Just as Constantine was heading for the appointment, Shiller was investigating on planets of several civilizations near this star system. The nearby civilizations greeted him with great enthusiasm. Despite the human race's somewhat tarnished reputation in the cosmos, most civilizations admire strength, and Earth single-handedly toppling the Three Great Empires naturally earns it the status of a distinguished guest among most civilizations.
And it so happens that there's a civilization in this star system whose beings are humanoid, calling themselves Gray Elves, whose historical development and star system environment are quite similar to that of humans. It's said they've already explored the Nine Major Kingdoms and are preparing to align with Asgard and the human race in the interstellar council.
Even though it's unclear how Shiller got here, any human who could make it here must be quite formidable. The King of the Gray Elves warmly invited him to tour the Palace and chatted with him about recent happenings on the planet.
"We share many similarities with humans. For example, we also went through a long period of division, but eventually united. We've had four major wars, each advancing our civilization. Although we've united into one entity, our religious beliefs remain diverse. Different regions believe in different gods, which means the magic they practice varies as well..."
Shiller's mind stirred, and he looked at the King, saying, "So, are you saying you believe in real Demon Gods?"
The King was a bit puzzled; he nodded and said, "Of course. As early as 2,000 years ago, we discovered the existence of Demon Gods. After relentless research, we gained many communication frequencies with the Demon Gods. We allow them to spread their beliefs on our planet, and in return, they grant us power. Isn't that the same for humans?"
Shiller thought for a moment. In reality, humans don't believe in Demon Gods; their faith is more primal, directly in God. Although God isn't the Boss in Marvel, God possesses the unique attribute of uniting all realms. While not directly granting power to humans, Earth's special status in the cosmos shows God's favor towards humans.
"We're not quite the same," Shiller shook his head but didn't elaborate further, only saying, "I heard when I arrived that a Goddess has come here recently. Do you have followers of her on your planet?"
"Oh, you mean the Holy Light Goddess?" The King chuckled and said, "She's quite a generous lady. Our Royal Family worships followers of hers, though her main followers are on our neighboring planet. We don't know much about her either."
"Do you have her portrait?"
"You mean the Holy Image? Of course. For every god we've communicated with, we've sketched a portrait. But that's only how we see them, not entirely accurate. This way, please, we can go to the Royal Church to have a look..."
Shiller followed the King to the Royal Church and saw all the portraits of the Demon Gods they had drawn in the hall at the back. Some were quite accurate, while others were too abstract. For instance, Mephisto was just a dark flame with drifting ash. Dormammu, on the other hand, looked quite like the depiction, except the portrait was drawn too early, making him look much slimmer than he does now.
At the very end, Shiller saw the portrait of the god known as the Holy Light Goddess by the Gray Elves. It was rare to see such a detailed image of a Demon God. Upon seeing that face and those green eyes, Shiller quickly opened the Battleworld communications interface and called Constantine—only to be unsurprisingly hung up on at light speed.
Shiller covered his eyes, took a deep breath, declined the King's kind invitation to dine together, and returned to his temporary residence. He then sent Constantine three 60-second voice messages, which, as expected, went unanswered. Standing by the window, Shiller let out a long sigh: Constantine, oh Constantine, you can't blame society one bit for how you've ended up.
By evening, Constantine finally returned. Shiller looked him up and down, seeing he was still intact. Instead of breathing a sigh of relief, he was somewhat disappointed. So, he asked, "How did it go?"
"Just wait," said Constantine, cigarette dangling lazily, "Hard to say if I'll get the energy, but I've got other means."
Shiller was truly curious about how Constantine managed to slip away from Loki. First of all, it's impossible for him not to have flirted with Loki. Loki isn't the type to swallow his pride. Although not as robust as the Aesir, he is at least a Frost Giant, capable of slapping Constantine back to the Solar System. Secondly, Loki being here is certainly a case of entrapment enforcement. As the main culprit of pseudo-Holy Sanctuary employee telecom fraud, the fact that Loki didn't arrest him is truly a cosmic marvel.
Constantine leaned back on the sofa, took a deep drag from his cigarette, and let out a satisfied sigh before saying, "What's so hard about it? Just an inwardly conflicted little Princess. By the way, I really didn't know that Loki in this universe is of fluid gender. So, can she switch between male and female at will? That's amazing."
Shiller was genuinely disturbed by the yellow waste material in his head and couldn't resist opening the window for some fresh air. He asked, "Why didn't she beat you to death?"
Constantine remained silent with a smile, recalling the scene when he first met Loki.
"God," murmured Constantine, trembling like an addict as he fished a cigarette out of his pocket, only to realize there was no oxygen on this planet to light it. So, he had to stick the cigarette in his mouth and said, "Really didn't think it would be you."
