Chapter 196

Zeus sat upon his throne, wearing a grim expression.

He felt as if he had fallen into some kind of trap.

Someone filled the earth with candy, and he went straight to it.

It all happened on the second day after their arrival on Earth, the first day having been spent in celebration before most of the gods set out to explore the place.

Hermes, in particular, went out on a mission, to find out why the world had changed and if there was any threat to them.

A week had quickly passed, which felt like a blink of an eye for him.

It was then that a pale-looking Hermes arrived at his side, showing him an image that displayed several individuals, some of them very familiar.

"Do these monsters reproduce?" Zeus said, looking at the photo in astonishment; it showed a quite large family, and looking at those crimson eyes, it was easy to tell they were all the same.

"Yes, my lord. Apparently, the man is named Damian, the blonde you fought is Carol, the other blonde woman is Damian's mother, her name is Sophia, and the other woman is named Ana," said Hermes.

"Where is Heracles? Why didn't he find out about this?" Zeus said angrily; he was supposed to explore and see if there were any threats.

"I did some investigation, and he has been traveling the world while sleeping with women," Hermes said, avoiding Zeus's gaze uncomfortably.

"That idiot. I already suspected it was strange for him to take the initiative to investigate," Zeus said, frowning.

"Where is he now?" Zeus asked, looking at Hermes.

"About that... he's on a flight heading to Madripoor; he should be arriving soon. That's where they live," Hermes said, lowering his head.

A long silence filled the throne room.

"Anything else?" Zeus said, recovering; he hoped his son would return with all his limbs intact.

"About that text that appeared in front of us when we entered the planet, I have the answer," Hermes said.

"What caused the change in the world was the appearance of what they call the system. If you say 'status,' your own parameters will appear."

"Since the appearance of the system, magic has returned to Earth, although for some reason, I haven't detected any trace of Titans or Witches," Hermes said.

"Status," Zeus murmured, confused.

Zeus

Species: god

Magic: 100,000 (weakened)

Strength: 1,000 (weakened)

Agility: 800 (weakened)

Intelligence: 5

(An overweight god and potential McDonald's customer; his originally strong will has been worn down by the passage of time, weakening him)

"What the hell, overweight?" Zeus muttered, hitting the armrest of his seat while several lightning bolts emanated from his fist.

Hermes just remained silent, pretending not to hear.

"Hermes, what is McDonald's?" Zeus asked after calming down.

"I think it's a fast-food chain," Hermes said after thinking for a moment.

"And what's so special about it?" Zeus asked with doubt.

"I really don't know; it's not something very relevant," Hermes said, looking at Zeus with uncertainty.

"Fine, pay attention to Hercules' actions," Zeus said, gesturing for Hermes to leave while he continued to look at his status with a dismayed expression.

Hermes disappeared instantly, leaving Zeus alone.

...

Damian entered the palace's hall and found Carol wrapped in her energy cloak, hugging Cortana tightly.

"You're so cute; I feel like biting you," Carol said with a happy smile.

"Get your cow udders off my face; I'm not a child," Cortana said with a fierce expression as she resisted.

"Come on, let me hug you; you're very cute. I'll leave Damian and marry you," Carol said, laughing.

"Better you go, and I'll marry him," Cortana said, making a final effort and managing to separate herself from Carol.

She had to admit that Carol was very strong; her body needed improvements.

Carol looked surprised at Cortana before putting on a serious expression and looking at her.

"Are you serious?" Carol said, looking directly into Cortana's eyes.

"Of course," Cortana said, looking at Carol.

"Cortana, as far as I'm concerned, if you were with Damian, that's fine, but you're very young. I know you're not human, but somehow it doesn't sit well with me, and I'm sure Damian thinks similarly," Carol said, gently placing her hands on Cortana's shoulders.

"Yeah, he told me something like that. I really don't understand what you guys think. I'm smarter than all of you put together," Cortana said, crossing her arms annoyed.

