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Ch. 337 What Does It Feel Like to Become a Divine Being
🕑 Added 2024-03-28 16:00:04 +0000 UTCDoom seemed to casually snap his fingers.
In reality, he had already conveyed his thoughts to the maids inside the mansion.
A dozen seconds later, two beautiful maids in authentic maid outfits, pushing a delicate silver food trolley, arrived in the reception room.
Upon entering the reception room, these two young, beautiful maids, both in appearance and figure, bowed slightly and greeted Doom and Russell.
Then, they arrived in front of them with the silver trolley and picked up a bottle of whiskey from the trolley, pouring two glasses with gentle movements.
After receiving the glasses from the maids, Russell didn't hesitate. He took a sip to experience the taste of the whiskey as Doom had described.
Finding that the whiskey was indeed a rare treasure as Doom had mentioned, he emptied the whiskey in his glass.
Seeing the satisfied expression on his face, Doom also emptied the whiskey in his glass.
Just as the two beautiful young maids were about to pour the second glass for them, Doom said to them, "You may leave."
Upon hearing Doom's words, the two beautiful maids bowed to them once again.
Then, they directly left the reception room.
After the two maids left, Russell turned to Doom and said, "I thought you would use robots as servants, but it seems you're like everyone else."
"Robots aren't suitable to be servants. Although they are obedient and won't leak information, they are too cold and lack a human touch."
Doom said solemnly.
Russell didn't deny it, nodded with a smile.
Although the Justice League headquarters had many service robots, such as robot chefs, he also didn't particularly like using robots as servants.
The reason was the same as what Doom had mentioned.
If it weren't for Diana disliking having too many unknown and untrusted people in the Justice League headquarters, Russell would have formed a professional maid team for himself no matter what.
Of course, to consider Diana's feelings, he could only think about it in his mind.
Because the two young, beautiful maids had left, Russell directly took a bottle of whiskey from the food trolley and poured himself a glass.
After emptying the whiskey in the glass, he said to Doom, "When you invited me for a drink before leaving Hell, it's not just about drinking, right?"
Although he wasn't very clear about what Doom was really planning, Russell was quite certain that someone like Doom wouldn't simply invite him for a drink.
Even though Doom had introduced a puppet prime minister, it didn't mean that he didn't need to manage the affairs of Latveria in normal times.
Of course, Doom was much more relaxed now compared to before because he no longer needed to figure out how to rescue his mother, Cynthia, from the Lord of Hell Mephisto.
"You might not believe it if I tell you, but this time I really just invited you to have a drink."
Doom also took a bottle of whiskey from the food trolley.
However, he didn't pour it into the glass like Russell did; instead, he drank directly from the bottle.
Uh...
Doom, wearing a metal mask, drank directly from the bottle, making the scene look a bit strange.
"Well, you better not say you have something you need my help with later."
Russell retorted to Doom.
Then, without paying attention to Doom, he poured himself another glass.
Upon hearing his response, Doom was momentarily stunned.
"Uh... There's actually something I'd like to ask you."
As soon as Doom finished speaking, Russell rolled his eyes at him.
'I knew you wouldn't invite me here just to drink.'
"Go ahead, what do you want to ask?"
Russell said nonchalantly.
"I want to know what it feels like to become a divine being."
"Although I've read many ancient texts about humans becoming divine being, I still don't quite understand what kind of feeling it truly is."
Doom asked sincerely.
"There's actually no very distinct feeling; it's just like a complete strengthening of the whole person."
"If I have to describe the feeling, it's that after becoming a divine being, I feel like my humanity has gradually diminished without me even realizing it."
Russell said with a frown.
Becoming a Skyfather-level being, on the surface, was indeed something that made people happy.
But in reality, it wasn't as joyful as one might imagine.
Especially when he realized that being a Skyfather-level being in this world was far from being at the top.
Not to mention the far-off multiverse tiers, the Planet Devourer Galactus, who, due to prolonged hunger, could only exert the power of universe-level being and was now heading towards Earth.
