radicalducati Chapter 119 Frank the Punisher
Chapter 119 Frank the Punisher
Chapter 119 Frank the Punisher
Lee En did not choose to fly.
He wasn't sure if the dark creatures behind him would still be able to lock onto the Demon King's reagent once they took to the sky.
New Mexico is nearly 2,000 kilometers away from New York as the crow flies.
Perfect timing! We'll travel through several cities along the way, luring out all the vampires, werewolves, and other unidentifiable creatures hiding in the shadows, and taking them all away in one trip.
He was riding a S.H.I.E.L.D. special edition motorcycle, with a fuel tank capacity and engine power that the commercially available version couldn't match.
As the accelerator was twisted, the car left a blurry afterimage on the road.
Two hours later, he glanced at the rearview mirror and saw the figures moving in the darkness gradually receding into the distance.
He had to slow down a bit, keeping the car's speed around 160 km/h, so that the pursuers in the darkness on both sides could continue to keep up.
He sensed the wilderness on both sides of the road; at least several hundred dark creatures had already gathered in the darkness, and their numbers were still increasing.
They simply followed from a distance without launching an attack.
He held the handlebars with one hand and took his phone out of his pocket with the other, dialing a number.
"Coulson, I have a lot of vampires and werewolves following me, and some species I've never seen before. You should arrange for the evacuation of the town's residents first. I'll probably be there in about ten hours."
Without waiting for Coulson's response, he hung up the phone and slightly increased his speed back to 180 km/h.
Coulson looked down at his phone, which had gone black, and remained silent for a long time.
Natasha and Hawkeye walked over, and Clint gestured with his chin toward the phone in Coulson's hand: "What's going on?"
Coulson glanced back at the makeshift isolation facilities behind him.
Workers were setting up detection equipment around Thor's Hammer, and newly printed warning signs were still hanging on the protective railing. He sighed, "Li En is coming this way."
"Lee En? Is that the officer you were talking about?" Hawkeye turned to look at Natasha.
Natasha crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze fixed on the motionless hammer in the center of the crater, and said with a hint of seriousness, "It seems that what fell this time is quite extraordinary."
Hawkeye smirked. He had tried to pull Thor's hammer out of the pit, using every ounce of strength he could muster, but the hammer didn't even tremble. He knew very well that this thing was no ordinary object.
After meeting with Natasha, he joined Coulson's temporary investigation team.
In fact, over the years, both he and Natasha, senior agents who frequently went on field missions, had vaguely sensed that something was amiss in some parts of the department.
The information in the mission briefing sometimes doesn't match the actual situation on the ground, the order of actions is adjusted inexplicably, and actions that could have been completed earlier are deliberately delayed until the last minute before approval.
They simply trusted Nick Fury and always believed they were doing something to protect the world.
But if S.H.I.E.L.D. is Hydra at its core, then the situation is completely reversed.
Some of the missions they carried out in the past may not have been about eliminating threats, but rather about helping Hydra eliminate its adversaries.
However, the professionalism of high-level agents allowed them to distinguish between what was important and what was not.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters is there; we can go back and investigate whenever we want.
This thing right now—this hammer from outer space that no one can lift—if not dealt with promptly, it could very well fall into the wrong hands.
Coulson's expression was somewhat complicated, and his voice was a few decibels lower than usual: "He didn't come alone. He was followed by a large group of vampires, werewolves, and so-called dark creatures. Nobody knows the exact number."
Hawkeye's eyes widened slightly, and after a moment of silence, he managed to squeeze out, "Why did he bring those things here?"
Coulson shook his head: "I don't know either. Let's evacuate all the residents of Albuquerque first, and do it now."
As dawn broke, Li En had already crossed Tennessee and was cutting into Arkansas along the highway, intending to head west across Texas and directly into New Mexico.
He discovered something.
After leaving New York, the number of dark creatures in other states far exceeded that around Hell's Kitchen.
Having crossed three states, the few hundred tails that followed when it started in New York have now swelled to more than two thousand.
The further they went into the remote areas, the more numerous the figures joined the pursuit from the wilderness.
With so many of them, it's a mystery how they hide themselves so well that ordinary people are completely unaware.
If we keep running like this, we might end up with several thousand or even tens of thousands of enemies, which wouldn't be good.
Li En deliberately turned his motorcycle into a desert, turned off the engine, and parked it on the gravel ground.
The sun had not yet fully risen, and the eastern horizon was just beginning to show a grayish-white tinge.
Werewolves may be able to operate during the day, but vampires cannot.
He deliberately chose this time to stop, to give them a window of opportunity to attack.
He leaned back on the motorcycle, his left hand gripping the sheathed Yamato, waiting quietly.
The Weakness Sense granted by the legendary Witcher spread out in his field of vision.
A kilometer away, countless red dots were surging frantically toward his location.
