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"Wasn't I supposed to be discharged today?" Stan hadn't worked in a long time, but his air of authority from being in a high position was still there. "Is it that Tony doesn't agree to my discharge?"

“You’ve misunderstood.” The nurse’s expression remained unchanged. She was personally chosen by Pepper, and her work was arranged by Pepper, so she didn’t care about Stan at all.

“Mr. Tony Stark has been very busy lately and hasn’t had the energy to take care of you. These medications are for the last time since you were discharged from the hospital.”

“I won’t take it!” Stan waved his hand and pushed the medicine aside. He got angry just hearing Tony’s name.

Since waking up, hardly anyone has come to see me, and even though Tony hasn't been to the company for so long, no one has paid any attention to me.

He knew the reason, of course. Tony was lucky to have gotten involved with some mystical force, and Pepper was ruthless enough to wipe out his influence in just a few months.

“Mr. Stan, if you do not cooperate with the treatment, I will have to refuse to sign the discharge consent form,” the nurse said immediately.

"You!" Stan stood up, pointed at the nurse, but couldn't finish his sentence. A fallen phoenix is ​​no better than a chicken!

“Fine! I’ll take it!” Stan said viciously, taking the medicine as if it were poison.

Of course, these weren't poisons but rather legitimate supplements; it was just that Pepper had instructed the nurses to do so.

Tony almost died in the Middle East because of Stan. Pepper was already being kind by not harming Stan while he was unconscious. How could she not take advantage of this opportunity to provoke Stan?

In the afternoon, before being discharged from the hospital, Obadiah stood at the window, staring at the courtyard below.

Tony! You wait! I'll send you in here too, and you'll never get out!

Stan thought viciously to himself.

“Mr. Stan, aren’t you leaving yet? If you plan to stay another day, you might need to pay an overnight fee,” the nurse said as she approached Stan.

"Where is my driver?" Stan asked coldly.

“I’m sorry, Stark Industries didn’t arrange a driver for you, and our hospital’s driver is currently away for training. So, you can take public transportation,” the nurse continued. “If you don’t know the route, I can show you how to find it on your smartphone.”

"No need!" Stan pushed the nurse aside and walked towards the door.

The phone Pepper and the others gave him had a lot of money on it, so Stan didn't need to take public transportation. However, he couldn't afford to lose face by taking a taxi!

Once Stan was out of sight, the nurse pressed her earpiece. "Miss Pepper, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No need. You did a great job this time, very responsible. I think you are very suitable for the position of deputy director of the sanatorium, and I will recommend it to the director."

"Yes, yes, thank you so much for your suggestion. Please feel free to contact me anytime if you need anything else." The nurse grinned widely.

From this day forward! She's no longer an ordinary nurse! She'll be standing on top of a whole bunch of people!

Meanwhile, Stan, standing by the roadside, made a phone call. This was the only former subordinate he had been in contact with during this time.

"Where are you?!" Stan asked, maintaining his previous commanding tone.

“Mr. Stan, I’m at the company. Miss Pepper has ordered all employees to stay at their posts today and to prepare for the meeting.”

"I was going to arrange a car for you, but then I suddenly remembered something..."

"What is it?" Stan asked.

"You no longer hold a position at Stark Industries, so it's not convenient for you to use the company's accounts. Therefore, you'll have to take a taxi yourself. Just let me know if you need money."

Smash! Stan slammed his phone to the ground, shattering it into pieces.

In the Stark Group president's office, the man who had just finished a phone call with Obadiah was standing bowing and scraping in front of Pepper.

Pepper waved him away. She didn't like this guy at all, but he was the first to surrender to them when Obadiah fell, so it wasn't good to kick him out directly.

After everyone left, Happy walked to Pepper's desk with a large stack of documents in his hands.

“Miss Pepper, isn’t this going a bit too far?” Happy was a little worried that Obadiah might cause trouble if he got angry.

“That’s not excessive!” Pepper’s face was grim. “In my opinion, he should be sent straight to jail! Premeditated murder!”

Pepper gritted her teeth; Tony had almost died! But seeing Obadiah's state, Tony surprisingly decided not to pursue the matter any further.

He simply used some "legal" means to directly remove Obadiah's management rights. Of course, Obadiah's dividend shares were enough for him to live on for a lifetime, and he could live very well.

After walking for several hours, Obadiah returned to his suburban villa.

His phone was broken, and he had no cash on him. Stan wasn't going to give up to those guys; he still wanted to fight Tony Stark!

Since Tony Stark is so soft-hearted, don't blame him for being ruthless. This time, he's determined to return to Stark Industries, kick Tony out, and sell Pepper to make movies!

When Obadiah arrived at the villa, he was horrified. The iron gate was covered in dust, and through it, he could see that the yard was a mess, dusty and chaotic place, like a haunted house.

He's only been gone for a few months! What does it mean that this place has become like this?

This means that no servant has come to clean for a long time!

Beep... The fingerprint lock unlocked, and Obadiah walked into the yard, raising a cloud of dust.

Suppressing the madness in his heart, Obadiah walked step by step into the first floor of the villa.

The huge living room was just as gray as the outside, and because of its structure, there were even more cobwebs inside than outside.

He walked to the end of the living room, his favorite spot, from where he could see everything below. This position was also higher than the floor, giving him a feeling of being an emperor or a king.

"Aaaaaah!" Obadiah completely erupted when he saw his favorite place in such a mess.

clap clap clap!

One by one, vases flew from Obadiah's hands to all directions in the room, smashing on the ground with a loud crash.

woohoo hoo...

After smashing for a few minutes, Obadiah began to pant heavily. He couldn't keep up with his strength. He was getting old, and his body was failing in many ways. Moreover, he had recently undergone major surgery and almost didn't survive.

