As soon as Strange returned, Shiller and Pamela approached him with their idea. Like Pamela, Strange's first reaction was, how could anyone agree to such an outrageous proposal?
But Shiller explained to him that first of all, from Ying Long's words, it was known that Chi You was dead, and what remained was entirely his corpse, which was impossible to be brought back to life.
The few times he had sprung up before were because his corpse had been manipulated, not because he had truly resurrected. And the person controlling him was not really interested in having Chi You fight the Yellow Emperor again in a life-or-death battle, but rather aimed for his resurrection.
In the minds of most Chinese people, the mythological stories were like this: the Yellow Emperor won, Chi You lost, Chi You was killed. When people believed he was dead, he was indeed dead.
However, if his corpse could be made to appear in front of the public, leading people to mistakenly believe he was still alive, then there was a real possibility he could come back to life; that was precisely what the shadowy figure behind the scenes wanted.
Although Chi You had also left his descendants on the Chinese mainland, if he came back to life now, it was hard to say exactly what he would want to do. However, according to Ying Long, it was most likely to have another fight to the death with the Yellow Emperor.
SWORD certainly could not let him do that. They had spent unimaginable efforts to silence everyone who knew about that great battle in the past, preventing the shadowy figure from succeeding in their plot to resurrect Chi You. After all, if he fought the Yellow Emperor again, wouldn't ordinary people suffer?
But this did not mean the matter was over. Chi You's undecayed corpse was trouble wherever it was placed. As long as it was not completely destroyed, there was the risk it could jump out and make trouble again, a problem that SWORD had always found very troubling.
But in Shiller's opinion, the risk indeed could not be reduced. If there had been any hope at all, the problem would not have remained unresolved during The Ancient One's time. The previous Supreme Magician spared no one, let alone a mere corpse. The fact that Chi You was still lying there meant The Ancient One was helpless.
Since the risk was inevitable, placing it anywhere carried the same risk. It wouldn't be any safer just because you buried it deeper and covered it with more layers.
In economics, there is a theory that if you must necessarily bear a certain risk, you must also pursue a return that is commensurate with that risk. While the risk is unavoidable, the size of the return, however, can be controlled.
On another level, the more you gain while taking a risk, the stronger the power you have to arm yourself, the greater the possibility of overcoming the risk, and thus, the smaller the risk becomes.
The impossibility of completely destroying Chi You's corpse was already a foregone conclusion. It would be better to utilize it, to add chips to one's own side, rather than to exhaust guard forces in vain, weakening oneself to benefit those with ulterior motives.
Shiller understood that SWORD must be very clear about this. The defensive forces they had built deep in the Himalayan Mountains must have taken a great deal of effort and consumed an unknown amount of resources. But as long as the corpse was there, they had to bear the risk every day.
These defense measures could not provide a qualitative change in reducing the risk level; many resources were being wasted. Compared to actually making effective changes, they seemed more like seeking peace of mind.
Previously, stability was indeed irreplaceable, but with the advent of the interstellar exploration era, everyone fiercely sought to increase their own chips. As the magic management department of one of the only two great powers in the world, SWORD must be facing greater pressure than one could imagine.
In such a situation, every resource must be carefully considered. Whatever can be saved must be saved to the utmost, and focus must be placed on accomplishing significant tasks.
Throughout the vast Chinese mainland, the number of demons sealed in various places for thousands of years has been too numerous. The cost of manpower and resources spent on maintaining the stability of these seals with medications is astronomical. It used to be acceptable to spend resources to maintain the stability of seals scattered everywhere, but now it seems that this is just dragging on, and continuing in such a way is like a slow death.
Shiller saw that SWORD was aspiring to change this situation. Even if Kamar-Taj hadn't mentioned it, Zhengxian would have acted sooner or later, probably very soon.
But if Kamar-Taj was the one to propose it, it would give Zhengxian a huge step down.
First, Kamar-Taj isn't really for itself, its primary interest is in getting its three villages out of poverty and into wealth. Mages don't care what's buried under their feet. They dare to fight even Demon Gods, so why would they care about a corpse? Isn't it all for the sake of ordinary people?
Second, Kamar-Taj is now the Earth's official magic management organization and has been diligent over the years. It hasn't made any significant mistakes, and The Ancient One has a good reputation among the circles of Eastern Immortals. Kamar-Taj's words still carry weight.
Now they have proposed this plan, expressing concern for the magic security of the land. Zhengxian can just go downhill with their suggestion. If he encounters any resistance, Zhengxian can say that it isn't what he wanted to do; someone above was watching, and he had to change it. Would he really want to confront Kamar-Taj directly?
