Just call me Thor

Chapter 597: Was he a butterfly?



Mike never expected Apollo to know everything...

Apollo had never been one to lie.

So, if Apollo said it, it was probably true.

Even though this trip turned out to be a waste, Mike didn't feel too bothered. Once he wrapped up the matters at hand, dismantled the Sword Prison, and made his way to the ninety-fifth floor of the Tower of Truth, he'd finally see the light again.

Thinking of this, standing atop the clouds, Mike hurriedly asked,

"Third Bro, where are we headed?"

Apollo thought for a moment and picked a direction.

Florida.

Walking the streets of Florida, Mike held onto a child like a blind man using a cane.

He casually asked, "How does Apollo walk?"

The child, with two fingers plugging his ears, couldn't hear a word Mike was saying.

When no response came, Mike was puzzled. He was blind, not deaf-why wasn't there an answer?

Feeling the child's head, he finally figured it out.

He pulled the child's hands away from his ears and told him there was no need to block them anymore. Then, he repeated his question.

"Oh, he's floating," the child replied.

Mike: ...

Mike could only whisper to the child,

"Can you talk to others through the River of Time?"

The child cautiously answered,

"I can, but only a little. I can't interfere too much."

Mike thought for a moment and told the child to find another kid on the street and tell them someone was flying over here.

After the child relayed the message, Apollo switched to walking.

One question, one adjustment.

Until...

The city defense department showed up.

Mike scratched his head, not expecting things to escalate like this.

He suggested,

"Third Bro, why don't we go inspect the city defense department's work?"

Apollo didn't quite understand what "inspect" meant, but from Mike's tone, it seemed like they should go.

Apollo nodded slightly and started walking.

Until the city defense department officers pulled them into a car...

In the interrogation room, after the officers left, Mike, who had watched the entire questioning process, couldn't help but laugh and cry.

Apollo sat in a chair, lost in thought.

Mike figured that since Apollo wanted to explore the mortal realm, he might as well take him around.

Mike suggested,

"Third Bro, let's go for a walk. I bet Foreskin and the others will come looking for us soon. In Guardian Shadow, only Shadow Two is free right now."

Shadow Two wasn't free by choice.

Last time, Mike sent Shadow Two out to collect debts, and he nearly killed the debtor!

With such a uniquely wired brain, it was better to keep him close rather than let him cause trouble elsewhere.

Besides, Shadow Two was a Soul Element powerhouse, particularly skilled in memory sealing.

Apollo nodded again and left the city defense department with Thor.

Just as Mike predicted, not long after they left, Shadow Two made a dramatic entrance.

After leaving the city defense department, they wandered around and eventually ended up at a mental hospital.

Apollo encountered an old patient and casually chatted with him.

Apollo began to ponder.

Mike quickly interjected,

"Third Bro, you're definitely not crazy!"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Apollo seemed thoughtful. "Then... am I a doctor?"

And so, Apollo started working as a doctor.

Watching Apollo treat patients in the mental hospital, Mike was utterly exasperated.

All he could hear was Apollo repeating, "You're not crazy," while the patients nodded in agreement, insisting they weren't insane.

The patients weren't crazy. Apollo wasn't crazy. Mike was about to lose his mind.

He hurriedly arranged for a genuinely insane patient to give Apollo some real practice.

Otherwise, this doctor gig wasn't going to work out!

Just as Mike was thinking this, a new patient was brought before Apollo.

This time, Apollo gave a precise diagnosis:

"Crazy."

Mike nearly cried with relief. Finally, a real lunatic!

But when the "lunatic" opened his mouth, Mike actually did cry.

"If I'm crazy and I'm in a mental hospital, I guess I'm here to see a doctor..."

With logic that clear, was this person really insane?

The worst part was that Mike recognized the voice.

Shadow Two!

How did they run into him here...

After some chaos, Apollo signed Shadow Two's discharge papers and began planning how to

raise money for his treatment.

"Third Aunt, I think I really am crazy," Shadow Two said miserably as he pointed to the

empty space beside Apollo.

