bookbashuk Chapter 4209 A Guide to Wandering the Galaxy (6)
Chapter 4209 A Guide to Wandering the Galaxy (6)
Chapter 4209 A Guide to Wandering the Galaxy (Sixteen)
While Schiller was busy in the tavern, construction of the Second Cross of the Southern Cross officially began and was proceeding at a rapid pace. A large amount of construction equipment arrived, and engineers from various advanced civilizations also arrived. However, before entering the construction site, they naturally followed the old tradition of the Nine Realms by going to Asgard for a welcoming feast.
The King and Queen of Gods treated them very warmly. To be honest, most of them hadn't expected to receive such a friendly reception from the gods. After all, while Asgard had given them a good beating, that was because Asgard had the power to do so. Their united efforts to exclude Asgard from interstellar society seemed rather petty. However, seeing that the King and Queen of Gods didn't hold it against them, they breathed a sigh of relief.
This time, Thor wasn't just being generous; he genuinely didn't think there was anything wrong with it. The gods were indeed skilled in warfare, that was their own ability, but others were adept at politics, and the gods couldn't compete with them, so they had no choice but to admit defeat—there was nothing wrong with that.
In retrospect, Odin's best decision in his life was bringing Loki back with him. If Loki hadn't raised the average level of political maneuvering in Asgard, they wouldn't have been able to outmaneuver these cunning politicians even after ten thousand years.
The welcoming banquet was grand, and the entire Asgardian palace was filled with a festive atmosphere. Engineers and gods drank and chatted, plates of roasted meat were served and quickly devoured. Various fruits from the nine realms were arranged exquisitely in fruit baskets. Water from the World Tree flowed through miniature fountains. Almost everyone was thoroughly drunk.
The King and Queen of Gods also drank a few cups with them. When the banquet ended, they walked back hand in hand. Back in the bedroom, Thor took off his outer robe, embraced Sif, and kissed her forehead.
"You may need to put more effort into patrolling the Nine Kingdoms from now on. The opening of the Nine Kingdoms is inevitable, but there will inevitably be some troubles in the early stages. Don't be impulsive. If you encounter someone you can't make up your mind about or a difficult person, come back and call me."
"Don't worry," Sif mumbled, seemingly a little drunk. "They're already afraid of us, so they probably won't dare cause trouble openly. But it's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. I'm still worried about those robots."
"Humans will handle it. After all, they are more worried about the threat from the three great empires than about us. Humanity's potential is far greater than Asgard's."
"I think we're fine as we are now. If we really got involved in politics and had to outwit those people, we'd suffer a lot."
“We have to give our offspring a choice.” Thor hugged Sif from behind, gently stroking her belly, and said, “Our population is already small, and the birth rate is low. Are we going to abandon every child who isn’t strong enough? We should give wisdom a chance.”
Sif reached out and covered his hand with hers, gazing into the distance through the windows of the Asgardian palace. It was winter in Asgard, and snowflakes had turned the tall trees white. As the carriage took off, a thin mist rose from its hooves.
The fireplace in the office was burning hot, and Loki was forced back a few steps by the heat as soon as he pushed open the door. The butler, who was walking at the end of the corridor, smiled and said to him, "Your Highness, we lit the fireplace in advance."
"Oh, thank you, Tibbers. But next time you don't need to make it so hot. Could you pour me some spring water? I'm going to stay here until tonight for a big operation."
“No problem, Your Highness.” The butler, Tibbers, bowed and left. A short while later, a jug of World Tree spring water was brought over. The surface of the jug still emitted a faint coolness, clearly indicating it was fresh spring water just drawn from the World Tree.
Loki smiled. Clearly, his treatment in Asgard had improved significantly. There would surely be leftover spring water at the banquet tonight, but they still went to the World Tree to fetch a jugful. Perhaps this is how power determines status.
Anyone with eyes can see that Asgard won't have many more battles to fight in the future. The full-time soldiers are all preparing to retire, not to mention those in logistics.
The Protoss are energetic and never idle, always looking for something to do. They have no worries about survival, and their work is entirely based on interest. But precisely because of this, everyone wants a job they're interested in. With the Nine Realms about to open, there are many job opportunities, but not all of them will be available to them. And the one who has the power to decide their job positions is clearly Loki. Who says these brutes can't read the room? When it comes to their own interests, they're incredibly attentive and eager to please.
Loki, however, wasn't bothered by it. Asgardians, when they were being courteous, were direct and straightforward. If they truly admired you, they'd practically rip their hearts out to you, wanting the whole world to know.
In a sense, Loki could understand why Thor was initially swayed by the flattery of his subordinates. That's just how the Aesir are; their passion is like an inextinguishable flame, and no one can remain unmoved by such fervent love.
