Chapter 167

Damian was in a meeting with the scientist and the Minister of Education of Madripoor.

The minister held several papers in his hands, and as he read them, his expression changed more and more.

With Cortana's help, Damian had already created a new educational system that was completely different from the rest of the world.

"My king, why are you removing so many subjects from the curriculum?" the minister asked, smiling ironically.

"I removed what I believe is not so relevant and added things that will truly help people live with a certain freedom," Damian said.

"That's why there are mandatory classes on hand-to-hand combat and physical fitness?" the minister asked.

"Of course, do you have any contributions to make?" Damian asked, smiling. He wasn't asking for permission.

"In which month will these changes in the curriculum be implemented?" the minister asked, without another option.

"It's December, so let's have all the schools in the country start with this curriculum in March. They have almost three months to prepare, and of course, the new facilities will start to be built as soon as possible," Damian said.

"Very well, then I will announce the new educational system tomorrow," the minister said, sighing. The reason for his reluctance was that, of course, it was up to him to deliver the news.

He would likely face international criticism even though everyone knows it was the king who gave the order.

"Good luck," the scientist said quietly.

The minister took the papers and left, feeling discouraged about crafting his speech. He hoped to present it from a reasonable standpoint to avoid social backlash.

"Well, with that, we're ready," Damian said.

"How are things going in Green?... God, it sounds weird to say it," Damian said, sighing.

"Pretty well. We had some problems at the beginning since we didn't have anything to mine the material, but luckily we have the Tesseract's energy, so I created a super powerful laser that allows us to cut the material and transport it," the scientist said, proudly smiling.

"Have you thought about what to do with the Adamantine?" Damian asked, looking at the scientist.

"Spartan armor made of Adamantine will be invincible even in front of soldiers from divine civilizations," the scientist said, excitedly.

"Hmm, although the golden color is a bit flashy," Damian said, nodding. He had more or less the same ideas.

"That's the least of our worries. The only downside is that I estimate we can only make around 300 suits of armor," the scientist said.

"300... that's fine," Damian said, chuckling.

"Give me what's left," Damian said after thinking for a moment.

"Sure," the scientist said, nodding.

"I'll be back, we'll talk later," Damian said, standing up and starting to walk towards the residential area of the palace.

Since they had started living in the palace, he had stopped teleporting everywhere and started walking. After all, the distances were short and he was in no hurry.

Upon entering the room, he found only Jane lying face down on the couch while texting on her phone with a smile.

"What are you doing?" Damian asked, smiling as he approached Jane and sat on the edge of the couch.

"I'm talking to Thor. I've wanted to go to Asgard for a while, but since they're at war, he told me to wait," Jane said, turning around to look at Damian.

"Hm," Damian said, nodding.

"Where's Monica?" Damian asked. She had started living in the palace while planning to publish her book.

"She went to train with Carol. I also heard they were dragging Maria along. They left a while ago, so they should be back soon," Jane said as she continued typing on her phone.

"Hmm," Damian hummed, enveloping his senses and finding his daughters playing in the garden with their friends.

Sophia, Ana, and Ophelia didn't seem to be in the palace, and only Natasha was upstairs.

Steve and Peggy had already left; they had found a hotel and were staying there temporarily.

They surely had a lot to talk about, plan, and do.

"I'll go upstairs," Damian said, pinching Jane's nose before starting to climb the stairs.

Jane just held her nose, looking at him with a complaint.

Damian quickly reached his room. Natasha was lying on a reclining chair on the balcony with headphones in her ears, listening to music with her eyes closed.

She only had a sleeveless shirt and shorts on as she hummed along to the song.

Damian smiled as he looked at her before lifting her legs and sitting on the chair, letting Natasha's legs fall on either side of him.

Natasha immediately opened her eyes when she felt someone touch her. She laughed lightly when she saw it was Damian before wrapping her legs around him and pulling him closer.

Damian smiled and also moved his legs, causing each of them to fall on either side of the chair, bringing him even closer to Natasha.

Natasha removed her headphones before hugging Damian's neck and looking at him.

"You know... I've been thinking about becoming a vampire," Natasha said, smiling.

"That's fine if it's what you want," Damian said, smiling before kissing her on the lips.

"For tomorrow it's too late," Natasha said, smiling mischievously before pulling one of her arms out of the neck of her shirt, completely exposing her neck and showing part of her chest.

Looking at Natasha's tempting white shoulder, Damian couldn't help but feel excited.

Bringing his mouth to Natasha's shoulder, Damian left gentle kisses as he moved towards her neck.

