Chapter 1 The Journey Home

The journey home from Purgatory Star needs no elaboration. After a period of hyperspace travel, Hao Ren and his group returned to Earth, which they had been away from for many days.

They didn't rush home, but first took Odin and the Mimir Head to Athens.

The Shadow Council had been established, and the millennia-old war between demon hunters and the supernatural had come to an end. In this new order that was quietly being established, the supernatural beings in Athens could finally relax a little and not have to live in the shadows as they had in the past. Although their "freedom" was still limited, the change was obvious. The most obvious change was that the reception area and entrance of the Athens Sanctuary were no longer limited to the "shadow gate" guarded by Hesperides. Some of the supernatural beings' industries in the human world had now become their gathering places.

In the bustling business district of Athens, there was a striking modern building. The owner of this building—at least the nominal owner—was a renowned ancient family. Their business empire spanned several countries, but they had always kept a low profile. While earning huge amounts of wealth, no one in this family had ever entered politics or stepped onto the public stage, because this family had an ancient ancestral motto: any transgressive exposure was strictly forbidden. Outsiders found it difficult to understand how such a low-key family could continue to this day and become wealthy, but the family itself knew that it was because they had an unimaginable backstage boss.

Standing on the observation deck at the top of the building, Odin stared blankly at this bustling and unfamiliar world, his brows furrowed as if pondering something. Vivian interrupted his thoughts: "How does it feel to be back on Earth?"

"If you hadn't told me, I would never have believed this was Earth," Odin shook his head gently. "The change is too amazing... This city is bigger than my Asgard, but to be honest, it's not very beautiful."

As soon as Odin finished speaking, a loud voice came from the elevator exit behind him: "What are you saying? Who said the building I designed isn't beautiful?!"

Hao Ren turned around and saw a small version of Vivian walking lightly out of the elevator, and then, when she was still more than ten meters away, she pounced over here: "Vivian-sama! I really missed you..."

Vivian casually threw a lightning ball at Hesperides, knocking her to the ground, and pointed to the side: "Don't make trouble—this is Odin."

"Mr. Odin, hello," Hesperides got up and waved casually in Odin's direction, her eyes still fixed on Vivian. She kicked her legs again and took off: "Vivian-sama! I really... Ugh..."

Vivian picked up the small one she had punched down, her face full of dark clouds: "Why doesn't this little brat ever learn?"

"Don't be so strict with her," Hao Ren couldn't bear to watch. "Actually, I think her nature is pretty good. She's helped us a lot. She just misses you a little too much."

Hesperides was grabbed by the collar by Vivian. After hearing Hao Ren's words, she tried to turn her head to look over here, her face full of emotion: "Not all stepdads are bastards. I didn't expect you to speak human language too..."

Hao Ren's face turned green: "Vivian, you should continue to beat her."

After Vivian and her "daughter" finished their cordial and friendly daily exchange, Odin finally found a chance to interject. The old man looked at the smaller version of Vivian in astonishment: "This is... old friend, when did you have a daughter?!"

"Don't talk nonsense," Vivian quickly explained. "This is a little bat I threw out back then and forgot to recycle. She accidentally cultivated into a spirit on her own. I told you about this, but you must have forgotten."

Odin: "..."

"Wait! Vivian-sama, did you just say this old man is called Odin?" Hesperides, who had been lying sadly on the side, seemed to suddenly react. "Mr. O, your name is Din?!"

Everyone around Hao Ren had a collapsed expression, and only Izhaks could still comment: "It's only been a while, but how does she seem a little stupid? Um... little girl, what's with those dark circles under your eyes?"

Hesperides finally came to her senses at this moment. Her face flushed: "Ah, sorry, I was a little out of control just now. Isn't it busy with managing the Shadow Council lately? The Hesperides family is one of the founding families of the Shadow Council. I have to ensure the entire family's interests in the organization, and Mimir-sama, this Speaker, is missing at a critical moment. There are a lot of problems with the newly established council, and I'm so busy..."

As Hesperides spoke, she glanced at Hao Ren several times, speaking with her tongue against her back teeth: "I'm so busy with my career that my wings are hitting my heart, what have you been doing—not only did you disappear with Vivian-sama, but you also abducted our Speaker?"

