"A... a movie?"
Lucas Reeve was a bit surprised.
Are these Divine Fragments so idle these days?
Surtr remained silent, but due to the perceived danger, her hand was already gripping the hilt of Laevatain tightly.
She had wandered Terra for many years and had naturally encountered many powerful individuals, but... this was the first time she had faced something like this.
Her strength was too immense.
Lucas Reeve guessed.
Even the current Patriot might not be a match for this Divine Fragment in front of them.
However.
The current Patriot, even with Lucas Reeve's previous help, had not yet reached his peak state.
According to Patriot.
The strongest individuals in Kazdel were the leaders of the various Royal Courts. These long-lived species, with lifespans often in the thousands of years, were far beyond what the two-hundred-some-year-old Patriot could compare to. In the eyes of these truly ancient monsters, the current Patriot was still a young man in his early twenties.
Moreover.
These long-lived species were different from normal humans.
For normal races, their physical peak is in their twenties and thirties, but for long-lived species with lifespans of hundreds or thousands of years, their strength grows with age.
Lucas Reeve had never met the Royal Courts Patriot spoke of, but with Patriot's current strength already being at the absolute ceiling of Terra's power levels, how strong must these Royal Courts, who were even stronger than Patriot, be? And there were the Divine Fragments, and even true gods above the Divine Fragments. And even the true gods were not invincible; after all, the true gods were once shattered by living beings.
*Tsk tsk...*
Indeed.
Terra's waters run deep.
The deeper you go, the more you see, the more you discover the true nature of this world.
Even...
The pinnacle of human strength, the Emperor's Blade, was gradually becoming the new unit of power measurement. The old unit, Miss Franka, was no longer quite sufficient and could retire.
As for Lucas Reeve's own strength, its upper limit was high, determined by the strength of his physical body. Using Jessica, he could rival a top-tier Elite Operator. Using Patriot, he might be able to rival a Royal Court.
"I can see you, you know. You can come out and talk to me."
The white-haired girl waved, speaking to Lucas Reeve in a flippant tone.
Lucas Reeve simply materialized as a small fire person and sat on Surtr's shoulder.
"Got time? Let's go for some hot pot? We can talk about our movie while we eat. Oh right, let me introduce myself first. My name is Nian, what's yours, stranger?"
Surtr was silent for a moment, then said quietly.
"Surtr. He's Laevatain..."
Nian shrugged her shoulders. Her hands and entire forearms were crimson, like red-hot iron, and the two dragon horns on her head were also crimson.
"I know he's Laevatain. After all, the Ancient God of Flame was quite famous in his day. I'm asking you, stranger."
Nian's gaze was incredibly sharp, seeming to pierce through Surtr in an instant, then through Laevatain to reach the depths of Lucas Reeve's soul.
"Lucas Reeve..."
The little fire person on Surtr's shoulder said slowly.
"Hello, Mr. Lucas Reeve."
Nian walked right up to Surtr, who instantly became guarded. However, against Nian's terrifying strength, Surtr's guard was somewhat redundant. Nian extended two of her fingers and shook hands with Lucas Reeve on Surtr's shoulder.
"I actually noticed you guys a while ago!!"
After shaking hands with Lucas Reeve, Nian said excitedly.
"In my mind! You are the absolute best!! Protagonists!! I've been dreaming of finding!!"
"Trust me, as long as you're willing to act!! I, Nian, will guarantee it, you will definitely become the best actor and actress at Columbia's annual awards ceremony with this movie!!"
"...."
"...."
Neither Surtr nor Lucas Reeve spoke.
The two of them were left speechless by Nian.
Is it reasonable for a Divine Fragment to be making movies?
Have gods and long-lived beings all decided to slack off these days? Just wandering the mortal world, is that it?
Seeing that the two were silent.
Nian thought they didn't believe her. She quickly coughed, puffed out her moderately-sized chest, and flames ignited behind her. Her dragon tail, like that of a small fire dragon, swished, the powerful force cracking the ground.
