When Yan, Hela, and Dark Phoenix suddenly appeared in front of him, Karl remained perfectly calm.
With a smile, he pulled all three women into his embrace.
The next moment, the four of them appeared on a sofa inside one of the Skyblade VII's luxurious living halls.
Yan leaned comfortably against Karl's chest.
Dark Phoenix and Hela sat on either side of him.
Although none of them spoke immediately, their expressions made their intentions obvious.
They clearly had questions.
...
Karl laughed softly.
Then he kissed each of them in turn.
Yan rolled her eyes at him.
The faint dissatisfaction in her expression gradually disappeared.
Dark Phoenix and Hela exchanged helpless glances before abandoning their attempts to interrogate him further.
They all understood the current situation.
The Celestials remained the greatest threat hanging over everyone's heads.
Karl's actions, regardless of personal feelings, were ultimately driven by the need to increase their strength as quickly as possible.
At the very least, Karl had never hidden his motives from them.
...
Karl could naturally sense Yan's complicated emotions.
He gently cupped her face.
Then he kissed her once more.
Only afterward did he settle back into the sofa with all three women in his arms.
...
Meanwhile, Mei, Raven, Zhao Hailun, and the others remained completely unaware that Karl had already imprisoned the surviving Olympian goddesses within the Shadow World.
...
Several days later, Vast Ocean detected another star system rich in stellar resources.
Karl once again worked alongside Vast Ocean to harvest stars.
This time, however, instead of feeding the energy directly into Vast Ocean's reserves, Karl stored the stars inside the Shadow World.
After being processed through the Infinite Concept Energy Formula, the harvested energy was converted into enough reserves to sustain Vast Ocean at maximum output for another twenty years.
...
Soon afterward, Vast Ocean detected traces of Phoenix Force energy.
The warships immediately altered course.
Their destination was the source of the signal.
...
During this period, Karl never entered the section of the Shadow World containing the Olympian goddesses.
Unexpectedly, this caused Hera to become somewhat restless.
Gaia noticed her emotional changes immediately.
However, she said nothing.
She simply sat within the garden outside the palace and quietly observed several goddesses enjoying tea beneath the artificial sunlight.
...
Life within the palace had gradually stabilized.
Using technology integrated with dimensional energy manipulation, Karl had created a food-conversion system capable of generating meals through energy transformation.
As a result, the imprisoned goddesses lacked for nothing materially.
...
Naturally, many had attempted resistance.
Some tried escaping.
Others attempted self-destruction.
Several even tried dismantling the energy-conversion systems in hopes of accessing enough power to break their seals.
Every attempt ended in failure.
...
Athena.
Aphrodite.
Hera.
Gaia.
Persephone.
The most intelligent and powerful among the goddesses quickly realized the truth.
Everything they did was meaningless.
...
Outside the golden barrier stood countless shadow creatures.
Many possessed power at the Sub-Skyfather or Skyfather level.
Even if the goddesses somehow regained their strength, escaping a dimensional prison personally constructed by Karl would remain virtually impossible.
...
Eventually, resistance faded.
Acceptance began to spread.
...
Some goddesses viewed their situation as humiliation.
Others viewed it as tragedy.
A few simply stopped caring.
And some, particularly those who had spent ages trapped in stagnant divine lives, began developing far more complicated feelings.
...
As for Hera—
Her situation was perhaps the most complicated of all.
For countless years, Zeus had abandoned his responsibilities as husband and king.
The marriage had become little more than a title.
The loneliness she experienced throughout those years had left a deep void.
...
No matter how many times Hera examined her own emotions, she found herself unable to truly hate Karl.
That realization frightened her more than anything else.
...
Far away from the Shadow World, the two Skyblade VII warships finally arrived at their destination.
...
The moment Karl emerged into space alongside Yan, Hela, and Dark Phoenix, he noticed something unusual.
This barely qualified as a proper star system.
There were almost no planets.
Only a single world dominated the region.
...
The four descended toward it.
Soon they entered the planet's atmosphere.
...
What greeted them was a barren wasteland.
The landscape was scorched.
Mountains had been melted into glass-like formations.
The ground radiated unbearable heat.
Three massive suns hung overhead.
Their light bathed the entire planet without interruption.
...
Yet despite such conditions, life existed.
Numerous alien species inhabited the world.
Most lived underground.
Others survived within vast cave systems.
Entire civilizations had adapted to perpetual heat and sunlight.
...
Karl frowned.
The situation felt strangely familiar.
...
Vast Ocean quickly provided an explanation.
[Analysis complete.]
[The three stars orbiting this planet are positioned abnormally.]
[Their current configuration causes the entire planetary surface to receive nearly uninterrupted stellar radiation.]
[Native species have evolved to survive primarily beneath the surface.]
...
Karl nodded.
Then a memory surfaced.
...
Three suns.
A scorched world.
A civilization suffering beneath endless light.
...
A notorious figure from Marvel history suddenly appeared in his mind.
...
Gorr.
The God Butcher.
...
One of Thor's greatest enemies.
The being who would eventually obtain the Necrosword and wage war against gods throughout the cosmos.
...
According to the records Karl remembered, Gorr originated from a planet cursed by eternal suffering.
The similarities were impossible to ignore.
...
"Vast Ocean."
"Determine whether those stars were naturally positioned."
...
[Understood.]
[Scanning planetary history...]
[Analyzing stellar trajectories...]
[Analysis complete.]
...
[The three stars were artificially relocated.]
[Historical records indicate that a powerful divine entity altered their positions and forced them into orbit around this planet.]
...
Karl narrowed his eyes.
As expected.
This was no natural phenomenon.
...
Still, the Phoenix Force remained the priority.
Whatever connection this world might have to Gorr could be investigated later.
...
Following the Phoenix energy signature, Karl led the group toward a settlement located deep within a canyon region.
Soon they arrived.
...
The settlement was populated by strange humanoid creatures.
They possessed pale white skin.
Pitch-black eyes.
And numerous tentacle-like appendages extending from their bodies.
...
At that moment, a crowd had gathered around a small child.
The child appeared to be a member of the same species.
...
Several adults were pushing the child toward direct sunlight.
The scene resembled an execution.
On this planet, prolonged exposure to the suns was often a death sentence.
...
Yet something unexpected happened.
The child remained completely unharmed.
...
A transparent layer of energy surrounded her body.
The scorching sunlight could not penetrate it.
Instead, the energy absorbed and dispersed the heat.
...
Karl's eyes immediately narrowed.
Dark Phoenix felt it too.
...
That energy signature was unmistakable.
...
The Phoenix Force.
...
And the fragment residing within this child was far stronger than most they had encountered previously.
...
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