# 1075
Chapter 1076: Empty City Stratagem
Asgard.
Human Enclosure.
Beneath the gloomy sky, swirling sands raged across the barren wasteland. In a corner of this small world, a dilapidated shantytown lay in deathly silence.
A thick stench of blood flowed through the open space at the center of the shantytown. Several black crows, pecking at the unidentifiable corpses, seemed to sense something and flapped their wings, quickly taking flight.
From high above, the vast open ground of the shantytown was covered in a dark mass of corpses.
Elderly, children, stray dogs, even a pregnant woman with her belly distended high,死不瞑目 with eyes wide open—all piled together like garbage. A rough count showed nearly ten thousand. Judging from the decomposition state, these bodies had been dead for less than a day.
And at the center of these ten thousand corpses, drawn with black, eerie silk threads, was a mysterious symbol, resembling both an eye and a serpent's mouth.
Suddenly, the mysterious symbol blazed brightly. Countless black threads madly devoured the flesh and blood from the surrounding corpses. The tens of thousands of bodies on the open ground withered visibly, while at the same time, a man's figure rapidly materialized from the void.
Whoosh—!
As all the corpses desiccated into ash, Loki sat up abruptly. His pale face was covered in sweat, and terror still lingered in his eyes.
He calmed himself for a moment, then reached up to press his forehead. With a resigned sigh, he lifted his head toward the gloomy sky:
"So this is the power of the Heavenly Venerated… Thank goodness I left a backup plan here at the Human Enclosure last night, or I would have really died."
He slowly stood up, casually glancing at the tens of thousands of rough cloth garments scattered around. He reached into the one nearest to him and pulled out a black insect egg.
After killing the people in the shantytown, he had forced these eggs into their stomachs. That way, even if something went wrong with his resurrection ritual, this egg wouldn't be easily discovered.
He drew a small knife and cut open the egg's surface. Bloodworms crawled out one after another, quickly gathering into a red eyeball.
"Brother, how are things on your end?" Loki asked, looking at the eye.
Sss!
A tiny opening cracked at the top of the red eyeball, like a row of fine, dense fangs, gently opening and closing:
"The Yuanshi Tianzun and Vishnu are still hunting me. I can't break away."
Odin's voice came through.
Loki nodded slightly. "The other divine realms should have sensed the Supreme God battle by now. Brother, your secret won't stay hidden much longer… In the short term, you can't return to Asgard. Find somewhere else to shelter."
"I know." Odin paused. "What's your plan next?"
"This time, infiltrating Great Xia with an avatar taught me quite a lot." Loki seemed to recall something, a playful glint appearing in his eyes. "The gods of Great Xia are so blatant in annihilating Takamagahara, and with everyone watching, they made that ten-day agreement with Brother—you. All of this is to redirect everyone's attention to Asgard, covering up the truth that they've all left. In the words of Great Xia's military strategy, this should be called… the Empty City Stratagem.
Their real target isn't Asgard at all, but another place… I've more or less figured out where."
"Another place?"
Loki's eyes narrowed slightly as he slowly uttered a name.
Odin fell silent for a moment. "Then what do you intend to do?"
"Hehe, the more chaos they cause, the better for us." Loki laughed coldly, his narrow eyes emanating cunning light. "I… am of course going to pour oil onto the flames of their plan."
...
Greece.
Olympus.
"Supreme God battle?"
Beneath the thunderclouds, Zeus, his entire body packed with explosive muscles, seemed to sense something. He lifted his head and gazed toward a certain direction. After a long moment, his brow furrowed slightly. "Odin's divine power feels off… Why is Vishnu teamed up with Great Xia's Tianzun?"
He沉思良久，standing there in thought, his expression growing increasingly grave.
"Aglaea."
"Father God."
A woman radiating brilliance stood quietly behind Zeus.
"Something seems amiss… Issue the order—Olympus goes into full lockdown over the next few days. No one is to leave. Go to Asgard personally and see what's going on."
"Yes."
The woman took a step back, her form gradually fading into the shimmering light.
...
India.
Divine Temple.
In the ancient temple, the colossal golden Buddha statue at the center shuddered slightly.
The Buddha heads facing the four directions simultaneously opened their eyes. Dust fell from the statue as they slowly turned toward the temple gates.
"Vishnu… Odin… Cthulhu…"
A low voice emerged from the Buddha's mouth.
After a moment, within the empty temple hall, the temple gates gradually closed.
Thud—!
With a dull boom, the gates sealed shut. The entire ancient temple was completely cut off from the world, silently suspended in the void.
...
Egypt.
Sun City.
Upon the nine towering celestial pillars at the city's center, five figures sat cross-legged with closed eyes, slowly restoring Egypt's national fortune.
At that moment, on the tallest Sun God pillar, a phantom opened its eyes and looked toward a certain direction, uttering a surprised sound:
"Great Xia's Tianzun is fighting Odin… Why is Vishnu mixed up in this? Have the Buddha statues at the Divine Temple switched sides to Great Xia?"
"Something is strange." The Wind God Shu suddenly spoke. "India's Divine Temple is, after Japan's Takamagahara, the most mysterious divine realm… It's said the Indian gods possess unfathomable power. Even Great Xia might not be their match in a direct confrontation. They joined the alliance before—there was no reason for them to suddenly defect to Great Xia and turn on us."
"Maybe there's something even stranger."
The God of Life suddenly spoke, pointing to the two empty pillars beside him. "Nephthys and Nun went to investigate Great Xia over ten days ago. Why haven't they returned?"
All the pillar gods present fell into silence.
"Ten days isn't that long. Perhaps they've run into some trouble." After a long while, the Wind God Shu finally spoke.
"The situation in the mist is somewhat strange now." On the Sun God pillar, the phantom considered for a moment before saying: "Let's keep Sun City locked down for now and observe quietly. Once the relationship between Asgard, Great Xia, and the Divine Temple becomes clear, we'll take action."
"Agreed."
The other pillar gods had no objections. They simultaneously channeled their divine power into the pillars beneath them, completely sealing the space around Sun City, isolating themselves from the world.
After completing this, the phantom on the Sun God pillar let out a slight sigh.
Just then, a voice sounded from behind him, unhurriedly:
"Only now thinking to close the doors… Isn't that a bit too late?"
The phantom's form froze. He quickly turned his head, only to see above Sun City, in the emptiness, a Taoist priest holding a golden flower stood there smiling quietly.