Odin's throne was quite spacious, entirely cast in gold, seemingly merging with the Golden Palace.
But throughout history, in any nation, thrones have almost always been hard and unyielding.
Those with a backrest don't have a cushion, those with a cushion can't reach the backrest, and if both are present, one can't touch the armrests.
In short, the existence of such a seat is to make the King uncomfortable.
It is said this is to remind one to remain vigilant and to handle state affairs diligently.
So while some envy others sitting on the throne, once they sit on it themselves, they find it uncomfortable.
It's much like governing a country; it seems easy, but is hard in practice.
Loki was like this, seeing Asgard as a place of singing and dancing, feeling that being King seemed comfortable. But once he actually sat on the throne, Asgard's old accounts made him, despite his cleverness, restless.
Not everyone can be a qualified King, Su Ming was very clear that he couldn't.
He didn't like tedious matters, nor being bound to the throne. Instead, he preferred using the existing societal structures to build hidden small groups.
Odin's brother was an unqualified King.
The Great Serpent was once stronger and more ruthless than Odin, wherever the sharp edge of his army pointed, it would be razed to the ground.
If Odin's early wars were for rule and subjugation, the Great Serpent's war purposes were much simpler.
That was to exterminate everything.
He was the God of Fear, gathering emotions of fear as energy, making him stronger.
The Great Serpent could be described as mad, a kind of calm madness, his goal to annihilate everything was a bid to prevent the fulfillment of the prophecy of Twilight of the Gods.
If he could eliminate the enemies in the prophecy in advance, wouldn't everything be fine?
But Twilight of the Gods isn't an ordinary prophecy; it was engraved into the rules of the world at its very inception.
The cycle of gods and life is the foundation of the world's operation.
The Great Serpent didn't kill any of his future adversaries, and his attacks instead turned many strangers into mortal enemies.
From another angle, he was actually facilitating the prophecy's fulfillment, as he himself, along with those enemies, were part of the prophecy.
It's like carrying the grinding wheel of fate on one's back, searching everywhere for a way to shatter the wheel, only to find another facet of the wheel instead.
Back then, Odin greatly admired the Great Serpent, who was brave and fearless in battle, a model of the Warriors of the Aesir Race.
But over time, as none of his heart's goals were realized, the Great Serpent's mentality grew more impatient, and his methods became increasingly brutal.
He would obliterate infants of other races, or completely destroy certain worlds.
In Odin's view, this was unnecessary cruelty; he thought the Great Serpent might have some illness.
So he sought the World Tree for answers, hoping to cure his brother's ailment. The World Tree stirred up a breeze and gave him a prophecy.
'The Son of Odin will fight the Great Serpent, killing it, but the Son of Odin will fall dead after taking nine steps.'
The Great Serpent was beyond cure; his madness and slaughter simply couldn't be stopped, and his destined path was world destruction, the only way of cessation was death.
This was fate; until the Great Serpent fulfilled his destiny, he couldn't be killed.
At the time Odin was unmarried and childless, he disregarded the World Tree's words as mere noise.
But the Great Serpent saw it differently; he heard of Odin wanting to 'heal' him?
He thought he had no illness at all, so what did healing mean? It must be that his brother wanted to betray him.
So the Great Serpent fought a major battle with Odin, which quickly escalated into an internal war among the Aesir Race.
Surprisingly, more chose to help Odin.
Because the Great Serpent continually broke limits with the Asgardians, slaughtering unarmed people, destroying others' homes, and torturing enemies with cruelty, none of which were acts of glory.
Without glory, the Asgardians had no life goal, leading the troops to revolt, aiding Odin to ultimately win.
Odin was embraced by the people and the army, like being clothed in robes, forcefully placed on the throne.
He actually didn't want this, he just wished to heal his brother.
But after the Great Serpent's defeat, the look he gave Odin transformed into pure hatred, there was no going back for them.
Odin wasn't ordinary either; he knew things had gone beyond reconciliation, so he might as well go all the way, killing his brother.
However, as the prophecy stated, only the Son of Odin can perish alongside the Great Serpent.
Neither the Eternal Spear, nor the Treasure Sword left by Bor, nor any method Odin could think of could kill the Great Serpent.
Despite being cut to near death by these weapons, the Great Serpent simply wouldn't die.
Odin had no solution, so he could only imprison the Great Serpent in the deepest part of Earth's Mariana Trench, using a seal, and gathering all the poisonous sea dragons he could find to serve as guards there.
As time passed, Odin's wisdom grew, and Thor became his only biological son. He knew that the prophecy would be fulfilled with Thor.
But he couldn't bear to let Thor face the Great Serpent, so the matter was delayed.
Currently, the Great Serpent should still be locked in the ocean, cursing Odin every day.
The clues were connected, and the appearance of Hydra here seemed to be a sign. Could it be that the leader of the Hydra forces is the Red Skull's daughter?
