Chapter 1170
The Golden Palace and the Wandman
Chapter 1170 The Golden Palace and the Wandman
As Xia Xiu spoke, a faint smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth.
He had just casually scanned the structure and hierarchy of the Garden of Joseph with his great spirituality, like flipping through an unfolded map, going over all the miraculous nodes, faith anchors, and the aura of external forces around the Golden Palace. In the process, he also discovered some interesting things.
"It's quite a coincidence," he said casually, yet meaningfully, "I just took a quick look around the Garden of Joseph and spotted a few...fat birds."
Magus was slightly taken aback.
Xia Xiu continued, his eyes showing more interest.
“They share some similarities with you in their philosophy, especially in their attitude toward knowledge and their obsession with structure. They seek to explore the multiverse and uncover its secrets while disseminating and preserving knowledge, calling themselves a group of hyperdimensional journalists and archivists.”
"However, many of them are extremely dangerous members who have created numerous anomalous objects and are philosophically opposed to the Kingdom of Heaven's desire to protect the normal and conceal anomalous knowledge."
He gently tapped Magus's forehead.
"Since you are so eager for knowledge, why don't you talk to them?"
"Catch one over here, and you can talk to it face to face."
Magus frowned, clearly not understanding immediately.
"Fat bird?"
Xia Xiu winked mysteriously.
You'll find out later.
……
……
Golden Palace.
The Golden Palace sits high above the sea of clouds, its halls constructed of ancient sacred wood and golden beams and pillars. The roof is covered with tiles that look like molten gold, and the long corridors are engraved with runes and war song patterns. Torches sway in the wind but never go out.
The Pantheon's dome soars into the clouds, its beams and pillars intertwining like the branches of the World Tree, and divine light pours down from the top, spreading an eternal and undying brilliance throughout the temple.
The throne is located on a high platform at the far end of the palace.
Odin, the king of the Golden Palace, sat enthroned there, his single eye deep and unfathomable, his spear held horizontally at his side, his cloak cascading down the steps, his gaze sweeping over the entire temple. His throne was forged from divine iron and runic stones, with a band of miraculous light flowing behind it like the aurora borealis, symbolizing the convergence of power and destiny.
Seated on either side were the gods of the North. The god of thunder leaned on his warhammer, the god of war and the god of poetry conversed in hushed tones, and the gods of abundance and the sea watched the feast in silence. Divinity flowed slowly in the hall, steady and ancient.
At the center of the Pantheon is the eternal feast.
The staple food comes from a mythical wild boar named Shrímnir.
Every day, the wild boar was slaughtered and cooked by the god of cooking, Andhrímnir, and the aroma of its meat filled the entire Golden Palace. As night fell, its blood and bones were reconstituted by divine power, and the next morning, it stood intact by the fire, waiting to be enjoyed once again.
Meat is never lacking at banquets, thus making feasts a symbol of endless cycles and perpetual supply.
Above the dome dwells a magical goat—Heirún.
Legend has it that it gnaws on the leaves of the World Tree, and its milk turns into rich honey wine, flowing continuously from its breasts and being drawn into a giant barrel.
The spirits chiseled it into wine, constantly filling wooden cups. The sweetness and potency mingled in their throats, and laughter and war songs echoed endlessly in the hall.
The Golden Palace was exceptionally lively today.
Besides the gods of the Golden Palace pantheon, two non-human guests also sat in the most important guest seats of the Pantheon.
They were not in human form; their wings were folded behind them, and their posture was composed.
On his throne, the one-eyed Odin sat motionless.
He held the infallible Gungnir in his hand, and two ravens perched quietly on his shoulder: one was Hugin, representing "thought," and the other was Munin, representing "memory."
Every day, they flap their wings and fly across the nine realms, reporting what they see and hear to their master.
While the gods drank and laughed, Odin's gaze often sank deeper as he listened to the whispers brought back by Fokin and Wuni, deducing the future from those whispers.
Two giant wolves lay on either side of the throne.
On the left is Geri, representing greed, and on the right is Freki, symbolizing hunger; they are wolfing down wild boar meat.
Odin's single eye slowly moved toward the VIP seats.
Those two visitors were completely different from the gods.
One of them was a plump emperor penguin with glossy feathers, dressed in a proper journalist's outfit, with a small but obviously modified camera clipped to his chest, the lens occasionally reflecting a cold light in the temple firelight.
The other was a humanoid pterosaur entity with its wings folded behind its back. It had a slender body, weighed about 86 kilograms, and had sharp skeletal lines, except for an unusually obvious dent in its chest.
Odin gently raised Gungnir in his hand, the butt of the spear striking the ground with a crisp sound.
"Fokine told me—"
His voice was deep, and his gaze fell on the pterosaur entity.
