"This is... Mr. John-Stillman?"
Howard, who visits the Pentagon all year round and occasionally attends White House's banquets, recognized the man in the photo at a glance.
The other party is the right-hand man next to the president, John-Stillman who takes office at White House Chief of Staff.
The seat he sits in is known as the "Second President" and "White House Gatekeeper". It can be said that he is one of the politicians closest to the Washington D.C. power center.
"Who is the other guy? He's still a man - is there something wrong with Stillman's sexual orientation? This is big news!"
Howard always has the extraordinary talent of being able to bend anything to his lower body.
"But in the political world, it should be nothing. As far as I know, FBI's Hoover is still bisexual."
"Luke, you know, those high-ranking and powerful people, they claim to be upper-class people, but they are actually very low-class."
"Please don't take it out on yourself when you use harsh words to ridicule them."
Glancing at Howard who was gradually getting off topic, Luke stood up and walked to the wine cabinet and took out a bottle of high-end whiskey from the Stark Mansion.
"As the boss of Stark Industries, an arms tycoon with a profound background...Howard, don't forget that you are also a member of the upper class society full of low-class people."
"And, in a way, you are still the backbone!"
Dang Dang Dang!
The ice cubes hit the wall of the cup, making a crisp sound.
The amber liquid was injected, creating ripples.
"Would you like a drink?"
Luke turned around and asked.
"Entertain me with my collection, you really know how to do business! No wonder the people at Budget Committee have a headache when they see you!"
Howard's mouth was unforgiving, but his body was honest. He reached out and took the glass of whiskey.
"Speaking of which, why did you notice Stillman?"
Iron Man's father was a little confused. In his impression, Superman Lieutenant General was not very interested in politics, especially politicians who played power games.
Otherwise, there is no need for him to refuse so quickly when the president showed his solicitation.
Luke took a sip of the cold liquid, his eyes flashed, and he said softly, "According to the six-dimensional space theory, the distance between you and any stranger you want to contact will not exceed six people."
"That is to say, in theory, you only need to pass up to six In-Betweener to get to know every stranger in the world."
Howard narrowed his eyes and curled his lips and said, "It sounds like a very nonsense statement, but it is indeed interesting. Its logical trap is that no one knows who the six strangers are, and they lack the conditions to designate a target, so they can force the circle."
He lifted his chin and commented.
"Howard, why can't you always grasp the point?"
Luke shook his head helplessly, pointed at another man in the photo, and said, "I just want to say that if you want to explore a person's true identity and political stance, you can start from his social circle. Who he knows and has close relationships with, to some extent, represents his class and position."
"John-Stillman is the president's confidant on the surface, the gatekeeper of White House, and the second most privileged figure of Washington, but secretly he met a Vampires, and the two of them stayed together for a long time."
"Vampires?"
Howard The sound increased a few degrees.
He was impressed.
"Yes. According to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigation, the person who met Stillman is named Gettarlo."
Luke pushed the information on the table over and said meaningfully, "The pure-blood descendant of Grand Duke Dracula is also one of the powerful people of North America Vampire Council."
"It may sound incredible, but those nocturnal creatures who walk in the darkness and dare not face the sun have a social system and power structure similar to humans."
"Vampire Council is roughly equivalent to the cabinet of White House. It has great power and can mobilize the family's resources at any time."
"White House Chief of Staff colluded with Vampire Council..."
Howard After careful tasting, it seems that you can taste a little bit of it.
"I heard you say before that Vampires claims to be an immortal species. In their view, humans may be just a short part of a long life."
"So, Stillman wants to live longer?"
After thinking about it, Vampires's most tempting bargaining chip for mankind is the legendary immortality.
Everyone is afraid of death and hopes that the cruel time will be merciful to them.
"Not entirely correct. Vampires will also age, but much slower than humans. It is far from the level of immortality."
Luke corrected Howard's misunderstanding, and then continued, "As for the private contact between Stillman and Vampire Council, I started to think like you that this was an exchange of interests."
"But with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s in-depth investigation, I found that it is not that simple."
Having said this, Luke paused, looked at Howard who was interested, and asked with a smile, "Have you heard of 'Ghoul Clan'?"
"Is it some kind of underground group that worships Vampires?"
Howard thought for a few seconds, combined the literal meaning, and gave the correct answer.
