Those time travelers that year

Loki left, or rather, it was that unfortunate Dr. Erik Sevier who left. The Loki clone that had possessed his consciousness fell silent again, and at the same time, directly deleted Erik Sevier's memories of that evening. He didn't see the Ciel arrive, nor did he have any contact with the Ciel; he simply had a few drinks and dinner in the tavern.

So, a slightly dazed Eric Sevig staggered out. At first glance, he looked like he was drunk; however, this was one of the aftereffects of his altered memories. After Eric Sevig had staggered a short distance, from a dark street corner, a hand in a black suit reached out and placed a white cloth over Eric Sevig's face.

Just moments later, Eric Seviger collapsed unconscious. A man in a black suit caught the collapsing Eric Seviger, and then several other men in identical attire emerged from the darkness. Together, they lifted Eric Seviger up and led him to a black car parked in an inconspicuous spot.

After opening the door and letting the person inside, several unidentified individuals in black suits entered the car one after another. Then, the black car silently disappeared into the night. Throughout the entire kidnapping scene, not a single pedestrian passed by. Neither the convenience stores nor the dashcams on the street were filming. Only after the car had completely disappeared did the cameras casually turn around.

It seemed no one noticed, however, those unknown people who took Eric Sevig were unaware that right above them, on the rooftop, Charles, always dressed in a black trench coat, was watching expressionlessly as they put him into a car and drove away.

Once the car started moving, Charles slightly moved his hand, and a wisp of invisible black smoke gathered in his hand, transforming into a completely black raven.

“Go!” Charles said in a low voice.

Then, the crow flapped its wings and flew into the sky, following the direction the car had driven off in. Soon, the crow caught up with the black car heading towards the outskirts of the city, and then, with a swoop, swooped down to crash into it. However, just before it hit the car, suddenly, the crow vanished, turning into a twisted mass of black sludge that stuck to the back of the vehicle.

The mud trembled, rapidly changing its shape as if it were alive, becoming one with the entire carriage. Thus, this vehicle, confirmed to be from S.H.I.E.L.D., took away the fuse along with the informant created by Shire. One wonders what expression that dark-skinned Director Wu Ke would have when he knew those two bastards were using him as a pawn. Of course, he wouldn't know.

Ciel, remaining on the rooftop, watched the car disappear after it had taken away its spies, and smiled. Loki had indeed not deceived or left any traces; the knowledge was real, and Ciel had now obtained the crucial piece of the puzzle.

Loki not only explained to the Ciel what "Authority" was and why gods possessed unimaginable and unconventional abilities, but he also meticulously concealed one of his authorities, "Illusion," openly and blatantly displaying every aspect of the "Illusion" authority to the Ciel. In other words, by using his knowledge of "Authority," and after witnessing Loki's complete demonstration of his "Illusion" authority, the Ciel could also acquire the same "Illusion" authority through these same elements.

Someone else might have tried using the [Illusion] authority. After all, without knowing whether Loki's gift was genuine or not, they could use the [Illusion] authority to deduce the truth. However, doing so would have put them completely in Loki's trap. After just a few deductions, Ciel immediately realized the problem: if he followed Loki's disguise, the [Illusion] authority wouldn't be his own creation, but rather a copy of Loki's, identical in both usage and form.

When others see his illusion, they'll immediately think of Loki. What can be done then? What benefit would that bring to Loki? Even in a short while, Ciel could come up with over a dozen advantages for this approach. The most obvious was using Ciel as a shield to trick him.

If Ciel really gets infected...

However, just as Loki wanted to trick the Ciel, the Ciel also planned to play dirty tricks on Loki. There was no way he could believe Loki's words! At least, the Ciel absolutely wouldn't. He wasn't some naive, brute like Thor. So, it was necessary to have a little trick up his sleeve as a safety net. Besides, Loki wasn't on Earth now; he was in Thanos's hands. The Ciel didn't want to inexplicably come into contact with Thanos, who now possessed superpowers. That would be tantamount to suicide. If things really got to that point, the Ciel felt he'd better leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe immediately.

……

Looking back, at least Loki didn't try to create any problems with the knowledge he imparted to the Ciel. And the Ciel also figured out how to move forward next.

In terms of power, Ciel has already reached a critical point. In D&D terms, he could now try to assassinate a god and take his place. As long as he doesn't get hit by a super-powerful verbal attack, he'll be fine. Even if he does get hit, it's not a big deal; he can definitely get a pardon, it'll just be a bit more troublesome.

