The air in the workshop was so thick it felt like it could drip with moisture.
The Repulsor Cannon in Tony's palm was still emitting a tooth-gritting hum, its light reflecting off his face, which was twisted with anger and grief. Those eyes, which always held a hint of playfulness, were now filled with coldness.
Steve stood in front of Bucky, not raising his shield, but simply spreading his arms wide.
"Tony." Steve's voice was hoarse. "This won't change anything."
"But it'll make me feel better." Tony gritted his teeth, every word squeezed out from his lungs. "Move, Old Ice Pop. Don't force me to blast you away too."
"You can kill me."
Bucky walked out from behind Steve.
He reached out and pushed Steve aside, his metal arm glinting with a cold, hard luster under the red light. He looked at Tony, his gray-blue eyes devoid of any will to survive, showing only acceptance.
"Bucky!" Steve said anxiously.
"It's okay, Steve." Bucky shook his head, his gaze never leaving Tony. "I don't ask for your forgiveness. I remember everyone I've ever killed—their faces, the sounds they made before they died... they're all in my head. Your parents were just two of them."
Tony's finger trembled on the trigger.
"But I can't die yet."
Bucky's tone shifted, his voice filled with hoarseness and coldness.
"HYDRA is still out there. Pierce may have been caught, but there's still Strucker, there's Zemo, and all those rats hiding in the corners of the World."
"I am the ghost they created. I know where their burrows are, I know their codes, I know how to make them feel fear."
Bucky took a step forward, his chest almost touching Tony's palm cannon, close enough to even smell the scent of singed air.
"Use me, Stark."
"Treat me as a gun, a blade, or a mad dog. I will go and kill every last HYDRA member, tear down their Bases, and dig out their roots to burn them to ashes."
"When it's all over."
Bucky looked Tony in the eye, enunciating every word.
"I will give you this life. You can take it however you want."
Dead silence filled the workshop.
Tony stared intently at Bucky. He was looking for even a shred of hypocrisy or fear of death.
But he found none.
"Ahem."
An abrupt cough broke the suffocating confrontation.
Lin Huai leaned against the doorway, fiddling with a gold coin that flipped between his fingertips like a golden butterfly.
"While it's impolite to interrupt this family drama, I have to say one thing." Lin Huai walked in slowly, his gaze sweeping over the three of them. "This is a very good deal, Tony."
"Shut up." Tony didn't look back, but the light of the Repulsor Cannon dimmed slightly.
"Don't be so angry." Lin Huai shrugged, walked to the workbench, and reached out to close the blood-stained file. "Think about it. If you kill him now, what do you get? A corpse, an emptiness that can never be filled, and a friendship with the Captain that is completely severed."
"Moreover, those HYDRA scumbags will be laughing in hell. They not only killed your parents but also succeeded in making you destroy the Avengers with your own hands."
"This is practically a textbook case of 'hurting your friends and pleasing your enemies'."
Lin Huai's words were like needles, pricking into Tony's chaotic mind.
Reason began to return.
Tony was a genius, a businessman, and an extremely proud person. He could disregard everything for revenge, but he could never tolerate being played for a Fool by HYDRA.
"Let him go kill." Lin Huai pointed at Bucky. "Let him be the cleaner. Top-tier labor for free—might as well use it. Once HYDRA is wiped out, you can decide whether to scrap him for parts or stuff him into a Rocket and launch him into the Sun."
"At that time, it'll be between the two of you, and no one else can interfere."
Tony's breathing gradually leveled out.
He looked at Bucky, his raised arm beginning to tremble.
A long time passed.
Hum—
The light of the Repulsor Cannon went out.
Tony lowered his arm. He didn't look at Steve or Bucky, but simply turned toward the liquor cabinet deep within the workshop.
"Get out."
Tony picked up a bottle of whiskey and, without grabbing a glass, took a large swig directly from the bottle. The spicy liquid burned down his throat but couldn't warm his cold stomach.
"Take your centenarian and his assassin friend and get out of my tower."
"Before I change my mind."
Steve breathed a sigh of relief, his whole body swaying as if he were exhausted. He took a deep look at Tony's back, his eyes full of guilt and gratitude.
"Thank you, Tony."
Tony didn't respond, only waving a hand behind his back as if shooing away a fly.
Bucky silently picked up the file on the table and tucked it back into his jacket.
It was the evidence of his crimes, and also his contract.
