Chapter 240: God of Mischief

Chaos, darkness, coldness, this was all Thor felt. After a pain that tore his body apart, he woke up. When he found that he had regained consciousness, terrifying despair and pain drowned him.

Thor lay on a wasteland, trying hard to open his eyes. In front of him was a hazy white mist, then a faint halo. He felt his lips were dry and cracked, his whole body was in severe pain, and his breathing carried a heavy smell of blood.

Loki is dead?

Loki... is dead.

He saw with his own eyes that Loki was hit by the light of the Rainbow Bridge and then returned to the World Tree.

He also saw with his own eyes that his divine office was drawn away, which meant that Loki's flesh was indeed destroyed, and the last action he did before dying was to pour the divine office and divine power into himself.

Thor lay in place, feeling a cluster of raging flames beating in his chest. He didn't know if that was Loki's divine office or came from his anger.

The one who killed Loki was the Rainbow Bridge, the most powerful weapon of Asgard.

And the one who manipulated it was Heimdall.

Thinking of this fact, Thor felt that his soul was in so much pain that it was about to split.

He knew very well that Heimdall's most important job was to guard the Rainbow Bridge, and it was absolutely impossible for anyone to bypass him to activate the Rainbow Bridge to attack Loki.

Heimdall killed Loki. Thor was unwilling to admit it, but he knew this was the fact.

Thor was unwilling to think about what led to all this, but he also knew that he understood it all.

Thor had always known that Asgardians didn't like Loki, and it could even be said that they were very contemptuous and disgusted by him. They were even dissatisfied that they had to follow the All-Father's regulations to bow to Loki, because they felt that Loki was a person without any sense of honor and was not worthy of becoming a member of Asgard at all.

Thor knew his brother was sensitive and suspicious, and had resented the disregard of the Asgardians several times.

Thor thought, it was he who indulged all this, indulged the endless suspicion and contempt of others in Asgard toward Loki.

He recalled the words Loki said to him. Did the actions of this group of people really not carry considerations of fighting for power and profit? Just because he was the future heir to Asgard, they could treat another prince without succession rights like this? Treat him as a hypothetical enemy, guard against him at all times, and speculate about him with the greatest malice?

Did their pushing of him also carry utilitarianism for their own interests and their families?

Thor lay on the ground, his thinking began to be scattered, but at the same time, he began to associate constantly. If today, it was he who pinched Loki's neck, would Heimdall dare to activate the Rainbow Bridge to attack him?

He wouldn't dare, Thor said to himself in his heart, Heimdall certainly wouldn't dare to do so, because he was the future heir to Asgard, and Loki was just an unvalued prince.

This was the most important reason leading to all these tragedies. Thor closed his eyes, his breathing became heavier and heavier. He thought, the Asgardians were dissatisfied with Loki, thus ignoring him, Loki resented the All-Father and others in Asgard for being unfair, and what did he himself do?

He did nothing.

When the seeds of contradiction were buried, he was complacent about honor and war achievements. When the contradictions accumulated deeper and deeper, he was complacent about others' praise for his bravery.

Many people and many things played in front of Thor. He was brothers with all his peers in Asgard. They always smiled and praised him, went hunting for him, brought fresh fruits, presented fine wine.

Thor's eyes flashed with the face of the All-Father Odin again. In his impression, Odin had never expressed satisfaction with this, and Odin had never praised Thor's reputation among the people of Asgard.

Perhaps Odin had long known that there were too many praises in this world that were not sincere. Once addicted to them, one would become arrogant and conceited.

When did he start to become like this?

Thor began to recall. He followed Odin to fight outside, the praise of his subordinates and the praise of his seniors surrounded him, the sound became louder and louder, lifting his soul higher and higher, making him feel that he was omnipotent and justified.

Would there be sincere praise among these people? Perhaps there was, someone must have been proud of his bravery in battle.

But was this really submission to his force and leadership, or did they think this kind of ability to fight would bring more honor to themselves and their families? No one knew.