"Impotent rage..."

A dull sound rang out.

"Who! Who's speaking!"

Obadiah looked around and shouted loudly.

Chapter 156 Hell Contract and the Holy Lord (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Qingheyue)

Stan called out for a long time without getting a response. When he turned around, he suddenly noticed a book on his favorite chair.

“It’s you, isn’t it!” Stan walked to the chair, staring intently at the book cover, and said firmly.

The book's surface is made of an unknown material that at first glance resembles some kind of leather and has a decaying feel.

Staring at it for a long time, the intricate patterns on the pages became faintly visible, while a faint smell of gunpowder wafted from the pages.

"It's me..."

The voice rang out again, and this time Stan heard it clearly. He realized it was his own voice, and the source of the sound was inside his body.

This terrifying event failed to raise even the slightest alarm in Stan; his mind and body were completely absorbed by the books, which he saw as both wealth and status—in short, containing everything he desired.

The aura of hell began to emanate from Stan's body; he had been assimilated by the laws of hell, the faint red light in his eyes being the best manifestation of this.

Finally, after standing there for a few minutes, Stan couldn't help but reach out his hand, and his palm touched the cover, feeling a strange sensation of mixed cold and heat.

As his fingers touched the edge of the book, a hidden thorn pierced his skin, rendering the platelets' clotting function completely ineffective.

The gushing blood instantly soaked the entire book. As the blood seeped in, the words "Hell Contract" slowly appeared on the cover, and the power that had been sealing the entire book was released.

Ignoring the wound on his hand, Stan opened the cover, and upon seeing the contents, Stan completely lost his mind.

This is a book from Hell, which describes many ways to make contracts with Hell creatures, as well as some simple Hell spells to restrain the demons that are contracted.

In his hallucination, Stan's right hand grew the claws of a ghoul, and then, following the description on the first page, he tore open his clothes and carved an evil array on his chest with blood and flesh.

When the formation was completed, Stan looked like a demon, and the Hell Contract merged into his body.

Feeling the surge of power within him, Stan burst into laughter. He swung his hand forward forcefully, but only a slight breeze stirred up; nothing else happened.

Why! Why have my talents and abilities disappeared?!

The irritable Stan kept trying; he had now contracted the power of the Claw Demon in the book, but it seemed he only received a physical boost.

After exhausting all his strength, Stan regained some of his senses and remembered to look through the books.

In the latter half of the book, Stan found the reason: the energy and formations on Earth repelled the entry of Hell's energy. To obtain a lot of power, one could only open the sealed cracks. Only then could the various mysterious powers from Hell be truly revealed.

Currently on Earth, the easiest seal to open regarding the Hell Rift is in Hong Kong, China. Someone there once attempted to open the formation, but although they failed for various reasons, it weakened the seal's power.

“Heh heh… Hong Kong…” Stan’s saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth and hit the floor, corroding the ground and sending up wisps of smoke.

"I'm here...I'm here..." Stan continued to mutter, his body returning to its original form. This was the simplest form of Hellish magic: humanoid disguise.

Meanwhile, in a high-rise building in downtown New York City, a gigantic man, surrounded by a large crowd, walks towards a room on the top floor.

The crowd stopped in front of the door and backed away. After retreating a certain distance, Kingpin walked into the room alone.

On one wall of the room hangs a strange sculpture that looks like a coiled dragon, except that there are twelve opposing notches on the dragon's body.

At the very center of the sculpture is a majestic and enormous dragon head, its bright red eyes standing out even more against the backdrop of the golden skin beside it.

“Holy Lord, we are partners, so stop sending me messages all the time.” Kingpin said, standing in front of the sculpture. “You said the talisman sealing your power appeared in Hong Kong. I’ve already sent people to look for it, and we’ll have news soon. Stop rushing me!”

The eyes on the dragon's head lit up. "Kingpin, don't you want to gain superhuman power anymore? Don't you want to clear your name anymore?"

"So you still remember what I asked for." Kingpin sneered. "Did I obtain the supernatural power? As for clearing my name, you still won't reveal the sealing locations of the other seven demons. Without that, how can I clear my name?!"

Since the mysterious side appeared in the world, Kingpin immediately realized that he had to speed up his process of clearing his name. In order to achieve this goal, he spent a huge sum of money to send himself to prison, and then spent a huge sum of money to bail himself out.

With the help of a large number of lawyers, it can be said that as long as Kim does not commit any further crimes during his bail period, he will be half-whitewashed in the eyes of the United States.

But there are still hidden dangers. If someone with more power than him makes a move, or if those mysterious figures make a move, all his hard work will be in vain.

There is only one way to truly clear one's name: to perform a great service, so great that the mystical side will no longer pursue his past deeds, such as the merit of destroying the seal of seven or eight demons.

“No…you have a better option than their location,” the Holy Lord said to Kingpin in a hoarse voice.

"What?" Kingpin leaned on his scepter, keeping eye to eye on the image of the Holy Lord hanging on the wall.

"I smell the scent of an old friend. Banish him, kill him, and you will become a hero in the eyes of mortals," the Holy Lord continued.

At the same time, two beams of light shot out from his eyes, projecting an image in the air.

Inside is Stan, who has left the villa. In this image, Stan is depicted as a demon, and his cruelty and irritability are directly revealed in the image.

"Mephisto and his minions—believe me, eliminating him is the best option," the Holy Lord continued.

Kingpin remained silent for a while. Of course, he knew the name Mephisto, the mythical ruler of the underworld.

"Thank you for reminding me, I'll give it a try." Kingpin turned and left, his tone of thanks devoid of any sincerity.