Odin, sitting in his seat, began to think seriously in his mind whether he had ever offended Luke.
Mephisto's expression suddenly froze, and then the two soul fires in his eye sockets ignited.
"Tell me more!" Mephisto straightened his posture. He thought Luke's suggestion was a good one, highly feasible. However, his somewhat stagnant mind could only sense some of the key points, but couldn't quite grasp the key. This feeling of being on the verge of success made him a little restless. He felt that Luke must have a follow-up, and he wanted to hear what it was.
"How's the banking business going?" Luke didn't elaborate, but instead asked an irrelevant question. This question immediately caught the attention of Odin and Ancient One.
Whether the Hell Dimension survives or not has nothing to do with them, and it's not their turn to worry about it. But the Energy Bank is closely related to them and the forces behind them.
Mephisto, stared at closely by three men, gave an uncomfortably soft smile. "Everything is going well. We've already secured quite a few promising individuals. They're all capable, hardworking, and daring. We've already signed supply and demand agreements with at least a dozen of them. We're still in talks with the rest, waiting for an opportunity to sign a contract. I believe that in a thousand or two thousand years, our bank will be officially on the path to formalization."
Mephisto straightened his posture more and more as he spoke. Regardless, at least when it came to the Energy Bank, he felt he had done his best. It had almost become his life's work, and the level of his concern and worry about it was currently second only to his foundational Hell dimension.
Being able to build such a framework from scratch in such a short time, even with the full support of Luke and others, Mephisto believed that his contribution still exceeded that of anyone present.
"Too slow." Luke poured a bucket of cold water on his head, which drew Mephisto's angry glare.
"That's quite a pace! Cultivating new gods, slaying old ones, and achieving the scale you once described requires time and opportunity, doesn't it?" Mephisto retorted. "One or two thousand years is already incredibly fast! You have to understand that many demon gods are well-hidden otakus who don't interact with the outside world. Just finding them takes a considerable amount of time and requires a certain amount of luck."
"So we should change the way we play. No, we should add another way to play based on this." Luke shrugged in his seat, not paying attention to Mephisto's complaints and rebuttals. He knew very well that what he said just now must have irritated the demon god.
"What's the game?" Mephisto was intrigued by Luke's words. He had a vague feeling that what Luke was about to say would provide an answer to a question he hadn't been able to figure out before. He needed a sense of clarity.
Odin and the Ancient One on the side were also listening to Luke and Mephisto's words with interest. After all, the Energy Bank was closely related to everyone's future interests. They also wanted to hear from Luke if he had any new ideas to promote the development of the Energy Bank.
Although the Nine Realms War wasn't completely over, if nothing unexpected happened, the outcome was settled, and Odin had plenty of time and energy to worry about other matters. As for what to do about Asgard and the Nine Realms? Don't we have Thor and Loki? They'll eventually become familiar with handling these complex matters.
"Have you ever paid attention to the power in Midgard?" Luke asked casually.
"Those mortals?" Odin frowned. Even though many powerful individuals had emerged among the humans of Midgard, that didn't mean Odin could completely change his deeply ingrained mindset, built over millions of years. That was that the mortals of Midgard were weaklings in need of Asgard's protection.
Just like humans, except for a few certain people, who would pay attention to the thoughts and ideas of weak creatures like ants?
The same is true for Mephisto. He understands some of the power and ideas of humans, but those are meaningless to him. He knows, but he doesn't really put himself into it. What he cares about and worries about is how to use these to make those mortals sign a few contracts with him and sell their bodies and souls to him.
"If the dimensional demons establish a relatively stable relationship in the future, I think the relationships among other civilized forces in the universe are worth studying. Of course, we have a large number of manpower to help us study, analyze, and summarize. What we have to do is not to be stubborn and change our way of thinking more or less." Luke saw what Odin and Mephisto were thinking, curled his fingers, tapped lightly on the table of the conference table, looked into their eyes, and said.
"How will that help us?" Mephisto asked. He only cared about the growth of energy, the expansion of the Hell Dimension, and the development of the Energy Bank. If Luke could truly convince him, and if necessary, he would certainly convert himself. He wasn't one of those daemons whose minds were too muddled and their minds too confused to think clearly.
"You have a weapon with great lethality, but once used, it will hurt others and yourself. So will you use it or not?" Luke did not answer, but instead asked a question back.
"Nuclear deterrence?" Master Ancient One understood what Luke wanted to say.
"What the hell?" Mephisto's pale bone mask shrank and wrinkled like a piece of crumpled parchment. He could barely understand the word, after all, he had recently learned a lot of new words and theories from his staff in the Atrium.
"Literally," Luke said softly, "If we treat the energy leaking from the Abyss as a weapon with a destructive power similar to the nuclear weapons in Midgard, how can we maximize its benefits?"
"Throw it at the home of a demon from another dimension?" Mephisto understood what Luke wanted to express. Thinking of his previous proposal, the feeling that the door was about to be opened became stronger and stronger.
"Won't this attract an attack from those demon gods?" Odin wondered, feeling Luke's actions were getting out of hand. Of course, disembarking from the ship was impossible, especially now. If it weren't for the potential dangers to Asgard, he'd actually quite like Luke's ideas and plans. It was like the troublemakers he'd once been involved in.
"That depends on the target we choose and how we deal with it afterwards." Luke crossed his hands, placed his arms on the table, leaned forward, and glanced at Odin and Mephisto.
"Is this nuclear deterrent what I'm thinking of?" Mephisto's eyes lit up. In the short time he'd spent, he'd already found some explanations for the concept. Considering what Luke had said, he clearly considered the energy of the Abyss a strategic weapon.
