"Come on, let's play chess, let's play chess!"
Storm Dragon Veldora, who had transformed into a human, pulled Loki into a game of chess.
Loki's mouth twitched. If he couldn't beat this scoundrel in front of him, he would have really liked to stomp his face with his shoes.
Loki wasn't unwilling to play chess, but he couldn't stand Veldora's terrible chess etiquette.
Initially, Loki was dragged by Veldora to play chess. Veldora took advantage of Loki not knowing the rules of chess and kept winning against him.
But who was Loki?
How could a mere game of chess stump him?
But Veldora liked to take back his moves!
He was a terrible player, yet he was addicted, and the worst part was that Loki couldn't refuse to play!
Loki's face was taut, his thoughts racing.
Don't look at him being crushed by the Storm Dragon on the chessboard, game after game.
But in terms of intellect, Loki was truly not afraid.
In just three days, Loki, without a sound, had basically gleaned most of the information Veldora knew.
Dragon World, Storm Dragon, Slime, the naming evolution rule for high-ranking monsters—
All of this opened Loki's eyes.
He was extremely curious about the Dragon World that the Storm Dragon spoke of!
With a move, Loki captured another crucial piece of Veldora's, and as expected, Veldora took back his move.
He held a piece, staring at the chessboard, unable to make up his mind for a long time.
That conflicted expression made Loki feel amused!
Compared to Veldora's strength, his intellect truly didn't resemble that of a dominant ruler!
It had been three days, and through Veldora's words, Loki had already understood Rimuru's "great achievements."
Killing Fire King Surtur, killing Laufey, turning the tide, and saving Asgard.
The most legendary part was that before his death, Laufey even passed the throne of Jotunheim to Rimuru!
This made Loki admire Rimuru even more!
What Loki couldn't understand was what Rimuru ultimately wanted to do.
She neither punished him nor showed any intention of sending him back to Asgard!
What exactly did she want to do?
If you said Rimuru didn't care about him, she still had Veldora personally accompany him; if you said Rimuru cared about him, she left him hanging for several days, never meeting him.
What exactly did this mean?
However, Loki's dilemma quickly disappeared because Rimuru herself arrived.
Sensing Rimuru's arrival, Veldora immediately brightened up.
"Rimuru, you have something to discuss with Loki, right? You two talk, you two talk, I won't bother you anymore!"
The Storm Dragon waved his hand, and the chessboard and pieces were put away.
Before leaving, Veldora patted Loki's shoulder, a kind look in his eyes, "Loki, I didn't lose that game just now, right?"
Loki's mouth twitched, and he showed a respectful expression, "You didn't lose. Senior Veldora's chess skills are superb, how could you lose!"
Veldora was overjoyed, his mouth splitting into a wide grin.
He profited, he truly profited!
Rimuru was truly his best friend; she always helped him out at crucial moments.
Sensing Veldora's little trick, Rimuru smiled.
This Storm Dragon was truly interesting and cute!
After Veldora left, only Rimuru and Loki remained, and the atmosphere immediately became serious.
"Loki, how about you become Jotunheim's Minister of Foreign Affairs?"
Pfft!
Loki nearly spat out his drink. Make him Jotunheim's Minister of Foreign Affairs?
He didn't hear wrong, did he?
Also, did the word "diplomacy" even exist in the dictionary of these barbarians from Jotunheim?
Loki secretly glanced at Rimuru, finding that she wasn't joking, which made Loki's head ache even more.
"Your Majesty, you know, I am the second prince of Asgard!"
Rimuru said casually, "I know, and I'm Thor's master!"
Loki: "..."
What else could he say?
Making him, a God of Mischief, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, sounded strange no matter how you looked at it!
Was Rimuru talking nonsense?
Of course not!
Looking at the entire Thor series in Marvel, Loki was truly an exceptional talent in diplomacy!
In Thor 1, he played the Jotunheim people like puppets, and Laufey was directly killed by Loki using the Eternal Spear;
In Avengers 1, Loki, who had fallen into a cosmic black hole, instantly became a honored guest of the Chitauri.
He started from nothing and directly borrowed tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of soldiers from the Chitauri;
In Thor 3, he also fell out of the Bifrost Bridge and landed on Sakaar.
Loki, in a blink of an eye, became an honored guest of the Grandmaster, his prestige immense.
As a result, Thor was sold and ended up in the gladiator arena.
A true diplomatic genius, probably only Shen Gongbao could compare!
Seeing that Rimuru wasn't joking, Loki's eyes darted around, various thoughts constantly forming and disappearing in his mind.
"King Rimuru, forgive my presumption, but please speak directly if you have any instructions. As long as I can do it, I will do my utmost!"
Rimuru immediately smiled. It was so refreshing to talk to intelligent people!
Rimuru smiled, "It must feel uncomfortable to have slinked away from Asgard in defeat, right? I want to ask you to go to the Chitauri and persuade them to lend you troops to attack Earth!"
Huh?
Loki's eyes instantly turned into dots!
Was Rimuru trying to harm him in a roundabout way?
Or was Rimuru already impatient to embark on her path of conquering the Nine Realms?
Rimuru: "Before leaving Asgard, Odin Big Brother..."
Pfft!
Loki's face flushed, nearly choking to death.
Odin Big Brother?
Are you kidding me?!
This was too much bullying!
Seeing Loki's discomfiture, Rimuru was delighted, "My Odin Big Brother sent his raven to give me agamotto's orb, and I saw a Nine Realms catastrophe—"
"I want you to persuade the Chitauri leader, The Other, to lend you troops, and you will use the Cosmic Cube to open a portal to welcome them over!"
As Rimuru explained, Loki immediately understood Rimuru's plan.
Using the Cosmic Cube to open a spatial passage to confine the battlefield to a specific area?
King Rimuru truly had a good plan!
But why should he listen to Rimuru?
He was the God of Mischief!
Asgard and Jotunheim were sworn enemies!
Seeing Loki's eyes flicker, Rimuru continued to raise the stakes, "Loki, in the battle of Asgard, Thor has already gained immense prestige. Now in Asgard, Thor is practically the King. You don't want to lose to him, do you?!"
Loki was astonished, feeling for the first time the terrifying intellect of Rimuru!
Yes, he absolutely did not want to lose to Thor.
Rimuru smiled, "This will undoubtedly be a huge clash, and Thor's presence is inevitable. How you use the Chitauri is none of my concern; if you can borrow one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, or even a million, that is your capability."
"How you specifically use them is also none of my concern. As long as you can persuade them to come through the Cosmic Cube to open a passage, rather than travel by spaceship, that's fine!"
Thor will also be present? Loki's eyes lit up.
But reason still made him suppress the thought of using the Chitauri to deal with Thor!
Midgard was never a simple Planet!
Not to mention Ancient One, now there was also Rimuru, and father was watching...
"King Rimuru, you know, if I do this, there will be no place for me in Asgard afterward."
Rimuru said seriously, "I guarantee you, in the name of the King, that as long as you can persuade the Chitauri to forgo coming by spaceship, I will back you up afterward."
Loki: "..."
Empty words, what meaning did such a guarantee have?
Rimuru: "I will not leave any evidence, but a king's word is his bond!"
After a few seconds of silence, Loki could only nod in agreement.
With the conversation at this point, he had no room for rebuttal!
Soon after, a portal opened to the depths of the Universe.