Old days in the box

Chapter 463: Black and red are both red. I’m not afraid of being scolded, but I’m most afraid of no one recognizing me!

A huge shout rushed from the ground to the sky, echoing for a long time over the deserted ruins.

On top of the ruined Tower of Babel, the six candidates for governor who were initially selected - Sharon, R'lyeh, Josel and the three former God-chosen champions - all stood on the broken altar, overlooking the huge crowd below.

"You have a group of very strong people, but unfortunately they are still far from being comparable to the huge numbers of the God's Domain."

The cloaked god of trickery, Loki, was also on the altar. He was gazing at the excited people of the old days under the tower and expressing his opinions.

"This is just the beginning. If we just talk about numbers, no one in this world can be my opponent." Zhou Xiao smiled and slid the pointer to switch the voice permission to the people on the altar.

"You once said that you would formally discuss cooperation with me after returning to the atrium. I think now is the time." The God of Trickery retracted his gaze and looked up at the sky.

"No problem, please speak freely." The answer came from the sky.

"I think you should be very clear that this is a war about people's hearts and minds. The key to victory or defeat lies in people's beliefs. Based on this, I must say that you are in a very bad disadvantageous position."

"Why?" Freya looked at the strange god with distrust.

"The great crusade of the divine realm has begun. The footprints of those legions are extending from Asgard to various worlds, expanding their territory at an unimaginable speed - but they are not only conquering those planets, they are also spreading rumors about you."

Loki wrapped his cloak tightly and floated slowly in front of everyone like a wandering soul.

"They say that under the ocean of Midgard there is an evil god named the Old One sleeping. After breaking the seal of the Key of the Stars, he has begun to invade the Nine Realms and will eventually bring about the end of Ragnarok. All the mortals from Midgard are also his accomplices, and are crazy followers whose minds have been infected."

"This is complete nonsense. Who would believe such groundless words?" Tyne sneered.

“Unfortunately, most of the world outside the starry sky will believe it. They are the victims involved in the universal war of gods. Their native civilization was almost extinct due to the invasion of cold waves. At this time, the gods extended a helping hand in the name of Odin. Naturally, what they say is absolutely convincing.” Loki shook his head.

"What you mean is that in today's universe, we are the ones who have become the villains who caused the end of the world?" Yuan Wuyou asked with some concern.

"That's right. Odin packaged the old days into an indescribable myth of fear and spread it to the worlds. This way, it will be very difficult for you to regain the trust of the worlds in the future."

"How do you know this?" Freya asked again.

"The authority of 'Trickery' controls all the truth in this world. Moreover, before coming to Midgard, I was in Jotunheim, the kingdom of giants, and I know everything about their march to the other realms." Loki answered slowly.

Freya glanced at Tyne, who nodded honestly, "It's true. He and my Lord reached an agreement to hide my whereabouts in Jotunheim and collect intelligence on the front line of the gods."

"I have no intention of undermining your morale. Odin is not only your enemy, but also my blood enemy. Therefore, I will definitely abide by the agreement and fulfill the promise between me and the Old Ones. I just want to know, what do you need me to do next?"

The God of Trickery looked up at the sun-lit sky again and noticed that the Old One had not spoken back.

"As the God of Trickery, I know very well how difficult it is to confuse people. It's easy to win over the hearts of those who know nothing, but it's very difficult to win over the hearts of those who have already formed a stereotype. If we allow this trend to continue, the legends about the Old Evil God will soon spread throughout the starry sky. By then, it will be too late to win over the hearts of the people."

As a god known for his sweet words in Norse mythology, Loki is confident that he can reverse the rumors and rewrite the version of the story circulating in the stars, but before that, he must first figure out what the old Japanese think before deciding how to act.

In the past, He was always a god who did things His own way, but recently He has become particularly respectful of the will of the past, and even He Himself has not noticed this.

"I appreciate your honesty, Loki, but I don't need you to do anything extra." There was a rumble of thunder in the clear sky, and the Old One gave an unexpected answer.

"But... time is everything. If I delay any longer, even I may not be able to rewrite those legends that have already spread in the world." Loki was a little confused. "Let me ask you, why do you think Odin is so eager to discredit my name and spread rumors about me?"

"To seize the initiative and prevent you from telling the truth to the world?"

"Of course, I don't deny that this is part of the reason for His actions, but more importantly, Odin fears me. He fears the power I possess, so he was so eager to spread my rumors to distant lands before the Nine Realms had even heard of me."

Loki thought carefully on the altar, and he found that it was indeed the case.

The name of the Old One was originally unknown in the universe. Due to the distance of the void, few people in the worlds had ever heard of the Old One of the Courtyard.

But now that the news had been spread by the Divine Realm, many worlds had suddenly heard that there was a powerful evil god named the Old One in Midgard, and that he was even the culprit for the end of the gods.

If you think about this matter carefully...it really is true that "black and red are also red".

"Loki, my friend, there is one thing you and Odin are both wrong about: I have never said that I want to be the savior of the universe, and my return has never been for the so-called salvation of the people. I came back for only one thing, which is to destroy Odin and all his vassals. In order to achieve this goal, I can also conquer all obstacles and become the master of all thrones."

A storm of unrest began to brew above everyone's heads. Along with the shouts of millions of people, tremendous majesty came from the sky, as if the gods were expressing their joy and anger through the weather.

"You are right about one thing. The key to this war does lie in people's beliefs. But beliefs have never been about good or evil. Everything depends on whether people 'believe'."

"You mean..." Loki suddenly felt an inexplicable fear and subconsciously used honorifics.

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"Fear is also a kind of belief." Zhou Xiao replied coldly.

In order to occupy a high moral position of greatness and justice, Odin deliberately spread the slander of Zhou Xiao's name throughout the worlds, and also pinned all the blame for the invasion of the giants and Ragnarok on him.

He thought that Zhou Xiao was also an upright and good person like Sun Hao, a savior of "lawful goodness". As long as all the creatures in the world were transformed into his opposite, he could greatly stop his progress.

But he was wrong. This man was just an ordinary office worker who hated overtime work the most in his life. And now because of him, Zhou Xiao was forced to be trapped in this throne at the center of the earth and work overtime forever.

You can imagine his anger.

“Fear is as powerful a catalyst as hope. With Odin’s help, the fear brought by the cold wave invasion and Ragnarok will be bestowed upon me. I will become the most terrifying evil god in people’s hearts—and ‘whatever you believe in is true.’”

Zhou Xiao once again recited the new laws of nature that Odin had engraved deep within the world, shocking all the God-chosen champions on the altar.

Only then did they understand that the Old One had no intention of clearing up those bad reputations. On the contrary, He wanted to use those bad reputations to strengthen His own name and become the collection of all evil and fear, the Lord of Terror in the starry sky.

“Wait, but this way no one will know the truth. Even if we succeed in the future, no one will know that you saved the universe. They will only stigmatize your achievements and describe you as an ugly monster…” Freya was a little anxious, and hurriedly spoke loudly to the sky where thunder was rolling.

"Winning is the most important thing, Freya. That's the rule of this game."

Zhou Xiao thought again of what his uncle had said to him, about the battle for the Nine Realms during Sun Hao's era, and how those former box players used all means and all kinds of unthinkable methods to win the war.

Each of them is a skilled warrior who has practiced for thousands of years, and each of them has made every possible calculation. If Zhou Xiao wants to fight against these people, he must be prepared to fight at all costs.

"He wants people to fear me... well, they better actually be afraid."

(End of this chapter)