amaotonovel Chapter 4039 MU Superbody Major Event (119)
Chapter 4039 MU Superbody Major Event (119)
Chapter 4039 MU: The Superbody Incident (119)
A few minutes earlier, Constantine and Schiller followed the short man into a magnificent office and met the legendary Grandmaster. The man was dressed in a long golden robe, tall and slender, and looked extremely imposing, but his slightly narrow eyebrows and eyes added a touch of sinister malice to his appearance.
“So it’s Agent Rodriguez. I’ve heard so much about you.” The Grandmaster stepped forward, shook hands with Schiller, and then said, “Give my regards to the Chief Executive. How is he doing?”
“Thanks to you, it’s not bad.” Schiller nodded to him and said, “Lord Thanos specifically sent me here to remind you: there have been many wars in the universe recently, and it’s not peaceful at all. Elders of the universe, please don’t get involved in anything you shouldn’t, as that would not benefit anyone.”
The Celestial Venerable smiled and said, "I'm afraid that even if we don't want to participate, someone will insist on dragging us into this mess. Am I just going to sit idly by and watch my brothers and sisters suffer?"
"If you are referring to the collector, I have already gone to him and sent him to the Interstellar Security Committee. Lord Thanos will surely investigate the heist of the collection thoroughly, so you need not trouble yourself."
The Grandmaster sat in his swivel chair, turned around once, sighed, and said, "The recent attack on Asgard by the two great empires has greatly affected the casino's business. Some of their regular customers from their respective territories have stopped coming."
"Of course, Lord Thanos and the gentlemen of the Interstellar Council have always been very understanding. This year's taxes can be reduced by one-tenth."
Upon hearing that he could pay less, the Grandmaster raised an eyebrow. He leaned back and said politely, "The Interstellar Council entrusted me with managing such a large casino, which shows their trust in me. How could I possibly accept that?"
Schiller paused for a moment, then continued, “Although we can pay less this year, this can’t go on forever. As you know, the Interstellar Alliance doesn’t have much money. The construction of the casino and the initial advertising costs have already taken a huge amount of money. If this continues to affect revenue, they might think it’s a failed project.”
"what do you mean……"
"By then, it certainly won't be that the wise and capable councilor made a wrong decision; it must be that the subordinates failed to execute it effectively. As the casino owner, you probably can't escape blame either, can you?"
The Celestial Venerable narrowed his eyes but did not answer.
"So my personal suggestion is that you take some action to boost the casino's revenue. That way, even if you are the one liquidated, you can say that you did your best, right?"
Grandmaster Gao Tianzun was silent for a moment, then said, "I wasn't originally a businessman; I just happen to enjoy gambling. I initially just wanted to build a small casino to play around with and satisfy my personal hobby. If Thanos hadn't brought in the investment from the Interstellar Alliance, I wouldn't have become the owner of an amusement park. You can't really blame me, can you?"
"Indeed, the Interstellar Alliance wouldn't dare to openly cause you trouble. But if the business is indeed not doing well, then I'm afraid the Supreme Amusement Park will have to close down."
The Grandmaster frowned deeply, slammed his fist on the table in frustration, and said, "Who knows what Asgard is up to! Those war-mongers never stop for a day!"
Schiller lowered his eyes and continued, "The key isn't Asgard. The galaxy is such a remote place, with hardly any decent civilizations. Even if the two great empires continue their siege, it won't affect our customer base much. I'm afraid another war is the real culprit behind the widespread panic."
The Grandmaster looked up at him and said, "You mean those superheroes? To be honest, I have no idea what they're fighting. That huge super planet, what's it called... Apokolips? Where the hell did it come from?! I've lived since the beginning of the universe and I've never seen anything so bizarre."
“Those are all visitors from another world,” Schiller said. “The master of Apokolips is a new god called Darkseid, who has an endless army of Parademons, more than the current forces of the Skrull Empire and the Kree Empire. This is going to be a long battle.”
The Celestial Master's eyes widened as he exclaimed, "More than the combined forces of the two great empires?! How is that possible?!"
"Nothing is impossible. Think about it, how many soldiers can such a big planet hold? Besides an endless army, there are also superheroes. It's definitely a tough nut to crack."
Grandmaster Gao sighed and said, "If they keep fighting like this, this casino will probably be deserted in no time. These guys are really annoying!"
"That's why I said, if we can't exert some influence to end the war quickly, even if the Interstellar Alliance doesn't hold us accountable, once this amusement park closes down, where will you go to have fun?"
The Grandmaster's brows remained furrowed. Seeing a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes, Schiller knew he had made the right bet.
The Elders of the Universe are indeed a very peculiar group of beings. They were born at the very beginning of the universe and are the survivors of the first civilizations in the cosmos. After finding each other, they addressed each other as brothers and sisters.
Because of a bet with death, they were granted endless lives. But life is too long and can get boring, so they decided to each find a hobby to pass the time.
Collectors' hobby is collecting, searching for all sorts of strange and unusual things in the universe to collect; while the High Priest's hobby is betting with people, he is a fanatical gambling enthusiast.
When the two princes of Asgard were stranded on Sakaar, the Red King, the original ruler of Sakaar, suffered a great misfortune, and the gladiatorial arena was closed, leaving the Grandmaster without any entertainment.
To continue seeking amusement, he simply opened a small casino on the spot, originally just for playing with his friends. But at that time, Thanos was eager to climb the ranks in the interstellar political arena, and money was definitely not an option. Coincidentally, his superior also needed to amass wealth, so he approached the Grandmaster, and the two hit it off immediately.
