Survival in the game world begins with Biochemical 2

Chapter 802 Deception and Coincidence

"Li You!"

Atreus was excited, but also somewhat wary. He didn't step forward, but instead looked at his father.

Kratos looked at Li You and said in a deep voice, "We have questions for you."

Li You was taken aback.

He paused for a moment before replying, "Okay, I also have a request."

Kratos, his son, and Mimir followed Li You through the snow-covered mountain path, heading towards the high platform.

Kratos never minced words, so he spoke first: "You're hunting Valkyries?"

Upon hearing this, Li You was stunned again.

"...Valkyrie?"

“We found traces of a battle between someone and the Valkyrie in several secret chambers at the foot of the mountain,” Kratos said. “Those chambers were sealed with magical crystals and could only be opened with special chisels, and they were also filled with traces of your flames.”

Li You's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes gleamed.

Mimir then spoke up, "The Valkyries are key to maintaining the order of life and death in the Nine Realms. If something happens to them, then the current situation of the dead running rampant can be explained."

However, he added, "Of course, we also noticed something was wrong. Those Valkyries seem to exist in physical form, and these secret chambers are not something that ordinary people can build."

"We trust you, so we just want to know, what exactly happened to the Valkyries?"

Naturally, Li You did not answer this one.

It's not that he's unaware of the Valkyries' affairs; in the game, several of the secret chambers where the Valkyries are imprisoned are monitored by ghost ravens, and nothing that happens there escapes their eyes.

Moreover, this is the one who actually started it all.

However, what he was thinking about was how much information he could tell Kratos and the other two.
Leaving aside the Valkyries, he was well aware that Mimir had a close connection with the current Valkyrie Queen, Sigriun.

Kratos and his team had already made a discovery, so he couldn't say nothing, but he also couldn't say everything.

Ultimately, he had too little contact with the real Li You and was still unaware of much information.

His knowledge of Li You was limited to the reports from the Raven Watchers along the way.

Of course, he didn't want to rush over to impersonate Li You. He had originally invited Li You to his home so that he could get to know him better and thus better portray Li You.

But for some reason, after seeing Li You in person, he felt a strong sense of urgency and crisis.

Everything was going according to plan, but he felt things were gradually slipping out of control. It seemed that this person's appearance would disrupt his long-term plans and drag things toward an unpredictable end.

The feeling was extremely strong, as if if I didn't take action, I would not only miss the best opportunity to enter Jotunheim in over a century, but my entire operation might also collapse.

"Li You"—no, there's no need to hide it anymore, he is Odin himself—he has always trusted his judgment and intuition, so even though he didn't know where that premonition came from, he decided to speed up the plan, come to Midgard ahead of time, and try to transform into Li You to enter Jotunheim with Kratos and his son.

Faced with this goal, a little risk was entirely worthwhile. Odin firmly believed that once he reached Jotunheim, he could use the power of the giants to find a way to break Ragnarok.

So he rushed over.

As long as Kratos and his son obediently open the teleportation portal, it will be over. Even if he is exposed afterward, it won't affect the outcome. In fact, even if he isn't exposed, he plans to take the initiative and capture the child.

As wise as Odin was, he had already seen Atreus's extraordinary nature.

This is not because Atreus was the son of God, but because he came from his other half of the bloodline, which contained what Odin was looking for.

With this purpose in mind, and to prevent Kratos and his son from causing any further trouble, he even sent Baldr, who had already lost his immortality, out to track down the two.

This was actually to give Kratos and his son a sense of urgency, to tell them that only by going to Jotunheim could they escape Baldr's pursuit.

As for the prophecy that Baldr would die, it was of no importance to Odin.

Or rather, Odin felt that since Baldr was going to die anyway, if his death could bring him value, then it was worthwhile.

—In just a few steps, Odin, disguised as Li You, had already considered extremely complex matters and carefully weighed the information that could be told to Kratos and the other two.

Then, under Kratos's persistent questioning, he finally spoke: "...Alright, since you've already found out, I won't hide it anymore."

"I am indeed hunting Valkyries."

Kratos and his son, along with Mimir's head which Kratos was holding in his hand, all looked at him at the same time.

