Chapter 74: This Wave is a High-End Incubation Game
Tony shook his head hard, trying to sober up. He quickly donned his Mark battle suit and raised his hands, aiming at the strange man beside Du Wa.
"You're the one who broke my wall and trespassed on my property? Another weirdo in old-fashioned clothes. Don't tell me you're an Asgardian too."
But to Dracula, Tony's drunken warning was a joke.
"No matter how much time passes, humanity remains the same. They love to use all sorts of tools as extensions of their power, yet they mistake these tools for their power itself, and from this, an intense confidence is born."
Dracula completely ignored the energy blast charging in Tony's hands. He stared intently at Du Wa, then his gaze moved down to the flesh goblet Du Wa was extending.
His nose twitched, and a look of deep intoxication appeared on his face.
"This blood is powerfully corrosive, yet it doesn't corrode your own flesh? How fascinating. I never thought I would encounter something so interesting right after being awakened by those foolish descendants. When did a species like you appear in this world?"
Dracula was not polite either, directly reaching out to take the piece of flesh from Du Wa's hand, looking down at it with blood-red eyes.
Then he actually drank it.
Never mind a normal person, even the drunkards present couldn't help but rub their eyes, watching the man's insane act in stunned silence.
This was Alien blood. Across the entire world, who didn't know how terrifying Alien blood was? A single drop could rival a meticulously crafted human weapon of mass destruction.
But this guy actually chugged it on the spot? What was even more outrageous was the nobility of his actions; even the angle of his slender fingers clutching the flesh goblet seemed perfectly practiced.
Elegant, just too elegant.
"This guy isn't normal. I really didn't expect that there's actually a vampire in this world who would drink an Alien's blood."
War Machine deployed the various weapons mounted on his suit, a mix of long-barreled guns and cannons, but he didn't attack immediately. He knew this guy's end would be miserable.
Although no one present had ever seen a vampire so confident and dignified, let alone knew his identity, this insane act alone was enough to stun them all.
It turned out that even those who considered themselves worldly and knowledgeable would watch a madman's actions with intense interest.
Sizzle!
Sure enough, as soon as the Alien blood entered Dracula's mouth, it immediately emitted a terrifying sound, instantly corroding all matter.
Even Dracula, the nominal progenitor of vampires, could clearly feel his mouth disappearing. As the blood flowed down, his throat, esophagus, and even the internal organs in his chest cavity and his stomach began to dissolve.
"How truly marvelous..."
Dracula mumbled words that could no longer be called a language, but everyone present understood his meaning.
His body was rapidly dissolving, yet on Dracula's face, the upper part that had not yet been completely corroded actually showed an expression of intoxication.
It was as if the horrifying dissolution happening had nothing to do with him.
Du Wa carefully observed the man. Of all the people present, only his face showed no surprise. Instead, he looked as if he'd had an epiphany, as if this was only natural.
"Interesting. You can actually draw nutrients from Alien blood, although the total amount you absorb isn't enough to offset your injuries," Du Wa said, rather curious.
Dracula, missing the lower half of his body, seemed completely unaffected. He just waved his hand, his blood-red eyes growing even redder, his incomplete face filled with satisfaction.
He reached out, actively grabbing for Du Wa's chest, clearly wanting another mouthful.
Boom!
Du Wa caught Dracula's hand, turned, and slammed him into the bar with a back suplex.
"Vampire, I'm very interested in you. Since you're so fond of Alien blood, I have a good proposal. You can join me and become a part of me." Du Wa slowly stood up straight, watching Dracula slowly clamber to his feet.
The vampire's injuries were healing at an astonishing speed.
"Not bad, but I have an even better proposal. You become a part of me, and I will rule these Aliens on your behalf. You are not a vampire; you are completely unable to appreciate the beauty of these creatures from my perspective. I have never tasted such satisfying fresh blood."
