Chapter 108: Hellboy
Mason vaguely remembered the movie Hellboy, though strictly speaking, it was a film heavily influenced by dark fantasy.
It was set in 1944 Britain, near the end of World War II. Under intense pressure from the Allies, Hitler was constantly losing ground. In his desperate pursuit of final victory, he recklessly opened a portal to another dimension.
A small Allied strike team arrived in time and destroyed the experimental device, averting catastrophe, but the portal still brought Hellboy into the world.
At that time, Hellboy was just an infant, adopted by Professor Broom, who later influenced him to join the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD)—
a special organization of the US government dedicated to combating supernatural threats.
If Mason remembered correctly, the main story was set after 2000, but although the setting was modern, it focused on dark magic and other fantasy elements.
The worlds Mason had been traveling to were all technologically advanced societies, and what surprised him most were the three question marks after the mission world designation.
This gave him a sense of foreboding.
There was no alternative—at his current level, he wasn't qualified to refuse the Time-Space Delivery Company. After arranging everything, he activated his personal terminal and accepted the mission.
Everything went black, and he found himself back in that dark void.
This time, the light around him expanded further, reaching about three meters in diameter.
The left side of the space displayed the worlds of Captain America and G.I. Joe that he had previously experienced. From Mason's current perspective, he could even vaguely see some of the worlds' evolution.
The right side of the space showed the two bodies he had previously occupied.
At this moment, a majestic voice resounded in his mind.
"Given your courier level, the following descent methods are available:
Physical Descent (cost: 1,200 Time-Space Coins).
Consciousness Descent.
Designated Descent (not yet activated)."
"You calculated exactly how much I have, didn't you?" Mason muttered sarcastically.
"Physical Descent!"
He'd saved up for so long for this moment, and naturally, he wasn't going to change his mind.
When his assets exceeded one thousand Time-Space Coins, he'd unlocked the equipment and battery upgrade function. Although the upgrade options made Mason salivate,
for the sake of his next descent, he could only suppress his impulses and close the upgrade interface.
He was incredibly excited for this descent.
"Descent method selected, funds deducted!"
"Countdown: ten, nine, eight..."
"Three, two, one!"
"Descent commencing!"
"Welcome to Hellboy's world, assistan—"
Mason's vision went black as he waited for the descent, when suddenly space distorted, and the voice in his mind became intermittent.
"Special anomaly detected! Special anomaly detected!"
"Warning, please abort the descent!"
Mason abruptly opened his eyes, finding himself still floating in the void, but the entire space seemed unstable.
"Warning, please abort the descent!"
"Tell me HOW to abort it!"
"VMMMMM!"
"Unknown world fusion occurring!"
"World rules being revised..."
"Matched with compatible temporal background and world environment, fusion in progress..."
"Descent commencing!"
"Damn it! Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?" His vision went black, and Mason lost consciousness.
Cold and viscous.
This was Mason's first impression. A breathing apparatus was inserted into his mouth, continuously supplying oxygen to his body.
He didn't open his eyes, but instead tried to listen to the sounds around him.
Disorganized footsteps came from all directions. He felt the container he was in being wheeled forward, and a voice said,
"Prepare him. Deploy Agent Zero on assignment!"
Mason squinted slightly, surveying his surroundings, and found himself in a sealed glass containment unit. As he opened his eyes, an electric current surged through his body, the liquid in the container gradually drained, and a metal helmet was placed over his head.
"Input commands!"
"Is this Germany?"
Mason wondered to himself, listening to the voices outside. Just then, the liquid in the container fully drained, and he was transported to a prep room.
When he fully opened his eyes, he found several naked figures around him, including a Caucasian woman.
However, everyone's expressions were blank, their eyes vacant.
Without a mission objective and confused about his situation, Mason quietly followed the others, cleaned himself of the suspension fluid, changed into tactical gear, and boarded an aircraft.
A severe-looking German officer stood before Mason.
"Agent Zero, you have two objectives. The primary mission is to eliminate the American operative codenamed 'Mrs. Norway.' Upon successful completion, a liaison will extract you to England to execute the secondary mission!"
"Understood!"
The instant Mason acknowledged, he felt a searing pain in his hand. His personal terminal clearly displayed:
Delivery Mission Activated: Capture Hellboy, summoned from another dimension by Hitler's occult division, and deliver him to Red Skull Schmidt!
Mission Reward: Special modification to the bio-battery, enhancing battery capacity, increasing output power, and adding peripheral interface capabilities!
The mission reward was still closely tied to his bio-battery—Mason's lifeline—so that wasn't unusual.
Although he didn't quite understand what the peripheral interfaces meant, he was no longer focused on rewards.
His vision was dominated by the words "Red Skull Schmidt"!
"Isn't this supposed to be Hellboy's world? How did Red Skull get in here?"
Mason's mind reeled. He suddenly remembered the world fusion mentioned by the voice when he entered this reality.
Could it be that Hellboy's world has been integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Thinking about it, it wasn't impossible. While the MCU was primarily technological, it didn't lack supernatural elements. Leaving aside Doctor Strange, the Thor films and Asgardian mythology had strong fantasy components.
However, Mason noticed that because of the merging of the two worlds, Hellboy's storyline had changed. At least the scenario of him delivering Hellboy to Schmidt would have been impossible in the original timeline.
Thinking of this, Mason's heart raced. Did this mean that the merged Captain America world had also deviated from its original plot?
He'd descended in his true form this time—if he didn't make the most of it, he would really be wasting the 1,200 time-space coins he'd spent!
Furthermore, in the Hellboy world, there was an artifact that Mason coveted. If he could acquire that item, it would provide significant security, whether for establishing power or as an ace in the hole.
"This is the target's photograph. Memorize it."
As he was thinking, the officer in front of him handed him a photo of a woman's profile.
Mason's pupils contracted sharply.
Although the photo was taken from a distance and was somewhat blurry, showing only a profile and not the whole face, based on Mason's intimate knowledge of that woman, he could reconstruct every curve of her body even with his eyes closed.
The woman in the photo was none other than his girlfriend from the Captain America world—Carter!
Let's push the story forward!
Rewards System:
500 Power Stones = New Chapter
10 Reviews = New Chapter
40+ chapters waiting on P3treon – DarkFoxx