American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

"He just signed it like that?"

Looking at Nightmare's empty seat, Mephisto was silent for a long time, still somewhat in disbelief as he looked at Luke and the others.

"Isn't the contract in your hands?" Luke asked helplessly, once again questioned by Mephisto.

"It's precisely because it's in my hands that I'm shocked," Mephisto said, looking at the parchment burning with black flames on his desk, "Are all the demon gods so easily deceived these days?"

"Why say 'deceived'?" Luke frowned sensitively. Odin and the Ancient One also cast dissatisfied and questioning glances at Mephisto.

What's going on? Why are you undermining our own efforts?

"This is a mutually beneficial cooperation! It's mutual assistance where everyone benefits. It's a bit much to describe it as deception," Luke asked softly, "In other words, if you were Nightmare, after enjoying this kind of convenience and help, wouldn't you want to sign a contract like this?"

"Wouldn't want to!" Mephisto's head rotated three hundred and sixty degrees on his neck, leaving an afterimage. He had suffered enough from the Abyss! He didn't want his hell dimension to have anything to do with the Abyss again if there was even the slightest possibility! He said very honestly, "Who in their right mind would sign this thing!"

Everyone present was rendered speechless by Mephisto's sudden sincerity.

Especially Odin and the Ancient One, after carefully pondering and considering Mephisto's words, they surprisingly reached a rare consensus with him.

Not to mention the Ancient One, who was too lazy to even extract and utilize the power of the Abyss, even Odin was unwilling to let Asgard and the Nine Realms be contaminated with such things. Nidavellir, which had been activated by the Abyss and even become one of its physical carriers in this universe, was enough of a headache for Odin.

He had indeed banished it, but what could Odin do if one day, that conscious planetary life had a whim and wanted to go home and take a look?

Only Luke and Mephisto had managed to create something out of the detested Abyss energy. But this kind of trick had certain consequences. The longer the timescale, the more obvious these consequences would become.

After all, the Abyss Dimension cannot be cleared by any energy or method at present. As long as it is contaminated, even a little bit, it can stubbornly rely on devouring other types of energy or matter, and then gradually grow itself.

So, the more Abyss Dimension energy leaks out, the more matter and dimensions will be assimilated into Abyss energy in the future. However, despite Luke and Mephisto's waste utilization of the Abyss's energy, it is still highly polluting and has few uses.

The more despairing the law of entropy increase is, the more disgusting Abyss energy is. Even a dimensional demon god known as the cancer of the universe cannot refute the comparison of it to the immortal cancer of the energy and material world.

Mephisto can only be thankful that he discovered the activity of the Abyss energy early on, and that Luke found a temporary solution. Otherwise, when the Abyss energy completely spread in the hell dimension, he would go crazy along with the hell dimension! Even more terrifying is that the consciousness of the hell dimension may be activated and polluted, possibly becoming a bottomless little abyss. At that time, not only might he lose his home, but also the wealth and family fortune he had accumulated throughout his life might disappear with it.

A dimensional demon god without a home is probably inferior to a dog in the multiverse. If that homeless demon god is the famous Mephisto, then he would almost be socially dead in the multiverse.

"Don't talk about our future collaborators like that. Such words are not conducive to unity! Remember from now on, we have all signed this kind of contract," Luke reminded him with a normal expression after a moment of silence.

"Who is the next contract for? Dormammu? I think he's a bit smarter than Nightmare," Mephisto nodded. As for whether Nightmare would become suspicious and not believe they could sign the contract, what could they do?

He would tell him about the misery of his hell dimension. If necessary, Odin could also tell the story of how one of the Nine Realms was directly destroyed. They were the earliest victims of the Abyss! Why wouldn't you believe them?

"He is indeed smarter than Nightmare. At least in terms of power attributes and characteristics, Dormammu is much stronger than Nightmare. As long as he's not brainless enough to fight Nightmare in Nightmare's dimension," the Ancient One agreed.

