Chapter 1344: Mysteries of the Feast (Part 11)

"After humanity gradually ascended to the interstellar stage, the Sanctum Sanctorum gained more information channels. We have also considered referencing the portal development routes of other civilizations to see if we could learn from their strengths and bolster Kamar-Taj's large-scale portal technology."

Shiler blinked and thought for a moment before saying, "I imagine portal technology is crucial for all civilizations. Would they easily trade such technology with us?"

"Of course not, but there are other ways." Strange scanned left and right; there was no one on either side of them. Although there were many guests, they were spread across three floors and were not densely packed.

Strange still lowered his voice and said, "Just like on Earth, many contraband items are said to be unobtainable, but as long as you have the money and the connections, you can still get a glimpse of them."

"You mean... the black market?" Shiler immediately caught on.

Strange nodded and said, "The interstellar society naturally has black markets. An orderly society will always need an outlet to vent chaos, and within the jurisdiction of the three major empires, this outlet is currently in the Centaurus constellation."

Strange extended a hand and drew a pattern on the back of the chair in front of him, saying, "Look, this is the Ring Zone, the area where the three major empires intersect; it is the political and cultural center of the three empires. And here is the Centaurus constellation... noticed it? They are positioned diagonally, facing each other from afar. This is definitely the result of deliberate guidance by the three major empires."

"They understand that blocking is not as effective as channeling. Even the most highly centralized military state cannot achieve a complete absence of crime. Even if the Supreme Intelligence almost controls all members of the Kree's main ethnic group, the scope of their rule and the population size dictate that crime will inevitably occur."

"Since that is the case, it is better to lead those who bring chaos to a distant place. As long as it does not affect the core regions, it doesn't matter at all."

Shiler nodded. He certainly understood what Strange meant. In reality, it is the same on Earth. Are the many so-called lawless zones really places that these great powers lack the ability to control? I'm afraid that is not the case.

Firstly, it is not cost-effective to mobilize manpower and resources to clear them out. Secondly, after some extremely dangerous individuals commit crimes, they know they have a place to run, and they flee after the deed is done. But if there were no such place for them to run, and they were forced to resist to the death within the country, what kind of chaos would that cause?

Therefore, in most orderly societies, the measure taken against such people is that as long as you do not cause trouble within the society and voluntarily abandon your social status to run away, most officials will not make a big fuss over a single bad apple.

It seems the Centaurus constellation is just such a place, Shiler thought. It belongs to the cosmic golden triangle.

"So you obtained the technology there?" Shiler asked with some curiosity.

But Strange smiled mysteriously, shook his head, and said, "We didn't get any useful technology, but we did have some other discoveries."

"What was that?" Shiler leaned over, assuming a posture of attentive listening, but Strange smiled and shook his head, saying, "You'll know when the time comes."

At this moment, Strange changed the subject and continued:

"Besides the Sanctum Sanctorum, the mages of Kamar-Taj have also actively strengthened exchanges with other pantheons."

"It's not just the pantheons that walked out from Earth; there are quite a few powerful deities still existing in the universe. They are different from the likes of Eternity or Death, which are complete incarnations of cosmic rules, but they are not entirely demonic entities composed of energy either. They can be said to be a combination of both."

Hearing Strange's words, Shiler thought of what Thanos mentioned earlier: the leader of the Eternals, after self-destructing his own home, abandoned his physical body and combined with a certain rule of the universe, becoming the incarnation of time.

Shiler did not have a deep impression of this character; he only vaguely remembered that he seemed unable to beat Thanos. If he had been of any use, Thanos wouldn't have been able to wipe out Titan. Listening to Strange, there are quite a few such existences in the universe.

"This kind of so-called deity is not as fragile as a demonic entity. They are almost as long-lived as the universe and can live for a very long time. They are all high-quality future clients, so the mages pay extra attention to them." Strange swirled his wine glass, took a sip, and said.

"In addition, we have also collected a lot of information about pantheons in the universe, mainly provided to us by some of our clients."

"Although we didn't buy the portal technology, we actually discovered some information related to it... You should know about the Shi'ar Empire's large portals, right?"

Shiler nodded and said, "That is too famous; it would be hard not to know."

"The Shi'ar Empire is very special." Strange extended a finger, placed his wine glass on the table nearby, changed his posture, and said very seriously, "As mentioned before, the portal technologies of the Kree Empire and the Skrull Empire were both developed from the technological side, but the Shi'ar Empire is a bit like humanity. Their large portals are not entirely products of the technological side."

"You can tell from the form of their main imperial race, the Aerie. Most Kree and Skrulls have undergone some mechanical modifications. Even if their bodies haven't been touched, they generally wear mechanical armor and carry firearms and equipment."

"But the Aerie, especially the royal family and nobles among them, almost never wear bulky armor. Even when going to the battlefield, they at most wear a thin layer of decorative light armor. This is because they are also a magical race and possess magical shields, so they don't need heavy armor for protection."

Shiler nodded. This was the first time he had heard of this. Then he recalled the Aerie ship he had seen landing at the Xiangong starport; it was indeed different from the ships of other technologically-oriented civilizations.

The specific manifestation was that the shape was strange, there were more useless decorations, and the exterior did not quite conform to aerodynamic laws. Without magic, it would be difficult for such a ship to fly steadily.

"Where does their magic come from? Are they born able to utilize the energy of the cosmic source like Asgardians?" Shiler asked.

"Of course not. If they were like the Aesir, that would be something else entirely, wouldn't it?" Strange shook his head and said, "They are far weaker than the Asgardian gods. The reason is that they are not able to utilize the energy of the cosmic source themselves, but rather their 'gods' can bestow energy upon them."

"Oh, just like the believers of the Egyptian pantheon, right?" Shiler immediately gave a very apt example.

