Chapter 230: Eternal Flame, Visitors from Outside the Space Gate
The Asgardian Golden Palace was resplendent and magnificent. The walls of the opulent palace were covered with murals painted with never-fading magic materials, depicting scenes of the gods of Asgard feasting and reveling in times of peace and prosperity.
The exquisite painting skill made these murals appear lifelike.
A goddess wearing a crown of thorns danced gracefully in a white veil.
Bare-chested warriors wearing horned helmets held large bowls and drank wildly. Handsome male gods played the harp nearby.
The gods gathered happily.
Sitting at the head of the long table, holding a gold cup, Odin, clad in a magnificent robe, watched this scene of peace and revelry with a smile.
In the murals on the wall, Tang Song did not see Thor or Loki.
It seemed to depict events that had once occurred within this very palace.
Unfortunately, Asgard was no longer as prosperous as it once was.
Tang Song toyed with the gold cup in his hand and took a sip of Asgard's wine. He drained the wine in the cup in one gulp, but the crimson liquid in the gold cup refilled itself as if from a spring.
This wine glass came from the God of Forging of the Aesir, the hand of the God of Fire. It was a magic tool that could continuously produce wine, and like the Necklace Rogue received back then, it could be called a divine artifact.
Unfortunately, the gods who could craft such magic tools, like the deities in the murals, have mostly perished in Ragnarök.
The deities of Asgard have much longer lifespans than humans. Normal deities can live up to five thousand years, comparable to the history of a human civilization.
Unfortunately, even the longest lifespans come to an end. When Odin built his kingdom, the Aesir were indeed invincible. The Iron Cavalry swept across the Nine Realms, and the Frost Giants, Dark Elves, and Fire Demons all submitted.
Now, most of the elders who followed Odin in conquering the Nine Realms have entered Ragnarök.
Odin personally imprisoned his capable and warlike eldest daughter, Hela, in Helheim.
The most formidable Valkyrie Corps also perished completely when they fought against Hela.
And the new generation of Asgardian deities, led by Thor, have not truly matured yet. One could say Asgard is currently in a transitional phase.
Yet, from the Ancient One's mouth, Odin had once learned of Asgard's fate.
All gods would face Ragnarök, and Asgard would cease to exist.
As a God King who once unified the Nine Realms, Odin naturally did not want to yield to such a prophecy. He defeated Surtur and seized the divine artifact, the Eternal Flame, from Muspelheim.
Simply because in the prophecy of the Goddess of Fate, this Fire Giant who guarded Muspelheim would become the culprit in Asgard's destruction.
He banished and imprisoned his daughter, Hela, the Goddess of Death. Besides Hela threatening his rule, it was also because in the prophecy of the Goddess of Fate, Hela was a link in the fate of Ragnarök.
Unfortunately, despite doing so much, he seemed unable to change Asgard's fate. As a God King, he watched helplessly as Asgard, following its predetermined trajectory, slid into the abyss of Ragnarök.
He couldn't even save his own queen.
The Ancient One had once told him that in the countless timelines she had seen, if he chose to save Frigga, Hela would seize the opportunity to break through Helheim's seal, and Asgard's Ragnarök would arrive prematurely.
Between preserving his kingdom and his queen, Odin, this formidable figure, chose Asgard.
Until Tang Song appeared and changed everything. He was like an apple thrown onto the Midgard chessboard, disrupting the so-called fate.
The Dark Elves of Svartalfheim didn't even get to invade Asgard via Midgard.
They were intercepted in the Land of the Middle Court by Earthlings using military force on a grand scale. Earthlings even took advantage of the Convergence of the Nine Realms to invade Svartalfheim in return.
Only after personally witnessing Mephisto, that old devil, die at Tang Song's hands, did Odin truly believe what the Ancient One had said: that Tang Song could help him reverse the fate of Asgard's Ragnarök.
This was also the purpose of this banquet.
With gold goblets and wine, Odin seemed slightly tipsy. There were no others accompanying him in the great hall.
After all, in the eyes of the gods of Asgard at this moment, Odin should still be in deep slumber.
In the great hall, which was protected by a magic barrier, there was only one guest.
Tang Song toyed with the gold cup, examining the murals on the surrounding walls. His gaze stopped on the bonfire on the table, which seemed to be used for grilling.
In the golden magic pot, vigorous flames burned fiercely. Tang Song could feel the eternal and ceaseless will within it even without using his divine sense.
No sooner had Tang Song set a trap and killed Mephisto in Svartalfheim than he was invited by Odin to be a guest in Asgard.
"Mephisto has always coveted the Reality Dimension. The Ancient One and I had tried to kill him many times, but unfortunately, his main body is located in the Hell Dimension," After drinking his fill, Odin raised his cup towards Tang Song and laughed heartily:
"Tang, you've solved a big trouble for Midgard and the Nine Realms! This Eternal Flame is my gift to you!"
