Nightmare looked at the parchment of contract handed to him by Mephisto as if he had seen a ghost. He had no idea what kind of power was contained in the parchment, but the huge amount of power it contained, including the discomfort of contamination of the mind and soul, made him not want to take it at all.
All in all, this is definitely not a good thing.
He would be even more resistant to something that could threaten him and was not a good thing.
"What is this?" Nightmare leaned back desperately, his back pressed tightly against the back of the chair, his body, mind and expression showing great resistance and disgust.
"Contract." Mephisto said calmly.
"You call this thing a contract? This is simply..." When Nightmare wanted to find an adjective, he was suddenly stuck, because he found that no matter what he used to describe the energy on it, it seemed inaccurate.
"Only a contract like this is binding on us," Mephisto said confidently. "Sign it quickly. Others who want to sign this contract may not be qualified."
"I refuse!" Nightmare shook his head firmly. He wanted him to be exposed to such dangerous energy? He would rather his clone die here!
"Actually, there's no need to be so resistant. This contract is a double constraint. Only if you violate the terms of the contract will you face these energies. If neither party violates the contract, then this energy and contract are harmless. You can use all your methods to verify what I said. I believe you have a way." Luke explained from the side.
"Yeah, if you don't break the contract, then what are you afraid of?" Mephisto added sarcastically. It would be even better if Nightmare erupted right then and there. First, kill his clone, then find his home and capture his real self. As Luke said, efficiency would be greatly reduced, but at least he wouldn't have to share his shares! Of course, everyone present was experienced, so while he expressed his malice, he didn't overdo it.
"Only if you sign this contract can we treat you as one of our own and share all our secrets and interests with you. Don't you want to know why we are working together and looking for you?" Odin also interjected.
Nightmare looked at everyone present, especially after seeing Luke take out a row of [Black Nightmare Seeds], he had a fierce battle in his heart. Finally, with a dark face and full of resistance, he took the parchment contract floating in the air.
Of course, he was also very careful to follow Mephisto's example and wrap the parchment with energy, avoiding direct contact with him. He first unfolded the rolled parchment and read the contents of the contract.
At first glance, nothing seemed wrong. The content was quite normal. To get him to join, Luke and his friends had indeed offered him quite a few attractive conditions, and the work and effort required of him, compared to what he had gained from Luke and his friends, was not unacceptable.
So, after reading this, he went from being completely resistant to actually considering it. His mindset shifted in an instant. Of course, a demon like him, driven by ambition, always wanted more. So, even though the terms of the contract were already generous, Nightmare still proposed a bunch of even more outrageous conditions.
Unsurprisingly, Nightmare's outburst was met with unanimous opposition from everyone present. Mephisto, in particular, practically taunted him. It became a troll show between Mephisto and Nightmare, and Luke and the others fell silent, watching the verbal battle between the demon gods with great interest.
In order to improve efficiency, the two of them directly used the consciousness language converted from energy frequency to communicate. After an hour, the content of the communication between the two was converted into text, which could fill several TB hard drives.
Nick felt his brain was overloaded. The ring he wore had translation technology specially customized for him by Luke, so he could understand Mephisto and the others. But compared to Luke and the others' composure, he felt far more uncomfortable. The energy consciousness language of the two men was a pollution and torture to him. Not only did it put immense pressure on his mind, but his brain, whirling at high speed to comprehend and analyze the other party's words, seemed to be burning out. This forced him to disable the ring's translation function within ten minutes of the verbal battle starting.
Nick rubbed his aching head and was somewhat glad that Luke gave him a choice. Otherwise, if he couldn't turn off the translation function, he would have to leave.
"How long are you guys going to keep arguing?" Luke didn't mind listening a bit longer, but the problem was, given the demon's perspective on time, they could really keep arguing for years without getting bored or thirsty. Anyway, the passage of time wouldn't be a big loss for them.
But Luke and Strange couldn't bear to sit here for several years just to listen to two demons mentally polluting each other, so Luke had to speak out to stop them.
"I don't think he's sincere about cooperating. Why don't we find someone else?" Mephisto said, returning to his normal energy frequency language. "He's not completely irreplaceable."
"I'm sincere," Nightmare said hurriedly. He'd sensed something was amiss between Mephisto and Luke, so he quickly declared his intention. If he couldn't get more, then so be it. It was fine as long as he could do what was written in the contract.
After all, if he could really do what the contract said, how much energy he could share and how much trouble he could save!
"But you have to show me results first!" Although Nightmare's resistance had subsided considerably, and he had used various methods to verify the contract and what Luke and the others had said, he still displayed the cunning and caution of a demon god. He had to let Luke and the others prove the plan they had promised him, so that he could see its effects.
"Of course. But you need to give me some access to the Nightmare Dimension first." Luke said.
Nightmare glanced at Ancient One cautiously. If anyone here still possessed a certain level of Nightmare Dimension energy access, it would undoubtedly be Ancient One. He considered it, and it seemed that regardless of his permission, the other party possessed the ability to do so. At best, it was a legitimate product, with his official support and supply, ensuring stability! A pirated copy, however, could draw his swift reprimand.
According to the plan, petty theft might be possible in the early stages, but as the energy consumed and the scale of the operation increased, it would be impossible to conceal his identity for long. Perhaps this was also the reason why Luke and his team took the initiative to contact and win him over?
Luke connected the Nightmare Dimension to his own data dimension and established a soul connection with the virtual cabins of Osborn and other companies. After adjusting the parameters and settings, he nodded to Nick beside him.