"This is indeed the case with the predecessor. Human beings are very complex creatures, and they sometimes need a specific image as a spiritual support."
Luke raised the wine glass, stared at the amber liquid, and said lightly, "The emptier the heart is, the more support Mind Stone needs - but this is just a belief within the normal range, which belongs to personal freedom, and there is no problem."
"But when it comes to worship, that's a different story."
"There is money worship, male organ worship, and most commonly idolatry - all kinds of things."
"People always like to attach a strong desire, or need, to something specific."
"And Ghoul Clan is a group of people who pursue immortality, immortality, a young body, and fresh vitality... and later gradually developed into a group of people who worship Vampires, want to become Vampires, and even think that they are slaves of Vampires. Humans are low-level creatures."
"Oh, what a sad, short-sighted guy."
Howard had a look of contempt on his face.
With his knowledge and pride, he naturally looked down on guys like these.
To be more precise, he believes that because he is not strong enough in his heart, and then gives up self-thinking and gives this power to others - he can be classified as a fool.
Of course——
Except for personal belief, which is not worship.
Howard himself is not a devout Christian.
"I really didn't expect that Stillman is Ghoul Clan, and secretly admires Vampires. He graduated from Duke University's law school. I thought those who studied law should be more rational than normal people."
"Don't label people casually. Before I met you, I also thought that MIT's genius was probably the kind of nerd who was not close to women. I also thought that scientists always have a serious and stereotyped image."
Luke's rebuttal left Howard speechless.
His harsh and venomous tongue, which has always been tried and tested, seems to have no effect when placed in front of the other party.
"After I left Washington D.C., Stillman began to have contact with Vampire Council. Before that, he did not show any abnormality."
Luke opened the information of Vampire Council Gettarlo. The content is relatively simple and not as detailed as White House Chief of Staff John-Stillman.
From this we can see that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents and detectives may be okay when dealing with ordinary people.
But to deal with a creature like Vampires, it seems a bit inadequate.
"In fact, it's not just Stillman. Judging from the information I have and the results of the investigation, there may be one-third of the members of Congress who are Ghoul Clan, or have close contacts with him."
Luke told a shocking fact.
This is equivalent to the upper level of the national power pyramid, which is almost completely penetrated by Vampires.
Howard realized the seriousness and finally restrained his cynical and frivolous expression.
"North America's Vampires seems to be developing better than Europe."
He took a sip of whiskey and expressed doubt.
"The situations on both sides are different. The pure-blooded descendants of Grand Duke Dracula know better about unity. They are closely connected with human society, while the situation in Europe is relatively chaotic."
Luke gave a brief introduction in two sentences.
"In addition, New York Sanctum's attack on dark creatures is not very strong, which gives Vampire Council a chance to survive."
Over the years, pure-blood descendants have penetrated the business and political circles to a considerable extent.
At its peak, half of the senior executives of Wall Street's large financial institutions were members of the Ghoul Clan.
Therefore, the Wall Street elite is called "Vampires".
Interpreted in a literal sense, it is actually correct.
"Howard, do you remember the Conqueror Kang I mentioned?"
Closing the document in his hand, a sharp light flashed across Luke's eyes.
Howard, who was sitting across from him, was slightly frightened. He frowned and asked, "That guy who can travel through time and space and pretend to be a historical celebrity everywhere?"
"That's right. I first thought that if Conqueror Kang wanted to choose a leader with high enough status and power, he would probably set his sights on Soviet Union."
Luke tapped his fingers on the side of the wine glass and said softly, "If you really do this and turn yourself into the Kree man from the Murin Palace, even if he wants to provoke World War III, it might not be a problem."
"However, after I returned to New York and Washington D.C., I saw that Chief of Staff colluded with Vampire Council, and saw the reclusive the President... I couldn't help but have another idea."
"What if Conqueror Kang is not in Soviet Union, but - in White House?"
ps: Thank you to [Yuguai] for the 1000-point reward, [Book Friends 20200501012234364], [It's Hungry and Kindness], [→ㄨ Demon·Jingず] for the 500-point reward, [A Pack of Spicy Tiao] for the 200-point reward, [Abyss and Sea] for the 233-point reward, [Ye Gubai], [yyaJy2304] for the 100-point reward, thank you~
ps2: Also.