Chapter 371: Shark Knight Has Been Captured
Hearing Allen's unequivocal response, Luthor's face turned ghostly pale.
Just imagining a life spent either with a toilet plunger stuck to his head or with his scalp removed made everything seem utterly bleak.
Pop!
Allen casually pulled off the Silence Staff and quipped mischievously, "Look how scared you are."
"Thank you, Brother Lun."
Overjoyed, Luthor couldn't help blurting out, "Brother Lun, I love you."
"I don't love you. Either put on a dress or forget it."
"..."
The comment sent a chill down everyone's spine.
A middle-aged bald man in drag? That might be taking things too far.
Now finally free from the curse of the Silence Staff, Luthor's shiny scalp bore a red ring from prolonged suction—it would take some time to heal.
"Lord Allen, Luthor and I have official business to discuss," said Doctor Doom, who had been waiting patiently, but could no longer hold his tongue.
"I'm listening."
Allen plopped himself into the executive chair like he owned the place, reached into the ice bucket, and tossed a chunk of ice into his mouth.
Doom glanced at Luthor, as if asking for confirmation.
"Don't worry, Brother Lun is one of us."
What else could he say? At this point, it was better to just play along with the lunatic.
After all, Luthor had no desire for that cursed plunger to return to his head.
"The situation is this: Latveria has recently seen a spike in missing persons cases. My agents tracked the movement of the victims…"
Doom laid it all out, holding nothing back.
Latveria, a nation that had unilaterally withdrawn from the United Nations, remained in a state of near-total isolation, maintaining no diplomatic ties.
In short, Doom had full control over the country.
Yet rather than descending into economic ruin, its self-imposed isolation had turned it into one of the most advanced nations in the world.
Thanks to Doom's sweeping educational reforms in both science and magic, Latveria had seen major breakthroughs in healthcare, technology, and manufacturing. The living standards of its citizens reached historic highs.
Located in Eastern Europe, Latveria was surrounded by countries mired in poverty. Many of their citizens attempted to sneak across the border.
As a result, Latverians—despite knowing Doom ruled with an iron fist—were largely content. After all, when your income jumps from a few hundred bucks to thirty or fifty thousand a month, who cares if you occasionally have to shout "Long live the King"?
Besides, Doom was an elite intellectual. He was far too smart to be a mere tyrant.
"Extremis virus?"
Luthor was baffled, having no background in virology.
"There's no doubt about it."
Doom explained, "One of our agents captured a ringleader and extracted intel—a terrifying new enhancement serum that far surpasses the Super Soldier Serum. But the success rate is extremely low. If it fails, the test subject explodes like a bomb…"
Why were Latverian citizens being targeted? The reason was clear: Latveria wasn't part of the United Nations.
That meant no diplomatic pressure could be used to intervene once its people were taken abroad.
Those missing citizens had clearly become guinea pigs.
Doom couldn't personally leave Latveria, partly because the Fantastic Four were always monitoring him, and partly because neighboring countries were always on the lookout—if he ever left, war would likely break out.
"Aldrich Killian."
Allen suddenly spoke a name unfamiliar to the others.
Everyone looked at him, puzzled, failing to grasp the reference.
"He's the one who developed the Extremis virus. You mean you've never heard of him?"
If it were the Super Soldier Serum, Allen might not have been able to pinpoint the culprit. But with Extremis? That was easy—he was the villain from Iron Man 3.
Luthor typed the name into his computer.
Sure enough, a profile popped up instantly.
The identity field listed Killian as a renowned expert in viruses, genetics, and pharmaceuticals.
However, he worked across such varied domains that no one had ever connected the dots.
"And how do you know it's him?"
Doom frowned slightly, clearly skeptical of Allen's claim.
After all, the guy was a certified lunatic—trusting his word wasn't exactly prudent.
"Easy," Allen said. "The guy your people caught—he'd injected Extremis, right? Had ridiculous regenerative powers, and not long after being locked up, he blew himself up."
"How do you know that?"
Doom froze—Allen had described the exact sequence of events.
Many died just to capture that suspect. The man was already missing limbs, yet in full view of witnesses, regenerated completely.
They'd barely had time to extract intel before he detonated in prison.
Initially, they suspected he had some sort of hidden explosive implant, but professional examinations had ruled that out.
"Killian's Future Pharm company focuses on treatments and life extension. The self-detonation happens because the Extremis virus is unstable and requires constant doses of stabilizing agents to prevent meltdown…"
At this point, Allen spoke so reasonably and confidently that no one could tell he was supposedly unhinged.
It made Doom begin to wonder—was this guy just pretending to be crazy?
"Actually, we don't even need to intervene. Killian will provoke Tony sooner or later."
Allen pushed up an imaginary pair of glasses, a sly smile playing on his lips. "I'm really looking forward to the birth of Extremis Iron Man."
---
Meanwhile, in a luxury villa on the outskirts of New York—
Pepper Potts was spending quality time with her daughter Morgan. Ever since the kidnapping incident, she refused to let her daughter out of her sight.
Of course, Allen had never truly hurt Morgan—but the experience had left a sour taste in her mouth.
"Mom, when can I go play with Nanaue?" Morgan pouted, visibly downcast.
"When you grow up," Pepper replied absentmindedly.
Morgan puffed her cheeks. "When will I be grown up?"
"..."
Sixteen years.
Morgan was six now. By American law, "grown up" meant twenty-two.
"Ma'am, radar has detected multiple helicopters approaching. Immediate evacuation is recommended."
The AI butler's voice chimed in with a warning.
Pepper turned toward the floor-to-ceiling window and saw over a dozen armed helicopters incoming.
The villa's automatic defense systems activated.
Various suits of armor stored in the underground vault launched into combat mode.
One suit, customized for Pepper, flew to the ground floor in separate parts, assembling rapidly onto her body.
At that very moment, a missile struck.
Boom!
The warhead pierced the wall—but didn't explode.
Now armored up, Pepper was horrified to see her HUD flicker off—she was trapped inside the suit.
The suit weighed over 200 pounds. Without an active power system, it was no better than a prison.
Clearly, this was an electromagnetic pulse weapon.
The entire villa lost power, and the chips inside the suits of armor fried in an instant.
Armed intruders stormed the property. None bore identifying insignias.
"Don't hurt Mommy—I'm Shark Knight!"
Morgan, standing bravely against the attackers, held up a glowing fairy wand like a weapon, eyes full of resolve.
One sedative dart later—
Shark Knight was captured.
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