American Comics: Trading Tom Cat

"If I had known that you had such a powerful backer, I would never have dared to hunt you down."

"I felt something was off before. That old ghost seemed to be deliberately forcing me to take action against you. Now I know the answer."

Wu Xinmo wasn't particularly smart, but he wasn't stupid either.

Johnny remained vigilant. It would be foolish to believe a demon so easily. More importantly, he felt insecure because he couldn't use Ghost Rider's abilities right now.

Frank, on the other hand, frowned and thought for a moment before putting away his gun. Wu Xinmo's expression also softened: "That's more like it. Unless I've lost my mind, I won't attack you again."

Frank remained noncommittal: "You just said Locke went to hell?"

Wu Xinmo nodded, his expression growing increasingly complicated: "Not only did you go to Hell, you actually broke in. The one behind you is invading Hell!"

Johnny's eyes widened instantly, and even Frank was taken aback.

"Fuck!" Johnny exclaimed, grabbing Frank's shoulder and shaking him with a 320-degree shake: "Dude, your boss is so cool!"

"You absolutely must let me join your organization!"

A boss who doesn't care about the Hell Lord at all, but will storm into Hell at the drop of a hat to settle scores—having a boss like that would give you an absolute sense of security! It's absolutely amazing, isn't it?!

Frank glanced at Johnny silently, a look that made Johnny suspicious: "Dude, what's with that look?"

"Idiot, do you think just anyone can join an organization like that? He's looking down on you." The Demonic Witch's words instantly killed Johnny.

Johnny froze instantly.

Wu Xinmo's gaze fell back on Frank, his expression complex, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, revealing a deep inner conflict.

Suddenly, ripples appeared in the void once more, and the next moment, a figure walked out from it—it was none other than Locke.

The aftershocks of the previous battle prevented Locke's biofield from stopping immediately. As a result, its mere appearance brought a suffocating pressure to everyone present. Johnny, the weakest among them, even fainted with his eyes rolled back.

A few seconds later, Locke's life force returned to normal. He glanced at Frank, then at the unconscious Johnny.

With a casual flick of his finger, he landed on Johnny. Instantly, a burst of hellfire erupted from Johnny's body, and his skeletal form began to visibly transform.

"Frank, I can just pull that thing out and inject it into your body."

"I'll do it myself!" Frank rejected Locke's suggestion without hesitation.

Locke wasn't surprised. This was Frank, the proud Frank. The Marvel world is full of people who challenge the superhuman with ordinary bodies, like Iron Man and Hawkeye. But not everyone can kill the superhuman with a mortal body.

Frank even slaughtered a parallel universe, where a true human being rivaled a god, in no way inferior to Iron Man, the quasi-protagonist.

Frank roughly pulled the skeletal Johnny up, and the Ghost Rider's power began to awaken, his eyes filled with hellfire, instantly staring straight at Frank.

"Sinner, look me in the eyes!"

"Bang!" A fist slammed into Ghost Rider's head.

"Stop talking nonsense, you brat, unleash your power on me!"

Ghost Rider was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage. He had never seen such an arrogant person in all his years of life!

The hellfire in his eyes grew even more ferocious, and he unleashed a full-power Judgment Eye directly at Frank.

Countless images flashed before Frank's eyes, but Frank's expression remained unchanged.

"Wait, sinner, how could you..."

Before Ghost Rider could finish his shout, his power began to rapidly dissipate, surging wildly towards Frank.

"No!"

In just a few breaths, all the energy surged into Frank, restoring him to Johnny's appearance, while Frank himself transformed into a fireball, as if he were gestating something.

At this moment, Wu Xinmo suddenly spoke.

"The reason why one can gain the power of Ghost Rider by enduring the Judgment Eye is that the power of Ghost Rider is spontaneously seeking a more suitable host. This human named Frank has a near-perfect compatibility with Ghost Rider and may be able to fully unleash the power of Zartanos."

"Your Excellency, you may not be aware of Zarathus's origins. Zarathus is the most unique and powerful Ghost Rider created by Mephisto, and even Mephisto cannot fully control it."

Locke glanced back at the Witchheart Demon: "Continue."

Wu Xinmo was inexplicably delighted and continued to introduce: "Zatanos was once an extremely powerful demon god of hell. At his peak, he fought against Mephisto. As far as I know, he should have had the strength of a peak sub-father."

"Mephisto has always wanted to use Zatanos's power to create a Godfather-level Ghost Rider, the strongest Ghost Rider, who would be the King of Ghost Riders!"

Locke nodded knowingly. He naturally knew that the Ghost Rider inside Johnny was extraordinary, but to be honest, he didn't know much about him. After all, in his previous life, Ghost Rider was strong, but in terms of popularity, he was only a second-rate superhero.

Locke looked at Frank, who was in the gestation stage, and a knowing smile appeared on his face.