The Grandmaster was responsible for managing the casino using his extensive gambling knowledge, certain high-ranking officials of the Interstellar Alliance handled the investments, and Thanos acted as the intermediary. After joining the Interstellar Security Council, he also served as a protective umbrella, ensuring the casino's operations remained undisturbed.
In short, this casino was a result of the political and business revolving door. High-ranking officials took the money, Thanos gained status, and the Grandmaster satisfied his hobby—it was almost a win-win-win situation. Considering that only the gambler was injured, it also contributed to interstellar security, making it a win-win-four situation.
However, if we're talking about who values this casino the most, it has to be the Grandmaster. Thanos has already become the director of the Universal Federal Bureau of Investigation, and there are plenty of people eager to pay him protection money. So there are no superiors he needs to curry favor with anymore. This casino can only give him a sum of money; it can't do much else.
While those high-ranking officials need money, this isn't their only source of funds. On the contrary, if a place is poorly managed and they have to subsidize it, they'd be happy to shut it down.
Only the Grandmaster Gao Tianzun possessed a pure passion for gambling. This enormous gambling city perfectly satisfied his cravings, with gamblers challenging him daily in various ways—it was almost like the paradise of his dreams. If it were closed, he might never have the chance to open such a gambling city again.
It's important to understand that the massive advertising campaigns conducted both online and offline require the support of the Interstellar Alliance. While the Grandmaster is immortal and powerful, he is ultimately a single individual; even including his brothers and sisters, he would be lost in the vast ocean of civilizations. Only someone with substantial grassroots governance capabilities could attract so many customers to the casino; he couldn't succeed alone.
Moreover, gambling is something that gets increasingly addictive, with stakes rising higher and higher. Having already experienced the thrill of the interstellar gambling city, why would the Celestial Venerable possibly look down on a small casino within a small circle?
The thought of possibly spending his future alone and miserable, running a dilapidated casino, made Gao Tianzun's head spin. No! Absolutely not! The casino must not be closed!
He felt that Schiller's words made sense. Although those two great empires were inexplicably determined to attack Asgard, that part of the galaxy was a desolate wasteland with no decent customers.
On the contrary, there was a lot of traffic near the Andromeda Galaxy, the Centaurus Galaxy, the Cygnus Galaxy, and the Triangulum Galaxy. But those superheroes insisted on fighting in these places. Everyone in interstellar society knows how powerful humans are. As soon as they hear that humans are fighting there, they all avoid the area, and some simply don't go out at all.
The other two mechanical empires were alright, but the nobles of the Shi'ar Empire were frequent guests at the casinos. Unfortunately, these star systems lay between the casinos and the Shi'ar Empire, and the Grandmaster could clearly sense that the number of feathered warriors had decreased significantly recently.
Back then, those two Asgardian princes inexplicably went to Sakaar and blew up the arena, leaving the Grandmaster utterly speechless. Now, humanity is waging war in space, threatening to ruin their own gambling city, and you nine kingdoms are just picking on one person? Is there no justice? Is there no law?
The Grandmaster suddenly stood up, paced behind his desk with his hands behind his back, and said, "You're right, the war must end quickly. But you know how those humans are fighting, how dare I get involved? Even if I'm immortal, if those humans are determined to grind me to dust, I won't come out unscathed!"
"Even if that's not the case, you'd better not get involved yourself. The feud between those superheroes isn't that simple. Besides, no matter how they fight, it's an internal human matter. If you inexplicably run over to break it up, you'll probably be hated by both sides."
"Ignoring it won't work, and interfering won't work either, so what do you suggest we do?!" The Celestial Venerable waved his hand in frustration.
“Of course, he’d do something underhanded,” Schiller laughed. “What do you think Doctor Strange was after when the collector’s vault was robbed?”
The Grandmaster thought for a moment and said, "My brother usually likes to collect junk. Not many of his treasures are actually good. How would I know what Doctor Strange was looking for?"
He went to find the Infinity Stones.
"The Infinity Stones?" The Grandmaster frowned, momentarily stunned. After a long pause, he said, "What use are those worthless stones?"
"You can't use what you have either?"
“It used to work, but I rarely used it. I don’t know when it would break and become unusable.” The Celestial Master thought for a moment and continued, “Even when it was usable, it only served as a bonus. If you couldn’t beat an opponent, you still couldn’t beat them even with the gem, and if you could beat them, you wouldn’t use the gem. It was completely useless.”
"How did you obtain the gem in the first place?"
"Uh, it's a secret, I can't tell you." The Grandmaster said, waving his hand. "It involves some higher-level mysterious beings, and I promised not to tell anyone."
"Have you ever wondered why, when those mysterious beings entrusted the gems to the Elders of the Universe, they didn't give them all to one person, but instead let each of you take one?"
"This..." The Grandmaster took two quick steps and then said, "Actually, I only know the general idea. This thing is part of the origin of the universe, and putting them together seems like it would cause some kind of trouble... Good heavens, no one would want to put them together, would they?!"
“That’s right. As far as I know, the Infinity Stones, once collected, will possess immense power, enough to turn the tide of battle.”
"My God! Humanity is even willing to use cosmic weapons to deal with their own kind. What grudge could they possibly have?!"
Schiller knew, of course, that the slain would return to the Arena, but he didn't intend to tell the Grandmaster. He simply said, "Humans wouldn't be human if they weren't insane. In any case, if we want to end this war quickly, we'll have to use the Infinity Stones."