Well, I'll try to update three chapters today, as a way of making up for the one I missed yesterday! Don't even think about five chapters, I just can't keep going...

203. The so-called God

However, as everyone knows, in the D&D world, the so-called divine office or divine position is a trap, a huge trap, a super huge trap that will make you want to vomit blood. Don't you see, those incredibly powerful Old Gods are basically all dead. The only remaining Old God, Shar, has lost a large portion of her power, barely maintaining her formidable divine strength, and she's still hailed as one of the creator goddesses. She's relatively fortunate; her sister, Suren, has fallen to the level of mid-level divine power, almost completely fallen out of favor.

As for the rest? Whenever a major event occurs, the Goddess of Magic is basically doomed. The first God of Death, Yegor, voluntarily relinquished almost all of his divine duties. With the first Sun God completely wiped out, how many could survive unscathed? Only a handful, like the God of War and the Goddess of Earth, lived comfortably, the latter even constantly changing partners…

Speaking of this, a question suddenly came to mind. What's that saying again? "On the continent of Faerûn, every goddess is a slut..."

In short, if Ciel really wants to follow the path of divine fire, clergy, and divine kingdoms from D&D, then he should be prepared to be utterly ruined. Frankly, it would be far more practical for him to become a local tyrant in the Abyss. After all, no matter what, there's always a supreme god above him, and a woman of extraordinary status—it's simply despair-inducing.

However, compared to those unfortunate gods of Faerûn, who constantly have to carefully follow the rules and worry about being kicked out of the AO (Alterac Valley) by someone they don't like, the Shire has much more of a choice. There are so many worlds; they have plenty of time to choose.

……

In the Marvel universe, where the power system is constantly collapsing due to the writers' ramblings, being a god-level being is nothing special, but it's not fair to say that a god-level being is worthless in this world. It's just that this world is one where it's all about who can use the most powerful cheat codes.

From Loki's account, Shire learned about the hierarchy of gods. First, there were the most primitive demigods, who were essentially hybrids of gods and mortals. Although they were hybrids, it didn't mean they were weak. In fact, there was only one word difference between demigods and gods, and in terms of strength, demigods might not be inferior to gods. However, demigods lacked the so-called "authority."

In Asgard, demigods are not uncommon, especially in Valhalla, where the strongest demigods, like Siegfried and Beowulf, would be a formidable force. Even Thor himself would face a difficult choice in their favor. However, they are not Asgardian gods. Despite their immense power, they cannot wield the "Authority." After all, in terms of sheer strength, even gods not skilled in combat would be easily defeated by Siegfried and Beowulf.

It's only a fine line, but those without authority cannot be considered gods.

The so-called deity is not simply a life form with a sufficiently high level of evolution. While a robust physique, powerful abilities, and long lifespan are certainly manifestations of a deity's external power, these are not the true core of a deity. For a deity, the essence extracted from the rules and laws of manipulation, possessing its own divine true name, and then merging the two into one, undergoing a fundamental sublimation and a transformation from the depths of its soul, is what makes it a true god.

At that time, the gods will possess the innate ability to hear all things. If someone mentions their name, they will hear it clearly, no matter how far apart they are, even if they are on the other side of a galaxy. This in itself is equivalent to a rule inscribed upon the world.

Immortality, an indestructible soul, a lifespan too long to be calculated, and extraordinary abilities that transcend the rules of existence. These are advantages gained after inscribing a divine true name and merging it with the rules one knows. Even if a god dies, their soul can be summoned back. This is why certain evil gods, after being defeated and sealed away by heroes with great difficulty, can, hundreds or thousands of years later, rise again, alive and kicking, at the urging of certain cult members, and continue to wreak havoc on the world.

However, Sharl always felt that gods of this level weren't particularly powerful. Perhaps it was because this world was based on a cinematic worldview, hence the difference. Anyway, whether it was Loki or Thor, even if they teamed up and fought Sharl alone, after unleashing all their trump cards, Sharl didn't think he would lose. These so-called gods didn't seem stronger than the heroes of the Dota world. After all, in that world, magic-based heroes mostly used forbidden spells capable of destroying entire cities, and melee heroes relied on their physical bodies to withstand forbidden spell attacks. Destroying entire cities with magic wasn't as effective against them as killing minions.

If we're talking about combat power, even gods don't seem that strong. But think about it, in mythology, there are always some incredibly powerful mortals who can defy the heavens, like the Hulk. With enough time and the accumulation of endless rage, he can continuously surpass his peak, using sheer force to overcome all obstacles. Even Thor, with all his advantages, would be defeated by a Hulk whose rage is practically off the charts.