Natasha moaned softly with excitement, eagerly awaiting what was to come.

When he reached her neck, Damian sank his fangs in before starting to drink her blood.

Natasha hugged Damian tightly and lifted her head while she moaned. It felt so good, as it always did. Sometimes, she felt like losing herself in the sensation.

Damian quickly injected the vampire venom, initiating a process of changes in Natasha's body.

As she went from excitement to drowsiness, Damian gently laid her down on the chair, looking at her.

Perhaps due to Natasha's mental strength, she was still awake, and with her eyes almost closed, she looked at Damian before giving a final faint smile and closing her eyes.

The corner of Damian's lips couldn't help but curve as he thought that taken out of context, this scene would seem like something else.

Damian moved some strands of Natasha's hair that had fallen on her face before gently stroking her hair and looking at her affectionately.

Their relationship had started a bit abruptly, and it could be said that it was a whim, but he had never regretted it and had come to love her deeply.

Knowing that it would take a while, Damian lay down halfway beside Natasha before closing his eyes.

Several hours later, Damian was awakened by Natasha's movement.

Damian smiled slightly as he looked at her. Natasha was already beautiful, but becoming a vampire had made her even more so.

He was about to make room in his neck to offer her a drink, but to his surprise, Natasha didn't seem to be afraid and attacked him, knocking him to the floor before burying her fangs in his neck.

Damian chuckled to himself before gently stroking Natasha's long hair, letting her drink to her heart's content.

After 10 minutes passed, Damian started to have concerns about whether he would dry up and turn into a mummy.

"Darling, I know I'm immortal, but do you want to compete with how quickly I regenerate?" Damian joked with an ironic smile.

Natasha only bit harder in protest, continuing to drink.

Finally, Natasha felt satisfied and pulled away from Damian's neck before looking at him.

Seeing her with blood all over her mouth, Damian couldn't help but think that she lacked manners. He would have to teach her how to drink properly.

Still, looking at her beautiful face and her eyes that seemed like rubies, he couldn't help but find that even covered in blood she looked beautiful.

Natasha saw Damian's gaze on her mouth, so she quickly used her tongue to lick the edges before wiping it with her finger and sucking off what remained.

"Ana and Ophelia were right," Natasha said, sighing as she looked at Damian.

"How do you feel?" Damian asked, caressing Natasha's cheek.

"It feels incredible. I enjoyed my time as a human, but this is amazing," Natasha said, looking around. When she looked out the window, she could amazingly see for miles.

"Hm, you'll have to get used to your body little by little," Damian said, nodding with a smile.

"Yes, I need to get used to it," Natasha said, nodding before taking off her shirt and stripping off her shorts, leaving her completely naked as she looked at Damian with hungry eyes.

Damian didn't need any words and immediately embraced her waist before heading to the bed.

...

In Miami, Florida.

In an AIM laboratory.

Killian stood in front of Maya, the lead scientist in the development of Extremis.

"You're fine, no signs of instability," Maya said, reviewing the exam data she had just conducted on Killian.

"Pepper refused to work with us. If she had agreed, we would have indirectly gained Tony's assistance," Killian said, putting on his shirt.

"Are you sure he can solve it?" Killian asked, a certain discomfort in his heart. He was reluctant to admit that he still had to turn to Tony for something other than revenge.

"He did it in a few seconds casually, although many would say I'm a genius for creating Extremis, but I definitely can't compare to that man's mind," Maya said, shaking her head, an expression of discomfort on her face.

"It seems that we can only use force, but this is even more complicated," Killian said, annoyed by the fact that Tony was better than him.

"Although I know he has a daughter now," Killian said thoughtfully.

Maya's gaze couldn't help but pause as she closed her eyes, trying not to think about what Killian was planning.

Killian immediately got to work trying to find out where Tony was currently located.

After receiving the report from his men, he quickly learned that Tony was at the house in Malibu. Upon hearing this, he immediately stood up, pacing back and forth with a thoughtful expression.

Attacking Tony is very difficult; he still has a fresh memory of the heavy artillery in his tower that took down many aliens.

If his house in Malibu is similar, any aerial attack would be suicide, and attacking by land with heavy weapons is even more challenging. Jarvis is now well known, and he would surely detect them as soon as they appeared.

All they would achieve is alerting him to their existence.

Killian paced back and forth as a good plan formed in his mind before taking out his phone and ordering his best subordinates to come.

In a few minutes, five men and two women arrived.

"They will attack Stark's house in Malibu. I will create a distraction while you quickly enter the house and kidnap Stark's wife and daughter. Remember not to harm them."

