In the only council hall of the palace, Ryan sat upon the primary throne, listening to reports from the Elders of various tribes below.
"King, according to your requirements from a month ago, we have carried out reforms across our tribes regarding rank, residence, clothing, food, and other aspects."
"Regarding rank, as per your orders, we have abolished the law of survival of the fittest. Instead, we allow tribe members to develop in multiple areas based on their own circumstances, no longer worshiping the singular path of the warrior."
"Regarding residences, as per your orders, our tribes have used Frost Divine Ice to build independent houses for every member. They no longer live in caves, and we have taught them the knowledge of building houses using their own abilities."
"Regarding clothing, as per your orders, we have distributed different types of attire for men and women to every tribe member and taught them the knowledge of garment making."
"Regarding food, because of our race's nature of preferring cold over heat, we have, as per your orders, taught the tribe members more aesthetically pleasing cold-food preparation methods with richer and more delicious flavors."
...Listening to the Elders finish their reports one by one, Ryan kept his eyes closed, propping his head up with his hand, and did not speak.
Behind Ryan, a woman with a cold face spoke up. Although she shared the distinctive blue skin of the Frost Giant race, she was only about 1.7 meters tall, and her appearance conformed more to human aesthetics.
"The King is aware and is very satisfied with your efficiency. Now, we begin the second stage of reform: the reform of knowledge!"
"Starting today, a public school will be established in each of your tribes. These schools will teach the children of the Frost Giant race cultural knowledge, theoretical knowledge, and combat knowledge in all aspects."
"Those with outstanding grades can be sent to the Royal Academy for further advanced knowledge and instruction, serving as the future backbone of our Frost Giant race!"
"Now, the meeting is adjourned. Everyone, dismiss!"
The tribal Elders below glanced at the short woman, who looked like a 'midget' in their eyes, with faint dissatisfaction. However, upon seeing Ryan sitting on the throne in front of her, that dissatisfaction instantly turned into deep fear.
Seeing Ryan reminded them of the last meeting, where an Elder expressed dissatisfaction because this woman spoke on the King's behalf. The King had then hung that Elder's entire family from the southeastern branches.
To avoid being hung from an ice tree themselves, the tribal Elders lowered their heads one after another and said respectfully, "As you command, King..."
Only after all the Elders had left did Ryan open his eyes. He glanced sideways at the woman behind him and revealed a smile. "Sylvie, you did very well. Now I can feel at ease leaving the management of this place to you."
Hearing this, the woman named Sylvie couldn't help but clench her fists tightly. She lowered her eyes and gritted her teeth, asking, "So, are you leaving?"
"Hmm?!"
In the next second, Sylvie, dressed in a blue gauze gown, felt her waist tighten and her vision blur. By the time she could see clearly again, she was already sitting on her King's lap, leaning into his embrace.
Ryan hooked his index finger under Sylvie's chin, forcing her stubborn little gaze to meet his eyes. He chuckled, "What, can't bear to let me go?"
"A month ago, didn't you still want to kill me to avenge your father?"
Sylvie's full name was Sylvie Laufeydottir, and the surname Laufeydottir meant 'Daughter of the Frost Giant King Laufey'!
Thus, Sylvie was indeed Laufey's daughter!
Sylvie rested her chin on Ryan's shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist as she snuggled against him, saying coldly:
"No, I never thought of avenging that man who abandoned me. I only hate that I didn't kill him with my own hands, which is why I wanted to kill you as a substitute that day..."
Ryan, who already knew this, simply smiled and did not reply.
It turned out that Loki wasn't the only child abandoned by Laufey; Sylvie was another one.
And for the same reason as Loki, she was born weak. Thus, she was heartlessly abandoned by Laufey, who held a severe belief in the survival of the fittest.
However, Sylvie wasn't as lucky as Loki. When Loki was first abandoned, he was picked up by the God-King Odin, who happened to be on a campaign, and was brought back to be raised as a prince.
After Sylvie was abandoned, if her mother hadn't been unable to bear it and secretly run out to take her from the ice plains and raise her alone, she would have died long ago... However, Sylvie's mother also died from overwork just as Sylvie became barely able to survive on her own.
So, all these years, Sylvie never stopped thinking about taking revenge on Laufey. She would occasionally wander outside Laufey's palace (the canyon), looking for an opportunity.
But she didn't expect that before her chance for revenge came, Ryan would return with the Frost Giant army and she would learn the news of Laufey's death.
Killing Laufey was her only conviction for living, and at that moment, it instantly collapsed.
Therefore, Sylvie recklessly charged at Ryan with a short ice blade she had intended to use to kill Laufey.
And then... then there was no then.
With Sylvie's strength, which was considered the weakest of the weak even among Frost Giants, how could an assassination succeed?
Ryan casually grabbed the reckless woman's small face and lifted her up.
But just as Ryan was prepared to casually devour her, something unexpected happened: his Symbiote actually gave birth!
Perhaps Ryan had devoured too much high-level life energy during this period... absorbing Thor's bloodline, absorbing the Frost Giant King Laufey, and so on... leading to over-nutrition. The moment he let Riot out to feed, before Riot could even start eating, it vomited first!
A mouthful of icy blue, viscous Symbiote was spat onto Sylvie's face and instantly merged into her body!
This made Sylvie the first second-generation Symbiote host, and a perfect one at that!
Because the new Symbiote's special ability was ice manipulation, which perfectly matched the attributes of a Frost Giant!
It all seemed like... destiny?
So in the end, looking at Sylvie in his hand—with that gaze that was as stubborn as it was today, yet filled with despair—Ryan changed his mind.
He needed the Frost Giant race, just as he needed Parker Industries.
But with his personality, it was impossible for him to do management work for a long time.
So, just like Natasha at Parker Industries, he needed to find a proxy to manage the Frost Giant race for him.
And this proxy was Sylvie, who had inherited Laufey's bloodline and the Symbiote born from himself!
As for how he convinced Sylvie to work for him, it was actually quite simple: a combination of persuasion and 'bed-suasion'.
Given Sylvie's long-standing dissatisfaction with the cruel survival of the fittest laws of the Frost Giant race, Ryan quickly convinced her to join his complete reform of the race.
As for the 'bed-suasion', that was even simpler. Frost Giants generally preferred tall, strong women like the Nezha from '100,000 Bad Jokes'. A woman like Sylvie, who was only about 1.7 meters tall and slender, would never be liked by Frost Giant males, no matter how beautiful she was.