The Egyptian pantheon is a pantheon that loves to lend its power to believers. Not to mention Kong Su's group of avatars, Black Panther also insists on finding an agent in the human world, and sometimes it's not just one; they find an entire tribe.

Strange nodded and continued to explain, "You might think that such behavior has no benefit for a god, but the strange thing is that the greatest dogma of the Shi'ar Empire is 'fusion'."

"Legend has it that the Shi'ar twin gods didn't love each other at all, and neither of them wanted to unite. But after being forced to unite, they found power in this union. Thus, the Shi'ar Empire imitated the Shi'ar twin gods, forcibly fusing other ethnic groups, and found power in this fusion."

"Here we go again." Shiler covered his forehead and said, "You talk about other mages, but aren't you the one who keeps these mystical legends on your lips all day?"

Strange smiled helplessly and said, "If this is called mystical, then if you heard those great mages talk, you could fall asleep on the spot."

"Fine, let me explain more clearly. Actually, there are no romantic mythological stories at all; everything is driven by interests."

"The Shi'ar twin gods told their believers, 'We obtained powerful strength after being forcibly united, so in order to obtain strength, you should also go and fuse other ethnic groups.' This is actually just whitewashing their own aggression."

"The Shi'ar twin gods lend their power to their believers, let them go and invade other countries, and then brainwash the believers of other gods in other countries, making them submit to the Shi'ar twin gods. This way, the Shi'ar twin gods can have more believers."

"More importantly, the Shi'ar twin gods can follow these believers to find the gods worshipped by other ethnic groups. They can forcibly fuse the power of these gods into themselves and completely devour them. This is their so-called method of 'finding strength in union'."

Shiler tilted his head and then nodded. He understood the method of the Shi'ar pantheon's operation. To put it bluntly, it was using mortals to fish. Once the gods of other ethnic groups came to check the situation following the guidance of their own believers, they would immediately jump out with three hundred axemen to chop the other party up, and then serve them on the table to eat.

Suddenly, Shiler paused, because he thought of the relationship between this behavior of the Shi'ar pantheon and the large portals.

The development history of civilizations in the universe can correspond to the development history of humanity.

In a certain stage of human development, there was no such thing as commerce. Most people squatted on their own small plots of land, men farming and women weaving, self-sufficient.

But with the development of productivity, people produced more and more things, completely exceeding their own survival needs, so they began to have the need for mutual exchange.

The cloth I wove in excess could be exchanged for the grain you grew in excess, or I would simply be responsible for weaving cloth, and you would be responsible for growing grain, and we would exchange periodically. Thus, commerce appeared.

It is the same among cosmic civilizations. When most interstellar civilizations were not so developed, commerce was not so prosperous. However, as more and more civilizations stepped into the interstellar society, everyone hoped to be able to exchange what they had for what they lacked.

And at this time, the Shi'ar Empire stood up. They claimed that they could provide a platform for fair trade for other civilizations in the universe. Simply put, you all come to me to trade. Not only can I ensure the fairness and justice of the trade, but I can also cover your travel expenses.

These so-called travel expenses are actually the large portals.

The Shi'ar Empire was the first civilization in the universe to build large portals that could be used by countless interstellar civilizations, which gave them a unique advantage in commercial trade.

For example, if you have a bag of rice you want to sell, would you rather walk 2 kilometers to the neighboring village to find two potential buyers, or go to the relay station to take a free portal to a town 20 kilometers away to wait for a hundred potential buyers to bid?

It is human nature for merchants to pursue profit. A place with convenient travel and more potential buyers means a higher price might be sold. Therefore, merchant caravans from various civilizations in the interstellar space constantly converged toward the Shi'ar Empire's large portal star sector.

And the Shi'ar twin gods who helped the Shi'ar Empire build the large portals squatted above the Shi'ar Empire's territory, tied their napkins, held their knives and forks, and waited for one dish after another to be transported out of the portal.

Whichever dish they took a fancy to, they would let their believers go and talk business with the other party. And once the business was concluded, the other party admired the cultural atmosphere of the Shi'ar Empire and was willing to join the big multi-ethnic family of the Shi'ar Empire, what else could others say?

If the other two major empires were all about military conquest, then the Shi'ar Empire was more like cultural invasion. This method was slower, but more secure, and less likely to cause public outcry. It was more hidden and more subtle.

Now, Shiler understood why the Shi'ar Empire did not have the powerful ruling power of the Kree Empire and the Skrull Empire, but could still stand proudly in the economic society for many years and maintain the transcendent status of the three major empires.

"The Shi'ar twin gods have been bestowing their power upon the royal family and nobles of the Aerie for many years. Perhaps you don't know that even if they are careful, the energy belonging to the gods will still constantly erode and transform the bodies of mortals."

Strange stared at the swirling liquid in his hand and said, "Mortals who borrow the power of gods have to pay a price. The more they borrow, the more severe the erosion, and the thicker the bloodline, the more power flows in the blood."

Strange narrowed his eyes slightly, and a certain dark light flowed in the depths of his eyes. The Sorcerer Supreme was never a spokesperson for light and righteous magic. They also delved into dark magic that people were wary of, and were even more proficient in this than those dark mages.

Strange's tone became lower and lower: "The Shi'ar Empire's large portals are the product of the Shi'ar twin gods' power, and this power flowing in the bloodline of the Aerie... perhaps, the secret of the large portals is in the blood of the Aerie."

"Thump, thump, thump."

The rapid drumbeats from the start of the concert rang in Shiler's ears, and then turned into his clear and rhythmic heartbeat.

Shiler, still standing in the dance floor, turned his head. Through the hazy radiance, he saw the glass of wine on the waiter's tray not far away, which had just been set down by Strange but was still full.