Thor suddenly felt a bit ridiculous. He had once been so addicted to this kind of praise, just like a dog chasing a bone. As long as they moved their mouths without any effort, they could manipulate his emotions at will, making him complacent and ignoring many things that shouldn't be ignored.

The praise of subjects and subordinates could win a smile from a monarch, but Thor found that he actually took this smile as the final goal.

Accompanied by endless remorse and sadness, Thor's consciousness was covered with a layer of black mist, and then slowly sank into deeper darkness. I don't know how long it took, a drop of cold rain fell on his face, and the itching of feathers brushing against his cheeks made Thor open his eyes from the haze.

His breathing was very weak. He heard a sharp voice saying: "He woke up, he woke up!"

Thor tried hard to breathe, opened his eyes to look over, the sunlight shone on his face, making him feel waves of heat rushing toward him. At this time, a huge wing stretched in front of his face, shielding him from the sunlight, and a bird face leaned in front of his face and asked: "You woke up? Who are you? How could you be here?"

Thor heard it speaking what seemed to be the common language of a certain edge star system, but Thor could understand some. He said: "Where... is this?"

"This is the edge of the Voka Red Ring, how could you fall here?"

"Voka Red Ring... what is that?"

"Oh, I get it! You are also a criminal exiled here, right? This is Sakaar, the main planet of the Tayo star system in the Heavenly Furnace system. Of course, people in the universe prefer to call this place the Sakaar garbage dump."

Sakaar?

Thor's brain was in chaos. After a long time, he recalled that he had passed by here following the All-Father before, so he could understand some of the common language here.

He opened his dry lips and looked at the sky. The sky here was completely different from Earth, covered with a layer of faint green. A huge planet with star rings hung in the sky, the sun also looked bigger, and the sunlight was more vicious.

The sun became bigger and bigger in his eyes, the white light became more and more dazzling, gradually occupying his entire field of vision, and everything in front of him was pale.

With a "click," the white light disappeared, the switch of the desk lamp was turned off. Shiler sat by the hospital bed and said: "So why did you throw him to Sakaar?"

"Of course because that place is really suitable for him."

A voice came from the hospital bed, but no body was seen. What was somewhat creepy was that Loki's head was resting on the pillow, but his body was a piece of starlight.

Calling it starlight is not accurate, because all the stars in it were stuck together by black mucus. His body was like a big net made of symbiotes, and the black mucus was trying to climb and move, collecting those scattered powers and re-weaving them into a body.

Shiler was holding a cup of coffee and said: "Actually, I think I could have poured you a cup, but now you don't have a digestive system, so forget it."

Shiler and Loki looked at Loki's body together. Loki laughed, and Shiler said: "You actually still have the mood to laugh?"

"Of course I have the mood to laugh. I can even guess what that idiot is thinking right now."

"He must think he is stupid, how could he believe the words of those who flattered him before? He must think he is a clown, taking those most unimportant things so seriously."

"Honor, honor..." Loki said with some sigh: "Who bestows honor upon whom?"

The door hinge sounded, and Strange walked in. He glanced at Loki and said: "If I had known your plan was so risky, I wouldn't have brought Thor over no matter what."

"Risky? It's alright. I admit I have a bit of gambling component, but obviously, I bet right."

"Tell me your plan from the beginning. I think you should really need a listener now."

Loki smiled again. He looked very relaxed, and then began his narration.

"Thor's biggest problem is that he is too addicted to those fictional senses of honor and mission. He has never figured out one thing, and that is, who bestows honor upon whom?"

"The All-Father stands on the highest throne. Whoever he bestows honor upon is the brave warrior of Asgard, but Thor is exactly the opposite. Everyone praises him as the bravest warrior of Asgard, so he thinks it really is so."

"The Aesir are a very strange race." Loki's tone was somewhat mocking, and also somewhat emotional: "They are naturally warlike, but they are unwilling to admit that it is the violent genes in their bones that make them want to start wars at all times."