"Let me introduce myself again. Nian! Yan's, and even Lungmen's, greatest director and screenwriter. I have shot over a hundred films, most of which can be seen on major video websites!! Do not question my professionalism."
"Come on! Let's go get some hot pot! We can discuss the script in detail, my ideal leading actors."
Lucas Reeve wasn't interested, but Surtr's eyes lit up slightly.
Hot pot?
She remembered that the ice cream she had at Sora's place was also called something-something hot pot.
Seeing that Lucas Reeve wasn't very interested.
Nian smiled faintly, a mysterious smile appearing on her beautiful face.
"You seem to have lost your memory, haven't you, Mr. Lucas Reeve?"
Nian's words gave Lucas Reeve a slight shock.
"You know my origin? Miss Nian."
Lucas Reeve had no knowledge of his own origin. In his own memory, he was just an ordinary university student who got hit by a dump truck and transmigrated into a statue where he spent many, many years.
Originally, Lucas Reeve thought his origin was simple.
However.
After this period of time, Lucas Reeve was increasingly suspicious that his past experiences might not be as simple as he imagined. After all, his soul was inside Laevatain's sword, which completely refuted some of Lucas Reeve's previous conjectures.
Nian shook her head.
"I don't know. I don't know you, but I've heard some things."
"..."
Seeing that Lucas Reeve's interest was piqued, Nian beckoned.
"Come, let's go get some hot pot and talk in detail. I know a super awesome hot pot place in Lungmen, and it's not in that upper city. The hot pot in the upper city is generally not very good, just expensive without any other benefits. Only the hot pot in the civilian district is truly one of a kind."
Surtr was tempted to go but didn't move. Only after seeing Lucas Reeve agree did she follow behind Nian, winding through the streets into an old, established hot pot restaurant in the heart of the civilian district.
It was only noon, and not even the weekend, but this hot pot restaurant was already bustling with activity.
Even from far down the street, you could clearly smell the spicy and savory aroma.
Nian walked in like she owned the place, sat down at a window seat, and scribbled on the menu. Lucas Reeve saw her draw dozens of stars next to the spiciness level of the broth.
*Hiss....*
Surtr, on the other hand, was a little disappointed.
She had thought it was ice cream hot pot!
She hadn't expected this kind of hot pot...
Surtr didn't like hot things, nor did she like spicy things. The combination of the two instantly made Surtr lose all interest.
"So, let's start with your origin."
Nian crossed her long fingers and then said, "I don't know you, but your aura feels familiar to me. A bit like a legendary ancient god from the Sargon region, one of the oldest and most powerful ancient gods, whose antiquity is in no way inferior to my true self..."
"???"
Question marks flashed over Lucas Reeve's head.
Why do I feel like... you haven't said anything at all.
Nian scratched her head.
"I'm not too clear on the specifics. After all, as you know, I'm in Yan, and you're in Sargon, we're far apart, really not familiar. But, I have a suggestion. If you want to recall your origin, just take a trip to Sargon and you'll know. The only detail I know is that the most powerful god in the Sargon region once represented the sun."
"..."
The sun...
Lucas Reeve said nothing, thinking carefully.
He did indeed plan to return to Sargon. After all, he had never seen what the statue looked like. Lucas Reeve silently planned his next itinerary in his mind. After a trip to Columbia, he would go to Sargon. As for Prayer Power.
The faith-based Prayer Power provided by Zumama's tribe was a continuous stream.
At this rate, in about half a year, even if he did nothing, his Prayer Power would reach 1.8 million. After redeeming the cure for Oripathy, Lucas Reeve would start preparing to create a physical body.
"Next, let's talk about my movie."
Nian clapped her hands and got to the main topic of the day. Just then, the hot pot base was brought over. Lucas Reeve turned his head and saw that the waiter bringing it was wearing multiple layers of masks and protective goggles. Inside the hot pot, the boiling red soup, like flames, seemed to be from the lava of hell. Lucas Reeve could even faintly see illusory skulls rolling at the bottom of the pot.
After bringing it over, the waiter immediately ran off.
