Despicable Means

"I don’t know."

In response to Wang Bert’s question, Damon said with a bitter smile, "But Zarathos should know. It hates Mephisto to the bone. No matter what Mephisto turns into, it can find him."

"Is that so?"

Wang Bert thought for a moment and said, "Mindy, call Madame Gao and tell them to stay on high alert. Ghost Rider and nine angels are preparing to attack them."

Mindy asked in astonishment, "Master, aren’t you going over to help them? With their strength, they can’t stop Ghost Rider and the angels."

"Don’t worry, they’ll be fine."

Wang Bert smiled. "I’ll send Annie over to help. This is also a good chance to see whether that reincarnated demon really is Mephisto. Oh, and don’t reveal my existence."

"Okay."

Reassured, Mindy called Madame Gao. Damon asked in shock, "Bert, what exactly is going on? And who is Mephisto’s reincarnation?"

"My godson—the biological son of Iron Man."

Wang Bert explained what had happened. Damon was dumbfounded. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Could Mephisto be trying to force you and Tony to turn against each other?"

"Why would I turn against Tony? Even if that child really is Mephisto reincarnated, I won’t kill him."

Wang Bert said, "He may have been Mephisto in his previous life, but in this life, he’s innocent."

"That’s Mephisto. Whether he remembers his past life or not, he’ll still be a supervillain. That’s his nature. No matter how many times he reincarnates, it won’t change."

Damon spoke solemnly. Clearly, he favored eliminating the threat at its root.

It wasn’t that Damon was ruthless. Mephisto was simply too cunning and too evil. If he became Iron Man’s son and Blood God’s godson, would Earth still have any hope?

Mephisto’s reincarnation could never be a good person. There was no doubt about that.

Wang Bert glanced at Damon and asked, "If your daughter were Mephisto reincarnated, would you kill her?"

"My daughter can’t possibly be Mephisto reincarnated. She’s so kind and innocent."

Damon said this, and Wang Bert looked at Mindy, who was pulling a Vibranium dagger out of the white angel’s body and casually wiping it twice on his clothes. "Are you sure?"

Damon was deeply embarrassed. "She’s so righteous… Ahem, Bert, I understand what you mean, but Mephisto definitely has some kind of scheme."

"I’ll figure it out. Mindy, go home and sleep."

As Wang Bert spoke, he waved his hand and stored the white angel in his small space—this guy would become Lizard Doctor’s test subject.

Wang Bert had always opposed Lizard Doctor using living people for experiments, but the white angel wasn’t human. He was an animal.

Mindy said unhappily, "Sleep? My dad’s body is gone. How am I supposed to sleep? I’m going over to help Madame Gao and the others."

"With me around, what are you worried about?"

Wang Bert said irritably. Damon also said, "That’s right, Mindy. Go back and rest. Bert and I will handle this."

Mindy said resentfully, "Again? I can take on a hundred agents by myself. Why won’t you let me keep being a Super Hero?"

"Wait until you’re sixteen. Otherwise, it’ll make Damon and me look incompetent, like we need a little girl to help us."

Wang Bert shook his head and disappeared with Damon, leaving behind only one sentence. "Don’t sneak off. Otherwise, during this winter vacation, you’ll stay home every day doing homework—math homework."

"Damn it."

Mindy stomped her foot furiously. She wished she could suddenly grow up like Lina.

Wait, doesn’t Lina live at my house too? Why hasn’t there been any movement from her?

Mindy hurried to Lina’s room, only to find her drooling and talking in her sleep. "Chicken legs, sausages, stinky tofu… Delicious, delicious…"

"You’re eating even in your dreams. I give up on you."

Mindy was speechless. She discovered that Lina had a third thing she herself wanted—being carefree and heartless.

After confirming that Lina was fine, Mindy ran to the backyard, got on her beloved little motorcycle, and sped toward the hospital at full speed. Her dad was in trouble. How could Hit-Girl possibly stand by and do nothing?

It was only math homework. At worst, she could get someone else to do it.

At a private hospital under the Blood God Group, Madame Gao put down the phone and said to Pepper, "Ms. Pepper, those angels are coming again. But don’t worry, you will be safe."

Pepper smiled. "I’m not worried. After all, my child’s godfather is the reincarnation of God."

"He deserves that title."

Madame Gao smiled. She first had all the doctors and nurses hide in the backyard, then said through the communicator, "The enemy will be here soon. Get ready. This time, besides the angels, there’s also Ghost Rider. He has been controlled by them."