A gift?! Tang Song's lips curved upwards. If he hadn't known the inside story of Asgard's Ragnarök, he might have actually believed Odin's words.
Just like Asgard, Svartalfheim, and these other worlds, each has its own divine artifact.
The Dark Elf race of Svartalfheim holds the Aether.
The Aesir of Asgard hold the Dragon Jewel, which is the Cosmic Cube.
The power of these two Infinity Stones was self-evident.
The Frost Giants of Jotunheim have the Casket of Ancient Winters. It is said that when the full power of this Casket of Ancient Winters is unleashed, it can freeze an entire planet.
And the Eternal Flame is a treasure no less valuable than the Casket of Ancient Winters. It belongs to the Fire Giants of Muspelheim.
Once their king, Surtur, merges with the Eternal Flame, he will possess the power to destroy a world.
Although he could see that Odin wanted to divert the trouble and use his hand to resolve the prophecy of Asgard's destruction by the Fire Giants,
Tang Song didn't care. Even if trouble truly came knocking, he could just throw the Eternal Flame back to Asgard.
With the ability of the Mind Stone, he could freely enter and exit Asgard by controlling the Space Gem.
"God King, you are too kind. Hell Demons threaten not only Asgard but also our Earth!" Tang Song stroked the vermillion bead bracelet on his left wrist and said politely to Odin.
He had talked with the Ancient One. This Sorcerer Supreme seemed to have no intention of giving up her pursuit of the Eternal Dao. Without the Ancient One's protection, there were over a dozen Evil Gods and devils known to be interested in Earth. This was also the reason Tang Song and the Ancient One cooperated to ruthlessly eliminate Mephisto, this troublemaker.
Of course, the string of beads in his hand was a gift from the Ancient One to Tang Song. The Reality Stone, hidden in a dark space rift at the boundary between Earth and Svartalfheim.
This was also Tang Song's confidence. Of the six Infinity Stones, he held two. No, including the Space Gem, that was three.
Surtur is nothing.
After drinking with Odin, Tang Song didn't stay in Asgard for too long. He took Odin's so-called gift directly back to Earth.
After all, there was still a Hell Lord's corpse in his Five Yin Pouch that he needed to process.
Back on Earth, in his own lair.
Tang Song first checked his magic treasures. This ambush on Mephisto resulted in no small loss.
His four Ghoul White Bone Banners were torn with several large holes by Mephisto's dying counterattack.
Even the divine sense that had just formed showed faint signs of shattering. It seemed they would need at least a year or two to recover.
He lost seventeen silver armored corpses that he had painstakingly refined. Even the Celestial Silver Armored Corpse was almost destroyed.
However, there are gains and losses.
With effort, there is naturally a return. Besides the Reality Stone that the Ancient One had promised, he also gained a divine artifact like the Eternal Flame.
Furthermore, he acquired the corpse of a Hell Lord.
As for how to process Mephisto's corpse, Tang Song already had an idea.
...…
While Boss Tang was cultivating in seclusion,
In the space outside the space gate, Star-Lord sat proudly in the driver's cab of his small spaceship. He was flying slowly forward at the slowest cruising speed, almost like a leisurely trip.
A glass of sparkling wine from the Nova Empire was placed steadily on the driver's seat armrest, emitting a captivating fragrance.
Inside the cramped driver's cab, about two feet to Star-Lord's left, in the small oven, a piece of fresh meat weighing a full three standard pounds was slowly rotating on a mechanical arm. A rich and potent natural meat aroma, so strong it almost made Star-Lord's mouth water so much it almost sprayed out of his nostrils, permeated the entire driver's cab.
"So satisfying! Woohoo, after finishing this business trip, I can get a new spaceship, a much bigger spaceship than Papa Yondu's old junker! Then I can fly back and show off!"
Star-Lord scratched his head and vigorously rubbed his slightly bloated belly.
Looking at his rapidly expanding belly over the past few days with a slightly troubled expression, Star-Lord sighed helplessly but happily:
"The Sovereign are a great place, I like it here. I like doing business with their people, even though they're all arrogant."
"But, as long as there's money to be made, the arrogance of those damn Sovereign people is bearable!"
He squinted his small, deep blue eyes proudly and vigorously scratched the fine hair on his body. Looking back at the driver's cab, which was packed full of various goods, Star-Lord grinned foolishly again.
Star-Lord wasn't a smuggler in the Milky Way Galaxy; he was a Ravager.
(Ravagers are a notorious Mercenary Organization in the Milky Way Galaxy, also known as Marauders or Star Hunters).
Of course, sometimes they also moonlight as vendors of rare goods from the universe.
"But... damn it, a brand new spaceship is too expensive. This time's profit will all have to go into it."
