Batman Incident (V)

In the laboratory at Stark Tower, Dr. Connors was leading a group of researchers through overtime work when his phone rang. He answered it and said, "Hello, I’m busy right now. Whatever it is, we can talk later…"

"This is Nick. How is the serum research coming along?"

"There aren’t enough research samples. You need to give me at least three more vampires. I’m researching a serum—you can’t expect me to conjure it out of thin air without even providing blood samples, can you?"

"I’ll contact the battlefield commander." Nick’s voice was calm as he asked, "How confident are you that you can crack the vampires’ Self-Healing ability?"

As Dr. Connors organized the research materials, he said into the phone, "It’s uncertain for now, but even if it works, it’s more likely that the effect won’t be permanent."

"This is a completely new field. I’ve never dealt with creatures like this before. There’s some mysterious factor in their blood that I still can’t fully decipher. All I can tell you is that the outcome you’re imagining probably won’t happen."

"But we have to break their Self-Healing ability. Otherwise, this war is almost impossible to fight."

"The first group of vampires that took control of the streets in Brooklyn District and Queens numbered over three hundred. We severely injured half of them, but before long, they had recovered and were back to over two hundred. Meanwhile, our armed police force dropped from more than three hundred to sixty. Most were only lightly injured, but they still couldn’t continue fighting and could only withdraw to await reinforcements."

"With casualty rates like that, the longer this drags on, the less winnable it becomes."

Connors spoke quickly as he explained to Nick, "They’re magical creations. You should understand that better than I do. Scientific methods may not be able to fully counter certain abilities of theirs. As for making their Self-Healing ability disappear entirely, all I can tell you is that it can’t be done."

"But I actually have a better idea. If it works, it might not only counter one of their abilities—it could render them completely incapable of fighting."

"Then what are we waiting for? What do you need? Research samples? I’ll contact Spider-Man right now and have him capture a few alive for you."

A while later, Dr. Connors heard a tremendous crash against the window. Spider-Man had slammed into the glass of Stark Tower, then used a web line to stick himself to the adjacent window before he could slide down.

He dragged a black net behind him, with two or three struggling bats inside. With considerable difficulty, he opened the window and pulled the net in. Dr. Connors stood before him with his arms folded and said, "Couldn’t you knock them out before bringing them in?"

"Sorry, Doctor. I didn’t know whether you needed them completely alive. You know, if I throw one punch, their heads might not be usable afterward."

Connors felt that made sense, then said, "Are you trying to run back to the battlefield again? I’m telling you, no way! Stay here and help me finish the first stage of the research before you leave."

"But we have another big plan. We’re planning to…"

"Listen, I don’t care what you’re planning. All I know is that, given the current situation, your presence on the battlefield won’t make much difference. But if you stay in the lab, we may be able to solve this problem at its root."

"But…" Peter lowered his head dejectedly. He knew Dr. Connors was right.

They no longer needed him for the plan to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge. Stark had just entered the battle, and he could command unmanned suits to launch direct suicide attacks. At this stage of the war, the strength any individual soldier could contribute was limited.

Fighter squadrons had joined the battle, and special operations units had begun moving as well. The entire battlefield was now on the verge of a strategic counteroffensive. What came next was a full-scale brawl—more commonly known as trading artillery fire.

Spider-Man might be able to use his Superman-like physical abilities to grab a few fries on the battlefield, but in a large-scale operation like this, the usefulness of individual heroes had been reduced to a minimum. Aside from Iron Man’s suits and explosives, along with Quake’s area attacks, the other superheroes and agents had largely withdrawn to the edges of the battlefield to carry out rescue work.

Reason told Peter that the laboratory truly needed him more right now.

In the past, Spider-Man would have been itching with excitement in the face of such a massive scene. No matter where he was, he would have been unable to sit still.

But this time, Peter calmed down quickly. With almost no hesitation, he took off his mask and prepared to change into laboratory clothes.

Connors was somewhat surprised. He had already been prepared to summon the patience needed to soothe a child and talk Peter into staying. He knew that few boys Peter’s age could resist the temptation of being a hero in a large-scale war.

After all, a behind-the-scenes hero was still behind the scenes. Who wouldn’t want a little more attention? Connors had long known Peter’s personality. Perhaps because his other identity had been suppressed for too long in everyday life, Peter as Spider-Man truly loved being in the spotlight.

Yet after changing clothes and walking in, Peter immediately said, "Where do we start? Is there any preliminary information I can look over?"

Connors handed him part of the materials. To his surprise, Peter actually found a place to sit and began reading them seriously.

