Pym Particles

Big Apple City's nights were never all that quiet or peaceful, because there were always people looking to cause trouble.

Beneath a church somewhere in Queens, a group of Vampires roared loudly, denouncing a certain false god!

"Bert Wang is just a damn Half-blood. What right does he have to be the Blood God? Only noble Purebloods are qualified to be the Blood God!"

"Bert Wang actually won't let the Blood Clan drink living human blood. What a joke! We're at the very top of the food chain—humans are nothing but our food!"

"Bert Wang has become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s lapdog. He says Deacon Frost is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s undercover agent, but he's the real one!"

The Vampires cursed loudly. There were Purebloods among them, but even more Half-bloods—Half-bloods who wanted to drink living human blood and believed themselves superior to humans!

"We have to get rid of Bert Wang! Drain every last drop of blood from his body!"

A Pureblood Vampire shouted, and the other Vampires loudly echoed him. At that moment, the doors burst open with a bang. Two rows of fully armed police officers wearing goggles marched in and aimed their Tranquilizer Guns at them!

Blade, wearing sunglasses, strode in with a cold expression and shouted, "VAPD, Vampire North America Police Department! You are suspected of rebellion and drinking living human blood. Surrender immediately, or under the Blood God's orders, you will be killed without mercy!"

"It's Blade!"

"It's the Blood Clan Police Department!"

The Vampires panicked. The Pureblood who had spoken earlier roared, "Don't be afraid of these lapdogs of Bert Wang's! Kill them!"

"Move!"

Before that Vampire could finish speaking, Blade gave the order. Clearly, he had wanted to attack for a while; the earlier warning had merely been procedure. After all, he was on the public payroll now and had to follow protocol!

The moment Blade gave the order, the two officers at the front switched on their Ultraviolet Lamps. The Vampires screamed and frantically retreated, but none died because the lamps had been weakened.

Then the officers pulled their triggers, firing Tranquilizer Gun rounds at the Vampires. Anyone hit immediately collapsed and lost consciousness on the spot—the tranquilizers contained a small amount of garlic extract, which worked extremely well on Vampires!

Under the Ultraviolet light, only the Pureblood Vampires could still resist. One Pureblood roared and charged Blade, swinging his blade down at Blade's neck! Blade gave a savage grin, raised his hand to seize the Pureblood's arm, and twisted hard. With a crack, the Pureblood screamed, his blade dropping helplessly to the floor.

Blade pressed his advantage, grabbed the Pureblood by the neck, and twisted it forcefully from side to side. The Pureblood went limp and collapsed—he was not dead, merely unconscious.

"Blade! Blade the Vampire Hunter!"

The remaining two Purebloods finally remembered Blade's fearsome reputation. Terrified, they tried to escape through the rear passage. Blade immediately chased after one and held him up, while the other was blocked by an ambush led by Melinda May.

"Fire!"

Melinda showed no mercy and immediately ordered the officers to shoot. A barrage of silver bullets whistled through the air!

Though the Pureblood was fast, the passage was too narrow for him to evade. Before long, he fell, covered in bullet holes!

With the Purebloods down, the Half-bloods stood even less of a chance. The battle was over soon afterward, and the officers threw the unconscious Vampires into police vehicles one after another.

Melinda walked over and asked Blade in confusion, "I don't understand. Why use Tranquilizer Guns? Isn't that troublesome?"

Blade answered coolly, "These Vampires are going to return to the Blood God's embrace!"

Melinda was full of question marks. "Huh?"

Blade put it more plainly. "The Blood God wants to consume their blood!"

"What?"

Melinda froze, then frowned and asked, "Blade, aren't you afraid that once the Blood God grows stronger, we won't be able to control him?"

Blade glanced at Melinda and asked in return, "Why would we control him? What crime has he committed? Has he done anything harmful to humanity?"

Melinda said, "What if? There's an old saying in the East: better safe than sorry!"

"As police officers, we only look at the present. And everything Bert is doing now benefits humanity."

Blade said, "The presumption of innocence is the principle we should follow, Deputy Director Melinda!"

Melinda replied, "S.H.I.E.L.D. follows the presumption of guilt, Director Blade!"

"Bert said this is a crackdown, so every case must be dealt with severely. Only then can we cut through the chaos and establish a new order!"

Blade said, "Once the crackdown is over, criminal Vampires will be sent to labor camps. The wealth they create will be used to subsidize law-abiding Vampires."

"A crackdown? Labor camps?"

