Richard calmly closed the folder in his hand and addressed Kingpin.
"You claim you won't bargain as long as it's something within your power," he said coolly. "But your promise isn't compelling enough for me."
With that, Richard tossed the document back onto the table, stood up, and prepared to exit the hotel.
Before he could take another step, Kingpin quickly interjected, "Mr. Wesley, please stay. I have something else that might interest you."
Richard paused, turning slightly. "What is it?"
"Intelligence," Kingpin replied promptly.
"Intelligence?" Richard's brow furrowed slightly. "Don't keep me in suspense. Tell me directly—what information do you have?"
If given the choice, Kingpin wouldn't have revealed this information so readily. Intelligence was a commodity whose value diminished significantly once even a small portion was disclosed. Unfortunately, he had no other options at this moment.
After a brief silence, Kingpin said, "According to my sources, the Department of Mutant Affairs is planning to capture you."
Arrest me? Who gave them that confidence?
Perhaps the Department might have had a sliver of hope before Richard became an Omega-level mutant. But now, possessing two Omega-level mutantpowers and numerous character template skills, the probability of them successfully apprehending him was infinitesimally small.
Noticing the disdainful expression on Richard's face, Kingpin continued, "I understand you're exceptionally powerful, Mr. Wesley, but my informant tells me the Department has developed a specific method to neutralize you."
"I don't yet know the exact nature of this method," he admitted. "However, the Department is remarkably confident in their capture plan. Additionally, both SHIELD and military forces will be involved in this operation."
For most mutants, being targeted by a joint operation between the Department of Mutant Affairs, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the military would be a dire predicament. Yet Richard remained unimpressed—he didn't believe they possessed combat capabilities that could rival his own.
As for S.H.I.E.L.D., their ultimate trump card would be Captain Marvel. While formidable in her own right, Richard doubted she could pose any significant threat to him.
After contemplating for a moment, Richard addressed Kingpin again. "If you want me to deal with Wenwu, it's not impossible. However, vague intelligence and a simple promise aren't sufficient. If you want me to act, you need to provide one more thing."
Though uncertain what else Richard desired, Kingpin didn't hesitate. "Mr. Wesley, what else do you require?"
"Dragon bone," Richard stated deliberately. "You should be familiar with the five fingers of the Hand. They possess something called dragon bone. Deliver that to me, and I'll handle Wenwu for you."
Although I despise Shang-Chi more than Wenwu, if Kingpin can truly acquire the dragon bone, I wouldn't mind doing him this favor.
"Dragon bone?" Kingpin had never heard of such a thing before. Despite his unfamiliarity with the term, he quickly responded, "No problem! If that's what you want, Mr. Wesley, I'll deliver the Hand's dragon bone to you." His expression exuded confidence.
Richard nodded silently and departed from the negotiation room.
As he walked toward the hotel entrance, he noticed hotel staff and guests in the lobby transfixed by their mobile phones. Curious, he pulled out his own device and randomly opened a popular news site. Immediately, he understood what had captured everyone's attention.
The Fantastic Four and Ghost Rider are fighting in Brooklyn!
Upon seeing this news, Richard didn't hesitate for a second. He initiated teleportation right in the hotel lobby, and in an instant, materialized in Brooklyn—specifically, the neighborhood where the clash between the Fantastic Four and Ghost Rider was taking place.
Ghost Rider was single-handedly facing off against all four members of the Fantastic Four. Though significantly outnumbered, Ghost Rider maintained the upper hand in the confrontation. The Fantastic Four's attacks seemed to inflict no damage whatsoever.
The flames engulfing Ghost Rider appeared similar to ordinary fire, but their temperature and application range far exceeded normal flames. Hellfire—supernatural flames from the depths of Hell—wasn't constrained by natural laws. Neither water nor vacuum environments could extinguish it.
Compared to Ghost Rider's hellfire, the Human Torch's flames were vastly inferior. Though the Human Torch could transform himself into a being of fire, his flames remained bound by natural laws—they could be extinguished by water and required oxygen to burn.
In the comics, the Human Torch could generate nova-level explosions reaching temperatures of 100 million degrees Fahrenheit (over 55 million degrees Celsius). But clearly, this universe's Human Torch wasn't nearly as powerful as his comic counterpart.
After teleporting to the rooftop of a nearby building, Richard didn't immediately intervene. Instead, he observed the battle between the Fantastic Four and Ghost Rider with interest.
Like the Human Torch, the other members of the Fantastic Four—Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, and the Thing—had no idea what kind of entity Ghost Rider truly was. They had arrived to confront Ghost Rider for the same reason as Richard, drawn by news reports.
