Chapter 110: All Your Plans Are Part of My Plan
Mephisto looked at Baron Blood before him. He had already begun to act and was very curious to see what move Du Wa would make.
Du Wa would surely think that He would prioritize signing a contract with Strange, but that wasn't the case. He had directly skipped over Strange and made a bargain with Christine, who was half-dead after the car accident.
Even if Du Wa noticed something was amiss, it didn't matter. Mephisto never relied on a single layer of deception to achieve his goals.
The essence of deceit was to use multiple deceptive tactics to repeatedly delay the moment the truth was exposed.
This meant that with limited time and power, the more time it took to see through the tactics, the slimmer the chance of uncovering the truth, until time ran out and allowed Mephisto to achieve his goal first.
According to Mephisto's assessment, Du Wa was not an intelligent person in the truest sense, nor was he a detective with an IQ in the thousands. It was almost impossible for him to see through His series of schemes at such a frantic pace.
Mephisto was very clear about the intelligence level of ordinary humans. He had calculated the thought speed of an ordinary human, or rather, someone slightly smarter than an ordinary person.
Barring any surprises, Mephisto was certain that Du Wa simply wouldn't be able to react in time.
Even if he sensed something was wrong now, the Xenomorphs that were currently rushing over were only dispatched urgently after passively discovering the problem.
"No matter how peculiar Du Wa is, he's still just a human. This origin destines him to be limited in certain aspects... The feeling of fooling humanity is truly wonderful."
Mephisto was in a joyous mood. So what if Du Wa had killed one of his Clones? He loved it when humans knew He harbored ill intentions and wanted to kill Him, yet had no choice but to compromise with Him.
"You have less than a minute to consider," Mephisto said to Victor, his voice full of temptation. "Agree to my terms, and I can help you escape this wretched body. The Xenomorphs will be here soon. When they arrive, not only will you die, but your brother Strange won't be safe either."
"Don't listen to him, Victor, you'll die! No one who makes a bargain with a Demon has a good end!"
On the screen, Banner was still online. He looked at the bizarre Christine in shock and hurriedly spoke up to stop him.
"Ah, the Hulk... the version of you from this universe doesn't understand me. Why do you wishfully cast me in the role of a villain? At the very least, I will show genuine and effective sincerity to help him solve his problem. What about you? As his friend, what can you do?"
This made Banner frown. Indeed, there was nothing he could do.
Continue using Hulk's blood to neutralize the vampire blood in Victor's body? But the gamma rays carried in Hulk's blood would also slowly kill Victor.
"Demon, you know me?"
"Of course I do. I've dealt with you from many universes."
"So the theory of the Multiverse is real... I should contact Du Wa and eliminate you completely," Banner stared at Christine. "Even if you are a Demon, you will die at Du Wa's hands."
Mephisto sneered, "It seems Du Wa has initially established a large sect in this Universe and cultivated many followers. Even someone like you believes in him. It's a pity he's not like that pantheon of faith-based gods from Olympus; he doesn't need to absorb the Power of Belief from you."
Olympus? That made sense. Since Asgard existed, it was highly likely that the Olympian pantheon led by Zeus also existed. But unlike Asgard, they required humanity's faith? Dr. Banner digested this momentous piece of information.
"I agree," Victor said suddenly. "I won't let anyone harm my brother. Even if you are Mephisto, you absolutely can't."
"Very good. Then the bargain is struck. I will provide you with a brand new body."
Mephisto let out a terrifying laugh. He immediately manipulated Christine's body and tore into his own chest. Before Victor's shocked eyes, he dug out the Xenomorph larva from within.
"What are you doing, Demon!!"
"As you can see, I'm saving you. The way to get rid of an old body is, of course, to get a new one. What do you think of a Xenomorph body? Don't worry, this is a great experiment. I can also take this opportunity to determine whether Du Wa's control over the Xenomorphs is merely mental or if it extends to their genes and bloodline. This will make it easier for me to gauge his power level."
Mephisto's wildly laughing face was filled with delight. He loved seeing the stupefied look on a human's face.
He was attempting to use this method to assess what level Du Wa, this suspected newly-born minor conceptual entity, could reach.
Conceptual entities were, of course, divided into different tiers. Depending on the scope they involved, their value and methods of use would differ.
Mephisto began to chant a spell. In an instant, he pulverized the Xenomorph from Christine's body into countless specks of ash, simultaneously pulverizing Victor's body as well, then used these powders to reshape a new body.
