In the Marvel Universe: I can summon items from all dimensions.

Chapter 104 Japan is about to be destroyed again!

"The Dragon God didn't tell me much about this."

When the prize was presented with a hint of anxiety, he said, "He only instructed that if a collapse point appeared on Earth, one should absolutely not touch it, as it would be life-threatening. Moreover, if someone touched it and did not die, but instead coexisted with the collapse point, it would mean that a crisis that could lead to the destruction of the world had occurred."

"After this human was parasitized by Lord Lucifer and came into contact with the collapse point but didn't die, I immediately tried to inform Lord Dragon God. I waited several months before receiving a reply saying that an envoy would arrive soon to resolve this issue. And then I waited even longer before finally finding you, sob sob sob, you have no idea how I've spent these past few months—" As he spoke, Mason felt his head inexplicably become wet, and upon smelling it, it tasted almost like salt water—

Don't do that, buddy, don't do that.

He immediately pulled his head out of the jewel's mouth, and sure enough, the guy was crying with great intensity. Although his whole body was no bigger than a fist, the tears he shed were as spectacular as a fountain. He was only a fraction of a second too late, and half of Mason's body was already soaked.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop!"

Mason immediately retreated tactically, making an "X" sign in front of his chest, and said with half annoyance, "Get to the point, or I'm leaving."

Upon hearing this, Dang Zhu suddenly stopped crying, displaying an emotional control comparable to an Oscar-winning actor, and in less than two seconds, she switched back to a serious tone.

"That human is called Karasuma Renya. Don't let his appearance fool you, he's actually over 160 years old."

As the explanation continued, "He pushed for research within his organization into developing a drug that could reverse aging, and with its help, he's lived from the 19th century to the present. As you probably understand, adults, the more someone like that is, the more afraid they are of death. According to my investigation, in the last ten years or so, Karasuma Renya has gradually developed resistance to that drug called 'Silver Bullet.' So, once again nearing death, he's desperately searching for a substitute for Silver Bullet, including but not limited to updating the drug's formula, investing in hibernation technology, and seeking life-extending methods from magicians."

As he spoke, Dang Zhu shrugged and said, "He has a lot of money and can access some magicians and supernatural knowledge. He may also know that if you make a pact with a demon, extending your lifespan is not a problem."

"I see."

Mason pursed his lips and said, "Now I understand."

It's a really simple and easy-to-understand explanation.

Karasuma Renya was on the verge of death, so he launched a frantic self-rescue campaign—just like ancient emperors who always sought out charlatans like alchemists and sorcerers for elixirs or immortality pills. He did many things in order to survive, and finally stumbled upon the corpse of Lucifer, who had been blown up by the Hollow.

Although it's unclear why he didn't use drug A to prolong his life but instead opted for this kind of supernatural thing, Aoyama 0 Sho hadn't disclosed any information about apt4869 anyway, so Mason really couldn't speculate.

There are countless legends about demons, and regardless of the version, they all share at least one characteristic: "their lifespan is far longer than that of ordinary people." Even if Karasuma Renya didn't know that this was a demon, he could at least tell Lucifer's supernatural identity from his appearance. With this in mind, it would be perfectly normal for him to think that "studying this thing might be able to prolong my life." It would also be understandable if he couldn't resist touching it a couple of times.

As a result, touching it led to trouble.

See, if you hadn't touched it, nothing would have happened. Now look what's happened, buddy. I have to find a way to kill you—and I'm not being modest. With my abilities, as long as I stay put and develop for a while, it wouldn't be a problem for me to defeat this world on my own. Is it really worth it for you, Karasuma Renya, to provoke such an opponent just to prolong your life?

Sure enough, in the multiverse trial, being impulsive is on par with "You know too much" as one of the top ten most disastrous ways to die.

Mason sighed, plopped down, scratched his head, and said, "Anyway, let's continue."

Meanwhile, at a military base in a Middle Eastern country, Karasuma Renya is ramping up his efforts.

He stood upright in a vast underground space, his hands behind his back. His nearly two-and-a-half-meter-tall body was covered with powerful muscles, and a sharp, black horn protruded from his left forehead. His skin also had a rough, rock-like texture—a change brought about by the fusion with the power of the demon, making his appearance gradually resemble Lucifer.

By now, even if Karasuma Renya's biological mother were to come and find him, she probably wouldn't recognize who he is.

------

But it doesn't matter. The change in appearance is insignificant. Isn't this robust body much better than the original withered and rotten flesh?

Immortality, eternal youth, and the power of demons! What immense, magnificent power this is! Compared to it, the unstable aging-rejuvenating drug, developed over nearly a century, seems utterly laughable—no, far beyond that enormously expensive yet minimally effective research! Compared to him now, neither conglomerates nor terrorist organizations matter. As for the reason—

Distillery leader, tycoon head, Karasuma Emperor—these are all the positions and titles I, Karasuma Renya, once held, each stronger and higher than the last. However, since my rebirth, my power and cultivation have continued to grow, making my divine skills comparable only to Joshua from two thousand years ago.

