Ryan was stunned for a moment, then said leisurely, "I don't recall my less-than-thirty-year-old self ever having a daughter who's over three thousand years old~"
His words pulled Hela back to reality.
The holy radiance of 'paternal love' on Ryan's body vanished instantly, revealing his annoyingly handsome face!
Hela threatened fiercely, "You didn't hear anything just now, you hear me?!"
Ryan shrugged, noncommittal.
After all, even if Hela was willing to call him father, he wasn't willing to take her in.
His future daughter would have to be at least as soft and cute as Tony's daughter, Morgan; how could she be a World-weary, tsundere older sister like Hela?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
"I didn't hear anything. So, regarding my proposal just now, what have you decided?" Ryan looked down indifferently at the slumped Hela, still holding his hand out to her.
Hela looked at his hand, then at his invincible aura that was strikingly similar to a young Odin's, and a strange feeling couldn't help but well up in her heart.
Similar, far too similar!
After a long silence, Hela said softly, "You'll kill me if I don't agree, right? This World has no Asgard, and I've already lost my immortality..."
To her surprise, Ryan shook his head. "No, I won't kill you. I promised All-Father Odin and Queen Frigga that I would only exile you and try to give you a better life more suited to you. I won't harm your life. Now it just depends on whether you'll accept this better life..."
Hearing this, Hela's gaze became even more complex, her expression shifting constantly as her heart fell into a struggle.
She didn't want to accept Odin's hypocritical charity, yet she didn't want to give up the chance to rule Asgard again.
Even if it was the Asgard of another Universe.
Watching the conflicted Hela, Ryan suddenly showed a slight smile. "By the way, do you want to know why Odin suddenly gave up the idea of conquering the Universe back then, strictly forbade the Asgardian army from stepping outside the Nine Realms, and became so isolationist?"
Hela, caught in her self-conflict, felt her pupils tremble and her mind waver. "You... you know the reason?"
Ryan spoke with a hint of mystery, "That's right. As long as you agree to work for me, I can not only let you rebuild Asgard in this Universe but also tell you that 'shameful' secret that Odin was unwilling to tell you back then. How about it?"
A secret might not move Hela, but a shameful secret of Odin's was a different story...
Hela's expression flickered for a moment before she revealed a queenly, confident smile. She reached out and grasped Ryan's hand.
"Fine. But I'm working for you only because we are in a partnership. Don't even dream of being my Master!"
"No problem. A pleasure doing business with you~" Ryan's smile deepened. A flash of blue light enveloped them, and they vanished from the forest.
When they reappeared, they had arrived in what was once the most prosperous city of humanity.
New York.
But this former global financial center had now become a dead city.
Zombies wandered everywhere, and occasionally, a giant zombie larger than a building could be seen passing by.
Ryan and Hela appeared on the roof of the landmark building of this once most prosperous city.
Stark Tower.
Appearing on the roof of Stark Tower again, Hela was no longer the naked, pathetic mud-covered figure from before.
The mud and water were gone, replaced by a dark green off-the-shoulder long dress. Her hair was pinned up with a jade hairpin, revealing her swan-like neck, making her look as noble and elegant as a natural-born aristocrat.
Though Hela was indeed a natural-born aristocrat...
Hela looked at the beautiful dress she was wearing and was somewhat surprised.
"The reality-warping power of the Aether Particle... That old man Odin actually gave the sealed Aether Particle to you? Is this the benefit he gave you for dealing with me?"
Hela was very smart; she immediately guessed where the change in her clothes came from and why Ryan possessed the Aether Particle.
However, she didn't guess entirely correctly.
Ryan walked familiarly to the bar on the top floor of Stark Tower, took down a bottle of fine wine from this Universe's Tony's collection, poured two glasses, and handed one to Hela, saying:
"Yes and no. Odin did promise to give me the Aether Particle, but that's for after I've settled you. My current ability to change reality comes from a portion of the Reality Stone's power from this Universe..."
"In this Universe, not only was Asgard destroyed, but the six infinity stones were also destroyed. When I last came to this Universe, I 'collected' a portion of the remaining essence of the six stones."
Ryan didn't hide anything and told Hela the truth directly.
After all, this information wasn't a big secret in this World. Since Ryan intended to leave Hela in this Universe, there was naturally no need for concealment.
Hearing Ryan's words, Hela was somewhat shocked. "The Infinity Stones of this Universe were all destroyed? What on earth happened to this Universe?"
Ryan walked slowly to the edge of the open balcony and took a sip of wine. "A crisis. A crisis that overturned this World."
Curious, Hela walked to Ryan's side and followed his gaze downward.
Although she had lost her divine power, her super-physique as an Asgardian royal remained. Seeing the situation on the street from the top of the building was no problem at all. (Similar to Thor's situation in Thor: Ragnarok, not like Thor's physical strength being sealed in Thor 1.)
Thus, she could clearly see the walking dead wandering aimlessly below.
"This is actually... a World composed of the undead?!" Seeing this, Hela couldn't help but gasp.
One must know that she had only seen such a World in the Hell Dimension.
Unfortunately, the Hell Lords of the Hell Dimension were too strong; even she, as the Goddess of Death, didn't dare to venture there lightly.
This was the first time she had seen so many 'living' undead in the physical dimension!
Ryan nodded. "That's right. Ninety-five percent of the humans in this World were infected by the Quantum Virus and turned into zombies. The remaining survivors have all been settled by me in the primeval forest where I just threw you, working for me. So now, outside of that oasis, the entire World is filled with these walking dead..."
"So, what do you want me to do for you in this World? Whip and protect those human slaves of yours?" Hela raised an eyebrow.
Ryan coughed lightly and corrected her, "Ahem, not slaves, employees. I pay them wages!"
Hearing this, Hela gave Ryan a disdainful look.
"Isn't that the same thing? Didn't you human capitalists of the past also give those slaves watermelon and fried chicken? You've just changed it to a nicer-sounding term~"
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