Asgard Changes Hands (Bonus Chapter)

Temporary Bonus Chapter:

I did the math. Since I took a day off this month, I ended up two chapters short.

I added one bonus chapter before, but I was still one chapter short.

My obsessive-compulsive side said that was unacceptable!

So I’m making up this chapter today.

Yep, that’s it.

Li Congxin’s schemes were clanging away like a well-oiled machine, but The Collector truly lived up to his reputation as an old fox who had survived for who knew how long.

Faced with Li Congxin’s forceful pressure, he used just one move to make Li Congxin abandon all the plans he had prepared for what came next.

That was… Congxin!

Faced with Li Congxin’s vile behavior of conducting business right at his doorstep, The Collector not only showed no sign of displeasure, but even personally came to congratulate him when his shop opened, bringing along a generous gift.

The gift included a large quantity of rare materials unique to The Void, as well as… four billion Credits!

Four billion Credits was enough to buy several habitable planets in the universe!

If that still wasn’t clear enough, there was an even more straightforward example. When The Collector acquired the Orb of Power—that is, the Power Stone—the price he offered was four billion Credits!

It should be known that when he acquired the Orb of Power, he had never intended to conceal the value of the treasure. Before the transaction, he had even thoughtfully given the several idiots in the Guardians of the Galaxy a crash course on the Infinity Stones.

From this, it was clear that a weapon of mass destruction like the Infinity Stones was probably worth about that much!

Li Congxin hadn’t even plucked a single hair, yet The Collector had eagerly delivered such a huge sum of money, along with a batch of "local specialties" worth roughly the same amount.

Wasn’t he being a little too accommodating?

Since The Collector had already been so accommodating, if Li Congxin still refused to let the matter go and insisted on ruining him, that would seem overly domineering. It also went against his usual principles. If he really killed The Collector under these circumstances, it would probably be difficult for him to make friends in the universe in the future.

After all, he and The Collector had never had any previous grudge between them.

With the thought of returning a favor, Li Congxin tactfully expressed that he had no intention of collecting too many special resources. However, since the shop had already opened, he couldn’t close it down right away, could he?

In the end, he decided to limit his purchases to the price of ten Kree ships. He would also set the price just a little higher than The Collector’s, so he wouldn’t maliciously suppress the market.

The main reason he chose to stay there for a while was that the remains of this ancient divine artifact contained large amounts of free-floating Cosmic Energy. Although it was extremely thin, it was already quite rare compared with the outside world.

Likewise, Li Congxin had discovered traces of thin Cosmic Energy within those rare local resources. That was one of the main reasons he was collecting those materials.

Thanos was coming!

There was never anything wrong with increasing his strength by even the slightest amount.

Li Congxin simply handed the shop over to Ava and Nebula, while he entered a state of semi-seclusion. Every day, he comprehended the cosmic laws contained within the two Infinity Stones. This was also the greatest benefit he had gained from Mimir’s Well.

Apart from learning the locations and usage methods of the three Infinity Stones, he had gained deeper insight into how to communicate with the Stones and thereby glimpse their mysteries!

While comprehending the laws of power and space, he wasn’t hindered from absorbing the local materials and the Cosmic Energy drifting through the air. His strength continued to advance at a steady pace.

Cultivation knew no passage of time. Several months slipped through his fingers like fine sand.

Six months later, Li Congxin had finally consumed ninety-nine percent of the special local resources in his possession. The Cosmic Energy he extracted from them had accumulated over time and brought about a clear increase in his strength. The total amount of Cosmic Energy within him had now raised his strength to nearly the late Sub-Celestial stage, narrowing the gap between him and that Honest Person Thanos by another step.

After his strength greatly increased, Li Congxin felt restless.

After instructing Ava and Nebula to look after his shop, he teleported directly to Xandar.

News traveled quickly through the universe. The news that Li Congxin had killed Ronan had now spread to every corner of the galaxy, excluding barbaric places like Earth that had yet to establish contact with the universe.

After learning that Li Congxin had solved the major problem of Ronan for them, Nova Prime personally received him. As thanks, she formally opened part of Nova Corps’ technology to him, while also announcing that Xandar would establish a formal offensive and defensive alliance with Earth.

An alliance was just an alliance. Whether the treaty would actually be honored at a critical moment would depend on the circumstances at the time.

What truly interested Li Congxin was Nova Corps’ technology. Although they obviously wouldn’t open all their top-level data to him, the general technologies shared by the major civilizations of the universe were not nearly as precious.

Interstellar jump technology and space-engine technology, for example, were not secrets to the great empires of the universe, the Nova Empire, or even Thanos’ Dark Cult. They weren’t secrets to some second-rate planetary civilizations, either.

Nova Corps was fairly generous with these shared secrets. Nova Prime was happy to use secrets that weren’t really secrets to gain the goodwill of a true powerhouse in the universe.

And these basic technologies were precisely what Earth needed most at present.

Before this, Li Congxin had seen similar technical data in Asgard—data that was even more advanced. However, the flaws of that technology had already been mentioned. Technologies driven by magic belonged to an entirely different branch from Earth’s technological tree, so there was little Earth could borrow from them.

After establishing good trade relations with Xandar, Li Congxin returned to Asgard.

Before leaving, he also left a clone on Xandar to study the relevant technological knowledge as an honorary member of Nova Corps.

