After Jason tore the [Hell Alliance] members into pieces alive, they finally reverted to their normal demonic state. He opened his massive hand and held them all in his palm like tiny insects.
Those willing to surrender were given a choice—give up their thrones and become commanders under his rule. Those who refused submission were simply crushed into bloody paste between his fingers. It didn't matter either way; as long as a lord died, Jason could easily swallow up their territory with his overwhelming power.
As he worked methodically to acquire the remaining thrones, his own throne grew larger and more imposing. After the [Hell Alliance] was completely devoured, the entire Hell dimension no longer housed any power that could challenge him. At this point, even if the other six lords of Hell returned from their absence, he could strangle them to death with a single hand!
In the end, only the territories of the three most powerful lords of Hell remained unconquered. If those lords were still alive, their domains might have been able to resist Jason's advances for a while. Unfortunately for them, they were all trapped in Heaven with no way to return. Jason channeled almost half the power of the Hell dimension to forcefully bring these last three territories under his command.
"RUMBLE..."
The entire Hell dimension suddenly shook violently, and Jason's body grew exponentially larger, reaching a towering height of one thousand meters. In that instant, his consciousness and soul connected with the entirety of Hell. He could feel the whole dimension like an egg, gradually transforming into a chaotic space at the edge of reality.
No disturbance or change anywhere in Hell could escape his surveillance now. He could transform the terrain and alter the environment with just a thought. Even the demonic inhabitants could be slowly reshaped by him, from soul to physical form. In other words, this place had almost become his God Domain!
At his feet, Mephisto looked up at Jason's thousand-meter height in utter despair, his eyes reflecting complete loss.
Damn it! he thought bitterly.
Jason returned to his normal appearance and glanced at Mephisto with calm indifference.
"I'll give you one last choice," he said coldly. "Do you want to manage Hell for me here, or do you want to go to the outside world and stay by my side?"
Mephisto was stunned into silence for a long moment before gritting his teeth. "I am willing to stay with you," he finally said.
This place was no longer the Hell he remembered. Staying here would only add to his sorrow!
"Very well!"
As soon as Jason finished speaking, shadows suddenly flashed around his body—these were his incarnations. They would arrive in every city in Hell and take charge immediately.
Currently, Jason had only one policy toward Hell: reproduce, reproduce as much as possible! Since he possessed the powerful ability of [Becoming a God through Faith], the more believers he had, the better. It would be best if he could fill up Hell and establish the Second God Domain directly!
Compared to Hell, the population growth rate of the First God Dimension was frustratingly slow. There was nothing he could do about it. The blond president and Stark had been behaving themselves lately, so there hadn't been any major movements to exploit. Besides being busy building walls and withdrawing from international groups, the blond president spent most of his time spouting nonsense in Congress. When he had nothing better to do, he also enjoyed criticizing the Avengers. His life seemed pretty comfortable.
As for Stark, according to intelligence monitored by the Avengers, he had been busy dating Pepper. They had been spotted traveling to the ends of the earth, across seven continents and four oceans. Media around the world were rushing to report their beautiful love story. Stark had even announced that he would propose to Pepper soon and hold a "wedding of the century" for her.
Under these circumstances, Jason quietly arrived in the small Eastern European country of Latvia. In addition to his plan to find and recruit Wanda and Quicksilver, he had another important matter to attend to.
He had registered a technology company under the name—Victor von Doom.
Then, he unleashed the real Tony Stark.
Previously, Mephisto had captured Stark's body and extracted his soul. This violent separation had severely damaged Stark, causing his memory to become confused and partial loss of his past. From examining Stark's wounded soul, Jason had been unable to discover the mechanical Stark's origins.
However, after a long period of careful restoration, he had successfully resurrected Stark and repaired the wounds in his soul. Although Stark had lost some memories, this was undeniably the real Tony Stark.
In a massive, ancient, and luxurious castle, Stark woke up from the biological chamber that had been repairing his body. He opened his eyes and looked at the ancient European décor surrounding him, feeling utterly disoriented.
"How do you feel?" asked a voice.
Stark raised his head and looked at the handsome face before him—a man wearing a well-ironed suit with a practiced smile. Suddenly, a name surfaced in his foggy mind: Jason.
"Hiss—" Stark winced as a sharp pain shot through his head. He realized with growing anxiety that he couldn't remember many things.
But he could recall something about the person in front of him. It seemed... Jason had saved him in Afghanistan and worked with him to prevent Obadiah from destroying New York. And then... nothing. The rest was blank.
He clutched his head and said, "Jason, what happened? My head hurts! This isn't Stark Tower. Where are we? Where's Pepper?"
As he finished speaking, a sad expression quickly spread across Jason's face.
Stark felt something was terribly wrong and suddenly experienced an inexplicable panic rising in his chest.
"Stark," Jason began solemnly, "I can only say that you've been trapped in a long nightmare. This world is no longer what you remember. Pepper and Stark Industries are no longer what you imagine. Even America..."
Stark's knees went weak. "Fuck, what are you talking about?"
Jason prepared a comprehensive presentation for Stark. The slides detailed Stark's entire experience since escaping captivity in Afghanistan. Of course, there were significant amendments about the events in New York and changes around the world.
After watching everything, Stark held his head in his hands, trembling.
"Fuck, was I possessed by a demon?" he asked, desperation edging his voice.
Jason mentally rolled his eyes. He really knows how to make excuses for himself. You signed a contract with the devil voluntarily—you weren't possessed! But to protect Stark's already fragile mental state, Jason simply nodded in confirmation.
"Fuck!" Stark exploded. "What's going on with this Robot Stark? He's going to marry Pepper? Son of a bitch, what gives him the right? He stole my company, and now he wants to steal my woman?"
Stark gritted his teeth and grabbed Jason's sleeve with desperate strength. "Quick, lend me your Avengers! Let's go back to New York together and take Stark Industries back from that impostor! And Pepper—how could she agree to marry a robot? She's smarter than that!"
Jason looked at Stark's anxious expression and shook his head helplessly. "Stark, it's not that I don't want to help you, but the Avengers have severed their cooperation with the United States. The blond president has already issued an executive order stating that the Avengers cannot enter U.S. territory. Violation would be considered provocation and invasion. If we rush in with you now, I'm afraid it will lead to unpredictable consequences!"
"So you expect me to just watch this happen?" Stark yelled, his face reddening with anger. "Things have already gone this far—who cares about the U.S. government and that blond idiot? If you don't want to go, just provide me with a laboratory and I can build battle armor quickly! I'll get Pepper back myself!"
Jason sighed deeply. "Stark, you need to calm down. I must warn you that RoboStark's capabilities may have already exceeded our expectations."
He shook his head with genuine concern. "With unlimited funding from the blond president, the rate at which he manufactures defense robots has increased to an unimaginable level. The original production capacity of a few thousand units per year has skyrocketed to tens of thousands!"
Jason continued grimly, "Right now, there are thousands of defense robots patrolling day and night in New York alone. Across the entire United States, there are more than 40,000! I am absolutely certain that RoboStark can mobilize all these machines with a single command. You alone would have zero chance of victory."
Stark's shoulders slumped as the fight drained out of him. He collapsed into a nearby chair, muttering, "Is there... no other way?"
Jason placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't lose hope. We must approach this strategically and with patience. I promise you—I will definitely help you reclaim what's yours. But we need to be smart about this. We'll find a way, Tony. Together."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at p@treon.com/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~