2.5 billion Truth Gold Coins!
As those lovely, alluring coins, radiating infinite charm, touched Mike, they instantly lost their golden luster, transforming into dull copper. And the Broke status had a peculiar magic. Mike didn’t need to touch every single coin; a single touch transformed the entire mountain.
Mike didn’t quite remember how he walked out of that mountain of copper. Like a lost soul, a walking corpse, he numbly left the private space.
Watching his retreating figure, Master Fool felt a strange, unsettling pang.
*Did I… take it too far?* she wondered.
Vladimir, glancing at Fool, sneered internally. *Such a fool.*
Feeling sorry for Thor? How naive… He beckoned Bilbo over to collect the copper coins. “Count them carefully! Not a single coin can be missing!”
Bilbo, ever the efficient goblin, quickly finished the inventory. “That’s odd…” he muttered, staring at the ledger, lost in thought. One copper coin was missing.
Vladimir peered over, instantly spotting the discrepancy. He pulled a copper coin from his pocket, placing it before Bilbo. “This one was stuck in a crevice. Lucky I have sharp eyes. Don’t forget to include it in the ledger!”
Bilbo nodded profusely, promising not to forget, and Vladimir hummed a cheerful tune as he left.
…
Back in the Core City of Truth, Mike sprang back to life! He opened his fist, revealing a single, gleaming gold coin nestled in his palm! A thin film, made of a special material that blocked the Broke effect, coated the coin.
This was a little item Mike had commissioned from the Mystic Market, never expecting it to come in handy so soon. While walking through the mountain of coins, Mike, with swift hands and while Master Fool wasn’t looking, had snatched a single coin with the material and palmed it.
“Yes!” Ignoring the loss of 2,499,999,999 gold coins, Mike had scored one free gold coin! This single coin carried the dreams of 2.5 billion!
Thinking of it this way made Mike feel much better!
Due to the lengthy negotiations with Poseidon, he’d wasted too much time. There wasn’t enough left to reclaim the 35th floor.
The 35th, 36th, and 37th floors were connected; reclaiming them would take considerable effort. Mike’s tower climb was over for the day.
The Wolf’s Den didn’t offer free meals, and Maxen was off doing who-knows-what. Mike decided to leave the Core City of Truth and take a stroll in the Forest of Truth to clear his head.
However, the moment he appeared outside the forest, a white cloud materialized before him.
[Your friend Apollo is connecting…]
Boarding the cloud, Mike was whisked away to the 99th floor.
“Good evening,” Mike greeted casually.
Apollo’s voice, familiar and ethereal, echoed from within the tower. “It’s almost morning,” he corrected meticulously.
“Good morning,” Mike repeated.
“Good.”
After the exchange of pleasantries, an awkward silence hung in the air. Mainly because Mike hadn’t figured out what to say to Apollo.
During his tower climb, Poseidon, in an attempt to curry favor, had revealed several secrets. For example, the Supreme Demon God’s manipulative words.
The words themselves weren’t particularly effective at sowing discord. But Mike didn’t know how to broach the subject. Should he assure Apollo that he would absolutely not kill the next potential Supreme Being?
That seemed a bit too suspicious. Besides, Mike didn’t feel the need to make such a promise. To his surprise, before he could speak, Apollo spoke first.
“Considered it.”
Mike was confused.
Sensing Mike’s confusion, Apollo elaborated, “I considered killing you.”
Subject, verb, object, all present and accounted for. The meaning was crystal clear.
Apollo continued, “About a hundred years ago. But I abandoned the idea.”
Before Mike could relax, he asked, “You knew I was the next Supreme Being a hundred years ago?”
Apollo shook his head. “No.”
Mike understood. Apollo meant that a hundred years ago, as the potential Supreme Being, he had considered killing the *next* potential Supreme Being. That way, Apollo could continue living, pondering his questions, and the Supreme Demon God would remain peacefully buried beneath the Tower of Truth.
Knowing Apollo, such a thought wasn’t unusual for him a century ago. And for Apollo, having considered it was having considered it. There was no point denying it. He felt no shame, guilt, or embarrassment… Such emotions never bothered Apollo.
Relieved, Mike let out a long breath. “Then… why did you change your mind?”
Even Apollo paused for a moment before answering. “I owe Ares a life.”
What Mike didn’t know was that Professor Gregory and Apollo had once had a conversation about Thor. Professor Gregory’s question had actually been on behalf of the entire human
leadership.
He’d asked Apollo, “What do you think of Thor?” It was a veiled question. The human leadership needed to know whether Apollo would kill Thor in response to the Supreme Demon God’s scheme.
Apollo had replied, “How Ares views Apollo is how Apollo views Thor.”
Back then, Ares had single-handedly fought the Supreme Demon God, essentially saving Apollo’s life. Therefore, Apollo felt he owed Ares a life, a debt he would repay to Thor.
That was fair. That was why Apollo had changed his mind, leading to this conversation. Reassured by his answer, the human leadership had wholeheartedly focused on nurturing Thor.
Mike didn’t know these details. But he understood the implication of Apollo’s words.
“Um… third bro… I… how do I put this…” Mike mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper. He felt he needed to summon some courage before revealing his secret. He swallowed, steeling himself. “I have a secret…”
Just as he was about to confess, Apollo interrupted. “Everyone has secrets.” It was no big deal.
That was true, but… Mike wanted to say his secret was different!