"It's not like you contribute much," Cortana said, smiling at Carol.

"Brat," Carol said, threateningly showing her fist.

"Anyway, I don't mind waiting until Damian accepts me," Cortana said, shrugging.

"I'm glad you think that way. We'll live for countless years; eventually, you can convince him. I'm supporting you," Carol said, stroking Cortana's head.

''Hm, not for nothing did I make sure to cover your search history'' said Cortana pleased to have his support.

"Hey, watch what you say," Carol said, looking at Cortana emotionlessly.

Damian, who had heard the entire conversation, decided to quietly retreat before being discovered.

He waited a few minutes before not hiding his steps and openly entering the room.

"Hello, what are you doing?" Damian asked, smiling casually as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Nothing, just chatting," Carol said casually.

"Where are the others? Why are you alone?" Damian asked, looking at Carol.

"I don't know; everyone went out. I didn't feel like going out, so I just took a nap on the couch," Carol said, smiling.

"Natasha and Ophelia are having a shooting competition in a forest 20 kilometers in that direction. Ana and Sophia went shopping; they seem to be buying clothes for the princesses," Cortana said, pointing in various directions.

"Hm, just asking idly; you didn't have to answer with such precision," Damian said, laughing slightly.

"You're right," Cortana said, thinking and nodding.

"Doesn't matter, accompany me to eat something; this body has taste buds, and I've always been curious about what things taste like," Cortana said, taking Damian and Carol's hands before dragging them to the kitchen.

Damian glanced at Carol and saw her smiling; he figured these two gluttons could empty the pantry if he didn't keep an eye on them.

They quickly arrived in the kitchen, and a servant looked at the three with doubt.

"You, bring all the varieties of food there are," Cortana said, pointing to the servant.

"Yes, ma'am," the servant said with a smile before running to ask for help. She had no reason to doubt the orders of someone who could take the hands of the king and queen and drag them to the kitchen.

"You should be kind and also say please and thank you," Damian said, placing his hand on Cortana's head.

Cortana's eyes widened in surprise as she heard him, and a very old memory surfaced in her mind, a recording from when she hadn't yet gained consciousness.

She remembered her master saying thank you without her being able to understand why.

"Hm," Cortana said, nodding slightly, looking at Damian with a sweet smile.

Damian froze for a moment at her expression; those beautiful golden eyes seemed to gaze at him with a love and kindness that caught him off guard.

Carol, on the side, covered her mouth while watching Damian's expression with a mischievous smile. It wasn't usual to see him so surprised by a smile.

At that moment, several servants arrived, bringing all sorts of foods—sweet, sour, spicy, and salty. It looked like a small banquet filled with all kinds of palace delicacies.

"Thank you; remember to order more food from now on. This girl will surely be a glutton," Damian said, expressing gratitude instead of Cortana, who had started stuffing her face while her expressions changed constantly, savoring the flavors.

"My king, you know you don't have to thank us," blushed a servant.

The other servants also nodded repeatedly, blushing.

Damian chuckled softly, seeing them all act shy.

"What a ladies' man," Cortana muttered, glancing at Damian.

''Not really, he hasn't flirted with any of the maids, even though they're all pretty, it's a pretty big temptation for a man,'' Carol said in a whisper, maybe because Damian was never a womanizer it didn't bother her so much if Cortana or some other woman who really loved Damian joined them.

"You're too soft on him," Cortana said, looking at Carol.

"You're right, then I disagree with you being with him," Carol said, looking at Cortana.

"Sis, do you want some of my chocolate cake?" Cortana asked, smiling adorably and completely changing the subject.

''I will accept your offering'' said Carol smiling as she mercilessly took the cake from him.

Cortana pouted, promising not to do favors for Carol in the future.

While the three were eating, a conflict was unfolding at Madripoor airport.

Sir, I'm afraid you can't bring firearms into the country, you should have been warned before boarding that it would be confiscated," said an airport attendant with a slightly nervous expression when he saw the size of the man in front of him.