After all, the world Ciel lives in now is a world where cheat codes are used to win.

By continuously exploring the functions of [Authority] and expanding into more areas, until reaching the final end and unifying all [Authority], then above that, which is the pseudo-god level defined by Charles himself, lies a fully divine being.

Gods like Loki and Thor, whom the Shire considers pseudo-gods, are defined as planetary gods. And when the path of planetary gods comes to an end, that is the so-called Heavenly Father God, which is the level of Odin, the king of Asgard.

Odin was the king of the gods of Asgard, the king of the dead, the god of war, the god of power, and the god of magic. In other words, he possessed authority over the dead, war, power, and magic, and perhaps even more. These authority combined to form his unique and extraordinary divine power, which is the source of Thor's extraordinary abilities—Odin's power.

Thor, wielding Odin's power, can basically one-shot anyone who doesn't have an even bigger power-up. This shows just how unreasonable Odin's power is. If this world weren't the chaotic and flawed Marvel universe, this power would be considered the pinnacle.

This is equivalent to the god-level that Ciel envisioned.

Mastering multiple powers, able to modify and distort reality, possessing the legendary skill of talking nonsense, unless you also cheat and cheat even more ruthlessly, you're destined to be instantly killed!

204. Choosing a Direction (Part 1)

Above the Celestial Father level lies the Cosmic God. If the Celestial Father level and Planetary Gods both involve expanding the power of "Authority" and transforming it into their own superpowers, then the Cosmic God is someone who can completely ignore all rules and restrictions. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they can even modify the rules themselves, travel through time, change the past, and overwrite history. Exploding planets is outdated at this level; they begin to focus on how to destroy the universe.

Well, in other words, those below the Planet God level are considered ordinary players, Planet God level are VIP players who have paid for in-game purchases, and Heavenly Father level are super VIP players who have both paid for in-game purchases and unlocked premium features at the highest level. And the Cosmic level—that's basically a GM, or at least a hacker who has used technical skills to gain GM privileges.

For example, Thanos with the Infinity Stones and the Infinity Gauntlet combined. That's that level. After all, there's no upper limit to the power of cosmic beings; the powerful ones can instantly kill another cosmic being, and even the less powerful ones are stronger than someone with VIP access. As for the even stronger kind, Thanos with the Heart of the Universe...

If you go any higher, no one will know. Loki only knew about the level of a cosmic god. This is because in Asgard, there is Odin, a father-like being who is infinitely close to the level of a cosmic god. In the records of Asgard, cosmic-level beings are called Old Gods.

However, that's too far off for Shire, and besides, the level of a cosmic god in Marvel wouldn't be applicable in other worlds. After all, it's understandable if it's just a planetary god or a skyfather, but a cosmic god, who directly ignores all the rules of reality and arbitrarily modifies or even overwrites them, can only exist if the world itself allows it to exist.

For Charles now, the most important thing is to create his own "authority." With his current accumulation, this step won't stop him for long; he's been at the level capable of transformation for quite some time now. However, while he certainly wants to do this, when he actually puts it into practice, Charles discovers another problem: his power systems are too numerous and too complex.

The Warlock magic system, the HP magic system, the Type-Moon magic series, the third magic derived from Type-Moon, the Primordial Fire, the Darkness of the Abyss, and the powers of various heroes in the Dota world. If you were to integrate them all, it would be extremely, extremely complicated. Well, this is probably the consequence of trying to do too much at once.

Although a systematic integration was carried out previously under unclear circumstances, if Ciel wants to move to the next step, he will have to solve it himself. It's not that difficult, but it's not that easy either. If he gets over it, the world will be wide open; if he doesn't, he'll be stuck and will have to look for another direction.

Fortunately, while the methods he learned were somewhat complex, they weren't complex enough to cross any system. Firstly, all the power systems he possessed and learned could be categorized under magic. Among them, HP's magic system is relatively basic; while it might have some novel directions, it's not actually particularly powerful. This is why, initially, Ciel, possessing only warlock magic, had few enemies in the HP world. Those Aurors who came were only spared because Ciel didn't want to cause trouble at that time.

The magic system in Type-Moon can be divided into Magical Crests and Magical Bloodlines. It's a more detailed and specific system than in Harry Potter, but because it's overly dependent on its environment, during the Age of Gods, magicians could grow to a level beyond the rules, like the princess of the Age of Gods, whose spellcasting abilities even surpassed those of so-called mages. However, with the fall of the Age of Gods, all magic gradually weakened under the control of two major restraining forces. The First Magic was lost, the users of the Third Magic disappeared, and others basically began their decline. As for those magicians from the Age of Gods who could surpass mages with magic, they vanished without a trace. The only ones left are the Heroic Spirits in Valhalla.

