Chapter 896: A Good Show Begins (Part 1) (Patreon)

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The gentle crackling of incense filled the air, reminiscent of a breeze rustling through dense trees, as the scent wafted from the burning spices. Smoke swirled up from the incense burner's top, while the afternoon sunlight streamed in through the windows, gently swaying the heavy curtains hanging on the side.

A hand rested on the table, and long fingers held a feathered pen, diligently inscribing ancient characters. Armlets on the wrist and golden tattoos on the forearm marked his distinguished status.

"Clank, clank," the sound of earrings clinking echoed, and Anubis, with his long black ears, squinted at the documents in his hand.

"Lord Anubis! I've come to collect today's personnel list," another black wolf-headed figure, bearing a resemblance to Anubis, entered.

He reached up to rub his own ears, bared his teeth, and then said, "Lately, the workload has been increasing. We shouldn't have taken on the responsibilities of the Reception Department in the first place. The entire Heaven seems to rely on us the most. The people from Asgard would rather fight in the square than help us..."

"Don't complain," Anubis, his voice gravelly and nearly incomprehensible in pronunciation, interrupted as he glanced at the stack of documents on the table. "What's going on with the registration office? Why have you written so many duplicate names?"

"Duplicate names?" The wolf-headed figure by the door shook his ears and tilted his head, walking up to look at the documents on Anubis's desk. "Oh, you mean this. These are members from Heaven, and their titles come with strange designations... For example, this word, if translated into our language, is probably 'general.' Some of them are powerful generals, some not so much, but it signifies nobility or ministers... These repetitions are their rank names, not their actual names. The names come after."

"Why did so many of them suddenly arrive?" Anubis turned a page of the documents and inquired slowly.

His subordinate shook his head. "I don't know, but Angel Lord told me to inform him if they were approaching. Oh, by the way, once you've finished signing, I need to deliver these documents to the Goddess's presence."

The wolf-headed figure grinned and bared his teeth again. "Recently, Lord Khonshu has been absent, and we don't know where he's gone. The Goddess has had to take over his duties, and she's been overwhelmed with anger lately. If you don't hurry, she might come looking for you again."

Anubis paused for a moment, his hand on the documents, then handed the stack over. "Take them over. If there are similar lists in the future, there's no need to bring them to me. Their names give me a headache."

The wolf-headed figure nodded, turned, and left. Anubis turned his head to look out the window through the ornate curtains. At this moment, the sunlight in the square garden was perfect.

"Take this move!" Steve turned and delivered an elbow strike, then bent to dodge a punch coming his way, and spun around to grab his opponent's waist, easily pinning them to the ground.

The opponent was a burly man in armor with a thick beard. He reluctantly stood up and patted his arms. "Impressive, General! Come again!"

"Wait, we've already had six or seven rounds. Why don't we give others a chance?" Steve, still on the arena, took a couple of steps and shrugged his shoulders. "I want to try your long spear. I've never used such a cold weapon before."

"Peter! Peter! Come over here and spar with this General. I heard he's the champion of the Asgardian Arena and even received praise from King Odin himself. Hurry!"

Peter looked around hesitantly. "But Mr. Stark asked me to go to the laboratory. He said Dr. Schiller's new building looks like a caveman's cave, and he wants me to oversee the structural part..."

Steve stood on the platform, hands on hips, watching him. Peter hesitated for a few seconds, then placed the materials aside, and with a few leaps, joined the arena, flexing his wrist. "Alright, I haven't fought in a while..."

The bearded opponent assessed Peter and said, "Where did this kid come from? He's almost as skinny as a bean sprout, and he still wants to fight? You should eat more..."

Steve, holding his arm, watched as Peter pinned the opponent to the ground. He shook his head helplessly. Peter may look slender, but his physical strength was terrifying. So, when he said he wanted to spar, it usually meant one-sided domination. After Peter had broken two combat Mech armors while sparring with Stark, no one in their right mind wanted to fight Spider-Man.

"Hey! Hey! Separate, Peter! You're breaking the rules. Remember your manners; don't grab your opponent's beard..." Steve reached out, laughing and shouting. Peter got up from the fallen warrior and shrugged.

"I'll spar with you!" Another heavily armed female warrior approached. She said, "Since I received a message from God-King, I entered the Hall of Heroes directly from Sakaar Star and haven't had a chance to spar yet. Come on!"

Peter turned his head and saw a very strong female warrior. As the two approached the arena, a small robot with Stark's logo flew in, and Stark's voice came from it:

"Don't play around! Come back... unless you have an interest in this boring drama."

