Chapter 1159

"Of... of course!"

Mephisto instinctively wanted to refuse; once again, no one—or to be precise, no life—could get anything for free from him.

If it had been some other life form bringing up Death, he might have gambled that the other party was just using a tiger's might to bully him.

But Hawk was different.

Because Hawk had once had contact with Death, and had even drunk with her, Mephisto felt the aura of his own superior on Hawk's soul.

Therefore, while others might be bluffing, Hawk might actually have some real connection to his superior.

So—

Mephisto suppressed his greedy instincts with a strong desire to survive, nodded, and forced out a smile that was uglier than crying.

"Yes, any request."

"That's good."

Hearing this, Hawk didn't waste words and directly stated his purpose.

"I want to go to the main timeline."

"Good... wait!"

Mephisto, who was about to nod and send Hawk away quickly, reacted, his eyes widening as he looked at the smiling Hawk: "You said go where?"

Hawk shrugged.

"The main timeline."

"Are you crazy?"

Mephisto stared wide-eyed at the request Hawk had made: "The main timeline has already been sealed off. The Celestials even specifically found me and said that if anyone tried to enter the main timeline through me... wait a minute."

At this point, Mephisto reacted again, looked at Hawk, and gasped: "Hiss, you are the person the Celestials are waiting for?"

He didn't know what the Celestials were doing in the main timeline.

Because the moment the Celestials arrived, the main timeline had been completely sealed off, and even his Hell dimension had been specifically warned by the Celestials.

Of course.

Unlike Hawk, who used Death to command him, the Celestials had promised him that if he cooperated, they would cede the Hell dimension of one universe for him to manage.

Mephisto naturally agreed happily.

Anyway, he had Death as his backer; under normal circumstances, as long as Death didn't fire him, the Celestials or whoever were at most just managers at the same level as a partner company to him.

So he wasn't afraid of the Celestials going back on their word; after all, when it came to going back on one's word, if he claimed second place, no life form would dare claim first.

Hawk raised an eyebrow at Mephisto's subconscious words.

"The Celestials looked for you? Do you know what they are doing in the main timeline?"

"..."

Mephisto met Hawk's gaze, his eyes gloomy: "I don't know what they are doing, and I don't care. I only care that if I let you pass, the jurisdiction over the life and death of one universe that they promised me will be gone."

Hawk smiled brilliantly at this.

"Old Mo, you should know that a promise from the living is called an alliance, but do you know what a promise from the dead is called?"

"What is it called?"

"It's called being accomplices."

Hawk looked at Mephisto with a smile: "So, Old Mo, tell me, do you want to be my ally, or do you want to be the Celestials' accomplice?"

Mephisto took a deep breath, his eyes once again looking gloomily at Hawk.

"Death treats all life equally, so Hell's stance is always neutral."

"The logic is correct."

Hawk nodded in approval, then changed the subject and looked at Mephisto: "But when facing a conflict, if a friend remains neutral, they are essentially standing on the enemy's side."

Mephisto's mouth twitched.

"We are not friends."

"No, we are."

Hawk said, then flicked his right hand, releasing the memory of himself drinking and chatting with the Mephisto of his home universe before the eyes of this Mephisto.

Mephisto looked at these images, and the twitching of his mouth became even more severe.

He looked at Hawk and took another deep breath.

"That Mephisto is not me, you should know that."

"Is that so? What is your name?"

"Mephisto."

"He is also called Mephisto, and he is also a Hell Lord."

"..."

Mephisto fell completely silent.

He could see it now: the Hawk before him was relying on his familiarity with his superior to play a game of forced buying and selling with him.

But...

After a moment of silence, Mephisto looked at Hawk again.

"You don't even know what the Celestials are doing in the main timeline; why should I believe you will win?"

"Then why do you think the Celestials will win, after I have killed several Celestials?"

When facing someone else's question, the best solution is not to give an answer, but to ask the other party back, throwing the question back at them.