Dust rose along their path, mingling with the last thin layer of night before dawn.
When they reached about 100 meters, their outlines became clear.
The werewolf's hunched figure cast long shadows on the sand, the vampire's wings flapped in mid-air, and several other deformed creatures whose names were unknown mingled at the edge of the group.
They all stopped.
Thousands of figures formed a huge circle, keeping Li En and his motorcycle in the center while maintaining a distance, their throats constantly emitting low growls and howls.
None of them rushed forward first.
The gray line on the eastern horizon was finally torn apart by the sunlight.
The moment the first ray of dawn pierced the darkness, the vampire horde erupted in chaos.
The parts of their skin that came into contact with the sunlight began to melt. Those with wings instinctively retreated, but those further back had their escape routes blocked by their companions surging up from behind.
The instincts that had been suppressed all night finally broke down.
The roars exploded simultaneously, rushing towards the center from all directions.
Li En took two steps forward, and at the same time, he hooked his right foot and gently laid the motorcycle on the ground.
He bent down and drew his sword.
A ring of silvery blade light spread outwards from him, skimming the ground and slicing through sand and gravel.
The group of vampires and werewolves at the forefront were simultaneously cut in half.
The body separated at the waistline, the upper and lower body fell out of place, and the flesh and blood were directly swept away by the devouring force of the blade's edge.
Some reacted faster and jumped into the air, while others lay flat on the sand, dodging the first wave of blades.
These animals had already rushed into a radius of several meters around Li En.
Their claws, sharp teeth, and the stench of rotting blood and wet fur all lunged at his neck.
The Demon King's reagent hanging on his chest gleamed with a faint glow of dark red and deep purple in the morning light.
Li En drew the Yama Blade completely from its sheath and wielded it with one hand, creating a dense net of blades.
All the dark creatures that rushed forward froze at the same moment, then exploded into countless clouds of blood mist with a "poof".
The sunlight completely bathed the entire desert.
The remaining fragments of vampire on the sand began to melt, collapsing like candles caught in a fire, emitting a burnt smell, and wisps of black smoke drifted into the air.
The werewolf's remains gradually stopped healing in the sunlight and ceased to move.
Li En sheathed his sword, bent down, and picked up the motorcycle again.
He had just stepped into the car and was about to start the engine when a huge red dot suddenly appeared in his field of vision, rushing toward him at high speed from a great distance.
The way this red dot is displayed is exactly the same as when he first met Hulk at Culver University.
The fact that his entire body seems to be full of weaknesses actually proves that this guy has no weaknesses at all.
Finally, an old guy has arrived.
Li En laid the motorcycle he had just picked up back down on the ground, patted the sand off the seat, and strode to the middle of the road, facing the direction from which the red dot was coming.
He didn't see the red dot clearly until it got closer and closer.
It was a burning motorcycle.
Flames surged from every crevice in the tires, engine, fuel tank, and chassis, leaving two charred streaks in the sand as the wheels rolled over them.
A rider in a leather jacket sat on the vehicle, his head reduced to a burning skull with dark orange flames flickering in his eye sockets.
Ghost Rider.
Li En was stunned for a moment. How did this guy's activity range end up here?
The fire-breathing Harley came to a stop a few meters in front of him.
The skull turned around, and an ethereal voice came from between the burning teeth, as if it were carried by the wind from a very, very long distance.
"Hand over what's in hell."
Li En glanced down at the Demon King's reagent hanging on his chest and instantly understood.
This thing is so powerful that even Ghost Rider could sense it and chased it all the way from some unknown state.
If I remember correctly, Ghost Rider's power comes from the Spirit of Vengeance.
The Spirit of Vengeance itself has an ambiguous connection with Hell.
His abilities belong to the rule system; he is immune to physical attacks and is extremely persistent.
He smiled, neither drawing his sword nor retreating, but simply raising the Yamato sword, sheath and all, in front of him, his tone soft: "Being possessed by an evil spirit, isn't it extremely uncomfortable?"
Ghost Rider didn't speak; his skull jawline opened slightly.
Li En drew a section of the Yama Blade from its sheath, revealing a cold, eerie blue light emanating from its blade, and continued, "This blade comes from hell, and its name is Yama."
"When I use it to attack, it has the effect of tearing through space."
"But the essence of Enma is not tearing space; its true power is separation."
He pushed the sword back into its sheath, and stood there, holding the sheathed sword, watching Ghost Rider.
"You wicked creature, how dare you—" Before the Flame Skull could finish speaking, its voice was suddenly cut off from within by something.
He suddenly raised his right hand, his five fingers gripping his burning head, the flames on his palm and the flames on the skull tearing at each other.
"Get down! Get down!"
"No, don't listen to him—that guy is definitely a fraud!"
Two voices squeezed out alternately from the same skull's mouth.
