Volume 9: Fate of Destiny Chapter 56: Farewell Should Be Dignified
“What an excellent speech.”
In an office in a faraway place, an old man's low and hoarse sigh was heard amid the smell of alcohol.
Old A was lying on his chair with his body tilted like a frustrated middle-aged alcoholic, without any of the demeanor expected of a chief arbitrator of the council.
On the table in front of him was an empty bottle of whiskey. Judging from the production information on the bottle, it should have been a product of the good vanilla era before the impact.
This is probably Old A's personal collection, but now it is being opened and drunk after a failure that could not be worse.
The wine tastes bitter at first, with no sweet aftertaste at all.
It can be said that what Old A is drinking now is no longer wine but true loneliness.
His final plan failed.
His last friend also chose to commit suicide amid the rift between morality and friendship. He was also the chief arbitrator above all others on the council and possessed resources that were unimaginable to ordinary people.
But he is truly alone.
He raised his head and laid it on the edge of the chair, letting the setting sun outside the window shine its rays of frustrated light on him. The ugly devil tattoo under his rolled-up left sleeve had disappeared, representing that he also had a share of the freedom that Mason granted to the members of the Star Society.
What an ironic state of affairs.
Although the two were at loggerheads, it was Old K who gave him freedom on a spiritual level in the end.
However, it was precisely because Mephisto used cunning means to injure the hound symbol of the Star Order that made him a member of this organization and was able to listen to Mason's judgment on the Star Order throughout the whole process.
“What a remarkable young man.”
Old A sighed drunkenly.
He had not drunk alcohol for many years, but today he was particularly indulgent. He reached out and grabbed the wine glass and poured the wine into his throat. In the locked office where he was alone, he said to himself:
“He has already grasped the foundation of the Star Society. The Gate of the World has fallen into his hands. As long as he wants, the entire pioneer organization will obey his will.
He will become the next Mephisto, no, he will be more dangerous, more successful and greater than Mephisto.
He could use this system to more conveniently implement his plans, which did not conflict with enjoying the power of leadership and domination. However, faced with such power at his fingertips, he chose to refuse without hesitation.
Not only did he reject the starry throne that was right in front of him, he even wanted to smash it with his own hands.
Don't sit there yourself, and don't allow others to touch it.
Tsk, that’s really overbearing.
What on earth was I thinking?
Why did I think I could control him? Oh, I was absolutely dizzy at the time, Fury, Fury, your unfounded confidence has caused you so much trouble in the past..."
Old A raised the wine glass in his hand, looking at the one-third of wine left swaying in front of his eyes, and his big black face was reflected in the wine glass.
Haggard, lonely and desperate.
He looked at his own reflection and said half sarcastically and half scoldingly:
"Why do you always forget? Why can't you learn your lesson? Why do you always try to control people or things that you can't control?
You idiot! "
"Bang"
The bottle of wine was placed on the table. Old A endured the headache and opened the drawer in front of him. There were not many things in it, and the most conspicuous thing was the black pistol.
That was his service gun when he was the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
For an ordinary person, this thing is very intimidating even in the twisted dark ages, but for superhumans, it is meaningless.
Next to the pistol was a box, and in the box was the spiritual gem that Old A never left behind.
It was pressed under an old faded and yellowed photo. Old A raised his eyebrow, picked up the pistol and put it on the table, then took out the photo and placed it in front of him.
He looked at the figure in the photo.
He was in the center, and on his left was Steve Rogers, who at that time was still the operations captain of S.H.I.E.L.D. and his most trusted confidant and right-hand man.
But he was dead.
Just a few hours ago, the foolish donkey rider charged at the windmill and buried himself in the neutron-killing plume.
No one forced him.
He wanted to do that himself.
On the right side of Fury in the photo is Professor Supreme wearing a brain wave enhancer. When this photo was taken, S.H.I.E.L.D. was negotiating with the X-Family about the coexistence of mutants and humans.
That's an old topic and there's no proper solution at all.
But this does not prevent Fury and Professor Supreme from having a good relationship in private, especially after joining the Illuminati, they can always reach an agreement on some important issues.
They consider each other as friends.
But Professor Supreme is also dead.
He died in the destruction of Utopia, and the initial signal of that destruction was the loss of control of the Sentinel Corps. What caused the Sentinel Corps to lose control was the Utopia access visitor code that Fury gave to the God Doom.