"No problem. We’ve been monitoring the surroundings."

Electro replied. Besides him, the guard room also contained Spider-Man, Harry Osborn, Wind Demon, Absorbing Man, and other Super Heroes.

To protect his wife, Tony had paid a hefty price to hire the Super Heroes from Watchmen Company. As for the Super Heroes from his own company, they had all been sent to deal with the Holy Light Warrior headquarters.

"Max, Ghost Rider has an immortal body and the Penance Stare. We can’t deal with him, can we?"

After Electro put down the communicator, Spider-Man asked with a frown. The others also looked troubled. Immortality was manageable, but Ghost Rider could kill anyone he looked at. How were they supposed to fight that? Even Spider-Man, the kindest among them, didn’t dare claim he was immune to the Penance Stare.

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out. "I’ll deal with Ghost Rider."

Everyone turned around and saw that Annie, Wang Bert’s personal guard, had somehow appeared in the room. They hurriedly stood and called out, "Miss Annie."

Annie’s gaze lingered on Harry for a moment before she said, "Focus on dealing with those angels. Since they’ve come this time, they must be making a desperate gamble."

"Understood."

Everyone nodded. Harry instinctively hid behind Peter. That woman’s gaze was terrifying, as if she wanted to burn him alive.

Electro asked, "Miss Annie, why are you back? Weren’t you on Ego Planet reorganizing the Angel Army?"

Annie answered simply, "I came back to take over the angel legion. We have too few angels under our command. It doesn’t suit Blood God’s status."

"I see."

Other than Electro, everyone’s expressions were somewhat complicated. They all greatly admired Blood God, but the reincarnation of God? Wasn’t that a little too absurd?

At that moment, an alarm suddenly sounded. Everyone turned and saw a large number of red dots rapidly approaching the hospital.

"Why are there so many?"

Everyone was shocked. Spider-Man hurriedly controlled a drone to film the surroundings, and then everyone froze.

Those red dots weren’t angels. They were nearby residents, charging toward the hospital with fanatical expressions while shouting, "Kill the demons! Kill the demons…"

"What’s going on?"

Everyone was confused and even somewhat at a loss. Annie sneered. "They’ve been controlled by the angels with a relic. These angels have truly fallen, using ordinary people as cannon fodder."

"They can use tactics like this and still call themselves angels?"

Peter cursed in dissatisfaction. As a fairly devout believer, he truly hadn’t expected angels to be this evil.

Electro said through gritted teeth, "They all deserve to die."

"Whether they deserve to die can wait. How are we supposed to deal with these people?"

Wind Demon said, "We can’t exactly blast them with machine guns, laser cannons, and Electromagnetic Railguns, can we?"

Tony had prepared a large number of weapons for this hospital. He just hadn’t expected the angels to use such a tactic.

"Definitely not. They’re all innocent."

Peter repeatedly shook his head, then asked Annie, "Sister Annie, is there a way to make them regain consciousness?"

"I’m not good at that. I’m only good at purification."

Annie looked at Harry. Harry’s scalp tingled. Say what you want, but why are you looking at me? Electro thought for a moment and said, "Peter, raise the small Defense Shield."

"Okay."

Peter immediately activated the equipment. A translucent barrier rapidly appeared and tightly protected the hospital.

After acquiring vast amounts of advanced cosmic technology, Defense Shields were no longer much of a problem—aside from the cost.

Very soon, the ordinary people rushed up to the Defense Shield. They shouted and attacked it while more and more people poured in from all directions.

"This can’t go on. Should we take the initiative and attack?"

Absorbing Man said irritably, "They must be hiding outside. Let’s go out and take care of them, then make those people regain their senses."

"No. The enemy might be trying to lure us away."

Annie directly refused. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Go to the garden outside. Spider-Man, let them in. We’ll fight them head-on."

Harry asked, "Will they agree?"

"They will, because Ghost Rider is on their side."

Annie said confidently, "Go prepare."

Everyone nodded. "Yes, Miss Annie."

In an alley not far from the hospital, a female Reincarnated Angel frowned and asked, "Moro, isn’t this wrong? How can we use civilians as cannon fodder?"

"Dying for God is their honor."

Moro controlled the surrounding people with the Angel Holy Sword as he said, "Besides, death is not the end. God will reward them well in Heaven."

The female angel still found it difficult to accept. Several other angels felt the same way. This was completely different from the angels they had imagined.

