Silent City.
"There's a big deal!" Mephisto made it very clear that people could feel his high spirits at the moment.
"This is a meeting to discuss the future of the Nine Realms," Odin interrupted Mephisto discontentedly. Thor and Loki stood behind him. Odin had brought them to the meeting for training purposes.
"Coincidentally, my business is closely tied to the future of the Nine Realms." Mephisto paid no heed to Odin's displeasure, evidently determined to push forward his ambitious venture. However, such a venture would require the cooperation and support of everyone present at the meeting. Otherwise, given Mephisto's character, he would have already begun work.
"The energy bank's expenditures have been a bit high recently." Gu Yi sat calmly in his seat and said lightly.
"There's nothing I can do about it. This is necessary for expansion." The soul fire in Mephisto's eyes flickered twice, and he said calmly, "After all, according to the rules, I need to pay my employees, and the largest number of employees at the Energy Bank are the devils and demons from my Hell dimension. There are also some loan expenses, and I am completely following the agreed rules and signed contracts. Luke has data backups for every expenditure. I can withstand the scrutiny!"
"Your hands are clean, but that doesn't mean we haven't found your weakness. Believe me, the Sorcerer Supreme is very good at calculating energy consumption and understanding dimensions." Stephen Strange said beside Ancient One.
A thick bill suddenly appeared in his hand, and he said helplessly, "For example, this travel expense was set up by Mephisto, the first president of Energy Bank, against all odds. Well, it was actually your own decision, and you didn't even inform us shareholders."
"I think this makes sense! My demons are running business all over the universe. Several of them have gone to other dimensional universes, or even disappeared permanently, with no information about them. I think it's time to add some more businesses such as safety insurance manufacturing. Well, you call it personal accident insurance?" Mephisto argued, and even wanted to go further.
"We also think this is reasonable. But what is unreasonable is that according to our secret interviews, all the demons said that they had never seen the money! All the money fell into your hands, Mephisto. Those poor demons even owe Luke and us a large sum of money that they have not been able to pay back." Stephen bluntly exposed Mephisto's words.
Mages may not understand finance, but energy consumption and calculation have become as instinctive as breathing. The Ancient One, in particular, has mastered this to the extreme. In the past, she'd been able to alert the dimensional masters by fleecing them, leading them to pursue her, forcing the Ancient One to eliminate several creditors.
But practice makes perfect. The Ancient One has now been able to understand the energy fluctuation lines of various dimensions. As long as she wants, she can call upon and steal the energy of the other party when needed without alerting the owner of the dimension. And she doesn't need to worry about the other party cutting off the energy supply.
If you can't find the thief's information, how can you cut off the energy supply?
In the early years, the name of the energy thief was widely known in the multidimensional world. However, as the Supreme Mage grew stronger and more clean, the dimensional demons stopped communicating privately for thousands or tens of thousands of years, and he finally disappeared.
But there are still some living people who know the truth!
"Who told you? I'm going to send them to the heart of hell and lock them up for tens of thousands of years." Mephisto was stunned when he heard that.
"That's what happened." Stephen smiled faintly.
"Damn it! You lied to me?" Mephisto felt a little embarrassed and annoyed by Stephen's smile. He glanced at Ancient One beside him and said, "Is this the heir you chose? He's a little dishonest. I don't think he should interrupt."
"I grant Stephen the right to speak, I grant him the authority to represent me." The Ancient One responded calmly, his expression awash in tranquility. But in Mephisto's eyes, this attitude was a testament to the old Silver Coin model. He could attack and defend, and there were many things she couldn't say or do, but Stephen, as the heir, could do so without restraint. Thinking of his so-called children, who were so loving and filial to their fathers, Mephisto felt a surge of exhaustion.
"So at this shareholders' meeting, I propose to limit Mephisto's power to act recklessly and increase the number of manpower from our three parties entering the Energy Bank." Stephen raised his hand and proposed.
"Damn it, I spent a lot of energy and manpower to build the framework, and I was on the verge of success, but you want to take advantage of me?" The soul fire in Mephisto's eyes grew stronger, and the terrifying energy pressed towards Stephen Strange.
"Don't be so angry, Mephisto." Gu Yi waved his hand, drawing a mysterious trajectory in the air, and the majestic magical energy blocked Mephisto's power for Stephen.
"This is a formal meeting! Mephisto, you shouldn't be venting your power here!" Odin also intervened, blocking Ancient One's attack and said dissatisfiedly. He was sensitive to the subtlety of Stephen's words.
Three parties?
That must include Asgard!
So even if this meeting was used to discuss with Ancient One, Luke and others how to fight against the dark elf coalition, Odin didn't mind suppressing his inner anxiety at this moment and following Ancient One and others to grab this benefit first.
Before, when the Energy Bank was completely empty, everyone could just sit back and watch. But now that Mephisto had established the framework and saw a real possibility of success, they were all determined to get involved more deeply. It was just a matter of time.
As for whether Mephisto will be dissatisfied?
Dissatisfaction is inevitable.
Odin and Ancient One were even prepared to fight Mephisto if he turned against them. After all, the Dimensional Devil's style was so simple and unpretentious, and when there was a disagreement, strength was the key.
But Mephisto didn't flip out right then and there. As a cunning dimensional demon, he could still judge the situation and the pros and cons. If he were solely responsible for all the initial expenses, he could undoubtedly do whatever he wanted and ignore Strange's questions. However, since the initial expenses were being paid for by several people, and given his limited resources, Mephisto didn't want to overturn the table and lose everything, so he had to force himself to remain calm.
What else? Would he calm down after being beaten up by the Ancient One, Odin, and even Luke?
Since it wasn't his real body, he didn't need to worry about death. But he did need to consider the issue of continuing the cooperation in the future, and the issue of his own face if he continued the cooperation.