Even with the protection of the goggles, his eyes were still red from the spiciness.
Nian took a small sip of the hot pot broth with a ladle, looking very pleased.
After smacking her lips, she commented.
"A bit bland, not spicy enough..."
With that, she took out her own bottle of heavy spice #95 and poured the entire thing into the hot pot. With that industrial-grade spiciness, let alone a whole bottle, a single mouthful would be enough to kill a powerful person on the spot, but... Nian poured in a whole bottle...
"Tsk tsk, the spiciness is just right."
"Come on, you guys eat too. This is my secret recipe, not too salty, not too bland, tastes just perfect."
Surtr hesitated. After a long while, she finally chose not to pick up her chopsticks.
"Let's talk about the movie."
Nian got straight to the point.
She took out her phone and pushed it in front of Surtr.
"This is a movie I shot before. See, it's already been released on a video website in Columbia."
Lucas Reeve took over Surtr's body for a moment and took a quick look.
????
Countless question marks flashed over Lucas Reeve's head. He wanted to click on it to watch, but a line of text appeared on the phone.
[Rating too low, has been taken down]
It seemed there was an unwritten rule on this website: any movie with a rating below 1.0 would be considered trash and automatically taken down. And with a total score of 10, generally, even the worst blockbuster of the year would have at least a 2.0 rating. But Nian's movie....
Was something else.
Nian clicked her tongue.
"It's mainly because these people don't appreciate my art. But I've summed it up. I've spent the last few days studying a hundred of the most popular movies in Columbia in recent years, the most popular anime in Higashi, and the most popular novels in Yan! And I've come to a conclusion!"
"As long as I combine all these popular themes together! Won't this movie be fire on top of fire?"
What kind of mashup is this?
Lucas Reeve complained silently in his heart.
And he asked, just for the sake of it.
"Do you have a script?"
"Of course!"
At the mention of the script, Nian became interested.
She pulled out a not-so-thick stack of paper from somewhere and said.
"I've studied so many genres and summed up what audiences love to see. For example, the highest-grossing films in Columbia in recent years are mainly sci-fi, especially things like superheroes, transforming mechs, and giant monsters. These themes are incredibly cool. And Higashi's anime is all about killing demons while carrying his sister on his back, or the protagonist has a powerful old guy inside him who gets stronger by eating fingers, or the protagonist has a nine-tailed fox or something sealed inside him."
"Yan's novels are much simpler, all that thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river stuff, showing off and face-slapping, flying through the air and burrowing underground."
"So, my script is about a girl with a giant beast sealed inside her who can get stronger by continuously devouring the beast's limbs. But in the early stages, this beast constantly devours the girl's power, making her seem very weak. As a result, she gets her engagement broken off by her fiancé. The girl swears, thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don't bully a poor girl."
"Finally, through her own continuous efforts, she and this fiancé get into the best local Celestial Master vocational school. Then, with the help of a white-haired, blindfolded, mouth-covered teacher at the school, she learns to use the beast's power. Finally, with the help of the beast inside her, the girl successfully becomes a superhero, pilots a mech, and at the World Martial Arts Tournament, she grinds her ex-fiancé into the dirt!"
"Of course, there has to be a love story part too."
"After this fiancé is defeated by the girl, the girl finds out that he actually loved her. Breaking off the engagement was purely to motivate her. In fact, many of the fortuitous encounters the girl had along the way were given to her by her fiancé. Then the girl hopelessly falls in love with her fiancé again."
"On their wedding night, who knew the fiancé would reveal his true nature. He didn't actually like the girl, but wanted the giant beast inside her! He seals the girl to the bed, brutally digs out the beast's bones from her body, and fuses them into his own. The girl dies tragically on the spot, but in her rage, she revives and is reincarnated as a Demon King."
"And that's the story for the next installment."
"How about that! It's got all the elements!"
Nian got more and more excited as she spoke, her eyes shining as she looked at Lucas Reeve, as if waiting for him to praise her.
Lucas Reeve was speechless at this point.
Damn it!
What kind of ultimate stitched-together monster is this!!