In the next second, a strong smell of sulfur overpowered the scent of cheap alcohol in the bar.
"Sizzle!"
The Thug holding the knife handle suddenly felt a sharp pain in his palm, as if he were grasping a red-hot iron.
"Ah! Fuck!"
The Thug screamed and instinctively let go, staring in horror at a row of blisters that had instantly formed on his palm: "What the hell?!"
The folding knife stuck in the man's stomach was now turning red at a visible speed, finally dripping onto the floor like wax oil.
The man's helpless and weary human face began to peel away like burning paper.
Flesh boiled and evaporated in the high heat, revealing what lay beneath the skin—a white and terrifying—
Skeleton.
"Roar—!!!"
In an instant, flames shot up, igniting the ceiling.
The Ghost Rider has descended!
Dudu-da dudu-da
Before the Thug who stabbed him could even scream, he was lifted up by a burning skeletal hand.
"Look into my eyes!"
The Ghost Rider choked the man, and the fire deep within his eye sockets suddenly surged, forcibly occupying the Thug's entire field of vision.
After a brief scrutiny, the Ghost Rider raised a bony finger and pointed at him—
"You... are guilty!"
Those pointed at are all given over to—
Following that, amidst the Thug's miserable screams, his eyes were actually burned into two lumps of charcoal.
Then, the Karmic Fire ignited by sin exploded from within him, burning him into a smoking skeleton.
"Monster! Run!!"
The remaining two Thugs were scared out of their wits. Dropping their knives, they scrambled and fled toward the door in a frenzy.
The Ghost Rider did not give chase.
He simply stood there. His originally worn leather jacket had now transformed into a battle suit covered in spikes.
He slowly raised his hand, and at some point, a burning iron chain appeared in his palm.
Clang—!
The chain carrying Hellfire shot out like a venomous snake from its burrow, extending several meters in an instant, accurately wrapping around the ankles of the two Thugs who had just reached the door.
"Come back."
The Ghost Rider let out a low growl and gave a sudden yank.
The two were dragged back into the sea of fire, screaming.
Tension!
After a burst of hair-raising sizzling sounds, the bar returned to a dead silence.
Only three piles of human-shaped black ash remained on the floor.
The Ghost Rider turned around, the Hellfire dancing in his hollow eye sockets as he looked at the waitress still slumped on the ground.
He didn't move, just stood there quietly.
What was he expecting? A thank you? Or a grateful look?
However.
"Mon... Monster!!" the girl screamed, scrambling backward with hands and feet. The fear in her eyes was even stronger than when she faced the three Thugs earlier.
She grabbed a wine bottle near her hand and pointed it at the Ghost Rider as if to ward off a demon.
"Don't kill me! Please..."
The flames in the Ghost Rider's eye sockets dimmed slightly. He was silent for two seconds, then slowly turned around, dragging that heavy chain, and strode out of the bar amidst the piercing screams of "Monster."
That's right... He is a Guardian, but also a monster.
This was the curse Mephisto left him... On the desert highway, the hot wind howled.
The Harley motorcycle, modified by Hellfire, let out a thunderous roar, its wheels rolling and leaving a burning line of fire on the asphalt.
The Ghost Rider slammed the throttle to the floor. He just wanted to leave this miserable place now, the further the better, to escape from people and their gazes.
Suddenly!
At the end of the headlights' bright beam, a figure stood in the middle of the road without any warning.
The figure neither dodged nor moved, as if waiting for him to crash into them.
"Damn it!" The Ghost Rider instinctively slammed on the brakes.
Screech—!
The burning tires ground a long fire trail onto the asphalt.
The Harley motorcycle slid forward with inertia, its front wheel stopping just centimeters in front of the woman.
If it had been half a second later, this woman would have been hit and turned into a vegetable.
「villainess value +3」
The Ghost Rider looked up, his burning skull full of irritation.
"Do you want to die?" His voice sounded like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together, filled with impatience: "Get out of my way, woman!"
However.
There was no panic on the woman's face at all; she didn't even blink.
Under the direct glare of the headlights, she had her hands in the pockets of her black trench coat. Her long red hair flew wildly in the night wind, and with that unchanging smile on her face, she spoke, revealing the Ghost Rider's real name—
"Good evening, Mr. Johnny Blaze."
She tilted her head slightly, her golden ringed eyes reflecting the firelight and swirling with an eerie glow.
"I am Agent Makima of S.H.I.E.L.D. Regarding the... little disturbance you just caused, we need to talk."
"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" The Ghost Rider tilted his burning skull, the irritability of the Spirit of Vengeance making him lose patience.
"Never heard of it, and I don't have time to talk to you. Woman, don't block my path."
He didn't take this inexplicable government Agent seriously at all.
In the eyes of the Ghost Rider, this was just another ordinary person who didn't know the heights of the heavens.
Boom!
The Ghost Rider released the clutch and revved the engine hard. The front of the bike lifted high, the front wheel tracing an arc in the air with flames.
Of course, the Ghost Rider didn't intend to kill her; he just wanted to use this momentum to scare off this crazy woman.
However, Makima did not dodge.
Her gaze didn't even flicker, maintaining that same eerie calmness.
Just as the Ghost Rider was about to say something more, without any warning or even a tell—
A zero-frame startup!
A chain suddenly shot out from Makima's abdomen, heading straight for the Ghost Rider's midsection!
Makima, of course, wasn't truly working for S.H.I.E.L.D.
Working for S.H.I.E.L.D. was a means to gain resources and intelligence, not the end goal.
Makima wanted to Control the Ghost Rider!
This was Su Modie's true objective.
The Ghost Rider was not only cool but also ridiculously strong.
He possessed an almost conceptual-level single-target instant-kill divine skill—the Penance Stare.
Although it was often invalidated for various bizarre reasons... if it could be used by Su Modie... her confidence in continuing her shameless little life would be several points stronger.
Except... Snap!
Just as the chain was about to touch the leather jacket, a burning skeletal hand suddenly reached out and firmly grabbed the front end of the chain.
In the Ghost Rider's originally somewhat calm eye sockets, the flames suddenly flickered.
「villainess value +6」
Control failed.
The Ghost Rider was clearly not some random street Thug, nor was he a weak-willed human like Sitwell.
Moreover, he smelled a scent on that chain that made him nauseous.
This was not a human weapon.
It carried an aura that he instinctively felt disgusted by.
Cold, arrogant, and full of a desire for Control... like something from the depths of Hell.
A demon!
But also not quite like the demons he knew.
"You are not human..."
The Ghost Rider growled, and the originally dim Hellfire instantly surged: "On you... is the stench of a demon!"
The variants of Ghost Rider... so many dudu-da dudu-da
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