Nova Prime warmly welcomed this.

What Li Congxin hadn’t expected was that only half a year had passed, yet when he returned to Asgard, his princely palace had already been completed!

It was located not far from the Golden Palace.

"Old Brother Odin, you really went all out… Although I did plan to leave a clone here this time so we could stay in contact, any place to live would have been enough for me. You even went and built me an entire palace. Isn’t that a little too… extravagant?"

After seeing Odin again, Li Congxin immediately told him that he had made too much of a fuss.

Odin stubbornly shook his head. "I didn’t do this merely to curry favor with you. In truth, your appearance as a prince was too sudden. Although I personally authorized it, the people below will inevitably have doubts about your authority. Under these circumstances, you may encounter unexpected difficulties when exercising your power."

After a brief pause, he added, "Especially after I leave. To the people of Asgard, a prince living in a palace and a prince staying in guest quarters are two entirely different concepts."

Li Congxin was stunned. "Old Brother Odin, you…"

Odin waved his hand lightly. "Don’t worry. I won’t be dying anytime soon." As he spoke, however, he sighed. "But my strength has already begun to decline. Under these circumstances, it’s difficult for me to suppress the seal imprisoning Hela while remaining in Asgard."

"So I have to spend the final days of my life on Earth."

Li Congxin’s smile faded at Odin’s words. Odin was telling the absolute truth.

Odin didn’t need to explain the details. Li Congxin had already obtained the answer from Mimir’s Well.

When Odin had sealed Hela in the realm of the dead, he had actually constructed an extremely sturdy sealing formation. Even if Odin died, Hela would still be completely unable to break free.

That was because the side of the seal within the realm of the dead had no weakness to be found!

However, many things had two sides. The price of having no weakness on the side of the realm of the dead was that the other side of the seal was extremely fragile. As long as someone found the core of the seal, even an ordinary person could easily destroy it.

In March 1942, a German officer named Johann Schmidt stole the Tesseract, creating a massive flaw in the seal!

If this had been before he drank from Mimir’s Well, Li Congxin would definitely have suggested that Odin use the Tesseract to reinforce the seal. Now, however, he absolutely would not say such a thing.

That was because this seal wasn’t like the formations in xianxia novels, where repairs were possible. Once the seal was damaged, it was damaged. The only way to restore it was to remove the entire seal and then set it up again from scratch.

But by then, Odin no longer had absolute confidence that Hela wouldn’t take the opportunity to escape and wreak havoc across the Nine Realms.

Thus, Odin had always been using his own power to suppress the seal on Hela. That was also why he never took action and why his body had continued to grow weaker.

Odin and Frigga were husband and wife, but to outsiders who didn’t know the truth, Odin looked more like Frigga’s father.

After a moment of silence, Li Congxin asked again, "Do you have any other arrangements for Asgard that you need my help with?"

Odin smiled faintly, then nodded. "A kingdom cannot be without a king for even a day, and Thor currently lacks both the strength and reputation to intimidate the petty villains…"

That night, a riot broke out in the Asgardian prison. A large number of prisoners escaped, but the situation was quickly brought under control. Every prisoner was recaptured, except Loki, who completely vanished from everyone’s sight.

His whereabouts were unknown!

To save this wayward child, Queen Frigga ignored Odin’s objections and insisted on leaving Asgard. She personally brought Sif and a group of capable subordinates with her and began the search for Loki.

Asgard, within Odin’s Golden Palace.

Only Odin and Li Congxin remained there. The latter spoke to Odin, who was seated on the throne, in a deep voice without the slightest trace of respect. "From today onward, you are Odin, the All-Father of Asgard. The others who might discover your identity have already left Asgard one after another, but there is one person you absolutely cannot touch."

Odin raised a question. "You mean Heimdall?"

"Exactly. Before Odin left, he already instructed him not to interfere in your affairs, so you can rest assured." Li Congxin spoke in a condescending tone. "During this period, eat, drink, and have fun however you like. But whenever something major happens, you must discuss it with me first."

"If everything remains peaceful, you’ll have rendered Asgard a great service. But if you dare act recklessly and ruin things, don’t blame me for being rude!"

At those words, "Odin" suddenly revealed a sinister smile. "Don’t forget, you’re only a clone with the strength of an ordinary Asgardian. Killing you would be no harder than crushing an ant. I’d like to know how you plan to be rude to me."

Li Congxin responded with an innocuous smile. "If you’re dissatisfied, you can try attacking me. You’re welcome anytime."

Try?

How could this superficially impressive "Odin" casually try to challenge Li Congxin’s authority?

He knew very well that the Space Stone was currently embedded in Li Congxin’s true body’s cloak. If he wanted to, his true body could appear before him in an instant, no matter where in the universe he was.

Having experienced the tenfold pain of the "ritual" twice, he had no desire to experience it a third time.

He was Loki, the God of Mischief, not the God of Masochism!

After an awkward laugh, Loki, who had transformed into Odin’s appearance, nodded lightly at Li Congxin and said, "In that case, Prince Li, please return and rest early. Your advice has benefited me greatly. Whenever anything happens in the future, I’ll be sure to seek your opinion."

Thanks to book friend Xiaowen︿＿︿ for the generous reward of 100 Qidian Coins!