This is a system heavily reliant on the origins within the Type-Moon universe, but other worlds don't have such origins! It's just the worldview of Type-Moon; other worlds may not have them. For example, the Third Law is considered top-tier within Type-Moon, but outside of it, it's essentially just a buff.

So PASS!

Then there's the warlock magic system that Sharl has always used. In terms of potential, nothing he's learned can compare to the prospects and future of the warlock system. After all, it comes from the Burning Legion, who have demolished countless planets and spent ten thousand years professionally training in demolition work. From beginning to end, it teaches you the working system and procedures of a planetary demolition office—truly authentic and infallible.

Under the leadership of Legion Boss Sargeras, and with the assistance of General Managers Toilet and Suntree, and based on the principle that fair competition (order) is wrong, they instigated internal strife, spread false information, and merged shares to ultimately trick the other party into selling internal information, thereby swallowing up the target company (planet) and bringing the other party's employees into the Burning Legion's demolition office family.

That's wonderful news!

So after Xia Er finally figured things out, he was dismayed to discover that the system he relied on most, and the initial source of his power, was actually a huge pitfall... Admittedly, the profession had potential, the villainous boss had potential, and he could get a full set of purple gear and wait for others to farm for him. It could be said that once Xia Er established himself in this system, leveling up would be quite easy.

For example, spreading fel energy to infect all life and the natural environment on a planet, and then directly polluting the planet's core through the death of these lives, is even more outrageous than the so-called Genova and is extremely effective.

Once the entire planet has been completely infected by fel energy, it will be time to reap the rewards. Whether you plan to gloriously become a guide, leading a demon army to crush all who oppose you, then establish your own territories, get promoted and receive a raise, and live a shameless life with succubi, it's all up to you.

Or perhaps we could simply find a location on a planet whose environment has become unstable due to fel energy contamination, open a portal there, detonate the unfortunate world, tear it apart and shatter it completely, and then gleefully harvest the souls. It would be incredibly easy and promising!

However, whichever option you choose, it means that from now on, no world will welcome you. If you want to go to another world, you'll either have to find a way to smuggle yourself in, or trick a high-ranking woman into opening a back door for you. Moreover, you'll be bound to the Burning Legion for life, unable to even change allegiances or switch factions.

205. Choosing a Direction (Part 2)

No wonder the Burning Legion's leaders were so comfortable allowing warlock magic to proliferate across Azeroth, letting countless ruthless warlocks run rampant and ultimately become universally despised. It turns out they never had good intentions to begin with. Even when the drugged orcs failed and were utterly defeated, even when the Scourge's lackeys betrayed them and were utterly annihilated by the Alliance and Horde, they offered no explanation whatsoever. Even when one of the general managers went to visit them, only to have his place flushed down the toilet, they didn't say a word.

It turns out that no matter how they play, those warlocks will eventually end up in the Burning Legion's territory. They just don't believe that those power-craving guys, upon discovering that the prerequisite for further advancement is to venture into the Twisting Nether, can endure power so close at hand.

Just like the Eredar on Argus back then.

Sharl didn't want to become an Eredar, nor did he want to join the Burning Legion, becoming a lackey or boss, only to suicidal in the massive pit of Azeroth. If given a choice, Sharl would much rather be a Grand Lord, wiping out every boss for gear; after all, it seemed he could single-handedly organize a five-man raid. With all his trump cards revealed, he could even solo a low-level raid.

Since he didn't want to infiltrate the demolition office's camp, continuing down the warlock path was essentially impossible. To be honest, Xia Er did want to continue down this path, but the demolition office's employees, its two general managers, Ma Tong and Ri Shu, and that Boss Sa were all insurmountable obstacles.

As the saying goes, if you can't go on one path, then try another. Xia Er never considered himself to be cultivating immortality, where if he couldn't continue, he would have to spend decades or even centuries in seclusion. Nor did he follow the path of a martial artist, where if he couldn't continue, he would find an evenly matched enemy for a satisfying, visceral battle.

There are other paths to take, so why not take them? Isn't that right?

