Harvest

Carter Slade really wasn’t dead. He was tied to a cross, with a shattered angel statue beneath his feet.

Seeing Wang Bert and the others enter, Slade said happily, "Looks like you won. That’s great."

Wang Bert smiled. "An old cowboy like you is afraid of death?"

"I wasn’t afraid when I had no money. Now that I do, I’m terrified. I’m afraid I’ll die before I spend it all!"

Slade burst into laughter. Damon stepped forward to untie him and said, "It’s really great that Mephisto didn’t kill you!"

"He wanted me to abandon my faith. When I refused, he tortured me!"

Leaning weakly against Damon, Slade said, "Killing me doesn’t mean much to him."

"These gods and demons sure play at a high level!"

Wang Bert glanced at Slade and asked, "Old cowboy, why are you so weak? You don’t have any wounds."

"Mephisto took my Spirit of Vengeance!"

Slade looked at Wang Bert and said, "I can sense it. It’s inside you!"

"So that Spirit of Vengeance was yours. It nearly got me killed!"

Wang Bert said irritably, "Old cowboy, I swallowed that thing. I can’t give it back to you."

"You swallowed it? What an appetite!"

Slade gave him a thumbs-up and laughed heartily. "Don’t ever give it back to me. I’ve wanted to get rid of it for over a century! Oh, and remember to kick it a few times for me. I’ve hated that thing for ages!"

Damon asked hopefully, "Bert, can you swallow the one inside me too?"

Wang Bert shrugged. "Sure, but first you’ll have to get Mephisto to take it out."

"Forget it, then. That old bastard is way too cunning. I don’t want anything to do with him!"

Damon shook his head repeatedly. This time, they had Wang Bert to thank. Otherwise, he would definitely have died horribly at Mephisto’s hands.

Coulson leaned in and asked, "Mr. Wang, the battle is over. What are you planning to do with the contract and Blackheart?"

"Don’t get any ideas about them."

Wang Bert waved a hand, then said to Damon, "Damon, we’ll use the old method. Take Blackheart and the contract to Master Ancient One and let her handle them."

"At this point, that’s the only way!"

Damon hesitated for a moment before nodding. Kamar-Taj, led by Master Ancient One, could make demons fear it so much. They definitely had what it took.

"No, I don’t want to see Ancient One! I don’t!"

Blackheart shouted in panic, but no one paid him any attention. Only Earth Demon looked at him pityingly. From here on, Blackheart had only two possible fates—death, or a fate worse than death!

Coulson’s eyes lit up as he asked, "Mr. Wang, do you know where Master Ancient One lives?"

Wang Bert patted Coulson’s shoulder and said, "I do, but don’t worry. I definitely won’t tell you!"

Coulson silently complained, Is that really something to be relieved about?

Wang Bert said, "All right, the matter is settled. Now it’s time to celebrate. I want to properly experience the charm of Texas girls!"

"Texas girls will never disappoint you. They’re the most passionate girls in all of America!"

Slade said excitedly. Wang Bert looked at him and felt a little sentimental. This old cowboy was truly carefree—without the Spirit of Vengeance, he didn’t have long to live.

Slade, who had lived for over a hundred years, didn’t care about death at all. He was only worried about one thing now: "Spending ten million within a few months is a little difficult!"

Inside a mansion in Houston, Wang Bert handed both the Vibranium Blood Orb and the San Venganza Contract to Damon. "Take my private jet back to New York. Master Ancient One is a great person, so you must show her respect!"

"Anyone who earns such respect from you must be truly great!"

Damon accepted the Blood Orb and contract, then said, "I’ll leave Mindy to you. If she really doesn’t want to go to school, don’t force her. She isn’t an ordinary girl!"

"I know. Let’s try it for one year first!"

Wang Bert nodded and watched Damon leave. Then he summoned the three demons inside.

Wang Bert took out Blackheart’s black feather and asked, "What is this feather? Do you know?"

The three demons all hesitated. Earth Demon said, "That should be a Fallen Angel’s feather!"

"A Fallen Angel? Looks like there was another player behind this incident!"

Wang Bert shook his head and said to the three demons, "From now on, you three are my subordinates. I’ll take care of your identities for you!"

The three demons were overjoyed and respectfully said in unison, "BOSS!"

Wang Bert asked, "What kind of work do you want to do? I’ll arrange it according to your wishes!"

The three demons looked at each other. Water Demon spoke first. "I want to find somewhere permanent to stay. Of course, it has to have water!"

Wang Bert said, "Go guard the Experiment Base for Osborn Corporation. I’ll pay you fifty thousand a month. How does that sound?"

"That’s wonderful! Thank you, BOSS!"

Water Demon was so excited he nearly knelt down. After all, he had once been nothing more than a scavenger!

Wang Bert waved his hand. "No need to thank me. What about the rest of you?"