That was once a manifestation of the Supreme Professor's trust in Fury, but it became the culprit that caused a death.
The setting sun outside the window was blocked by clouds, and its light could no longer shine into the office, making the light around Fury dim, but he was unaware of it. He picked up the wine glass and drank, but his eyes were always on the photo.
There are others.
For example, Tony Stark, who is next to Professor Supreme, is a member of the Illuminati and one of the existing Directors of Hope. This guy has a gem of wisdom in his brain.
Of course the secret was revealed when the photo was taken.
He has always been a think tank talent and a great inventor. Although the End Star Project was proposed by Old A, the subsequent improvements and evolutions were all completed by Tony.
This guy isn't dead yet.
But he was the first guy in this small group who chose to alienate others. Many years ago, he and Fury, Steve and Professor Supreme had become strangers.
No one knows what's going on in this guy's mind anymore.
"The Illuminati."
Old A sighed.
The Illuminati in his world was actually the predecessor of the Council of Hope, but unfortunately they were damaged when they encountered the first impact.
Doctor Strange died in the process of preventing the collision of two worlds, and Black Bolt was hidden because he disagreed with the Apocalypse Plan. His final whereabouts remains a mystery, but Fury can probably guess what Doom, who was responsible for dealing with Black Bolt, did to him.
He once called it a "necessary sacrifice."
But when did things change?
Old A put the photo on the table and rubbed his head as he thought about the topic. Perhaps the interference from the alcohol made his thinking no longer clear, and he could not come up with an answer after repeated thinking.
The headache became more and more severe.
Forget it, I just don’t want to think about it. It’s not an important thing anyway.
Fury coughed a few times.
He sat up straight and picked up the pistol on the table. He removed the magazine, looked at it, then reloaded it and loaded it with a click. At this moment, Fury suddenly covered his forehead and let out an unbearable cry of pain.
Like the sound of an egg being broken, something popped out of his aching mind.
"Ah, thank goodness you're still here..."
A familiar yet disgusting voice sounded in Fury's mind, causing Old A to stand up suddenly, and then he collapsed back into his chair as if he had lost all his strength.
He said:
"Mephisto, you're still alive? I thought Mason had already ground you to dust."
"That little bastard did exactly that, he teamed up with Galactus to crush my body, destroy my transcendence, destroy my Hell, and completely end my connection with the other Mephistos.
I admit that he had planned to the extreme and put me in an irretrievable situation.
But he also made mistakes..."
The frail old devil laughed cunningly and happily in Fury's mind, saying:
"I spent so much money to develop you into my secret mentor not just to enjoy your despair at being caught by my hands, but also as a 'self-rescue measure' I prepared for myself.
You should know, right?
As long as the Grand Master is here, I will never be truly dead. Mason could not have predicted that I would have not only those three damn traitors under my command, but also you hiding in the shadows.
I admit that when I was doing this self-help measure, I didn't think I would necessarily need it, but I felt that I must have it.
It turns out I’m pretty good, right?”
"But the soul contract is gone."
Old A frowned and said:
"Mason eliminated your control over all members of the Star Society. How did you ..."
"That's just a way to control those idiots who are not worthy of being mentioned in public. The Grand Master is another concept."
Mephisto interrupted Fury's curiosity and said:
“I won’t hide it from you. I am really weak now. My entity and existence have been destroyed, leaving me a ghost with nowhere to go. Because you didn’t accept my power infusion before, I can’t use you to rebuild my body.
I don't want to hide the current situation, Lao A, we have all been forced into a desperate situation, so I decided to give up my previous unrealistic fantasies and rude demands.
I will truly collaborate with you.
I mean equal cooperation.
It can even allow you to take the lead, and I will become the think tank and strength hidden in your shadow.
I can serve you, help you complete all your plans, and dedicate my remaining strength to your great cause. Of course, before that, we have to carefully deal with Mason's threat."
The old devil paused. He seemed to sense the new host's poor condition and confused mind at the moment, so he said to Old A in a suspicious tone:
"You're not going to just accept your fate, are you? You're not going to let Mason show off and leave his footprints on both of our faces and then become dejected and not plan to fight back?
Hey, cheer up!
This is not the old A I know. We did lose, but we still have a chance to turn the tables!
You still have a sequence of conquerors loyal to you under your command. We can use the destruction of the stars to put pressure on other directors and force them to use their resources and power to help us regroup.
In fact, this failure is not a bad thing.
