The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4628 Prelude (Part 2)

Chapter 4628 Prelude (Part 2)

“…I took the souls of some Soviet soldiers to hell.” Lucifer tilted his head slightly and said in a low voice, “I swear I didn’t torture them. I just…I just wanted Anatoly…”

Greed stared at him blankly, then shoved him against the wall and said without turning his head, "You're hopeless, get out of here."

"Wait!" Lucifer quickly grabbed him. "You know me, back then he kept saying the Soviet Union was going to collapse, so I..."

Greed turned to look at him and said, "Do you know how those soldiers died? Leningrad? Kursk? Stalingrad?"

"Of course, but I didn't understand at that time. You have to understand, I am the son of God, but I don't even believe in God. Do you expect me to understand human faith?"

Greed was speechless for a moment, because he realized that it seemed to be true. The reason why Lucifer's pride is the most serious of the original sins is because this pride refers to "unbelief in God".

He was God's own son, and the first light He created. Aside from wanting to control his destiny, God treated him exceptionally well. Even so, he didn't believe in God, so it's unrealistic to expect him to understand what others believe in.

"So you understood it later?"

“I didn’t intend to understand it at first,” Lucifer said, touching his face. “But those Soviets were too good at fighting.”

Greed couldn't help but laugh out loud, because he suddenly realized that Lucifer wouldn't just capture the souls of one or two soldiers; he would capture entire units at once. And Anatoly, being an officer, was already furious about the collapse of the Soviet Union, and was probably even more annoyed by Lucifer. What happened next is pretty much predictable.

This is not impossible. Because in a place like Hell, faith can empower people. Everyone exists within the mystical realm, so naturally, whoever is more steadfast will be more powerful. This is also why Bruce was able to cause such a commotion in Hell back then.

In other words, the hellish battle of the tower defense was essentially a hellish version of World War II. Anatoly had already led Soviet soldiers in World War I. No wonder mobilizing the masses was so easy.

However, the situation eventually spiraled out of control, forcing Lucifer to resort to a divine intervention to clear Hell. It was through this battle that he realized the things Anatoly constantly talked about were not merely the weak fantasies of humanity, as he had imagined. There was a group of people who had put them into practice and changed the world.

"And I apologized to him later," Lucifer emphasized. "Not only did I send those people back to Earth, but I also gave them bodies. Otherwise, where do you think the Eleventh Bureau came from?"

Greed said with some surprise, "So those soldiers are..."

Lucifer nodded and said, "Not everyone can do mysticism. These people have been to Hell, and their bodies were created by me, so they naturally have a talent for mysticism. Moreover, as long as I exist, they are immortal."

Greed was obvious. He said that practicing mysticism in the Soviet Union wasn't so easy. It was a place that valued empirical evidence and data, and the KGB was especially ruthless; without real skills, how could one possibly gain a foothold?

“But you’re still in the wrong,” Greed said. “Because he beat you into submission, instead of you realizing your mistake and apologizing. Logically speaking, he shouldn’t talk to you anymore.”

“Indeed, we were in a cold war during that time,” Lucifer sighed. “But later he discovered that my fate was actually ordained by God. He was very dissatisfied with this. He encouraged me to bravely rebel.”

Greed has nothing more to say. In some ways, Anatoly is a bit like Batman. Even if he doesn't like you as a person, if you are treated unfairly, he will still help you, stand with you, and fight against injustice.

So even though he may have hated Lucifer at that time, when he learned of God's predetermined fate for Lucifer, he still chose to stand with Lucifer.

"Then you're even more in the wrong." Greed glared at Lucifer. "You two are still having a cold war, and he's taking your side..."

“That’s why I didn’t stop him when he went to bomb Gotham,” Lucifer said listlessly. “Did you think I couldn’t stop him?”

Greed sighed; he knew. It seemed that Lucifer ultimately couldn't stop it, but in reality, it was because he didn't want to. Otherwise, even if God were summoned, Anatoli would be helpless.

“If he cheated on you once, you two are barely even,” Greed said. “Don’t hold it against him.”

“I didn’t hold it against him!” Lucifer raised his voice. “He was the one who insisted on bringing up Constantine, and in the end, he went to Reed to drown his sorrows in alcohol.”

"I don't know why, but it seems like he's deliberately trying to annoy you."

“Of course I saw it, I just don’t understand why.” Lucifer spun around in frustration. “He came back without telling me, and now I have to coax him. If he’s angry about something from the past, he should just say it. Why bring up Constantine like that?”

Greed thought about it for a moment, since there was no point in trying to figure out what was going on between the two of them anyway. He said directly, "Anatole must have his reasons for doing this, it's definitely not just to hurt you. I want to figure out what he's trying to do."

Lucifer stopped too. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, then said, "Actually, I find it strange too. You've known him for a long time, and you know he's not the kind of person who holds grudges. Broken glass, bullet casings—come on, why would he bring up something like that?"