However, the report they had seen wasn't titled "Fantastic Four VS Flaming Skeleton," but rather "Human Torch VS Flaming Skeleton." After learning about the Human Torch battling an unknown flaming skeleton in Brooklyn, Mr. Fantastic and his two companions had rushed to the scene, attempting to subdue Ghost Rider.
Unsurprisingly, their intervention had earned them places on Ghost Rider's judgment list for the night.
Mr. Fantastic and his companions had initially believed they could easily defeat Ghost Rider. They quickly discovered how gravely they had overestimated themselves—all their attempts to extinguish the hellfire had failed miserably.
Worse still, the Thing had suffered serious injuries from Ghost Rider's counterattack. While the Thing possessed remarkable defensive capabilities, his rocky exterior wasn't indestructible against hellfire. The supernatural flames had turned his normally orange-yellow rocky body as black as coal.
Beyond this change in appearance, the Thing experienced something he hadn't felt in a long time—pain. Excruciating pain that pierced through to his core. Had the hellfire burned him for more than a few seconds, the Fantastic Four might have been permanently reduced to the Fantastic Three.
Neither the Thing himself nor his teammates had anticipated that he could be burned so severely. This revelation confirmed their suspicion that the flames surrounding Ghost Rider were far from ordinary.
The injured Thing now lay before a violently opened fire hydrant, using the gushing water to alleviate the agony coursing through his body.
Without the Thing serving as their tank and shield, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman became visibly flustered. The Human Torch, flying above, didn't need to worry about Ghost Rider's motorcycle charging him. But his teammates weren't so fortunate.
If the Stone Man couldn't withstand Ghost Rider's hellfire, they certainly couldn't either. If not for the Invisible Woman's ability to create a force field that rendered them both invisible and protected them from the impact of the Ghost Motorcycle, their fate would have been worse than the Thing's.
After observing from the rooftop for several minutes, Richard summoned his magic and transformed his custom-tailored suit into a black coat resembling Sephiroth's style. Then, he extracted the Masamune from his system space.
Teleportation!
After drawing the Masamune, Richard teleported directly to Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, who were concealed within an invisible force field. Though they were hidden from normal sight, Richard's Alpha-level telepathy allowed him to pinpoint their location effortlessly, even with his eyes closed.
"You can't handle him," Richard called out to Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. "Take Jonathan and Ben and get some rest! This one is my prey!"
Though she didn't understand why Richard referred to Ghost Rider as his prey, the Invisible Woman immediately dispelled her force field and replied, "Then I'll leave him to you."
"My pleasure," Richard responded, then walked deliberately toward Ghost Rider, who was still mounted on his hellfire-engulfed motorcycle.
Ghost Rider didn't know Richard, but the moment Richard appeared, the Spirit of Vengeance sensed sins within him that far exceeded those of ordinary mortals. Without hesitation, Ghost Rider revved his supernatural vehicle and charged directly at Richard. The hellfire-wrapped tires left searing marks across the asphalt.
As Ghost Rider barreled toward him, Richard remained motionless until the last possible moment. Just as the demonic motorcycle was about to strike, he raised the Authentic Masamune Blade.
"Octoslash!"
Eight smooth, lightning-fast strikes launched in an instant.
Chichichichichichi...
Though Ghost Rider was shrouded in hellfire and his motorcycle transformed by infernal power into something far stronger than any ordinary vehicle, both proved fragile as spun sugar against Richard's blade. In a heartbeat, Ghost Rider and his motorcycle were sliced into dozens of pieces, scattered across the street by their own momentum.
Everyone watching the scene was stunned—everyone except Mr. Fantastic, who had previously calculated Richard's capabilities in detail. The Invisible Woman, Human Torch, nearby police officers, and civilians who had refused to evacuate all stared in astonishment.
They knew Richard was powerful, but they hadn't expected this level of dominance. Ghost Rider, who had left them completely helpless, appeared utterly vulnerable before Richard.
Is this his true strength? The Human Torch, hovering in midair, frowned deeply.
Although he had watched videos of Richard's battles online, he had never believed Richard was significantly stronger than himself. This reaction was natural enough—similar to how many boxing fans watching footage of Tyson or Ali might think there was nothing special about these legends. They failed to recognize that any professional boxer could knock them unconscious with a single punch, and champions like Tyson or Ali could handle them as easily as dealing with newborns.
The Human Torch had assumed Richard wasn't much stronger than himself simply because he had never faced Richard's opponents. Even those mutant agents who seemed powerless against Richard would have given the Human Torch considerable trouble. As for the Sebastian Shaw, Magneto's clones, or the Minister and Deputy Minister of Mutant Affairs—their powers far exceeded his own.
