On a cliff in Norway.
Hock, dressed in a black suit styled by Gwen, sturdy and handsome, stood facing Odin, who looked like a homeless man after his wife's Death.
From their attire alone, a simple truth could be deduced.
That is—
A man without a wife can't even manage his own life.
But that wasn't the point.
Time trap!
That was the main topic of their discussion.
Odin's wise single eye calmly looked at Hock.
"An outcome that has become the past—you can change the process, but you cannot change the outcome."
"The Sorcerer Supreme did."
"She is no longer in this timeline."
"..."
Hock raised an eyebrow.
Yes.
Although Ancient One seemed to have survived, having escaped the clutches of time because of him.
In reality, Ancient One still died.
Because Ancient One no longer existed in the Main Universe's timeline; from a certain perspective, Ancient One indeed died.
After saying this, Odin shifted his gaze from Hock, turned around, and looked at the endless sea before him, then slowly spoke.
A long, long time ago, the Yggdrasil Universe was a barbaric era.
The same was true for Asgard.
Odin was initially a conqueror, and with his eldest daughter, Hela, he established Asgard for the Asgardians through bloody wars of conquest.
At that time, all territories that did not submit to Asgard would suffer bloody slaughter.
Hela was like this.
Odin was also like this.
After conquering the Nine Realms, Odin was no longer satisfied with the Yggdrasil Universe; he wanted to conquer more, to carve out more land for Asgard with his sword and blood.
He set his sights on the Main Universe beyond the Yggdrasil Universe, which is the Marvel 616 Main Universe.
But Odin encountered the same problem Hock faced before obtaining the Reality Stone.
His power belonged to the Yggdrasil Universe, not the Main Universe, so to project his power into the Main Universe, there had to be a medium.
So Odin severed Midgard.
Earth then fell from the Yggdrasil Universe, and Asgard's power was thus able to manifest in the Main Universe.
But Odin forgot one thing.
When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.
Before Midgard became Earth, Odin saw himself conquering the Nine Realms through time, which was not a problem.
Because although the Yggdrasil Universe also had a God of Time, it was a subordinate deity of Odin, who was already the King of Gods.
But when Odin stood on Midgard, which had become Earth, and gazed into time again, time had already become Eternity.
So... Odin fell into a time trap.
He saw the coming of Ragnarok.
The gods of Asgard were falling.
The people of Asgard were weeping.
The land of Asgard was also cracking.
"From the moment I discovered I was in a time trap, I started trying to change things."
"I put down my spear and sword."
"I picked up poetry and flowers."
"But..."
"My eldest daughter, Hela, I couldn't bring myself to harm her, so I sealed her away."
"In the days that followed, I tried to delay the arrival of Ragnarok."
"I tried everything to stop it."
"But, my wife, Frigga."
"This was a warning from time."
"..."
Hock listened to this, looking at Odin, who had turned back, a trace of sadness flashing in his single eye, and couldn't help but frown.
"Frigga's Death was caused by time?"
"My wife, Frigga, she was raised by a Witch."
Frigga, as the wife of God King Odin, was no mere vase.
She was raised by a Witch.
Simply put!
No matter how useless Frigga might have been, it was impossible for her to be killed by a single blow from the Destroyer created by the Dark Elves' Malekith.
And now Odin had provided a more reasonable explanation.
He tried to resist his fate, and then he was warned by time.
It's just—
Hock recalled the plot fragments concerning Odin in Thor 1 and Thor 2, and frowned.
"What did you do?"
"I allowed the Dark Elves' Malekith to come, trying to let them take Jane Foster and plunge the Nine Realms back into darkness."
"..."
Hock's pupils slightly contracted as he looked at the calm-faced Odin, his mind racing, instantly understanding why Odin did this.
Indeed!
"If the Nine Realms restarted, there would naturally be no Ragnarok."
"This way, the time of the Yggdrasil Universe would not be converged by it."
"As a result, Frigga died."
"...Yes, and the Nine Realms didn't successfully restart because of you."
"Hey!"
Upon hearing this, Hock immediately became displeased and looked at Odin: "Even without me, Thor and his girlfriend Jane would have stopped Malekith at the last minute."
Because that's how the movie played out.
At the moment the Nine Realms converged and were about to be plunged into darkness by Malekith, Thor appeared in time and resolved the crisis.
So... Odin's plan, even without him, would have failed anyway; Malekith would not have succeeded, and Ragnarok would still have descended.
Wait.
"Hiss!"
"It seems you've figured it out."
Odin looked at Hock, who instinctively gasped: "I tried to change, and I did change, but the outcome won't change; if Thor didn't stop Malekith, then you would have."
