horned helmet, a dagger, and personal items:

"Losing my job was a huge blow to me, so I asked Stark to help me find a new one."

"I didn't get you a job as a bartender," Su Su Tuoni Stark pointed to the motionless Avengers over there and said:

"There's a role waiting for you: 'Prisoner Loki.' Maybe you can go film Thor 2."

"That's exactly what I wanted." Loki strolled slowly to Thor's side, sizing him up for a moment: "Feels nostalgic."

He grinned, raised his clenched right fist high, then slammed it down.

Immediately, a dull thud echoed.

"This muscle idiot is still as tough as ever." Loki gripped his wrist, tears glinting in his eyes, hunched over slowly as he hissed through clenched teeth.

"Except for the First Heaven, few fools in this world can match this guy's strength."

He laughed shakily, his mocking tone and sarcastic words echoing.

No one knew whether his eyes reddened from pain or something else.

Loki played a prank on Thor, yet the atmosphere grew strangely heavy—until the pain in his wrist faded, then he returned.

"The trickster goddess who constantly calls Thor a fool but deeply cares for him—her pranks on Sif were because he stole Thor."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Wait a moment."

Su Lin's gaze grew distant as he investigated the catalog of the "Norse Throne of the Gods" within the Source:

"What do you think of losing Gil and staging a Norse family drama?"

Upon hearing this, Loki's eye twitched and he waved his hand, looking slightly nauseated.

"Then go for yuri— you and Xivell, that female Loki."

"Has anyone ever told you to get your sexual preferences checked? My suggestion: see a psychiatrist for schizophrenia."

Loki returned behind the bar, rummaged through, then flickered out and flickered back in, pulling drinks from a grocery bag.

"Actually, I'm grateful to you all regarding my unemployment." He skillfully poured the base into a shaker, added a few lemon slices, and began shaking:

"Personally, being unemployed and returning home isn't so bad."

"What does your unemployment have to do with us?" Su Lin countered.

The others stared at Loki, equally confused.

He suddenly appeared inside Stark Tower, standing near Teacher Yan Sen and the others studying the "Proto-Multiverse Sandbox," offering revised insights on the laws of time.

Then, with surprising generosity, he gifted everyone present one Infinity Stone each.

He acted as if he'd known them forever, declaring that from now on, they were all on the same team.

"You're planning to devour this world—I'm your prime suspect. He'd only feel safe after firing me."

Loki pointed at himself: "You won't blame me for giving Stark the communication app, making it impossible for you to slowly devour this world from within, will you?"

Loki's voice was quiet, yet everyone present heard him clearly.

Huai Shi and Lu Lu Mu Yuan still looked bewildered; Zhong Li and the others merely paused briefly, sighed, and returned to their tasks.

Ge Xiaolun immediately turned to Su Su Tuoni and asked: "Su Su Tuoni, did you leak the movie and cause a huge incident?"

"How could that be?!" Su Su Tuoni's eyes widened sharply: "Could it be Ant-Man?"

Even SHIELD could send agents to investigate Ge Xiaolun hosting a pool party—he had reason to suspect that Stark Tower had already been infiltrated and surveilled by Ant-Man Scott.

"Again with this?"

Weigong Shilang suddenly lowered his head, flipping the slightly charred lamb chop: "Though I have no right to judge others either."

Song Shuhang raised his hand enthusiastically to ask:

"Senior Su Lin, should we follow procedure to activate the Simulation Universe, or start directly?"

Activate?

Activate your head!

Su Lin gazed at Song Shuhang with a hollow stare—this very man had handed him a true-spirit sealed scroll titled "Voluntary List of Cultivation Realm Orthodox Cultivators for Conquering Myriad Realms."

He claimed that whenever needed, one could freely contact any sect listed in the scroll.

Among all worlds, only these oddballs didn't guard against the "Myriad Realm Devourer," instead spending their days on forums discussing how to efficiently invade and recruit others.

You've been given sweet rewards every time—now you're addicted, aren't you?!

"I don't believe that, from your level, you can't tell truth from falsehood—or that you lack the omniscient, omnipotent power to learn Stark's past experiences?"

Su Lin stared directly at Loki, smiling:

"There is no fallen god. There is no Myriad Realm Devourer."

"Yes, yes, you're absolutely right," Loki nodded, adopting an attitude of unwavering agreement.

He steadily delivered cocktail after cocktail to each group member, then pulled out one green gem after another as decorations.

"But I was indeed fired, so whatever happens next is no longer my concern."

Loki placed the final decorative gem, then used the Tesseract to revert to his "prison garb":

"You don't need to worry about any reincarnators, or anything concerning the First Heaven."

"Why?!" Su Su Tuoni Stark asked, confused:

"They're running rampant on this world's timeline, and when the First Heaven awakens, the entire universe will be finished."

"Wait—are you saying the Supreme Above will handle this personally?"

Loki burst out laughing, raising his index finger to shake it in denial; the fleeting joy on Su Su Tuoni's face vanished instantly.

"If the First Heaven awakens, it will erase all history—from the First Age to now—of the entire omnipotent universe, then replicate a universe identical in history but utterly unrelated to us."

Loki looked at Su Lin, speaking with utmost seriousness: "So if you intend to devour this world, I will truly help you—to ensure this world's survival."

The top floor of Stark Tower had, at some point, fallen utterly silent.

Crack!

Beep—!

Until Loki was shackled with mechanical leg and wrist restraints by the Avengers, while Thor, chewing on a lamb chop, pushed him away.

All group members inside Stark Tower simply sat, each with a cocktail before them.

Natasha observed for a moment, then shook her head before Nick Fury; after scanning the room, Fury politely said two words, then led the Avengers away.

"You should have run farther."

Thor shoved Loki irritably: "You ruined my reserved menu—I can't eat this stuff back in Asgard!"

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed helplessly.

After a long pause, Su Lin rose from his chair, glanced around, and asked:

"Where's my Lightbringer?"