Peter and Steve exchanged glances, then headed towards the Heaven Temple halfway up the mountain.

Almost simultaneously, in the originally deserted Soul Transport Hall, within a few seconds, it suddenly became crowded with people.

Countless bewildered souls, still recovering from the fear of death, maintained their terrified and grotesque expressions.

After a while, when the blinding white light before their eyes dissipated, they stared blankly at the scene before them.

At this moment, two wolf-headed figures emerged from the door of the temple, holding a list in their hands. Their gazes swept over the bewildered souls in front of them, and they shouted, "General Jared! General Jared! Are you here?"

One man suddenly realized and answered instinctively, "Yes, I'm here... Where is this? Am I not..."

"Maine? Senator Maine?... Oh, over here..."

One by one, names were called out, and the confused souls began to awaken. The noisy voices echoed through the temple, and everyone felt extremely bewildered.

"Didn't I die? Someone attacked the safe house, and there was a massive explosion... It hurts. I saw my own limbs..."

"My God, where is this? Is it Heaven? But why are there so many people around? Why didn't the Lord's messenger come to receive me separately?"

"Oh my God, Cassandra? Are you here too? Is this Hell? Jesus, save me..."

"Lord, I have served you so devoutly. Am I finally returning to your embrace?"

"Quiet! All of you, be quiet!" one of the wolf-headed figures raised his voice. "No shouting. Keep quiet. Loud noise is not allowed here!"

"What on earth is going on? Where are we?" General frowned, surveying the surroundings. The wolf-headed figure cleared his throat, waved the spear in his hand, and said, "Form a line, everyone. Someone wants to meet you. You need to follow us to the meeting room!"

"Stop making noise. This is Heaven. You're all dead. Hurry up and line up!"

Everyone felt incredulous, but the light emanating from the spears in the hands of the wolf-headed figures made them feel a stinging sensation all over their bodies. Some people looked down and realized that their bodies had turned semi-transparent.

Souls with insufficient vitality could not maintain a fully tangible form. Some older generals had become almost invisible.

"Am I really dead? Is this my soul? What did he just say?! We're in Heaven, right? Merciful Lord..." one of the younger generals began to pray, crossing himself. Crying voices echoed in the crowd, seemingly filled with gratitude to God.

"I sacrificed myself for the country. I deserve to be in Heaven!" one person said. "The Lord is just and merciful..."

"Correct, I've never committed any taboos. I've been diligent all my life and donated millions to charity. Of course, I should be in Heaven..." another person shouted.

But the General furrowed his brow; he realized something was amiss. Setting aside the question of whether their actions warranted entry to Heaven, why were they all crowded together? Was it because they had all died simultaneously?

Moreover, some of these people followed different religious denominations with conflicting beliefs. How could they all end up in the same Heaven?

"All right, hurry up and follow me. As I said, someone wants to meet you. Don't be late; I can't bear that responsibility."

After speaking, the wolf-headed figures herded everyone out, and most people had not fully comprehended the situation. However, some questioned, "Shouldn't Angel be the one receiving us in Heaven? Why does this look like Egypt's Jackal?"

"What is a meeting room? Shouldn't we be meeting the Lord?"

After leaving the initial temple, the group arrived in a beautiful garden. It was indeed beautiful, but many people still frowned. They felt that it looked more like a private manor than the pure and radiant image of Heaven they had imagined. Everyone had different ideas about Heaven, but in the majority's concept, Heaven definitely should not have pyramids.

Among the buildings nearby, the most prominent were the nearby pyramid and the Sphinx. Initially, the Egyptian Pantheon had taken on the reception and registration work for the entire Hall of Heroes, so their buildings were closest to the temple.

The Egyptian Pantheon's gods favored grandeur, so in the entire garden, there was only a colossal pyramid standing there. Some devout believers convinced themselves, murmuring, "The glory of the Lord shines all over the world, and we are all God's children..."

However, when they arrived at the temple halfway up the mountain and saw the very church-like structure, many people breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that what they had seen earlier was just an illusion.

But when the elevator doors opened, many began to feel puzzled, and when they saw the very obvious Stark logo at the elevator's base, a sense of foreboding began to creep in.

As they left the elevator and appeared in a corridor identical to one in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base, many felt like they had been hit head-on and were completely bewildered.

And when Schiller appeared before them next, all their beautiful fantasies about Heaven were shattered.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 897: A Great Show Begins (Part 1)