Connors watched his back. Peter was much stronger than before, but he was still only a teenager. That did not match his current calmness at all. Connors said, "Now that I think about it, you’re only sixteen. Maybe we’ve been asking too much of you."

"When I was sixteen, I skipped school every day and hung around with a bunch of people. Back then, as long as I was out of school, everything seemed fun. Even the utility poles on the street looked better than anything in school."

Peter looked up in surprise. "I thought you were a good student."

Dr. Connors smiled and shook his head. "Actually, I only started studying in college. I spent all of high school messing around."

Then he said with feeling, "When I was accepted by Harvard Medical School, I was actually a little dissatisfied. If I hadn’t gotten in, I could have gone abroad to study. But Harvard Medical School was pretty good too, so I stayed."

Peter swallowed, immediately lowered his head, and buried himself in his reading.

This research project had actually been commissioned by Nick through Stark. Nick naturally understood how rare this opportunity was. Congress had reluctantly loosened its stance and approved the use of large-scale heavy firepower against the vampire invasion of New York, so they had to end it quickly and solve the vampire problem at its source.

If they dragged things out too long, it would give the moderates room to maneuver again. That was something the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. very much did not want to see.

The problem of dealing with vampires had always fallen on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s shoulders, but fighting these things was a thankless task. If Nick had not possessed at least a bit of conscience, someone else might not have bothered dealing with them at all.

These creatures were extremely troublesome. They had two forms, could use magic, and possessed powerful Self-Healing abilities. As long as they were not completely decapitated or had their hearts pierced, they would recover quickly. Even elite agents could be in danger against them.

But it was S.H.I.E.L.D.’s duty, so they had no choice but to deal with such creatures. Nick hated bills that cost a fortune, offered little return, and could not even be reimbursed, so naturally he wanted to use this chance to solve the problem once and for all.

He also understood that machine guns and cannons alone could not completely wipe out these creatures. He hoped to approach it from a biological angle and have the genius Stark create a biological weapon for him—ideally one that could turn all vampires into humans. If that was impossible, then it would strip away their special abilities.

So the genius Stark directly handed the project over to Connors, while Iron Man had other matters to attend to.

Ever since Stark had been inspired by Schiller and suddenly come up with an idea that day, he had been overflowing with inspiration, constantly tinkering with this and that in the laboratory. Coulson and Hill watched in terror, afraid that if they looked away for even a moment, Stark would create a steel tide or some kind of machine uprising.

Even more terrified were the members of Congress who had watched Stark’s speech video.

Hill had filmed the video extremely well. She had completely omitted Schiller’s reminder to Stark and started recording directly from the climax of Stark’s speech.

Throughout the video, Stark looked like a deranged genius scientist, passionately describing dangerous ideas that could destroy the world at any moment.

Whenever Stark discussed matters in his professional field, he became manic and neurotic. It was a common flaw among geniuses.

He went on and on about his wild ideas, muttering a string of technical terms that ordinary people could not understand, occasionally blurting out things like machines ruling the world, inorganic life defeating everything, and carbon-based life-forms being worthless.

Seeing only this segment, the members of Congress were naturally frightened out of their wits, because they knew perfectly well that Stark was capable of doing all of it.

Everyone understood that most of Stark’s current difficulties existed because he had set boundaries for himself and refused to use unconventional methods against his opponents. Otherwise, let alone the military, even every force on Capitol Hill combined would not be able to stop Stark’s army of suits.

They did not actually have any way to completely resist Stark. Everything depended on Stark’s own moral bottom line. The military and Congress had not failed to consider what they would do if Stark ever went mad, but the answer was that there was nothing they could do. They could only pray that he did not.

They all knew that even if Stark Industries went bankrupt and Stark ended up living on the streets, if you gave Stark a scrapyard, he could still return a Gundam army to you a few days later. Conditions in Afghanistan had been so terrible, yet hadn’t Stark still escaped in the end?

Therefore, they had practically lifted all restrictions on S.H.I.E.L.D., granted Nick full authority, and demanded that he resolve this vampire invasion by any means necessary. They would not give Stark any excuse to make trouble.

In their view, Stark’s speech was not merely aimed at the vampire problem.

Politicians loved reading things into situations. In their eyes, the military had pressured Stark too hard recently, so Stark was warning them—telling them that he possessed the power to destroy the world.

By choosing to confront the vampire problem and eliminate those creatures by any means necessary, the members of Congress were also making their position clear to Stark: as long as he was willing to maintain his own moral bottom line, they could help him maintain it as well. He would not need to use abilities beyond that line, and everyone could live peacefully.

Of course, Stark could not be bothered thinking about such twists and turns. He was currently on the battlefield, directing his suits in a killing spree.