Chapter 174 : Messenger

New York.

Odin, dressed in a vest and shorts, covered his nose and asked Bert in dissatisfaction: "Blood God, are you sure you're not kidding me? How could Little Hela possibly enjoy such a stinky food?"

"What do you know? Stinky tofu may smell bad but it tastes great."

Bert picked up a piece of stinky tofu with a toothpick and ate it. He added, "Why don't you consider changing your career? I won't force you."

"Does Little Hela really like to eat this?" Odin asked, gritting his teeth.

"Forget it," Odin said, "I'll sell stinky tofu on Earth in the future."

Frigga stood a few meters away, feeling uneasy about the future. She said, "I think we should focus on space tourism instead."

"Let's wait for a bit, Thor has just taken over. We need to keep an eye on him for a while," Odin replied.

"Besides, it'll be me selling the stinky tofu, not you," Odin added.

Frigga thought for a moment and suggested, "Why don't we open a flower shop next to it, for balance?"

"A flower shop and a stinky tofu stand, the perfect match," Bert whispered.

"God King, you can't reveal your identity, you are our trump card now," Bert whispered."

"Is that what you're worried about?" Odin asked. "I'm just waiting for the chance to give Thanos a piece of my mind."

Odin then turned to Bert and asked, "By the way, when will Little Hela be arriving? Do you think she'll hate me for doing this?"

Looking at Odin's unease, Bert couldn't help but shake his head. In this moment, Odin was just a father trying to make amends with his daughter.

"She should be here soon. This is the usual route they take after classes," Bert replied.

Just as Bert finished speaking, the figures of Mindy, Little Hela, and Lina appeared in the distance.

"Odin, time to go," Bert whispered before disappearing in an instant.

Odin took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, but his fidgety hands betrayed his nerves. Frigg covered her mouth, trying to stifle a laugh. She found Odin like this endearing, unlike the distant god-king he used to be.

"What is that smell? It's terrible," Mindy exclaimed, covering her nose in disgust. But Little Hela and Lina's eyes brightened as they recognized the smell of stinky tofu. They immediately followed their noses and ran towards the source, with Mindy following behind them reluctantly. Soon, they arrived at Odin's small shop. Little Hela was about to speak, but she was taken aback when she saw Odin.

Odin, pretending to be a stinky tofu vendor, became increasingly nervous as his daughter Little Hela and her friends approached his stand.

"Children, would you like some stinky tofu?" Odin asked, trying to sound friendly.

Little Hela scowled and said, "I don't know why, but I find your presence really annoying."

Odin realized that his disguise as a vendor might have caused the problem and he said with a smile, "Maybe it's because I look like Odin from the game 'Superhero'. Have you been killed by Odin in that game?"

"Yeah, I died to him every day. I couldn't even defeat him with Thor's Hammer. He's so frustrating," Little Hela complained.

Mindy, one of Little Hela's friends, examined Odin closely and said, "Wow, you really look like Odin from the game. You're almost like a cosplay of him. But you have a bigger belly and don't have the majesty of Odin in the game."

While taking pictures of Odin, Mindy suggested, "You should go to a cosplay event as Odin, everyone would love it."

Little Hela said, "I can't wait until Odin is defeated in the game. That old guy is too hateful. No matter how many times we kill him, he just keeps coming back."

Odin chuckled and said, "And he's so sloppy, he goes berserk when his health gets low."

Frigga, Odin's wife, wanted to roll her eyes at his self-deprecating jokes.

"But if you beat him, he'll suddenly recover all his health and transform into his god-king form," Little Hela added, excitedly.

As the group continued to talk about the game, Little Hela seemed to have forgotten her initial disgust towards Odin, and said proudly: "You must not know this, only my team has fought Odin's god-king form in the entire server."

"Only your team? Are you 'Death is the Truth'?"

"How do you know?"

"I'm 'Blood God is a bastard'."

"Ah, it's you, you're actually an old grandpa?"

"I didn't expect you to be a child, wait, this game seems to have an age limit, right?"

Odin, Mindy, and Little Hela revealed their in-game identities and found out that they are from rival teams.

...

As they continued to talk about the game, Little Hela's attitude towards Odin began to change. She no longer saw him as the stinky tofu vendor that had annoyed her earlier, but as an online friend who shared her passion for the game "Superhero." The group laughed and chatted happily together, and Little Hela couldn't help but feel excited about the new friendship she had formed.

