Odin's voice was very calm.
So calm that Peter even wondered if he had misheard.
But the exhaustion in that single eye and the aura of twilight emanating from him did not lie.
Furthermore, the warning from Observation Haki in Peter's mind had also vanished.
This indicated that Odin had indeed withdrawn his hostility.
Seeing him look like an ordinary old man, Peter hesitated for a moment before choosing to hand gungnir back.
Odin smiled at him and then reached out to take gungnir.
"Having this certainly makes things much easier."
Odin leaned on gungnir, as if it could provide him with significant relief.
Peter did not speak, simply waiting for Odin to initiate the conversation himself.
Odin walked slowly to the edge of the Bifrost Bridge, looking down at the starry sky so deep its bottom was invisible, yet what surfaced in his single eye were hideous and ferocious phantoms.
"I shouldn't have woken up at this time."
"The Odinsleep is my means of extending my life, but every time I wake up early, it causes severe backlash to my body."
After a moment of silence, Peter asked a very sharp question:
"So... how much longer can you live?"
Hearing this, Odin was not annoyed but instead laughed:
"You Midgardian are quite bold."
"Maybe a year, maybe two, who knows?"
At this point, his tone suddenly shifted:
"Do you know why I punished Thor so severely, even banishing him to Midgard?"
Peter glanced at Thor, who was approaching in the distance, and then spoke:
"He is still too naive; he doesn't even know where his power truly originates from."
Hearing this, Odin first nodded, then shook his head:
"That is only a secondary reason..."
"When I was young, I was as impulsive as him, fighting across the Nine Realms with the idea of spreading my fame everywhere, sealing away one powerful being after another."
"Now that I am old and frail, I feel those seals I once applied loosening day by day, and I've realized what a great mistake I made back then."
"After I die... many entities will awaken."
Hearing this, Peter's pupils contracted slightly.
In his past life, he could never understand Odin's actions while watching the movies; he even thought Marvel had simply vilified the All-Father for the sake of commercial plot considerations.
But now it seemed that was not the case.
Laufey, Hela, Fenrir, Surtur, Jormungandr...
These terrifying beings were sealed one by one by Odin, serving as proof of his journey of fighting monsters and leveling up.
But when he died, the seals on these guys wouldn't be released one by one in order.
It was like how singers have strong vocal ranges when they are young and write songs without restraint, but as they age, they can't hit those high notes even if they strain themselves.
If Thor didn't grow to surpass him within a limited time, the moment Odin died and those terrifying seals were all released at once, Asgard's fate was almost certainly sealed.
"So, you want me to be his babysitter?" Peter asked bluntly.
Odin was clearly choked up again, and only after a moment did he laugh helplessly:
"I think describing it as an 'ally' would be more appropriate... I know what you're thinking; I won't let you work for nothing."
As Odin spoke, he tapped his gungnir, and immediately following that, two items floated in front of Peter.
They were a tree branch and an iron ingot.
Peter could more or less guess what these two things were.
A branch of the World Tree and uru metal!
Both were the raw materials for gungnir; theoretically, as long as he found a suitable blacksmith, he could forge a divine artifact comparable to gungnir!
Well, although he lost one hundred and fifty thousand, what he gained wasn't much worse...
With that thought, Peter didn't hesitate and directly put these two rewards into his storage ring:
"Deal!"
...
"Father!"
Just as Peter had finished putting away his rewards, Thor rushed over with Loki, his face a mix of apprehension and excitement:
"It's my fault. I failed your expectations and didn't manage my brother well..."
Hearing that Thor didn't blame him but instead took all the responsibility upon himself, Loki's body couldn't help but tremble, and he lowered his head, not daring to look into their eyes.
"Rise."
Odin first helped Thor up, then looked at Loki and spoke:
"Child, lift your head."
Loki's eyes were red, but he gritted his teeth and stared fixedly at the tips of his toes.
"I said, look up."
This time, Loki finally raised his head.
His eyes, still tinged with a faint red, were filled with complex emotions: guilt, fear, resentment, grievance, anger... all tangled together.
"Punish me," Loki's voice was raspy. "Throw me in the dungeon or exile me, I'll accept it."
Odin did not speak.
He just looked at Loki in silence, and after a long time, he finally spoke slowly:
"I was wrong."
A few light words, yet they left everyone present stunned.
Loki's expression froze instantly: "What did you say?"
"I said, I was wrong," Odin repeated, his voice even lower this time.
"I shouldn't have hidden your true heritage from you."
"Perhaps telling you the whole truth from the very beginning would have been the better approach."
Loki wanted to say something, but his throat felt as if it were blocked by something, and he couldn't utter a single word.
Seeing him like this, Odin continued:
"Perhaps you may no longer acknowledge me as your father in your heart, but I still must say..."
"Enough!"
Loki suddenly let out a low growl.
On his face was not anger or resentment, but a complete and utter breakdown.
"What right do you have to apologize to me? What right?!"
"I nearly destroyed all of Midgard! I betrayed Asgard!"
"I've done so many despicable things, and you actually... you actually say you were wrong?!"
Odin did not answer.
He just stood there, quietly bearing Loki's outburst.
Thor wanted to step forward, but Odin stopped him with a glance.
"You should curse me," Loki's voice was trembling. "You should punish me, lock me up, exile me to the most remote corner of the Universe..."
Loki backed away as he spoke, and soon he had reached the edge of the Bifrost Bridge.
"I'm not qualified to accept your apology, and I'm not qualified to stay in Asgard..."
After saying this, he leaned back and fell into the endless void beneath the Bifrost Bridge.
"Loki!!!"
Thor lunged forward in an attempt to stop it, but he was still a step too slow, only able to watch as a corner of Loki's dark green cape brushed past his fingers.
"You fool, why do you always..."
At this point, he spun around, looking at Odin as if grasping for a final lifeline:
"Father, Loki..."
Odin let out a long sigh, and his entire being seemed to age another ten years: