Batman Incident (VII)

Stark donned his light armor again and stood shoulder to shoulder with Steve. Captain America, shield in hand, stared at the enormous monster before him, swallowed hard, and said, "Don't tell me he was the one who invaded Stark Tower last time..."

Stark stared at the enormous shadow before him, swallowed hard, and said, "I think... maybe, perhaps..."

He stammered for a moment, then shouted, "Connors! Are you Connors?! Can you understand us now?!"

"Of course, you don't need to shout so loudly, I'm not deaf," the giant Lizardman said. "I used cryogenic technology to modify the Lizard Serum, extracting the part that causes humans to become lizards and modifying it to give me a larger size and greater strength. Most importantly, it allows me to maintain my sanity."

Stark rubbed his neck, which was a little sore from looking up for so long, and said, "The improvement you've made is truly remarkable!"

Stark was right. Dr. Connors's Lizardman was now over ten meters tall, like a building. In addition to lizard scales, his joints had protruding spikes, and his spine was covered in sharp bone spurs. His huge vertical pupils made him look cruel and Coldblood.

"Wait, now that you're here, what about the experiment?" Stark asked.

"I've handed it over to Peter. I believe he can handle it." After saying that, Connors sprinted and leaped onto the highest wreckage of the collapsed Brooklyn Bridge. Then, with a powerful flick of his tail, he sent several bats flying.

Connors did indeed delegate the remaining research tasks to Peter, but Peter clearly not in good condition. He said, "Wait! Doctor! You have to wear a lab coat to enter the lab... Hey! Don't touch that test tube, you can't pour directly from the test tube..."

Schiller completely ignored him, picked up a test tube, and waved it in front of his eyes. Peter walked over, wearing Gauntlet, carefully took the test tube from him, and said, "Doctor! This violates laboratory regulations! We have to..."

"Alright, if I could avoid violating lab regulations, I wouldn't have come in after Connors left."

"But..."

"Connors is gone. Forget about those serums. Let's get something more interesting."

As he spoke, Peter saw Schiller pull out a stack of design drawings from somewhere. Peter took the drawings Schiller handed him, glanced at them, and said, "What's this? A small-scale cryogenic generator? Isn't this the previous cryogenic technology?"

"That's right, I had Character Design a small-scale cryogenic device that can freeze any target within its range."

"So, this is a weapon? What's it used for?"

Schiller sat down, then tapped the table to signal Peter to sit down as well. He said, "The biggest problem now is that ordinary people can't deal with these monsters. What do you think would happen if everyone had a way to effectively subdue vampires?"

"Those vampires are doomed to lose," Peter said without hesitation. "How many people are there in Brooklyn District? Even excluding the vulnerable, just those who work out and know how to fight, there must be at least tens of thousands, right? Those bats are at most a few thousand..."

Then Peter, as if suddenly realizing something, said, "Yes, that's definitely a good idea!"

"If we use ordinary guns, the vampires' Self-Healing abilities are too strong. Even if we cut several holes in their wings, it won't help. We need a weapon that can stop them from moving at all, so that ordinary people can have a chance to fight back," Schiller explained.

Peter continued Schiller's words, "Freezing can do that. Once a shot is fired, the bats are frozen into blocks of ice, so they can't do any harm to people. Besides, they aren't injured, so they won't trigger any Self-Healing abilities; they just can't move..."

Peter imagined the scene: any able-bodied person could throw a cryogenic generator at a bat swooping down on them, and if the shot wasn't too off-target, it would basically disable the bat's mobility.

Another advantage is that the bats that vampires transform into are very large, with wingspans often several meters. This would normally pose a greater danger to many people who fight them, because larger size means greater strength. Ordinary bullets can heal them within seconds, and even silver bullets can only slightly interfere with their movements. In the interval between shots, they will be pounced on by the bats.

However, if they had a freezing device that could immediately control them, their large size would become their weakness, because the larger they were, the easier it would be to hit them. Once hit, whether it was freezing a wing or other parts, they would definitely fall from mid-air immediately and lose their ability to move.

Peter said, "The idea is good, but it will probably be difficult to implement." Looking at the design, he said, "This thing is too expensive to make and cannot be widely used."

Schiller shrugged and said, "That's your problem. I'm just a regular Doctor."

Peter stroked his chin. He could see that this equipment could bring about a huge change in the situation, but at the same time, it seemed to him like a rich man's toy. The cost of just one of these things was hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it was a one-time use item. Large-scale application would be a complete waste of money. Even if one could freeze a few bats, it would still be a huge loss.

"Could this have been designed by Mr. Stark? Well, he could use it like that, but if we were to make this device widely available, the exorbitant cost would drive Director Nick crazy."

Peter propped his head up with One Hand, intently studying the design drawings, when Venom spoke in his mind, "I have an idea."

Peter asked doubtfully, "You can even read mechanical design drawings?"

"Of course I can."

"So what do you want to do?"

"Miniaturization, individual deployment, routine deployment—we can..."

Peter, sensing the brainwaves transmitted by Venom, said, "Of course, it would be great if we could achieve all of these points, but small arms also have many problems..."

Peter continued, "To reduce costs, the bullets used must be liquid-stored, which is the best storage method for cryogenic technology."