Melinda stared in astonishment. Weren't those terms with Eastern characteristics? Wasn't Bert Wang a second-generation Chinese American born and raised here? Blade said, "Enough. Don't waste time. We need to eliminate these rebels as quickly as possible, then move on to the next step: registering Vampire information and distributing tens of billions in subsidies!"

Melinda asked, "Do you really believe Bert Wang's new order can succeed?"

Blade bared a mouthful of white teeth in a grin. "Of course it can. We just have to kill all the Vampires who oppose it. Killing Vampires is my specialty!"

Melinda paused. Was Blade joking, or was he serious?

Blade was, of course, serious. His conviction had never changed: Vampires who drank living human blood all deserved to die!...

At a large seaside villa in Malibu, Obadiah Stane, shareholder and CEO of Stark Industries, asked Little Pepper Pepper Potts with dissatisfaction, "What is Tony up to now? He won't attend the meeting with the military, and he won't attend the Top Award ceremony either?"

Little Pepper explained, "He's researching a new project. You know how he is—once he starts researching something, he ignores everything else!"

Bald and bearded, Obadiah frowned and asked, "What is he researching? Shouldn't he be focused on preparing the Jericho Missile right now? He's going to the Middle East tomorrow to demonstrate the missile to the military. If anything goes wrong, it will seriously damage Stark Industries' reputation!"

"I'm not entirely sure. It seems to have something to do with preventing X-ray vision."

Little Pepper said, "Please rest assured, Mr. Stan. Tony's products have never had a problem!"

"Preventing X-ray vision? Nonsense!"

Obadiah glanced toward the basement passage, wanting to go down and speak to Tony. But recalling their unpleasant encounters over the past few times, he abandoned the idea. Rising to his feet, he said, "Pepper, I'm leaving. Tell Tony I came by. And make sure he gets on the plane on time tomorrow."

"Yes, Mr. Stan!"

Little Pepper saw Obadiah out. Once Obadiah got into his car, he turned back to look at the villa, his gaze icy. Tony Stark truly was a goose that laid golden eggs, but he had become increasingly disobedient and always acted on his own.

More importantly, Tony did not respect him. He treated him like a Butler. Obadiah had endured it for a long time, but this time, he did not intend to endure it any longer. Stark Industries belonged to him, not the Stark Family!

"Goodbye, Tony!"

The next day, urged on by Little Pepper, Tony prepared to board his plane. Handing her a box, he instructed, "This is something I promised that guy Bert Wang. Find someone to deliver it. Remember, do not go yourself. That guy is an asshole!"

Little Pepper took the box and teased, "Is there anyone in this world more of an asshole than you, BOSS?"

"Little Pepper, that's going too far. I even gave you a birthday present before!"

"Yes. I picked it out myself, but at least you paid the bill!"

"Uh, anyway, do not go yourself."

Tony repeatedly reminded her like an old mother, making Little Pepper find it especially amusing. She had truly never seen Tony like this before!

Just who is this Bert Wang, to make Tony act like this?

Little Pepper grew curious, but after thinking it over, she still had someone else deliver the box, lest Tony Stark discover it and get angry at her!

A little brat getting angry was terrifying! That was right—Tony Stark was nothing more than a little brat in Little Pepper's eyes!

Early in the morning, in a mansion in Manhattan, a gray-haired old man looked around the empty house and despondently went to the bathroom to wash up. Then he made breakfast alone, ate breakfast alone in miserable solitude, and looked utterly bleak.

The old man seemed to think of something and sighed. At that moment, a teasing voice suddenly sounded behind him. "Care for empty-nest seniors, starting with you and me. What do you think, Hank Pym?"

"Who?"

Hank Pym was startled and wanted to turn around, but the voice behind him spoke again. "Don't turn around! And don't touch any alarms or defenses. Sit there obediently!"

The moment those words sounded, Hank Pym's neck stiffened, leaving him unable to turn around. Furthermore, the hand he had beneath the table could not touch the defense button. He cried out in alarm, "Who are you? What do you want? My daughter will be back soon!"

"Didn't your daughter betray you long ago? As far as I know, she and your apprentice drove you out of Pym Technologies!"

The mysterious man, Wang Bert, laughed. "Also, you may call me Professor!"

Hank Pym was the previous generation's Ant-Man and possessed talent no less than Iron Man's father. Unfortunately, he had a violent temper and an isolated personality, causing his friends to cut ties with him one after another. Later, even his apprentice and daughter betrayed him, leaving him utterly alone! Hank Pym's expression turned increasingly ugly. The other party had investigated him so thoroughly, so his intentions could not be simple. He asked, "What do you want?"

"I want the Pym Particles and the Ant-Man Suit!"