Hao Ren first reacted to what kind of position "wings hitting the heart" was. After a few seconds, he realized that it was a variant of "kicking the butt with the back of the heel." He looked at Hesperides' childish behavior and didn't get angry. He just smiled and said: "I just settled the nine kingdoms of the Norse pantheon and a million refugees, and by the way, I maintained the balance of the world (unsuccessfully). Oh, yes, I am now the chief of Yggdrasil..."

Hesperides: "..."

The little bat spirit held back for a long time, turned to look at Vivian: "Vivian-sama, is he... exaggerating or understating it?"

Vivian crossed her arms and glanced at the little bat spirit: "So, have you been eating something wrong lately, or have you broken your brain? Do you really not know Hao Ren's job nature—he's still hugging him and saying it."

Hesperides had dismissed all irrelevant people. The human servants and dependents in this building had been driven to other floors, so everyone could freely discuss some internal affairs of the supernatural society. The Mimir Head flew out of Hao Ren's portable space. After this two-meter-high head came out, the first thing he did was take a few deep breaths of fresh air, and then he smiled and greeted Hesperides: "Clan Chief Hesperides, long time no see."

"Speaker Mimir, I thought you weren't coming back," Hesperides said with her hands on her hips. "The Shadow Council is so busy now. Every day, there are applications to enter human society, and there are fights over this matter, and there are demon hunters contacting us here. That Bai Huo, oh no, Bai Huo, the female demon hunter, came to my building in person a while ago, which made me nervous..."

Hao Ren couldn't help but interrupt: "Bai Huo? What was she doing here?"

"She came to line up to buy a limited edition game," Hesperides said with a painful expression. "One of the floors in my building is rented to a game publisher—I never would have thought that demon hunters would actually play this. That plague god wrapped herself in a blanket and waited from 10:30 p.m. on the first day until 9:00 a.m. the next day, just to grab a first edition. The servants, dependents, and family members in my building didn't dare to close their eyes all night, thinking she was here to make trouble."

Hao Ren: "..."

The cultural differences between the two groups are indeed not so easy to smooth out...

"By the way, where are the two guests I asked you to invite?" Hao Ren looked around and found that there was no one else besides Hesperides and her two lackeys. "Aren't they home?"

"Oh, they'll be here later," Hesperides was reluctant to answer Hao Ren's question, but seeing that he was still a "stepdad who could speak human language," she still opened her mouth. "The protective layer of the Shadow Sanctuary still needs someone to guard it, and the Sanctuary is a bit chaotic now, so someone needs to maintain order. They'll come over after they've dealt with official business."

As soon as Hesperides finished speaking, she heard movement from the nearby elevator room. Then the elevator doors opened, and two women walked out.

One was wearing a casual dress, with an elegant and calm temperament, who was Hesperides, whom Hao Ren and the others were very familiar with. The other was a gloomy, black-clad, expressionless, cold woman, who was the other gatekeeper of the Athens Sanctuary, Hela.

A former member of the Norse gods, who raised the flag of rebellion with Loki during Ragnarok, leading hundreds of thousands of undead biochemical troops to fight Odin to the death.

The moment she saw Odin, Hela's expression, which had not changed for ten thousand years, finally had a subtle tremor. She froze in place as if struck by a body-fixing spell, seemingly unable to believe the scene before her.

Odin's reaction was also surprised, but the old man, having experienced the vicissitudes of life, was obviously more open-minded. He was stunned for a while, and even took the initiative to give Hela a smile: "Long time no see."

Nangong Sanba muttered beside him: "This is pretty awkward..."

Hao Ren coughed twice: "Ahem, you should have a lot to say."

Hela took a few steps forward with a stiff expression, stopped in front of Odin, and finally sighed: "God of the Gods..."

"Don't call me that," Odin immediately raised his hand to stop Hela's next words. "There are true gods in this world. It's easy to get struck by lightning if you call them casually."

"Actually, it's okay," Hao Ren said faintly from the side. "That elder sister is usually so busy with her affairs that she doesn't even have time to pay attention to someone smashing her temple."

Odin and Hela probably had a lot to say, so Hao Ren temporarily threw these two aside. He came to Hesperides and got straight to the point:

"Are there any remnants of the Olympian pantheon in this world?"