Aside from his own women, Frank was the person Locke valued most. This was not only because Frank had considerable potential, but more importantly, because from the time Locke transmigrated to this world until his true rise to power, this old friend had been with him the longest, and their camaraderie was something that ordinary people could not compare to.

Otherwise, Locke would not have directly appointed Frank as the leader of the four generals.

Now that Locke knows Frank has the potential to become a Godfather, he is simply happy, happy for his good friend.

Seeing that Frank still had some time to develop, Locke turned to the Witchheart Demon again: "Speak, what are your thoughts?"

Wu Xinmo was somewhat embarrassed: "Your Excellency, you noticed."

"Compared to your father, you are far inferior in terms of shamelessness and scheming."

Wu Xinmo chuckled self-deprecatingly: "In this respect, I don't consider it shameful."

“Sir, since you have already seen through it, I will be frank with you. May I ask if I may follow you?”

“Oh, the reason~” Locke looked at the Witchheart Demon with great interest.

Speaking of time, Wu Xinmo's strength is not bad. Although he has not reached the level of a sub-father, he has gone quite far in the first-class level. According to the combat power evaluation, this guy has a combat power of 700. After absorbing the Saint Vanganza Contract, he can increase it by 900, or even the first-class limit of 999 is not impossible.

It wouldn't be a bad thing to win over such a guy, but he's a son of hell, with a heart set on rebelling against his own father, so he won't easily offer his loyalty.

Without hesitation, Wu Xinmo explained, "You ask this because you know I am the Son of Hell, right?"

Locke remained noncommittal: "Continue."

Wu Xinmo nodded: "Child of Hell, it sounds pretty good. The descendant of the Lord of Hell, the future successor of the Hell Dimension, but in reality, the Lord of the Dimension is almost immortal. This so-called successor is a joke."

"So here's the question: why would such a strange rank as the Child of Hell be born under these circumstances? It's because the Hell Dimension, as a special dimension where all the negative aspects of the world converge, is filled with incredibly strong negative energy. Most Hell Lords are gradually corrupted by this negative energy and eventually transform into brutal and insane fallen demon gods."

"Most hell lords don't care about this, but not all hell lords don't care. Mephisto is one of the ones who cares a lot. In order to fight against this corruption, He deliberately created me so that I could take the corruption of negative energy in His place."

“I rebelled against Him only because I was unwilling to be a tool, not because I wanted to be the lord of hell.”

They came face to face with Locke, who had a half-smile on his face.

Wu Xinmo awkwardly added, "Of course, the Lord of Hell still wants to do it, but the main reason is still the former."

"Furthermore, Mephisto will not allow me, this tool, to break through to the Sub-Father level, because that would increase the possibility of me losing control. But if I don't break through to the Sub-Father level, my ability to erode negative energy will be very weak. After all, that is a power that can even erode a Father-level Hell Lord. Right now, I have already been erode by more than 80%."

"So, I risked coming to Earth, just to give it one last shot."

Locke nodded. He could tell that the Demonic Heart of Witch was not talking nonsense. Moreover, the logic was quite reasonable. It was absurd that an immortal dimensional lord would choose the Son of Hell as his successor.

Locke's eyes flashed red as he scanned the Demonic Heart from head to toe: "You have indeed been corrupted, and the situation is quite serious. Even I cannot remove the corruption from you."

This is almost a violation of the rules themselves, not just a minor problem. To be honest, it's not worth getting involved in this kind of trouble for the sake of a Witchheart Demon.

Wu Xinmo gritted his teeth: "Your Excellency, I know this matter is very troublesome. Actually, there is another way. I can sever my corrupted body. However, because 80% of my body is corrupted, I may not survive if I sever the corruption..." As he spoke, he looked at Locke with anticipation.

This is why the Demonic Heart of the Witch wanted to follow Locke. He didn't want to die, so he rebelled against Mephisto. In fact, he knew that the chance of success was infinitely close to zero, but he had no choice. It was the only solution he could think of.

Now things are different. This person in front of him is not only powerful enough to not fear Mephisto, but more importantly, his power is very similar to an ancient and powerful force that he learned about in Hell - the power of chaos!

This was hope, real hope. He didn't want to die; he wanted to live. And the only way he could think of was to surrender. This was his only bargaining chip.

Locke pondered. The Demonic Heart of the Witch was indeed quite strong, but if 80% of its body were severed, its strength would plummet, and it might not even be able to maintain its first-class strength.

Is it really worth going to such lengths to help this guy rebuild his body?

Locke suddenly glanced at the Witchheart Demon: "Are you a fire demon?"

Although he didn't know why the question was asked, the Demonic Heart of Witch nodded: "Yes, Your Excellency. In fact, most of the powerful demons in Hell are fire-based."

"You have three subordinates, right?"