Wang Bert said. The reason he had come here was for the Pym Particles, which could make things larger or smaller. These things were incredible—artifacts in any world! Hank Pym's heart jolted. He said, "I don't know anything about Pym Particles, and I don't know any Ant-Man!"

Wang Bert smiled and said, "Give me the formula for the Pym Particles. Give me the Ant-Man Suit, as well as all the Pym Particles you currently possess!"

Hank Pym did not want to give them up, but his body moved against his will. He went into the basement and brought out the Ant-Man Suit and Pym Particles. Then he completely told the other party the formula, without omitting a single word! How could this happen?

Hank Pym was desperate. He had guarded that formula for so many years. Not even S.H.I.E.L.D. could obtain it, yet now he had handed it over himself to a thief calling himself Professor? "Very good."

Wang Bert satisfactorily put away the Ant-Man Suit and Pym Particles. Then he said, "Mr. Pym, I feel rather embarrassed taking your things for nothing. In return, I'll tell you something: Wasp is not dead. She is still in the Quantum Realm."

"What?"

Hank Pym's eyes widened as he cried out in disbelief. Wasp was his wife. To save the world, she had no choice but to use Pym Particles to shrink herself to a molecular state, after which she vanished!

Hank Pym had always believed Wasp was dead, but now this thief was telling him that Wasp was in the Quantum Realm! "What I said is true. Believe it or not, that is up to you!"

Wang Bert said indifferently, "All right, Mr. Pym, I'm leaving. Once I leave, all the previous restrictions will be lifted. Also, call your daughter. When she comes back, tell her everything about Wasp in detail! Elderly people living alone are too pitiful, Pym!"

"Who exactly are you?"

Hank Pym froze, then shouted, but received no response. About a minute later, he found that he could turn his head again. He hurriedly turned around, only to find the room empty! Hank Pym wanted to check the surveillance footage, but involuntarily walked to the telephone and called his daughter, Hope Pym, telling her to come home! Though Hope had betrayed Hank Pym, she still cared about her father. Hearing something off in his voice, she immediately agreed! After hanging up, Hank Pym immediately went to check the surveillance cameras, only to find blank footage. The thief had destroyed the recordings!

"Damn it!"

Hank Pym cursed bitterly, but thinking of what the thief had said earlier, his breathing could not help quickening. If it was true, wouldn't he be able to see Jenny again? It seems I have to explain things clearly to Hope. Whether I want to find that thief or enter the Quantum Realm, I'll need Hope's help!

Inside a Hell's Kitchen café, Wang Bert said to James with satisfaction, "James, you've done well as intelligence chief. You found the people I was looking for so quickly."

"Hank Pym is a famous man, so his address wasn't hard to find. That Black female doctor, Jane Lane, was easy to find too!"

James said, "The only difficult one is that university professor. We know what he looks like, but we don't know his name!"

The Black female doctor Jane Lane was the female lead of Blade, a blood expert. Wang Bert wanted to find her and have her help research Artificial Blood. At the same time, he could make up for Blade's missed romance, so that guy would stop working overtime all the time—the officers were already complaining! As for the university professor, he was Mr. Blue from The Incredible Hulk. Wang Bert could not remember his name, but there was no doubt that he was a genius. More importantly, he had quite a lot of Hulk's blood! Wang Bert knew where the Hulk was now, but he did not want to seek him out for the time being. He would first get some blood for experiments.

"Have your men look for him. There aren't many Manhattan Universities, so he won't be hard to find!"

Wang Bert said, "You go to Moscow and find two people for me!"

"Looking for people again?"

James was somewhat speechless. Was he the intelligence chief or the people-finding chief? He asked, "Blood God, who are they?"

"Anton Vanko and Ivan Vanko, father and son. Anton Vanko should be nearly dying from illness now, while Ivan Vanko has been in prison!"

Wang Bert used blood to form their appearances—Ivan Vanko's was clearer, while Anton Vanko's was rather blurry. After all, Ivan was the main villain of Iron Man 2, so Wang Bert remembered him better! "Find them as soon as possible. Don't be afraid to spend money. Once you find them, tell Ivan that I can save his father."

Wang Bert continued, "If they refuse to come, bring them here by force without harming them. Of course, that is the last resort. If you can persuade them, do your best to persuade them."

James said, "Understood, Blood God. I'll leave immediately!"

Wang Bert nodded. "Go. Remember to keep it confidential!"

"Rest assured, Blood God. No one can get any intelligence out of me!"

James left happily. Outside, he ran into his former superior, Mercury, and smugly greeted her. So what if she was a Pureblood? He was now the Blood God's favored man!