One voice was deep and hoarse, the other ethereal and cold, each vying fiercely for control of their vocal cords.
A moment later, the flames suddenly disappeared from the head.
The skeleton vanished, and the face of a middle-aged man emerged from where the flames had receded.
His lips were trembling slightly, and his eyes were darting around, like someone who had just been pulled from the bottom of the water and was gasping for breath.
He looked at Li En, his voice dry: "You mean—you can separate this evil spirit from me? I made a pact with Mephisto."
Li En nodded slightly: "This blade of mine has slain the Demon King."
The middle-aged man fell silent.
He slowly got off the motorcycle, walked up to Li En, stood with his head down for a while before raising his eyes again: "My name is Johnny Blaze."
"New York Police Department, Manhattan Precinct, Lee En." Lee En extended his hand.
The two shook hands, and Li En put his hand back into his coat pocket, speaking softly.
"I'm not lying to you. Yama does indeed have the ability to separate the spirit of vengeance from you, along with the contract it brought with it."
"But the problem is, after the separation, you'll become a normal person again. You should think it through, Johnny."
Johnny stood there, his expression constantly changing.
If he loses the power of the Spirit of Vengeance, Mephisto will likely come and take his soul immediately.
He's already on hell's list; without the Ghost Rider persona, he doesn't even have the right to bargain.
But he also loathed this power.
I can't sleep well every day; when I close my eyes, all I see are the faces of those people he's judging.
He lived in a state of immense anxiety and contradiction.
He didn't want to kill, but he had no choice but to.
I don't want to go to hell, so I've already signed the contract.
He didn't want to be controlled by evil spirits, but if he left them, he would just be an ordinary person who could be dragged into hell at any time.
He didn't want to die; the thought of going to hell was just too terrifying.
Looking at Johnny's face, which was almost contorted in pain, Li En thought for a moment before speaking: "You signed a soul contract with the demon Mephisto."
"If that's the case, maybe I can directly separate this contract from you."
"Not only the spirit of vengeance, but also the contract is severed."
"Really?" Johnny's voice suddenly rose a notch, and the end of his voice trembled.
"I can give it a try." Li En reached into his pocket again, took out his phone, and dialed a number.
You should be able to find my current location.
"Yes, you should come over here in person."
Johnny stuck out his tongue and licked his chapped lips.
He could feel the vengeful spirit within him frantically warning him.
Don't trust this guy; he's more dangerous than Mephisto.
But he wanted to believe it, because he remembered.
When the other person introduced himself, he felt that the name sounded familiar.
Lee En, the Sword of Hell in New York.
He had seen this person on the television news.
The other party is a legitimate police officer, and everything he does is out in the public eye.
Unlike those masked vigilantes, and even more so unlike himself, a monster driven by a spirit of vengeance, reaping lives everywhere.
Li En reached out and patted Johnny on the shoulder, the touch light: "Don't be nervous, I'm just thinking of a better solution."
He walked back to the motorcycle, took two bottles of water from the trunk, walked back and handed one to Johnny, unscrewed his own bottle and took a sip, then continued in a casual conversational tone: "Since you don't want the contract or the power of the Spirit of Vengeance, then I'll separate them and transfer them to someone else."
"That way, Mephisto won't come looking for you anymore. The contract is still there, the power is still there, it's just in a different vessel. He has no reason to keep chasing after you."
"Of course, without a contract, he can't forcibly take your soul."
Johnny froze. He was holding the water bottle, the cap still on, water droplets condensing on the outside of the bottle and trickling down between his fingers.
He had never thought of this method.
From the very first day he signed that contract, he was trapped in a vicious cycle of either carrying the burden of evil or losing everything and going to hell.
No one knew better than him the torment of being tormented by the spirit of vengeance.
Therefore, he didn't want anyone to suffer the fate of having their soul taken away by demons from hell because of him.
"Don't rush to make a decision. Let's wait until that person arrives."
An hour later, a helicopter appeared overhead.
The hatch opened, and a figure slid down the rappelling rope, his combat boots making two dull thuds as they hit the sand.
Frank Castle walked up to Li En, the white skull on his chest gleaming matte in the morning light.
"Why did you call me over?"
Li En briefly explained Johnny's situation to Frank: "I can try to transfer the contract and the spirit of vengeance on Johnny to another vessel."
"For example, a sheep, a mouse." He paused there, and there was no need to say the rest.
Frank's lips curled into a wide grin after hearing this: "Such a good thing?"
"Good news?" Johnny suddenly shouted in despair, his voice dry and cracked.
"Do you even know what this thing is?! This is absolutely no good!"
"Your soul will go to hell—literally be dragged into hell!"
"And then there's this evil spirit, it will keep you awake day and night, dredging up all the people you've hurt in your mind."
"Making you watch and listen to it over and over again! How can that be considered a good thing?"