Nick immediately stood up from his seat and, with the help of the portal opened by Strange, hurried back to take charge of the situation.
The meeting room suddenly fell into silence.
Nightmare and Mephisto stopped arguing, Odin and Ancient One gathered together to drink wine and tea, and the remaining Luke and Strange closed their eyes and immersed part of their minds in the data dimension to process affairs and information.
…
The crazy price increases and investment increases made by companies like Osborne during this period have yielded very fruitful results. At least they have given their all, and with the support and assistance of various official departments, they have produced more than 100 million virtual cabins in just one month.
Then, as soon as these virtual capsules came out of the factory, most of them were divided up by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the member states behind them, and the remaining leftovers were given to other partners who also contributed.
After receiving Nick's notification, giant companies like Osborne and other government officials immediately announced the countdown to the game's official launch. A few hours later, the world of the data dimension suddenly welcomed a massive influx of incoming signals, numbering in the tens of millions.
They were all hypnotized by the virtual warehouse's sleep and dream system, and used the open interface to upload their mental consciousness to the dimensional partition of the data dimension specially opened for nightmares.
The various plot scripts and task processes prepared by Nick and his team give these participants a clear goal so that they don't end up doing nothing.
Of course, although they were accessors to the data dimension, their permissions were much lower than those of Nick and Stark. Stark and his team had the authority to modify and develop, while those who accessed the data dimension through the virtual cabin only had the permissions granted to them by the access area.
Just as these people were immersed in the experience of a world that was extremely real to their senses, Nightmare, who had been waiting for several days of mid-court time in Asgard Palace, suddenly raised his head in surprise.
He just realized keenly that the dimensional authority he had opened to Luke had just been drained of a large amount of energy, and not long after, large groups of mental fluctuations appeared in his dream world.
Of course, this might be a bit inaccurate, because strictly speaking, the mental fluctuations he sensed occurred within the nightmare dimension of the data dimension. Figuratively speaking, the nightmare partition of the data dimension was like a virtual mirror image of the nightmare dimension, like a shell over the original system.
Then, very quickly, without him having to do anything, those mental fluctuations began to provide him with abundant nightmare and fear energy. Some of the supply was even of extremely high quality, so high that it was worthy of his attention and even consideration for granting him the status of a believer.
But this is just the beginning!
Over the next few atriums, Nightmare's expression fluctuated with the information provided by the data dimension. He was completely immersed in the wonderful feeling of having a constant supply of nightmares and sources of fear. He had never imagined that obtaining energy could be so simple and sustainable? He didn't even need to worry about too much, not even needing to recruit believers!
Even though Luke's proposal explained this situation, Nightmare was skeptical without any evidence, because what Luke said was too good to be true and conflicted with his previous experience.
After all, the dimensional demons are generally too old and don't communicate much.
"Wait!" Nightmare's expression suddenly changed. He realized that the mental fluctuations he was sensing were disconnecting at a massive rate. He subconsciously used means to plunder and retain them, but his energy seemed to hit some invisible barrier, triggering the defense mechanism set by Luke. Not only was the energy he invested lost, it was completely consumed. His head was also dizzy from the rebound of some unpleasant energy.
"What happened?" Nightmare asked Luke loudly, not caring about his dizzy head. He had just enjoyed it for a while, how could it suddenly disappear?
"It seems you are very satisfied with the results." Luke said with a friendly smile.
Seeing his smile, Odin and the others looked at each other, silently lamenting for Nightmare, or perhaps sighing with gloating.
"Well, it's not so bad. The energy it returns isn't much," Nightmare said, coughing twice to try and save himself. It wasn't much energy, but it was a relief! He didn't have to risk anything or expend any effort; someone was just feeding him energy. What could be more comfortable than that? Moreover, if he could get other Nightmare believers and dimensional beings to join in, wouldn't he be able to take off once their numbers were completely increased? Hence his inner urgency.
As for the previous caution, that was still there, of course. But his guard was reduced to almost nothing. After all, the effect and potential really made him extremely excited.
"Don't worry, this is just a large-scale test. It will take some time before it's officially launched and perfected. I believe that the next time it's launched, more people will be connected and the energy gained will be even greater.
In the future, we'll have dedicated personnel constantly updating the stories and versions, expanding into rich nightmare worlds. Of course, if you have any suggestions, you can also raise them with Mr. Nick Fury, who can connect you with the designers to better understand your needs."
Luke comforted Nightmare in a gentle voice, pointed at Nick Fury, who was picked up by Strange, and introduced him to Nightmare.
"Can I leave a dimensional mark on him?" Nightmare's eyes lit up.
"Yes, but it needs to pass the security certification of the Supreme Sorcerer lineage! We have worked with Heberon to develop a series of security measures and standards for this purpose." Strange answered as if reading a script.
"Can we sign the contract now, Mr. Nightmare?" Luke tapped the table with his fingers, pointed at the floating parchment, and reminded with a kind and friendly smile on his face.
"Of course." Nightmare hesitated for a moment, but looked at Luke and others with burning eyes, thought about the beautiful scene of continuous energy supply just now, and then thought about the fact that he did not detect any loopholes or traps in the contract. Although the energy on it still made him feel uncomfortable and resistant, if he did not violate the contract and would not cause the riot of this energy, then it seemed that it was not impossible to sign it?
Even if there were disagreements or disputes in the future, as long as he had accumulated enough energy, he would be able to break the rules. Although this energy was dangerous, it would not be enough to kill him.
After thinking carefully in his mind, he finally couldn't resist the temptation of the future, and Nightmare left his unique imprint of dimensional power on the parchment.