“That’s why I said his abnormal behavior proves he has some big plan.” Greed leaned closer to Lucifer and said, “You don’t know, I probably inherited it from him. If you don’t keep a close eye on him, it’ll be troublesome if he blows up somewhere and runs away one day.”

Lucifer agreed wholeheartedly, saying, "Don't worry, this trick won't work on me. I'll keep a close eye on him."

Greed breathed a sigh of relief. The most important thing now was to get Lucifer to change his mind. The more Anatoly tried to drive him away, the less likely he was to run. Otherwise, Anatoly would definitely cause a major upheaval.

However, Greed considered himself relatively fair. He said, "I'm not telling you to keep putting up with it. If he wants to bring up the past, you can do that too. You went to drink with Constantine because you were heartbroken, weren't you?"

"I'm not sad, I..."

He stared at him greedily. Lucifer blinked, as if realizing something, and nodded, saying, "That's right. It's all his fault for self-destructing; otherwise, why would I be so heartbroken as to drown my sorrows in alcohol?"

“That’s right. If you keep repeating it, Anatoly himself might not be able to handle it. You know he never likes to hurt his friends.”

Lucifer nodded, seemingly having mustered his courage. He walked over and called out, and Anatoly, who was engrossed in a lively discussion with Bruce, turned to look at him.

But the moment Lucifer saw those blue eyes, he completely deflated and began to explain again: "The Constantine I was drinking with isn't one of those scoundrels..."

Greed and Bruce slapped themselves on the head simultaneously. Lucifer Morningstar was truly beyond saving.

Not wanting to get involved in their complicated love triangle, they left the room and found another empty office, intending to study Papetua properly. But then, Reed came in.

"How was it? Did my comforting words work?" Reed said with a grin. "They should be back together by now, right?"

Greed resisted the urge to punch him, and said, "How could you tell Lucifer that you and Anatoli..."

Reed paused for a moment, then said, "What happened between him and me? When he asked me to drink, he mentioned Lucifer, which proves he was sad, doesn't it? I deduced it using the method you taught me, so it's impossible for me to be wrong."

“His understanding seems to be quite correct,” Bruce said quietly, looking at Greed.

Greed certainly understood. If that were the case, there wouldn't be a problem, but the problem was that the person who said it was Reed, and his way of expressing it probably sounded more like boasting than comforting.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore." Greed couldn't stand these family dramas either, he said, "I still need to study Papeto."

"The goddess of creation?" Reed raised an eyebrow. "You've already encountered her?"

"No, how do you know about the Goddess of Creation?" Bruce couldn't help but ask.

“Look what this is!” Reed suddenly pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small, multifaceted pendant with a black frame and translucent blue glass. Bruce looked at it but didn’t recognize it. Greed, however, froze completely.

"Wan Tianyi?!?" Greed practically roared, "Where did you get this?!?"

“I know you’re in a hurry, but don’t rush,” Reed said calmly. “There’s no multiverse here; it’s empty.”

"But...but..."

"I remember telling you this. I was already able to observe the whole process when you first arrived here, and naturally I also studied where you came from. My research on the neighboring universe is much more in-depth than you imagine. Otherwise, why would I have started researching the Battle Realm?"

Greed immediately thought of the large hole in the office wall that had clearly just been patched up. "So your method is to drill a hole?"

"Of course not, it was an experimental accident," Reed shook his head and said. "I can't tell you the specifics of the experiment, but this won't happen again. Let's talk about the Goddess of Creation. What are your plans to deal with her?"

Greed and Bruce exchanged glances. The plans that had been swirling in their minds just now now seemed a bit too conservative. After all, Reed had already asked this question; they couldn't afford to lose face.

“Actually, I have an idea,” Reed said, “but we need to have a deeper understanding of the creator goddess. Where did she come from, what kind of being is she, and what kind of person was she?”

Greed narrowed his eyes slightly: "This is unlike you. I thought you would be more inclined to regard these mysterious entities as neutral resources of the universe."

“I can tell you very clearly, the Goddess of Creation is different,” Reed said. “I don’t care what you know about her beyond the facts, it may not be the whole truth. You’d better be careful.”

Bruce fell into deep thought. He said, "Actually, I originally just wanted to trick her into giving me some power first, and then see what happens. Now that you say it, I might need to talk to her more. Luckily, I made a good impression on her."

"How did you do that?" Reed asked.

“She just loves my mom very much,” Bruce said. “In that sense, she is indeed different from those mysterious beings. She seems to understand maternal love.”

“Alright, I don’t think that’s the problem we need to solve right now.” Greed sighed, glanced at the office next door, and said, “We need to give them a chance to communicate—not in a physical way.”

"This is too difficult. You know Lucifer..."

"What's the difficulty?" Reed said. "According to my research, the Battle Realm is very robust. As long as they stay in the Battle Realm, they won't fight. If we could also put them in a dungeon with limited abilities, they wouldn't be able to do anything except communicate."

"Genius!" Greed exclaimed. "I'll go and fool them right now."

　Next up is a multi-player escape room game.

　　(End of this chapter)