Seemingly anticipating Mike’s words, Apollo cut him off again. “It doesn’t matter,” Apollo said calmly. “The world is vast enough to accommodate you.”
After Apollo spoke, Mike fell silent.
The world was vast. There was Earth, the abyss, the dazzling starry sea, the Heavenly Realm… Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it.
There was nothing to fear!
Having resolved his deepest anxieties, Mike suddenly realized there was nothing left to discuss. Apollo didn’t try to keep him. The white cloud descended, carrying Mike back to the
Forest of Truth.
Mike glanced at the time. It wasn’t even 5:30 AM. Not enough time to go back and catch up on sleep. He decided to return to the Core City of Truth and wait for a fated encounter at the
Wolf’s Den.
…
Half an hour later, a burly man carrying a flail skulked outside the Wolf’s Den, peering inside
to see if Thor was there.
“Whatcha doin’?” a familiar voice boomed from behind. Mike slapped Maxen’s golden shoulder armor, instantly turning it into dull brass. As if oblivious, Mike invited Maxen in for
a drink.
“No, no, I have other tasks today,” Maxen demurred, trying to decline the invitation. But he couldn’t resist Mike’s insistent, “I have something to discuss with you. Big things. A win-win
deal!”
Hearing the words “win-win” from Thor, Maxen’s heart skipped a beat. Thor’s understanding of “win-win” was vastly different from everyone else’s. Upon entering, Mike bellowed, “Two bottles of your finest, most expensive wine!”
Nyx Valoria, behind the bar, said sternly, “The Wolf’s Den just got a new shipment of fine
wine. Very expensive!”
*Expensive?!* Maxen shuddered, lowering his voice to warn Thor, “I’m drowning in debt! I
can’t afford wine!”
The Supreme Son, whose income was 99.9% irrelevant to him, couldn’t even afford a drink. How had he fallen so far?
Mike patted Maxen’s brass shoulder armor reassuringly. “Don’t worry, after this deal, you’ll be *happy to pay for these two bottles.”
“And… what if I’m not?” Maxen hesitated. He didn’t quite believe Thor could make him
willingly pay for the drinks. But seeing Thor’s confidence, Maxen made a bold decision: he would challenge his own weakness!
“Fine!” Maxen gritted his teeth. “I’d like to see how you make me *willingly* pay for this!”
Maxen knew his financial situation better than anyone. He used to be generous, spending lavishly wherever he went. As one of the human race’s top fighters, Maxen never worried about money. Even after handing over 99%, the remaining 1% was more than Joseph had.
At least, that was the case before he met Thor. Besides, even if he *wanted* to pay, he had to have the means! It was laughable. He was broke. Could Thor possibly be offering him money?
Just as Maxen thought this, Thor’s next words nearly made him choke.
“I have some money to share with you…” *Pfft!* Maxen sprayed a mouthful of water, instantly killing the guy next to him. “Which turtle egg dares to ambush me?!” the resurrected hothead roared, grabbing a chair, ready to seek retribution. When he saw the culprit, his anger deflated slightly. Maxen?! The hothead decided to be reasonable. A masked Lone Wolf sitting next to Maxen intervened, “Brother, give me some face. Maxen will compensate you 10 Lord merits. How about it?” *Huh?* The hothead stared at Maxen, wanting to say, “Brother, please kill me again!”
Getting killed once, inside the Core City of Truth, with no penalties, and earning 10 Lord merits? What a deal!
After the man left with his 10 Lord merits, a crowd gathered, staring expectantly at Maxen. “Stone, don’t you want to kill a few more?”
“Stone, kill me! I’ll give you a 2-point kickback!”
“I’ll give you 8!”
“9.9! Final offer!”
“…’
The scene descended into chaos.
“Get lost! Go about your business!” Maxen shooed them away, ending the commotion.
“Continuing, where were we?” Maxen looked at Thor, still slightly dazed. Thor was offering him money? Unbelievable!
“So…” Mike recounted his extortion of Poseidon, embellishing the story slightly.
Maxen listened, drawing sharp breaths.
He’d guessed Poseidon had suffered, but not *this* much! However, after hearing Poseidon’s
woes, Maxen was still confused.
*Where’s the deal? The win-win? The money for me?* He didn’t dare ask Thor directly, only mumbling internally.
“Are you dense?” Mike rolled his eyes. “I collected a little something in exchange for our
protection of Poseidon’s bid for the eighth demon god position. Naturally, we split it.” Maxen frowned suspiciously. “Are you sure you’re the real Thor?”
Mike retorted coldly, “Have you ever seen anyone spend 2.5 million Lord merits to impersonate Thor?”
That was a good point… Thor had scammed 5 million Lord merits from Poseidon in their name. And he was suggesting a 50/50 split?! Maxen suddenly found Thor incredibly endearing.
“Professor Gregory was right!” Maxen almost wept. Professor Gregory had theorized that
once Thor’s power grew to a point where he felt secure, his pathological greed would subside.
“However…” Mike continued, “there’s a small condition attached to your 2,499,990 Lord
merits.”
Maxen was puzzled. “Why is it 10 Lord merits short?”
“I just compensated that guy 10 Lord merits for you!” Mike said matter-of-factly.
“What condition?” Maxen asked warily.
“According to the agreement with Poseidon, we need to go to the Eighth Abyss and help him
become the eighth demon god. That’s our job, right?”
Maxen nodded. That was fair.
“As for the rest…” Mike said casually, “your Second Godfather comprehended a rather
unlucky move yesterday. Don’t learn it.”