Washington D.C., the basement of an inconspicuous safe house.
The air was filled with a faint smell of grilled meat?
That was Johnny Blaze and Dr. Banner chatting while eating nearby, with Johnny accidentally setting the corner of the table on fire.
Johnny's compatibility with [Zatharos] was getting better and better, easily triggering flames and causing some accidents, like sneezing with sparks and burning the dinner table, or unconsciously twisting and rubbing his body and setting the bed on fire.
Lin Huai ignored the two big men who were scrambling to put out the fire. He was facing a simple, ancient silver mirror, his expression as serious as if he were studying a Bitcoin price chart.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, tell me, where are the main ingredients for the Sequence 4 [Bizzaro Sorcerer] potion?"
The mirror's surface rippled like water, and several lines of ghastly white words appeared:
[My esteemed Master, your loyal servant Arrodes is very sorry... Matters involving high-Sequence existences, or special creatures deep within the Spirit World, are shrouded in mist even to my sight.]
Immediately after, a stick-figure drawing of a little person kneeling and kowtowing appeared on the mirror, its head knocking with audible *thump-thump* sounds.
"Alright, enough with the pitiful act," Lin Huai rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
Bizzaro Sorcerer. Just from the name, you could tell it wasn't simple.
Its main ingredients sounded like they could drive one's sanity away—[Main Eye of a Bizzaro Evil Spirit] and [Real Soul Body of a Spirit World Raider].
The former was a transparent, single eye glowing with an eerie blue light, and the latter was a humanoid object composed of countless entwined worms, filled inside with colorless liquid and foam.
Just reading the description made Lin Huai feel like he could skip supper tonight.
Since the "magic Mirror GPS" was malfunctioning, he had to rely on himself.
Lin Huai took a deep breath to calm his mind. He shuffled the silver tarot cards in his hand, then drew one. He didn't turn it over, instead holding it in his palm.
He closed his eyes, entering a meditative state, softly reciting a divination statement:
"The main ingredients for Bizzaro Sorcerer are on Earth."
"The main ingredients for Bizzaro Sorcerer are in the Americas."
...As his spirituality spread, Lin Huai's consciousness gradually sank, entering a bizarre and kaleidoscopic dream.
In the dream, he saw a pitch-black sea.
On the sea's surface, countless black threads extended from his body, like a giant spider's web covering the entire water. He was frantically pulling these threads, as if manipulating countless invisible Puppets.
With his movements, the calm sea surface began to boil.
Deep beneath the sea, some bizarrely shaped, eerie shadows were attracted by this intense spiritual fluctuation and actively swam towards the center of the web.
That was... Convergence.
Lin Huai's eyes snapped open, a flash of understanding in his dark pupils.
"The law of beyonder characteristics convergence."
He looked at the tarot card in his hand, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"I see. Since I can't find the fish, I'll just chum the water like crazy. As long as I use the abilities of the [Marionettist] at a high intensity, that unique spiritual fluctuation belonging to the 'Bizzaro' domain will act like a searchlight in the night, attracting all the Monsters that also belong to this domain."
This rule was practically tailor-made for "entrapment."
"However, I can't use my real body as live bait. If I hook a great white shark, the boat might capsize."
Lin Huai turned around and looked at the figure standing in the shadows of the corner.
It was a middle-aged man wearing an expensive suit, his hair meticulously combed. It was the former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, Fury's old boss, one of the leaders of HYDRA, Alexander Pierce.
But at this moment, he resembled a wax figure with its soul sucked out.
He stood there, motionless. Although his chest still rose and fell, his eyes were hollow and unfocused, devoid of any physiological micro-movements. Without manipulation, he could stand like this until the end of time, until his flesh rotted.
This was a Marionette.
No consciousness, no thoughts, just a flesh-and-blood Puppet to be manipulated.
Lin Huai raised his right hand, fingers twitching slightly.
Invisible threads in the air seemed to tighten.
Pierce's stiff body instantly moved. He stepped forward to stand before Lin Huai. His movements, though fluid, carried a chilling mechanical quality, like a precise Robot executing code. However, as he approached Lin Huai, they became increasingly natural until the mechanical feel vanished completely.