Star-Lord narrowed his eyes slightly, looking hesitant. He pondered for a long time but still couldn't make up his mind. Finally, he could only sigh deeply: "Ah, let the war between the Kree and the Nova Empire continue! They've been fighting for three years, and my deposit has increased fifteenfold! Oh-hoho, there's nothing luckier than this!"
The spaceship, flying forward at a low speed of less than thirty meters per second, slowly skimmed over the surface of a rocky planet.
Star-Lord sighed again. There was nothing he could do; the spaceship's power engine had a small problem. Every time he used the oven to grill food, the engine unit's power would drop directly from full power to less than 0.3%.
This was a very troublesome small problem. However, this Star Zone is an uninhabited area, very safe. Slow is fine!
A crisp sound came from the oven, emitting a captivating rich aroma!
"Mmm! I love the Sovereign!"
Star-Lord first took out an old portable music player, pressed the switch, and started the music.
After the ritual was complete, he carefully took out the meat from the oven. He stuck out his tongue and gently licked the thick layer of grease on the fragrant beef.
"Hmm, of course, in my aesthetic opinion, that High Priestess is a bit ugly with all that gold, but she's very generous. Hmm, wealth covers a hundred uglinesses!"
Rubbing his small palm contentedly, Star-Lord sighed softly: "Generosity? That noble virtue is simply too rare for a woman!"
Unhurriedly, imitating the appearance of those Sovereign nobles, he took out a crumpled white handkerchief made of natural fiber from his pocket. He vigorously wiped his mouth, and Star-Lord swallowed a mouthful of saliva with effort. Opening his mouth, he took a fierce bite of the grilled meat, which was as big as his head.
"Dong" The spaceship shook violently and then suddenly stopped.
Star-Lord's body tilted forward, and the grilled meat, weighing a full three standard pounds, flew out before his eyes. It bounced off the edge of the spaceship's operation console, accurately rebounding and landing in the waste recycler in the corner of the driver's cab.
The heavy waste recycler lid slammed shut, and a burst of high-temperature plasma flame sprayed out. That fragrant piece of beef turned into a wisp of green smoke.
Star-Lord was stunned. Instinctively, he looked around through the porthole. His spaceship had crashed into a floating artificial satellite, part of an entire space fortress.
He yelled in exasperation, and Star-Lord roared helplessly: "Damn it, when did a space fortress appear here..."
Dong, several Iron Robots suddenly pressed tightly against the transparent window of Star-Lord's driver's cab.
Dealing with aliens through space gates sooner or later was something the governments of various countries had long anticipated. It was just that things had gone slightly off track.
It wasn't that the Earth Fleet had found a planet with alien life, but rather that people at the space station had captured a smuggling spaceship.
And a smuggler who looked fat and greasy, was afraid of death, and only cared about money.
Moreover, this smuggler looked no different from an Earthling in appearance.
Being able to communicate was naturally a good thing. Most importantly, the smuggler had a star map in his hand.
The Protection Robots responsible for patrol outside the space station were all from Tang Group.
It was natural and reasonable for the things he sold to have some backdoor systems.
Ivan Vanko learned of this immediately through the Iron Robots and reported it to Lane.
After Lane learned of this matter, he immediately sealed off the information and secretly met with this alien at the first opportunity.
"Buy my star map!" Star-Lord blinked his eyes at Lane: "You probably don't know the value of a star map, and I don't think you can afford the price!"
'Dong dong' a few times, Star-Lord quickly poured himself a full glass of wine. Then he gulped it down.
"How much money can you offer!?"
He poured himself another large glass of wine, gulped it down, took a deep breath, and his small eyes narrowed: "As long as you offer enough money, anything can be discussed! Even if you want Ronan the Accuser's underwear, I can get it for you, provided he wears underwear!"
Lane was very familiar with the expression on Star-Lord's face. People who wanted to make exorbitant demands always had such a strange expression on their faces.
Sighing, Lane slowly said: "So, how much money do you think is appropriate?"
"Hmm... you have to know that a star map is very expensive, very expensive!" Star-Lord's eyes darted around rapidly, his fingers rubbing together.
"Hmm! Very expensive?" Lane's eyes rotated ten times faster than Star-Lord's. He mused, what was the general equivalent value in the Milky Way Galaxy? If you took USD to an alien planet, aliens would probably find it too rough to wipe their rear with.
Gold, its value was probably limited.
Lane lowered his head and pondered for a moment. He called over a subordinate beside him and gave a few instructions. Soon, several white strong men carried in a large wooden crate, which was filled with blue energy cubes.
Seeing these energy cubes,
Star-Lord's eyes went wide. Damn it, didn't Yondu tell him that Earth was just a primary civilization!
What was with this concentration of pure energy crystal blocks?
(end of chapter)