Strange shook his head and said, "According to my teacher, it's a symbol of cosmic power, part of mystical studies. Even though it was born on Earth, it has nothing to do with the people here."
Nick rubbed his forehead and said, "I guess, it must have something to do with that Giant Bat from last time, right?"
With that, he looked at Shiller, who gave him an affirmative nod and then said, "We can do something with this."
"New totemic powers are rising in the cosmos, and they need your help. To give is to receive. With an investment return rate of 200% during the birth of a new god, why not join the Totem God Religion and stride on the path of Magic success?"
Stark and Strange applauded. Nick commented, "Theoretically, it does seem plausible. A Major Demon with the ability to retaliate is also a beneficiary, and these Minor Demons, whose power has been taken away, are no match for these stronger combined forces."
"Plus, with the entity behind the Supreme Magician ensuring no one dares to be evil, the chain of exploitation and harvest has basically completed a closed loop."
Nick sighed, "The plan is good, but the risk is still huge. Earth is at a huge disadvantage, humans here are too fragile, civilization is relatively backward. Without borrowing power from others, we can't compete against any cosmic power. Once cornered, we have no resistance."
"I always believed..." Stark said firmly, "If one day, Earth faced a disaster against which we are powerless, at least we should be capable of avenging it, so..."
"Stop!" Shiller interrupted Stark's words, saying, "Don't speak of such ill omens. Also, Earth is not without resistance."
"For you, resistance must mean force. I admit that sufficient force is necessary for us to sit at the negotiation table."
"But when we indeed can't develop enough force in a short time, it's not degrading to use other methods to accumulate resources and buy time for us, just like what we planned."
"I think your perspective is limited." Strange continued Shiller's words, "You think humans can't harm those weird aliens with atomic bombs made by science, but we can actually think in another way, like, make one with magic."
"If we can really deceive...I mean borrow enough power from those Cosmic Sorcerers, it could also become our weapon to guard Earth. Both of these are just different routes with no essential differences."
Nick sighed again, continuing, "Every beginning is hard. We have a plan, but where do we start?"
"We indeed know too little about things beyond Earth." Stark also said, "Anyway, I don't know those Cosmic Sorcerers."
Strange shrugged and said, "I could talk about it with my teacher. But I'm worried that such a devious plan..."
He sighed too, then said, "It would definitely ruin my image in her eyes and she'll think me a fraud."
"Also, I'm not certain she would ask that entity behind her to help with this. After all, however you put it, this plan is a bit too rogue..."
"The urgent task now is to find someone who knows enough about things beyond Earth, especially about those Cosmic Sorcerers and other forces, to help clear our doubts, so we can select the first victims...I mean participants." Shiller suggested.
"It's not that easy. Most people on Earth don't believe in the existence of aliens. Even space agencies and astronauts have no understanding of those mysteries." Nick said while rubbing his forehead.
"Even if you can find such a person, you have to ensure they are harmless and can communicate normally with humans," Stark added.
"Preferably with lower IQ, so it's easy for us to extract information without revealing our objective," Strange supplemented.
All three sighed together, feeling that they were daydreaming.
Just then, Nick's phone rang. After answering the call, he said, "Yes, that's correct...what's up?"
"You said what?...Are you sure?"
"Really? Anything else?"
After hanging up, Nick repeated the report he had just received over the phone, "An alien object is suspected to have fallen in New Mexico. Also, a mentally ill person claiming to be a god attacked the investigators on the site."
"He claims to be a god from Asgard, and the fallen object is his weapon, but he's lost all his divine power, so can't lift it..."
Upon hearing this, the four looked at each other and chimed in like a relay:
"An alien?"
"A powerless alien?"
"A powerless alien with no weapons..."
"A powerless, weaponless, and seemingly brainless alien!!!"