Frigga observed the change in her daughter and was amazed. She had never seen Little Hela so happy and carefree.

'Odin, you've made a mistake,' Frigga thought to herself. 'In your quest for dominance in the Nine Realms, you've turned our daughter into a ruthless killing machine. You've changed her so much that she's no longer the innocent and cheerful girl she used to be.'

As she watched Little Hela interacting with her new friends, Frigga knew that she had come to Earth at the right time. She would do whatever it takes to help her daughter find balance and happiness in both her virtual and real life.

...

It's going well, the children are so easy to handle.

Bert shook his head as he walked into the office, where Ivan and Dr. Reed were waiting for him early in the morning.

Ivan said, "The spoils of the dark elves and the Chitauri have been distributed, the majority belongs to us and the remaining portion has been divided among the countries."

"That's good," Bert nodded with satisfaction. He then said to Ivan, "I want you to put extra effort into researching the concept of black hole grenades and stealth technology, both are important."

Ivan nodded, "No problem, I'm also very interested in researching black hole grenades."

Bert turned to Dr. Reed and asked, "Dr. Reed, is the Bifrost Bridge project running smoothly?"

Dr. Reed replied with a smile, "It's running very smoothly, the Bifrost Bridge project can be considered a success and we can now teleport within the solar system."

"That's great, but our goal is to reach the Milky Way," Bert said.

He then added, "Dr. Reed, you need to continue your research. Additionally, it's important for you to break away from relying on me, similar to how the Bifrost Bridge in Asgard operates."

"Understood," Dr. Reed nodded, "I will continue to research the Bifrost Bridge, I am very interested in it."

Bert thought of something, sat down, and said with a smile, "By the way, let me tell you a story by the way."

Dr. Reed asked very puzzled: "What story?"

Bert sat down and began to tell a story, "Let me tell you about a businessman I once knew. He started from scratch and built a successful company that generated billions in revenue. But despite his business acumen, he made a fateful mistake. He trusted a former college classmate with a critical experiment and as a result, not only did he lose his business but also suffered a personal tragedy

Bert looked at Dr. Reed and said with a smile: "The overbearing businessman was very disappointed. He went to the mountains to learn Taoism, no, learn magic. In the process, his college classmate took his fiancee away.

Now, the businessman has returned from his studies and is going to have a good chat with this college classmate. "

Ivan scowled disdainfully and asked, "Are there really people like that?"

Dr. Reed was sweating profusely and said, "Is Doom coming back?"

Bert replied, "Yes, he's graduated and plans on speaking with you in person."

Ivan looked at Dr. Reed in shock, "Are you one of those scumbags?"

Dr. Reed swallowed hard and asked, "Is Doom strong now?"

Bert replied, "Let's just say, he killed a projection of the Hell Lord."

Dr. Reed was on the verge of tears. He pleaded, "Bert, please help me. Susan and I are truly in love."

Ivan sneered, "That's what people who sneak around say."

Bert gave Ivan a half-smile and said, "I haven't been successful in sneaking around, so it doesn't count."

Ivan retorted, "Aren't you ashamed to mock others?"

Bert scolded, "Dr. Reed, you're my friend, and Doom is also my friend. All I can do is help each other. I wish you the best of luck."

"By the way," Bert added, "Are you willing to donate your brain after death? It would be invaluable to humanity."

"I do, huh? I don't want to die, why should I?" Dr. Reed said through gritted teeth. "I feel a little bad for Doom, but I'm not going to wait around to die. Bert, don't talk, I'm going to go back and call for help."

Dr. Reed then left quickly. Ivan asked, "Are you afraid that Doom will actually kill Reed? Reed is very important and can't die."

Bert smiled and said, "Don't worry, Doom would never hurt Susan's hair and Susan will do everything she can to protect Reed."

"Let them fight and we'll just watch the show. The Fantastic Four versus Doctor Doom."

"I see," Ivan understood. "Bert, I'm going back to study. My dad gave me a lot of technology and I want to master it all. Hey, what's so great about Tony Stark? He's just a daddy's boy. My dad is much more powerful than his 'father'."

"You two continue to love each other and fight, I won't get involved."

Bert shrugged, Ivan flipped his middle finger and left.

With the small matters dealt with, Bert began to assess his gains from the situation and overall, it was quite substantial.

The technology of the dark elves, the technology of the Chitauris, more than ten magic crystals, half a Reality Stone, and an undercover agent placed beside Thanos - with the ability to recall the Reality Stone at any time, it's as good as having one of his own.

