Chapter 371 - 368 | Heavenly Past, Under Protection.
Mephisto found himself in a passive position against this extremely young Sorcerer Supreme, during the conversation.
From beginning to end, he was like a dog on a leash, being led around.
When to stop and when to walk were all in the other party's hands.
Of course, this description was too hurtful.
To explain euphemistically, it might be that the old devil preferred to listen to other party's opinions and had enough patience.
It was also possible that Luke's thinking was too wild, making it difficult for him to keep up.
"A Hotel Inferno chain…"
Mephisto's mouth twitched.
'Listing it, and becoming a giant company, sounded ridiculous enough.'
'He even dared to say that it would surpass heaven. Wasn't he afraid of causing trouble?'
The archangels like Gabriel and Michael were very narrow-minded and bore grudges.
The old devil took the spirit of vengeance created by God and made it his own slave, thus ending up on the blacklist in Heaven.
The two sides had fought many times, each winning and losing.
For example, Faust, a famous poetic drama in literary history, was based on real events.
The archangel Gabriel used the soul of the human, Faust, as bait, and tricked Mephisto.
"For a positive person like me, Heaven shouldn't mind me saying a few offensive words."
Luke shook his head and laughed.
Compared with the studio next door, where 'God' was the supreme being.
The identity of 'God' in the Marvel Universe was much more ambiguous.
He rarely appeared, and hardly ever appeared in person.
Even the existence of Heaven was introduced later.
Originally, there were only nine kingdoms on Earth, but in the 'Original Sin Event', the tenth world, 'Heven', appeared.
Right now, there wasn't much known information. It was said that there was a country where angels inhabit, and there were two pairs of wings on the backs of the creatures living in it.
Several thousand years ago, the leader of Heven, betrayed Asgard.
In a rage, Odin off Heven from the other Nine Realms and Yggdrasil, and exiled them completely.
But in this story, God was still in the background, and didn't directly appear.
According to the answer given by the Marvel Universe Travel Guide, the Lord of Heven wasn't God, but the Queen of Angels.
Otherwise, Odin wouldn't have made such a bold move as to exile to heaven.
The only glimpse of this supreme being was probably at the birth of the spirit of vengeance.
After the flood thousands of years ago, Noah's ark opened a new era.
God found that the original sinful nature of man hadn't changed and remained the same.
Therefore, God created the Spirit of Vengeance, who rained down on mankind in the form of fire.
It was intended that the spirit of vengeance, which couldn't tolerate the least bit of sand in its eyes, would oversee mankind and wipe out the greed and arrogance in their hearts.
The Spirit of Vengeance that landed in the human world would fuse with the soul of a human host with the right conditions, and carry out the ultimate task of eliminating sin and evil.
But God probably overlooked that regardless of good or evil, in which camp, taking things to the extreme would often brew a great disaster.
The Spirit of Vengeance didn't completely eliminate evil, but was tempted to fall into Hell, one after another.
The blue flame, which originally symbolized justice, had become the red flame of punishment.
Mephisto took the opportunity to enslave it and infuse it with the fires of Hell.
The Spirit of Vengeance had thus become the 'evil knight' under the command of the old devil.
Luke thought about it. A Heaven that could be exiled by Odin, wouldn't be that strong.
As long as that old man, God, continued to hide in the background, he wouldn't have any problems when doing something so reckless.
"Are you really the Sorcerer Supreme?"
Mephisto couldn't help but slightly frown, when he saw that Luke mentioned Heaven in a frivolous tone.
This guy looked even more heretical than the devils in hell.
"Of course, I'm officially certified by Vishanti."
Luke raised his eyebrows. The pure white light that enveloped his whole body became even brighter, almost blinding Mephisto's eyes.
A proper master only needed to learn illumination magic.
"I believe it! Believe! Master Sorcerer Supreme!"
The old devil's eyes felt sour and tears of regret were shed.
The pure white light burned him and caused his body to smoke and sizzle.
If Agamotto was the Sorcerer Supreme who hated Hell and discriminated against the devil.
And, the Ancient One was the most violent and brutal Sorcerer Supreme.
The one standing in front of him was undoubtedly the most shameless and jerk-like Sorcerer Supreme.
'I'm just asking a question. Was that really necessary?'
Mephisto's heart ached for his red suit, which could turn into flames of Hell.
Losing a little meant that some of his power was consumed.
"Let's get back to business."
Luke acted as if nothing had happened and looked normal.
He knew very well that, dealing with the devil…
Talk less, do more.
The best thing to do was to hit him more, so that the other party wouldn't have time to think and do meaningless little tricks.
Devils were fickle villains and dishonest liars.
Placing sympathy and trust in them was the most foolish thing a person could do.
'All along, souls have been monopolized by Heaven and Hell, but there's only one leader in Heaven and seven devils in Hell. The position of the actual 'Satan' was still vacant."
Luke started to talk, and used Constantine's skill card to deal with the devil. Maybe there was an additional chance of success.
After all, that guy had cheated countless demons.
Even the bosses in Hell reserved a VIP room for him, waiting for Constantine's soul to fall.
"In addition, 'Hell' is a general term. Some souls will go to Hel, Asgard's underworld, some spirits will be separated, and go to Hades, the King of Hades, then there are the various gods of death."
