Zod admitted that he was not a magnanimous person; if others showed him respect, he would return it tenfold.
But if someone tried to intimidate him, he wouldn't mind slapping them hard across the face.
So, with a sneer, he said, "If your so-called invitation is merely to beg for an answer to a question for your little sun god, then perhaps there's no need for us to continue this discussion!"
He understood that these gods, accustomed to looking down on all beings, certainly wouldn't have invited him just for this one matter, so he was somewhat reckless.
"Pfft!"
Upon hearing his words, the two goddesses couldn't help but burst out laughing.
As for Hermes, although he didn't laugh out loud, it was clear to anyone with eyes that he was stifling a laugh, only refraining out of respect for the other party.
After all, it was his first time hearing Apollo being ridiculed by a mortal in such a way.
This made Zod glance in their direction, and just then, Hermes's introduction sounded in his ear:
"The one with the olive-gold crown is Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom; the one in the white dress is Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty; and that god is Hephaestus, the God of Fire."
Zod looked at Athena and couldn't help but nod inwardly, for he sensed a very powerful divine aura from her, far stronger than Diana's current newly awakened state.
As for Aphrodite, she was indeed beautiful enough, worthy of being the goddess who presided over love and beauty, but her strength was far inferior to Athena, a Valkyrie who controlled a portion of the war authority.
And Hephaestus, the God of Fire, truly looked as ugly as he was depicted in traditional myths of his previous life. He wondered what position Zeus and Hera used to create him, or perhaps it was an atavism?
Zod couldn't help but inwardly grumble.
At this moment, Apollo, the subject of ridicule, had a face that was usually as bright and handsome as a sculpture, now as black as the bottom of a pot.
He couldn't help but say angrily, "Enough, Kryptonian, are you challenging the dignity of a god?"
Although Zod's strength was not to be underestimated even by them, they were still gods who had been high and mighty for tens of thousands of years. No matter how strong Zod was, he was still a mortal, inferior to them in their eyes.
"It seems Lord Apollo wants to fight a match with me, a mortal. How about we bet on your divine position as Sun God? If you lose, you willingly relinquish your divine position, what do you say?"
Zod was utterly fearless; instead, he took the opportunity to provoke Apollo even further.
Diana, a newly awakened demigoddess, was not enough for him to test his current strength, but this main god, who controlled multiple divine positions, was a very suitable opponent.
"Mortal, you are too presumptuous!"
Hearing that Zod actually challenged him to a wager battle with his own divine position, Apollo felt this was the greatest insult he had received since becoming a god.
Divine power vibrated around him, and vast and majestic light divine power emanated from his body, forming a brilliant divine light around him.
Although Apollo also held the divine position of Sun God, he became a true god through the divine position of light, so his strongest power was his own light divine power.
Zod, likewise, showed no weakness, his supremely yang and rigid solar magical power surging.
The two forces collided madly, releasing immeasurable light and heat, making the other gods in the temple somewhat uneasy!
"Stop, all of you, stop right now!"
Just then, Hera spoke again, her tone stern.
Then she looked at Apollo: "Put away your divine power."
Hearing this, although anger still lingered in Apollo's eyes, he truly withdrew his divine power again.
Seeing his actions, Zod couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
After all, this was a good opportunity to test his strength and ascertain the power of these so-called true gods.
Hera also understood his thoughts from the regretful expression in Zod's eyes and said to him:
"Kryptonian visitor, please do not continue to provoke the dignity of the gods. After all, this is Olympus. This time, we invited you to discuss an important matter concerning the future of Earth and even your New Krypton."
This time, Zod did not continue to stir Apollo's heart, which was on the verge of rage.
Because there's an old saying, "One must know when to stop and quit while one is ahead."
Although his strength was not afraid of these gods, he was, after all, on their territory. In the absence of life-and-death conflict, there was no need to make the situation too rigid.
"Since the Queen of Heaven herself has spoken, this matter ends here. Now we can begin to discuss serious business!"
Seeing Zod's yielding attitude, Hera's expression also relaxed, as this was giving her ample face.
Although deep down she was still slightly displeased that a mortal could act this way in front of them, Zod's strength was undeniable, enough for her to suppress that hint of displeasure.
"Hmph!"
Apollo snorted at this, then returned to his divine throne, immediately closing his eyes to rest, adopting an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach.
Hera looked at Athena and said lightly, "Athena, you tell him about this matter!"
At this moment, Athena raised her hand, conjuring a chair of equal height in front of Zod, and said with a smile, "Mr. Zod, please sit."
She was the Goddess of Wisdom, and naturally understood that due respect should be given to powerful individuals, even if the other party was not a god.
Zod, for his part, did not stand on ceremony and plopped down.
"Mr. Zod, I presume you already know about the great war that occurred on Earth in ancient times, do you not?"
Hearing this, Zod thought, 'Sure enough.'
Currently, besides Darkseid, who has avatars in various worlds, there should be no one else who could make these gods so wary!
As for Barbatos, who had leaked a trace of his aura before, he was, after all, in the Dark Multiverse and temporarily out of reach of these gods.
"So you invited me to deal with Darkseid."
Seeing Zod's bluntness, Athena did not beat around the bush:
"That's right. You must be aware of the strength of this Dark Tyrant. Although we defeated him once in ancient times, there were too many irreplicable factors involved."
"Due to certain events, many gods have fallen. Now, Zeus, the King of Gods, cannot act, and Ares has also been defeated by Diana. Darkseid, however, has become even stronger, making it impossible to defeat him again."
Hearing this, Zod finally confirmed it, and with a hint of an inexplicable tone, he said, "Is it that the King of Gods cannot act, or has he also fallen and is currently undergoing reincarnation?"
As soon as these words left his mouth, the gazes of several gods shot towards Zod in unison, even Apollo was no exception.
Hera even directly asked, "How do you know this information?"
She didn't understand why the matter of Zeus's fall in the battle with Ares was a secret not allowed to be mentioned among their remaining gods, yet a Kryptonian from outside Earth would know these things.
He even knew that Zeus was currently undergoing reincarnation.
"My eyes can see some things that happened in the past and will happen in the future, so I can know some secrets that the world doesn't know."
"Of course, I can only see some predetermined outcomes, but the details are difficult to discern. It would be even better if Lady Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, would be willing to explain it to me in detail!"
Regarding Zod's explanation, the gods neither showed disbelief nor fully believed him.
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