"There's a very important thing you haven't realized," Hela pointed out: "The genetic inheritance of Asgard is quite stable and has no upper limit, it can keep increasing."
"Almost every Divine King is stronger than the previous one, and their limits are higher. This is the result of positive genetic inheritance. Although there are exceptions, they do not affect the overall trend."
Loki frowned, feeling that some key points were muddled in her mind, but she couldn't immediately grasp them.
Suddenly, she had an epiphany, recalling some concepts she had encountered while working in the human financial sector.
"Our limits... our limits are constantly increasing! The desire for destruction will make us borrow more and more until one day we can't repay."
Loki felt a cold sweat on her back, the chill from her hair to her feet. She pressed her lips together and said, "All this is too coincidental. Is it really just a natural phenomenon of the World Tree cycle?"
"So, now you should understand why Frigga has high hopes for you. I wanted to choose you for the same reason."
Loki stood there, still stunned. Hela turned her head and said, "If Asgard doesn't inherit some wisdom genes, it will truly perish with their minds full of brawn."
"You mean..."
Loki was speechless with surprise. She had never imagined that the reality was completely the opposite of what she had originally thought, or rather, it was the same, but more profound.
She believed that the brutes of Asgard did not appreciate her when she was male and that Frigga did not particularly value her marriage at that time. However, when she became female, they all became anxious. She thought it was because they did not find her personally charismatic, but only valued her reproductive value.
But the truth might be that her reproductive value was indeed very valuable, and the valuable reason was precisely her intelligent mind. The majority of the God Clan's genetic inheritance was relatively stable, strong parents have strong children, clever parents have clever children.
Since it has been realized that the destructive path of advancement through conquest is a dead end, and the conditions for the transition have been met, it is now urgent to have more descendants with wisdom and strategic ability.
Although Loki was actually a Frost Giant, if she combined with the Aesir, she should also follow the God Clan's rule of positive genetic inheritance. In other words, she was very likely to give birth to children who were more intelligent than most Asgardians.
"But, but if I'm a male, I can also inherit the wisdom gene, right? So why didn't Frigga…"
"She did it for your own good," Hela sighed gently. "The physique of Asgard females is not as good as males, at least on average they are weaker. If you, a naturally weak male, were to combine with an even weaker female, how would you ensure your children's health?"
"Uh..." Loki was choked for a moment, and then said incredulously: "So, as a relatively weak but sufficiently intelligent woman, if I combine with a strong man, can I inherit wisdom while ensuring health? By the Father of all Gods..."
"It's more than that." Hela, who could see more clearly than Loki, thoughtfully said: "The game rules set by Frigga are actually to select the smarter part among the strong Asgard males."
"First, they need to have enough brains to find where you are hiding. Fierce men who only know how to charge don't stand a chance. Then, they need to either set a trap or persuade you because it's hard to subdue you with pure force. Thus, they must have some lateral thinking ability and eloquence."
Hela sighed lightly, "To my knowledge, among Asgardian males who can pass these two stages are already the smarter ones, even Thor might not be able to do it."
Right now Loki was completely taken aback. Hela glanced at her and said, "But there is no compulsion. If this can urge you to find your true love sooner, then Frigga wouldn't object, because we all believe that you won't settle for a fool."
After a while, Loki finally spoke up: "You reminded me of something - if I don't find a strong person to pair with, my offspring might inherit my weak constitution."
Before Loki finished her sentence, the texture of her speech was already full of anxiety. Even though she wasn't considering having children now, either as a male or as a female, the mere thought of such a thing happening in the future made her feel suffocated.
Loki wasn't sure if she would plan to have offspring in the future, but she couldn't accept that some deficiencies might erase this possibility. This issue wasn't primarily about whether she would be a male or a female, but about choosing a partner to ensure the highest survival rate for her future children.
But just having a healthy physique wasn't enough. Like Frigga's judgment, Loki also couldn't accept the idea of having offspring with a fool, yet fulfilling both conditions could be troublesome.
When Loki returned to Shiller and Natasha after delivering the things, the way she looked at everyone had changed. She first gave Shiller a once-over, then turned to look at Natasha, shifted her gaze to Gwen, and finally moved it back to Shiller. Her movements and demeanor were somewhat like picking meat from the market.
Shiller narrowed his eyes slightly. He wondered, what happened? Why had Loki suddenly gone from being an object of gaze to the subject staring at others? What unknown event had changed Loki?
But he just sat there silently, nodded at Loki and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
Loki was no longer self-conscious, she pulled over a fishing stool to sit down, propped up her fishing rod to hook the bait, and turned to Shiller saying: "It was nothing, where were we in the conversation?"
