Chapter 1335: The Mystery of the Feast (Part 2)

"Your Highness Hela, I've heard so much about you. I really didn't expect to see you here. I wonder if I might have the honor of chatting with you?"

Stark, dressed in formal wear, raised his wine glass to Hela and asked with a smile.

Hela looked Stark up and down without any hesitation. For a male pick-up artist, such behavior can be said to be quite offensive.

This is also telling the pick-up artist not to treat her as that kind of social butterfly, because only those who have been in the position of a reviewer for a long time will be accustomed to looking at everyone with such eyes.

When Hela's eyes fell on those brown eyes, she paused slightly and said his name in a hoarse voice: "... Stark."

This is not a very loud name, only circulating in a very small circle. This circle naturally includes Asgard. When Hela called out his name, Stark understood that Hela's appearance here must be Loki's plan. The two of them have probably been in contact all along.

If we infer from this, it is normal. Hela and Odin's relationship is very bad, even to the point of viewing each other as enemies. Hela and Thor have a conflict of interest because they were both crown princes favored by Odin.

But Hela and Loki have almost no conflict, or rather, they are in the same boat.

Hela is even more unlucky, having a father who has no experience and a bad temper. The one who taught didn't know how to teach, and the one who learned didn't know how to learn. Two novices with no experience met and both suffered, but the ultimate evil result was borne by Hela herself.

Since that's the case, Hela and Loki have the possibility of cooperation. Perhaps by now, Hela and Thor can also reconcile. The Asgardian god race's characteristic of admiring strength is engraved in their bones. Instead, it is because Thor is strong enough that there is room for other royal family members to survive.

This information flowed through Stark's brain rapidly, so he was more confident in the next conversation. He nodded and said from a calm attitude, "That's right, it's me. I didn't expect Your Highness to have heard of my name."

"Iron Demon God..." Hela raised her eyelids slightly and said, "When you ascended for the first time, I felt that unusual aura. What do you want to talk to me about?"

Stark was stunned. He didn't expect Hela to be so straightforward. However, he soon reacted. Everyone says that Hela and Odin are the most alike, and as a representative of the Asgardians' impatient personality, Odin never likes to talk nonsense with people, going straight to the point from the beginning.

"I do have some things I want to consult Your Highness Hela about, but..." Stark paused and said, "I don't want the content of our conversation today to be known by others, including your blood relatives, or the ruler of Asgard."

Hela's eyebrows frowned slightly, but then she looked into Stark's eyes and said, "Before you ask me a question, I want to ask you a question: Have you fought Thor?"

Stark opened his eyes wide. He didn't expect Hela to ask him this question at all, so he said, "We are friends, so of course we haven't."

"Who is stronger between you and him?"

Stark opened his mouth and closed it again. He sighed through his nose, thinking, fortunately, Loki is not Odin's biological child. This family of the All-Father is truly of the same lineage, full of fighting in their heads.

"We haven't compared, actually we don't need to."

"Then I can't guarantee to you that I won't reveal our conversation to Thor, because I might not be able to beat him, and if you can't prove that you can beat him, then I have no way to hide it for you."

Stark's action of drinking paused. He sighed in his heart. Hela and Odin are really alike, rough on the surface, not sticking to trifles, but being straightforward is not annoying.

"Alright, then I'll take a step back. You can't tell Loki what we talked about today."

"Are you saying Thor is stupid?"

Stark was helpless.

"But it doesn't matter, I think so too." Hela shook her head and said, "He is not good at understanding these complex hints, and Loki is just the opposite of him. Perhaps having two people responsible for two aspects is the real way out for Asgard, and Odin didn't figure this out after thousands of years."

Stark didn't know whether he should echo Hela and complain about the All-Father's education method.

Odin's educational failure is strange in that the three children represent three different failure routes, perfectly excluding the correct answer, failing in a fancy way.

"It can be said that if there is no external interference, Asgard's tragedy is doomed." Hela's tone was very calm, as if she were stating a fact that had already been determined. She lowered her eyelids and said in a low voice, "And his biggest mistake was underestimating Loki, feeling that this little prince who is not an Aesir and has been weak and sick since childhood can't make any big waves."

"Although I don't know who reversed Asgard's situation, it can be said that without this mastermind, Odin would have been in big trouble sooner or later because of Loki."

Stark couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and look at Hela with higher regard. He didn't expect this long princess who was imprisoned in the death kingdom to have such strategic vision.

However, if she is regarded as a female version of Odin, it is normal. Hela is not stupid. In the final analysis, it was because Odin's martial power was too strong at that time.