Breaking the seal of the Great Serpent requires a Warhammer, the Winter Goddess's hammer 'Stil'. This Divine Weapon has always been kept in Germany, and where it fell in Midgard is the Arctic.
Like Mjolnir, there is a condition to lifting it: one must be devoid of hope, as cold and indifferent as the winter.
Xiaohuzi and Red Skull both tried; neither could lift the weapon. They harbored great ambition and had visions for the future world, which were forms of hope.
So Xiaohuzi ordered a building to be constructed over the hammer and stationed loyal SS guards there.
In the comics, it was the Red Skull's daughter 'Sin' who lifted the weapon, released the Great Serpent, and triggered the major event 'Origin of Fear'.
But that should happen much later... Regardless, Su Ming plans to return to Earth once to find out if the Hammer of Winter is still in the Arctic.
This will take some time, but the immediate priority is to stop the war in Asgard.
He caressed the armrest of the throne, the cold metal gave him a subtle feeling as he looked at the Queen and the Empress below the Imperial Steps and asked:
"Do you remember the Great Serpent?"
"The Great Serpent!" Frigga's eyes widened, losing her usual composure.
"The Great Serpent?" Gullveig looked puzzled; she seemed not to understand what was being talked about.
Frigga clearly remembered, with a look of shock on her face: "But Odin said the Great Serpent was dead, suddenly dying on the throne, that was a very long time ago."
Su Ming waved his hand, calling Gin and Brynhild over, as they needed to be mentally prepared if facing the Great Serpent.
"Obviously, Odin lied, because in the prophecy, the Great Serpent would perish with Thor. He couldn't bear to lose his son nor did he want anyone to mention his attempted patricide."
Frigga took a deep breath, sensing that the elements of Twilight of the Gods were about to come together. Except for the Winter of the Wolf, everything was gradually fulfilling, with the characters of prophecy taking their positions, leaving the gods' fate in turmoil.
"What should we do?" Frigga asked, somewhat at a loss.
"I can deal with the Great Serpent, but it's not a free service, considering it's something Odin couldn't do. Do we have a deal?" Su Ming pulled out a cigarette, skillfully lighting it with a lighter, exhaling smoke through Odin's visage.
"Agreed," Frigga responded without hesitation.
"Good, then you go and use your magic to heal Heimdall. Gullveig, take your people and guard the Golden Palace, block all the doors—it goes without saying, right?"
Su Ming flicked ash, starting to allocate tasks to the two women as a matter of course.
"What about us?" Brynhild asked eagerly, not knowing who the enemy of the Immortal Palace was, but it sounded formidable, piquing her interest.
"You're free now, no longer bound to serve the Immortal Palace. In exchange for this freedom, I need you to go to Saka Star and tell the Celestial Venerable Gao that Odin wants to make a wager with him."
Su Ming, holding a long spear in one hand and a cigarette in the other, seemed in a good mood.
Using someone else's identity, betting with someone else's stakes, bringing the cosmos's greatest gambler to the table felt immensely satisfying.
The Celestial Venerable Gao, one of the Cosmic Elders, possessed infinite life and filled his boredom by learning and playing various kinds of games.
He had mastered nearly every game and competition technique in the cosmos and loved gambling the most. Odin's identity would be enough to sit at the gambling table with him.
The Celestial Venerable Gao was powerful, immune to aging and all diseases, immune to physical attacks, and had strong regenerative capabilities.
His cosmic energy allowed him to fly, control the minds of living beings, mold matter or make matter reorganize, and he also possessed the ability to jump through time and space.
Brynhild's emotions were mixed, feeling liberated on one hand, but on the other, uncertain about where to go after leaving the Immortal Palace.
Perhaps, by going to Saka Star, she might never return.
Since Deathstroke had requested compensation, she was willing to convey his message, leaving future matters for the future.
"What is the bet?"
"I bet his arena champion can't defeat Mephisto."
Brynhild contemplated for a moment, "The current arena champion is a centaur, part human, part machine, very strong. Mephisto is not known for his combat prowess."
Ah, so the current champion is Bill... Well, that's even better.
"I know, but I'm betting on this. If the Celestial Venerable Gao wins, the crown prince of Asgard, Thor Odinson, will become a gladiator for him in seventy-two years. If I win, then in seventy-two years, the Celestial Venerable Gao must send his arena champion to Asgard to become a gladiator."
Su Ming stated the bet, putting Thor on the gambling table as a stake.
"Why seventy-two years later?"
Brynhild was puzzled; the number seemed arbitrary, like it was casually mentioned.
"Speaking of seventy-two, I just think of changes... Anyway, don't mind these details, I think the Celestial Venerable Gao will enjoy this gamble full of the unknown."
Su Ming exhaled smoke, gently leaning back, relaxing against the throne's backrest.