And it is precisely because of this that Loki understands Odin even better. The Aesir are a species that loves to the point of life and hates to the point of death. You must try your best to gain their love, but you must never be swayed by that love. For someone who feels a lack of love, this is impossible, like expecting a piece of paper to wrap around a ball of fire. Loki feels that he is that piece of paper, and still is.
His prejudice against the Aesir and his admiration for them stemmed from the same attitude: escapism. But escapism was never the solution. He had long since realized that he could not lead the Aesir, not because he was a frost giant, but precisely because he was Loki. If he wanted to remain himself, he could only escape.
Bringing his thoughts back, Loki got back to work. He and Thor had reached a consensus: with the commencement of the galaxy's construction, the Nine Realms should also open their domains and welcome friends from across the universe.
However, this brings with it many problems. The Nine Realms, this auspicious land, isn't just coveted by demons. The three great empires are eyeing it covetously, and while advanced civilizations don't have ambitions to conquer it, they undoubtedly want to gain some advantage. Considering that this will become the political center of the universe in the future, everyone wants to establish a foothold here first, which will inevitably lead to numerous conflicts and countless open and covert attacks.
As the lords of the nine kingdoms, Asgard has a responsibility to resolve these issues, and if they don't handle them well, they will certainly face criticism. It seems like a thankless and arduous task, but it's their inevitable path. Everyone knows that being the mayor of a capital city is the most difficult job.
Fortunately, Asgard's military strength is guaranteed, and its reputation is widespread, so most civilizations have to give them some face. This is already quite an achievement. As for their role as neighborhood mediators, although it's not their forte, precisely because of this, if they can achieve something, it's considered a prodigal son's return, more precious than gold.
Loki is currently dealing with the visa issue for the Nine Realms. The first visas issued are for engineers, construction workers, and politicians from the Interstellar Council. However, family visit visas and other types of work visas will be issued later.
Every visa application undergoes rigorous review, but even so, it's impossible to completely prevent unauthorized individuals from smuggling them in. Furthermore, with the increasing number of applicants, even those not intentionally causing trouble will inevitably encounter problems. All we can do is try our best and leave the rest to fate.
The first batch of visas, however, was processed relatively easily. Loki reviewed them, and with the intelligence he had gathered in space, he quickly weeded out two spies from the three great empires. He then found excuses to reject a few people who lacked experience and education, and then all of them were approved.
As for electronic devices, there's simply no way to investigate. Asgard's technological level is quite good, but in terms of mechanical equipment, it lags far behind mechanical civilizations. They want to infiltrate using technological means, and Asgard has no way to stop them. Fortunately, they have Jarvis, which serves as their last line of defense.
Once the visas were approved, the construction team could proceed directly to the site. However, the number of workers was actually small, as most were local workers from within the nine major countries. To be precise, most were Nick's subordinates.
Other races weren't unwilling to participate; for example, dwarves possessed excellent engineering and construction skills. The problem was that they had too many ideas, constantly seeking artistic innovation, and their construction methods were too advanced to be compatible with the machinery. Humans, on the other hand, were more cautious and more willing to operate the equipment.
Construction began the next morning. Loki visited the construction site; the first area erected was the living quarters, which were essentially a cluster of prefabricated houses. Now, the machines were hoisting in large slabs of foundation stone.
The construction speed is actually very fast because many of the lifting equipment are anti-gravity devices, and various repetitive tasks are also completed by robotic arms. This kind of engineering process is already a fairly mature system in space, and the machine operators mainly play a supervisory role.
The symbiote agents were all positioned at high vantage points to oversee the work, ready to remedy any unexpected situations immediately. Loki knew that Jarvis was also watching from where he couldn't see, to prevent the electronic lifeforms from tampering with the project.
They worked like that all day. By the time they finished get off work, the entire foundation was laid. Their work efficiency was incredible; at this rate, the entire headquarters building would be completed very soon.
When it was time to leave work, the aliens mostly went to their spaceships in twos and threes. They had long heard of the Nine Realms' great reputation, and now that they had the opportunity to work here, they naturally wanted to go out and explore after get off work.
Loki and the others couldn't stop them, of course; after all, they were here to work, not to be imprisoned. Wherever they wanted to go in their free time was nobody's business.
Of course, the main reason they're not worried is that their small spaceships can't enter more important places, such as Asgard and the solar system. They'd be discovered immediately if they tried. Generally, as long as they show a visa, they won't be driven away, but they can only travel around the solar system at most; Earth is definitely off-limits.
It's not that we discriminate against aliens, nor are we afraid they'll cause trouble on Earth. It's that we're afraid something might happen to them; we wouldn't be able to explain that. Although mutant outbreaks and similar disasters are much less frequent now, if a few were killed, it would delay the project's progress.