Luke counted with his fingers and counted Mephisto's market share.
"Not to mention other dimensional demons, their followers account for a lot, and their souls don't return to Hell."
"In the end, it seems that you're one of the biggest winners. But in fact, it's all an illusion."
"There's no denying the fact that the overall strength of Hell is always inferior to that of Heaven, and sometimes you have to show respect to those bunch of humanoid-birds."
The old devil originally put on a calm expression of 'no matter what you say, I won't be moved'.
But he didn't know why, the more he listened, the angrier he became.
He only felt a strong sense of empathy and a sense of approval.
"Lord Mephisto, I'm a pure passer-by. Listen, a Lord of Hell of your level, has to personally develop business…? No one will believe me when I tell them."
"Moreover, the souls you have diligently and conscientiously harvest, may not necessarily go into your own pocket sometimes. Is this in line with the rules?"
Luke glanced at the old devil's red face, continued to add fuel to the fire, and coaxed, "Why is this happening? Because there hasn't been a 'Satan' in Hell for a long time, everyone is fighting on their own, a scattered mess."
"All the souls harvested by Heaven belong to them. Those archangels earn a lot of money and enjoy a lot of profit."
"Hell, on the other hand, has to be divided at every level, which virtually weakens its own strength."
"The situation is getting worse and worse, so you can't catch up."
Mephisto subconsciously nodded, thinking it was very reasonable.
'Satan' is the 'title' of the ruler of Hell.
It not only represented a kind of honor, but also symbolized supreme power.
As long as one became 'Satan' and sat on the throne, that was the real 'Ruler of Hell'.
Mephisto also had the great ambition of competing for the 'Satan' title, but he was limited because of insufficient strength and couldn't overwhelm other big demons by himself.
"In your opinion, what should Hell do?"
The old devil modestly asked.
"Naturally, join forces and form an alliance of interests."
Luke tried his best to talk, kept talking, and tried to make Mephisto take the initiative to step down from the intellectual high ground.
"The vast majority of human beings often have the problem of having weak-wills and indulge in pleasure."
"It's not just casinos that could harvest souls and cheat them into signing contracts, there are also other ways."
"As far as I know, each of the seven demons of hell has a favorite kind of soul. Beelzebub likes 'gluttonous people', while Asmodeus appreciates 'lustful people'."
"As far as I can see, Hotel Inferno can expand its business scope, to include fast-food and erotic online live-streaming, and subdivide souls for precise placement and harvesting."
'Oh!'
The old devil's eyes glowed as he nodded again and again.
"Then how can we persuade other demons to reach this Hell alliance?"
Mephisto gradually neglected his tendency to stay vigilant, and took the initiative to ask questions.
"If you regard Hotel Inferno as a company, you can give up part of the shares and core business as a bargaining chip to attract other allies."
Luke had already thought about it and explained it to him.
"Let Beelzebub have the fast food restaurant, and Asmodeus can be in charge of the erotic online live-streaming Think about it. The harvested soul completely meets their requirements, and harvesting at a fixed point saves time and effort."
"In order to achieve better results, the Hell-Lords will try to develop the market and grow the business."
"The devil's employees will also work overtime. By that time, they won't complain about the blank checks and empty promises!"
"As the major shareholder of the Hotel Inferno Chain, we have a group of hardworking employees who will create wealth for us and a large market, and in a few years, we will become a giant in the industry."
"In this way, Lord Mephisto, your strength will be greatly enhanced, won't it be easier to take the 'Satan' title? "
The more Mephisto listened, the more excited he became. The beautiful blueprint outlined by Luke simply made his heart soar and he couldn't wait to start his business right away.
'Wait!'
'Something's wrong!'
'Us?'
The old devil seemed to regain his senses and wondered, "What do you mean 'us'?"
"Of course, it's you and me, Lord Mephisto."
Luke smiled brightly, stretched his arm around the old devil's neck, and showed a warm and affectionate expression.
"The expansion of Hotel Inferno into a chain will inevitably require permission from Kamar Taj. Without the Sorcerer Supreme as an umbrella, how can you develop your business?"
Seeing Mephisto's sinking expression, he tightened the strength of his arm, as if he was going to strangle the other party.
"Then I'll be the one under protection?"
The old devil said with difficulty.
Thinking of starting his own business, he had to pay protection money to others. The old devil was somewhat reluctant.
"Lord Mephisto, you have never opened a company, right? Listen, when you become a boss, you have to learn to make a name for yourself, pull in politicians, squeeze employees, and provide benefits."
Luke shook his head, explaining, "To make a name for yourself is to know how to do the books, to make those shareholders think that the company has been profitable, that the future is promising, and to learn to fool the authorities, always on the verge of risk."
"To woo politicians is actually to make friends. Heaven won't sit back and watch Hell grow. How can you compete with those humanoid-birds without allies, right?"
"Bringing in a Sorcerer Supreme can not only help you avoid the obstacles encountered in the development of the company, but also add an ally for you. Why not? "
"Don't have a psychological barrier, Mephisto, you must know how many people want to kneel down and ask for this blessing, right? But they have no way to get it."
The old devil looked confused, but gradually realized that Luke was right.
If the Hotel Inferno Chain could be built so easily, it wouldn't have waited until now, let alone be his creation.
…