Marvel - The Blood God

The nights in New York City are never quiet or peaceful, because there's always someone up to something.

Underneath a church in Queens, a group of vampires were shouting loudly, angering a certain false god.

"Maverick is just a half-blood. Why should he be the Blood God? Only noble purebloods deserve that title."

"Maverick actually doesn't allow vampires to drink the blood of living people. It's ridiculous. We vampires are at the top of the food chain, and humans are just our food."

"Maverick has become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s lapdog. He said that Deacon Frost is a S.H.I.E.L.D. undercover agent, but it's actually him."

The vampires cursed loudly. Among them were purebloods, but most were half-bloods. They wanted to drink the blood of living people, thinking they were superior to humans.

"We must get rid of Maverick. Drain every drop of his blood."

A pureblood vampire shouted, and the other vampires echoed loudly. At that moment, the door was suddenly slammed open. Then, two rows of fully armed, goggle-wearing police officers filed in, pointing tranquilizer guns at them.

Blade, wearing sunglasses, walked in with a grim face and shouted, "Vampire North American Police Department. You are suspected of treason and drinking the blood of living humans. Surrender now, or you'll be killed on the Blood God's orders."

"It's Blade."

"It's the vampire police."

The vampires panicked, and the pureblood who had shouted earlier yelled, "Don't be afraid of these lapdogs of Maverick. Kill them."

"Go."

Before the vampire could finish speaking, Blade gave the order. Clearly, he had wanted to act for a long time. The formalities were just a routine. After all, he's a public servant now and has to follow procedures.

As soon as Blade gave the command, the two officers in front turned on the ultraviolet lamps in their hands. The vampires screamed in agony and fled backward frantically. However, no vampires died, because this was a weakened version.

Then, the police pulled the triggers and shot tranquilizer bullets at the vampires. As soon as the vampires were hit, they fell and lost consciousness on the spot. A little garlic essence was added to the tranquilizer darts, which was very effective on vampires.

Under the ultraviolet light, only pureblood vampires could resist. A pureblood roared and rushed at Blade, swinging a knife at his neck.

Blade grinned wickedly, raised his hand, grabbed the pureblood's arm, and smashed it with force. With a snap, the pureblood screamed, and even the knife fell weakly to the ground.

Blade was so strong that he grabbed the pureblood's neck, twisted it from side to side, and the pureblood collapsed—he wasn't dead, just unconscious.

"Blade. The vampire hunter Blade."

The remaining two purebloods finally remembered Blade's notorious name. They were afraid and tried to escape through the passage at the back. Blade immediately caught up and engaged one. As for the other, he was blocked by an ambush led by Melinda May.

"Fire."

Melinda didn't hesitate and ordered the police to shoot on the spot. A barrage of silver bullets roared out.

Although the pureblood's speed was fast, the passage was too narrow, and he couldn't dodge at all. He quickly fell with bullet holes all over his body.

With the purebloods taken care of, the half-bloods didn't stand a chance. After a while, the battle was over, and the police loaded the unconscious vampires into police cars one by one.

Melinda approached Blade and asked in confusion, "I don't understand. Why go through the trouble of using tranquilizer guns?"

Blade replied coolly, "These vampires are going back to the embrace of the Blood God."

Melinda looked puzzled. "Huh?"

Blade explained in simpler terms, "The Blood God wants to absorb their blood."

"What?"

Melinda was stunned for a moment. She frowned and asked, "Blade, aren't you afraid that the Blood God might become too powerful to control?"

Blade glanced at Melinda and retorted, "Why would we need to control him? Has he committed any crimes or harmed humanity in any way?"

Melinda said, "But what if? There's a saying: better safe than sorry."

"As law enforcement, we deal with the present. Everything Maverick is doing now benefits humanity."

Blade said, "Innocent until proven guilty—that's the principle we should uphold, Deputy Director Melinda."

Melinda replied, "S.H.I.E.L.D. operates on the principle of 'guilty until proven innocent,' Chief Blade."

"Maverick said we're in a period of severe crackdown, so we deal with everything harshly. Only by cutting through the mess quickly can we establish a new order."

Blade continued, "When the crackdown is over, the criminal vampires will be sent to labor camps, and the wealth they create will be used to support law-abiding vampires."

"Severe crackdown? Labor camps?"