Ghost Rider stared fixedly at Moro and said somewhat crazily, "You are guilty."

"I am innocent."

Moro fearlessly met Ghost Rider’s gaze. Ghost Rider immediately unleashed the Penance Stare.

To Ghost Rider’s shock, nothing happened to Moro. The reason was simple: he didn’t think he had done anything wrong. Everything he did was right.

"You bear great sin."

The flames in Ghost Rider’s eyes burned even more fiercely as he prepared to physically purify Moro. Moro said, "The one who should be purified most is Mephisto."

Upon hearing Mephisto’s name, the flames around Ghost Rider immediately surged. Several angels were so frightened that they retreated again and again.

At that moment, a gap suddenly opened above the hospital’s Defense Shield. Immediately afterward, a voice rang out. "Despicable angels, do you dare come in and fight us?"

"Do you think I’m an idiot?"

Moro sneered. Why would he abandon so many hostages and foolishly rush in for a decisive battle? His head hadn’t been kicked by a donkey.

Just then, Ghost Rider shot into the sky and flew toward the hospital like a blazing inferno. He didn’t have that many calculations. Since the entrance was open, he would charge in and kill Mephisto’s reincarnation.

Moro almost burst into curses. His head hadn’t been kicked by a donkey, but Ghost Rider’s clearly had.

The female angel asked, "Moro, what should we do?"

"What else can we do?"

Moro cursed, raised the Angel Holy Sword, and shouted, "Come on, we’re going in for a decisive battle. Without Ghost Rider, we can’t kill the demon."

With that, Moro led the angels after him. Seeing that they had truly entered, Spider-Man and the others breathed a sigh of relief. They weren’t afraid of fighting, but they didn’t want to hurt innocents.

Soon, Ghost Rider and the angels flew into the hospital garden one after another. Ghost Rider landed on the ground, and all the surrounding flowers, grass, and trees burst into flames.

Annie walked out with the Super Heroes. Peter looked at Ghost Rider and couldn’t help sighing. "I have to admit, this guy is seriously cool."

"He is cool. If you and Harry didn’t have that special relationship, he’d probably have more fans than you."

Electro glanced at Peter and said, "The special comics about you two have consistently ranked first in sales."

"When have Harry and I ever had that kind of relationship? And how come I never knew about these comics?"

Peter was dumbfounded and hurriedly shouted. Just as everyone was about to tease him and Harry, Ghost Rider suddenly turned toward the room where Pepper was and roared, "Mephisto!"

After confirming Mephisto’s presence, Ghost Rider immediately flew toward Pepper. Annie snorted coldly and slashed fiercely at Ghost Rider with a sword of Holy Flame, sending him flying into the nearby square.

"I’ll deal with him. You clean up these angels."

Then, Annie spread her wings and rapidly flew toward Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider climbed up from the ground. He recognized Annie and roared in dissatisfaction, "Why do you not punish sin?"

"I am punishing sin. You are sin."

Holy Flame blazed fiercely around Annie as she said coldly, "Excessive obsession is also a sin. You and those angels have both committed this sin."

"Nonsense! You have fallen. I will purify you."

Ghost Rider flew into the sky and violently swung a magic chain wreathed in flames at Annie. At the same time, two missiles sprang out from his shoulders and shot toward Annie trailing fire.

Annie sneered disdainfully. Her right hand, burning with Holy Flame, firmly grabbed the magic chain. At the same time, two streams of Holy Flame flew from her body and struck the missiles directly—the missiles did not explode. Instead, the Hellfire upon them was rapidly devoured by the Holy Flame.

Not only was the Hellfire on the missiles devoured, but so was the Hellfire on the magic chain. The Holy Flame devoured the Hellfire all the way along the chain and rapidly spread toward Ghost Rider.

Seeing this, Ghost Rider immediately cut the magic chain apart and cried out in shock, "Devouring Holy Flame! It’s you, the leader of the Avenging Angels."

Back then, God had dispatched a group of Avenging Angels to Earth to punish sin. Their leader had been none other than Annie, though she hadn’t gone by that name at the time.

Later, Annie led the angels in a battle against the Elemental Lords. In the end, both sides suffered devastating losses. Mephisto took the opportunity to ambush them and captured them all in one sweep, which was how Ghost Rider came to be.

The reason Annie had become the leader of the Avenging Angels was that her Holy Flame could devour every kind of fire.