Comparing them? Hmph! Perhaps my current strength has already far surpassed that of my holy son! With my current power, it is not entirely impossible for me to truly establish an earthly kingdom and become the emperor who rules over mankind!

But to reach that point, it will take a long time to wipe out those ungrateful fools, gradually bring the nations of the earth under my control, and finally achieve the hegemony of Karasuma Renya, so that the whole world will respect me, fear me, and worship me!

Just imagining that scene makes Karasuma Renya's mind race with ecstasy.

However, as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Karasuma Renya, who runs two large conglomerates, the Karasuma Zaibatsu and the Black Organization, understands this principle very well, which is why he came to this place.

At this moment, before Karasuma Renya, numerous silent, exceptionally robust soldiers, whose physical structures differed somewhat from humans, stood in neat formation for his inspection.

These were not the failed products previously distributed to the organization's members. After several months of research, Karasuma Renya finally found a way to make reasonable use of demonic power and used it to create such an army—although the total number was less than five hundred, each of them possessed power that no soldier could match, and were completely loyal to Karasuma Renya, able to carry out any of his orders without hesitation.

The first step of the plan was to take over Japan, a modern country with a large population but weak defenses, where the Karasuma Zaibatsu could move freely without hindrance. As a Japanese, Karasuma Renya was well aware of the country's weaknesses, and his plan was naturally foolproof with no possibility of failure.

After conquering Japan, he could use the population of over 100 million to fully enhance the demonic power originating from Lucifer, like a snowball rolling downhill. Once he had accumulated enough power, he would have a better chance of dealing with those truly powerful nations.

Moreover, there was something else on Japanese soil that was extremely important to him, something he absolutely had to obtain.

However, as a long-standing leader and a member of a wealthy and powerful family, Karasuma Renya was also a man with a strong sense of ritual. For example, the number of soldiers should at least be a whole number, right? The number 472 was a bit awkward. Even when forming a battle formation, it would be missing a corner, and it would be a bit awkward to write down in the future, which would not be conducive to the dissemination of glorious history.

So he decided to take some time to gather the soldiers before taking action. After all, the Japanese archipelago was there; could a cooked duck fly away?

The advantage lies with me!

"I see, I understand completely now."

9

After listening to Dang Zhu's very verbose explanation for more than ten minutes, Mason roughly understood everything.

He sighed, extracted the key information from the long explanation, and asked, "You mean, Karasuma Renya has amassed a demonic army capable of destroying a country and intends to use it to conquer the world, right?"

That's pretty much it.

Although the jewel didn't have eyes, Mason still felt that its expression gave off a "burning gaze," like a deserter who had finally seen an oasis, which made him a little uneasy.

"Then he planned to first conquer Japan and use it as a resource base, using its population of over 100 million as a breeding ground for demonic power, right?"

"That's right! That's exactly it!"

As Jianzhu nodded vigorously, "Demons can grow stronger by absorbing human life force. As far as I know, the life force of one million people is enough for a demon to gain the power to destroy a mountain—if Karasuma Renya really uses one hundred million people as nourishment, he might truly become invincible, and then the world would really be destroyed!"

"What about Lucifer? Isn't he parasitizing Karasuma Renya's body? Can't he be controlled?"

"Hahaha—that parasitic state is like a human turning into a vegetable. Lord Lucifer won't wake up until his injuries have healed to a certain extent."

59

Mason tilted his head back and rolled his eyes at the sky.

Isn't this going a bit too far?

Although he realized the problem was more complex from the moment he saw the cyborgs at the brewery, he never expected things to develop to this point.

According to his original plan, he only intended to cause a small-scale disturbance, to destroy the distillery without affecting too many people. At most, he would try to get America's invisible hand to exert some force and teach these gangsters who were acting in action movies what a real military operation was like.

But this approach seems—no, it's clearly not going to work.

What else can we do? What if we rashly send a group of people up and they get instantly killed by Lord Karasuma, who has turned into some kind of strange creature of unknown origin?

Damn it, if I had brought Kuroshi Kasumi along, would things have turned out like this?

The super beast's invincible strength should be able to easily grab the mere demon and refine it in an instant (meaning burn it to ashes), but now he has to squat on the ground scratching his head like a middle-aged programmer troubled by a mountain of shit code—can he tolerate this grievance?

—Of course it is possible.

Since we're already here, we can't just turn around and go back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe when things don't look good.

