Chapter 4028

A few minutes ago, Constantine and Shiler followed that short man into a magnificent office and met the legendary Grandmaster. The other party was wearing a golden robe, his figure tall and slender, looking extremely imposing, though his slightly narrow, long eyebrows added a touch of sinister coldness to him.

"So it is Agent Rodriguez, I have long admired you." The Grandmaster stepped forward to shake Shiler's hand, then said, "Give my regards to the Director for me. How has he been lately?"

"Thanks to you, he's doing quite well." Shiler nodded at him and said, "Lord Thanos specifically sent me on this trip to remind you: there are many wars in the universe recently, and it is very unsettled. The Elders of the Universe should not get involved in things they shouldn't, as that benefits no one."

The Grandmaster smiled and said, "It's just that we don't want to participate, but some people insist on dragging us into the water. Do you expect me to sit by and watch my own brothers and sisters be harmed?"

"If you are referring to the Collector, I have already visited him first and sent him to the Intergalactic Security Committee. Lord Thanos will certainly investigate the collection heist thoroughly, so there is no need to trouble yourself."

The Grandmaster sat in his swivel chair and spun around once, sighed, and said, "The recent attacks by the two great empires on Asgard have greatly affected the casino's business. Some regular customers within their jurisdiction aren't coming anymore."

"Of course, Lord Thanos and the lords of the Intergalactic Council have always been very understanding. You can pay one-tenth less in taxes this year."

Upon hearing that he could pay less money, the Grandmaster raised an eyebrow. He leaned his body back and said politely, "The Intergalactic Council entrusted such a large casino to me to manage, naturally they trust me. How could I be so embarrassed?"

Shiler paused for a moment, then continued, "Although you can pay less this year, this is not a long-term solution. You know, the Intergalactic Alliance doesn't have many deep pockets. A huge amount of money was spent on building the casino and initial promotion; if revenue continues to be affected, they might feel this is a failed project."

"You mean..."

"At that time, it naturally couldn't be that the wise and powerful councilors made the wrong decision; it must be that the subordinates failed to execute effectively. As the owner of the casino, I'm afraid you would also be hard-pressed to escape blame, right?"

The Grandmaster narrowed his eyes but did not answer.

"So I personally suggest that you had best take some action to boost the casino's revenue. Even if they settle accounts with you later, you can fully say that you did your best, can't you?"

The Grandmaster was silent for a while, then continued, "I was never a businessman to begin with, I just happen to like gambling. Originally, I just wanted to build a small casino to play around and satisfy my personal hobby. If Thanos hadn't brought in the Intergalactic Alliance's investment, I wouldn't have gone to be the owner of any pleasure city. No matter how you look at it, you can't blame me for this, right?"

"Indeed, the Intergalactic Alliance wouldn't dare to openly cause you trouble. But if the business is truly unfavorable, I'm afraid this Grandmaster's Pleasure City will have to close its doors for good."

The Grandmaster frowned fiercely, hammered the table in some anger, and said, "Who knows what Asgard is up to! Those war-crazed lunatics don't have a single day of peace!"

Shiler lowered his eyes and continued, "The key is not Asgard. The galaxy is such a remote place, and there are no decent civilizations. Even if the two great empires continue to besiege it, it won't affect many customers. I'm afraid another war is the real culprit behind the panic."

The Grandmaster looked up at him and said, "Are you referring to those superheroes? Honestly, I don't even know what they are fighting for. That huge super-planet, what's it called... Apokolips? Where the hell did it come from?! I've lived since the beginning of the universe and have never seen such a bizarre thing."

"Those are visitors from another world," Shiler said. "The master of Apokolips is a New God named Darkseid. He has an endless army of Parademons, and their numbers are even greater than the existing troops of the Skrull and Kree Empires. This war is going to be a long one."

The Grandmaster opened his eyes wide and said, "More than the existing troops of the two great empires?! How is that possible?!"

"Nothing is impossible. Think about it, how many troops can such a large planet store? Besides the endless army, there are also superheroes; it is definitely a tough nut to crack."

The Grandmaster let out a long sigh and said, "If they keep fighting like this, I'm afraid there won't be anyone left in this casino in a few days. These guys are really annoying!"

"That's why I said, if you can't exert some influence to end the war quickly, even if the Intergalactic Alliance doesn't hold you accountable, once this pleasure city goes bankrupt, where else will you find fun?"

The Grandmaster's furrowed brows never relaxed. Seeing a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes, Shiler knew he had bet correctly.

The Elders of the Universe are indeed a very peculiar existence. They were born at the beginning of the universe and are the survivors of the first batch of civilizations in the universe. After finding each other, they addressed each other as brothers and sisters.

Because of a wager with Death, they possessed endless life. But life is too long, which becomes boring, so they decided that each person would find a hobby to pass the boring time.

The Collector's hobby is collecting, searching for all kinds of strange things in the universe to collect; while the Grandmaster's hobby is betting with people, he is a fanatical gambling enthusiast.

Back then, the two princes of Asgard ended up on Sakaar, causing the original ruler of Sakaar, the Red King, to have bad luck, and the arena was subsequently closed; the Grandmaster naturally had no more fun.

And in order to continue looking for fun, he simply opened a small casino on the spot, originally just to play with his friends. But at that time, Thanos was eager to move up in the intergalactic officialdom, and it was impossible without money; it just so happened that his superiors also had a need to accumulate wealth, so he approached the Grandmaster, and the two hit it off immediately.

