Chapter 5006

"By the way." Shiler leaned back in his chair, resting against the sofa's backrest, "How's Odin doing?"

Thor looked up, somewhat puzzled: "What happened to Odin?"

"Is he dead?" Shiler asked more bluntly.

"Probably."

"Then you'd better go look for him."

"Do you think he can solve the current problem?"

"No." Shiler shook his head while holding his cup, "But you can go take care of him."

"What?"

"Make sure he's really dead." Shiler said, "Or you could just go dig up his grave."

Thor stared at Shiler, who didn't look at him, lowering his gaze to stare at his coffee cup as he said: "You don't hate him, do you?"

Thor's expression changed. Shiler continued: "You've never told anyone about this, because it sounds absurd. He's your father, he gave you the throne, and died on the battlefield. No one can say a bad word about him, especially you."

"Often, your indulgence of Loki also comes from his defiance of Odin. When he loudly complained about Odin's unfairness, you actually agreed, didn't you?"

"Why do you think that?" Thor stared intensely at Shiler, "Are you trying to say I'm too greedy, so I think Odin is unfair?"

"Looking at the results, you got the throne, so everyone thinks Odin was biased, even if biased toward you. They don't know what you've been through. In your heart, what you finally gained doesn't match all the turmoil you've endured—you just never mention it so people won't say you're ungrateful."

Shiler let out a soft sigh: "So I say, if Odin isn't dead, go kill him. If he is dead, go dig up his grave. At least that would make you feel better—you're not crazy, you're just not crazy enough."

Thor stared blankly at Shiler, seemingly digesting everything he said. Shiler also seemed moved to speak: "You think Loki is your retribution, a curse constantly haunting you. But actually, the one who cursed you is Odin, and you know this deep down, which is why you don't hate Loki as much."

"Perhaps you'd be interested in the relationship between the Batman and Joker in my universe. They are a pair of fated adversaries, but amazingly, Batman doesn't hate the Joker—he even wants to save him, and has always wanted to."

"It's not because he's crazy, but because he knows the Joker is the result of the true root problem, not the cause. You solve one result, and another will appear. If you can't solve the problem at its root, there will never be an end."

"Do you think the root cause is Odin?" Thor asked.

"What the true root cause is doesn't matter." Shiler looked at him and said, "You just need a root cause. Just like Batman thinks the cause is Gotham's darkness, so he fights crime, striving to pull this city out of darkness. You can blame everything on Odin, or something else. But no matter what, you need something like this. It will make you feel better."

"Why can't it be Loki?" Thor asked, "Why can I blame everyone but him?"

"Because you're not as senile as Odin, you're more clear-headed, able to realize Loki is just another victim of a tragic story. So I say you're not crazy enough."

Shiler sighed again: "Precisely because Batman is smart enough, he can see the Joker is not the source of all tragedy. All the supervillains who oppose him are not the source. They all have fabricated tragic elements. So he doesn't really want to kill them, but wants to save them."

"Because you're smart enough, you can see that even though Loki often appears at tragic moments in your life, these tragedies fundamentally aren't caused by him. Even if the fabricated parts on him drove your tragedy, you wouldn't really kill him, but would want to save him."

"So speaking of which, I and Batman would have a lot to talk about."

"Perhaps." Shiler nodded, "But lately it's better not to talk, otherwise the consultation fee might get high."

"I heard that guy is an extreme control freak."

"Aren't you too?"

"Don't joke." Thor let out a light snort, "I don't think I can control anything."

"People who think they can control anything aren't control freaks." Shiler said, "Precisely because they feel they can't control anything, they strive to try to control, even resorting to any means."

This description seemed to remind Thor of something. He said: "It's not that Odin thought he could control me, so he kept interfering in my affairs, but because he felt he couldn't control me, so he..."

"Something that requires a person to use all sorts of tricks to obtain will only be what he hasn't gotten." Shiler said, "Someone who needs extreme means to confirm authority actually lacks authority. Tigers never need to establish authority over rabbits—no need for sharp teeth and claws, just the size difference means tigers don't need any means; their mere existence is intimidation."

"In a family, when children are young, parents are like tigers. They have natural advantages, and children who can't walk steadily can't be their match. But as children grow older, they are no longer rabbits, but become wolves and leopards. Although there's still a gap, they are not completely powerless. At this point, they need to use some means to suppress the other side."

"If a child is especially outstanding, quickly growing into a new tiger, even larger than parents, with sharper teeth and claws, then ordinary means won't work—only trying to pull out teeth, clip claws, and preferably shrink their size a bit through starvation can they be subdued."

"Many people don't realize this, because they don't realize there's also competition among family members. Only the head can get the most resources. Familial love and affection can't always overcome greed; instead, the greediest person uses the shackles called love to pull out the fangs and claws of other beasts, swallowing all resources alone."

