Cosmic Demon Totem Common Prosperity Project (Part 2)

The next day, in Asgard Palace, The Ancient One handed Odin a small object. Odin held the tiny black device up to his eyes for a look, then moved it farther away and looked again, seeming rather curious.

Then a projection suddenly popped up from it. Odin nearly threw the thing away. Mephisto, who had been waiting below, had long since grown impatient. He said, "Can we hurry this up? I’ve been waiting forever!"

Odin rolled his eyes and used magic to secure the device in the center of the room, making sure everyone inside could see the projection.

Without having to face this group of Demon Gods directly, Strange in the projection looked much more relaxed. He said, "Let’s begin. Questions from left to right, one question per person. No follow-up questions after an answer. Once we’ve gone around, we start over from the beginning."

Mephisto immediately said, "I’ll go first. That stable lending system you mentioned last time—what exactly was it? And the interest rate benchmark you didn’t explain clearly, and contract fraud…"

Strange, standing in the room, turned around and asked the tableful of finance professionals behind him, "You heard that, right?"

One bespectacled man in a suit did not even raise his head as he said, "This is my specialty. As for the so-called interest rate benchmark…"

More than ten hours later, Strange’s throat was dry from talking. He said to The Ancient One, "Master, let’s call it here for today…"

When he turned around, he saw that most of the people behind him had collapsed onto the tables. After all, more than ten straight hours of brainstorming without food or water was nothing to Demon Gods, but humans could not endure it.

The moment they heard there would be a break, the Demon Gods refused to accept it. Mephisto in particular had never realized that humans were so skilled at fraud… ah, no, it was called finance.

Mephisto had made up his mind. Could a devil’s deal be called deception? It was called finance! Did they understand finance?

What prices and conditions? Change the wording already. They were all called deposits and loans. So what if he collected more debts? That was called interest!

The interest was too high? Hadn’t he written it in the pact… the contract? What? He had written it too complicatedly? Then they should not have signed it!

Devils had boundless interest in fraud. Mephisto asked countless questions about lending systems, wishing he could learn the essence of human economics overnight.

By the Demon Gods’ sense of time, not even 0.001 seconds had passed, and humans were already complaining about being tired? How could this race be so weak?

But there was nothing the Demon Gods could do even if they were unwilling. Humans were built that way. They needed to eat, sleep, and rest.

The main contradiction now was between the Demon Gods’ exuberant thirst for knowledge and humans’ limited energy.

With no other choice, Nick found another group of people and had them work in two shifts, which eventually became three shifts.

Even that was not enough. Strange truly had no other options, so The Ancient One suggested that the Demon Gods leave behind a Magic Circle for communication. That way, they could contact Earth’s finance professionals at any time.

But that did not work either, because ordinary humans were not mages. They could not expect a group of ordinary people who had received decades of scientific education to learn meditation, focus, and communication with the universe overnight. It required talent. Ordinary people simply could not use a Magic Circle.

In the end, Kamar-Taj’s mages had to step in and bind the Magic Circle to human cell phones, allowing the Demon Gods to call humans.

At first, the Demon Gods dialed numbers at random, talking to whoever picked up.

Many Demon Gods did not understand human life forms. They did not know that individuals did not share memories and had different personalities. As a result, their conversations never lined up. They might discuss half a question with one person, then call again and get someone else, forcing them to start all over.

Strange had to teach the Demon Gods how to call the same person again, while Nick’s side selected dedicated customer service representatives for different Demon Gods.

After half a day of adjustment, the professionals could finally communicate smoothly with the Demon Gods and answer their questions.

Nick found a building in Greenwich Village and crammed all those people into it. The Ancient One transferred a group of mages from Kamar-Taj to station there, helping the professionals connect with the Demon Gods, while S.H.I.E.L.D. agents handled everyone’s food and daily needs.

In the end, Strange named the building the "Sanctum Sanctorum."

But that alone was not enough. The initial investors had been found, yet someone still had to handle future business expansion and promotion.

They could not expect ordinary humans to run all over the universe drumming up business and recruiting clients. They could not do it.

The Ancient One and Odin searched everywhere. Finally, old Odin looked at his side and thought, his younger son was idle anyway, so why not send him?

Thus, Loki gloriously became a salesperson.

To get more people involved, they needed to make a name for themselves. Even if others did not participate immediately, they still had to know such a thing existed. Put simply, they had to hand out business cards across the universe.

That very day, Loki was thrown out of Asgard by Odin, clutching a thick stack of business cards with a bewildered expression.

Loki had been gloating over his brother being thrown to Earth for causing trouble. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was thrown out too.

When Thor was thrown out, he had lost both his divine power and weapon, but at least he had no assignment. He could wander Earth freely, and no one cared. Loki was different. He had performance targets.

If Loki had been as unambitious as Thor, it would have been one thing. But he had aspirations toward the throne. Though he had not participated in the previous Demon God lecture series, he knew this must be one of his father’s major projects. If it went well, Odin would surely gain prestige.

Thus, Loki embarked on his cosmic pyramid scheme journey.