The Grandmaster was responsible for using his rich gambling knowledge to manage the casino, certain high-ranking officials of the Intergalactic Alliance were responsible for investment, and Thanos acted as the middleman. After he entered the Intergalactic Security Committee, he also acted as a protective umbrella, protecting the casino's operations from interference.

Overall, this casino was the result of the political-business revolving door. The high officials got money, Thanos gained status, and the Grandmaster satisfied his hobby; it could almost be said to be a triple win. Considering that only gamblers were hurt, it could also be considered a contribution to intergalactic security, making it a quadruple win.

However, if you ask who values this casino the most, it must be the Grandmaster. Thanos has already become the director of the Intergalactic Federal Bureau of Investigation, and there are plenty of people rushing to pay him protection money, so there is no need to please any superiors anymore; this casino, besides being able to give him a sum of money, can't do much else.

Although those high officials need money, they don't only have this one money bag. Conversely, if this place is poorly managed, they would have to pay out of their own pockets, and they would rather it be closed.

Only the Grandmaster has a pure love for gambling. Such a large gambling city perfectly satisfies his hobby, and every day there are gamblers challenging him in various ways, which is no different from the paradise in his dreams. If this were closed, he might never have the chance to open such a gambling city again.

You must know that the overwhelming promotion on the intergalactic network and offline entities must have the support of the Intergalactic Alliance. Although the Grandmaster is immortal and his strength is not bad, he is only one person after all; even if you count all his brothers and sisters, they would be drowned in the vast ocean of civilization. Only those with a certain level of grassroots governing ability can attract so many customers to the casino; he definitely couldn't do it alone.

And gambling is something that gets bigger and more addictive the more you play. The Grandmaster has already tasted the flavor of the intergalactic grand casino, so how could he still look down on small casinos in small circles?

Thinking that he might have to spend his days guarding a dilapidated casino alone in the future, the Grandmaster's head buzzed. No! Absolutely not! The casino must never close!

He felt that what Shiler said also made sense. Although those two great empires didn't know what kind of madness they were having, insisting on attacking Asgard, that bird-pooping place in the galaxy didn't have any decent customers.

Instead, there is a lot of customer flow near the Andromeda Galaxy, Centaurus Galaxy, Cygnus Galaxy, and Triangulum Galaxy. But those superheroes insist on blocking these places to fight; who in the intergalactic society doesn't know the power of humans? Once they hear that humans are fighting there, they all take a detour, and some simply don't go out at all.

The other two mechanical empires are still okay, but the nobles of the Shi'ar Empire are the casino's guests of honor. It just so happens that these few galaxies lie between the casino and the Shi'ar Empire; the Grandmaster could clearly feel that the number of those fierce Feathered people with feathers on their heads had decreased significantly recently.

At that time, those two princes of Asgard inexplicably ran to Sakaar and blew up the arena, and the Grandmaster was just speechless. As a result, humans are now fighting a big battle in the universe, and it's going to cause his gambling city to fail; are you nine realms just picking on one person to bully? Is there any justice left? Is there any law left?

The Grandmaster stood up abruptly, paced behind his desk with his hands behind his back, and then said, "You're right, the war must end quickly. But you know, those humans are fighting, how dare I get close? Even if I am immortal, if those humans are determined to grind me to dust, I won't get any good out of it!"

"Even if that's not the case, you'd best not take action yourself. The grudges of those superheroes are not that simple. Besides, no matter how they fight, it's an internal matter for humans. If you run over to break up the fight for no reason, I'm afraid you'll be hated by both sides."

"Sitting by and doing nothing won't work, intervening won't work, then what do you say I should do?!" The Grandmaster flicked his hand in annoyance.

"Of course, do some things in secret." Shiler laughed and said, "What do you think Doctor Strange was after when the Collector's vault was robbed?"

The Grandmaster thought carefully and said, "My brother usually likes to collect junk, and not many of the treasures in his pile are truly good. How would I know what Doctor Strange was looking for?"

"He was looking for the Infinity Stones."

"Infinity Stones?" The Grandmaster frowned, unable to react for a moment. After a long while, he said, "What's the use of those broken stones?"

"Can't the one in your hand be used either?"

"It actually could be used before, but I rarely used it, and I don't know when it broke, so it can't be used anymore." The Grandmaster thought for a while and continued, "Even when it could be used, it only served as icing on the cake. Opponents you couldn't beat couldn't be beaten even with the stone, and those you could beat didn't need the stone; it was completely useless."

"How did you obtain the stone in the first place?"

"Uh, this is a secret, I can't tell you." The Grandmaster flipped his hand and said, "It involves some higher-level mysterious existences, and I promised not to tell anyone."

"Have you ever thought about why those mysterious existences didn't give all the stones to one person when they gave them to the Elders of the Universe, but instead let each of you take one?"

"This..." The Grandmaster took two more quick steps and then said, "Actually, I only know the general idea. This thing is part of the origin of the universe, and putting them together seems to cause some trouble... My God, no one would want to put them together, right?!"

"That's right. As far as I know, the collected Infinity Stones will have very powerful power, enough to influence the outcome of the war."

"My God! Humans are even willing to use weapons of cosmic origin to deal with their own kind. What kind of hatred and resentment is this?!"

Shiler naturally knew about the fact that killed people would return to the Battleworld, but he didn't intend to tell the Grandmaster. He just said, "If humans weren't crazy, they wouldn't be humans. In short, if you want the war to end quickly, you have to use the Infinity Stones."