Frank waited calmly for Johnny to finish speaking, then spoke in a low voice and at a slow pace: "I can't sleep at night either, and I'm killing people everywhere."
"And often, because of my own incompetence, I didn't kill enough people."
He paused for a moment, then turned his gaze to Lee: "So for me, these are all good things."
"As for going to hell—Lee En?"
"If the day truly comes that I fall into hell, and I kill the so-called King of Hell, could I become the Demon King?"
Li En met Frank's gaze and nodded slightly: "If that day really comes, and you kill all the rulers of Hell, then you will be the boss of Hell. Logically speaking, that makes sense."
"That's wonderful." Frank grinned again, his teeth almost blindingly white in the morning light.
Johnny stared at the two men in disbelief, his gaze bouncing back and forth between Frank and Lee several times.
He simply couldn't understand it.
Why are these two people able to talk about hell so easily?
One person said they wanted to kill all the Kings of Hell, while another nodded in agreement, saying it made logical sense.
What kind of brain circuit is this?
Lee stepped forward and patted Johnny on the shoulder one last time: "Have you decided?"
Johnny took a deep breath.
He glanced at Frank, who was standing next to him.
Then he turned back and nodded solemnly.
Li En had the two of them stand facing each other, then stepped back two steps, gripped the Yama Blade with both hands, and closed his eyes.
The legendary Witcher's senses were fully activated.
Within Johnny's outline, marked entirely in red, every inch glows, and every inch is a weakness.
Then he found it.
Between Johnny's spine and shoulder blades, there was an extremely subtle, pure black aura, completely different from the surrounding red.
It was some kind of foreign object embedded in the soul.
He drew his sword and unleashed an extremely light and narrow blade of light towards that spot.
A silver-white blade flashed across the sky and pierced through Johnny's body.
Johnny instinctively raised his hand to cover his face and closed his eyes.
There was no pain.
I felt an extremely cool breeze blowing from behind me, as if something that had been suppressed for a long time was finally pulled out from between my bones.
This is followed by a feeling of complete relaxation throughout the body.
Every muscle, every bone, every blood vessel seemed to sink down at the same instant, and my whole body felt relaxed.
He hadn't felt this way in a long time.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw his old companion, who had been with him for many years, floating in the air behind him.
The Spirit of Vengeance's body is a semi-transparent outline woven from black smoke and dark red sparks, without a fixed shape, constantly expanding and contracting.
It opened its mouth and let out a silent roar at Johnny, struggling to try to burrow back into his body.
But a very thin spatial rift lies between it and Johnny, like a transparent wall, completely separating them.
Frank took the initiative and went up to them.
He spread his arms, grabbed the struggling plume of black smoke with both hands, and pressed it hard into his chest.
"Stop dawdling and come in now."
The spirit of vengeance seemed to be extremely resistant to Frank's body, constantly struggling to escape.
Frank grew impatient, opened his mouth, and bit down on the cloud of black smoke.
One bite, two bites —
He swallowed the spirit of vengeance piece by piece.
Each time you swallow, the surrounding air vibrates slightly.
The next instant, flames exploded from beneath his skin.
First the chest, then the shoulders, then the entire head.
After the flesh and blood were burned away, the white bones were exposed.
It was a pure white skull, exactly the same pattern sprayed on his bulletproof vest.
He drew his shotgun from his waistband, and the gun was engulfed in flames the moment it was drawn, bursting into flames.
He cocked the gun with a click, pointed it to the sky, and pulled the trigger.
boom!!
A thick column of flame shot out from the muzzle, soaring straight into the sky, exploding into a spreading cloud of flame hundreds of meters away before gradually dissipating.
He pressed his palm against the white skull, and the flames obediently retreated beneath the skin.
The skeleton was covered in flesh and blood again, and he returned to his original appearance. He looked down at his right hand, which still had a few wisps of embers, and grinned at Li En.
"It's pretty good."
"That's good. You go back first, I'll take care of New Mexico."
Li En tossed the empty water bottle into the motorcycle's trunk, paused for a moment, and added half a sentence.
"If Benjamin Lester can't bring himself to do it—"
Frank nodded.
If the young man with the sniper rifle can't shoot those scumbags on the island, then it'll be time for the Hellfire Punisher to make his own appearance.
Li En didn't say anything more.
He hopped on his motorcycle, twisted the throttle, the engine roared, and the motorcycle turned west, continuing along the highway towards New Mexico. Frank walked to the rope ladder lowered from the helicopter, grabbed the rope, and was lifted off by the helicopter.
Johnny Blaze was the only one left in the desert.
He stood there, tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and felt the morning breeze blowing from the depths of the wilderness.
That voice no longer dredged up old grievances in his mind.
There's no longer that burning sensation that's constantly constricting my chest.
Years later, he finally experienced the taste of freedom again.
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