In such a short time, Dracula had rapidly repaired his body and regained his ability to speak. He revealed long, sharp fangs and made a polite gesture. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Vlad Tepes Dracula. At the invitation of my many foolish descendants and servants, I have come specifically to deal with you."
Dracula leaped forward decisively, clawing at Du Wa's neck with his long, sharp claws.
Du Wa's expression was indifferent. He merely took a small step back. Dracula immediately revealed a sinister smile and opened his mouth, about to bite his shoulder.
He planned to turn Du Wa into a vampire as well.
Don't mistake Dracula for those ordinary vampires. In front of Du Wa, an ordinary vampire was a lamb to the slaughter. Even if they bit Du Wa, their weak vampire virus couldn't infect him in any way; they could only accept a humiliating fate. But Dracula was different.
At that moment, a huge energy blast sent him flying, immediately followed by a barrage from an autocannon.
"Buddy, I don't know what grave you crawled out of, and I don't care if you're the real Dracula. Originally, none of this had anything to do with me, but it's wrong for you to barge into my place and ruin the party I organized."
"That's right. No one ruins a Tony Stark party."
Tony and Rhodey spoke one after the other.
Dracula didn't even bother to look at the two of them, staring fixedly at Du Wa. But in the next second, his vision was filled with a sharp, cold light, and his body was pierced by long, sharp claws that stabbed him violently.
Lady Deathstrike, like an iceberg, showed no emotional change as she drove all of her nails into Dracula's body.
The Adamantium nails were incomparably sharp.
Dracula was gushing blood, but he still wasn't dead. Instead, he revealed an even more meaningful and twisted smile. Even now, he was still maintaining that timeless elegance.
*Riiip!*
Lady Deathstrike swung her arms, exerting force to both sides, and instantly tore Dracula's body to shreds.
And it wasn't over. The Abomination Alien and the Gilgamesh Alien, two Aliens who relied on their terrifying physical strength for combat, immediately rushed forward and pounded Dracula's body to a pulp.
Everyone present watched as Dracula collapsed with a thud.
"This vampire is truly baffling. Could he really be Dracula? This is the first time I've seen such a brave bat."
Tony walked over, his head much clearer now, trying to process the data Jarvis was projecting onto his helmet's display.
"Back off, Tony. He's not dead yet. If Dracula could be finished off that easily, he'd be a pathetic legend," Du Wa said.
"He's in that state and still not dead? I'm starting to believe he really is Dracula."
A trace of astonishment appeared in Tony's eyes. Even if the alcohol hadn't completely worn off, he knew what this meant.
"It seems you've really pushed the vampires to their limit, for even this legendary progenitor of vampires has appeared."
"There is another possibility. Dracula has never cared about the life or death of other vampires. He came here purely for me. Because as long as he lives, it means that the vampires of the world will never disappear from their source and will continue to appear endlessly."
The virus carried by Dracula was extremely infectious.
"What I'm curious about is, why would this guy choose this moment to challenge me? Where does your confidence come from?" Du Wa asked, looking down.
"Hehehe, are you not at your weakest right now? This is the best opportunity for me to strike, so I came."
Dracula spoke once more. He was still not dead. His body, which had been reduced to a tattered mass of flesh, fused together perfectly with simple contact—like splicing footage from two different frame rates—and had now completely recovered.
"Such a powerful healing ability... No, it seems to be more than just healing..." Tony was shocked, his expression turning grave. Jarvis was performing continuous high-speed scans.
"Of course. This guy drank Varnae's blood of eternal life. He's very hard to kill. Combined with certain unexpected characteristics, he possesses an immortal body." Only Du Wa remained calm throughout. He sized up the man, gradually growing more and more excited.
Excellent, absolutely excellent. He hadn't expected to be so lucky. This universe's Dracula possessed the trait of immortality. This was an extremely rare animal, one of the few individuals in the entire Multiverse who had been rejected by Death.