"Speaking of which, hasn't he discovered the Abyss energy growing in his dimension yet? That shouldn't be," Luke blinked. If there was a problem, Dormammu would definitely try to find loopholes and contact Strange again, but Strange has been living quite a carefree life recently and has not been entangled by Dormammu.

Hasn't Dormammu discovered the Abyss energy?

That's impossible. As a lord, he should be able to detect the anomalies in his dimension world as quickly as Mephisto. And he hasn't done anything to conceal the Abyss energy.

"Have you ever considered that his control over the Dark Dimension is not as perfect as you imagine?" the Ancient One said softly, "The Dark Dimension is a dimension that Dormammu snatched. He is not the only one who is supreme there. Or rather, any powerful dimension usually has multiple lords vying for power. For example, the hell dimension, Mephisto only controls a part of it."

"So, he hasn't discovered it yet?" Luke raised his eyebrows in surprise. If it's any later, it'll be like cancer, from early to mid-stage. What should we do then? It will definitely be much more troublesome to deal with. Even seriously, if the Dark Dimension is too heavily eroded by the Abyss, Luke won't even have the desire to deal with it.

At that time, rather than cutting off a half-dead Dormammu, it would be better to find a new target. As for the Dark Dimension being the connection point of many dimensional worlds, and the expansion of the Abyss possibly bringing pollution and trouble to the multiverse, that's a matter for the future, isn't it? By that point, this universe might be approaching its end.

"He has discovered it," the Ancient One gave an unexpected answer in a relaxed tone. Her tone was so light and firm, obviously, although she had been leisurely during this time, she had also been paying attention to Dormammu in the Dark Dimension.

Although she no longer had the Eye of Agamotto, over the years she had her own back doors and secretly established permissions in the universes of various dimensional demon gods. It might be a bit difficult to steal their homes, but it was easy to use her permissions to extract some energy, or peek at the latest events and news in the dimension without being discovered by the owners.

Under the gaze of everyone, the Ancient One said the second half of the sentence: "He is now trying to deal with the Abyss energy."

"I hope he succeeds," Mephisto prayed for Dormammu with schadenfreude.

Succeed?

Are you kidding me?

The Abyss energy in the hell dimension can only be controlled now. Most of it has been sealed using Luke's technology and taken by him to make Abyss contracts. But if the sealing of this thing is not clean at all, it will inevitably make a comeback.

Does Mephisto dare to say that all the Abyss energy inside him has been sealed cleanly? He doesn't dare! Even the earliest demons who were corrupted and polluted were kicked by him, with the help of Luke and the Ancient One's permission powers, directly into the deepest Abyss Dimension, changing their attributes from hell demons to Abyss demons.

Those hell demons who were successfully polluted and transformed into Abyss demons were stronger, but their brains were not working well.

Mephisto doesn't think Dormammu can find a solution to the problem that he and Odin are having headaches over and are unable to solve. Most likely, he will only delay the matter and make it more and more serious.

Mephisto thinks this is pretty good. Only by making the other party deeply aware of the difficulty of the Abyss can they sell their technology at a high price when trading with them! And dare to ask for some excessive conditions.

The level of preferential treatment like Nightmare is definitely impossible for Dormammu! Luke's original plan was to use Dormammu as a sample, first harvest a wave to replenish their bank.

"He has indeed found some methods," the Ancient One's words surprised everyone present, especially Mephisto, the mask on his face was covered with cracked fine lines, almost cracking apart.

Even Luke raised his eyebrows. No one understands how troublesome and disgusting this terrifying energy is more than he who created the Abyss energy.

"Dormammu is using life to dilute the Abyss energy," the Ancient One said Dormammu's solution.

"This is only a temporary solution. Life can indeed accommodate Abyss energy, and they are indeed one of the best carriers of the Abyss. But the amount they carry has a limit! The stronger the life, the more it can carry. But if it is just ordinary life with a general essence, then the number needed to carry the Abyss energy that has been generated and assimilated in the Dark Dimension would have to be counted in the billions.