Hock frowned, looking at Odin.
"You could have told Thor."
"No."
"Why? You and Ancient One told me."
"You can contract your own time, but Thor is different. Once I tell him, it's equivalent to dragging him into the time trap, and time will not let him go."
"Eternity?"
"Time is time, Eternity is Eternity."
Odin shook his head: "Eternity is merely the abstract embodiment of the Main Multiverse's time; Eternity is time, but time is not Eternity."
Hock raised an eyebrow, listening to Odin's words.
He thought of someone.
Hongjun is the Heavenly Dao, but the Heavenly Dao is not Hongjun.
Look.
Ancient civilizations have their own foundations; no matter what happens, one can find 'precedents' from vast history and myths and then use them as 'lessons for the future'!
Hock's thoughts churned as he listened to Odin's words, then looked at Odin.
"You couldn't tell Hela, and Hela wouldn't listen, so you chose to imprison Hela instead of killing her."
"She is my daughter."
"Although the Ragnarok I first saw was caused by my eldest daughter."
"But that is the process, not the outcome."
"Ragnarok, the Yggdrasil Universe being swallowed, that is the outcome, and Hela causing it is the process."
"Even if I killed Hela, it still wouldn't change the outcome of Ragnarok."
"But I could delay it, yet I couldn't tell Hela the truth."
"So I could only seal Hela, hoping that while I delayed, I could find a solution."
"Unfortunately, I still failed."
"And, Hela!"
Odin's voice was calm: "I can't imprison her for much longer. As Midgard fell into the torrent of time, my power is rapidly disappearing. My time is running out."
He was the chief god of the Yggdrasil Universe.
But the Yggdrasil Universe was not created by Odin.
Simply put.
The Yggdrasil Universe created Odin, not Odin created the Yggdrasil Universe; therefore, Odin's power is tied to the Yggdrasil Universe.
Prosperity for one means prosperity for both, harm for one means harm for both.
Unlike Hock!
He created!
So the moment Midgard fell into the torrent of time, the connection between Earth and the Yggdrasil Universe was completely severed.
Although Earth had fallen from the Yggdrasil Universe before, Earth's origin was still fundamentally part of the Yggdrasil Universe.
But now, the Yggdrasil Universe, having completely lost Earth, was like a balloon with a large hole poked in it.
The Main Universe was accelerating its consumption of the Yggdrasil Universe.
Naturally, Odin, as the chief god of the Yggdrasil Universe, bore the brunt of it.
So... yes.
Odin was about to make his exit.
Hock was silent.
He looked at Odin before him, and after a moment of silence, said, "I'm sorry!"
Otherwise, what else could Hock say?
Hey, friend, don't be sad, I can help you.
Don't be ridiculous.
How many dishes did you eat to get this drunk?
There was only one thing Hock could do.
Offer his condolences and tell Odin to bear his grief.
As for anything else, he couldn't help.
Odin heard Hock's words, and a calm smile appeared on his already somewhat aged face as he changed the subject.
"You've come for 'Life'?"
"Yes."
Hock nodded.
Just as he was about to speak, Odin slowly spoke again, telling Hock about his realization of 'the sense of life'!
But Odin's realization differed from Ego's.
If Ego's understanding of life focused more on himself, then Odin's understanding of life was more about utilization.
However, this was also normal.
Ego's life originated from himself, so he focused more on himself.
But Odin... he came from the Yggdrasil Universe, so he mostly just utilized it.
So... Odin's insights were a completely new field for Hock.
Write it down, write it down.
Hock's expression was serious, listening intently to Odin's insights into life.
After all, Odin was about to make his exit; if he missed this opportunity, there might never be another.
Hock listened very carefully.
Odin also explained in great detail, giving Hock the feeling that he was holding nothing back.
Time flowed.
In a blink of an eye.
The sun set in the west.
Hock reopened his eyes, confirmed that all information was firmly remembered, and waited to comprehend it after returning, then looked at Odin.
"Thank you for imparting your wisdom. So, what can I do for you?"
"Haha."
"I'm about to make my exit. I don't need to do anything, nor do I need you to do anything for me."
Odin looked at the serious Hock, laughed heartily, shook his head after speaking, then looked at Hock.
"If possible, please watch over Thor for me."
"I will."
Hock nodded without hesitation, then looked at Odin before him, said nothing more, turned, and prepared to leave.
Just as he was about to leave.
Odin spoke again.
"Phoenix!"
"God King Odin."
Hock turned, looking at Odin who had called out to him.
Odin's single eye gazed at Hock.
"Remember, the trap of time is everywhere; it will not allow anyone to escape its control again."
"..."
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