Melinda was stunned.

Blade said, "Alright, let's not waste time. We need to eliminate these rebels as quickly as possible and then start the next step, which is registering vampire information and providing billions in subsidies."

Melinda asked, "Do you really believe that Maverick's new order can be achieved?"

Blade grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth. "Of course, as long as we eliminate all the vampires who oppose it. Killing vampires is my specialty."

Melinda was stunned. Was Blade joking or being serious?

Of course, Blade was telling the truth. His belief had never changed: vampires who drink the blood of living people deserve to die.

In a large coastal villa in Malibu, Obadiah Stane, shareholder and CEO of Stark Industries, asked Pepper Potts in dissatisfaction, "What's Tony up to? He missed the meeting with the military, and he didn't attend the Summit Awards either?"

Pepper explained, "He's working on a new project. You know how he is—once he's focused on something, he ignores everything else."

The bald, bearded Obadiah frowned and asked, "What's he working on? Shouldn't he be focusing on preparing the Jericho missile right now? He's supposed to demonstrate it to the military in the Middle East tomorrow. If something goes wrong, it'll seriously affect Stark Industries' reputation."

"I'm not entirely sure. It seems to be some kind of anti-see-through technology or something."

Pepper said, "Don't worry, Mr. Stane. Tony's products never go wrong."

"Anti-see-through? That's odd."

Obadiah glanced at the basement entrance, considering going down to talk to Tony, but remembering past unpleasant experiences, he gave up the idea. He stood up and said, "Pepper, I'm heading back. Let Tony know I was here, and make sure he gets on the plane on time tomorrow."

"Yes, Mr. Stane."

Pepper saw Obadiah off. As he got into the car, Obadiah looked back at the villa with cold eyes. Tony Stark was indeed a golden goose, but he was becoming more disobedient, always doing things his own way.

More importantly, Tony didn't respect him, treating him like a housekeeper. Obadiah had tolerated it for a long time. This time, he didn't plan to endure it any longer. Stark Industries belonged to him, not the Stark family.

"Goodbye, Tony."

The next day, Tony was ready to board the plane under Pepper's urging. He held a box and instructed, "This is what I promised Maverick. Have someone send it over, and remember, don't go yourself. That guy's a jerk."

Pepper took the box and complained, "Is there anyone in this world more of a jerk than you, boss?"

"Pepper, that's harsh. I even gave you a birthday present before."

"Yes, although I picked it out myself, at least you paid for it."

"Uh, anyway, just don't go yourself."

Tony repeated his instructions like an overprotective mother. Pepper found it amusing; she had never seen Tony like this before.

"Who on earth is this Maverick who can make Tony act like this?"

Pepper became curious, but after thinking about it, she had someone else deliver the box, lest Tony Stark get mad at her if he found out.

It's scary when a kid throws a tantrum. That's right, Tony Stark was like a little kid in Pepper's eyes.

Early in the morning, in a mansion in Manhattan, a gray-haired old man glanced at the empty house, went to the bathroom alone to freshen up, then made breakfast by himself, and ate alone. It was extremely lonely.

The old man sighed, lost in thought, when suddenly a mocking voice came from behind him: "Caring for empty nesters starts with you and me, Hank Pym. What do you think?"

"Who?"

Hank Pym was startled and wanted to turn around, but the voice behind him spoke again: "Don't turn around. Don't touch any alarms or defenses; just sit there quietly."

As soon as the voice spoke, Hank Pym's neck froze, and he couldn't turn around. Not only that, but he couldn't reach the defense button under the table. He shouted in surprise, "Who are you? What do you want? My daughter will be back soon."

"Didn't your daughter betray you earlier? As far as I know, she and your apprentice kicked you out of Pym Technologies."

The mysterious man, Maverick, smiled and said, "You can call me Professor."

Hank Pym was the original Ant-Man, with talent not inferior to Howard Stark, but unfortunately, he was irritable and withdrawn, causing his friends to distance themselves one after another. Even his apprentice and daughter later betrayed him, leaving him alone.

Hank Pym's expression grew uglier. The intruder knew so much; he must have planned this carefully. He asked, "What do you want?"

"I want the Pym Particle formula and the Ant-Man suit."

Maverick said. The reason he came was to obtain the Pym Particles, which can make objects grow and shrink. This thing is incredible and can be considered an artifact in any world.