However, once Xia Er turned his attention to the remaining items, he realized that his path was indeed difficult. Like the [Hero] power in the Dota world, aside from [The Demon Sorcerer] which he had acquired, the others were obtained by plundering the souls of [Heroes]. Those weren't truly his; they were his spoils of war. And to use these spoils, two things were indispensable…

The Abyss, born from the evil of this world brought forth from Type-Moon, and the First Flame, ignited by the Abyss. While these two seemingly contradictory entities, they are essentially one, differing only in their manifestation. The Abyss erodes matter, distorts reality, and consequently affects the soul. The First Flame burns the soul, interferes with reality, and alters its laws.

No matter how grand or sophisticated their names may be, in essence, they are both things that are inherently unfriendly to the world.

That said, Sharl now realizes that much of what he knows is inherently hostile to the world. Whether it's the Abyss, the Primordial Flame, or the spells of the Warlock class, none of them are good things…

Is it true that shortcuts are never a good thing?

So, should he continue down the path of the Abyss and the First Flame? Thinking this, Sharl hesitated. The warlock path was easy in the early stages; if one wasn't afraid of death, opening the portal and trading souls with the demons of the Burning Legion would increase strength even faster. However, trading with demons was playing with fire. For a long time, Sharl had never intended to do this, fearing that the demons of the Burning Legion would follow the trail of trades and find him.

Thinking about it this way, in Azeroth, for over ten thousand years after the Burning Legion's first invasion, those demons found it difficult to descend upon Azeroth again. Even the birth of the Guardians only meant they were secretly suppressing any demons that tried to sneak in. But why, after the Orcish Wars, did those demons suddenly appear like weeds?! It's worth noting that the Warlock class only took root in Azeroth after the Orcish Wars ended. In other words, even if the Orcs were defeated, as long as the Warlock spells remained in Azeroth, there would always come a day when new idiots would follow the Orcs' old path.

Shadow magic, fel magic, demonic spells, necromancy... The arrival of orc warlocks brought a completely new magic system to Azeroth, while also allowing dangerous magic systems that had been forbidden to be researched to see the light of day again.

Then, just a short time later, the Scourge struck. Kel'Thuzad, having studied necromancy, defected from Dalaran and the Kirin Tor Council, and the dreadlords came to the Eastern Kingdoms, spreading disaster and war everywhere.

Then came Ragnarok, Archimonde's arrival on Azeroth, the Battle of Mount Hyjal, and the Night Elves sacrificing the World Tree to temporarily repel it all. In the years that followed, the Scourge lurked in the shadows, demons appeared and disappeared, the Old Gods escaped their seals, and the Emerald Dream's shadow lurked...

Then, the Dark Portal reopened, and the Burning Crusade began in the shattered Outland...

Essentially, the shadow of the Burning Legion has appeared more and more frequently on Azeroth since the Orcish Wars, regardless of time or place. During the Battle of Northrend, dreadlords secretly plotted schemes that led to the corruption and destruction of the Scarlet Crusade. The Cataclysm allowed travelers to travel back in time and witness firsthand the demonic armies…

How many years had passed by the time the Legion was restored?!

Thinking about it this way, the fact that it's genuine is unsettling.

……

However, the path of the Abyss and the First Flame wasn't exactly a good thing either; at least, Ciel always felt there was something wrong with it. Back when he first arrived in the Marvel universe, on the other side of the Middle Eastern desert, there was something he subconsciously resisted about that night he forgot.

This might explain why his strength increased after unexpectedly arriving in the Marvel universe. Gifts given without reason often conceal traps and dangers.

As a warlock, if one becomes excessively greedy for power, one will inevitably fall into an abyss of no return.

So, if there are problems on both sides, then let's just do both. The only difference is that one has a clear danger, and you'll end up having to take a black cab, while the other is an unseen danger, with something unspeakable lurking beneath the surface.

After careful consideration for a period of time, Xia Er made a decision: instead of being timid and hesitant, he should actually go and see what dangers might be involved. At worst, he could just open a door and leave the potential dangers to the demolition work on the other side.

There will be another update at noon.

206. The Beginning of the Women's Federation

Humans will always find excuses for their greed. No matter what world or era, as long as there is enough profit, humans will sell everything and venture into areas they have never known before.

For Nick Fury, researching the unknown and launching a project that was clearly not a good idea could be attributed to his own greed. He never concealed this, because he worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., a secret organization that dealt with factors that could destabilize the world. "Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free" was his motto, and he never cared about the consequences of starting a specialized research project. As long as it was useful, as long as it could achieve the goal, he was willing to sacrifice himself.

So he never had a family. No one knows whether he was called Nick Fury before or by another name. Now that he's in his position, Nick Fury knows one thing: no one can be without weaknesses, but he must be without weaknesses.