In other words, no matter how you killed Dracula, this guy would not be accepted by Death, one of the Creator Gods, so he was forced to live on forever.
"You all underestimate the power of a vampire."
Dracula stood up nonchalantly, patting the dust off his body with extremely gentle movements. He raised his head, a full head of white hair cascading down, and he personally gathered it strand by strand, tying it into a ponytail.
Dracula looked at everyone present, his focus landing on Du Wa. "What do you think a vampire is? Really just a host and food for your Aliens?"
Du Wa retorted, "Aren't you?"
The smile on Dracula's face froze slightly.
When Dracula got serious, the strength he displayed was astonishing.
Stunning lightning descended from the sky, striking directly at Stark Tower.
Amidst the flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder, the heavily fortified high-tech tower was instantly blasted into ruins.
Countless floors were directly struck into scrap, and a large amount of high-tech equipment was destroyed in the lightning.
"What the hell is this thing? A vampire progenitor who uses magic?! It's just like..."
"Just like Thor."
Du Wa's body began to burn with excitement. That's right, this was the one—the Dracula capable of summoning lightning, just like Thor. This was the true nominal progenitor of vampires.
Well, even though the victory rate of Dracula's feats across various universes was infinitely close to zero—aside from looking good and making a daunting entrance, he was completely useless.
As Stark Tower's defenses were heavily damaged, more formidable vampires took the opportunity to break in. These were Dracula's personal guards, each possessing unique abilities.
One of these vampires was the most dangerous; he possessed the ability to create illusions.
"I will turn you all into vampires, especially you, Du Wa. The strongest vampire hunter, are you? Don't you just love hunting vampires? Your retribution has come."
This vampire confidently cast his illusion, but only a very small number of people fell for it. Every single Alien individual, without exception, completely ignored the illusions.
"How can this be?" he exclaimed in astonishment. In the next moment, the Ajak Alien pounced on him and bit his neck clean off.
Using illusions against Aliens should have been an excellent idea, but unfortunately, it was already an outdated version. On Du Wa's side, the upgrade speed was simply too fast.
The scene descended into chaos. Du Wa personally entered the fray, wielding Mjolnir and summoning a sky full of lightning to battle Dracula.
Lady Deathstrike and the other Aliens also efficiently showcased their combat talents, nimbly scaling walls and ceilings, swiftly killing one vampire after another. They were all too familiar with vampires; even when facing vampires with different abilities, they still displayed super-efficient slaughter.
Dracula summoned a bolt of lightning to strike Lady Deathstrike first, attempting to blast this strange woman to death.
However, when this bolt of lightning, which should have turned a person to charcoal, struck Lady Deathstrike, it only broke her skin and cost her some flesh and blood. In just an instant, this damage healed completely.
"Adamantium skeleton, a superhuman healing ability, immunity to illusions, exquisite combat skills... Where on earth did Du Wa find a freak like you? Why don't I have one?"
Dracula was stunned. He withstood the attacks of others, relying on his immortality, and tried to bite Lady Deathstrike. With every bite, he would gain another helper, and sooner or later, he would turn Du Wa into a lone figure. As for whether Adamantium would chip his teeth, that was not within his consideration.
Lady Deathstrike swung her hands like a highly skilled butcher, dismembering Dracula.
Du Wa raised Mjolnir, bathing in countless bolts of lightning, and smashed it right onto Dracula's head. Countless bolts of lightning, suffused with divine power, surged into Dracula's body, wreaking havoc and destruction.
Every single cell, faced with divine lightning of this magnitude, should have been completely annihilated.
But Dracula just wouldn't die. Not only did he not die, he just shrieked strangely in pain. It was only when he glanced around and saw that his subordinates were all dead or wounded that his face became incomparably ugly.
He had specifically chosen a time when Sentry and Druig were absent, but he still failed to take down Du Wa. The guards he had carefully selected were also all dead. He had no choice but to retreat.