Then, the newly appeared body, from its appearance, was a half-human, half-Xenomorph hybrid. It had a human form and integrated skin, though it was somewhat pale and rough, and it lacked the distinct exoskeleton of other Xenomorphs.
After a moment's thought, Mephisto used some of his Main Body's power to add demonic power to this body.
For a Great Demon of His level, energy manipulation and matter reorganization were but the most basic of abilities.
Victor let out a blood-curdling scream as his soul was stripped away and merged into the new body.
Mephisto looked at this work with satisfaction.
And right at this moment, a Xenomorph smashed through the window.
"Oh? So there's also a Xenomorph with speed abilities. I seem to have miscalculated slightly."
Mephisto, using Christine's body, looked down at his bare wrist with his blood-red eyes in a theatrical manner, as if there were a watch there for telling time.
"You miscalculated more than just these few dozen seconds. There are many more things. But I still have to thank you for providing me with a brand-new type of Xenomorph. I will use this as a benchmark for pioneering a demonic offshoot."
The slender, speedy Xenomorph transmitted Du Wa's mental language.
Immediately after, more Xenomorphs arrived, surrounding the villa.
This plunged the entire villa district into terror. Chaos erupted as a large number of luxury cars and helicopters hastily fled for their lives.
With so many Xenomorphs and Xenomorph heroes capable of flying and burrowing converging here, even a fool knew that the respected Dr. Strange was in big trouble.
If they didn't run now, there was no telling if another cataclysm that killed hundreds of thousands of people would occur, and they would become just another statistic.
S.H.I.E.L.D. also received the news, but the new, mentally and physically exhausted Director Hill was completely swamped.
Just dealing with the endless attacks from the Xenomorphs had already left S.H.I.E.L.D. exhausted. News came from all over the world of strongholds being destroyed and agents being killed by Xenomorphs.
Even though S.H.I.E.L.D. possessed a great deal of power and had no shortage of various weapons and equipment, it was futile against the Xenomorphs, which had already grown to a massive scale.
Because every time they took action, it proved that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had exposed their location. Immediately, even more Xenomorphs would swarm over, wiping out S.H.I.E.L.D.'s forces.
Hill was truly struggling to hold on; she looked as if she had aged many years.
She sought help, but no one could help her. To save S.H.I.E.L.D., should they just deploy a large number of nuclear bombs all over the world to bombard the Xenomorphs?
Putting aside how ridiculous that plan was, even if they could kill a large number of ordinary Xenomorphs, how would they deal with powerful Xenomorph heroes like Female Thor?
And then there was the one manipulating everything, the lofty Du Wa, whom no one could figure out.
Banner did, however, tell Tony the news he had as soon as possible.
"There's nothing to be done. Hill is still stubbornly holding onto the Celestial Armor and refuses to give it to me unless I agree to help her deal with the Xenomorphs. This makes it temporarily impossible for me to resolve higher-level disasters."
Tony sighed, clutching his head. "She doesn't even think about it. The modifications to the Celestial Armor aren't even complete. Besides me, who else has such a powerful brain to control such a powerful suit of armor? The information flow every second is enough to burn out the best computers in the world."
Hill wanted to use the Celestial Armor as her hope for a comeback, but unfortunately, Tony refused to get involved.
What could he do? Lead the severely understaffed The Avengers into a world war with Du Wa? Be chased by Xenomorphs all over the world?
You have to be kidding.
"It seems I was a step too late. If I could have developed the cure earlier and eliminated the vampire bloodline, Baron Blood might have had a better end, instead of being dragged into the conflict between two terrifying entities..." Dr. Banner pushed up his glasses.
During his daily life, when he didn't need to personally charge into battle on the front lines, Dr. Banner finally had the opportunity to display his scientific talent, rather than losing his self-awareness as the Hulk, smashing things everywhere, and waking up with no memory of what the Hulk had done.
"Let's see what Mephisto does next. In the legends, this Demon is extremely treacherous and cunning. We must be on high alert," Tony said, ending the communication.
What would the future of this world become? The successive appearance of god-level enemies beyond the norm left someone like Tony, who needed time to develop, feeling utterly exhausted.
Banner silently turned his head to watch the confrontation between Mephisto and the Xenomorphs—which was essentially a confrontation with Du Wa. Every single Xenomorph was equivalent to Du Wa.
"This is a one-of-a-kind Xenomorph that I personally crafted, but it doesn't belong to you," Mephisto chuckled deeply. The mere sight of Du Wa couldn't help but excite him.
"As long as it is a Xenomorph, it belongs to me."