"If we're going fishing, the bait needs to be enticing."
The ability of the [Faceless] activated.
Pierce's facial bones emitted crisp cracking sounds. His muscles began to writhe and shift, and the texture of his skin changed. In just a few seconds, the sinister old man was gone, replaced by a young man who looked exactly like Lin Huai.
Even that lazy demeanor and the mischievous smile at the corner of the mouth were imitated perfectly.
"From today on, you are 'Lin Huai'."
Lin Huai looked at this perfect double and nodded in satisfaction.
Then, he manipulated this "Fake Lin Huai" to speak: "I am... Lin Huai."
The voice was also an exact match.
"Good. Let this Marionette follow Captain and Natasha to help them clean up the remnants of HYDRA. Let all the Monsters and Demons in the World know that 'Lin Huai' is here, wreaking havoc."
Lin Huai flicked his fingers, severing the control. "Lin Huai" immediately closed his mouth, reverting to that deathly still state.
After arranging the bait, Lin Huai took out a heavy emblem from his chest pocket.
It was the Holy Emblem of the Evernight Goddess. Against a deep black background were dotted brilliant stars, emanating an aura of peace and tranquility.
"Praise the Night."
Lin Huai prayed softly, channeling his spirituality into the Holy Emblem.
An invisible wave instantly enveloped him.
There were no light or shadow special effects, but he seemed to merge into the air, into the shadows. His presence was minimized, and the trajectory of his fate was veiled by a thin gauze.
Concealment.
As long as he didn't actively expose himself, in this World, aside from a very few high-Sequence existences, no one could discover where the real Lin Huai was.
"Alright, now I'm a ghost."
Lin Huai put away the Holy Emblem and looked over at Johnny and Banner, who were packing their luggage.
"Dr. Banner, Johnny, are you ready? We're going on a trip."
Banner, holding a huge travel bag, nervously adjusted his glasses. "Lin, are we really going to that... monastery? To fight a Demon?"
"Correct. But let me clarify one point: *you* are going to fight the Demon. I'm just passing by."
Lin Huai's voice drifted ethereally in the room. Banner was surprised to find that although Lin Huai was standing right there, he kept subconsciously overlooking Lin Huai's presence, as if there were only empty air.
"Remember, once we're there, you two are in charge of all actions. Unless an uncontrollable situation arises, I won't show myself."
...Two days later. Eastern Europe.
The sky here always seemed overcast, the air filled with the smell of old coal smoke and damp Earth.
A beat-up jeep bounced along a winding mountain road.
Johnny Blaze sat in the driver's seat, chewing gum and slapping the steering wheel in annoyance. "This piece of junk car, is its suspension system made of stone?"
In the passenger seat, Dr. Banner was clutching a map, his expression grave. "According to the intel from Kamar-Taj, the monastery that has been resisting the forces of Hell is somewhere around here. Their contact is a priest named Moreau."
The back seat was empty.
But Banner knew Lin Huai was there.
That faint, almost imperceptible sense of being watched kept the Hulk unusually quiet inside him.
"We're here."
Johnny slammed on the brakes, bringing the jeep to a stop by the roadside.
Ahead was an abandoned, ancient castle built on a cliffside, looking sinister and terrifying. In the clearing outside the castle, several black sedans were parked. A group of burly men in leather jackets, holding automatic rifles, were gathered there, seemingly searching for something.
"Looks like we have company," Johnny spat out his gum, sparks beginning to glow in the depths of his eye sockets.
"Don't be impulsive," Banner pressed down on Johnny's arm. "Let's assess the situation first."
The two got out of the car and walked towards the group.
"Private property! Get lost!" The leader of the group, a large man, immediately raised his rifle and roared upon seeing them.
"Hey, buddy, we're just lost," Johnny raised his hands, a mocking smile on his face. "By the way, have you seen a ragged-looking drunkard around?"
"What nonsense! Open fire!"
The big man signaled to his comrades beside him and directly pulled the trigger.