"The legendary wandmaster, cartographer Rhodes, who, like me, is a great miracle worker—"
"The gatekeeper of Sodom, the lost voice, the enemy of flesh and blood—"
Why are you so unhappy in my palace?
The words echoed in the hall, drawing the gazes of all the gods.
Soros, the emperor penguin standing nearby, quickly rubbed his chubby wings and put on a fawning smile.
"Your Majesty Odin has misunderstood."
His tone was relaxed, as if he were defusing an unnecessary tension.
"Lord Rhodes is not unhappy, it's just that he's been doing too much mapping lately, and the work of calibrating star charts and dimensional coordinates has been extremely demanding, leaving him a little short of energy. After all, even the mind of a miracle worker needs rest."
Odin remained unmoved by the emperor penguin's smooth-talking explanation.
His single eye remained calm and profound, as if it had already transcended words and reached the truth itself. Gungnir's spear paused slowly on the ground, causing the divine light of the Golden Palace dome to tremble slightly.
“I have heard about Lord Rhodes.”
His voice was not loud, but it clearly drowned out the clinking of wine glasses and the laughter of the heroic spirits in the hall.
"Survivor of the calamity of Sodom... On that night of fire and sulfur, you witnessed the heavenly fire falling from the sky."
Inside the hall, several deities glanced sideways.
Odin's gaze fell on the chest of the pterodactyl entity.
"Legend has it that Muhammad, the second sword-bearer of the Kingdom of Heaven, personally dealt with Sodom and Gomorrah. You faced him directly and did not back down."
"The indentation in your chest... is proof of the fierce fist intent. Even after so many years, the aura on it has not dissipated."
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
Odin's tone was calm to the point of being cruel.
"Later, the Kingdom of Heaven forged two celestial weapons of the same name for the Second Swordholder in the name of that destruction, to commemorate the judgment of that night."
"Lord Rhodes—"
His voice paused slightly.
"Legend has it that before the heavenly fire arrived, a messenger from the Kingdom of Heaven descended upon Sodom in the night. He did not judge you, but instead gave you a way... How rare it is that even the butcher of the Kingdom of Heaven has a merciful heart. It seems that Lord Lot's character is highly respected even by the Kingdom of Heaven."
"They told you to take your family and leave, go through the city gates, across the salt marshes and barren hills, and keep heading east."
Odin's single eye narrowed slightly.
"And I warn you—do not look back."
The firelight in the hall suddenly dimmed for a moment.
"But before that rain of sulfur and fire falls, before the horizon is set ablaze—"
"Someone turned around."
Gungnir's spear tapped lightly on the ground, the sound echoing through the temple.
“I heard that it wasn’t out of malice.”
"She just wanted to take one last look—one last look at the streets where she used to live, one last look at the memories she hadn't taken away, one last look at the city that was about to be erased."
Odin's voice was flat, yet every word was heavy.
"But the judgment has already been handed down, and the mercy of the Kingdom of Heaven does not seem to be as great as we had imagined."
"Heavenly fire and salt winds intertwined, sulfur poured down like a torrential rain, and the city walls melted in the blazing light. The moment she turned her head, fate seemed to solidify around her."
"His flesh turned into a pillar of salt, standing on the wasteland, forever facing that burning city."
“That woman is your wife.” Silence fell over the hall.
Odin's gaze fell on the dent in Rhodes' chest.
"Later, when the judgment of the second swordsman truly came, you stood before the ruins of the city gate and did not hide."
"You raise your wand, attempting to erect a barrier with your last remaining technological infrastructure."
"I heard that the blow didn't kill you."
"But it completely pierced the structure of your chest cavity, and you crawled up from the burning salt flats, watching Sodom and Gomorrah turn to ashes in the heavenly fire."
"Since then, you have joined the Wandmen and devoted yourself to creating blueprints for them."
Before the words were fully spoken, the meaning was already clear: Odin was reopening Rhodes' wounds, so bluntly and so mercilessly.
The firelight in the hall flickered gently, as if a piece of old memory had been rekindled.
Soros the Emperor Penguin's smile froze for a moment. His chubby wings twisted together unconsciously, and his round body leaned forward slightly, clearly displeased with this conversation that so directly exposed his sore spot.
When has the Wandman ever been so exposed in someone else's palace?
If it weren't for the fact that Kirad's side had a genuine need this time, they would never have stepped into this golden palace, which uses blurred projections to receive foreign guests, and listened to people coldly revisiting the bloodstains of the past.
He was about to speak to ease the tension when Rhodes raised his hand to stop him.
Those deep eyes held no anger, only a sorrow weighed down by the years.
"The merchants say that we Sodomites are evil."