"Oh? But I don't see it that way. If you have such an ability, it means the scope you encompass is even greater than I anticipated."
Mephisto grew excited. He gave the new Xenomorph a command, "Go, my servant, kill the Xenomorph before you."
Victor, bewildered, felt his brand-new body. With a look of confusion, he found Mephisto's words to be a genuine spell, causing the demonic power in his body to boil and forcing him to move uncontrollably.
But in the next second, Du Wa's gaze from across space made the Xenomorph part of him perform the complete opposite action.
This caused a tearing sensation within Victor.
"Is that all? A Xenomorph like this holds no novelty for me whatsoever," Du Wa shook his head.
In an instant, he had taken control of the Xenomorph part of Victor's body—every gene and bloodline related to the Xenomorph, the sliver of Xenomorph consciousness absorbed by Victor's soul, and the part of Victor's consciousness that was inevitably influenced by the Xenomorph genes from using its body. From the moment it came into being, it all belonged to Du Wa.
This was Du Wa's natural ability to control Xenomorphs, and it was also Du Wa's greatest talent.
And all of this was witnessed by Mephisto. The Demon became thoroughly excited, "Remarkable! You are even more outstanding than I anticipated. This is completely worth all the effort I've spent."
This conceptual entity, of unknown cosmic origin, was of a slightly higher level than He had expected. What He had managed to probe was enough to make Him joyful. Mephisto believed that, combined with the part of Du Wa that He hadn't yet figured out, the boost Du Wa could bring Him would only be greater.
But what Mephisto saw with his blood-red eyes was Du Wa's mocking gaze.
"It seems I've pleased you? My value exceeds your imagination? Then you'll have to be alive to take it!"
Du Wa was clearly standing there in the form of a Xenomorph, yet he projected a condescending aura towards Mephisto.
"Either have your Main Body get its ass to this universe right now, and you might still have a chance to please me, or you can crawl back to Hell. The things you've schemed with your Clone are, in the end, nothing more than a child's foolish tricks."
Du Wa continued, "You tricked Christine into a bargain, and through Christine, you obtained my Xenomorph, which is equivalent to indirectly signing a contract with a Xenomorph via a soul contract, thereby probing my limits. However, you thought I would focus my attention on Christine, but your ultimate goal was always Strange."
"Did you think I would give you the opportunity to use me, to let Strange see me kill Christine?"
"Did you think I would let you trick Strange over to your side, to work for you? For instance, he would learn your magic? And even, burdened with his bargain with you, join Kamar-Taj and open the gate to another world for you?"
The smile on Mephisto's face slowly faded as he looked at Du Wa in astonishment.
He actually didn't like dealing with intelligent people. After all, He didn't usually deploy his Main Body to obtain what He wanted through absolute force.
"All of your plans were part of my plan."
Du Wa looked at this fellow with a cold smile. It was true that he couldn't compare to Mephisto's experience as a veteran Demon, but in one respect, he was definitely stronger than Mephisto.
And that was... Du Wa had fucking read the scripts of Mephisto's various operations across many universes!
By working backward from countless outcomes, and with vast computational resources at his disposal, it really wasn't difficult for Du Wa to deduce several of Mephisto's most likely operations.
Mephisto's deceptions were all about adapting to the changing situation, appearing at key junctures to guide different individuals into making choices that seemed beneficial to them, but were, in fact, far more beneficial to Mephisto.
"In just a few minutes, I've had to raise my evaluation of you once again. But this kind of increase is not what I wanted."
Mephisto, of course, had other means, but he still opened his mouth and, at the cost of Christine's body, cast a powerful demonic spell.
Christine's body immediately began to wither, drained into a dried corpse.
Strange, who had barely woken up under Druig's intervention, saw this with his first glance. His eyes nearly burst from their sockets as he let out a roar of agony and rage, "No—"
But the Demon would not listen to him, a mere mortal. Without having learned magic, Strange's talent, no matter how great, was worthless.
Especially since Mephisto found it difficult to cultivate Strange into a sorcerer fueled by hatred.
With Christine's death, all the magic power gathered, creating a trembling portal.
"Be careful. This is the evil spell 'Singhson's Banishment,' which is infamous throughout the entire Multiverse."
A golden portal opened beside Du Wa, and the Ancient One strode out.
Du Wa and the Ancient One exchanged a glance, both tacitly maintaining restraint. Then they saw, emerging from the portal that looked ready to shatter at any moment... multiple Mephistos.
(end of chapter)