Chapter 125

In Stark Tower, Stark was tinkering next to a strange machine shaped like a flower bud. Schiller, Coulson, and Hill were all standing by and watching. Finally, Stark pressed a button and said, "Remember, the maximum lethal range of this ultraviolet generator is only 20 meters. You'd better lure all the vampires together before turning it on."

Just after speaking, Jarvis sent information: "A large number of vampires appeared on the 3rd street in Queens."

Coulson said with a headache, "Sure enough, as soon as the sky gets dark, they are going to launch a comprehensive attack."

"How is that bat monster?" Schiller asked.

Coulson had an even bigger headache. He said, "It's really hell, that monster has disappeared!"

Stark stood up straight, poked his head out from behind the machine and asked, "Disappeared? Such a big monster, didn't you find someone to keep an eye on him?"

"The Captain fought with him for a long time. According to the information sent back by the Captain, that monster's aggressiveness is not strong; it seems to be just a signal. He didn't see clearly what was going on either, and the bat monster disappeared."

"Don't let your guard down," Schiller said. "The descent of the power of their so-called Bat God—this monster might just be an appetizer. After all, if you want to carry out an invasion, you wouldn't put a weapon of mass destruction in the vanguard."

"That's right," Hill said seriously. "Director Nick also thinks that it was just a sign of attack, and it did indeed play all the roles of an attack horn. Now the sky is getting dark, and a large number of vampires lurking in New York have begun to move. When the sky is completely dark later, we still have a fierce battle to fight."

Coulson looked at his watch and said to Stark, "Within three hours, how many such ultraviolet generation devices can be produced?"

"At most 20," Jarvis replied.

"The production line of Stark Industrial Group has been fully opened for production, and the remaining redundancy is less than 10%. But due to speed limitations, at most 20 can be produced before dark."

"Not enough at all," Coulson said.

"Doesn't your S. H. I. E. L. D. have any weapons stored to deal with vampires?"

"Of course we have," Hill walked up and held the machine. "But those are individual equipment, such as ultraviolet flashlights, silver-plated bullets, etc. You don't look at the number of vampires in New York now; I don't know where so many popped out from..."

"In other words, you are lacking in group firepower?" Schiller asked.

"This is the biggest problem." Coulson sat on the chair. He put one hand on the table, covering his forehead and said, "A well-trained agent, if fully armed and equipped with all weapons that restrain vampires, can ignore the gap in physical fitness and magic, and deal with 1 to 3 vampires."

"But the problem is that the number of agents is really too small compared to the number of vampires."

"And the police can deal with at most one, not to mention ordinary people. 10 of them can't beat one vampire. Once vampires organize group attacks, the gap in numbers will be more than 10 times."

"They have two different forms. The things they can do in human form and bat form are different, each with its own emphasis. Once they start to carry out strategic attacks in an organized way, the human defense line can almost not be maintained for an hour."

"What about heavy firepower?"

Hill also covered her forehead and said, "Actually, this is the biggest problem. You know, many moderate vampires are on good terms with high-level officials in Congress. The moderate faction stated that they didn't know what happened at all. They declared that the moderate vampires didn't participate in this invasion action at all, and strongly protested against humans using heavy firepower to strike vampires indiscriminately."

"Actually, I can also understand the decisions of some congressmen, because if humans really let heavy firepower like missiles enter the field, once the moderate vampires are forced into a corner, these vampires will also participate in the invasion action. That will truly break out a war between the two races."

"Many moderate vampires live in human society, playing many important roles, and some even fall in love and get married with humans. Once a war breaks out between the two races, social stability will experience huge turmoil, which is a result no one wants to see."

Stark said angrily, "Then we just take a beating and don't fight back? Why can't they solve their internal affairs themselves? We just want an answer: are we fighting or not?"

"I guess those moderate factions told you that they are actively negotiating and want to ease the conflict, but I can clearly tell you that most of them are waiting for the descent of the so-called Bat God. Once the vampires gain an advantage, they will immediately defect, claiming that they are also believers of the Bat God and are naturally born to rule humans."

"Ambition always expands with ability. The so-called moderate faction is just waiting for one side to gain an absolute advantage. They are a group of fence-sitters. Once humans have the upper hand and the Bat God has no further action, they will immediately claim that they are messengers of friendship between the two races. And once the Bat God really descends and brings the end of the world to humans, they will immediately crawl at the feet of the Bat God, saying that they are pious believers," Schiller said.

Coulson sighed, spread his hands, and said, "Everyone understands this truth. This is the predicament we are in now."

"But you forgot, you still have one card. Don't tell me Nick hasn't found out where that disappeared network line in New York went."

Coulson opened his mouth and said somewhat hesitantly, "You mean... lead the disaster to the east? But wouldn't this be too risky? After all, we have almost no understanding of that force..."

"That is a matter for you to decide yourselves," Schiller said, then turned to Stark and said, "Don't keep thinking about your large-scale generation device. Can't you change your thinking?"

Stark said, "Do you have any genius ideas again? Let's hear it. I liked that cigarette of yours last time..."

"In the end, isn't it just that the individual combat capability of agents is not strong enough, and the number is not large enough? Then can't you create some agents to use?"

The other two agents both showed a strange expression, but Stark became interested. He said, "What do you mean? Unmanned mecha?"

