With a shrill scream, Frost's body crumbled to ash. Mario bent down and picked up the loot drop, and couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"The final boss only drops tier-one Pure Blood?"
Outside, the sky was already getting light. After a whole night of work, Mario, Karen, and Whistler had all gotten the experimental data they needed. Frost had been more useful as a test subject than as a vampire overlord, which was probably the most pathetic end for a would-be god in history.
Mario packed everything away and called out to Blade, who was still staring at the pile of ash.
"Hey, stop brooding. Give me a ride back first, I need to get some sleep."
He knew Blade was probably thinking about his mother, but he wasn't exactly the type for heart-to-heart conversations. That kind of thing was better left to Karen. Maybe after enough talking, feelings might develop between them.
"One more favor, when you get a chance, can you bring Pearl over to my place? You're the only person I know in this city with that kind of strength. I'll owe you one."
Blade snapped out of his thoughts and nodded. Thinking about Pearl's massive, bloated corpse, he showed a slightly troubled expression.
"You're giving me a real pain in the ass job here. I'll bring him by tonight."
After getting in the car and saying goodbye to Whistler and Karen, they headed toward Central Park. The rising sun's rays was warm. He couldn't help but stretch and yawn.
Suddenly remembering the vampire familiars, he turned to Blade.
"You should change locations. Your base is blown. Those vampire bootlickers will definitely come after you."
Blade's expression didn't change. He replied calmly, "Don't worry. As long as I don't go looking for trouble with those guys first, they won't mess with me. But you need to watch your back, they'll definitely come after you."
Won't mess with him?
Mario was surprised. Blade had said "won't," not "can't." That got his curiosity going. Now that their relationship was closer, they were comrades who'd been through life and death together... well, Mario risked his life, Blade risked his bullets, he didn't feel the need to hold back.
"Why do you say they won't?"
Blade smiled and explained, "I'm half-vampire. Killing vampires is internal race business. They won't use humans against me. More importantly, if vampire familiars target me, the whole situation changes."
Mario thought about the plot from Blade Trinity, vampire familiars disguised as vampires, got killed by Blade, and the whole thing was recorded. That's why the authorities had to put Blade on the wanted list. But there was something he couldn't figure out. Why would vampires hesitate to use official channels against Blade?
Unless... Unless Blade also had official backing, stronger than the vampires. That would explain why he had no problem beating up that cop earlier, and didn't care when Mario killed him. After all, assaulting a police officer was serious shit in any country.
"Who's backing you?"
Blade kept one hand on the steering wheel and reached into his jacket with the other, pulling out a small black wallet which he tossed to Mario.
Mario caught it and saw the eagle emblem on the cover. Immediately, he thought of Marvel's most famous organization: S.H.I.E.L.D.
Opening it, he saw Blade's photo and some basic info.
[Eric Brooks]
[Level 8]
He stared at it. "..."
In the comics, Blade had once joined S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Howling Commandos, even ranking as a Level 10 agent, equal to Director Fury himself. As the Daywalker, he dealt with supernatural incidents, hunting vampires and other non-human monsters.
But Mario had never read the comics. He had no idea Blade was actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and a Level 8 one at that.
"With credentials like this, how the hell did you end up living in a sewer?"
He handed the ID back.
Blade grimaced. "I'm just on their roster. Mainly I help S.H.I.E.L.D. take down non-human monsters, and they help me handle certain official problems. Other than that, I work alone."
Mario nodded, leaned back in his seat, and stayed quiet.
S.H.I.E.L.D., Kamar-Taj, Asgard... Marvel's getting more interesting by the day. Wonder if the Ancient One has noticed me yet? And I wonder if this universe has S.W.O.R.D. too...
---
Lost in thought, they made it back to Central Park. Mario got out of the car but didn't head straight home. Instead, he went to the nearest fast-food joint. After eating nothing but bread for days, he was about to lose his mind.
Walking into McDonald's, he ordered some burgers and snacks, then picked a seat by the window.
A cherry-red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette pulled up at the entrance. A man in a black suit got out. As if sensing Mario's gaze, he looked up, nodded slightly, and gave a smile.
When Mario saw him, his expression turned playful. Phil Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. There was no way he would believe Coulson just happened to be here for the food.
Sure enough, after Coulson walked in, he came straight over to Mario's table.
"Hello, Mr. Mario. Allow me to introduce myself, Phil Coulson. It's a pleasure to meet you."
He extended his hand.
Mario didn't feel any hostility toward Coulson, one of the few good guys in S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, the moment he saw him, a thought popped into his head, A walking ATM just delivered himself to my doorstep. If I don't get something out of this, I'm doing myself a disservice.
Some materials were extremely hard to get, but if he could work out some kind of deal with S.H.I.E.L.D., obtaining those materials would be easy.
With this in mind, he stood up warmly, a big smile on his face, and shook Coulson's hand enthusiastically.
"Coulson! Can I call you that? I don't know why, but the moment I saw you, you felt familiar and friendly."
Coulson was caught off guard by the sudden enthusiasm, but years of agent training let him keep his expression perfectly controlled.
"Mr. Mario..."
"No need to be so formal. Just call me Mario. If you prefer the American way, you can call me by my last name, Argento. Please, sit."
He gestured to the seat across from him. Coulson nodded and got straight to the point.