You see, we can use it to get into the shadows, which will keep Mason out in the open, and we can recover and clip his wings bit by bit, just like he did to us.
The Fifth Impact is coming!
From what I know about Mason, all his energy from now on will be focused on responding to and preparing for this incident. His overly kind heart will not allow him to see any more poor victims die tragically.
His letting down of guard means we have an opportunity to seize it, and in the best case scenario, it only takes an assassin to stab us in the back."
"What's the point?"
Old A leaned back in his chair, put the loaded pistol beside his legs, and asked in a very relaxed manner:
"Assassination will not work. Even without Mason, the career he created will not stop. Such actions will serve no purpose other than letting us vent our anger."
"Isn't it enough to vent your anger?"
Mephisto's tone became sinister, and he said:
"The plan we prepared for seventeen years was destroyed at the last minute, but the shabby plan he put together in just a few months was able to go smoothly. Why?
I ask you, why?
I don't know about you, but for me, I can't swallow this.
I have lost everything, Old A, but this also means that I don't have to worry about any repercussions anymore and can vent the last of my anger.
I can't stop Mason from becoming the savior of this era.
But at least I can pull him down from that glorious throne and make him fall into the mud at his most glorious moment. I know there is no point in doing so, but I really want to do it!
For a qualified cold-blooded villain, this is what I should do now, bite him hard and make him feel heartbroken! And what's wrong with you?
It was clearly you who made the clear decision to carry out the assassination, but now you are saying nonsense like the assassination cannot succeed!
Are you scared?
I ask you!
Are you scared of Mason?
Are you going to be the poor wretch that all the villains will laugh at, like those Gotham City kids who have to hide in their dens and tremble at the mere mention of Batman?
Hey, show some ambition and don't let me look down on you, Old A."
This clumsy method of provoking was of no use to Old A. He picked up the wine glass expressionlessly and looked at the last bit of amber wine in it.
While shaking his fingers, he said slowly:
"I just realized that I made a mistake. If I had been calmer when the New Utopia plan came into effect and chosen to fulfill the bet with Mason, perhaps everything would be different now.
My desire for power outweighs my commitment to morality.
It may sound ridiculous, but when I first proposed the End Star Project, I really hoped to find a boat to the other side for those of us struggling in the quagmire.
But I don’t know since when I forgot all this.
I forgot what pushed me to this point now, ah...born with lofty ideals, died with humble desires..."
"Are you fucking crazy?"
Mephisto had already realized that something was wrong with Old A, especially the loaded pistol in the latter's hand, which made him feel a fatal threat.
He scolded:
"Hey! Wake up! Don't really think of yourself as a hero who has gone astray and now wants to repent! When you attacked and destroyed the first world in the name of the Council, you were no longer a ally of justice.
Please!
It's been seventeen years, haven't you learned to think like a villain? "
"Repent? No, there is no such mercy for people like me and devils like you. We are bad people, we did bad things and we should pay the price.
I'm not afraid.
I'm just tired.
I am exhausted from walking alone on this dark road. I don't plan to go on. I know Mason will not let me go. He will appear in front of me sooner or later.
But I won't put my fate in his hands.
I will not give in and admit defeat like an eighteen-year-old young man. That is the last dignity of a loser like me.
Decent...
Haha, the final decency.
Speaking of which, Mephisto, I am your last Grand Master, right? If I die, you will follow me and leave this era that we have ruined.
Right?
"You're fucking crazy! Stop it! Damn it! Calm down!!!"
The old devil's scream exploded in Old A's heart.
But he was no longer willing to pay attention to it. He drank the wine in his hand in one gulp and let the glass slip from his hand and hit the ground with a crisp shattering sound.
He leaned back in his chair, putting everything out of his mind, holding the faded photo in his hand, while pulling back the hammer and pressing the cold muzzle against his chin.
Scenes from the past flooded into his mind, especially the series of events that happened after he met Mason, which flashed before his eyes like a passing show.
Those impossible things were accomplished one by one by the young man.
And I, who should have had the upper hand, was forced to this point after repeated conflicts. It was as absurd as the plot of a lousy third-rate novel written by a drunk, middle-aged, decadent writer.
But this is the reality…
"Oh, wonderful."
"Bang"
Blood splattered and photos fell.
The light of sunset and dusk shines into this dim place and dispels the last darkness. Well, the stars are especially bright tonight.
So beautiful.