"Saying this now is meaningless." Thor said, "Odin is already dead, and won't be resurrected. After death, the Aesir return to the World Tree, so there's no grave to dig. All this is in the past."

"I'm willing to believe you've let go, but Loki probably hasn't." Shiler said, "This is your biggest contradiction. Loki hates Odin, he can't let go. Odin is dead, he can't dig up a grave, so he can only transfer his resentment onto you."

"Anyway, he can't do anything." Thor said.

"Not necessarily." Shiler shook his head, "Why does he specifically appear when you're furious, specifically making you kill him in the hall of the Revival Alliance headquarters..."

Thor furrowed his brow, hadn't even said anything yet, when his phone rang. After answering, it was Carter's earth-shattering roar.

And Shiler also picked up his phone, as Brainiac had pushed all press releases to his screen. Randomly opening one, it was Thor with red eyes, tightly gripping Loki's neck, almost about to twist it off.

The news kept pushing, appearing on the headlines of all mainstream media. Thor's identity is known to all—he is the superhero Thunder God, because he fought Loki with the Avengers. Loki isn't that famous, but many know he and Thor are brothers, though this is little known.

These news reports also focus on this point, revealing Thor and Loki's brotherly relationship—of course, they didn't say they were adopted brothers, only saying they are sons of Odin, the Father of the Gods, raised together from childhood, and then Thor killed Loki.

Journalism always has hundreds of ways to portray something as desired. In these press releases, they all emphasize Thor suddenly losing control, killing his brother in the Revival Alliance headquarters, painting a picture of a savage god race.

The fact that Thor became a true god of the Nine Realms, though not widely known to the public, is certainly known to the upper echelons. They know this news may not be entirely accurate, but as long as it raises concern, that's enough.

Regardless of the reason, regardless of how things happened, Thor choosing to kill Loki in the Revival Alliance headquarters is utterly irrational. This inevitably makes people suspect he might do even more irrational things.

So actually, it's just replacing the protagonist of the smear campaign against Jane Foster with Loki. This tactic is very effective.

Although Foster is human, her persecution more easily draws sympathy, but even if she spoke, those events are old news, with no evidence, let alone intuitive photos, so emotional stimulation is insufficient, and dissemination power is weak.

Although Loki isn't human, he is Thor's brother, and being harmed, he can leave complete records, used to portray Thor's brutality, stimulating people's eyes, and thus more easily causing public outrage.

Moreover, lovers breaking up have conflicts, even slander and defamation, which is more common. But brothers fighting to the point of killing each other is obviously more shocking, with greater impact.

After hanging up, Thor took a deep breath: "Looks like he still doesn't intend to let me go, this is another trap."

"I believe the Loki of the Central Universe won't cooperate with him, so he must have seized this opportunity." Shiler said, "He found you provoked, so he deliberately rushed forward, provoking you to kill him."

"Not the first time." Thor said, "I can eliminate these news reports, but I can't erase everyone's memory, I can't do it seamlessly."

"I'm thinking about a question." Shiler moved his gaze from the phone screen, looked forward, and said, "Why is he doing this."

"Didn't you say so? This is a trap."

"That's what you said, I only said he provoked you to kill him. But this doesn't look like it's aimed at you."

"Why? Isn't he trying to use this to expose my brutality and inhumanity, so everyone questions me?"

Shiler shook his head: "He could do that, but now isn't a good time. Do you really think he wouldn't be afraid?"

"What do you mean?" Thor looked at him and asked.

"Loki is a smart person, he knows you've become a true god of the Nine Realms, completely controlling everything here, with power and ability to settle accounts with anyone. He wouldn't keep provoking you like this when the situation is unclear."

Shiler stood up, turned to look at Thor, and said, "Think back — many times it wasn't that you couldn't kill him, but that he never forced you into a position where you had to kill him. This time is the same."

"Then he..."

"Compared to provoking you, right now he should be suing for peace with you." Shiler rested one hand on the back of the sofa. "He'll help you out without making a show of it, make you owe him a favor, at the very least not pursue the matter of him swapping identities with the Loki of the Central Universe."

"Releasing photos of me killing him — that's helping me?"

"If he's a good person, then that's naturally a form of slander. But if he isn't?"

The moment Shiler's words fell, his phone rang. He answered; Natasha's voice came through the line: "At a U. S. military biochemical research base in Oregon, a chemist named Anastasia Lobel claims someone controlled him and forced him to develop a compound that drives fish into a frenzy."

"We've pulled all relevant surveillance footage and didn't capture the other party's figure. But Professor X of the mutants, also a victim, cooperated with us in a brainwave search; the subject's memories show the person controlling him was — Loki."