The quinjet entered the stratosphere, and the cabin became smooth.
The autopilot system took over everything, allowing Natasha Romanoff to finally leave the pilot's seat. She walked over to Lin Huai and handed him a bottle of water.
"You look... very calm," Natasha said softly, looking out the window at the clouds rapidly receding.
From the chaotic hotpot gathering in Sokovia, to facing Amon's bizarre appearance, and up until now, this man always had an indescribable sense of detachment, as if everything happening before him had nothing to do with him.
"I'm just an actor accustomed to reading scripts," Lin Huai took the water, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and didn't look at her. "When you know the ending of the story, the twists and turns along the way become less surprising."
"Script?" Natasha latched onto the word. "You see all of this as a play?"
"Isn't it?" Lin Huai smiled and countered. "Gods direct from above, mortals struggle below. Some play heroes, some play villains. Everyone is in their assigned role, reciting pre-written lines. And me? I might just be a third-rate director who occasionally gets the script early and wants to change a few punctuation marks."
Natasha fell silent.
She couldn't refute it. During her years in the Red Room, her life was meticulously arranged, each step paved with blood and betrayal.
"Then what's your script for this time?" she changed the question, her emerald eyes filled with inquiry.
"The script is called 'The Real Prey'," Lin Huai said. "The real Hunter often appears as the prey. Mephisto thinks he's the Hunter, but isn't he also the prey in someone else's eyes? He has no shortage of enemies, doesn't he?"
He offered no further explanation.
For the rest of the flight, neither spoke again.
As the quinjet pierced the thick cloud layer and landed on a desolate patch of Eastern European soil, an aura of decay washed over them.
This was a massive, abandoned quarry.
Cranes dozens of meters high stood silently in the wilderness, covered in rust. The excavated mountainside bore hideous scars, and enormous trucks and excavators were abandoned on the muddy roadside.
The aircraft landed on a clearing in the quarry's deepest part. The hatch opened, revealing Dr. Banner and Johnny Blaze already waiting.
Dr. Banner had deep dark circles under his eyes. He was directing several Stark Industries micro-Robots to lay some kind of sensor lines around a huge shipping container.
Johnny was leaning alone against his motorcycle, which had been restored by Hellfire, wiping it down with an expressionless face.
"Lin! You're finally back!" Seeing Lin Huai, Banner finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over.
Johnny also stopped what he was doing, looked up, and stared at him.
"How are things?" Lin Huai asked.
"Safe for now," Banner pointed at the container. "Nadia and Danny are both inside. I used Mr. Stark's equipment to install a simple life-support system and defensive measures. But... their condition is very poor."
Lin Huai nodded, his gaze sweeping over the entire quarry.
This was the temporary base Father Moreau had found for them. Remote enough, sturdy enough, far from populated areas. Even if a fight breaks out, the innocent won't be harmed.
"Doctor, Johnny, and... Agent Romanoff," Lin Huai gathered the three together and got straight to the point.
"We can't keep waiting passively like this."
He briefly recounted what happened in Sokovia and his game with Amon.
When they heard Lin Huai planned to use the mother and child as bait to lure Mephisto out, Johnny was the first to explode.
"No!" he growled, flames once again uncontrollably igniting in his eye sockets. "I absolutely refuse! That child is innocent. We can't risk him!"
"Johnny, calm down," Dr. Banner tried to soothe him, though his own brow was deeply furrowed. "Lin, this is too risky. We're protecting them, not using them."
Lin Huai looked at Johnny and Banner, then glanced at the silent Natasha beside him.
"Calm down, Johnny. Your connection with the spirit of vengeance is growing deeper," Lin Huai's voice was calm. "You need to understand, the war we're facing now isn't one we can choose. We have no choice. We can only pick between 'bad' and 'worse' outcomes."
"Mephisto's target is that child. Even if we hide them at the ends of the earth, that Demon will find them sooner or later."
Lin Huai's gaze swept across each of their faces.
"We can't hide. The only difference is whether we wait passively for them to come to us, fighting a hopeless battle at their chosen time and place, according to their script... or we become the directors ourselves."
"We choose the time! We choose the place! We write the script!"
Lin Huai's voice was firm and resolute. "We control the battlefield within our desired limits, minimize casualties, and then, right under Amon's nose, we slaughter that old hellhound Mephisto for good!"
Banner and Johnny fell silent.
They had to admit Lin Huai was speaking the truth. In the chess game of gods and Demons, mortals like them didn't even have the qualification to choose not to participate.
"What about the child?" Natasha finally spoke, getting straight to the point. "Bait always carries risks. What guarantee do you have for his safety?"
Lin Huai looked at the three, took a deep breath, and threw out an even crazier plan.
"I cannot guarantee it. Because, he is the real bait."
As soon as these words were spoken, the Hellfire on Johnny's body surged again. Banner and Natasha were stunned.
"What do you mean!" Johnny's roar nearly shattered the quarry's rocks.
"I mean, I need him, alive, to appear before Mephisto," Lin Huai looked at him calmly and continued, "But I have also prepared a Marionette, a perfect puppet crafted by my own hands."
"Before the ritual begins, I will pray to the great Fool, asking Him to grant me the authority to graft Danny's body with that Marionette."
He used a word they didn't understand.
"'Graft'?" Dr. Banner asked, confused.
"You can think of it as a conceptual connection. Mephisto will think he has captured Danny's body, but when his soul enters it, he'll find himself inside the already prepared puppet," Lin Huai explained. "The real Danny will only suffer partial soul shock, fall into a deep sleep, but he will be safe."
Natasha frowned: "That sounds... like the most sophisticated trick. Are you sure it will work? What if the Fool's existence doesn't respond?"
"He will," Lin Huai said with absolute certainty. "I am His most trusted lackey. Because this drama is also an offering to Him."
He paused, his voice turning cold.
"Moreover, this isn't just about saving people."
"This play is my ritual to advance to Sequence 4, the Bizzaro Sorcerer. I need a grand drama performed before an audience of sufficient weight. I need a murder of a demigod to announce my rebirth. This murder must succeed. I am not qualified to fail. I cannot afford to wait for another chance. The Fool and the other gods don't have time to wait either."
Dr. Banner's pupils contracted.
The Hellfire on Johnny's body gave a violent twitch.
"I'm in," Natasha was the first to declare. "In my career, I've seen crazier plans. I only care about the result."
Dr. Banner took a deep breath, adjusted his glasses: "If you can guarantee that child's soul won't suffer permanent damage, I... can cooperate with you."
All eyes fell on Johnny.
Johnny Blaze stared at Lin Huai, those eyes burning with Hellfire as if trying to see through his soul. He could feel Lin Huai wasn't lying, but every step of this plan challenged his bottom line of protecting the innocent.
After a long pause, he ground out a few words through his teeth.
"If anything happens to that child..."
"I will personally drag your soul to hell."
Lin Huai smiled.
"Deal."
He turned and looked at this desolate quarry covered in steel and rock, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes.