In the laboratory of Stark Building, Dr. Connors was leading a group of researchers in a busy round-the-clock shift, when his phone rang. Dr. Connors picked up the phone and said, "Hello, I'm quite busy right now, can we discuss it later..."
"This is Nick, how's the serum research going?"
"The research samples are not enough. You have to get me at least three more vampires. I'm researching the serum. You can't expect me to produce it out of thin air without even a blood sample, can you?"
"I will contact the battlefield commander." Nick's voice was very calm. He asked, "What's the probability of you decoding the self-healing ability of the vampires?"
As Dr. Connors was sorting out his research materials, he replied to the person on the other end of the phone, "I'm not sure yet, but it's more likely that even if such an effect works, it won't be permanent."
"This is a brand new field, I've never dealt with these kinds of creatures before. There's a mysterious factor in their blood that I currently can't fully decode. All I can tell you is, the effect you're imagining is unlikely to happen."
"But we have to decode their self-healing ability, otherwise, we hardly have a chance winning this war."
"The initial vampires who took control of the Brooklyn Area and Queens District Street were over 300 strong. We severely injured half of them, but in no time, their numbers recovered to over 200. Meanwhile, our armed police officers reduced from over 300 to just 60. Most of them only have minor injuries, but are unable to continue fighting, and are forced to retreat and wait for reinforcements."
"With this rate of loss disparity, the longer we drag this out, the less chance we have of winning."
Dr. Connors spoke quickly as he explained to Nick: "These are creatures of magic, you should understand this better than I do. Scientific methods may not be able to fully decode their abilities. As for making their self-healing abilities completely disappear, all I can tell you is, it's impossible."
"But I actually have a better idea. If successful, it may not only break their one power but could also directly take away their combat power."
"Then what are you waiting for? What do you lack? Research samples, right? I'll contact Spider-Man right now to capture some for you."
After a while, a loud noise was heard at the laboratory window. Spider Man crashed onto the glass of Stark Building, then used a thread of spider silk to stick to the nearby window to prevent him from slipping off.
He dragged a large black net with two or three bats still struggling inside. It was with great difficulty that he opened the window, pulled the net in, and Dr. Connors folded his arms and stood in front of him saying: "Can't you just knock them out before bringing them in?"
"Sorry, Doctor, because I wasn't sure if you needed live samples. You have to understand if I had punched them, their heads may not have been usable anymore."
Dr. Connors thought he had a point, so he then said: "Are you planning on running off to the battlefield again? Let me tell you, no way! Stay here and help me finish the first phase of the research before you can leave."
"But we have a major plan in the works. We plan to..."
"Listen, I don't care what you plan to do. All I know is, considering the current battle situation, your absence won't make much of a difference. But if you stay in the lab, we may be able to fundamentally solve the problem."
"But…" Peter looked a little despondent, he knew that Dr. Connors had a point.
The plan to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge no longer needed him. Just a moment ago, Stark had entered the field. He could command the unmanned armored units to directly carry out a suicide attack. As the war progressed to such a point, the power that an individual soldier can exert has become insignificant.
The mecha army units have engaged, special operations teams have also begun their actions. The situation on the entire battlefield has reached the edge of strategic counterattack. What comes next is collective combat, colloquially known as "giving each other a beating".
Spider Man might be able to fish out some fries on the battlefield with his superhuman stamina. However, the utility that a solo superhero can exert in large-scale combat has been reduced to the minimum. Aside from the Iron Man armored units and explosives, as well as the Quake's mass attacks, most other superheroes and agents are basically off the stage and have moved to the edge of the battlefield to begin their rescue work.
Reason told Peter that he is indeed more needed in the lab right now.
In the past, Spider Man would definitely itch to get involved in such large-scale combat situations and would without a doubt feel restless wherever he was.
But this time, Peter quickly calmed down, he took off his mask without any hesitation and was ready to change his clothes and go into the lab.
Dr. Connors was somewhat surprised. He was ready to use the patience one uses to coax a child, planning to calm Peter down and then go from there. He knew that boys of this age are hardly able to resist the temptation to be a hero in a big scenario.
After all, a behind-the-scenes hero, no matter how much of a hero, is still behind the scenes. No one wouldn't want more attention. Dr. Connors knew Peter's character well. Perhaps his other identity has been suppressed for too long in daily life, Peter as Spider Man really loved to show off.
However, after changing, Peter just walked in and immediately asked: "Where do we start now? Are there any preliminary materials I can look at?"