"I see Fourth Bro, blind as a bat, with a kid by his side!"

Since he could "see" Thor, naturally, they stayed at Thor's place.

Shadow Two looked at the tiny room and, after some serious thought, concluded,

"Third Aunt, isn't it a bit cramped for the five of us to live here?"

Apollo, Thor, the child, Bad Man, and Bad Woman-five people in total-there clearly

weren't enough rooms.

Mike instinctively rolled his eyes, though his blind eyes remained gray and lifeless.

"You sleep in the living room."

For several days, Mike followed Apollo, wandering around Florida.

Apollo met all sorts of people-Maxen, Joseph...

Until he walked out of a library.

He began to reflect.

Maybe the mortal realm wasn't boring. Maybe he was boring.

Once he realized this, a butterfly appeared before him.

Apollo knew it was time to go back.

If he was boring, then no matter how he viewed the mortal realm, the result would always be

the same.

As long as Apollo remained entangled with the Source of the World, he would remain boring.

So, if he wanted something interesting, he had to return to his original question:

Was he a butterfly?

Apollo already had an answer.

He looked at the empty space beside him and said, "Let's go back."

Mike nodded slightly, patted the child's head, and said, "We should head back too."

Apollo needed to return to the Tower of Truth to resolve the final loose ends.

Mike, on the other hand, had to return to the Sword Prison, break free, and see if there was

anything he could do to help.

Without another word, Mike immersed himself in the River of Time, returning to the present

and leaving the dream.

Back in the Sword Prison, even though Mike couldn't see, he began dismantling it.

To his surprise, his efficiency had improved!

The child beside him was dumbfounded.

How did losing his sight suddenly make him so skilled?!

Could it be that Thor's true talent was sacrificing his eyes to gain greater power?

Lying in the corner, Afterskin's head buzzed as he struggled to comprehend what was

happening.

Mike had memorized the method to dismantle the Sword Prison long ago.

Even though he was blind, the Eye of Truth allowed him to deduce the prison's changes.

His method of dismantling the Sword Prison was inspired by Ares and Fifth Demon God, and his own ideas, blended together into a unique approach.

With this foundation, Mike's efficiency only grew, leaving Afterskin struggling to keep up. Watching Thor fully immersed in dismantling the Sword Prison, Afterskin, for the first time, truly felt the oppressive potential of humanity's fourth-generation Supreme Being.

On the ninety-ninth floor of the Tower of Truth, Apollo sat in a chair, utterly calm.

From the moment his consciousness entered this world, he had been pondering whether he

was a butterfly.

Apollo knew that between him and the butterfly, one was the Source of the World for the

Heavenly Realm.

A black butterfly hovered silently in the air, watching Apollo.

The butterfly didn't understand what Apollo was waiting for. Given Apollo's personality, once he figured something out, he would act.

Apollo didn't care about many things. What others spent their lives pursuing, he could discard

without a second thought.

If not for the need to survive, Apollo wouldn't have even awakened his talent.

In fact, the moment Apollo decided to awaken his talent, he had already made a choice.

If he was a butterfly, Apollo might disappear.

If everything was an illusion, why not end it?

In other words, three hundred years ago, Apollo had already leaned toward believing he was a

butterfly.

These three centuries had only solidified his conviction.

Whether the butterfly or Apollo was real no longer mattered.

Because he was strong enough.

Apollo could make both real.

The only difference was that if he chose to identify as human, he would have to give up his

Supreme power.

If he chose to be the butterfly, he wouldn't continue protecting humanity.

From humanity's perspective, either choice seemed like a loss.

At this moment, they needed someone skilled at creating win-win situations to step in.

What others saw as an impossible choice was simple for Apollo.

If something was meant to be, then so be it.

That was Apollo's way.

The butterfly watched Apollo silently, unmoving.

Until... who knew how much time had passed.

Outside the Tower of Truth, the doorbell rang. Ding-dong-

Standing outside the ninety-ninth floor of the Tower of Truth, Mike raised his hand and

pressed the doorbell three times.

"Third Bro, it's me, Thor!"