Chapter Sixty-One: Harvest

Having his intentions exposed, Nick Fury remained unflustered, speaking with perfect composure, “Don’t you want to deal with the vampires yourself? I’m just going along with it. Here, I have a copy of ‘Abathar’—if you need it, you can take it too.”

Gu Zhongyan gave a cold chuckle. “Don’t think you can get rid of me so easily. I know you’re hiding a lot of good stuff. You want the vampires’ money? Fine. Trade for it. Otherwise, I’d rather let those financial sharks gobble it up.”

“If there’s nothing in it for me, why should I go to so much trouble?” Gu Zhongyan sneered.

“I really don’t have anything related to the occult. Before I met you, I didn’t even know anyone from that side,” Nick Fury replied, all sincerity on his face.

But Gu Zhongyan was unmoved, only snorting derisively. Others might not know, but he was well aware that this man always kept something up his sleeve. Perhaps besides the Ancient One and the Watcher, no one knew just how many contingency plans Fury had.

In the movies, when the Avengers were defeated, he had Captain Marvel hidden away; when S.H.I.E.L.D. was destroyed, he had a secret base; and when that base was lost, there was always another one. Not just him—Coulson, thought dead, was resurrected; the secret base’s guardian, Eric, seemed to be a clone; and Fury even had a Skrull body double.

Honestly, Gu Zhongyan wasn’t sure whether the man standing before him was even the real Nick Fury.

A man like this might not have personally delved into the occult, but to say he possessed nothing from that side was pure nonsense. Over the years, countless mystical relics had surfaced from myth, religion, and even the lost civilizations of America’s indigenous peoples. If he let this opportunity slip by without squeezing Fury for all he was worth, he’d be a fool.

No matter how skillfully Nick Fury tried to talk his way out, Gu Zhongyan was determined not to back down until he got enough out of the deal.

Seeing persuasion was useless, Nick Fury—however unwilling—finally agreed to hand over, in addition to the “Vampire Bible” and “Abathar,” a scroll of human skin inscribed with Native American witchcraft. There were also five magical items: a genuine Cross Medallion made from fragments of the original crucifix, a vial of holy water blessed by the Pope, a crystal skull, and—brought from England at the founding of the nation—a wooden staff and a cauldron.

Gu Zhongyan would have liked to ask for more, but seeing Fury’s absolute refusal to yield further, he realized he’d reached the man’s bottom line. In truth, Gu Zhongyan was a bit surprised he’d managed to obtain so much, though he cursed inwardly at how many treasures this bald schemer actually possessed.

The three magical books were each extraordinary in their own right. The “Vampire Bible” was, as its name implied, the sacred text of the vampire race. While vampires in the Marvel Universe were relatively weak, their origins were anything but insignificant. In Marvel lore, vampires are divided by the era of Dracula: those from before 1495 are the ancient vampires, whose history stretches back to the wars between Atlantis and the continent of Mu.

At that time, the great Atlantean sorcerer Varnae transformed himself into the first vampire by using the “Darkhold.” He became the progenitor of all vampires. This ancestor lived for countless years, witnessing Atlantis’s destruction, humanity’s return to a primitive state, and their gradual resurgence. Eventually, weary of his undead existence, he bestowed all his power upon Dracula and committed suicide in sunlight.

Dracula, empowered by the progenitor’s might and cursed by his unique fate, became an undying anomaly in the Marvel Universe.

The “Vampire Bible” is Varnae’s record of his insights after studying the “Darkhold.”

The “Darkhold” carries immense weight, being the tome of black magic created by Chthon, the god of dark sorcery in the Marvel Universe. It contains many potent dark spells. Its most famous incantation is the so-called Montesi Formula, a powerful spell capable of killing all vampires at once. Yet the effect is only temporary—once the spell is broken, those destroyed vampires can return.

The “Darkhold” is filled with formidable magic, but it’s extremely dangerous. Reckless use rarely yields the desired results, and the wielder’s soul is apt to be corrupted by the tome, eventually turning them into Chthon’s puppet.

Chthon’s status in the Marvel Universe is immense, rivaling the Five Cosmic Entities. He is the arch-nemesis of the trinity god Vishanti, patron of Kamar-Taj, and one of the great bosses of Marvel’s mystic world. In the comics, the “Darkhold” fell into the hands of the Scarlet Witch and became a window for Chthon to peer into reality.

Fortunately, Chthon wasn’t the only one to meddle with the Scarlet Witch—there was also the Crimson Lord, Cyttorak, whose strength and status matched Chthon’s. Their rivalry ultimately safeguarded her.

But all that aside—Chthon is the god of black magic in Marvel, and the “Vampire Bible” is inextricably linked to him. It’s no exaggeration to call it the cornerstone of Marvel’s black magic system.

Aside from the “Vampire Bible,” the other two magical tomes were equally distinguished.

“Abathar” was compiled by the demonologist Vet, recording a vast array of spells related to the Greek pantheon, angels, and demons—a veritable encyclopedia of sorcery. Its only flaw was that it was never whole, having been fragmented since its creation.

The Native American witchcraft scroll had the shallowest tradition, but according to Nick Fury, it was probably the most complete system among the three. These three distinctly different magical tomes would be invaluable for Gu Zhongyan to refine his own magical framework.

Not to mention, aside from the three books, the five other items—except for the staff and cauldron whose origins and purposes even Fury didn’t know—were hardly ordinary.

The genuine Cross Medallion was made from clay mixed with fragments of the very cross upon which Jesus was crucified. In the real world, it might be just an antique, but in the Marvel Universe—where Heaven truly exists—even if it fell short of being a full-blown artifact, it was still a formidable magical weapon.

The holy water blessed by the Pope was similarly unique—no ordinary water, but a rare substance condensed through sincere prayer and significant sacrifice. While it couldn’t resurrect the dead, it otherwise matched the miraculous effects seen in many films: healing, exorcism, demon-banishing, purification, and it was the prime material for crafting magical potions and artifacts.

As for the crystal skull, its fame preceded it—a legendary Mayan artifact and the source of power for Native American witchcraft, likely meant to be used in tandem with the human-skin scroll.