"So, they want to put a layer of hypocritical coat on war, calling it honor and mission, but in reality, they are just addicted to the pleasure of victory and conquest."

"A monarch cannot understand this, then he will never be able to rule the Aesir, but obviously, the All-Father did it well enough."

"He treats war as a bone thrown to a dog, and uses honor and mission as chains and collars, driving the warriors of Asgard to fight for him, while at the same time being revered as the wisest monarch, willingly ruled by him, and grabbing the fruits of victory for him."

"But Thor doesn't understand this. He goes to chase the bone with that group of dogs, instead of being a person who holds the chain and throws the bone."

"If this continues, he will be deceived by honor and lead Asgard to the abyss of destruction."

"His trust in the Asgardians is all built on their flattery of him, but the All-Father never needs the flattery of the Asgardians, he only needs them to fight bravely for him."

"What is the ultimate purpose of the All-Father throwing Thor to Earth? Let him learn humility? Let him learn kindness?"

"No, any monarch doesn't need these things. Moreover, although I often mock Thor, I have to admit that he is actually a good person, kind enough, even a bit too kind, making him look stupid."

"The All-Father is to let him understand that any flattery from anyone in Asgard, those so-called honors and missions, have no meaning."

"Without enough power and weapons, he can only live as difficultly and poorly as an ordinary Earthling."

"When he wakes up from that kind of false sense of honor, he can step onto the path of a true king."

"Why did he go to Jotunheim to make a scene? Because he was worried. He was worried that the turmoil at the ceremony might make his image in the hearts of Asgardians plummet. He was worried that this accident might make him unable to convince the public."

"But what the All-Father used to convince the public was never image, face, or some ceremony. His majesty has never been questioned by anyone."

"We all understand these things. Actually, except for Thor himself, many bystanders can see that he put the cart before the horse, but this might also be related to his father's education of him. Odin made up a set of rhetoric about honor, and then deceived his son."

"You intend to let him realize this, to wake up from these false senses of honor, so you played a bitter meat trick?"

"But I don't quite understand." Strange looked at Loki and said: "How did you achieve all this?"

"This is actually the simplest. Sif and those three idiots have no trust in me, you can only say they are very disgusted. Heimdall seems to remain neutral, but I know he is very suspicious of me."

"I deliberately ran back and forth between several warehouses under their noses, knocking and hitting, acting suspiciously."

"I also grew up with Sif and the others. Frankly speaking, I know their heads are relatively simple, and they rarely think about some twists and turns. What is somewhat surprising is that they don't think I am a threat, maybe they only think I want to play some pranks or something."

"But their families are different. Sif's two older brothers are deputy captains of the fleet, and the other three, two have elders who are close ministers before Odin's throne, and one is the deputy commander of the palace guards..."

"They have always watched me very closely, because the thing they can't accept most is that I have any possibility of ascending, because everyone knows that once I ascend, they will absolutely have no battles to fight, and Asgard will walk on a completely different path."

"This group of Aesir has already engraved violence and war into their bones, and they will absolutely not accept such a result, so they will definitely instill this concept into their children: must watch me, don't let me have any possibility of threatening Thor."

"Thor is the king they want, and I am not."

"Originally, this was a settled fact, but recently, the All-Father's attitude has been a bit subtle..."

"Indeed, he threw Thor down to the mortal world, and then gave you a righteous god divine office, and it was the first one among his peers."

"I can imagine how they tossed and turned, pondering the All-Father's psychology, and just when they wanted to test it, the All-Father fell asleep."

"Just at this node, I was sneaking in and out of major warehouses, making a gesture of wanting to use conspiracies to harm Thor. They would unite like headless flies, discussing what I was doing and whether I would really threaten Thor."

"Just like this, I attracted most of the attention of this group of people, including Heimdall who guards the Rainbow Bridge."