"I'm an agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. I came here specifically to get acquainted with you. I'm quite curious about your background. Would you mind explaining?"
Mario looked at Coulson seriously.
"I honestly don't know how I ended up here. I'm just an ordinary Italian, nothing more."
Years of experience told Coulson that Mario wasn't lying, but he was definitely hiding something. He placed both hands on the table. "Are you interested in joining us? For someone with your special abilities, we'd be very welcoming."
Hearing Coulson's invitation, Mario leaned back in his chair, drummed his fingers on the table, and put on a thoughtful expression.
S.H.I.E.L.D.? If I join them now, Hydra will chew me up and spit out the bones.
He was very aware of his own limitations. Acting on impulse to kill vampires was one thing, but joining an organization full of people who played political games and conspiracies every day? That was just asking for trouble.
With an apologetic expression, he said, "Sorry, but I have to refuse joining your Strategic Homeland... whatever. Right now, I just want to quietly be a vampire hunter."
Hearing Mario's rejection, Coulson wasn't disappointed. After all, they'd just met, his question had been more of a test anyway.
"That's fine. But just a friendly warning: vampire power isn't as simple as it looks. Their main forces are in Europe. They don't pay much attention to the American clans, but they're all descendants of Dracula in the end."
Mario nodded. Coulson's words were indeed a friendly gesture. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Thanks for the heads up."
Just then, his food order was called. Mario stood up with a smile.
"Hold on a sec, let me grab my breakfast-slash-lunch."
He walked to the counter. With his back to Coulson, Mario frowned. He wanted S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help collecting certain materials, but right now he had nothing to offer in exchange. The only thing he could provide was information.
But the information he had came from movies. It was extremely important stuff. If he revealed it, it would definitely draw unwanted attention from S.H.I.E.L.D., or worse, Hydra.
Carrying his tray back, he sat down. Seeing his expression, Coulson asked kindly, "You look worried about something. Want to talk about it? Maybe I can help."
Looking at Coulson's sincere face, Mario couldn't help but feel goodwill, even knowing this was part of the agent's job. With a rueful smile, he said, "I'm just wondering how I can get a little help from you guys without actually joining your organization."
Coulson's smile brightened. Compared to the usual targets he dealt with, Mario's straightforward personality was refreshing. After all, everyone had needs. You help me, I help you. Over time, doesn't that make you friends? And once you're friends, it would be rude not to help when a small favor is asked.
"Go ahead and tell me what you need."
Coulson didn't agree outright, but in his mind, he'd already decided, if it wasn't too much trouble, he'd help.
"I need to find a volcano. An active one. I need some lava."
That's it? That's it?
Coulson immediately said, "No problem. If it's convenient, I can arrange to take you to the nearest active crater."
He didn't even ask why Mario needed lava. Finding volcanic magma was no trouble for him. They wouldn't even need to leave the country. If they were quick, they could make a round trip in a single day. After all, the United States had 165 potentially active volcanoes.
He already had a destination in mind: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. He'd just seen the news a few days ago, the volcano there had started erupting again, and lava was flowing close to the highway.
Seeing how easily Coulson agreed, Mario was momentarily stunned. He looked seriously at the agent, then suddenly smiled.
"I really want to be friends with you. Mind giving me your number?"
He pulled out his phone and slid it across the table. He thought Coulson was actually a decent guy. Sure, he had ulterior motives for "recruiting" him, but wasn't that just his job?
Coulson picked up the phone, entered his number, and called it. After hanging up, he handed the phone back.
Mario smiled, slipped the phone into his pocket, and said, "I need to head home first and grab some supplies. After that, we can leave whenever you're ready."
He picked up a burger and started eating. Whether it was because of his enhanced metabolism or not, Mario devoured three burgers and a bunch of sides in just over a minute.
Coulson watched in amazement, then joked, "It's a good thing you didn't join us. Otherwise, the Director would fire me for the food budget alone."
Mario laughed. "I'll head home first. You going back, or want to wait here?"
Coulson thought for a moment, then smiled. "If it won't take long, I can wait here. I'm hungry too."
"Won't take long at all."
With that, Mario stood up and headed toward Central Park.
---
Back at his base, he first organized all his scattered items, then crafted a large number of iron buckets. He was just finishing up when a new notification flashed before his eyes.
[UPSIZER MOD ACTIVATED]
"Holy shit!"
He was startled by the sudden message but quickly broke into a grin.
The Upsizer Mod allowed items that previously couldn't be stacked to stack together, lava buckets, water buckets, potions, and so on.
"Perfect timing! I was just worrying that if I brought back too little lava, the trip wouldn't be worth it. Now this is beautiful!"
This time, he planned to bring back lava from the volcano. He wanted to try building a portal frame and see if it would open a gateway to the Nether. Unfortunately, he didn't have a diamond pickaxe yet. Otherwise, he could have made an enchanting table.
He went over to the Vampire Hunter NPC. Even after three days, it looked exactly the same, blocky and unchanged.
He opened the interface, placed all the Vampire Blood he'd collected into the slots, and thought: Train.
Fifteen bottles of Vampire Blood were consumed.
Damn, money's hard to earn and shit's hard to eat. To get these 15 bottles, I had to kill at least 30 vampires, and now, with one click, they're gone.
It gave Mario exactly the feeling of playing a pay-to-win mobile game, click once, your wallet empties, but your power grows.