If he couldn't take down Du Wa within a few minutes of fighting, he had to retreat. Otherwise, once Sentry and the others returned from thousands of kilometers away, he would be finished.
Dracula wanted to leave, but of course, Du Wa wouldn't let him.
"Stay and become a glorious Alien. This is your honor," Du Wa said, aiming at Dracula's rapidly tumbling body as he tried to jump off Stark Tower. He threw Mjolnir, accurately hitting and pinning him to the ground.
"I don't really like using Mjolnir, but this thing allows me to more directly contact and understand divine power, and it can be useful in certain situations, like now."
This momentary delay was all that was needed. Under Du Wa's command, numerous Aliens restrained Dracula.
"I shouldn't have been so hasty. If I had been able to create a few more sets of Adamantium nets, the result would have been different." Dracula was a little annoyed, but only annoyed.
It was laughable. He wasn't even afraid of death. Ever since he drank Varnae's blood of eternal life in the fifteenth century and became a vampire, he had been fearless, even if he had no real feats to speak of against enemies other than an ordinary person.
All the methods the world thought could kill him ultimately just made him spend a few more seconds reassembling his body. This time would be the same. No matter how these people planned to torture him, he would repair all the damage and reappear in this world as the progenitor of vampires, continuing to expand the scale of vampirism.
And he would drink all the Aliens' blood. That taste was truly intoxicating; he had lost half his head to it.
"Too many vampires is not a good thing; it will reduce the quantity and quality of our food. But being killed by you to this extent is also not a good thing," Dracula said, lifting his head with difficulty, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth.
Du Wa smashed his head with the hammer, then ordered the Speed Alien to quickly bring over an Alien Egg.
"So this is an Alien Egg. It's my first time seeing one up close. Buddy, you really have a strange obsession with vampires..."
Tony seized the time to collect data. Soon, he saw the ridiculously large egg bloom like a flower, and a facehugger shot out from it, pouncing onto Dracula's head.
"This is parasitism. It looks like it won't be long before a chestburster emerges, and a Dracula Alien will appear. What I'm curious about is, all vampires are supposed to obey Dracula, so now, will all vampire Aliens obey this Alien?"
"Whether the result you described comes to pass depends entirely on my whim," Du Wa said casually. Only then did he unhurriedly take out a lucky, unbroken wine glass and drink the wine within.
It had been a long time since Du Wa had felt so pleased. "I sometimes struggle with how to obtain a stable supply of strong Alien species. Now, this problem is solved. The immortal Dracula will become the perfect container for the Aliens, breeding an endless stream of powerful Blood Aliens for me."
The people present waited. Even as people like Fury kept sending inquiries, they were all rudely blocked by Tony.
It wasn't until Dracula opened his eyes and felt the tremor coming from his chest that he sneered. "Trying to burst out of my chest? It seems my fate is the same as the other vampires. I've heard your Aliens can even plunder the host's healing ability."
Dracula told a lie. He knew clearly that the Aliens could not take away his immortality, because it wasn't a simple genetic power.
But what he didn't know was that Du Wa was crystal clear about his immortal trait. He also knew that Death, one of the Creator Gods, rejected Dracula in certain universes. No matter how strong the Alien was, it had not yet evolved to the point where it could copy and plunder even cosmic rules, let alone multiversal rules.
Soon, an Alien burst from his chest.
Amidst a blur of flesh and blood, Dracula convulsed, enduring immense pain. "Very good, you've won. But the progenitor of vampires will not die. It won't be long before someone appears in the world in my name. At that time, that person will prepare enough Adamantium nets to capture all of you creatures and use you as a blood bank."
"Brilliant, a very good idea. In that case, why don't we help each other out? I'll capture you first, you incubate Aliens for me, and as a reward, I'll arrange for the Aliens that burst from your body to provide you with blood periodically," Du Wa suggested.