His voice was low and slow, carrying a hint of inexplicable weariness.
"But those who live in the city are merely indulging in the present moment. We squander time, squander resources, squander the future, because we vaguely know that the city will not last long."
He looked up at the light emanating from the golden palace dome.
“I cannot defend them, nor can I completely blame them. The fall of Sodom did not happen overnight, but was built brick by brick by ourselves.”
"Even without the judgment of Heaven, it will eventually be destroyed."
Lot's voice deepened slightly.
“We have touched a creation that is too dangerous. We have unlocked certain structures that should not have been opened. The people in the city are obsessed with miracles, but have forgotten that miracles need to be supported by order.”
"I saw the cracks long ago, but I was powerless to stop them."
Inside the hall, the aroma of wine and the glow of fire still lingered.
The sunken scar on Lot's chest was faintly visible in the flames.
"Destruction does not only come from the heavens, it also comes from within ourselves."
Odin did not wait for anger, rebuttal, or even a reaction after his pride was hurt.
Lot simply stood there calmly, like a stone that had been weathered countless times.
That tranquility bored Odin, who leaned back slightly, a hint of undisguised disdain flashing in his single eye.
"It seems that the punch from the Second Swordholder of Heaven really did shatter Lord Rhodes's spirit."
"From the defender of Sodom, from the pinnacle of the third stage of the miracle, he fell directly to the self-sacrifice."
He paused, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Lord Rhodes, you were once the most legendary figure in Sodom, yet now you won't even utter a word about revenge?"
"Was it because that punch broke your spine as well?"
The spirits in the temple couldn't understand all the metaphors, but they could understand the tone.
That was blatant mockery.
Odin's voice was slow and sharp.
"The Second Swordholder of Heaven destroyed your city, killed your people, and ruined your status as a miracle... But now you stand here like a docile sheep, where is the spirit that a miracle should have?"
"It is an admirable restraint, or rather, a regrettable concession."
A sense of tension filled the air.
Emperor penguin Soros clenched his chubby paws tighter and tighter, until his knuckles under his feathers were almost white.
That damned Odin is even more disgusting than the angels of heaven!
When have the wand-wielders ever had their dignity so openly dismantled?
He finally couldn't help but speak, his voice low but clearly filled with dissatisfaction.
"Lord Odin, don't forget why we're here today."
Odin glanced at him, then chuckled, as if his previous words were nothing more than idle chatter.
"Of course I know, I know."
He lifted Gungnir and tapped it lightly on the throne steps.
"You want to retrieve the remains of the twelfth wand master, Girard."
“And I—” his single eye deepened, “need Blackrock Fortress.”
“I have the coordinates, and you have the multiverse map to get there.”
Soros, the emperor penguin, finally couldn't suppress his voice anymore.
"Since you know we are partners, you shouldn't humiliate us wand people like this."
Odin looked puzzled:
"humiliation?"
He spoke calmly.
"Soros, your newspapers and articles describe the Kingdom of Heaven in a much more incisive way than I do."
"The abyss erupts, knowledge-monopolizing organizations, the ultimate element that will destroy the world—"
"These words were not written by me."
His single eye swept over the two visitors.
"Since you also dislike the Kingdom of Heaven, and even openly ridicule its expansion and divine intervention—"
"Why are you still unwilling to stand with the gods and confront them head-on?"
"Are you wand people only good at speaking through words and drawings?"
Upon hearing Odin utter such treasonous words, Emperor Penguin Soros's feathers fluttered slightly, but he quickly suppressed them.
"We have no intention of interfering in the conflict between the myriad realms and the Kingdom of Heaven."
His tone returned to normal, but it was clearly restrained.
"The Wand People are only responsible for knowledge and maps. No matter how many times Lord Odin says it, we will not directly get involved in the war between Heaven and the myriad worlds."
Odin leaned forward slightly, his single eye deep and unfathomable.
"Why can't you understand?!"
He spoke slowly.
"When the flames reach the neighbor's roof, the house next door will not be spared just because it claims to be neutral."
"Isn't Sodom and Gomorrah a perfect example?"
He looked at Lot.
"Sodom also thought he was just pursuing miracles and freedom, but when the Heavenly Kingdom's judgment came down, so-called neutrality did not protect them from the Heavenly Kingdom's extermination order."
The air in the hall was slightly heavy.
"Do you think that as long as you don't completely take sides, the Kingdom of Heaven won't notice you?"
"They won't raise their swords unless they draw them?"
Odin's voice deepened.
"If the gods are weakened one by one, if the courtyards take root and grow into a forest in all realms—"
"Could the next coordinate marked by Heaven be Girard, the stronghold of you wand people?"
He paused slightly.
"The Kingdom of Heaven is our common enemy... Why can't you understand?"