"Compared to 'Abyssal Deterrence' and 'Abyssal Blackmail', these names are too blatant and will easily make people wary and resentful." Luke waved his hand, "That will make us many enemies. That's not good. We can use a more gentle, more acceptable, and less aggressive term."
"I don't care what it's called, I just want to know how we can use it to generate energy." Mephisto didn't hide his greed or frankness at all. He almost told Luke: "Come on, as long as your plan works, you can call it whatever you want."
"Are you sure you can't clear the Abyss energy?" Luke asked Mephisto.
"It can be suppressed, but it's difficult to eradicate. Especially since this energy can assimilate the power of hell to grow. If I ignore it, there will definitely be no problem in the short term, but it will definitely be a big problem in the long term. In the later stage, I may have to consider moving to a new home." Mephisto looked constipated.
Anyone whose home is filled with a pile of self-growing, stubborn, and intractable contaminants wouldn't be particularly happy. Especially since this garbage can lead to a host of side effects, like viral and bacterial infections. So Mephisto was irritated, but he couldn't articulate it. After all, this stuff was brought back by demons he'd sent out to earn extra cash. Who could have imagined that just by going out, those guys would bring back something so contaminated?
This is simply the parasitic energy of the dimensional world! The kind that can steal your home if left alone!
"If there's no way to save it, then I have no choice but to banish Nidavellir from the Nine Realms," Odin announced his decision in a heavy voice. He didn't want such a highly polluting object to remain in his home, especially one with consciousness. Even though doing so would further weaken and damage the Nine Realms' energy cycle and the World Tree, he couldn't care less.
"So, if our energy bank launches a pollution cleanup service, do you think those demons whose homes are polluted would be willing to pay a cleanup fee?" Luke asked again.
"If there's no other way, I'm willing to pay some energy to buy services. Of course, the prerequisite is that the other party has the power to make me pay for services." Mephisto's answer was still straightforward. He now understood what Luke was planning.
"If we require, the payment must be settled in our new currency. They must first deposit a certain amount of energy in our energy bank, converted into an equal proportion of the new currency, before they can purchase this service. Do you think they will buy it?" Luke continued to ask.
"Can I charge a fee?" The soul fire in Mephisto's eyes shone brightly like two small lightbulbs, and the fiery energy surged upward with the surge of high emotions. His answer clearly also indirectly answered Luke's question.
"You see, everything is difficult at the beginning. If they agree, then won't there be actual progress in the bank?" Luke leaned back in his chair and said in a calm tone.
"Yes, at least they have deposits in our energy bank and realize that we have this business and institution. I think in order to prevent the energy of some small demons from being completely contaminated, we can also open up an energy security storage business! We guarantee that their energy will not be contaminated, as long as they deposit the energy in our energy bank! We can only charge a small storage fee." Mephisto took over Luke's words with great interest and enthusiasm, and even launched a new banking business by learning from it.
He felt his mind had been broadened, and with his imagination so open, business ideas flashed through his mind one after another. At this moment, he wanted to go back and whip his group of demons to work hard.
"If people knew that we were the ones who released the abyss energy, our future would be very difficult, right?" Even Odin, a tough guy, felt a little numb when he thought about the furious look on the faces of the deceived dimensional demons once the truth was exposed in the future.
Luke and the Ancient One weren't afraid. Midgard wasn't completely impenetrable against the invasion of dimensional demons, but as long as there weren't any traitors inside, their safety was guaranteed. Mephisto wasn't afraid either; at worst, he could just hide in his own hellish dimension for millions or even hundreds of millions of years. But what about Asgard?
He wasn't afraid of the so-called demons from most dimensions, but if they got too numerous, he'd be in trouble! With such a large family and a large business, he'd be heartbroken if anything was damaged in battle.
"Why were we the ones who released it?" Luke looked at Odin curiously.
Odin didn't know the answer when Luke asked him.
"It's clearly Malekith, the Abyss Carrier, and Nidavellir, the revived planet, who are spreading pollution everywhere! They are the source of the pollution!" Luke spread his hands and continued, "Even if some people doubt it, have you ever seen someone take a weapon and throw it away at home first? Odin and Mephisto, you two, including the future Midgard, are all victims of Malekith, the culprit! We are the original victims! In order to escape the energy entanglement of the Abyss dimension, the three of us original victims joined forces to find a way to seal its energy, and we generously shared it with the demons of various dimensions. Are we wrong?"
"That's right!" Mephisto's body began to tremble with excitement. He felt that he liked Luke too much at this moment. Although his morals were low and his plans were outrageous, he was very much to his liking!
"If Malekith is regarded as the disseminator of the energy of the Abyss dimension and the walking source of pollution, then we are dimensional environmentalists! We do our best to promote and improve the technology to eradicate the energy of the Abyss dimension, and do our best to help many dimensional demons keep their homes from being polluted. What kind of selfless dedication is this? Shouldn't we be the moral benchmark of the demons?" Luke righteously threw the blame on Malekith.
"When it comes to scheming and playing tricks, you humans still have a racial advantage!" Mephisto leaned back in satisfaction and said with emotion.
"But some people still know some of the facts." Odin added darkly, "For example, Raul and Surtur who escaped."
"Who would believe it? We are victims just like them!" Mephisto curled his lips.
"Or, let Malekith take a walk around their territory?" Luke looked at Odin tentatively.
Facing three pairs of scorching gazes, Odin, whose face had turned green, could no longer hold back. He coughed twice and softened his tone, "Let the Nine Realms go. If we continue to mess with you, the Central Court will also be affected."
"But these two are indeed a hidden danger, not a small one. Why don't we let the beast go and choose these two as our next target?" Luke rubbed his hands and glanced at Odin and the other two.
The three of them nodded in unison.