I'M IN MARVEL

c40 : Mephisto's Hidden Man

"Master Ancient One, our deal with Mephisto has been broken. Do you want us to remain silent?" Russell asked, looking at the bald Gu Yi with a serious expression.

Bang! The white-bearded Ancient One slammed his hand on the table, knocking several mahjong tiles across it.

"Listen to the six directions, how do we play this?" he grumbled.

"Silence, silence must be maintained!" the Ancient One commanded.

The Avengers: !!!

The four already-nervous Avengers immediately became alert. Under the pressure, Hulk transformed, replacing Dr. Banner.

"Roar! Hulk, fearless!" Hulk shouted as he charged at the white-bearded Ancient One, intending to strike him with a powerful swipe.

The Ancient One, however, didn't get up. He remained seated on his stool, grinning as Hulk approached.

Bang!

The white-bearded Ancient One's body blurred, turning into a shadow and evading Hulk's strike. Meanwhile, Dr. Banner slapped Russell on the back of the head for not reacting to the situation.

"Just now, I told you to keep playing mahjong, but you were bragging about being some sort of sparrow saint," the Ancient One remarked, a playful smirk crossing his face.

There was a dull thud as Russell remained motionless, though the stool beneath him shifted slightly. Hulk looked confused. It was the first time he'd faced someone who could resist his attack without flinching.

With a tightened fist, Hulk prepared to grab Russell by the shoulders and throw him aside.

Russell gave a disapproving glance at the Ancient One's white beard. Despite his age, the Ancient One still acted like a mischievous old man who hated to lose.

"Calm down, Hulk. Control yourself, Dr. Banner," Russell's voice, tinged with psychic power, echoed soothingly.

Russell straightened his hair, remembering his short haircut and pretending to touch his hair. The next moment, his hair grew uncontrollably into a middle-parted style.

Hawkeye and Blade: Is this Wizard Russell? He withstood Hulk's punch and didn't even budge, looking just like a normal person.

Natasha: Is this what being a mage is like? You can just customize your hairstyle?

Tony Stark ignored their banter and, with a raised brow, asked, "What's going on?"

The white-bearded Ancient One brushed his hands, causing the mahjong tiles to disappear. He then moved to prepare tea quietly, offering no explanation.

Seeing neither Ancient One was going to clarify, Russell decided to take matters into his own hands.

After a brief pause to think, Russell explained, "After some... unpleasant exchanges, Mephisto realized his mistake and offered to compensate me for my medical expenses, work-related injury costs, mental anguish, and conscience damage expenses."

Tony raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "Conscience damage fee? What does that even mean?"

"I was the one who made the sneak attack," Russell continued, then quickly corrected himself, "Anyway, your compensation is also coming. Look!"

As he spoke, Russell opened his palm, revealing the souls of Tony's parents and their butler floating above it.

Tony's eyes widened in shock as he slowly reached out to take the souls into his hands, enveloping them in his spiritual energy.

"They can be restored," Russell continued. "But it takes a continuous flow of magical energy to awaken their souls. You know what happens when an ordinary person's soul is exposed to magical forces for too long."

Tony looked at him warily.

"Even a seasoned mage needs to be careful when drawing energy from the multiverse. If they're not cautious, it can twist their minds."

"I can use Emperor Weishan's power," Tony countered, but his voice trailed off, realizing the magnitude of what he was suggesting.

Emperor Weishan's magic provided free resources to Kama-Taj mages to practice and defend against magical threats. It was meant to protect the natural universe from being overtaken by magical dimensions—not to forcibly preserve the lives of loved ones.

"Even the gods adhere to this principle," Russell added. "You could send their souls to Emperor Weishan's dimension. That wouldn't violate the rules."

The bald Ancient One, seeing his disciple in distress, offered his advice. "Under the influence of white magic, they will gradually recover. When you die, you'll be able to reunite with them."

It sounded like a similar offer to what Mephisto had presented—except that white magic would not corrupt the mind like hellish magic would.

Tony fell silent, considering the options.

Finally, Natasha spoke up. "Are all the souls from our world in hell?"

"Most likely, yes," Russell affirmed with a nod.

Natasha hesitated. "Mr. Russell, can you help us bring back Hope's soul? Dr. Pym's daughter, Hope Van Dyne?"

Russell's brow furrowed. "Huh? Why?"

He knew about Dr. Pym's deal with Mephisto, but why would he be involved in this? After all, he hadn't been the one to convince Dr. Pym to make the deal.

Natasha explained, "Dr. Pym suspected SHIELD had framed his daughter. During our investigation, we discovered evidence that something was off about her mission. We believe there's a hidden force within SHIELD, and they might want to communicate with Hope."

Russell rubbed his temple, feeling a headache coming on. He wasn't interested in the politics between Hydra and SHIELD, but the Avengers had risked everything to support him, and he couldn't ignore that.

Although the Avengers' involvement seemed insignificant this time.

Russell glanced at Mephisto, who seemed to be calculating his next move.

Mephisto had realized the mages had outwitted him. He'd made a grave mistake with the "skylight effect."

They had first pretended to attack the hellish dimension, raising their own sense of crisis. One mage, playing the part of a "red-faced" negotiator, convinced both sides to take a step back to avoid a disaster. And in the end, he had waived the compensation for redeeming the clone.

But, Mephisto realized, he had been the one tricked. The entire plan had hinged on the clone.

Though he recognized his error, Mephisto still hadn't given up. He took Hope's soul from his pocket dimension and handed it over to Natasha.

"Do you have a way to nourish her soul within SHIELD?" Russell asked, offering a reminder, "If not, it's better to let her soul return to hell and rest."

Natasha eagerly looked at Russell, but he seemed disinterested.

Russell, without a second thought, poured a small amount of energy from his attribute points into Hope's soul.

Attribute point -0.1.

"If it's just a spirit, it will last for a month. Once it's placed in a body, though, the situation becomes uncertain."

"Thank you, Master Russell," Natasha said, carefully securing Hope's soul before stepping back.

"By the way, Tony... how did you get in? How long have you been outside?"

Russell glanced at the Ancient One, who had picked a location where time flowed similarly to the outside world. Neither Russell nor the Ancient One wanted to face an unfortunate situation—five hours in the quantum realm equaling five years outside.

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