"We were discussing Gwen and thousands of Peter Parkers. And who she should invite to the next rock concert," Natasha glanced at the distance between Loki and Shiller, found it was safe, heaved a sigh of relief and said.
"I wouldn't look to them for sure." Gwen dropped the fish she had just caught to the ground. But because she didn't have Shiller's precision, when she threw the fish down it ended up splashing more vigorously.
Shiller stood up and walked over to Gwen Spiderman. He half-kneeled and grabbed the fish. Holding on to its tail from the root end, he bashed its head against the ice. With a "smack", the fish was knocked out.
Seeing Shiller's swift and decisive action, Gwen Spiderman raised an eyebrow. She flashed him a brilliant smile and said, "Impressive, Director. I didn't know you had such skills. Teach me!"
Shiller adjusted his posture and rolled up his sleeves exposing part of his arm. He pointed at the fish on the ground and said, "You were holding it too far forward earlier, you hit its belly. The lower abdominal muscles have the most reflex nerves, which might make the fish jump even higher."
"So, I should grab the tail and bash its head? Alright, Director, looks like you'll have to wait here awhile for my next catch. You can check whether I've got this right."
"Wait, why do you call him 'Director'?" Loki asked curiously.
"I'm registered under Director Rodrigues's College in the Dream Academy," Gwen Spiderman shrugged and said, "because I don't really have the time to attend classes, but still need the credits. The Director does give me certain conveniences, right?"
"In fact, Miss Gwen, if you invest even one-tenth of your passion for rock music in your studies, you would be outstanding."
Gwen Spiderman smiled brilliantly again, revealing clean, neat teeth. When the next fish bit, she too rolled her sleeves, her slightly chubby arm was as white as pure lotus root.
Gwen Spiderman grabbed the fish by its tail and slammed it on the ground. Maybe she used too much force, the fish slithered and flew towards Shiller.
A hand that was much stronger than Gwen's, quickly and forcefully pinned the fish's head down, easily flipping the entire fish.
"Considering that you can't control your strength very well, Miss, I suggest that you use a knife, have you ever killed a fish before?"
"Not yet, but I can try. Should I use the knife next to your seat?"
Gwen Spiderman seemed excited. She stood, nimbly jumped past Shiller to grab the knife he had used to gut the fish earlier, then half-kneeled facing Shiller.
"Uh, how should I make the cut? Straight stab?"
"No, there's a technique to it. Live fish are usually harder to kill because they might struggle or have nerve reflexes, but if you master this, killing unconscious fish would be no challenge."
Shiller used one hand to hold the fish's lower abdomen, solving the problem of the fish's most twitchy part. He pointed at the area under the fish's gills with his other hand, "Lean your knife at a 45-degree angle to the right, rest the tip at the bottom half of the fish's gills. Make a quick cut. You need to be fast, or the blood might flow back, affecting the taste."
"Swish!"
"Like this?" Gwen Spiderman made a swift and decisive stab with the knife following Shiller's instructions, then, as if instinctively, she rotated the knife tip with her wrist, made a strong downward cut, then slid it outwards. The fish's gill was cut off.
To Shiller's surprise, he looked up at Gwen Spiderman. The moment Natasha, who was sitting opposite, saw Shiller's look, her hair stood on end, as did her goosebumps.
What's scarier than a psychopath having a 'Bloody Love Story' with a woman? It is that same psychopath following another story named 'How a Psychopath is Trained'!
"Gwen, do you really like fish that much?" Natasha was gritting her teeth as she asked.
At first, Gwen Spiderman was unsure why Natasha sounded so angry, but she was the type who liked to guess love stories in dramas with her girlfriends. She swiftly related it to some plots from romantic dramas.
Gwen Spiderman's eyes moved from Shiller, to Natasha, then back to Shiller again. Her face was filled with, "Something is off about you two."
Shiller took the knife, processed the fish quickly, and put its flesh back into the ice. He walked back to his seat, turned to Loki and said, "What were you up to earlier? It shouldn't take that long to drop things off at the cabin, should it?"
Contrary to her previous confusion, Loki tilted her body slightly towards Shiller and rested her elbow on the armrest by his side. "I chatted with Thor and Hela about some internal affairs in the Fairy Palace."
For some reasons, Loki didn't tell the whole truth, but Shiller caught onto something, "Hela came, too?"
"Yes, she might be fishing with Professor Charles and the others right now."
"Prince Hela, I didn't expect you to have an interest in fishing too," Charles greeted Hela with a smile.
Hela rarely smiled, but she nodded and shifted her gaze into the distance, mysteriously saying,
"Yes, I quite enjoy fishing. I just cast a good bait too."