Batman Incident (14)

Venom did not answer, and Peter did not mind. He was already used to Venom disappearing from time to time. Looking down at his hands, he had to admit that this black suit was quite beautiful. Compared with its previous flashy colors, it possessed a deeper, more solemn kind of beauty.

More importantly, this color allowed him to blend into the shadows and made him less likely to be spotted, at least visually.

If those vampires had really been chasing him because of his appearance, then they should stop now, Peter thought.

Yet the result was that nothing improved. Spider-Man was nearly out of the Brooklyn District, but plenty of high-level vampires capable of teleportation were still relentlessly chasing after him.

Peter was not merely running away. He was making a strategic retreat. He swung between a pair of high-rises, then clung to the back of one building. For the vampires to reach him, they had to gather in the building’s shadow. The shadows of the surrounding buildings did not overlap with this spot, leaving only this tiny patch of darkness where they could stand.

Guided by instinct, most of the vampires teleported directly into the shadow beneath the wall. Hanging above them, Spider-Man saw that most of his pursuers had gathered in that tiny patch of darkness, so he dropped a blizzard generator and froze them all into blocks of ice.

Then he slid down along his webbing and looked through the frozen vampires from left to right, but found nothing unusual.

He found a Crowbar nearby and smashed open the ice around the head of a high-level vampire who looked as though he still had his wits about him.

"Why exactly are you chasing me?" Peter asked him.

The vampire glared viciously at Peter. "You are the sacrifice designated by Lord Bat God! You damned human! I will capture you, drain every drop of your blood, and offer it to the great Lord Bat God!!! He will lead us to rule this world!!!"

Peter was almost stunned. "A sacrifice designated by Bat God? I do not even know your god. Why are you looking for me?"

But the vampire kept repeating something about the great Bat God. Peter questioned him for a long time but got no useful information.

Peter felt that this alone counted as a lead, so he called Schiller and told him everything that had just happened.

In the laboratory at Stark Tower, Schiller held the phone while speaking with Nick. "I have some theories about this. That Bat God’s guardian probably does exist."

Nick was puzzled. "Could there really be some Bat God? We have monitored vampires for so many years and never saw any Bat God descend. Why would he suddenly show up now?"

"And as far as I know, they were beaten even worse in that battle in the East. Nearly half the vampires were completely wiped out. Where was the Bat God protecting them then?"

"You and I both know that it is highly unlikely for any True God to descend upon this world."

Nick could tell Schiller was implying something. "But you also said the Bat God’s guardian really exists."

"Yes, but he may not actually be Bat God’s guardian. Put simply, those bats have been fooled."

Schiller said, "You have probably seen this sort of trick before. Some extraordinary creature with great power borrows the name of a god to gather believers or achieve some other goal."

"That is true. We have dealt with quite a few so-called evil gods descending into the world before. Most of them were monsters pretending to be gods. So this time is no exception? What exactly is the other side?"

"I have some guesses, but I still cannot be certain. But no matter who has arrived, there is only one solution…"

"What is it?"

"Have you still not found where that network cable leads?"

Nick fell silent for a moment, then said, "Are you sure this will work? I investigated it. There are indeed people stationed there, but they should just be ordinary members…"

"That is enough. As far as I know, their leader cannot tolerate even a grain of sand in his eye."

Outside Number 177 in Manhattan, a young man in a hoodie stepped out and shouted, "Mrs. Edith! Why has my internet signal gone out?"

A head poked out from the building across the street. A skinny woman with a mass of frizzy curls said, "How should I know? Did you forget to pay your internet bill?"

"Impossible. I paid it all a week ago!"

Soon, another somewhat chubby person poked his head out from the door of Number 177. "It is not just the internet. Why is the power out too? What is going on?"

The young man could only go door to door and knock, but the answers he received were that all the neighbors’ internet and electricity were fine. It seemed that only Number 177 had a problem.

This was an old post office on a street in Manhattan. As times changed, the post office had largely become obsolete. Now it served as a place where residents along the whole street stored their packages.

Their commotion drew a head out from the window next door. It was a man with a Big Beard. "Hey, stop shouting! Go ask at the municipal office across the street. I am guessing the wiring has aged."

"This lousy post office is ancient. Who knows whether its pipes and wiring have ever been updated? It is perfectly normal for something to break. Go ask them quickly. Maybe they can get it fixed before dark."

The young man was just about to thank him when another cry came from inside. "Oh! Damn it!! The pipes—why have the pipes burst too?!"

