Chapter 212: Divine Descent! (Middle)

Loki boasted himself as a god, and he was extremely proud, rarely showing humility to anyone except Odin, especially looking down on ordinary humans and refusing to speak even half a word to them, for which he had been scolded by Odin many times.

But now, Strange had become Loki's client, and Loki had no choice but to explain the plan in detail to him.

"Asgard rules over all Nine Realms; any disturbance here cannot escape the All-Father's notice. Not long ago, a symbiote carrying the seed of the Symbiote God Nul's power attempted to sneak into the Nine Realms."

Loki spoke while watching Odin's expression, gauging whether his assumptions were correct.

"At that time, the All-Father had already detected him, but to learn Nul's intentions, the All-Father decided to wait until the power seed erupted on its own before acting."

"Afterward, the Symbiote Organization's Cosmic Agents came to Asgard, claiming they were hunting a traitor from their kind. The All-Father mercifully granted their request and allowed one Cosmic Agent symbiote to enter Earth within the Nine Realms."

"During this time, we conducted a small business with certain Dimension Lords."

Loki turned his head again, glancing at Odin's expression, and seeing no sign of displeasure, he continued: "The Dimension Lords paid us deposits, and we preliminarily agreed on return rates with most of the demonic gods."

At this point, Strange said: "I'm familiar with this part—in fact, we're just missing a few final signatures, and all contracts will be complete."

"But human trickery—by which I mean intelligence—is insufficient to make these cunning Dimension Lords invest heavily; most of them are merely testing the waters..."

Loki raised his voice slightly: "These demonic gods, with their infinite lifespans, are even more cunning and cautious than imagined. Without seeing tangible returns, no matter how dazzling their promises, they won't truly bite."

"Thus, the All-Father and the Sorcerer Supreme decided we must let them taste a bit of sweetness first."

"Only after these demonic gods receive concrete returns will they genuinely join this plan, rather than merely pretending to invest while using humans as endless consultants."

"Indeed, I can sense that most demonic gods now call the Sanctum Sanctorum only to secure a consulting team; the deposits they pay mean nothing to them, yet they gain a cohort of advisors available at any moment..."

Loki nodded, signaling that Strange was correct.

"This arrangement benefits neither humanity nor Asgard sufficiently. If we don't deepen the transaction, we're all wasting our time."

"Therefore, I have been ordered by the All-Father to search the cosmos for a power source capable of serving as a breakthrough."

"But just then, the symbiote carrying Nul's power seed erupted—the ancient demonic god Nul, imprisoned for ages on Klyntar, sought to project his power onto Earth."

"According to intelligence I just gathered from the Andromeda Galaxy, Nul appears to be searching for a specific symbiote, but regardless, he intends to open a power channel between Klyntar and Earth."

At this moment, Strange's anxious expression vanished; he raised an eyebrow and said: "Perfect for us, isn't it?"

Loki nodded: "Indeed. But the All-Father believes that merely projecting power through a narrow channel cannot satisfy the needs of the Dimension Lords, Earth, and Asgard."

"So..."

"So just now, I was ordered by the All-Father to travel to the Andromeda Galaxy and conduct some minor reconnaissance."

"One question..." Strange asked, puzzled: "Is this Nul from Klyntar really that strong? If he truly breaks free and comes to Earth, can we really handle him?"

"Nul is indeed powerful," Odin spoke at last, his voice deep and resonant, radiating an authority that brooked no challenge: "He may be the oldest being in this universe, possessing the primordial chaotic force of the cosmos itself."

"Born from the universe's primordial darkness, when awakened by the Voice of the Celestials creating life, he rejected creation, believing all must return to chaos. Thus, he slew a Celestial with a blade of pure blackness, drawn from cosmic chaos."

Ancient One continued Odin's explanation to Strange: "The Celestials are immensely powerful cosmic deities who interfere with the development of civilizations across the universe, using them as experiments."

"Many years ago, the Celestials visited Earth several times," Odin's voice drifted into memory: "All the gods of Earth combined could not stand against them."

"Yet even with such power, Nul still killed one of them. The Celestials who came to avenge him could not kill him outright—they could only defeat him and re-imprison him within chaos."

"As long as darkness and chaos exist in this universe, Nul is immortal."

Strange found these cosmic tales fascinating, but he knew now was not the time for deep inquiry; he asked: "If Nul is this powerful, why are we deliberately provoking him? This..."