Hank Pym was taken aback. He said, "I don't know what Pym Particles are, and I don't know what Ant-Man is."

Maverick smiled and said, "Give me the Pym Particle formula, the Ant-Man suit, and all the Pym Particles you have now."

Hank Pym didn't want to comply, but his body uncontrollably retrieved the Ant-Man suit and Pym Particles from the basement, and then he told Maverick the complete formula, not missing a single word.

"How is this happening?"

Hank Pym was in despair. He had guarded the formula for so many years, and not even S.H.I.E.L.D. could get it from him. But now, he had given it to a thief who called himself 'Professor'?

"Very good."

Maverick put away the Ant-Man suit and the Pym Particles with satisfaction. Then he said, "Mr. Pym, I feel bad taking your things for nothing. In return, I'll tell you something: the Wasp isn't dead; she's still in the Quantum Realm."

"What?"

Hank Pym's eyes widened in disbelief. The Wasp was his wife. To save the world, she had used Pym Particles to shrink to a subatomic level and then disappeared.

Hank Pym had always thought the Wasp was dead, but now this thief was telling him that she was in the Quantum Realm.

"What I said is true; believe it or not."

Maverick said lightly, "Alright, Mr. Pym, I'm leaving. After I leave, all previous restrictions will be lifted. Also, you should call your daughter, and when she returns, explain about the Wasp to her. Poor old man, Pym."

"Who are you?"

Hank Pym was stunned for a moment and then shouted, but there was no response. After about a minute, he found he could move again. He quickly turned around, but the room was empty.

Hank Pym wanted to check the surveillance footage, but involuntarily walked over to the phone, called his daughter Hope, and asked her to come home.

Although Hope had betrayed Hank Pym, she still cared about her father. Hearing that his voice was off, she immediately agreed.

After hanging up, Hank Pym went to check the surveillance cameras, only to find blank footage—the surveillance had been destroyed by the thief.

"Damn it."

Hank Pym cursed bitterly. Remembering what the thief had said, his breathing quickened. If it was true, wouldn't he be able to see Janet again?

"It seems I need to explain everything to Hope. Whether it's finding that thief or going to the Quantum Realm, we'll need Hope's help."

In the Hell's Kitchen Café, Maverick said to James with satisfaction, "James, you've done a good job as the intelligence chief. You found the people I was looking for so quickly."

"Hank Pym is a famous figure; his address wasn't hard to find. Dr. Karen Jensen was also easy to locate."

James said, "The only person who's hard to find is that university professor. We only know what he looks like, not his name."

Dr. Karen Jensen is a blood specialist and the heroine in 'Blade.' Maverick wants to find her to help research artificial blood. By the way, he'll play matchmaker for her and Blade, so this guy won't always be working overtime—the police have opinions.

As for the university professor, he's Mr. Blue from 'The Incredible Hulk.' Maverick doesn't remember his name, but there's no doubt he's a genius. More importantly, he has a lot of the Hulk's blood.

Maverick knew where the Hulk was now, but he didn't want to find him just yet. He wanted to do some blood experiments first.

"Have your people keep looking. There aren't that many universities in Manhattan; it shouldn't be too hard to find him."

Maverick said, "Also, go to Moscow to help me find two people."

"Looking for more people?"

James was a little speechless. Was he the intelligence chief or the headhunter? He asked, "Blood God, who are we looking for?"

"Anton Vanko and Ivan Vanko—a father and son. Anton should be dying now, and Ivan is in prison."

Maverick used blood to form images of the two people—Ivan Vanko was clearer in his memory, while Anton was vague. After all, Ivan is the villain in 'Iron Man 2,' and his memory of him was deeper.

"Find them as soon as possible. Don't be afraid to spend money. After you find them, tell Ivan that I can save his father."

Maverick continued, "If they don't want to come, bring them over by force without hurting them. Of course, that's a last resort. Try to persuade them first."

James said, "Understood, Blood God. I'll get on it right away."

Maverick nodded, "Go, and remember to keep it confidential."

"Don't worry, Blood God. No one can get any information from me."

James left happily. Outside, he saw his old boss, Mercury, and greeted her with a proud face. So what if she was pureblood? Now he was the favored one before the Blood God.

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