They hadn't died at Richard's hands because they were weak, but because Richard was simply that much stronger.
After witnessing how effortlessly Richard dismembered Ghost Rider and his motorcycle—entities that had overwhelmed all four of them combined—the Human Torch finally understood why Mr. Fantastic had stated at Professor X's funeral that his chances of defeating Richard wouldn't exceed 0.036%.
What a desperate, hopeless gap!
Though he had known intellectually that Mr. Fantastic's probability calculations were accurate, a part of him had remained unconvinced until seeing the evidence with his own eyes. Now, disbelief gave way to envy.
I wish I had his strength! the Human Torch lamented silently, fantasizing about possessing the same incredible power Richard wielded so casually.
Richard ignored their stares, focusing instead on the scattered remains of Ghost Rider and his motorcycle. Under his watchful gaze, the fragments began to reassemble under the supernatural properties of hellfire. Within five or six seconds, both Ghost Rider and his motorcycle had fully reconstituted themselves, as though Richard's attack had been nothing but an illusion.
Seeing Ghost Rider restored, Richard swung the Authentic Masamune once more. This time, however, he didn't use Octoslash but a different technique.
"Gravesong!"
Four precise slashes instantly carved through the newly-reformed Ghost Rider and his motorcycle. Just like before, they were reduced to fragments—fewer this time, perhaps a dozen or twenty pieces due to the reduced number of strikes.
And just like before, the hellfire quickly began reassembling the dismembered Spirit of Vengeance. Richard noticed with keen interest that the restoration process took slightly longer than before—approximately 0.1 seconds more.
Discovering this, Richard smiled with satisfaction. He was now certain he would be able to extract the extraordinary powers of the Spirit of Vengeance tonight.
The reconstituted Ghost Rider barely had time to react before eight more sword strikes reduced him to fragments again.
Being sliced apart, restored by hellfire, then sliced apart again—the cycle repeated endlessly. Under the watchful eyes of the Human Torch, Invisible Woman, and other onlookers, Ghost Rider was systematically dismantled by Richard, like an ordinary human with no means of resistance.
Time passed steadily. Before long, Ghost Rider had been sliced to pieces dozens of times.
If at first the Human Torch and the others hadn't understood Richard's strategy, now they could see his purpose clearly.
He's draining Ghost Rider's energy!
Though they didn't understand why Richard pursued this approach, they recognized that he possessed intimate knowledge of Ghost Rider's nature.
It wasn't that Ghost Rider didn't attempt to fight back—he did, repeatedly. But regardless of his tactics, the outcome remained unchanged: Richard reduced him to fragments.
Strictly speaking, Ghost Rider wasn't weak—far from it. The Fantastic Four's inability to handle him proved as much. Unfortunately for the Spirit of Vengeance, none of his abilities posed any threat to Richard.
Hellfire, chain magic, the Penance Stare, the Eyes of Judgment and Retribution—all proved ineffective against Richard, who never gave Ghost Rider an opportunity to lock onto him, let alone strike.
Richard's X-gene mutant powers provided comprehensive protection: energy absorption neutralized hellfire, teleportation prevented Ghost Rider from targeting him, and telepathy rendered him immune to the mind-reading aspects of the Eyes of Judgment.
Add to that his ability to manipulate gravity and magnetic fields, and Ghost Rider was completely outmatched.
If Richard had any weakness, it would be his lack of soul-based abilities. But even this wasn't a serious concern—after acquiring the Spirit of Vengeance's extraordinary powers, he would soon possess those very skills.
After being dismembered hundreds of times, the Spirit of Vengeance inside Ghost Rider's body became completely enraged. Never since its creation had it suffered such humiliation.
After being sliced apart one final time by Richard's blade, the Spirit of Vengeance abandoned its usual approach. Rather than directing hellfire to restore its host, it initiated self-destruction.
Under the Spirit's command, massive quantities of hellfire erupted from Ghost Rider's remains, rapidly condensing into a massive fireball over five meters in diameter.
The Spirit of Vengeance's plan was simple: force Richard back with the self-destruction, then use its immortality and hellfire to quickly restore its host. The explosion would create an opportunity to escape from Richard, whom the Spirit now perceived as a veritable "God of Death."
The Spirit's strategy wasn't surprising. Spirits of Vengeance don't possess particularly high intelligence—though conscious, they primarily act on instinct rather than reason.
...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at p@treon.com/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
New fanfic :
Marvel : The God Of Punishment System
I Am Raditz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~