At this moment, Odin and Ancient One both wore slightly odd expressions; they exchanged a glance, and Odin spoke first: "Nul's power is indeed immense—perhaps the most primordial force in the universe. All other demonic gods' power ranks below his."

"But the only problem is, ancient beings born of chaos and darkness are not good at thinking."

Ancient One added: "Chaos represents void and madness. Beings with such traits, no matter how powerful, behave irrationally and without logic."

"He has no purpose, no logic. The only existence of a chaotic being is to return the universe to chaos and darkness."

"Precisely because of this chaos and madness, they rarely consider consequences when acting."

Strange caught Ancient One's subtle implication: in short, Nul had no brains.

But Strange found this reasonable—thought and wisdom are inherently orderly. Any intelligent being's irrational behavior still carries its own logic. If a being's very existence and purpose oppose order, it is destined to lack high intelligence.

Or perhaps his intelligence is too advanced, premature for the entire universe.

Strange touched his forehead—he suddenly realized that, under this logic, Nul was the perfect target.

Ancient, powerful, chaotic, mad, dim-witted, and out of touch after being imprisoned so long—who better to exploit?

"Wait, just now, Mordo told me Earth's defense system had been breached?" Strange turned to Ancient One.

"Mordo's wording was slightly conservative—he's always like that," Ancient One said calmly from her seat: "Ever since the power seed began erupting, Earth's magical defense system has never been activated."

156n.

"But if Nul truly descends, Earth may..."

Loki shook his head and told Strange: "You can rest easy on that. I just returned from Andromeda—the prison holding Nul is extremely sturdy; his physical form is unlikely to escape. Only his power can come through."

"And power projection is like a pipe," Loki gestured with his hand: "On Nul's end, on Klyntar, I've just widened the inlet—Nul can now output power faster and more efficiently."

"On Earth's end, the Sorcerer Supreme widened the outlet—she dismantled Earth's magical defense system and even actively guided Nul's power to project precisely."

"Born of chaos, once Nul projects his power, he naturally seeks to crush all enemies before him, corrupting this universe with darkness and chaos, just as he once did."

"And if he fails, he will simply pour more power—Nul, born of chaos and darkness, does not understand tactics, flanking maneuvers, or strategic retreat. He only knows to use his overwhelming power to corrupt the universe."

"So if we can hold him off, he'll keep pouring power here endlessly?" Strange continued.

"But choosing Earth as the location—isn't that too risky? Earth is filled with fragile mortals; they have no resistance to Nul's darkness, let alone magic."

Loki shook his head and explained to Strange: "Placing the pipe's outlet on Earth doesn't mean Nul's power will directly reach Earth."

"Think of the pipe again—though the outlet is on Earth, the participating Dimension Lords will drill holes along the pipe's path and siphon off Nul's power from their own openings."

Strange understood at once. Loki continued: "In this way, almost no power will reach Earth."

"You're being too conservative," Ancient One's voice came: "Given the appetites of those participants, not a single drop of power will reach Earth."

"But..." Strange wanted to ask what humans would gain. Ancient One seemed to sense his question and answered directly: "The initiative is in our hands—and thus, we hold a unique right."

"What is it?"

"We decide where they drill their holes along the pipe."

Strange's eyes widened—he instantly understood what Ancient One intended.

Simply put, the pipe connects Klyntar to Earth, with Nul as the output end and Earth as the receiving end.

Though this process cannot be explained by simple three-dimensional space, one rule remains constant: power suffers losses as it travels from output to receiver.

That means: the closer the interception point is to the output end, the purer the power captured; the closer to Earth, the more you're left with the dregs.

Asgard and Earth had set a trap together: Asgard sent agents to widen the output end, while Earth's Sorcerer Supreme opened the receiving end. Once both sides controlled the inlet and outlet, they gained the right to assign seating.

The earlier the seat, the greater the return—but to secure a good seat, you must invest more.

Most importantly, the rules of this investment game had shifted from equal division to auction.

You needn't sit in the front row—just ahead of others. You needn't be first—just ahead of your rivals.

Ancient One smiled at Strange: "Now it's time to bid. They'll arrive soon."

Strange shrugged: "Well, it seems the Sanctum Sanctorum staff will be working overtime again."

Then he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Looks like SHIELD staff will be working overtime too," said Shiler, accepting a cigarette from Nick with a smile.

"Strange's call came at the perfect time, but didn't you anticipate some of this?" Nick asked.

"Indeed."

"Are you going to go with the flow?"

"No—I'm going to install an engine on the boat."