Hades was not the only one making plans.
Ghost Rider naturally had his own calculations as well.
He wanted the five Infinity Stones inside Lock Technology, but he knew that obtaining them would be extremely difficult.
In fact, he understood Nolan Lock's terrifying strength far better than Hades did.
After all, Ghost Rider had once been on Earth.
Although he had not participated in the battle between Nolan and Thanos, he had been watching the entire conflict from the sidelines.
Furthermore, through his master, Mephisto, he already knew that Nolan Lock's strength was absolutely not inferior to Mephisto's.
And on Earth...
Nolan Lock's strength had already reached a level that even Mephisto could not compare with.
Under these circumstances, trying to take the five Infinity Stones from Nolan through his own strength alone was obviously impossible.
But with Hades' help...
That would be an entirely different matter.
Hades was an extraordinarily powerful existence.
With someone like him assisting Ghost Rider, they might actually be able to take the Infinity Stones from Nolan Lock.
As for who would ultimately obtain the Infinity Stones...
Ghost Rider knew that Hades certainly wanted them.
But he did not mind.
Ultimately, the ownership of the Infinity Stones would be decided by their strength.
It would not be decided by promises or words.
And in that regard...
Ghost Rider believed he was not inferior to Hades.
Even though Hades was extremely powerful, Ghost Rider had one major advantage.
He was a superhero on Earth.
There were countless resources and methods he could make use of.
Hades, on the other hand, had been sealed for a long time.
Under these circumstances, Ghost Rider could hardly imagine how they could possibly lose.
Therefore, when he heard Hades' followers propose an alliance, Ghost Rider immediately agreed.
However...
There was one thing they needed to do first.
They had to free Hades from his seal.
Back then, Hades had offended the Sorcerer Supreme and was eventually sealed through an extremely ingenious method.
Although the seal was not perfect, it still prevented Hades from using much of his power on Earth.
Only by breaking the seal could Hades release his full strength.
And only then could he fight Nolan Lock.
After hearing this, Ghost Rider did not waste any time.
He immediately asked Hades' followers how they planned to completely release their master.
The followers gave him a very simple answer.
Freeing Hades itself was not particularly difficult.
The difficult part was what they would do after Hades was released.
Upon hearing this...
Ghost Rider immediately took responsibility for freeing Hades.
Leaving it to those followers would simply take too long.
Rather than waiting...
He would handle it himself.
As long as Hades was released, the combined strength of the two of them would make confronting Nolan Lock a possibility.
Meanwhile...
While Ghost Rider was working to release Hades...
Nolan Lock and the others were enjoying a peaceful vacation on the Hawaiian islands.
Poseidon was already under Nolan's control.
And Nolan already understood the situation he was facing.
Since the situation was not particularly troublesome...
He naturally had no reason to stop enjoying his vacation.
After all, once he returned, dealing with Poseidon and his two brothers would still be easy enough.
Compared with Nolan...
Tony Stark and the others were actually more concerned about the situation.
The reason was simple.
In their eyes, Hades and Zeus were definitely not ordinary opponents.
Although Nolan had already captured Poseidon...
Once Zeus and Hades made their move, Lock Technology would inevitably suffer considerable pressure.
Tony Stark even suggested that Nolan ask Asgard for assistance.
Asgard owed Nolan quite a few favors.
Thor would probably be more than willing to help Nolan settle this matter and repay some of those debts.
But Nolan directly rejected the suggestion.
He did not need Thor's help.
This small matter was something he could handle himself.
And after hearing Nolan explain the situation...
Hela immediately stood beside him.
"I'll deal with this matter for you."
"Hades' strength is roughly comparable to mine."
"I can find his location."
"Once I locate him, I can deal with him before he has a chance to act."
"After Hades is dealt with, only Zeus will remain."
"With Zeus' strength, trying to break through Lock Technology is simply impossible."
As she spoke, a glint flashed through Hela's eyes.
She glanced at the imprisoned Poseidon nearby and calmly continued:
"Perhaps we should simply kill this damned Poseidon."
"If we kill him now, many potential complications will disappear."
Hearing Hela's words...
Poseidon's expression became extremely ugly.
A trace of fear instantly appeared in his eyes.
He quickly suppressed it, but not quickly enough.
Nolan saw it clearly.
He had already realized that Poseidon was not some fearless god who did not care about death.
If Poseidon were truly pushed into a life-or-death situation...
Nolan believed there was a good chance he would betray his brothers.
However...
That was not necessarily what Nolan wanted.
Killing Poseidon could very well cause Zeus and Hades to abandon their plans to invade Earth.
There was an old saying:
It is easier to catch a thief once than to guard against one for a thousand days.
If Zeus and Hades became afraid of Nolan and fled Earth...
It would be much harder to find them again.
Rather than allowing two hidden enemies to disappear into the shadows...
Nolan preferred to drag them into the open and eliminate them all at once.
That way...
He could finally eliminate every hidden threat.
Then he could peacefully prepare for his next journey through the multiverse.
That was right.
His temporal energy had already accumulated once again.
He could begin another journey at any time.
Although he still could not determine whether he could return to one of the worlds he had previously visited...
One thing was certain.