"Bring the prototypes created to deal with Iron Man, although there may not be a conflict, with his wife and daughter in our hands, he won't dare to do anything."

"Remember well that none of the three targets can die for any reason," Killian said seriously. If any of them were to die, they would be in serious trouble. He's not ready to step out of anonymity yet.

Everything has to be really quick; hopefully, Tony will complete the formula before releasing him with his family.

Although he wants revenge on Tony, Killian is a pragmatic person. If he does something to Tony, he'll have Madripoor and the Avengers after him.

If he releases him, even though they'll still search for him, it won't be with such urgency, so he can build his army with a perfected Extremis.

''You weren't able to capture Pepper when you met with her today?" asked Maya curiously.

''...''

''You wouldn't understand'' Killian said, unwilling to admit that he was confident he could convince Pepper and was not preparing to kidnap her.

...

Tony had finished lunch and was playing with Morgan alongside Pepper.

They would return to New York in the evening, so they were savoring their last moments in the villa.

Suddenly, an alarm went off in the house, and the glass windows started sealing with a layer of metal.

"Jarvis," Tony said, standing up with seriousness.

"Sir, five helicopters are 10 kilometers from the house and heading directly towards us," Jarvis quickly reported.

"Activate the aerial defenses and fire when they come within range," Tony said before looking at Pepper and Morgan with concern.

"Stay near the entrance. I'll take care of this," Tony said before rushing to the basement.

"Be careful," Pepper said softly as she hugged Morgan, who looked confused by the situation and seemed like she was about to cry at any moment.

When Tony arrived in the basement, he could already hear the gunfire. A display appeared shortly after.

The helicopters were firing missiles, which were intercepted by Jarvis.

"Sir, I fear this could be a distraction. There's a suspicious van approaching the mansion on the road," Jarvis warned.

Tony gestured with his hands before Mark XLII disassembled itself and started flying towards him.

The armor had passed endurance tests, and they had corrected the defect of disassembling upon impact, but it hadn't been tested in combat yet.

"There's nothing like a field test, right Jarvis?" Tony said before flying towards the helicopters.

He would quickly get rid of them before facing whatever was in the van.

"Activate the Iron Legion just in case," Tony told Jarvis.

"Sir, the idea is still in the development phase, I'm afraid-" Jarvis started before being interrupted by Tony.

"You just have to buy time if necessary," Tony said before focusing on the helicopters in front of him, which were still firing missiles that were intercepted by Jarvis.

Tony accelerated before flying through the glass of one of the helicopters, killing the pilot before exiting.

The helicopters quickly began firing, but it was entirely futile. The agility of the suit was very high, and with its repulsors at maximum power, he easily eliminated them all.

Tony quickly started flying towards the van. He wanted to fight outside his house to avoid endangering Pepper and Morgan.

However, he couldn't help but worry a little. The helicopters were clearly a distraction, and the real threat must be in the van.

For someone to dare to attack him, they must be fairly confident in dealing with him, so he couldn't help but be cautious.

Tony quickly scanned the van from a distance and detected several people with some strange weapons.

"Tell Pepper to go down to the basement and surround herself with the armors. You can use lethal force against anyone who comes near," Tony said seriously.

As he reached the road where the van was coming, Tony quickly fired a missile at the side of the van, causing it to lose control and fall off the cliff into the water.

Tony landed on the edge of the cliff and looked down.

He soon realized that a group of people were making great leaps, climbing the cliff while parts of their bodies glowed red.

Tony quickly started firing, constantly knocking them down.

His repulsor shots left a large orange hole in the bodies of the people. Tony wasn't holding back and was using lethal force.

Soon, all of them had fallen into the water, and Tony had either deemed them dead or incapacitated.

He counted seven people, with two women and five men. Just as he was calling Stark Industries personnel to pick up the bodies, he suddenly saw a person jump off the cliff while attacking him.

Tony quickly used the chest repulsor to back up and do a flip backward before looking ahead and focusing.

He quickly realized that there was a hole in the person's clothing but the skin underneath was intact.

Six more people quickly climbed the cliff and looked threateningly at Tony.

The seven had realized that the weapons they brought were not water-resistant and had been damaged. Now that Stark had discovered them, there was only the fight left.

"Shit," Tony said, realizing that it wouldn't be an easy battle.

''Sir, do you want me to send you some suits to back you up?" asked Jarvis when he saw the situation.

''No, just concentrate on protecting Pepper and looking for new threats, if you see the slightest threat call Damian with that thing he gave us,' Tony said as his repulsors started to buzz.

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