"That's right. Don't you have many mechas placed in the warehouse? Produce some individual equipment and install them on them, ultraviolet flashlights, silver bullets, etc. Can't you install them? Let them deal with vampires."

"Jarvis's intelligence library doesn't have the logical intelligence to deal with this kind of monster, but I can indeed send out a vanguard of mechas to collect this logic and then start optimizing."

"Your brain hole can be even bigger. Don't keep thinking about humanoid mechas, and don't keep thinking about going into the field to swing your fists yourself. You don't even have to design and produce them yourself."

Schiller walked near the experimental bench and said, "You can completely design an intelligent mother nest with self-calculation ability, and then arrange multiple such mother nests in New York according to a certain rule."

"The mother nest can automatically produce mecha creations of different specifications according to the logic you set, such as light drones for reconnaissance, ground mechanical troops, self-walking spotlights with ultraviolet irradiation functions, biological reaction troops used to interfere with vampire actions, etc..."

"After the mother nest produces these machines and puts them into the battlefield, every mechanical creation can record the action trajectory of their opponents, then write down their own combat effects, and transmit them back to the mother nest."

"The mother nest can readjust the production direction according to this information, and all mother nests gather information into Jarvis's intelligence library, and you can get the widest coverage, most accurate and clear regional combat network."

"Then you don't have to wear that iron shell to eliminate those monsters, but sit in the laboratory of Stark Tower, control everything, and become the true master of machines."

Coulson and Hill were both stunned, feeling a bit creepy.

Actually, this concept is not very advanced; it is just the basic principle of information warfare. However, once these contents are replaced with Stark's advanced mecha creations, the whole scene appears very sci-fi, even a bit chilling.

Think about it: countless huge mother nests spread across New York, continuously exploding countless machine creations. They all have their own intelligence. After going to the battlefield, not only can they cause effective damage to the enemy, but they can also transmit all data back to the mother nest after being defeated.

And the mother nest has an incomparably advanced calculation system, which will remove the shortcomings of the sub-bodies produced in the next step according to the information transmitted back by the sub-bodies that failed in the last battle, and strengthen their advantages.

It can also specialize various combat troops and then carry out tactical cooperation. The steel torrent exploded by several mother nests will submerge the entire city, eliminating all enemies here. Steel skeletons penetrate barriers, gear bearings devour everything, and Stark, he can control everything sitting in the laboratory of Stark Tower.

Wait, is there something wrong with this painting style? Coulson shivered and said, "I think... vampires are not very strong either. We can save this tactic for later..."

Stark, however, had glowing eyes. He paced in place, then clenched his hands into fists and said, "Actually, I have been considering lightweight combat. You all know that the cost of producing a mecha is too high. Once it is put into the battlefield and damaged, the repair time is too long. I have been considering a mecha that is low-cost, easy to repair, and can be put into the battlefield in large quantities."

"But this kind of mecha has a problem. Once the cost is reduced, their processors cannot accept too complex instructions, and various functions will be weakened, becoming not so comprehensive. Facing various different enemies, they might not be able to react quickly."

"And, once the opponent is changed, I have to carry out a comprehensive upgrade on them to add new functions. The money and time spent are about the same as advanced mechas, which is not cost-effective."

"That's right, the mother nest idea is very good. Why should I repair mechas one by one myself? Why not just set up an intelligent production line, let them produce themselves, and repair themselves?"

"And just as you said, if they can really collect data, analyze, optimize, transform, and strengthen production themselves, it will be much faster than me personally transforming them after a battle, right?"

"That can be optimized directly on the battlefield, directly producing first-generation, second-generation, and third-generation adaptive mechas to target the weaknesses of opponents."

"And it can indeed not be limited to humanoid form. Humans are two-legged, which is inherently unstable. Even if the mecha can fly, it needs more energy. Then why not design a few more legs for the mecha? Yes... that's right... that spider kid is a good example!"

"Spider-Man can stick to the wall, so of course the mechas I make can too. I can even arrange 8 legs for them, and they can also spit silk, allowing them to easily climb the walls of various high-rise buildings. As for defense..."

"Let me think, I can completely manufacture a transport ship for mechanical soldiers, provide them with high mobility, and even let them have the ability to float and fly..."

"After the production line produces this kind of transport ship, the mechanical soldiers can be folded and placed inside, and then reach the battlefield at the fastest speed to carry out troop deployment..."

The more Stark talked, the more excited he became. He imagined several mecha forms that mimic animals, and also had many design ideas about the mother nest structure and transport ships.

Finally, Stark even wanted to transform Stark Tower, letting its top become a foldable air mother nest. Once an invasion by a foreign race is encountered, it can be quickly raised and unfolded, and it can enter the troop-bursting mode instantly.

Coulson and Hill stood side by side. He patted his colleague's shoulder and said in a low voice, trembling: "Call Nick quickly! Now vampires are not the main problem. If S. H. I. E. L. D. can't solve the vampires quickly, then the technological devil Stark is going to rule the Earth..."

"High Above the Sky"

"What are you thinking? 20 minutes ago, I recorded Stark's speech and sent it to Nick..."

"Then what did he say?"

"Before the congressmen finished watching, they passed the combat plan for humanity to resist the vampires and defend and counterattack unanimously."

"New York and its surrounding cities are under martial law immediately, all reaction troops have entered combat status, and we are required to solve this comprehensive invasion event within three days, don't give Stark any excuse to make trouble..."