"Actually, I've also spoken your inner thoughts, haven't I?" Loki walked to where Odin was sleeping, his expression complex. He suddenly spoke, "You're watching all of this, aren't you, Father King?"
There was no response, as if Loki was talking to himself. He gazed deeply at Odin, and the room fell silent for a moment.
After a long pause, Loki's expression changed. "Alright, I don't care."
"What I'm going to do, even if you're watching, won't change. This is a good opportunity for us to see who is more excellent, and who is more worthy of the throne."
With a charming, wicked smile, Loki raised an eyebrow and said, "Of course, I was never on the same starting line as Thor before, but now that guy isn't on the same starting line as me either. Isn't that a kind of fairness?"
Odin's eyelids didn't even twitch. It all seemed like Loki's solo performance.
"I will prove to you that I am more suited for the throne than Thor, whose muscles have grown into his brain... Father King."
Seeing Odin still in slumber, Loki's expression darkened, as if he were making a vow.
He knew what he was doing. If he continued as usual, everything would remain the same.
Thor would grow in Midgard, after all, Father King couldn't keep him there forever.
When he returned, he would once again be the glorious heir to the God King, with all the gods offering wine and blessings, celebrating the growth of the next God King.
And people would still envy him, the second prince, lucky Loki, that such a sort could become a prince of Asgard, truly having stumbled into good fortune... Haha, I said I didn't care... That's how the world is, too many idiots make smart people out of place.
Everywhere there are drunkards who worship brute force. The entirety of Asgard, apart from Mother Queen and himself, and... Father King counts as half, he's starting to get muddled with age.
That's two and a half brains, but the remaining idiots combined can't even make up the other half a brain. A bunch of simpletons chose a muscle-brain... Oh my god! This is simply a disaster.
In that case, it's better to let me lead Asgard. Time will prove me right.
When Loki left, he was already in battle attire, his cloak billowing, leaning on a spear, like a new generation of God King.
"Hmm, I like his little deer helmet, and this demeanor of a smart person."
Nero clapped her hands lightly, seemingly very optimistic about Loki.
She and Odin's soul had always been in this room, watching Loki's performance. Mirror dimension was not a difficult magic for the three of them present.
Odin's expression was complex. He had somewhat anticipated Loki's words, but when this scene unfolded before his eyes, his reaction was much greater than Loki had imagined.
His physical body lay there motionless, but the face of his soul in the mirror dimension was much more expressive.
The old father was truly old, basically holding on by a title alone.
If it were in his youth, Ragnarok? He'd just slap it away. "You're Ragnarok, huh?"
"Change your name to Dawn within a minute, understood?"
"Don't force me to get rough with you again... your little life can't handle it!"
Even now, Ragnarok is Ragnarok without Odin. As long as he lives one more day, no one dares to mess with Asgard like this. Others also fear that this old man might end up living as long as heaven and earth.
The old man lost to the Celestials when he was young, and those who knew a little about the inside story thought Odin's limit was just that.
But only a few people closest to Odin knew that he truly fought the Celestials one-on-one, even chopping off one's arm first, being fiercely powerful, only to be ganged up on by nine Celestials who didn't fight fair.
Otherwise, where would The Nine Realms come from? A king who expanded his territory would only find Asgard too small.
As for the Frost Giants, Fire Giants, Dark Elves, and such, just keep a few as protected animals for show.
How many divisions do you have? And you dare to be so arrogant as to claim kingship with me, Odin?
Let my Gungnir measure your bear heart and leopard guts.
Now looking at his sons, Thor, who is outwardly the God of Thunder but actually the God of Hammers, and Loki, who is outwardly the God of Mischief but actually a spoiled and willful princess.
Odin could only accept it and wait for Asgard to face its twilight after his death.
The only thing he could do was use his old face to curry favor, hoping people would lend a hand when Asgard was in trouble.
A God King who had been formidable his entire life, now having to rely on connections to preserve the spark of his people's survival... To the proud Odin, this was more painful than cutting his own flesh with a knife.
He touched his blind eye, his expression complex.
Having sacrificed this eye, he reached a realm of semi-omniscience. In countless possibilities, Asgard was mostly destroyed.
And in this universe, there was the greatest variable, Nero, an external deity whose existence wasn't even recorded by fate, coupled with her broken-grade divine status... it would be even better if she didn't just think about playing around.
But Nero's very existence was precisely what Asgard needed, a diversion of the River of Fate, a firm and distant diversion.
Anyway, the worst-case scenario was just dying, which was already half a predetermined fate.
The best outcome was just a few stragglers surviving in the world, which was not much different from everyone dying.
So, if you ask who was most delighted by Nero's existence, Odin would definitely be at the top of the list.
"Cleverness does not equal wisdom. Temporary cleverness can only lead him down a seemingly shortcut to a dead end." Odin looked in the direction Loki had left, shaking his head and sighing in disappointment, but then added, "When he uses his cleverness for the right path, he will become a wiser man than me."
Nero was a little surprised. "Hmm, that sounds like you think quite highly of him?"
"Of course, he is my son. We have accompanied each other for a thousand years." Odin replied firmly, "He, like Thor, just lacks some experience."
"So you're letting the brainless brother manage the unhappy brother?" Nero mocked.
Odin was silent for a moment at her words before continuing, "No matter how great Thor's power is, his simple-mindedness will always allow Loki to lead him by the nose."
"But if the positions of the two brothers were swapped... what would happen? An unrestrained God of Mischief would only lead Asgard to its demise faster."
"So, the brainless brother is emperor, and the unhappy brother is unhappy?" Nero squinted at Odin. "That sounds even more melodramatic than a soap opera."
"If there were any other way..." Odin gestured with his hand, and a scene appeared of Thor and Jane living together intimately.
"To protect happiness requires strength." Sighing, Odin shook his head helplessly. He played at too high a level; no matter how much he tried to diminish himself, there would always be old-timers who remembered his glory.
Asgard is now considered a backwater to outsiders, yet there are still those who fear his renown.
Only the true bumpkins of The Nine Realms, Laufey, Surtur, and Malekith, still think about rebelling against him.
He was too sharp in the past; now, to hide his edge, he can only rely on these simpletons.
Odin sighed again today, for who knew how many times...
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