Earth Demon said, "BOSS, to be honest, I don’t like fighting. Didn’t you say before that you wanted me in charge of construction? I think I’m qualified for that!"

"Fine. Go help out at construction sites. Your base salary will be thirty thousand, and the more work you complete, the higher your pay will be."

"Thank you, BOSS!"

Wang Bert turned to the last demon and asked, "What about you, Wind Demon?"

Wind Demon hesitated before saying, "BOSS, I want to be a Super Hero!"

The moment he said that, both Water Demon and Earth Demon stared at him in shock. Earth Demon even cursed, "Wind Demon, are you crazy? We’re demons. How can we be Super Heroes?"

Wind Demon wanted to say something, but Wang Bert waved his hand and said, "Who says demons can’t be Super Heroes? Wind Demon, I support you. However, if you want to be a Super Hero, you must follow a Super Hero’s code of conduct. You cannot commit crimes or step out of line!

When other Super Heroes break the rules, they’ll only be expelled from Watchmen Company. If you break the rules, I’ll kill you myself, because you are my subordinate!"

Wind Demon felt a chill in his heart and hurriedly said, "BOSS! I’ll be a qualified Super Hero. I’ll never commit crimes!"

"Remember what you just said."

Wang Bert said, "Report to Watchmen Company. New York is getting more chaotic by the day and needs new Super Heroes!"

"Yes, BOSS! Thank you, BOSS!"

Wind Demon thanked him repeatedly, beaming with joy. Water Demon and Earth Demon beside him looked utterly incredulous. What was wrong with this world? Demons could be Super Heroes too? To be honest, neither Earth Demon nor Water Demon thought highly of Wind Demon. His ending probably wouldn’t be good. The Super Hero business was full of racial discrimination!

After handling the three demons’ affairs, Wang Bert began tallying up his gains from this trip. First, he had successfully recovered Damon’s soul, subdued the three demons, and met Mephisto. The trip had not been in vain.

Beyond that, he had two major gains: Blackheart’s Origin Blood and the Spirit of Vengeance. Both could greatly increase his strength!

"Quite a haul. Both Mephisto and Blackheart are treasure-delivering boys."

Wang Bert smiled in satisfaction and closed his eyes to examine the situation inside his body. The Spirit of Vengeance was still in Dragon Soul’s stomach, and Dragon Soul was doing its best to devour its power—massive amounts of flames rose from the Spirit of Vengeance and were swallowed by Dragon Soul!

The Spirit of Vengeance had been struggling all along, but it was no match for the blood chains empowered by Blackheart’s Origin Blood. It could only be miserably devoured! "Other than the heavy consumption, everything is fine. I need to devour this Spirit of Vengeance as soon as possible!"

After thinking it over, Wang Bert used the True Dragon Skull to strengthen Dragon Soul’s power. That would greatly speed up the devouring process!

"It’ll take about three months. Perfect. I can stay in Texas and look around. I can’t stay in New York forever—the beauties elsewhere would get lonely!"

Wang Bert laughed. Mephisto hadn’t disappointed him. He truly had the bearing of a Demon King of Hell. He wondered how Thor was doing. Was he as dumb as in the movies?

"I hope everything goes smoothly!"

On Bleecker Street in New York, Damon took a deep breath and walked toward 177A with a handwritten sign in hand. Just then, the surrounding space suddenly changed. The street turned into an ancient room, and he staggered, nearly falling over. "Have a seat, Ghost Rider!"

A gentle voice sounded beside him. Damon turned and saw an elegant bald woman in a yellow monk’s robe pouring tea. She had bright eyes that seemed able to see through everything in the world!

Damon asked cautiously, "You are?"

The elegant woman poured Damon a cup of tea and smiled. "Let me introduce myself. I am Ancient One!"

"You’re Master Ancient One?"

Damon froze, then hurriedly said respectfully, "Greetings, Master Ancient One!"

Ancient One smiled. "No need to be so polite. Sit!"

Damon sat down somewhat awkwardly and asked, "Master Ancient One, you know about me?"

"You caused such a commotion in New York. How could I not know?"

Damon asked hesitantly, "Then why didn’t you…"

"Why didn’t I intervene against you?"

Ancient One took a sip of tea and smiled. "With such an energetic young man around, why would I need to act? I might as well spend that time enjoying the sun!"

Damon was stunned. At that moment, Ancient One gave him the impression of a leisurely retired old lady! Damon hurriedly shook his head. How could Ancient One possibly be a retired old lady? He asked, "Master Ancient One, you seem to trust Bert a great deal? He’s a Vampire!"

Ancient One said, "Blood God is merely one of his jobs, one that pays hundreds of billions. His true nature is not that of an outsider!"

"A job that pays hundreds of billions? That does seem to be the case!"