Along with the above, there are three major gains from this endeavor: Eternal Fire (half), Surtur's Crown, and God's Spear.

The power that Eternal Fire and Surtur's Crown can grant when used together is god-like.

As for God's Spear, Bert is confident that it will submit to him and become a powerful conceptual weapon, one that even the Ancient One would be surprised by.

'There's a lot of good stuff, but also a lot of loose ends. I need to find a way to control it all,' Bert thought to himself when his secretary interrupted with a call: "Mr. Wang, there's an old cowboy named Carter Slade looking for you."

"That old guy isn't dead yet?" Bert exclaimed in surprise and immediately had someone bring Slade in. Slade, the old Phantom Rider, laughed and said, "Are you happy to see that I'm not dead?"

Bert laughed in response, "I'm very happy. Speaking of which, why did you come to me? Did you run out of money?"

"It's long gone," Slade said with a sullen expression. "I thought I was going to die soon, so I spent all my money recklessly. One night, I even gave a million dollars to a stripper. But the money is spent and I'm still alive. For the past two years, I've been earning money by helping people raise horses."

"That's a real loser move," Bert laughed. "So, the question is, why have you lived so long? Is it because of an angel or a devil?"

"It's that old lady Gabriel," Slade said as he sat down across from Bert. "I never understood why she let me live, but now I know. She needs me to be her messenger.

Blood God, Gabriel sent me the next message, I don't agree with it, but I can't help it. I need to survive by her holy power."

Bert asked, "What message did Gabriel send you to deliver?"

"Gabriel asked me to give you a message," Slade said. "As long as you're willing to hand over the God's Spear, and surrender to Heaven. When Heaven comes, they will transform you and some vampires into noble angels and make you one of their own.

If you don't agree, when Heaven comes to Earth, all vampires will be purified."

"Nothing new," Bert said, tossing a cigar to Slade. "Tell Gabriel that if she's willing to kneel down and accept me as her lord, I may spare her when I conquer Heaven."

Slade was stunned, "Bert, are you joking or are you serious? Are you planning to attack Heaven?"

"It's not that I'm planning to attack Heaven, but Heaven will definitely attack Earth. When that happens, I'll have no choice but to fight back," Bert said. "Slade, Heaven is not holy. For their own purposes, they even colluded with the fallen angel, Lucifer."

"These gods and demons are all the same," Slade said with a snort. "I can't control these things. I'm just going to enjoy my day. Thank you for the cigar. I'll go back to my life."

Bert silently dropped a drop of blood into Slade's body and then handed him a check. "Enjoy your last days," he said.

Slade took the check and looked at it in amazement, "Five million? Bert, you can't just throw your money around like this, can you? I'll just deliver the message."

"Kamar-Taj is about to start cleaning up humans with holy power," Bert said. "Kamar-Taj's operations have always involved slaughtering everyone, leaving no one alive."

Slade was silent for a moment, put the check away, and said, "Let them come. Bert, thank you for the check. I'm going to go back and buy that horse farm and then let the bastard owner feed me the horses."

"Okay, if you need anything, call me anytime," Bert said. Slade nodded, turned, and left freely.

"Such a good piece, whether it's an angel or a devil, will never give up," Bert thought to himself, the story of Slade, the old cowboy, wasn't over yet.

After thinking for a moment, Bert called in Lilith and asked, "How many people in the Church can we control?" Bert donated a lot of money to the Church every year. It wasn't because he had too much money, but to buy off the pastors of the church.

"On the American side, we can control about 50% of the high-level clergy, and there are relatively few in other countries," Lilith replied. "However, there is a lot of grass among them. If the angels really come, 80% of them will abandon the darkness and turn to the light."

"We are the light," Bert snorted. "Using all our power to push our people into high positions, and then let them provide information to eliminate the devout believers and saints in the church.

I want to cleanse the entire Church in a short period of time, and no devout believers of the Angels can hold high positions."

"With our strength, it's not difficult to do these things, but doing so will cause too much movement and may cause human anxiety," Lilith said. "After all, we are vampires, they are angels."

Bert replied, "Tell the major countries that angels are not good things. They are no different from Hell Lords, and they also want to destroy the earth."

This is a very risky move especially to the normal human population, by creating fear and possibly panic. Also, a lot of people would not believe it, this is not to mention the different governments and media might play a role in creating confusion and mistrust.