Lastly, if it were another method, many people might think the risk is too high and not worth it. But if you say this thing can be used for farming, and even better, for growing Magical Herbs that nourish yin and yang and prolong life, then excuse me, as a descendant of Jiuli, I'll be the first to farm it.
Plainly speaking, moving these corpses of demons and ghosts isn't difficult; what's hard is ensuring that enough benefits are provided afterward, satisfying everyone involved, and allowing ordinary people to benefit as well, creating a win-win situation.
Shiller finished this long string of analysis, leaving Pamela and Strange completely baffled. These Westerners had no such mentality in their minds, and they couldn't understand why, if the outcome was good for everyone, it couldn't be simplified instead of going around such a big circle and adding so many names and titles.
Shiller didn't care whether Strange understood or not, he just wanted Strange to go and discuss it.
He told Strange that Zhengxian would not only agree, but also imply you should discreetly find someone to give it a try, and he'd even open a small convenience gateway for you. If it succeeds, great for everyone. If it fails, he's assured he won't tell a soul.
Seeing Shiller so confident, Strange had no choice but to give it a try. He invited Zhengxian to Kamar-Taj for tea. About two or three hours later, Strange walked out of the room with a bewildered face.
It had happened exactly as Shiller had described, not a word different, but Strange was also dizzy from Zhengxian's bureaucratic speak. If it wasn't for Xu Shang-Chi explaining on the side, Strange felt the conversation would have been utterly pointless.
Since that was what they'd said, Kamar-Taj couldn't be too hard on Joe. After all, there's no harm in trying; if it really worked, it would be very beneficial for Kamar-Taj.
Pamela was actually ready. Putting aside the Invisibility Cloak, the seal of the target itself was deep in the forest, and his understanding of forests and plants was deeper than anyone else in this world. Even without relying on superpowers, getting there would be easy.
But for safety's sake, Strange still asked Loki to accompany him. After all, the Invisibility Cloak could only make one invisible, not fight. If the thing inside the seal awoke, there would have to be someone to protect Pamela.
The two quickly arrived at the target's mountain gully. Once there, magic detection was in place, so Loki couldn't just teleport Pamela in anymore. They trudged deeper into it with uneven steps.
"Didn't things work out with Talya?" Pamela, with nothing else to do, started a casual conversation. "Talya seemed quite satisfied with you. Why hasn't there been a child after all this time?"
Loki touched his face and said, "We both forgot to consider one thing before."
"What's that?"
"Can beings from two different universes actually reproduce?"
"Why wouldn't they… hmm…" Pamela fell silent. She said, "Theoretically, it should be possible. Perhaps you should wonder if a Frost Giant and a human could reproduce?"
"Frost Giants can reproduce with other species," Loki affirmed with certainty. "I suspect my mother might not be pure-blooded Frost Giant, otherwise I wouldn't have been born frail... But with humans, it's hard to say; I don't think any Frost Giant has tried before."
"What about your brother?" Pamela, apparently getting a lot of information from Talya, asked, "Can your brother have children with a human?"
"That should be possible. There are other universe Thors who've married human women, and they seem to have children."
"If he can and you both hail from the Nine Major Kingdoms, there's no reason you can't. Maybe the problem is still with the universes." Pamela stroked her chin and said, "Has there been any precedent for this?"
"There have been cases of intermarrying within the cosmos of our two worlds, but not between two worlds. I suspect that might be the issue," Loki reflected. "Actually, I've also suspected that the problem might be with Talya."
"What's wrong with her?"
"Not her, her father. He's fixated on having a worthy heir and has his sights set on Batman. I wonder if Talya might be infertile with anyone other than Batman."
"That's just superstitious nonsense," Pamela dismissed completely. She said, "Her father has that much control over who his daughter has kids with?"
"You never know. People from your side are all about that superstitious nonsense," Loki shook his head and said. "However, Sif might be about to give birth soon. Their soul harmonization and power infusion is nearly complete. I heard Pepper is pregnant too. During this time, I need to take care of Helen, otherwise, she'd feel very sad."
Pamela thought of that slightly overly-active young girl and shook her head. "I think you're overthinking it. She'd probably love it if these people left her alone."
"That's not the case at all," Loki responded. "Even though she comes off carefree, I know all too well how terrible it feels to be neglected. If this comes from the birth of a new life, their relationship could end up a tragedy."
"Doctor!!" In Shiller's room at Kamar-Taj, Helen had stuffed her mouth full of pastries and was hollering, "I'm so fed up!!"
Shiller poured her a cup of tea, urging her to eat slowly. While stuffing pastries in her mouth, Helen spoke.
"To prove they absolutely won't neglect me, they stick to me all day, not even letting me out. I want to go to the party at Centauri Star! Doctor! Talk to them for me, please, good doctor!"