After returning to the mortal world and adapting to the Skyfather-level powers in the divine realm, Russell once again used his "Eye of All Seeing" to check the situation of Silver Surfer and Planet Devourer.
How should I put it? The situation was a bit better than he had imagined.
Although Silver Surfer and Planet Devourer showed a tendency to head towards Earth, they didn't come straight for Earth.
On their way, they visited other planets.
Or rather, Planet Devourer also conveniently devoured a few planets.
One had to admit, this was very much like Planet Devourer!
"A reduction in humanity is quite normal; after all, you now have no connection to humanity in terms of your life form."
Doom said slowly.
"While that may be the case, watching my humanity diminish bit by bit is not a pleasant experience."
"Especially when there are many people around me who can't let go."
Russell said earnestly.
If he were a lonely person, he wouldn't care about this issue.
It's just a slight reduction in humanity, nothing to worry about.
However, the problem is, he is not a lone individual; he has many people he cares deeply about.
For example, Diana, Kara, Gwen, Wanda, Skye, and many others.
He couldn't simply abandon Diana and the others like this; he couldn't do it.
Moreover, Diana and her friends are still his anchors to maintaining his humanity.
If he didn't have them, he might truly tread the path of a dark god unconsciously.
Of course, in the eyes of many, he has always been no different from a dark god.
"You're placing too much importance on emotions," Doom said very seriously.
"It's not a matter of whether I value them or not; it's something I must do," Russell replied just as seriously. "If I were the type to disregard everything, I might not have reached this point."
"Besides the reduction in humanity, do you have any other noticeable feelings?" Doom continued to ask.
"No, that's it. The rest is just the enhancement of my own power, nothing noteworthy."
Ascending to the Skyfather level, to put it simply, is a qualitative transformation of the powers one already possesses.
Although it's a qualitative transformation, it's still the same set of powers.
It's just that the energy is more abundant, the power is greater, and it's easier to wield, and so on.
Of course, every Skyfather-level being's situation is different.
For someone like Russell, who ascended to the Skyfather level by establishing his own divine realm, he also gained an attribute known as immortality.
As long as his divinity and authority remain intact, as long as his divine realm hasn't completely fallen, even if his current body is reduced to ashes, he can be reborn within his divine realm.
In other words, as long as he's willing to expend some divine power, he can change bodies at any time.
However, he's quite satisfied with his current body and doesn't plan to change it anytime soon.
Or rather, unless something unexpected happens, he has no such plans.
While a body reconstituted using divine power may not be much different from his current one, there would still be some distinctions.
At the very least, the mental experience would be completely different.
After hearing Russell's response, Doom fell silent.
After nearly half a minute had passed, he spoke again, "Do you think if I establish a divine realm in Latveria, I could become a divine being like you?"
Uh...
Russell hadn't expected Doom to suddenly ask such a question.
After thinking for a few seconds, he slowly replied, "You have sufficient magical prowess, and you know the specific steps. If you want to do it, of course, you can."
Compared to him, Doom had a natural advantage when it came to establishing a divine realm.
Not to mention anything else, just the people of Latveria currently revered Doom in a way that was akin to worshipping a divine being. Doom had transformed Latveria from a poor and backward Eastern European nation into a highly advanced, high-tech country.
And if Doom wanted to establish a divine realm, he wouldn't need to find a new territory; he could use Latveria directly.
When Russell initially wanted to establish a divine realm on Earth, he had to specifically obtain control of New York from the government.
"It seems like it's time for me to give it a try," Doom muttered to himself.
"Then I wish you good luck," Russell said. "By the way, here's a friendly reminder: try to avoid having your domain overlap with mine as much as possible. You don't want to experience the natural suppression of being in the same domain as a higher-ranked entity."
Although Russell hadn't told Doom exactly which authorities he possessed, if Doom intended to become a Skyfather-level being like him by establishing a divine realm, he would definitely find out what authorities Russell possessed.