The young man walked back inside helplessly. In the dim interior of the post office, he said to the chubby man, "What is going on? I heard there is fighting at the Brooklyn Bridge. Could they be targeting us on purpose?"

The chubby man glanced at him and lowered his voice. "Hard to say. Those damned vampire monsters never settled down over in HONGKONG. Our Sanctum was harassed by them every other day. I thought being transferred to New York would be better, but it is still the same…"

"Never mind that for now. Let us fix the water and electricity first. Otherwise, how are we supposed to cook tonight?"

The two stared at each other. The chubby man spoke first. "Do not look at me. Magic is not for this sort of thing. Even if I have a restoration spell, how would I know which pipe is broken?"

"Fine. Looks like we still need to find a professional. I will go to the city hall across the street. You deal with the water first. Do not let the packages get flooded."

After a while, the young man returned. Somewhat dejected, he said, "That office is closed. Their efficiency has always been terrible, so do not count on them. We will have to fix it ourselves."

Then he saw the chubby man walk out carrying a plunger, looking close to a breakdown. "Bad news. Our toilet exploded…"

"The toilet? How could a toilet explode?"

"Those bats definitely tampered with our sewers! Luckily, nothing filthy came rushing up. It was only a burst pipe…"

The moment he finished speaking, another violent explosion sounded from inside the post office, followed by a horrifying stench that spread through the air.

"Dog shit!!! What happened?! Oh my God!!"

Immediately afterward, an incomparably furious scream echoed over Manhattan: "You damned vampires!!! You actually fucking blew up shit!!!"

In a helicopter hovering in the distance, Coulson looked down at the miserable scene. Most of the residents on that street had been driven from their homes by the horrible smell. He said to Nick over the phone, "Director, is this a little too immoral? No matter what, we should not be blowing up shit…"

"What are you talking about? The vampires are the immoral ones. They are actually playing with shit. How can this race still have the nerve to call themselves noble bloodkin?"

"They attacked these people’s poor toilets to get revenge. It is simply inhuman. We strongly condemn this behavior!"

Not long after, Coulson heard Hill’s voice on Nick’s end of the call. "…The other side has proactively contacted one of our agents in Manhattan. They claim to be mages from Kamar-Taj stationed at the New York Sanctum, and they now require support from S.H.I.E.L.D…"

Nick flipped through the documents before him. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has not established diplomatic relations with this faction. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, we must send a communication request to their headquarters, indicating that our support falls within reasonable bounds and has been approved by them…"

Hill asked the other side a few questions, then said, "They say that the New York Sanctum’s authority is independent from Kamar-Taj headquarters. However, they will report this matter to headquarters, including all progress in the war against the vampires…"

"They seem very anxious. If we do not handle it soon, the excrement will overflow from their house…"

"Remember, Hill, give your diligent colleagues a few days off and let them take a vacation in Hawaii. They may not have signed any confidentiality agreements, but it is best if they do not mention any words related to excrement to anyone. Blowing up someone else’s toilet? S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot afford that kind of embarrassment."

Then Nick hung up and called Schiller. "If you ever have another disgusting tactic like this, do not come looking for us."

"But the effect was exceptional, was it not? In a few days, every force on the mystical side will know that the vampires sent people to blow up the toilets in Kamar-Taj’s New York Sanctum to retaliate against them. They are a group of vampires who enjoy playing with excrement…"

"Are you sure this will get their leader’s attention?"

"Actually, it would have even without blowing up the toilet. I do not believe those stationed mages failed to report the vampires’ movements to Kamar-Taj’s master."

"Then why did you have us blow up the toilet?"

"Do not talk nonsense. You did not blow it up. Those self-proclaimed noble aristocrats of the night did."

"Enough." Schiller shifted the phone to his other ear and continued, "Let us talk business."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. must know more or less about Kamar-Taj. You simply had not pinpointed the New York Sanctum’s exact location. Now that you two sides have made contact, you certainly share a common objective when it comes to the vampires."

"Besides Kunlun, Kamar-Taj must have participated in that war on the Eastern continent as well."

"I do not quite understand. From what I know, that mysterious organization in the Himalayan Mountains should only deal with crises beyond Earth…"

"Point at the samples of Earth creature fossils, then look at those mad bats’ teleportation and claw magic. With your hand on your heart, can you really say they are creatures native to Earth?"

"Fine. Then are you sure that Bat God’s guardian is also an extraordinary creature from beyond this world?"

"Of course. My guess about their origins should be very close to the truth."

"Really? Who do you think they are?"

"They are bats too, or rather, vampires. You can also call them—the Morlun Family."