But this is just the beginning. After briefly curbing the expansion and transfer of the Abyss energy, when it completely pollutes and digests the life form carrying it, it will usher in a larger-scale outbreak. I don't think Dormammu is stupid enough not to understand this, unless..." Luke blinked. He thought of a possibility.

"Yes, unless, he is [throwing garbage]," the Ancient One took over Luke's words. "Using a large number of lives to absorb the Abyss energy, and then using the characteristics of the Dark Dimension to banish them to other dimensions through the connection points of various dimensions. Then close this connection point."

"Spreading his disease to others?" Mephisto was eye-opening. Dormammu deserves to be a ruthless person who can gain a foothold in the Dark Dimension. He can even think of this method of transferring harm.

It's a pity that the hell dimension doesn't have the characteristics of the Dark Dimension connecting to various dimensional dimensions. He would like to throw the Abyss energy to the territory of other hell lords, but if there is no solution, if he does this, the consciousness of the hell dimension is estimated to expel him, the disaster star, first in order to save itself.

Mephisto can't do such a thing as poisoning his own home.

But he admires Dormammu's methods.

"We have to stop him!" So Mephisto unhesitatingly issued a declaration.

"How to stop him?" The Ancient One gave Mephisto a strange look. Based on the area of the Dark Dimension that is currently infected by the Abyss, Dormammu has regarded them as forbidden areas from which there is no return. Any life that enters will be sent out to the entrances and exits of various dimensional dimensions in batches by the teleportation gate after being infected.

Now Dormammu, in addition to suppressing his long-standing internal enemies, has put all his energy into cleaning up the Abyss energy. Under this kind of close watch, even the Ancient One can't do anything.

"Are we just going to let him solve it like this?" Mephisto's eyes swept towards Luke, admiring him is admiring him, but if you really solve the Abyss threat yourself, then how will our follow-up unfold? If many demon gods follow your example, will our planned future continue?

You are smashing my rice bowl!

Mephisto absolutely does not want Dormammu to succeed smoothly.

"What are you in such a hurry for?" Luke gave Mephisto a strange look: "If the Abyss could be solved with this kind of clever method, what sealing technology would I still need to create and upgrade?"

"Are you saying?" Mephisto's eyes lit up instantly, but in the next moment, the color on his mask darkened. Luke's words reminded him again of the Abyss inside him that he didn't know if it was completely cleaned up.

"This is indeed a method, but Dormammu is probably thinking too beautifully if he wants to solve the Abyss pollution in this way. Does he think that if he cuts off the tumor of the cancer, the tumor will disappear? No, the disgusting thing about the Abyss is that it cannot be cleaned up without certain targeted technology. Does Dormammu think that he has solved the problem by having other carriers bear their pollution and then throwing them away from his home? I'm afraid that under his operation, there will be a larger-scale outbreak of the Abyss. Spirit, soul, energy, matter, the Abyss can pollute. Simple life cannot completely carry the Abyss energy completely. On the contrary, the last despair and hatred of life will turn into nutrients and nourish a higher concentration of the Abyss," Luke replied somewhat easily.

"In other words, the plan can continue?" Mephisto rubbed his hands, his mood instantly improved a lot.

"Of course it can continue. In that area that Dormammu has blocked off, perhaps some abnormal changes are taking place under the combination of life, mind, and the Abyss. Maybe a small abyss can appear there? When Dormammu discovers that the area is irreversibly abyss-ified, what can he do? Could it be that he will also peel that area away from the Dark Dimension? Even if he can do it, can he be sure that he has peeled it cleanly, or has he really cleared the Abyss?

The Abyss cannot be cleared by this means," Luke concluded. "If he comes to us now, our workload might be less. But if it's a few days later, when that area is abyss-ified, it will be a big project."

"I will prepare a good contract for him. As the second demon god to sign the Abyss Contract, he should feel fortunate," Mephisto said full of motivation.

PS: Thanks to the reward from classmate Silent Peak.