Dr. Connors handed Peter some materials, not expecting the latter to actually find a spot to sit and start to read them earnestly.
Looking at the teenager's figure, Connors stared at Peter's back. Despite the much sturdy frame Peter had now, he was still a youngster; a contrast to his now very serious demeanor. Connors said, "Now that I think about it, you're just 16. Perhaps our expectations for you are a bit high."
"When I was 16, I was cutting classes to hang out with a bunch of guys every day. I thought everything was fun when I was away from school, even electric poles on the main road looked better than those in the school."
Peter looked up a bit surprised, and said, "I thought you were a good student."
Doctor Connors laughed and shook his head saying, "In fact, I started studying only in college; I was messing around in high school."
Then he added with some regret, "When I was accepted by Harvard Medical School, I was a little displeased. If I hadn't been admitted, I could have studied abroad. But Harvard Medical School is pretty good, so I stayed."
Peter swallowed and quickly lowered his head, immersing himself in his studies.
The research plan was commissioned by Nick to Stark. Of course, Nick knew how precious this opportunity was; it was rare for the members of Congress to approve the use of heavy firepower for the vampire invasion in New York. Thus, they must settle the vampire issue as soon as possible.
If they took too long, it would give the moderates room to mediate. This was something the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D did not want to see.
The issue of handling vampires fell on S.H.I.E.L.D. However, dealing with these creatures was thankless. If it were not for Nick's small semblance of a conscience, someone else wouldn't bother.
These creatures were very troublesome, had two forms, could use magic, and their self-healing power was extremely strong. Unless a vampire's head was blown off or its heart was pierced, it could recover in a short time. Even high-level agents were at risk.
But as it was S.H.I.E.L.D's job, they had to deal with these creatures. Nick despised this kind of expenditure that yielded small returns and couldn't be reimbursed. He wanted to solve the problem once and for all.
He also knew that merely relying on machine guns and cannons would not completely eliminate these creatures. He hoped to start from a biological perspective and asked the genius Stark to create a biological weapon for him. The best scenario would be to turn all vampires into humans, or abolish their special abilities if that wasn't possible.
So, the talented Stark transferred this task to Connors, while Iron Man had other things to do.
From the day Stark got the inspiration from Shiller, he was full of ideas in the lab. Coulson and Hill were in constant fear, worrying that Stark would create a robotic crisis without them noticing.
But those who were more terrified than them were the members of Congress who had watched the video of Stark's speech.
Hill's video was shot very well. She did not capture Shiller's warning to Stark but started recording from the climax of Stark's speech.
In the entire video, Stark seemed like a crazy genius scientist, passionately describing his dangerous ideas that could destroy the world at any given moment.
When Stark talks about his area of expertise, he displays crazed and neurotic characteristics common among geniuses.
He eloquently explained his crazy ideas, mumbling a lot of professional jargon that ordinary people could not understand, and occasionally mentioning things like "mechanics ruling the world," "inorganic bodies conquering everything," and "carbon-based organisms being garbage."
Of course, the congressmen were frightened by just this video because they knew very well that Stark could put these ideas into practice.
Everyone was clear that the difficulties Stark faced were largely due to his setting of a moral bottom line for himself. He was not willing to employ unconventional methods to deal with his opponents, otherwise, not only the military, but also all the forces on Capitol Hill combined, would not be able to stop Stark's mecha army.
They have no way to completely resist Stark; everything depends on Stark's moral bottom line. The military and congressmen have considered what to do if Stark one day goes mad, but the answer is, there will be no other way but to pray he doesn't go insane.
They all knew that even if the Stark Group went bankrupt and Stark became homeless, if you gave Stark a landfill, he would return you a Gundam company army within a few days. Even under adverse conditions in Afghanistan, didn't he ultimately escape?
Therefore, they almost lifted all restrictions on S.H.I.E.L.D., gave Nick unlimited authority, and demanded that he immediately resolve the vampire invasion at any cost. They didn't want to give Stark any reasons to make any trouble.
In their view, Stark's speech was not just about the vampire issue.
These politicians liked to think a lot. In their view, it was the heavy military pressure placed on Stark some time ago that warned them by telling them that he had the power to destroy the world.
And the congressmen chose to face the vampire issue directly and eliminate these creatures at all costs. It was also a gesture to Stark that as long as he was willing to maintain his moral bottom line, they could help him maintain it as well. He didn't need to use his abilities beyond the bottom line, then everyone could live a good life.
Of course, Stark was too lazy to think about these convoluted matters. He was now on the battlefield, commanding his mecha army to instigate a violent massacre.