138: Chapter 138 The Eye of Judgment

"What's the matter?" Qin Ming asked with a playful look in his eyes, his tone full of mockery.

"The dignified ruler of Hell, the King of Deception, is actually afraid of being deceived by a child like me? You don't even dare to shake hands to seal a contract. With such a narrow-minded temperament, it's no wonder you can't even keep your own son in check."

It was reverse psychology, and extremely crude reverse psychology at that.

But it was surprisingly effective.

For a dimensional demon like Mephisto who lived at the peak, his dignity and status were not to be trampled upon.

Moreover, this was just a verbal, ethereal contract; he didn't believe the other party could use this to screw him over.

"Fine, I agree."

Mephisto took a deep breath, extended his hand—which was as withered as a tree branch—gritted his teeth, and firmly grasped that golden halo.

Sizzle—!

A violent searing sound rang out.

White smoke accompanied by a burnt smell rose from Mephisto's palm, the pain making the old man's eyes twitch.

But he endured it.

Qin Ming looked at him and spoke with a face full of sincerity: "The terms of the contract: the Son of God is responsible for helping you deal with the Witch-Heart Demon and sending him back to Hell. And you, Mephisto, will sincerely grant me a sliver of your recognition. Is it established?"

"Established." Mephisto spat out the word through gritted teeth. Although his hand burned with pain, he still felt in his heart that this was a deal where he stood only to gain without losing anything, as he could fulfill his needs without paying any price.

As Mephisto's voice fell.

On the grasped halo, a golden holy light and a dark red hellfire flashed simultaneously.

The two completely different forces intertwined strangely in mid-air for a moment, then thoroughly merged into the invisible rules.

The contract was established.

Qin Ming nodded with satisfaction.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Qin Ming looked at Mephisto, who was shaking his hand in pain, and pointed very considerately at the motorcycle tire tracks on the ground. "Do you need me to be merciful and use the holy light to send you on your way?"

"No need."

Mephisto put his gentleman's hat back on.

He gave Qin Ming a deep look, feeling as if he had missed some extremely critical information, but upon careful thought, he really hadn't lost anything.

"Remember your promise, Son of God," Mephisto left behind a gloomy parting shot.

Then, the old man's body turned into a cloud of black smoke, and as a night breeze blew by, he completely disappeared into the shadows of the alley.

Only then did Emma step forward from the side. She tugged at the corner of Qin Ming's clothes, her delicate little face filled with confusion.

"Brother, why do you want that old man's recognition?" Emma pouted, gesturing with the cross in her hand as if it were a dagger.

"What use is something so ethereal? It would have been better to just stab this into his throat while he couldn't move earlier."

Qin Ming lowered his head and twirled Emma's twin tails.

"There's no point in killing his projection." Qin Ming looked smilingly at the spot where Mephisto had disappeared. "As for that 'recognition'... in adult terms, it's called 'painless lending'."

"Painless lending?" Emma blinked.

"Right." Qin Ming set off, leading Emma out of the alley.

"To put it simply, I forcibly inserted an invisible pipe into him. As long as he acknowledges this recognition, even if it's just a sliver, my halo can follow this pipe and continuously draw blood from his massive Hell Origin twenty-four hours a day."

"This was also based on the premise that he doesn't understand me, though there are still many loopholes in this contract," Qin Ming shrugged. "But it doesn't matter; as long as he recognizes it once, it's enough."

"This is equivalent to him using his own bank card to open an unlimited secondary card for me as a relative."

Emma understood.

Her eyes instantly lit up, and a villainous smile identical to Qin Ming's appeared on her face. "Wow, Brother, you're so bad. I love it!"

"I'm only moderately bad. After all, we still have to fulfill the contract." Qin Ming looked up at the neon-lit night sky in the distance. "Let's go. It's time to scout out where that rebellious brat is hiding."

The figures of the two, one tall and one short, gradually blended into the bustling night of New York.

Shortly after they left, the dilapidated electronic billboard next to the streetlight suddenly flickered.

Amidst the full-screen static, a smiley face symbol was briefly pieced together.

Larry's ability had silently erased all surveillance records in this alley.

In the distance, the faint, frantic roar of a motorcycle engine could be heard.

The outskirts.

Inside an abandoned train maintenance workshop, a tire track dragging a long trail of fire extended from the broken workshop doors all the way to the empty central ground.

It was a heavy hell cycle with an extremely ferocious design, its wheels burning with raging flames.

And straddling it was a skeleton emitting hellfire from its entire body.

Johnny Blaze, or rather, the current Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider flipped off the bike, dragging a burning iron chain in his hand.

His leather boots stepped onto the muddy, water-logged ground, producing sizzling white smoke.

In the shadows not far ahead, the ground suddenly churned violently.

Mud and gravel weirdly converged, rapidly rising and condensing into a massive earthen giant.

The Earth Demon let out a dull roar, its thick arm transforming into a massive mudslide hammer, which swung toward the flaming skeleton with a whistling wind.

Ghost Rider didn't even dodge.

He slowly raised his hand, which was nothing but white bone, and his burning phalanges pointed precisely at the Earth Demon ahead.

"Go back... to Hell!"

A hoarse, low voice, sounding like two pieces of coarse sandpaper rubbing together, echoed in the empty workshop.

Before his voice had even faded, the chain in Ghost Rider's hand shot out like a venomous snake.

Hellfire instantly wrapped around the Earth Demon's massive body. There was no intense struggle, nor any long drawn-out tug-of-war.

The fire of vengeance belonging to the Hell dimension directly ignited the Earth Demon's core.

"Ah—!"

Accompanied by a shrill scream, the mud and gravel making up the Earth Demon's body rapidly crystallized and vitrified under the extreme heat, finally shattering with a bang into a pile of scalding glass shards.

Having dealt with the Earth Demon, Ghost Rider didn't even spare a second glance at the remains on the ground.

He mounted his motorcycle, the engine letting out a beastly roar as the hell cycle turned into a streak of flowing fire, crashing through the wall on the other side of the workshop and speeding away.

Ten minutes later.

Under a dark highway overpass.

A robber wearing a baseball cap was holding a switchblade, cornering an unlucky commuter heading home from the night shift, preparing to scavenge through their wallet.

Suddenly, a blinding fire illuminated the entire underpass.

The robber subconsciously turned his head, and in the next second, the switchblade in his hand hit the ground with a 'clink'.

A flaming motorcycle stopped in front of him, and straddling it was a burning skull.

"Oh... God..." The robber's legs went weak, and he nearly knelt on the ground.

Ghost Rider grabbed the robber's collar and lifted him into mid-air with one hand.

The skull leaned in close, and within the empty eye sockets, hellfire danced wildly.

"Look at my eyes."

The robber was forced to meet those burning eyes.

Penance Stare, activated.