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Chapter 40 Mephisto's Dark Agent (A trial run, please continue reading)

"Ancient One, our deal with Mephisto has been exposed. Should we silence them?"

Russell looked at the bald Ancient One with a serious expression and asked.

boom!

Whitebeard Gu Yi shouted and slammed his hand on the table, knocking over the cards played by the group.

How do you play a hand where you start with a six-way handicap?

"Shut them up, they must be silenced!"

the Avengers:"!!!"

The already tense four Avengers immediately went on high alert. In a moment of panic, Hulk took over Bruce Banner's place.

"Roar! Hulk, fearless!"

Hulk charged at the white-bearded Ancient One, about to deliver a powerful blow.

Whitebeard Gu Yi did not get up and remained seated on the stool.

He grinned as Hulk approached.

boom!

Whitebeard Ancient One's body blurred into a phantom to dodge, and Banner slapped Russell on the head before he could react.

Whitebeard Gu Yi: You kept beating me at mahjong and then bragged about being some kind of Mahjong Master.

With a muffled thud, Russell remained motionless, only the stool shifted slightly.

A hint of confusion flashed in Hulk's eyes; it was the first time he had encountered someone who had withstood his attacks without a scratch.

Clench your fingers and grab Russell's shoulder for an over-the-shoulder throw.

Russell rolled his eyes at the white-bearded Gu Yi.

He's so old, yet he acts like a child, unable to accept defeat.

"Calm down, Hulk. Try to control yourself, Dr. Banner."

Russell's voice carried a spiritual power, calming Hulk.

Russell raised his hand, wanting to fix his hair that Hulk had messed up.

With his hand in mid-air, he realized he had a buzz cut and pretended to touch his hair.

The next second, his hair grew wildly, eventually forming a middle part.

Hawkeye and Blade: Is this the mage Russell? He took a punch from Hulk without flinching, acting like nothing happened.

Natasha: Is this what a mage is? They can customize their own hairstyles.

Ignoring the two goofing around, Tony asked directly, "What's going on?"

Whitebeard Gu swept the mahjong tiles away with one hand. Then, he calmly sat down to the side.

Bald Gu swept his hand across the table, and a tea set appeared. Then, he quietly brewed tea on his own.

Seeing that neither of the two Ancient Ones wanted to explain, Russell had no choice but to do it himself.

He paused for a moment, considering how to phrase it in a more righteous and glorious way.

"After (not) friendly communication, Mephisto realized his mistake and (was) offered to compensate me for medical expenses, work injury expenses, emotional distress damages, and damage to my conscience."

Tony couldn't help but complain, "Compensation for loss of conscience? What is that?"

"I was the one who launched the sneak attack," Russell began, then quickly changed the subject, realizing he'd let something slip. "Your compensation has been finalized, look!"

As he spoke, he flipped his palm, and the souls of Tony's parents and butler floated above him.

Tony's pupils contracted sharply as he slowly reached out and took the three souls, protecting them with his mental power.

"They can recover."

"It requires constant magical stimulation to awaken their souls. Tony, you should know what happens when an ordinary person's soul is exposed to magical energy for an extended period of time."

Russell interrupted Tony, reminding him.

"Even a mage who has cultivated for a long time must be very careful when drawing energy from the multiverse, otherwise he may be infected by magic and his mind may be twisted."

"I can use the power of Vishanti."

Tony refuted Russell, but his voice grew softer and softer.

The Vishanti provide the Kamar-Taj mages with their energy almost free of charge, hoping that the mages will use this power to protect the real universe from being corrupted by the magical dimension, rather than to forcibly sustain the lives of their loved ones.

Provide emergency relief, not poverty relief; even deities follow this principle.

"Tony, you can send their souls to the dimension where Vishanti resides; that doesn't violate any rules."

Bald Ancient One couldn't bear to see his disciple in such a predicament, so he offered some advice.

"Under the influence of white magic, they will gradually recover. After you die, you can reunite with them."

Hmm, it sounds similar to Mephisto's conditions, the difference being that white magic doesn't distort the mind, while the magic of the hell dimension does.

Tony remained silent for a long time before slowly nodding.

At this point, Natasha asked, "Are the souls of the dead in our world all in hell?"

"Unsurprisingly, yes." Russell nodded, indicating his affirmation.

Natasha hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Master Russell, can you help us get Hope's soul back? Hope van Dyne, Dr. Pym's daughter."

"Hmm? Why?" Russell asked directly.

He knew about the deal between Dr. Pym and Mephisto, but what did that have to do with him? He wasn't the one who tricked Dr. Pym into signing the contract.

Natasha explained, "Dr. Pym suspects that S.H.I.E.L.D. deliberately framed his daughter. Our investigation revealed that Hope's mission back then was indeed shady. We suspect there's a mysterious force operating within S.H.I.E.L.D., and we hope to communicate with Hope."

Russell rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

He wasn't interested in the conflict between Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D., but the Avengers had risked their lives to enter the Quantum Realm to support him, and he couldn't remain silent.

Although the Avengers were truly useless this time.

Russell looked at Mephisto.

Mephisto's lips twitched.

He had figured it out; he had been tricked by these three mages.

Moreover, He made a fatal mistake—the skylight effect.

They first deliberately pretended that they would attack the Hell Dimension if they refused to compromise, thus raising their sense of crisis.

Then one person deliberately plays the "bad cop," getting both sides to back down, giving themselves a psychological suggestion that it's better to lose money than to suffer a greater misfortune.

Finally, he even pretended to be generous and waived the apology for redeeming the clone.

In fact, from beginning to end, they only had one bargaining chip—this clone.

Unfortunately, by the time He realized it, many sunk costs had been incurred.

But do they really think they don't understand the principle of not involving sunk costs in decision-making?

Mephisto feigned hesitation and extracted Hope's soul.

Let's plant a hidden seed first!

Russell gave Natasha a reminder after handing Hope's soul over:

"Does S.H.I.E.L.D. have any methods to nurture souls? If not, it would be better to let her soul return to Hell to slumber."

Natasha just stared longingly at Russell.

Russell: I just made a fortune, I won't hold it against you.

Russell extracted a sliver of energy from his attribute points and poured it into Hope's soul.

Attribute points -0.1.

"If it's just in a spirit state, it can last for a month. But once it enters a physical body, it's hard to say."

"Thank you, Venerable Russell."

Natasha thanked her, carefully put Hope's soul away, and stepped back.

"By the way, Tony, how did you guys get in? How much time has passed outside?"

This place was specially chosen by the Ancient One, and its time flow is not much different from that of the outside world.

Neither Russell nor the Ancient One wanted to encounter that kind of unfortunate situation—

Five hours in the quantum realm is equivalent to five years in the outside world.

Thanks to book lovers 20181127090445522, Aishuchengci, 20201205155257628, and YueheifenggaoUGig for their monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)