Odin said that Hela was blinded by the desire for destruction and lost her mind, but history is also written by the victors. What happened between this pair of father and daughter back then, no one knows.

Stark had more certainty, so he said directly, "That's right, I want to hide it from Loki, precisely because he is too smart. I don't want people to know the intention of my current actions, because it might startle the snake."

"What exactly do you want to do?" Hela frowned at Stark. From beginning to end, for this long princess, there are very few people she can't see through, but the Stark in front of her is one of them.

"No matter what you want to do, I don't want to participate." Hela pursed her lips, turned her head to one side, and showed a resistant attitude. She said, "If Loki hadn't insisted on me coming, I wouldn't have appeared here. I have no interest in Asgard's future anymore."

"Not even in Ragnarok?"

Hela's fingers stiffened. Stark took a step forward to narrow the distance between the two and looked into Hela's eyes, saying, "Now your only knot is Ragnarok. In the prophecy, you are the one who brings destruction to Asgard, but from the current situation, you can't beat Thor, so you feel confused."

"Is Ragnarok really necessary to come? Does your existence really still have meaning? Should you follow the prophecy or resist it?"

"Stop talking." Hela's tone contained a trace of annoyance. She turned her head further to the side and said, "Just say what you have to say, what do you want to do?"

"I just want to ask about the origin of the Aesir. I know Loki is not an Aesir, and Thor doesn't know about this problem either. To be more specific... I want to know about the World Tree."

Hela narrowed her eyes, turned her head back to look at Stark, and said, "Human, do you really know what you are talking about?"

"Even if Ragnarok is doomed to come and the Aesir will head towards death, humans cannot profit from the World Tree. Don't be too greedy."

"You misunderstood, I didn't mean that." Stark shook his head and said, "I don't want to wait for the gods to die and then snatch your resources. Humanity hasn't developed to that point yet. If I have to say it, we hope more than you that Ragnarok won't come."

"But I heard that humanity has developed very rapidly in recent years..." Hela said with some hesitation. These things were all heard from Loki, but she hadn't seen them with her own eyes. She thought Stark had set his sights on the energy of the World Tree.

Civilizations all have periods of urgent lack of energy resources during the development process. Hela thought humanity had reached this period and wanted to plunder the energy of the World Tree after Ragnarok.

"Then what exactly do you want to know?" Hela asked again.

"I want to know, if the World Tree is a tree, then who planted this tree? What did it grow on? How did it hold up the Nine Realms? When does it sprout, when does it wither, and what special properties does it have?"

This series of questions from Stark stunned Hela. This long princess was rarely silent for a long time, and then she opened her mouth and said:

"I seem to know what you want to ask, but I'm afraid I can't answer you. All the knowledge Asgardians have about the World Tree is more like a legend, rather than really knowing any truth."

"Even if all your power comes from the World Tree?"

Hela nodded and said, "Divine power is our talent. The god race are all intuitive animals. We master this power, but we don't get to the bottom of its source. We hope that the power will be stronger and the efficiency of utilization will be higher. All our technology is developed around this point."

"As for tracing the source and studying history... do you think those martial artists in Asgard look like historians? We don't care about the past, we only want a stronger future."

Listening to Hela's words, Stark frowned. He really couldn't imagine how there could be a nation that had such a huge secret at its doorstep but didn't study it?

"However..." Hela suddenly changed the subject, thinking while saying, "In these years in the death kingdom, I have also thought about this problem. I mainly think about the prophecy of Ragnarok. No one knows where Odin got this prophecy, and no one knows why he believes in it so deeply."

"But I know him very well. I think this is very likely a signal sent to him by the World Tree. But the World Tree has no wisdom, so how did Odin realize this prophecy through the World Tree?"

"I think, perhaps he discovered some clues precisely by observing the World Tree or feeling the connection between them. This prophecy may not have specific inscriptions, but Odin's own discovery."

Stark's face became serious, but Hela showed a smile that was close to a sneer. She looked at Stark and said, "Do you want to study the truth of the World Tree? Why?"

Stark blocked his mouth with a wine glass, then raised his eyelids and looked at Hela from above his eyes, saying, "I want to do more than this, and obviously, Your Highness, you are also somewhat interested in this."

Hela's face remained unchanged, she just lifted the long hair by her ear with her hand to reveal her ear, looked at Stark and said, "Then, do you want to invite me to dance?"

"Can I have such an honor, Your Highness?"

"Of course, Your Excellency the Iron Demon God." ===== CHAPTER 1336 =====