"Do I look like an idiot? Or are you treating me like a perpetual motion machine?"
"Remarkable. To think a vampire knows a scientific concept like the perpetual motion machine."
Du Wa was about to applaud the guy. He immediately took the seemingly dead Dracula back to Weyland Tower.
He couldn't wait to shove a second facehugger into Dracula's body.
Dracula finally realized what Du Wa intended to do. Now, he couldn't even continue to use the skill of playing dead. This was completely different from the script he had envisioned.
He had learned about the tragic experiences of many vampires, knowing that after Du Wa performed a chestburst on a vampire, he would either feed the vampire's corpse to the Aliens as food or simply dispose of it as trash.
Either way, Dracula was confident he could eventually repair his body and find an opportunity to escape. He just needed to play dead and suppress his mental fluctuations. But what was this now? Du Wa was relentlessly starting a second parasitism on him?
Damn it, how did Du Wa know he wasn't dead! Druig wasn't even here. He didn't even check, just went straight for another round of parasitism?
He had no choice but to start struggling. Immediately, an Alien walked over and gave him a hard slap across the face.
Dracula took a closer look. The pale alien before him was clearly the one that had just burst out of his body.
"So you knew all along. That's why you're doing this to me, you know I'm an immortal, eternal being..."
Dracula's expression flickered, but no one paid him any attention anymore.
Dozens of facehuggers were already starting to line up in front of him, and even more Alien Eggs were being placed before him.
Seeing this scene, even though Dracula was immortal and claimed he could confidently ignore everything in the world, even cosmic gods, at this moment, he couldn't suppress a feeling that made his blood run cold.
In the past, it wasn't as if no one had tried to deal with him using various methods, like burning him with fire for a long time, or simply stuffing him into magma, or burying him deep underground.
But no matter what they did, it only delayed his resurrection. All methods of restraint were nothing before the two great powers of time and immortality.
"No one can kill me. The torment you inflict on me now, I will repay twofold upon you and your bloodline in the future," Dracula threatened, his bravado failing him. His mentality was starting to crumble.
Suffering a temporary setback was nothing. He had lost many battles and been cruelly killed in various ways.
But facts proved that all past enemies, compared to Du Wa, were playing childish games.
Falling into Du Wa's hands, he was like an incubator in a state of perpetual labor, twenty-four hours a day. No matter when or where, there was always a facehugger fully prepared. The moment the last Alien burst from his chest, the next facehugger would immediately pounce in impatiently.
As time went on and the number of repetitions increased, Dracula started to go numb. He had never imagined he would fall into such a plight, enduring pain without a single day off, all year round.
What should he do now? Continue to suffer? Suffer until Du Wa dies of old age, suffer until all the Aliens die out? This might be an incomparably long time, but Dracula had no other choice. Look, the chestburster Aliens standing before him had already formed a squad.
"Ha, this guy is really interesting. How does he do it?"
Even Mr. Blue was alerted. He came upon hearing the news, marveling at Dracula's miracle.
"A normal Alien would plunder all the genetic material. But why does this guy always manage to produce new genetic material out of thin air? He can't be killed no matter what, as if injury is just an intermediate state for him, and only health is the eternal state."
"Maybe it has something to do with Death. Who knows for what reason this guy earned Death's revulsion," Du Wa said casually.
Death?
Mr. Blue, carrying his huge head, fell into deep thought. He knew the Death Du Wa spoke of was not the state of being dead, but the multiversal entity that encompassed that state.
This didn't frighten him; on the contrary, it sparked even greater interest.
And so, Mr. Blue also joined in, using all sorts of tricks on Dracula along with the countless facehuggers.
Dracula let out painful howls, sometimes even losing his voice, but soon he would miraculously recover and his voice would become high-pitched again, wave after wave.
Over time, a terrifying urban legend began to spread in the outside world, saying that Weyland Tower was haunted, that there was a screaming ghost inside that patrolled day and night, using its screams to lure in innocent living people.