Loki was far smarter than his brother. Naturally, he knew exactly whom to ask.

He warmly invited the future Sorcerer Supreme, Strange, to feast, drink, play, and have fun throughout the Nine Realms for several days, then learned the principles of pyramid schemes from him.

Once he understood the principles, Loki, as the God of Trickery, felt there was potential in this. If handled well, it might bring both fame and profit.

The hardest part had already been settled by The Ancient One and Odin. The great Demon Gods had completed their first round of investments, leaving Loki with only the task of casting a wide net and catching more fish.

Why else would they call it a talent bestowed by heaven? What could be more fitting than the God of Lies and pyramid schemes?

Loki could casually stir up trouble out of boredom and send people stumbling one after another. Once he put his initiative into it, it took only a few days for Demon Gods across the universe to hear a resounding name—"Cosmic Demon Totem Common Prosperity Project."

As the God of Lies and Deceit, Loki grasped the essence of pyramid schemes without instruction. Things like "Miss this chance and wait another twenty thousand years," "Grow bigger and stronger, create new glories," and "Congratulations to the Lord of the Crimson Dimension, Boss Sai, on obtaining one billion years of cultivation"…

During that period, Loki’s frantically darting figure could be seen throughout the universe. From the Fragmented Domain to the Realm of Lingering, from the Pegasus Nebula, where the aftermath of war had yet to fade, to the long-silent Andromeda Nebula, from the central New Harbor to the border Blacklands, at interstellar wars, galactic gatherings, weddings and funerals, joyous and mourning occasions alike—ten places beat gongs, and he was at nine of them.

Thor? Never heard of him!

"Hello, Nine Realms Sanctum Sanctorum… Sorry, it truly cannot go any higher. We have regulations here. Only ultra-large Dimensional Demon Gods can raise it above 6%… Yes, actually, you can also choose joint investment. That is one of our new services…"

Strange walked quickly forward with a phone in hand, speaking rapidly into it. "Prince Loki, the business on Planet Sakaar can be suspended for now. The people there are simply too poor and far too stingy. Other than calling every day to harass customer service, there is barely any profit to squeeze out of them. And that Grandmaster too…"

He passed through an office area, though the people working there were dressed rather strangely. Some wore suits and ties, some wore mage robes, and some even wore prison uniforms. It was obvious they had just been dragged in because there were not enough workers…

"Hello, Nine Realms Sanctum Sanctorum, what?… Could you repeat that? Translator! I need a translator! Another one I can’t understand!" a female office worker in business attire shouted.

A young mage in yellow robes hurried to her side. He took the phone and rattled off a string of strange words, then hung up and said, "Which backwater Demon God was that? Don’t tell me it was from the edge of Hell? That accent was way too thick!"

Strange continued onward. Everywhere he passed, the sounds of conversations through phones came one after another.

"Hello, Nine Realms Sanctum Sanctorum. Uh… sorry, we do not provide that service. Ah… yes, I know you are in a hurry, but we are not responsible for finding dogs. Fine… I’ll ask around for you."

At one desk, a young man stood up and rushed to Strange, asking, "Mr. Strange, a Demon God wants us to help him find his dog. He says his dog is lost, and he is very worried."

"Find a dog?" Strange covered the phone receiver and looked the young man over. "This is a financial office. We do not find dogs… Forget it. Ask him where the dog was lost and what it looks like."

The young man ran back to his desk, picked up the receiver, and said, "Is that so? All right… all right, three heads? Oh, four heads. All right… no problem. We’ll do our best and get back to you within two hours… Oh, no need. We are not allowed to accept private rewards. Thank you."

He set down the phone again and shouted to Strange, "He says it was lost in a dimension of the Upper Spirit Realm. It’s a blue four-headed raven with three claws in total…"

Loki on the other end of the phone also heard the young man’s shout. He said, "Isn’t that Campbell’s pet? How did it get into the upper dimensions of the Spirit Realm?"

Then he said to Strange, "There are five little Demon Gods in the Lower Spirit Realm. They are pretty well informed. Ask them."

Strange put down the phone and called out, "Who is in charge of the Spirit Realm area?"

A female mage flashed to Strange’s side and said, "I am, but they broke the network cable while fighting yesterday, so we can’t contact them right now."

"Forget it, I’ll make a trip myself." The female mage continued, "The Spirit Realm is not far. Ask him where I should send that four-headed bird if I find it."

"Okay, wait, let me check… Caller’s location: the interlayer between the Hell Dimension and the Astral Realm. Good, it’s not far…"

At that moment, Strange’s phone rang again, but it was not a Demon God calling. Peter’s voice sounded from the other end. "Mr. Strange! Get over here! Two Symbiotes are fighting in New York! I can’t stop them! Oh! My God! Don’t go over there…"

"Symbiotes… what?"

Before Strange could finish speaking, the floor shook violently. One corner of the building was smashed straight down. A massive gray monster leaped onto the roof, followed closely by a black monster.

Strange saw that chasing after the two monsters was a slightly smaller… purple Spider-Man???