Damon thought carefully and realized Ancient One made sense. He felt a burst of envy. Please give me a dozen jobs like that! Ancient One said, "Tell me how you defeated Mephisto. I know you won, but I don’t know how you won!"

"Yes, Master Ancient One!"

Damon briefly recounted what had happened, then placed the Vibranium Blood Orb and contract on the table. "Master Ancient One, could you help me deal with these two items?"

Blackheart, who had been so arrogant before Wang Bert and the others, didn’t dare make a sound after arriving here. Damon could even vaguely sense that he was trembling—shaking uncontrollably! "Of course. It is my duty. You have worked hard this time."

Ancient One did not refuse. She lightly swept her hand over the Vibranium Blood Orb and the contract, and both items vanished at once.

Then Ancient One looked up and asked Damon, "You should have something else to discuss, right?"

Damon said respectfully, "Master Ancient One, I want you to remove the Spirit of Vengeance from my body. I only want to be an ordinary person!"

"That cannot be done, because it is your family’s mission!"

Ancient One said, "Let me tell you a story—the origin story of the Spirit of Vengeance!"

"The origin story of the Spirit of Vengeance?"

Damon froze for a moment, then lifted his tea and said, "Master Ancient One, please tell me!"

"More than twenty thousand years ago…"

Ancient One’s words nearly made Damon spray out his tea. That was far too long ago! More than twenty thousand years ago? Did humanity even have civilization then?

"More than twenty thousand years ago, God sent the Judgment Angel to Earth to stop an Elemental Demon Lord named Zarathos from destroying the world…"

Ancient One paid no attention to Damon’s loss of composure and continued slowly. The more Damon heard, the more astonished he became. His family could actually be traced back over twenty thousand years?…

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, 2008 had passed, and it was now 2009! On this day, at an Experiment Base outside New York City, Banner and Betty were receiving experts who had come from afar.

These experts were no ordinary people. Every one of them was a top psychologist or education specialist, the kind ordinary people could never invite. They had come to evaluate whether Hulk could be rehabilitated! "Principal Casey, you came too!"

When Banner saw a silver-haired elder, he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. Principal Casey was the principal of Stanford University, a highly respected and renowned figure in the field of education! Principal Casey held Banner’s hand and said, "I didn’t come for Hulk. I came for you, Banner. You should get rid of that monster as soon as possible and put your energy back into academics and research!"

Banner said gratefully, "I want that too. That’s why we’re conducting this evaluation. If we determine that Hulk cannot be rehabilitated, I’ll be able to focus on research from now on!"

"Monsters obviously cannot be rehabilitated!"

Principal Casey nodded and looked around. "Banner, the backer behind you is no ordinary man. He actually managed to bring so many top experts here!"

"He certainly isn’t ordinary. He often says that he’s so poor that all he has left is money!"

Banner gave a bitter smile and respectfully led Principal Casey to his seat. At that moment, Ivan walked in carrying a tablet. Banner had enjoyed working with him these past days and smiled. "Do you really have to work so hard? Bert won’t give you a raise!"

"It’s not work. That bastard Tony has been trying to hack into this place. He obviously wants to watch the livestream, and I’m stopping him!"

Ivan said without looking up, "Banner, no time for pleasantries. I’m going downstairs to prepare!"

With that, Ivan turned and headed straight for the workroom. Banner smiled helplessly. Whenever Tony was involved, Ivan lost his mind. Those two were mortal enemies!

"Dr. Banner!"

A greeting sounded out. Banner turned and saw Electro walking toward him. He asked, "Max, why do you look so exhausted?"

"It can’t be helped. There are too many criminals. I didn’t sleep at all last night!"

Electro said bitterly, "Mr. Wang was right. After Kingpin disappeared, New York didn’t become calmer. It became even more chaotic. Did you know? There are bank robberies in New York every day now. Not a single day passes without one!"

"Every day?"

Banner clicked his tongue. "Isn’t that a little excessive?"

"It can’t be helped. Those gangs need money to buy Human Enhancement Potion. Whoever has more Enhanced Humans will have the last laugh, so they’re committing crimes and robbing banks like mad! Damn Kingpin. He’s already wanted, yet he’s still stirring up trouble!"

Electro shook his head and said, "Enough of that. I’m going to rest for a while. Later, I still have to protect Dr. Ross!"

"Sorry to trouble you!"

Banner watched Electro leave, but his expression was somewhat dazed. What had happened to this world? In just one short year, it had become so unfamiliar. Just then, a holographic projection lit up ahead. Many people stood and respectfully called out, "Mr. Wang!"

Wang Bert had come through advanced technology to observe the experiment. He said to Banner, "Banner, something came up on my end, so I can’t return to New York in person. But I’ll watch your entire experiment!"

"Thank you, Mr. Wang."

Banner took a deep breath and said, "Now, let’s see whether Hulk can truly be rehabilitated!"