In this universe, increasing his strength had already become increasingly difficult.
Only by entering other worlds would he have a chance to develop unexplored resources and accumulate enough wealth.
Then he could exchange that wealth for sufficient Technology Points, acquire new technology, and continue increasing his strength.
The Marvel Universe was simply too deep.
Although Nolan had already defeated many powerful enemies...
There were still countless terrifying existences lurking behind them.
Even the enemies on Earth alone were troublesome enough.
So although Nolan appeared to have dealt with one crisis after another with ease...
The pressure in his heart had never truly disappeared.
With this thought in mind, Nolan rejected Hela's suggestion.
Hela did not care much after hearing his reasoning.
To her...
Whether Poseidon was dealt with now or later made little difference.
The reason was simple.
Nolan's strength was already enough to completely overwhelm the three brothers.
And Hela herself possessed an absolute advantage against Hades.
As long as she faced Hades directly...
There was virtually no possibility of her losing.
Furthermore...
There was another powerful ally on Earth.
Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers.
Although Carol was somewhat naive in Hela's eyes, the power of the Space Stone within her was still astonishing.
With Carol's assistance...
They would be able to remain practically invincible.
And that was not all.
There were also numerous other superheroes.
There was even a Sorcerer Supreme.
Stephen Strange's strength was not weak either.
Although he was still a relatively inexperienced sorcerer, he could already use Earth's magical formations to strengthen himself and weaken his enemies.
With all these factors combined...
For Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades to invade Earth would be nothing short of suicide.
Hela naturally had no objection to eliminating the three of them.
After all...
Back when they fought over Earth...
There had been no shortage of conflicts between them.
Hela had suffered quite a few injuries during those battles.
Those grudges had been buried deep for countless years.
They were certainly not something she could simply forget.
Eventually...
Their perfect vacation came to an end.
Nolan Lock returned to Lock Technology.
The three women returned with him.
Hela came with them as well.
She wore a completely indifferent expression.
Whenever she looked at Nolan, there was even a hint of teasing in her eyes.
Nolan was no inexperienced rookie.
He could naturally tell that something about Hela's attitude had changed.
Originally...
He had thought that they were simply close friends.
But through Hela's recent behavior...
Nolan could already sense that she seemed to have become more than a little interested in him.
Nolan did not dislike the idea.
After all...
Hela was an extremely beautiful woman.
Her personality was somewhat fierce and aggressive, but that was hardly a problem for Nolan.
If someone weaker than Hela behaved that way...
It might have been troublesome.
But if Hela tried to lose her temper in front of Nolan...
He certainly would not mind reminding her who the real master of this household was.
So...
Nolan welcomed her presence.
He directly brought Hela into Lock Technology.
The three women naturally looked unhappy.
But they had no way to prevent Hela from staying.
After returning to Lock Technology...
Nolan immediately inspected the damaged areas.
Just as he expected...
There were traces of magic left behind by the attack.
It was precisely because of this magic that Lock Technology had been brought to a standstill.
Under normal circumstances...
The defenses Nolan had built into Lock Technology should never have failed so easily.
Nolan sighed helplessly.
His expertise was ultimately centered around physical technology.
His understanding of magic was still somewhat lacking.
Perhaps he should find Stephen Strange and have him construct a truly powerful magical barrier.
Nolan had already learned something about Earth's magic.
But creating a magical defense capable of blocking an existence on Hades' level was still difficult for him.
Hela looked at the damaged area and casually remarked:
"Looks like your wall was destroyed by a very stupid spell."
Nolan's expression immediately darkened.
He glared at her.
"Sorry."
"Maybe that spell is very stupid to you."
"But to me, it was already an extremely impressive spell."
"At the very least, the defensive measures of Lock Technology failed to stop it."
"That damned spell actually managed to infiltrate my defenses."
Nolan sighed.
The defensive systems of Lock Technology were extremely advanced.
Forget Hades' followers...
Even if Hades himself came to Lock Technology, he would never be able to enter and leave so easily.
But once the magical interference appeared...
A large portion of Lock Technology's defensive systems became useless.
That was why Hades' followers had been able to attack the facility.
Fortunately...
They had not caused any actual losses.
Even so...
Nolan found the incident extremely irritating.
"Perhaps I can install some special magical defenses for Lock Technology."
Hela offered.
Nolan raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry."
"I'll handle it myself."
Although he could sense that Hela had feelings for him...
The two of them had never officially defined their relationship.
Under those circumstances, Nolan was not about to entrust all of Lock Technology's defensive systems to Hela.
If something went wrong...
The situation could become even worse than before.
Hela looked at him in confusion.
"Don't you trust me?"
"No."
"This isn't about whether I trust you."
"Our relationship hasn't reached that point yet."
"I believe you won't harm me."
"But when it comes to something this important..."
"I only trust myself."
"Is that so?"
Hela looked at Nolan.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
She walked toward him.
Although she was much shorter than Nolan...
At that moment, she radiated an overwhelming presence.
Then...
She leaned forward and kissed Nolan on the lips.
The kiss lasted for a long moment.
Finally, their lips parted.
Hela smiled.
"What about now?"
"Do I have that right now?"
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