Elder God?
According to the life-level given by the panel, Lucas is indeed an Elder God now.
Though he's not 'elder' at all.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lucas held the Blood God down and slammed him into the ground three more times.
"I'm giving you one more chance to rephrase that."
Whether he was awakened by being slammed three more times or stimulated by Lucas's murderous voice, it was unclear. But in any case, the Blood God reacted, recognized his predicament of being the fish on the chopping block, and said in a muffled voice, "How do you want to settle the score?"
"Last time, old friends reunited after a long separation. We should have drunk heartily, and exchanged gifts."
"But Blood God, you attacked me fiercely and severely injured me. Shouldn't there be compensation for mental distress and medical expenses? And shouldn't the gifts owed also be made up?"
The Blood God remained silent, his heart burning with rage.
He had seen clearly before his avatar dissolved that Lucas was completely unharmed. On the contrary, in his last encounter with Lucas, he lost an important avatar, and the Inheritors were annihilated.
As a result, his dominion over the Dimension of Blood had significantly decreased.
And he was still demanding compensation from him!
Facing Lucas's preemptive accusation, the Blood God decisively chose to swallow his anger.
"Yes."
"Very good."
Lucas nodded with satisfaction, dispersing the glowing white hand that held the Blood God.
"All in all, that'll be 2 billion units of energy."
The Blood God fell silent.
Seeing this, Lucas asked, "What's wrong, Blood God? Such a vast Dimension of Blood, and you can't even produce 2 billion units of energy?"
"Sorcerer Spider-Man, you don't know the full story."
Scarlet mist permeated the air, and a miniaturized Blood God avatar emerged.
The Blood God, with a dejected face, complained to Lucas, "Although I am the Dimensional Lord of the Dimension of Blood, the Dimension of Blood is not entirely mine."
"Most of the energy within the Dimension of Blood, I only have the right to use, but not ownership."
"Once—"
Lucas interrupted the Blood God's complaints and threatened coldly, "So, Blood God, you don't want to compensate, forcing me to break into the Dimension of Blood and loot it clean?"
"No, no, no, Sorcerer Spider-Man, you've misunderstood. Please let me explain slowly." The Blood God quickly shook his head.
"My point is, my authority in the Dimension of Blood is not enough to pay 2 billion units of energy all at once. But if my authority increases, then I can."
The Blood God revealed his true intentions. He wanted to drag the other beings of the Dimension of Blood down with him.
In a short period, he was first tricked by the Ancient One. Then, he had an important avatar destroyed by Lucas, which needed repair.
His personal treasury was now almost empty, and he could only use the public energy of the Dimension of Blood to cover the costs. But such a huge loss would incur the Dimension of Blood's displeasure, and his authority would also decline.
If the Blood God didn't do this, after Lucas left, he, being severely weakened, would surely be overthrown by the combined efforts of the others in the Dimension of Blood.
Lucas understood the Blood God's implied meaning and said with a half-smile, "Blood God, you have a good plan. But in that case, shouldn't my labor fee be added as well?"
"Sorcerer Spider-Man, the Dimension of Blood really can't squeeze out any more energy."
"Why? Over endless years, the Dimension of Blood should have accumulated a lot of energy, right?" Lucas wondered.
"Sorcerer Spider-Man, energy is conserved. It is neither created nor destroyed. It only transfers from one object to another."
Lucas said, "I know that, be more specific."
"The Dimension of Blood has ways to acquire dimensional energy and also expenses that consume energy. Simply put, we earn a lot, and we spend a lot."
"Energy only maintains a certain level and isn't specifically accumulated."
Lucas was speechless.
This is not very magic-like.
Adjusting his expression, Lucas smiled. "Blood God, if you can't pay it all at once, that's fine. You can pay in installments."
Hmm, pay in installments, and pay interest first.
The Blood God looked at Lucas's smiling face and suddenly understood.
He seemed to have invited a wolf into his house.
But who could blame him for being unwilling to give up his position as the Dimensional Lord of the Dimension of Blood?
He could only hope that Lucas would encounter disaster and perish in the future.
...
A secret S.H.I.E.L.D. Base.
Nick Fury had completely finished his resurrection surgery. The painful memories of the surgery had also been overwritten by transplanted memories.
At this moment, he was leaning back on the hospital bed, listening to Coulson report on the events that had transpired during this time.
"It's truly unbelievable. In the Universe, there actually exists such a brutal force, whose operating principle is to slaughter half the living beings of other civilizations."
"Even more incredible is that Lucas actually took the initiative to target the leader of this force, and succeeded."
Nick Fury was filled with emotion at this moment. He still couldn't get over the fact that he hadn't been more proactive in recruiting Lucas at the time.
"Coulson, if we had just tried a little harder back then, would we have had a chance to recruit Lucas?"
"If Lucas had joined the Avengers, Earth's safety would no longer be a concern. It's such a pity."
"Yes, Director Fury." Coulson softly echoed Nick Fury.
He knew that his superior had just undergone resurrection surgery and was at a vulnerable time, both physically and psychologically. Being sentimental was perfectly normal.
"Coulson, don't call me Director anymore." Nick Fury suddenly corrected Coulson's address.
"After some time, I will recommend you to the World Security Council to serve as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Coulson asked, puzzled, "Why, Director Fury?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently facing both internal and external troubles, it can't do without you."
Nick Fury said, "For the internal troubles, which are the HYDRA matters, I will help you. Coincidentally, by going underground, I can better track down HYDRA's whereabouts."
Besides HYDRA, he also needed to carefully observe the movements of the Skrull. Although he and the Skrull were allies, he hadn't forgotten to be wary of the Skrulls.
"As for external threats..."
He looked at Coulson meaningfully. "Coulson, as the superhuman world gradually comes to light, various countries are establishing their own agencies to handle superhuman affairs. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s authority has been diluted."
"Coupled with the theft of the Tesseract this time, S.H.I.E.L.D. will no longer gain the Council's trust. If it weren't for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s relationship with Lucas, S.H.I.E.L.D. might have already been disbanded."
"In the future, S.H.I.E.L.D. will continue to be marginalized until it becomes merely a tool for communicating with Lucas."
Coulson fell silent.
This was precisely S.H.I.E.L.D.'s biggest problem at present.
On one hand, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s authority was constantly being eroded.
On the other hand, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s relationship with Lucas was not stable.
Lucas simply didn't like dealing with official agencies, but it wasn't that he couldn't. In fact, he could even move to another Planet, another Universe to live.
Coulson shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Director Fury, if that's the case, after we deal with HYDRA, why don't we just disband S.H.I.E.L.D. ourselves?"