"However, if liquid energy is converted into solid bullets, it takes a certain amount of time to fire. Those bats are very fast, and this delayed firing could very well result in the gunman being attacked before he can even fire a bullet."

"However, this weapon cannot use solid bullets, so this conversion process is necessary."

"Have you considered that attacks don't necessarily have to involve firing bullets?" Schiller said. "How about melee spray?"

Peter paused for a moment, then said, "That makes sense. If a ranged attack requires a certain amount of preparation time, then we can also add a melee attack to this weapon. The preparation time required for spray is much shorter than that for solid bullets, and it can provide continuous output, making it very suitable for close combat..."

Then Peter seemed to have switched personalities. He focused intently on the design drawings and said, "We can design two attack methods for this gun. One is to fire ice spikes with delayed firing, and the other is to fire freezing spray at close range. This will basically solve the problem of alternating between long and short range."

Peter stood up from his chair with the design drawings in hand and said, "Both of these equipment options are worth considering. One is Cold Gun with two attack modes, and the other is a wide-area freezing device that can be used as a grenade. Ordinary personnel can be equipped with just the Cold Gun, while elite personnel in the center of the battlefield can be equipped with some of the wide-area freezing devices."

Schiller, sitting in his chair, clapped his hands and said, "You are about to become the savior of this war, Peter."

"Okay, I'll try to make one now. Jarvis, are you there?"

"Production unit number 2 is ready, Mr. Peter."

Peter rubbed his hands together, saying excitedly, "This is the first time I've ever actually made a weapon. I didn't remember much of what Mr. Stark told me before, but now it's back in my head, and it's very clear."

"That means you're a genius," Schiller said. "By the way, what do you plan to name this weapon system?"

"Hmm..." Peter hesitated for a moment, then said, "Although I've refined the idea, I don't think this was originally my idea. What are you going to call him? Doctor?"

How about calling it Blizzard?

"Blizzard? That would be perfect for that large-scale freezing device."

"Then let's call it that. Go ahead, I'll be waiting for your Blizzard Alpha beta."

After Peter left, Schiller answered Nick's call and said, "I'm almost done on my end. How's it going on your end?"

"Those moderates have been lobbying the lawmakers, they've even taken it to the Security Council, but Pierce has held firm. I can only buy you two more days at most, you'd better hurry."

After hanging up the phone, Stark, dressed in his mecha suit, hurriedly entered the laboratory. As soon as he entered, he saw Schiller scribbling on the lab table. Stark asked anxiously, "What's going on? Could those senators have really been persuaded by the vampires?"

He opened his visor and said, "Director George told me that someone has contacted him and told him to stop using large-scale firepower. Damn it, those bats are so crazy, and he's telling us not to fight back?"

"What's the situation on the battlefield now?" Schiller asked.

"Not too optimistic." Stark gulped down a large glass of water, then slammed it down on the table. He was clearly in a bad mood. He said, "Lizard Doctor was a huge help; he tore apart a lot of bats and withstood most of the pressure on the front lines. And Captain America... I have to admit, Steve is quite the fighter..."

"The two of us are cooperating quite well and can share most of the firepower on the flank, while the other flank is being held by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. It seems we can hold out for now, but this can't go on."

"It's almost dawn," Schiller said. "If you hold on for one last wave of attacks, their offensive should weaken once the sun comes out."

"But that Vampire Hunter called Blade told me that these crazy bats, under the influence of a ritual, can even withstand weak sunlight."

"This does not mean that their mobility will not be reduced. Once daytime arrives, a large portion of the vampires will inevitably choose to lie dormant."

"Well, it seems the issues we need to address this day aren't on the battlefield. What on earth is Nick Fury doing? Why did he let those vampires gain the upper hand in public opinion?"

Schiller, without looking up as he wrote, said, "You have to understand, they have very close ties with human society, and there are many scholars, professors and well-known figures among them. This time, our attitude was too tough, and many of them have united to try to influence our decisions from within."

Stark sighed and said, "Many police officers were injured, and there were even more civilian casualties. Fortunately, our final battle took place near the bridge, not in a residential area. Otherwise, I don't even want to imagine how devastating the losses would have been. These monsters deserve to Hell!"

"Your battle is temporarily over, but another war awaits you."

"What's the meaning?"

"This full-scale vampire attack is indeed troublesome. Some of them have believed in that vague prophecy and come to New York to cause trouble."

"We've sorted out this problem, but what if there's another prophecy next time? This time it was New York, next time it'll be Los Angeles? Or San Francisco? This time we lost a bridge and hundreds or thousands of people were injured or killed, what about next time? Which bridge? Which building will be lost?"

"Of course I know." Stark tapped the table with his metal-covered gauntlet. "The Security Council and Congress are not doing anything. If there is another disaster like this, we will have to rush in and then watch helplessly as the casualties are devastating. I want that to happen more than anyone else."

"Therefore, we need to solve this problem at its root."

Stark squinted. He saw Schiller sitting there writing something. He said, "Aren't you being a little too calm? Why does this sudden invasion seem to have come as if it didn't surprise you at all?"

"Good question, but that's not important." Schiller tidied the papers in his hand, then arranged them neatly on the table and handed them to Stark.

Stark gave him a suspicious look, then awkwardly took the documents. He saw the title at the top and involuntarily read it aloud, "Analysis Report on the Medicinal Value of Vampires... Medicinal Value???"