Dracula did not suffer in vain. Every one of his curses and pleas was the most beautiful hymn for the newborn Aliens.
"Although this Dracula's overall strength isn't outstanding, he's definitely not weak either, possessing physical qualities far superior to that of an ordinary vampire."
Du Wa assessed that Dracula could gestate twelve to fifteen Aliens a day.
"I originally thought the number should be a bit higher, but considering he has a period of weakness right after a chestburst before he returns to a perfect state, during this period, his weakened body and the speed of incubation would plummet, until the next period of health arrives," Mr. Blue said.
The key was that these Aliens were more perfect than clones. Each one was almost identical to the next, as if they were copied and pasted. Their combat power was also pleasantly surprising. Although far from reaching the Sub-Skyfather level, they were more than capable of serving as the lead Alien of a small squad.
Du Wa had no intention of investigating how Death, one of the five founding gods—or more specifically, how Death's avatar in this universe—judged the Dracula of this universe. Du Wa wasn't interested in that for the time being.
He was only very interested in these powerful Aliens that could be stably mass-produced.
Excluding special Aliens like the Abomination Alien, the Speed Alien, and the few Eternals Aliens, the Dracula-brand, mass-produced Aliens were the most outstanding.
They were even quite a bit stronger than the Deviant Aliens that had absorbed a lot of nutrients and grown a lot.
"Hmm, with an additional batch of new blood, the number of mid-to-low-level officers in my troops can be quickly assembled. I can even go head-to-head with the Frost Giants."
Dracula's appearance greatly accelerated Du Wa's plan to raise an army. In addition, large numbers of mammals had fallen, whether they flew in the sky, ran on the ground, or swam in the sea. Any that were suitable were captured and brought back as hosts.
An army of fifteen thousand was quickly built and sent by Du Wa straight to Asgard.
Not only that, this time Du Wa went personally, bringing along many powerful combat units.
Countless people were watching Du Wa's every move. Even though they had long been mentally prepared, when they saw the dense swarm of Aliens spread throughout the entire Weyland Tower—not just on the more secure floors, but even in the lobby on the first floor, which was already teeming with countless Aliens standing on the ground, climbing on the walls, and crowding the ceiling—they were shocked.
Even the roof of Weyland Tower and the surrounding plazas were already filled with a dense mass of Aliens.
This terrifying number was enough to make anyone who saw it feel suffocated.
"How long has it been, and he's raised an army of this size again..."
"Believe me, this is Du Wa intentionally holding back. If he really went all out and let a few more Alien queens loose around the world, then the growth in the Alien population would be absolutely exponential. Don't forget, we can't even perfectly control the land, let alone the vaster and deeper ocean... God only knows how many Aliens are hidden in the ocean right now. Let's hope the people of Atlantis can hold out."
Every person who harbored ill will toward Du Wa was now extremely pessimistic. How the hell were they supposed to deal with a monster like this?
Looking back at the entire history of Earth, even including the Eternals and Deviants, was there any single person like Du Wa?
No, absolutely not. Du Wa was one of a kind. There were no examples to reference, which meant no one knew what method to use to permanently solve the terrifying threat posed by Du Wa and the Aliens.
But this absolute power also successfully caused more people to switch sides on the spot, turning to idolize Du Wa.
If you can't beat them, join them. After all, the cost of joining the Aliens was pitifully low, and the process of transforming from an ordinary person to a superhuman was ridiculously simple.
What could be more cost-effective than joining them and becoming a powerful individual in one leap?
Everyone except Dracula was filled with reverence for Du Wa.
The Asgardians were another story. They had painstakingly gathered a group of people and carefully prepared a welcoming ritual.
But when they saw the astonishing number of Aliens appear, they all fell silent.
The Aliens parted, forming a path.
"I have come, as Thor, to end this protracted war!"
(end of chapter)