"What? So you're going to steal my precious weapon?" the man said, looking down at the official with a displeased frown.

"N-no, it's not theft; we're going to confiscate it since firearms are prohibited," the official said.

"I don't care; if you try to take it away, it's because you're stealing from me. Better get out of my way," the man said, easily pushing aside the official and grabbing his suitcase.

The airport official could only quickly signal the guards to stop him, although it wasn't necessary since they had already noticed the situation.

And it was hard not to notice; the man was 7.5 feet tall, and his body was filled with enormous muscles.

"Sir, slowly put the suitcase on the ground and kneel down," one of the guards said as several others aimed their electric weapons at him.

"Kneel down? No one asks Hercules to do that," he said with a fierce smile before stomping the ground with his foot, generating a small earthquake and destroying the ground around him.

Hercules lunged at the guards before casually sending them flying several meters away while continuing to exit the airport, indifferent to what people might think.

Seeing that he was a person with superpowers, none of the guards stood in his way.

Upon reaching the street, Hercules took a deep breath, looking around.

"The air is really different in this place," Hercules said before putting on sunglasses and starting to look for a place to stay.

Unbeknownst to him, at the military camp, several Spartans were suiting up in their armor, preparing to contain him.

"The target is a god; we'll go too," Frank said, looking at Laura. It was a good opportunity to test the new armor.

For now, only the two of them had third-generation armor.

Laura put on an excited expression, wondering if the blood of the gods was really golden as they said.

While Hercules walked the streets, he suddenly noticed that he was alone, and people had entered buildings, leaving the street deserted.

At that moment, dozens of Spartan soldiers covered in their armor appeared, approaching him.

Glancing back, he could see that there were also soldiers. He was clearly surrounded, but the only thing he could feel was excitement. The big smile on his face showed that he didn't think much of these super soldiers.

Frank was with Laura at a certain distance on top of a building, ready to attack and neutralize the enemy.

"You're surrounded, surrender before your crimes become more severe," one of the soldiers said to Hercules.

Hercules just chuckled before casually tearing off a lamppost and wielding it as a weapon.

The soldiers didn't bother saying more words before starting to shoot while several soldiers advanced to try to contain him.

Hercules smiled before quickly sending the first Spartan who charged towards him flying by hitting him with the lamppost.

His movement was so fast that it caused a strong wind, and the soldier couldn't react in time.

At the same time, he used his forearm to cover his eyes while he slightly frowned, feeling the shots hitting his body, which, despite not penetrating his skin, were still painful.

The soldiers behind him took that opportunity to kick the back of his knees, but unexpectedly, they couldn't even budge him.

Frank's expression immediately changed inside his helmet before he jumped towards Hercules, he knew immediately that the god was just playing around and it was better to confront him himself before he decided to attack in earnest and hurt or even kill one of his men.

Hercules, who had a maniacal grin on his face as he casually sent soldiers flying, suddenly looked up to see a soldier falling toward him.

Hercules just gave a smile before retracting the lamppost as he waited for the soldier to approach, he couldn't help but imagine himself as a batter, he had attended a few baseball games.

He will be sure to send him against the palace.

Smiling broadly, he shook the streetlight with all his might, and a great roar sounded as the tip of the streetlight broke the sound barrier.

Frank was able to track the trajectory of the lamppost by looking at Hercules' arms, twisting his body and using small repulsors to alter his trajectory slightly before hitting Hercules' face with full force.

Hercules' face twisted before he took several steps back as he let go of the lamppost.

The tip of the streetlight hit the building behind Frank, and although Hercules did not notice it, a small magical circle appeared at the point of impact, nullifying the attack.

Gently massaging his cheek, Heracles smiled even more excitedly, he didn't think a mortal could hit so hard.

Frank frowned again inside his helmet, this was really beyond his abilities, his punch was with falling momentum plus all his strength and yet it did nothing to him.

He had no choice but to call for help, making sure to keep him entertained while reinforcements arrived.

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