"You know me?" Loki frowned, looking at him.
"You don't know me? Fine, let me introduce myself, Hell Detective Constantine, from the neighboring world. Good evening, Princess His Highness."
Loki silently looked at him. Constantine continued, "In other universes, they're usually Princes, right? At that time, I just thought you were very pretty, with a pair of extremely beautiful green eyes. But I didn't expect the female you to be of this style."
"What did you think I would be like?"
"I thought you'd be a bit more aggressive. You always seem a bit insecure, needing a tough exterior and aggressive way of doing things to consolidate your position. It seems you've been well protected in this universe."
"I haven't been protected by anyone," Loki said with a frown, "I've just obtained everything I'm supposed to have."
"I agree with that, otherwise you wouldn't have met me in this form. Even if you didn't know I was Constantine, you should at least know I'm a cunning fraud. You should present a more intimidating image, or is it that you're set on using a honey trap?"
Loki glanced at him disdainfully, but all the plans she had envisioned in her mind to catch and punish this damned fraud couldn't be used, because she had heard of Constantine's notorious reputation.
Although Shiller's reputation in Battleworld was prominent, most discussions were about his strength and methods, as for his private life, even his personal character in private, hardly anyone knew. Constantine was different, no legitimate matters, only gossip about his private life.
Lucifer had once told Shiller openly that sending Constantine an invitation was the biggest mistake since the establishment of Battleworld. It's like not letting a pile of shit stay in the pit quietly, but giving it a lifetime free ticket to travel around the world.
Upon hearing this, Shiller just thought Lucifer had lost his mind, as the embodiment of arrogance, could even liken the universe he managed to a latrine, he must have been infuriated.
Though most rumors Loki heard about Constantine involved his lower half, even so, he managed to live well without being killed, and with such a rotten reputation, could still consistently bed whoever he wanted, which indicated he had some skills.
Just as Loki thought of this, Constantine said, "I'll be frank, sweetheart. You're not a cop, the Holy Sanctuary you all set up is of the same ilk as me, the only edge you have is that it's established on Diamond Street, so you call it finance, but it's still fraud."
"Since that's the case, why don't we join forces? I do my cons, you do yours, and when necessary, we can team up to play a double act and clean out those Demon Gods completely, wouldn't that be better?"
"If you weren't looking at me with that kind of gaze, I might've believed you," Loki squinted at him and said, "No smart person would collaborate with someone like you. You could turn on us anytime, causing trouble, and then pin all the blame on us while you slip away. You have no credibility, sir."
Constantine suddenly laughed out loud, then turned to roaring laughter. He pretended to smoke a cigarette, faked blowing out the smoke, and said, "Hahaha, darling, I've got only one question—staying on Diamond Street... well, I mean Wall Street for so long, of anyone you've seen, who has better credibility than me?"
Loki found herself at a loss for words.
"Which person on Wall Street doesn't turn on you, cause trouble, then shift the blame and escape scot-free? To them, not doing so means you're an idiot. Without that ability, what's the point in dealing in finance?" Constantine said.
"You're the same. Though I am 80% responsible for the mess this time, your side has a 20% flaw in checks. You're here to push that 20% onto me, aren't you? Don't pretend, you don't care which Demon God got scammed, nor did you ever want to seek justice for them, you're just upset that those energies didn't end up in your pocket." Constantine said, lifting his coat's hem, "I have an idea that could bring in a bigger haul. If you want to make money, let's work together. As for who takes responsibility, we'll see by skill. How about it?"
Loki had to admit, Constantine was a negotiation master, no wonder those devils all fall into his hands. His negotiation wasn't about deceit and concealment but laying bare all facts, making them irrefutable, yet still enticing, then targeting the pain point, exploiting everyone's deeply rooted desires, making it impossible to refuse cooperation even knowing his faults.
Constantine was right, Loki didn't care about which Demon God got tricked. It's a joke, they're just Demon Gods after all, roving energy packs in the cosmos, more come every wave, it's God's reward to wise beings, what's the point caring about their numbers?
Their and Strange's source of anger came from the fact that the Demon Gods were scammed, but not by themselves; the energy lost was supposed to be theirs, yet it was taken by others, that's why effort was spent to retrieve it.
But seeing the situation now, even if you kill Constantine, recovering the energy isn't guaranteed. This wretched guy isn't easy to kill either, pouring resources to hunt him down without gaining any energy would be a big loss.
Might as well cooperate, if his tricks work, it might even result in a profitable gain. With that in mind, Loki said, "Alright, tell me, what's your idea for collaboration."