Just as Bucky turned to leave, Lin Huai called out to him.
"Hey, one-armed hero."
Lin Huai flicked his finger.
A tarot card sliced through the air, flying accurately toward Bucky.
Bucky reached out and caught it.
On the card, an Angel blew a horn, and the dead rose from their coffins—it was [Judgement].
"I gave you this card before, but back then you were just a Puppet who only knew how to follow orders." Lin Huai leaned against the table, his gaze somewhat profound. "Now, it truly belongs to you."
Lin Huai's voice grew low, carrying a strange rhythm as if reciting an ancient incantation:
"The sounding horn awakens the sleeping soul."
"Past sins are the fuel for rebirth."
"Scrutinize the self within the ashes, and see the dawn at the end."
As the last sentence fell, an imperceptible flash of light passed over the face of the card in Bucky's hand.
"Don't die too early, James Barnes. Your bill hasn't been paid in full yet."
Bucky looked at the card in his hand. A warm feeling flowed from his fingertips into his cold body, causing his long-numb heart to throb slightly.
"Thank you."
Bucky whispered a word of thanks, carefully tucked the card away, and followed Steve out of the workshop.
As Bucky accepted the card, Lin Huai suddenly felt a familiar wave of dizziness.
The scene before him began to twist and stretch... the gray fog surged.
That eternal silence descended once again.
Lin Huai opened his eyes and found himself sitting once more in the High-backed chair belonging to the "World."
Beneath his feet was the boundless gray-white fog, and above his head was the brilliant and deep Cosmos.
And on that massive Bronze Long Table, blurry images were now emerging.
It was Washington.
It was the ruins destroyed by the Impact after the three Helicarriers crashed, the scarred streets, and the crowds who had survived the disaster.
Countless white points of light rose from the images like fireflies, converging into an illusory river that surged toward this palace Above the Gray Fog.
Lin Huai was stunned for a moment, then concentrated his mind, trying to listen to the voices contained within those points of light.
It was prayer.
"Thank God Almighty... we survived..."
"God, thank you for saving my child..."
"That magic that made the ships disappear... it's a miracle..."
Thousands of voices intertwined—noisy, yet filled with the purest emotions: the relief of surviving, the desire for life, and gratitude toward their savior.
Lin Huai looked at the streams of white light.
Logically, most of these prayers were for "God Almighty," and a small portion for the Avengers.
But strangely, after entering the gray fog, these streams of light did not dissipate. Instead, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, they all surged toward that consciousness sleeping deep within Sefirah Castle, wrapped in layers of light cocoons.
That was Zhou Mingrui.
The original body of the "Fool."
Lin Huai could even feel that with the injection of these light streams, the sleeping consciousness seemed to become slightly more active.
"Holy crap..."
Lin Huai couldn't help but swear, then gave a thumbs-up to the void.
"You're quite the thief, main account."
"They pray to God, you take the traffic; they thank Iron Man, you take the kickback. You've really mastered being the middleman earning the price difference."
Though he complained, Lin Huai felt a sense of relief in his heart.
The reason he worked so hard to stir things up in this World, even going so far as to package himself as a mystic, was for this very moment.
The "anchor."
For a deity, humanity is the anchor—the key to maintaining sanity and resisting madness.
Zhou Mingrui was fighting the will of the Celestial Worthy in his sleep, and what he lacked most was this kind of pure human feedback. And the Marvel Universe, a World filled with disasters and heroes, was practically an untapped giant mine.
"It seems this Washington run went well. Although the process was a bit thrilling, the returns are substantial."
Lin Huai leaned back in his chair, his fingers lightly tapping the Bronze Long Table.
"As long as the people of this World are alive, as long as they are still praying, the main account can continuously steal... ahem, collect anchor points."
"So, this World absolutely cannot be destroyed by Purple Sweet Potato or any other messy villains. If too many people die, my main account will lose control."
This wasn't just for some high-minded reason like saving the World; it was for self-preservation.
If the main account lost control and became the Celestial Worthy, his clone would be the first to be erased or assimilated.
"And... advancement."
Lin Huai looked down at his hands.
Although he had just advanced to Sequence 5 Marionettist and even used a trick to control Pierce, he knew very well that it was far from enough.
Against villains on Earth, Sequence 5 might be sufficient.
But against the upcoming cosmic-level threats, or even against a dimensional Demon like Mephisto, a Marionettist was still just a slightly stronger ant.