"Heimdall is the only person in Asgard besides the All-Father who has the right to activate the Rainbow Bridge. Even the God Queen Frigga and the Grand Commander of the Palace Guards do not have this right."

"So you brought the Destroyer to Earth, and then made a gesture of wanting to kill Thor and his companions, attracting the Rainbow Bridge to attack you, but aren't you afraid that the Rainbow Bridge will really kill you?"

"So I said, I have a gambling component." Loki's eyes flashed with some crazy colors, but his tone was very calm. At this time, he was more like the famous God of Mischief in the universe.

"I have some understanding of Heimdall. He is a relatively conservative type of Asgardian, which is to say, although he supports Thor, he only has doubts about me, and is not strongly opposed."

"Simply put, he doesn't hate me, he just feels that I am not suitable to be the heir to Asgard. Some time ago, when I was running business in the universe, I frequently used the Rainbow Bridge, and he didn't say anything."

"So I am sure that even if he remotely controls the Rainbow Bridge to attack me, he will definitely control the output and will not really kill me, just stop my actions of hurting Thor."

"But you performed a 'Death of Loki' in front of Thor."

"That's right, I have to thank him." Loki lowered his head and looked at the symbiote in his body. Venom was busy and didn't have time to answer them, so Loki said it himself: "Before, when this symbiote found me, he said he wanted to devour his kind, and his kind carried the most essential power of Knull in his body."

"After adapting to my body, he started his plan, but he found that this matter was not that simple. The symbiote called Riot was relying on Knull's power to resist stubbornly, and Venom had no good way to eliminate him."

"If they fought head-on, the final outcome might be both sides suffering, Riot would consume all the power Knull left him, and Venom would get nothing."

"I understand." Strange sighed and said: "So you two are colluding?"

"This is mutual benefit. Venom put Riot into my body, and then when the Rainbow Bridge attacked me, he used it to withstand most of the damage. This can not only weaken Riot's power but also block the damage for me."

"Then how did you become like this?"

"The Rainbow Bridge is the most powerful weapon of Asgard. Even at the lowest output, it is enough to beat me into serious injury, but this effect is not explosive enough, and it might not stimulate Thor. I must perform a real death scene for him."

"So, when the Rainbow Bridge attacked me, I let Venom launch an attack on Riot at the same time. I don't know if you understand the process of their battle..."

"I understand, within a single second, they can launch a group army battle in every cell of yours, the effect is the same as igniting a huge nuclear bomb in every cell of yours..."

"That's right, the battle between Venom and Riot destroyed almost all my flesh, and also let Thor see a real death scene."

"You should have other purposes, such as your divine power and divine office?"

"That's right, after my previous investigation..." Loki sighed and said: "I found that I might not be suitable for the divine office of the Fire God."

"But the divine office system of Asgard is a very magical thing. Once chosen, it is absolutely impossible to change. An Asgardian with a righteous god divine office almost cannot change the divine office, except for one possibility, that is death, or infinitely close to death."

"At that moment, Venom closed my consciousness and then dissolved my body. This deceived the World Tree, making it think I was already dead, so my divine power and divine office were extracted from my body."

"When my consciousness returned, I took the initiative to pour the power and divine office into Thor's body, and I can rebuild, changing to a more suitable divine office."

"So, the two of you can get three divine powers and divine offices. How did the World Tree give birth to such a genius like you?" Shiler also smiled and said.

Strange sighed somewhat emotionally: "The people of Asgard wove a web of lies for Thor with praise and boasting, and you, as the God of Mischief, died to pierce this lie..."

"Then..." The three looked at each other and all revealed a smile.

"... Ask for the area of Thor's psychological shadow at this moment."

---Author's Note---

Yesterday, I saw that the reward for the monthly ticket activity was an additional update. To avoid the additional update, I decisively entered a data that was impossible to achieve (I thought), 10,000 monthly tickets.

As a result, I woke up today and saw it was over four thousand.

Both eyes went black. ===== CHAPTER 241 =====