Saturday afternoon, October 30, 2010.
Lucas once again walked out of the Ancient One's psychology consultation room.
Five days had passed since his last visit to Yao's Clinic.
Five days ago, he had agreed to the Ancient One's condition to handle the Vampire incident. After the matter was resolved, the Ancient One would personally treat all the innocent people who had been infected.
Lucas clearly remembered the sly look that had flickered across the Ancient One's face when he had agreed.
It was the joy of getting something for free.
It was very similar to how Lucas later assigned the investigation task to Gwen.
Returning to the bookstore, Lucas saw Gwen sitting listlessly at the front desk, watching the shop, and casually asked, "Gwen, how's the information gathering coming along?"
"I've found the Vampire gathering place." Gwen said, perking up as she spoke of business.
"Many new faces appeared again last night. Their numbers have been increasing these past two days, and now there are an estimated tens of thousands."
These past few days, whenever night fell, Gwen would go out to track the Vampires' movements, only returning when the sun first rose.
Lucas generously gave her a few days of paid leave. After all, she was only eighteen, and sleeping more still gave her a chance to grow taller.
"Lucas, do you have any ideas?" Gwen asked.
"If we can't capture them all at once and they start attacking citizens, it'll be a huge problem."
Lucas said, "As long as we're well-prepared and exploit the Vampires' weakness to ultraviolet light, it won't be difficult to defeat them head-on."
Then he frowned. "But to capture them all, it's very difficult with just the two of us. Once they scatter and flee, we won't be able to stop them. Let's just call the police, Gwen."
Gwen asked, "Call the police? Can the New York Police Department handle this kind of problem?"
"Of course not. And the New York Police Department most likely has Vampire moles. We need to leak the information to someone with enough influence and earn their trust."
Lucas and Gwen exchanged glances, both thinking of the same person.
"Let's go, Gwen, we're going to see Tony right now."
—
Stark Tower.
Lucas and Gwen met Tony as they wished.
"Pajama baby, you're finally here. Have you thought about your wish yet? Owing someone a favor doesn't feel good." Tony, dressed in casual clothes, held a wine glass and muttered.
"And you, funny boy, why are you here too?"
Seeing Lucas, Tony feigned surprise.
"Wine, coffee, or tea? Don't worry, I have everything here."
Facing Tony's teasing, Lucas smiled and didn't respond.
I'll settle the score with you when you get palladium poisoning.
Gwen briefly explained the purpose of their visit to Tony.
"Vampires? I always thought that was just an urban legend. Jarvis, look it up."
"Yes, sir."
Tony sat on the sofa, took a sip of wine, and said, "This is a serious matter, I need to verify it. Just a moment, Jarvis is very fast."
Watching streams of data flash across the screen, Lucas was impressed.
Jarvis was indeed very fast.
A moment later, the data streams disappeared, replaced by several distant architectural views and some text documents.
"Sir, retrieved from the S.H.I.E.L.D. database."
Jarvis's voice sounded from the speakers, providing explanations along with the images and text on the screen.
"The earliest appearance of the Vampires is no longer traceable. During World War II, the Vampires had conflicts with Germany. Due to inherent racial defects, they were extensively slaughtered, with less than one in ten surviving. Several branch Vampires fled from Europe to the American continent, seemingly reaching some kind of agreement with the authorities and gaining protection."
The screen changed, and a portrait enlarged.
"One of these Vampire branches is now settled in New York, and its leader is named Deacon Frost."
"He is preparing to implement a plan—the Blood God's Advent."
"Using twelve pure-blood Vampires and Blade, Eric Brooks, to awaken the Blood God through a mysterious ritual."
Lucas added, "Afterward, the Blood God will strengthen other Vampires, eliminating their inherent racial defects."
"Alright, a very clichéd story. But doesn't this sound like an internal Vampire matter?" Tony asked, puzzled.
"Mr. Stark, Frost's ambition goes far beyond that." Lucas explained.
"Frost is a radical among Vampires. He believes Vampires are supreme, and humans are merely food. He is very dissatisfied with the current plight of Vampires and intends to incite a war between Vampires and humans."
"Mr. Stark, there are now tens of thousands of Vampires gathered in New York. Once they riot, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Gwen joined in the persuasion, "I've been investigating Vampires these past few days and found that they are connected to multiple disappearance cases."
Tony frowned. "The situation is so serious, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York Police Department have no news at all? And what about that S.H.I.E.L.D... only their slogan sounds good."
Jarvis said, "Sir, from intercepted messages, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the military already know about this."
Gwen asked, puzzled, "Then why aren't they taking action?"
Tony said casually, "Today is Saturday, the military is probably at their home."
"Jarvis, connect me to Nick Fury."
Tony sat on the sofa, waiting for the call to connect.
Above the U.S. East Coast, a huge invisible aircraft carrier floated.
"Motherf*cker, what are the military thinking? They actually said they're off for the weekend and want to postpone the operation."
Inside the aircraft carrier, a middle-aged man dressed like a one-eyed pirate was cursing loudly.
"Have our agents keep a close eye on that group of Vampires and secretly set up a blockade. Tell them to work overtime. After this incident is handled, next month's bonus will be doubled."
Although annoyed by the U.S. military's unreliability, Nick Fury still ordered his subordinates to prepare.
"Officer, Stark is requesting a connection."
Why is Tony looking for me? Has he finally come around and wants to join the Avengers?
"Connect."
"Fury, do you know about the Vampire situation?" Tony asked directly, getting straight to the point.
"I know. How did you find out?" Nick Fury asked.
"Where I found out isn't important."
Tony questioned him, dissatisfied, "Since you know, why aren't you taking action?"
Being questioned by Tony, Nick Fury was very displeased. If it weren't for the military holding them back, he would have already wiped out that group of Vampires.
But he still calmed himself and said expressionlessly, "S.H.I.E.L.D. has already taken action."
Tony scoffed, "I don't see where your actions are."
"It's classified, no comment."
Their conversation stalled for a moment.
Coulson, standing by, spoke to ease the atmosphere, his tone sincere, "Mr. Stark, our goals are consistent. Tony, please believe that S.H.I.E.L.D. has done its best."
"It's just that our power is limited. We hope we can cooperate sincerely this time and jointly protect New York's safety."
"Alright."
After a moment of silence, Tony took Coulson's cue and agreed to cooperate.
"We will exchange information with each other. I hope you won't say 'no comment' anymore."