As Hawk said this, he flicked his right hand again, playing the images of the Celestial members who had died at his hands for Mephisto.

This time, looking at the images projected by Hawk, Mephisto's expression changed again, and he fell into silence once more.

Clearly, he was considering it.

Hawk didn't urge him.

Admittedly.

He could promise Mephisto the same things the Celestials had promised.

But Hawk didn't want to.

Because he understood Mephisto better than the Celestials did.

Once again.

Mephisto had no bottom line; if you retreat half a step, he dares to advance a step. The more you concede, the more he will push his luck.

Therefore, Hawk had also figured out the correct way to deal with Mephisto.

Simply put, be more shameless than Mephisto, and be tougher than Mephisto.

I'm relying on my familiarity with Death to threaten you, so what?

If you have the ability, go contact Death right now.

Just right.

"Old Mo, speaking of your deal with the Celestials, Death probably doesn't know yet, right?"

"... I'll send you!"

Mephisto, who had been deep in thought, gave a start, reacted quickly, his pupils contracting as he looked at the Hawk before him with a playful smile, and without any further weighing or consideration, said in a deep voice: "I will send you to the main timeline, and I guarantee I won't tell the Celestials."

Hawk shook his head with a smile.

Mephisto frowned.

"What else do you want?"

"I don't want anything else; I just don't believe your promise."

Hawk's tone was calm: "You say you won't tell the Celestials now, but I know you too well. I'll walk away, and you'll turn around and report me to the Celestials."

Such a thing might only be a possibility with others.

But with Old Mo, it was one hundred percent.

Hawk didn't even add an adjective like "high probability," but said it with such certainty.

Mephisto met Hawk's gaze and was completely speechless.

"Then what do you want?"

"I need a guarantee."

"What guarantee?"

"Give me your soul."

"What?"

Mephisto's eyes widened.

Hawk said with a smile: "Give me your soul. As long as I don't expose my tracks, I will return your soul to you after the matter is over."

Hearing this, Mephisto immediately slapped the table and stood up.

"What, that's impossible."

"Then I'll contact Death."

Hawk looked at Mephisto, who had stood up and was glaring at him: "In all my time walking this path, the people I wanted to kill have all died. Likewise, every promise I've made along the way, I've kept. How about you, Old Mo? Do you dare to pat your chest and say that every promise you've made, you've kept? If you dare to pat your chest and say that..."

Before he could finish his sentence.

Mephisto directly patted his chest, full of vigor.

"I dare."

"Look..."

Hawk smiled brilliantly: "Lying through your teeth, and you do it so easily. And you were a bit late in saying that; I hadn't finished my final guarantee yet."

Mephisto's expression was ugly to the extreme.

"My soul can never be given to you."

"Then there's no other way."

Hawk wasn't annoyed either; looking at Mephisto, who was determined to fight to the end, he shrugged and stood up, making a gesture to leave: "Fine, since you don't want to give me your soul, I'll ask Death if the Death who plotted against the Celestials with me in the last universe is..."

Hearing this, Mephisto gave a start, feeling his soul flashing red.

"Wait a minute."

"What for?"

Hawk raised an eyebrow, looking at Mephisto, who had reached out to stop him.

Mephisto's expression was serious; he didn't speak, but after taking a deep breath, the moment his right hand reached out, a brand had already appeared in his palm.

The brand of Hell's origin.

Or rather, his soul.

Seeing this, Hawk opened his right hand, directly grabbed Mephisto's soul, and then put it into the Space Stone he carried.

Mephisto looked at Hawk nervously.

"You will return it to me, right?"

"Of course."

Hawk nodded without hesitation, meeting Mephisto's eyes, and made a guarantee: "I swear in the name of the Phoenix; after the matter is over, whether I win or lose, I will return your soul to its owner and never go back on my word."

He would certainly return it.

He was very trustworthy.

He kept his word.

But Hawk felt that this soul would never return to Mephisto's hands, and that when the time came, Mephisto would surely be just like he was now, respectfully asking him to continue keeping the soul.