*Rat-a-tat-tat—!*
Bullets poured forth.
But the moment they hit Johnny, his skin rapidly charred and peeled away. His flesh and blood turned to ash in the flames, revealing the terrifying white-boned skeleton.
"ROAR—!"
Hellfire surged skyward. The bullets instantly melted into molten copper in the intense heat.
The battle erupted instantly and ended just as quickly.
Faced with the Ghost Rider and the Hulk that Banner subsequently transformed into, these ordinary cultists were like infantry facing a tank, utterly powerless.
Within minutes, the ground was littered with groaning bodies.
Just then, a man in tattered black robes, with a full beard and clutching a liquor bottle, walked out from the castle ruins.
Father Moreau.
He looked at the mess before him, then at Johnny and Banner, who were reverting to their human forms, and let out a drunken belch.
"*Burp*— So you're the two 'helpers' Kamar-Taj mentioned? Made quite a racket."
Banner awkwardly tried to straighten his torn clothes. "Sorry, Father. We're here to help. We heard you're looking for a child?"
Mention of the child darkened Moreau's expression. He tilted his head back, took a swig from the bottle, and wiped the liquor from his beard.
"You're too late."
"Too late?" Johnny frowned. "Was the child taken?"
"No," Moreau shook his head, a deep confusion and wariness flashing in his eyes. "He vanished."
"Just a few hours ago, Mephisto's lackeys surrounded the mother and child. Nadia fled here with Danny. They were about to be caught."
Moreau gestured, his tone turning somewhat strange.
"I was there too. I was planning to charge out and fight for my life. But the moment those men laid hands on the woman... *Poof!*"
Moreau clapped his hands dramatically.
"Gone."
"As if they had never existed. No magical glow, no sparkle of a portal, no spatial fluctuations whatsoever. Under the gaze of dozens of pairs of eyes, they were erased from this World out of thin air."
"The cultists went crazy on the spot. The leader's head was crushed by a gentleman who arrived later. The rest have been running around here like headless chickens, hoping to find some clue."
Moreau sighed. "Our Monastic Order has been searching too, but there's not a single lead. No matter what magical detection we use, that spot is a complete blank."
Banner and Johnny exchanged a glance, shock evident in each other's eyes.
Vanished into thin air? Undetectable even by magic?
Meanwhile, in the shadows not far away, Lin Huai, who had been in a state of Concealment, allowed a slight smile to touch his lips.
"Vanished into thin air... existence erased..."
"This familiar formula, this familiar taste."
Lin Huai chuckled inwardly.
Wasn't this just [Concealment]?
In this World, who else besides a Servant of Concealment under the command of the Evernight Goddess could play with "Concealment" so masterfully, leaving not even a trace?
Lady Arianna had made her move.
It seemed the Goddess had kept her word. She had indeed sent someone to "intercept." Since the child had been taken by Arianna, that meant they were safe. Moreover, this was clearly the Goddess setting up a trap for Mephisto.
"Interesting."
Lin Huai didn't reveal himself. Instead, he used a special sound transmission technique to send his voice directly into Banner's ear.
"Doctor, tell the priest we'll go with him to the monastery. Since the child has 'disappeared,' let's go check out the cultists' lair. We might find some other clues there."
Banner was momentarily stunned, then quickly recovered. He said to Moreau, "Father, since there are no clues here, why not take us to the monastery? Or to the cultists' base? Maybe we can figure out their next move."
Moreau looked at these two powerhouses and shrugged. "Alright then. It's not like I have any other ideas. Get in the car, I'll lead the way. But let me warn you, I'm out of booze. We'll need to find supplies on the road."
Everyone got back into the vehicle.
The jeep started up again, heading towards the monastery deep in the mountains.
Lin Huai followed quietly behind, his fingers gently rubbing the Holy Emblem of the Night.
Since the Goddess had made her move, it was time for him, the "Director," to prepare the script.
But before that, he'd let Johnny and Banner draw fire up front while he continued to hide in the shadows, seeing if he could "fish" something good out of those cultists.
After all, the law of beyonder characteristics convergence never disappoints.