"I must obtain the main ingredients for the Sequence 4 Bizzaro Sorcerer potion as soon as possible."
"Bizzaro Sorcerer... direct a drama of murdering a demigod..."
A name flashed through Lin Huai's mind.
Mephisto.
"Since you want to play, then we'll play big."
A cold smile curled at the corners of Lin Huai's mouth as his figure gradually faded into the gray fog... back to the real World.
Lin Huai's figure swayed for a moment, and his eyes regained their clarity.
He glanced at Tony, who was still drinking, and didn't try to persuade him.
"Jarvis, keep an eye on your boss. Don't let him drink himself to death by the toilet."
"Very well, Mr. Lin. I shall keep watch." Jarvis's voice was gentle and polite.
Lin Huai turned and walked out of the workshop.
In the hallway outside, Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Dr. Banner were all there.
Seeing Lin Huai come out, everyone gathered around.
"How is it? Tony..." Steve looked worried.
"He won't die." Lin Huai waved his hand. "But he needs some peace and quiet. You'd better not bother him unless you want to be blasted out by laser cannons."
Everyone nodded. Although they were worried, they also knew that Tony's current state was indeed not suitable for being disturbed.
"What's next?" Natasha crossed her arms, her brow slightly furrowed. "Pierce may have been caught, but the names he spat out... HYDRA's influence is even larger than we imagined."
"That will be your job."
Lin Huai pointed at Steve and Natasha.
"Captain, you have the Winter Soldier as a HYDRA radar now, plus S.H.I.E.L.D.'s remaining intelligence network. The cleanup shouldn't be hard. This is also Bucky's chance for atonement—keep him busy, and he won't have time to be depressed."
Steve nodded, his gaze firm: "We will handle it. Every HYDRA Base, we will uproot them all."
"Good."
Lin Huai stretched and turned his gaze toward Johnny Blaze, who had been leaning against the corner without saying a word.
The Skull rider had returned to human form and was smoking a cigarette with a gloomy expression.
"As for me... I'm going on a business trip."
Lin Huai walked over to Johnny and patted his shoulder.
"Johnny and I have some private business to attend to. We're going to find something and, incidentally... go cause some trouble for an old friend."
"Old friend?" Dr. Banner pushed his glasses up. "Who?"
"Mephisto." Lin Huai grinned, revealing a row of white teeth. "Also known as the legendary Demon."
Hearing this name, everyone present was stunned for a moment.
"A Demon?" Dr. Banner's eyes suddenly lit up, that fanatical scientific curiosity instantly overriding his fear. "You mean... the one that appeared in Texas before, the one from the Bible?"
"Exactly. An old fraud who likes signing contracts and running scams." Lin Huai shrugged. "I need to get something from him as a main ingredient for my next advancement."
"Take me with you!"
Dr. Banner took a sudden step forward, so excited that his glasses almost fell off.
"I want to go too! I want to see for myself! From an energetics perspective, what kind of existence is a creature of that dimension? What is the energy conversion rate of Hellfire? And..."
Banner paused and scratched his head, a bit embarrassed.
"I also want to see if there's a way to completely solve the problem between me and Hulk. Hulk comes out as soon as I get excited, and Betty is already complaining. Maybe the magic side will have different answers."
Lin Huai looked at Banner's sincere eyes and then thought about Hulk's off-the-charts combat power.
True.
Going to cause trouble for a dimensional Demon like Mephisto, relying only on himself and Johnny might work, but having a tanky and heavy-hitting Hulk as a meat shield would undoubtedly increase the margin for error significantly.
Moreover, Hulk's pure power of rage might have a miraculous effect against those Demons who toy with the mind.
"Alright." Lin Huai nodded. "Then let's go together. But we have a deal—don't run around blindly when the time comes."
"No problem!" Banner pumped his fist excitedly.
Having arranged everything, Lin Huai walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the night sky as it gradually darkened.
The lights of Washington were still brilliant, but beneath this prosperity, undercurrents surged.
He knew very well that the current peace was only temporary.
First, he had to collect the materials for Sequence 4 Bizzaro Sorcerer as soon as possible. Only by becoming a demigod and possessing divinity would he be qualified to truly stand on this World's chessboard.
Second, he had to protect Earth and guard these "anchors."
"The road ahead is long and arduous..."
Lin Huai sighed, fished a coin out of his pocket, and flicked it lightly into the air.
"Let's go, Johnny, Doctor."