As for why he didn't just leave Ancient One, Luke, and the others behind and play the game on his own, it was obviously impossible to play alone. The convenience provided by just one data dimension alone would be enough to give Mephisto a headache if it were gone.
Seize ownership of the data dimension from Luke?
It wasn't like Mephisto hadn't considered this before. After all, as a dimensional demon, backstabbing and turning against one another were commonplace. Those like Luke who dared to grant certain dimensional privileges to other dimensional demons were truly bold!
But after using his authority to carefully and in-depth study the data dimensions, Mephisto simply gave up his idea and expressed his admiration for Luke, who had at least three layers of shells.
The seemingly omnipotent and enviable data dimension, after a deeper understanding through the permissions, you will find that it is just an empty shell! In the words of the Atrium, it is just a system integration.
For it to work, it requires hardware, energy, and database.
Mephisto had reason to believe that, in addition to the data dimension, Luke also possessed at least three unknown dimensions! The combination of those three unknown dimensions made the data dimension so powerful.
Without knowing the reason, anyone who really thinks that they can seize the ownership and control of the data dimension from Luke by gaining certain authority will end up with nothing.
Victory or defeat depends on when Luke presses the restart [install] button.
If Luke wanted to, he could even start from scratch and re-integrate a new data dimension, preserving the original data. But the data dimension you painstakingly acquired will eventually lose the support of several other dimensions and become useless, a waste of time and money.
Its only value is absorbing more energy before it runs out. Is it really necessary to consume energy to maintain its operation after it becomes mentally retarded? This broken dimension is not like other dimensions with their own energy.
Mephisto was amazed at Luke's clever move.
No one has ever played like this!
For a dimensional demon, binding one dimension is already the maximum quota. You have to bind at least three or four dimensions together to complement each other. This makes it very difficult for people to attack your dimension.
Therefore, Mephisto is currently unable to leave the others and start his own work. Moreover, he also needs to hold on to these few collaborators with whom he has a certain degree of trust and tacit understanding.
"What are your opinions?" Mephisto restrained the power he had released and glanced at Luke, who had not said a word from beginning to end.
"We agree with the Ancient One and Master Strange," Nick Fury, standing beside Luke, bravely said, echoing Stephen's words. They had already discussed this beforehand, so he wouldn't suddenly dissent at this moment. Besides, even if he did, how much force would his dissent have?
He and his SHIELD are just a small shareholder who is heavily in debt!
"Which positions do you plan to occupy?" Mephisto glanced at the silent Luke, Ancient One who had a cup of tea in his hand out of nowhere, and Odin who was watching the show but undoubtedly leaned towards Ancient One. He twisted his seat twice and asked awkwardly.
"Outsourced salespeople still belong to the Hell Dimension," Stephen said. "Mages can be in charge of the Planning and Finance Department."
"We can provide financial talents to take charge of the accounting and information technology departments." Nick raised his hand.
"Asgard can be responsible for certain security." Odin thought about it and felt that due to the rough style of his own Asgard, he could only be responsible for the security department for the time being.
"Ha." Mephisto was so angry that he almost laughed. "Is this your opinion?"
"Of course, we can discuss it. But this is what's best for both of us." Stephen shrugged. "Believe me, you can always trust the Supreme Master when it comes to planning and utilizing energy. After all, we've always been frugal and calculating this way. We have a lot of experience."
"We have a wealth of financial talent, you know." Nick gave Mephisto a look that said, "You know what I mean." After all, the two sides had collaborated and traded before, so the Atrium could cultivate a vast pool of financial talent, selecting the best from the best, all with maxed-out swindler attributes, and even capable of super-evolving depending on the circumstances. These people wouldn't be welcome in the Atrium, but Nick was happy to see them shine at the Energy Bank, as a way to make some good use of their resources. After all, if anything went wrong, Mephisto would cover it first. As president, it was his natural duty!
He and SHIELD can also earn agency fees, training fees, introduction fees, salary sharing fees, etc.
"Asgard has the Rainbow Bridge, which can quickly deploy large numbers of warriors to their target locations. My sons Thor and Loki can both take up positions and gain experience." Odin not only wanted positions, but even wanted his own sons to join. He had no hope for his eldest son, but he could still hope for his second. If Thor took over Asgard in the future, Loki, with his support, should be able to gain a firm foothold in the Energy Bank and hold a high position. The brothers' cooperation would then be a boon for Asgard.
"Do I still have to pay them wages?" Mephisto felt a pain in his heart. The money used to be his, but in the future, he was not sure whether it would be his.
"Since demons and devils have salaries, employees in other departments naturally need them as well." Ancient One and Odin nodded together.
"I hate the salary system!" Mephisto wanted to say something else, but in the end he waved his hand helplessly.
"Now you can tell me about your big business." Luke finally spoke after everything was settled.
"Aren't there many fallen in the Nine Realms? They'll definitely need a lot of energy and manpower. We can lend them money! We can even provide manpower!" Speaking of business, Mephisto perked up a bit. He kept glancing at Odin, whose face twitched after hearing his words.
"I can't accept it." Odin's beard trembled. Was he reaching into his territory?
"I think it's okay." Gu Yi said.
"Second!" Nick raised his hand on behalf of himself and Luke.
"Look, four to one." This time, Mephisto thoughtfully included Nick, a small shareholder, in the calculation.
"Are you sure you didn't cause trouble in the past?" Odin asked Mephisto. But there was no way, Mephisto's credibility was always in a state of bankruptcy.
"Look at what you said. This is a deal destined to become a benchmark! How could I possibly sabotage it?" Mephisto said, his expression ignoring me. "I just want to make some money to help cover the bank's expenses. It's mutually beneficial. You'll definitely agree, right, Odin?"