"Why?" Kratos asked.

On the way here, Mimir had already given him a detailed explanation of the significance of the Valkyries' existence. Although Kratos had only skimmed through the complex stories, he still remembered Mimir's conclusions.

That is, the disappearance of the Valkyries caused the balance between life and death to be disrupted, which is also the reason why so many undead warriors and ghost walkers have appeared in Midgard. The dead have threatened the survival of the living.

Kratos may not care much about those who have no connection to him and have never even met him, but he will not stand idly by and watch the order of life and death in the Nine Realms become unbalanced.

After all, he knew very well that if the land he lived on were to perish, everyone would pay the price.

That's why he pressed Li You about his reasons for hunting down the Valkyries, wanting to get to the bottom of it. He was grateful for Li You's previous help, but if Li You's actions were truly causing an imbalance in the Nine Realms, he would choose to stop him.

Facing Kratos's questioning, "Li You" showed no guilty expression, but solemnly replied, "Because these imprisoned Valkyries are all victims of Odin, the Allfather."

"Hmm?" Not to mention Kratos and Atreus, even Mimir was drawn in by his words.

“I accidentally broke the seal and entered the secret chamber, where I encountered a physical, berserk Valkyrie,” Odin said vividly and earnestly. “As soon as the Valkyrie saw me, she attacked me. I had no choice but to fight back and finally killed her in a close call.”

"After she died, she told me the truth: she was influenced by Odin's magic and then given a physical form by Sigriun, who imprisoned her here."

Mimir immediately exclaimed, "Impossible!"

“Unfortunately, that’s the truth,” Odin said. “More than one Valkyrie has told me this.”

Odin was well aware of Mimir's relationship with Sigriun, and he knew that Mimir must have guessed that it was Sigriun who gave the Valkyries physical form—something only she could do.

Therefore, although Odin wanted to pin all the blame on Sigriun, Mimir would never believe it, so Odin had no choice but to reveal part of the truth.

At the same time, he also thought about taking advantage of the situation.

Odin tells Kratos and the other two about his discoveries after killing several Valkyries, explaining that the Valkyries' imprisonment was indeed the main reason for the imbalance of life and death in the Nine Realms.

But he embellished the story a little.

"...However, the Valkyries have now been corrupted by magic, and even killing their bodies cannot save them."

This part was purely fabricated by him and was not true. Mimir did not believe it at all: "This is absolutely impossible!" After all, Mimir knew very well that if this effect were to be achieved, it would only mean one thing: the Valkyrie Queen Sigriun was fully assisting Odin.

He couldn't accept this at all; he believed that Sigurd would never do such a thing.

But Odin presented evidence and reasoned with Mimir, probing his knowledge bit by bit, then subtly incorporating misinformation, and finally succeeded in silencing the “most intelligent man in the Nine Realms” so that he dared not think any further.

Odin looked at Mimir's head, which had fallen silent, without any outward reaction, but a smile appeared in his heart.

He knew Mirmiel too well; he knew that this man's intelligence was actually on par with his own.

But concern can cloud judgment. Even the wisest sage in the Nine Realms, upon hearing that his beloved might have fallen, would lose the will to distinguish right from wrong.

Of course, Odin also knew that given more time or clues, Mimir would definitely be able to react, but by then it would be too late.

—At this moment, the group had arrived below the platform. Kratos had been listening mostly, but he was also trying to understand the conversation between the two.

So at this moment, he asked again, "Then, how can we rescue those Valkyries and get them back to maintain the balance of the Nine Realms?"

Odin was just waiting for them to ask that question: "I questioned the souls of the Valkyries who still retained their consciousness, and they finally told me that I must go to the lost land of giants, Jotunheim, to find a way to remove their corruption."

Upon hearing this, Kratos and Atreus were both taken aback, while Mimir narrowed his eyes: "Jotunheim? Are you sure?"

Odin was still pondering what excuse he could use to persuade Kratos and his son to take him to Jotunheim.

The most suitable excuse he had thought of wasn't very likely to succeed, so he decided to just say that he wanted to take a look and then wait for Kratos to open the door.