During their time in Hell, Doom had witnessed Russell using the sun divine power.
As for the authorities he had taken from Mephisto, while Doom hadn't seen them firsthand, it wasn't difficult to guess. Just by looking at the environment in Hell, one could deduce which authorities could be awakened there.
In this regard, Hell was far inferior to normal realms like Earth and Asgard.
The authorities that could be awakened in Hell were also accessible in Earth and Asgard, but the reverse wasn't necessarily true.
For a simple example, authorities related to forests and oceans were impossible to manifest in Hell because Hell lacked forests and oceans.
"Alright," Doom said quietly.
Over the next few hours, they didn't discuss godly matters anymore but instead talked about topics that ordinary men would discuss.
Several hours later, after sampling the treasures in Doom's wine cellar, Russell returned to his divine realm in the astral realm.
Back in the divine realm, he resumed his monotonous adaptation to Skyfather-level powers.
His adaptability was already quite strong, but it was evident that Skyfather-level powers were not something one could easily adapt to.
If Russell were to engage with other Skyfather-level beings now, he might have trouble controlling the strength and pacing of his powers.
As a cautious person, he wouldn't allow such a situation to occur.
Time flew by, and a month passed quickly.
During this month, Russell hardly left his divine realm.
Except when he had dates with Diana, he occasionally visited Earth, but most of the time, he remained in his divine realm.
After a month of adaptation, he had finally fully adjusted to the powers of the Skyfather level, reaching a point where he could perfectly control his abilities.
After accomplishing these tasks, he didn't continue to stay in his divine realm but returned to the Justice League headquarters.
Of course, when returning to the Justice League headquarters, he didn't forget to temporarily seal the enormous energy requirements of his body.
Earth didn't have that much energy for him to absorb.
If he didn't seal the massive energy requirements of his body, he would soon feel a "hunger" from his body.
After returning to Earth, Russell had just planned to enjoy the life of a fallen capitalist. No, for his current self, it should be the life of a fallen divine being.
However, shortly after returning to the Justice League, he sensed a very impolite scrutiny.
Upon discovering this intrusive gaze, his mood immediately soured.
The one currently scrutinizing him was not just anyone but a divine being.
Of course, unlike Russell, a divine being who had ascended from being a human, the divine being scrutinizing him now were somewhat different.
Let's delve into the classification of divine being for a moment.
To ordinary people, divine being may all seem the same.
However, in reality, divine being can be classified into many types.
The first type, like Russell, are those who continuously enhance their own power and eventually complete a qualitative transformation of their essence, ascending from ordinary flesh and blood creatures to divine spirit.
Although human mages in ancient times had explored this path to godhood, very few could actually achieve it.
The second type is natural divine being.
Natural divine being represent a particular natural authority or the personification of a natural authority.
These deities are more numerous.
For example, there are God of the Forest, God of the Sea, and so on.
However, these natural divine being rarely concern themselves with human affairs and don't have grand ambitions.
As long as humans don't disrupt the foundations of their existence, such as by clear-cutting all the forests on Earth, these natural divine being generally pay little attention to humans. They are quiet and low-key divine being.
The third and final type are the divine being worshipped by various civilizations.
This category of divine being is the most complex.
Take the Æsir, Odin, Thor, and their followers as an example; they are the divine being worshipped by the Norse people.
From a human perspective, Odin, Thor, and others could indeed be considered God, but in reality, they were extraterrestrial beings.
Similarly, Greek and Egyptian divine being were also extraterrestrial beings.
However, like the Æsir, the Greek divine being were essentially aliens.
As for Egyptian divine being, Russell didn't know much about them.
The only one he was somewhat familiar with was the God of the Moon Khonsu's avatar, the Moon Knight.
Now, back to the divine being currently scrutinizing him.
While Russell hadn't had much interaction with Earth's divine being, he had easily traced the one scrutinizing him.
It was the Black Phanter God, Bast!
The entity currently peering at him wasn't a human divine being, but the guardian of Wakanda, Black Panther God Bast.