According to the information obtained from the Book of Mercenaries, the time flow rate in the Detective Universe and the Marvel Universe differs by a ratio of fifty to one. Since I have only been in the Detective Universe for less than a week, only a few hours have passed in the Marvel Universe. The X-Men and the Brotherhood are probably still fighting. If Scarlet Witch and Chaser are also targeting me, I might not be able to escape.

Compared to two or more Omega-level mutants, it's definitely easier to deal with a mere Devilman who can lead an army to destroy a country.

In short, let's look on the bright side first. We actually have quite a few cards to play, so we're not completely without room for maneuver.

While slacking off is an option, I did take on the task, and it would be quite embarrassing if the client found out I was just slacking off at my desk.

"My lord, please give the order!"

As the jewel bowed repeatedly to Mason, its tone extremely sincere, it proved that you must have the power to resolve the current situation—I will do anything that can help!

So who exactly is the Dragon God?

Of course, there are indeed many "Dragon Gods" in the story of Sword Heroes, but that is more like a profession used to describe "those who have obtained the power of the Dragon God Orb". The one mentioned in the award orb is probably not referring to this kind of existence.

Although there is no concrete evidence yet, Mason can roughly guess that the prize refers to the person who gave him the mission. However, it is best not to be too certain now, otherwise it would be embarrassing if things went wrong.

"And one more thing—" As the prize jewel continued to bow, "Do you have a way to contact Lord Dragon God? Apart from receiving the news that you would be sent here, I have been out of contact with Lord Dragon God for almost half a year, and I am truly terrified."

Good proposal. So, who exactly is the Dragon God?

"What a coincidence, you're also waiting for news on your own?" Mason replied ambiguously. "Now I have someone to keep me company."

"How could this be? Even you, the envoy, can't do anything about it?" The prize jewel visibly dimmed, but rebounded after a few seconds. "But now, the more important thing is to deal with Karasuma Renya—do you have any clues about this?"

"It can't be said that there isn't one."

A dangerous glint flashed in Mason's eyes, then he straightened his expression, crossed his arms, and said, "But let me make this clear—if I'm allowed to act freely, I might actually become more like the Great Demon King. Don't try to back out halfway through."

"Wrong?" Jiangzhu scratched his head, looking somewhat confused.

"in addition."

Mason didn't give the jewel much time to think before continuing—while waving to Phantom Thief Kid, who was standing about a hundred meters away, indicating that the private conversation was over and to call him over: "You know a lot about the jewel, don't you?"

"Of course!" The prize pearl immediately puffed out its chest. "I'm not being modest, but among all the divine pearls, if I'm second, no one dares to claim to be first!"

"very good."

While inwardly scoffing, "As if the other divine orbs could speak," Mason said with an unchanged expression, "Go and collect the other divine orbs immediately. I need to gather them all and use their power to fight against Karasuma Renya."

"really?"

The prize pearl danced with joy: "This is indeed a great idea! Although Lord Lucifer's magic is extremely powerful, our divine pearls are not necessarily at a disadvantage!"

"Once you've collected all the beads, go get the Dragon God Bead. By the way, do you know the Dragon God Sword and the Overlord Sword, or a person called Iron Sword?"

"What's that?"

When the prize jewel scratched its head in confusion, it asked, "Who is Iron Sword? Did the Dragon God leave behind any weapons in this world?"

Mason clicked his tongue inwardly.

So there really isn't such a loophole to exploit?

Iron Sword—the protagonist of "Yagi"—is a typical Japanese high school student protagonist with great strength. With all his buffs, he could easily cut down a city with a single strike, and dealing with demons would be a piece of cake for him. Ever since learning about the existence of the Divine Orb, Mason has set his sights on this swordsman.

Unfortunately, after making contact with the FBI a few days ago under the guise of a magician, Mason used those connections to investigate Izumi Shin High School in Kyoto, but found no one named Tetsuken. After expanding the search, he couldn't even find a single person from the Legend of the Sword Hero.

There are beads, but no people, and no sword; it sounds rather sad.

Despite having made cameo appearances in both the Detective Conan manga and anime, all the characters from Tales of Sword and Heroes have somehow ended up in the ban list in this world, making Mason wonder if some powerful figure is deliberately trying to annoy him.

Now that this has been confirmed by the jewel itself, Mason's anxiety has finally died completely.

It seems there's no hope of calling for reinforcements; I'll have to do it myself.

But it doesn't matter if there's no one, and it's acceptable if there's no sword. The problem is that the timeline is different now. Will the ultimate equipment like the Dragon God Orb be nerfed?

Just like the Cosmic Cube, which was a divine artifact far superior to the Infinity Stones in the comics, it ended up being reduced to a packaging bag for the Space Stone in the cinematic universe. Molecular Man and Beyonders should not be allowed to learn from the Conan universe's mistakes, or they will be just as pathetic.