But now, he can use the Valkyrie incident to get Kratos and his two companions to willingly take him into Jotunheim, thus avoiding any accidents.

Mimir was certainly on his guard, but Odin knew how to persuade him, or rather, deceive him.

He only told Mimir that Odin's power was some kind of corrupting magic, and that only the giants in the Nine Realms possessed a unique ability that could perfectly break this spell.

This alone left Mimir speechless.

So in the end, Kratos and his group agreed to take "Li You" with them to Jotunheim.

Naturally, when Kratos agreed, Li You could maintain his composure on the surface, but he was already extremely excited inside.

Finally, the path to Jotunheim that he had been seeking for so many years was about to begin!
Once he reaches the land of giants, he will be able to find the truth behind the prophecy and also find a way to break Ragnarok!
And even further, he may be able to find the "truth" he has been searching for all his life!
The group arrived at the mountaintop platform, where Odin watched as Atreus cut his palm with a knife and applied the black teleportation runes they had obtained from Tyr's vault to the corresponding positions on the archway pillars.

"Just carve along these points."

Kratos also took out a magical chisel that shone with light and chiseled along the complex runes Atreus had carved, making four cuts in total, finally illuminating it.

In that instant, a large number of golden light spots appeared between the stone arches. These lights flew around and converged, becoming brighter and brighter, and more and more light spots continued to appear, eventually forming a golden light curtain!
The light screen flickered a few times before stabilizing. After the golden light faded, the scene behind it appeared.

It was a long wooden suspension bridge that led straight to the mountain peak at the end, which looked like the finger of a giant.

After the portal opened, it became clearer that the mountain peak did indeed have five finger-shaped peaks.

Atreus was thrilled: "This is... Jotunheim..."

But there was someone even more excited than him. Before he could do anything, "Li You" had already pushed past him and was touching the thin screen of light with rapture.

"Jotunheim... finally."

Atreus looked at him strangely, not quite understanding why Li You looked so engrossed.

However, he didn't think much of it. The child didn't know the secret of his origins yet. Instead, he thought of something else.

So he stepped forward, tugged at "Li You's" sleeve, and said, "By the way, Li You, I have something else I want to ask you."

Odin, who was originally immersed in his dream that he had finally realized, was interrupted and became somewhat impatient, but when he saw that it was Atreus, he restrained his temper.

He hadn't forgotten that the child was still useful to him.

So after a slight pause, he smiled kindly and asked, "What is it, Atreus?"

Atreus hesitated slightly, but still said, "Can we talk over there?"

Naturally, Odin had no intention of leaving the light barrier. Once he passed through this gate, the land of giants he had been searching for for a hundred years would be within reach.

But he didn't forget his other goal, which was to take Atreus with him as well.

So he patiently suppressed his impulse and followed Atreus to the side, listening to what he had to say.

Atreus then said, "I want to hear your previous story. It's the story of the continuation of the Sun God race."

Li You's smile froze for a moment.

Why did you suddenly want to hear this?

"...Because I've been thinking about some things lately, but I can't find the answers. I think your story might give me some inspiration."

Atreus has been pondering his divine identity and responsibilities lately, but this is clearly too complicated for a child.

So he wanted to hear Li You's story.

Odin, of course, knew nothing of the story of the sun gods; he only wanted to enter Jotunheim as soon as possible—preferably with Atreus.

So for now, he could only try to appease Atreus: "No problem. But shall we go to Jotunheim first? I'll tell you about the lineage and continuation of the Sun Gods later."

He intended to end the conversation as soon as possible, but Atreus was taken aback: "Inheritance and continuation? Wasn't the Sun God race almost wiped out in the generation of Gwyn's children?"

Odin was also stunned.

He realized something was wrong; his anxiety had given him away.

But he didn't panic. Only Atreus noticed something was wrong, and he had a way of fooling him...

But just then, a burst of slightly maniacal laughter came from above them!

"Ha ha ha ha--!!"

Then, a huge black shadow swept across the sky, and a figure jumped down from the sky, heading straight for "Li You" and Atreus!

Li You's eyes widened, and he blurted out incredulously, "...Badr!?"

Why the hell did you have to come now of all times?!

(End of this chapter)