Suddenly, Wu Xinmo's eyes lit up. He realized a possibility: "Yes, Your Excellency, they are the Earth Demon, the Water Demon, and the Wind Demon, and their origins are quite unique..."

"Stop, there's no need for introductions." Locke had no interest in the origins of the three demons; their backgrounds were utterly meaningless, given that they weren't even first-rate fighters.

"Follow me, I agree. Now call out your three subordinates."

"Yes, boss!" Wu Xinmo said excitedly and respectfully.

The reason I took this guy in was because I suddenly developed a collecting interest in earth, wind, water, and fire. These are the four basic forces that were first created after the creation of the world. In my previous life, there was a saying that earth, wind, water, and fire were created after the creation of the world. If I take these four guys in together and let Tom study them, who knows what amazing things he might discover.

Before long, the Earth Demon, Wind Demon, and Water Demon appeared in front of Locke. Or rather, these three had actually been hiding nearby all along, but dared not show themselves because they were in awe of Locke.

Now, hearing that their boss—no, their former boss, Wu Xinmo—is preparing to lead everyone to surrender, what are they waiting for? Having such a powerful backer is incredibly awesome. As for freedom or anything like that, demons don't care about those things. It doesn't matter who they follow. After wandering around Earth for so many years, who would want to go back to that suffocating hell?

As soon as the three demons appeared, they all knelt down on one knee and respectfully offered their submission.

This scene froze Wu Xinmo, who had been beaming with joy.

Fuck, by doing this, don't you think I'm being incredibly inconsiderate!

Wu Xinmo was in a terrible dilemma. He didn't know whether to kneel or not. If he didn't kneel, since they had all knelt, wouldn't that seem very impolite? If he did kneel, kneeling after those three would make him seem inferior to them.

Locke paid no attention to those things. With a light swipe, the Witchheart Demon let out a painful howl, but he was a ruthless character. He only let out a cry before swallowing it back.

He casually slashed open a void passage and threw the corrupted part of the Witchheart Demon back into Mephisto's Hell as a gift.

Then, the power of chaos surged and began to reshape the body of the Witchheart Demon.

In no time at all, Wu Xinmo's body was reshaped.

Feeling unprecedented weakness, yet with a new body untouched by decay, the Demon Witch made no attempt to conceal his excitement.

He immediately knelt down on both knees and gave Locke a full prostration.

The three demons standing to the side twitched at the sight; the former boss was shameless too.

In an instant, three more people prostrated themselves in obeisance.

Roll it up! Roll it up! Let's see who rolls the other to death!

"Everyone, get up."

The four demons obediently got up.

The four little creatures were instantly tossed to the four demons.

The four demons caught the badges and found that they were four Q cards of different suits.

"The Queen of Spades belongs to the Witch Demon, and you are the leader of the four demons."

"Yes, boss."

Chapter Sixty-Six: Deathwing (Bingxi Version)

"Boss, this is the San Venganza Contract." The Witchheart Demon respectfully presented an item.

Locke casually took it and glanced at it.

"It seems you could have found this much earlier."

Wu Xinmo said helplessly, "I can find it, but it's useless. How could something my father left for me on purpose be without problems?"

In the original story, he frantically searched for this thing like a complete idiot. He was probably desperate, so he decided to give it a try. At least there was a chance of success; if he didn't try, he would just be waiting to die.

Locke didn't keep the San Venganza Contract; he just tore it up. What use was it to him? He wasn't a lord of hell, nor was he some weirdo with a taste for eating souls.

One after another, dark, sinful souls emerged from it, and in an instant, the sky over the entire area turned completely black.

With a swift grab, the countless dark souls exploded instantly, transforming into four dark spheres—one large and three small. With a slap, the large one instantly disappeared into the body of the Witch Heart Demon, while the three smaller ones fell into the bodies of the Earth, Wind, and Water Demons, respectively.

It's said that the soul inside is some kind of Holy Spirit, but what does that have to do with Locke? Would he really hand this over to God? That damn God is probably playing hide-and-seek with whoever he's in his own home.

As for why he gave them to the Four Demons, Locke's other subordinates couldn't become stronger by absorbing sinful souls, so these four were perfect. Stronger subordinates would make him look better, wouldn't they?

The Demon of Heart of Witch and the three demons of Earth, Wind and Water were overjoyed. The Demon of Heart of Witch had no idea that this thing could be returned to his hands after offering the contract. The three demons were even more direct. They did not think that they could get this good thing!

This boss is awesome! He really gives out good stuff!

Instantly, the loyalty of the four demons skyrocketed.

Almost simultaneously, they were about to kneel down again.

"Stop! Where did you learn this habit of kneeling at the drop of a hat? Is this how people behave in hell?"

The Demonic Heart and the Three Demons exchanged an awkward glance.

"Alright, now go ahead and absorb those sinful souls."