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"I just received reliable news that President Ellis will be attending a charity fundraising gala tonight in Queens, New York, and will deliver the opening speech at the conference."
Aldrich Killian said somewhat maniacally, "There's no time like the present… Since our identities have been exposed, we might as well advance the plan… Have Dr. Connors prepare; tonight, I want the streets of New York to be in chaos!"
Eric Savin glanced at his boss and asked, somewhat uncertainly, "Sir, isn't such a hasty operation too risky?"
"What's more, if the boss… cough, I mean that fake actor, finds out, he'll be furious."
Needless to say, the "boss" Eric Savin referred to was naturally Mandarin, Trevor Slattery.
After witnessing the terrifying magic he possessed, which allowed him to summon demons from the corpses of others, both A.I.M. members and Ten Rings Gang members felt an unusual fear towards this "new" boss.
Aldrich Killian was no exception; upon hearing the title "boss," a flicker of resentment and fear unconsciously flashed in his eyes.
But then he said, somewhat feebly, "Hmph, don't worry. Although I don't know where that old man went, I'm sure he won't be back for a while…"
"Moreover, the current situation is extremely unfavorable for us. To break out of it, we must act by surprise."
"As long as Riots break out in New York, President Ellis will certainly turn back midway and return to Washington as soon as possible to take charge of the overall situation. This way, we only need to set up an ambush in advance on the way to easily succeed."
Aldrich Killian's plan this time was simple: broadcast the assassination of the President, and then have the Vice President, with whom he was secretly colluding, take over the presidency.
This way, he could successfully clear his name.
After all, even if Maya Hansen exposed everything, as long as she didn't have substantial evidence… oh no, even if she did have substantial evidence, it would be useless.
Because as long as the Vice President could successfully take office, Aldrich Killian was confident he could completely resolve this major problem through judicial intervention from the White House.
After all, such incidents are a high-probability event that frequently occurs in America's judicial history, and the public has long grown accustomed to it.
The true interpretation of the "beacon of freedom" is: in the face of immense profit, truth is utterly worthless!
And Dr. Curt Connors, in Aldrich Killian's eyes, was merely cannon fodder meant to attract firepower and attention from beginning to end.
Although he still couldn't understand what Trevor Slattery wanted to do by having him bring Dr. Curt Connors back in the first place.
But now that he was once again the de facto leader of A.I.M. and the Ten Rings Gang, everything had to proceed according to his plan.
Aldrich Killian had actually already arranged this.
Once the Vice President successfully took office, he would pin all the blame on this scapegoat, and then hand him over to the Vice President to make an example of him.
This way, he could perfectly clear his name and also use the opportunity to help the Vice President gain public support and increase his prestige. It was killing two birds with one stone!
What?
You're asking why not pin the blame on Trevor Slattery? After all, he's the real Mandarin!
Please, Aldrich Killian would have to have the guts to do that.
"Afterward, have someone use AI technology to simulate the boss… cough, I mean Mandarin's image to issue a declaration. As for Maya Hansen's punishment… put it off for now; she won't escape."
Somehow, Aldrich Killian suddenly recalled the crazy words Trevor Slattery had said to him before leaving.
"Enjoy the time to come. Your destiny is already sealed. Fulfill the mission bestowed upon you by the Lord of Change, and you can go to the Warp to embrace new life!"
During this time, Aldrich Killian had occasionally heard Trevor Slattery mention the Lord of Change a few times.
But as a scientist, he simply didn't believe in such mystical Things.
Even though he had personally seen Trevor Slattery use magic to turn many soldiers at K. Witt Salem Air Force Base into twisted and grotesque supernatural creatures…
Damn it, this lunatic must have fried his brain on drugs!
"Yes, boss."
Eric Savin nodded admiringly, his address to Aldrich Killian unconsciously returning to its former state.
And as he was about to leave, he was called back by the latter again.
"Oh, right, remember to leave Tony Stark some surprises when you evacuate… Doesn't he like fireworks? This time, let him have his fill."
Eric Savin immediately grinned mischievously and said, "Heh heh, don't worry, boss. The unstable soldiers who injected the Lizard · Cross-Species Gene Serum have quite terrifying self-detonation power."
…
Inside a laboratory.
"Heh heh, the plan is earlier than expected?"
Dr. Curt Connors, holding a test tube in one hand and a pipette in the other, standing at the lab bench performing some chemical experiment, immediately showed a crazed, eager expression on his face upon receiving the notification.
Perhaps due to the influence of the Lizard · Cross-Species Gene Serum, his mental state was now in an unbalanced condition.
This all stemmed from a month ago when he obtained the serum formula Peter Parker had developed himself, using despicable deceptive means from a drunk Peter Parker.
After obtaining the serum formula, he immediately rushed back to the laboratory.
Then, after more than a week of effort, he finally successfully replicated an "improved version" of the Lizard · Cross-Species Gene Serum.
He retained the components in the serum that could promote rapid division of self-healing factors and appropriately optimized the components that could cause human mutation.
The reason it was so time-consuming and laborious was that he only wanted to restore his missing right arm but did not want to turn into an ugly Lizard Man like Peter Parker.
However…
Reality is always destined to be contrary to one's wishes!
Curt Connors immediately injected himself with the "improved version" of the Lizard · Cross-Species Gene Serum.
Initially, the effect was as good as he expected; his missing right arm successfully "grew" back.
But before he could cheer, his body mutated, directly transforming him into a super large lizard whose thoughts were uncontrolled and whose heart was filled with a desire for slaughter.
Clearly, his improvement of the Lizard · Cross-Species Gene Serum had failed.
Thus, driven by primal urges, he actually killed all the researchers in the laboratory.
Although he was subsequently pursued by the police, he ultimately escaped the encirclement by virtue of his extraordinary strength and self-healing ability, fleeing into the sewers.
However, even after he transformed back into human form, the desire for slaughter, like a second personality, had already taken control of his brain.
"Thanks for Mr. Killian's support… Don't worry, I will turn everyone in New York into a new species… From now on, no one will have to suffer the pain of physical defects, and no one will be rejected by society. I will create a World without flaws, I will create faster, stronger, smarter new humans!"
"However, to achieve all this, I must use the Osborn Group's Ghana Device. This way, I can use the new infectious agent I developed to create a plague cloud that can cover all of New York, infecting the entire city's population in the shortest possible time."
Eric Savin, who had listened to the entire conversation, pursed his lips and grinned, "Very good, Dr. Connors, then I wish you success in advance! I will send people to support you!"
… … … …
…
Ten thousand meters above the ground.
The Sky Carrier was speeding towards Miami, and in the Bridge, Tony Stark was explaining the situation of the target, the Ten Rings Gang and Aldrich Killian, to Nick Fury and the other Avengers members, excluding Thor.
It is worth mentioning that the Avengers recently gained three new members: Invisible Woman Susan Stone, Human Torch Jonathan Stone, and Thing Ben Grimm.
Under Nick Fury's coercion and inducement, all three ultimately chose to join S.H.I.E.L.D., and then naturally became new members of the Avengers.
Although all three's superpowers were currently in the development stage and could not be used very skillfully, Nick Fury believed that they should gain experience from actual combat to grow quickly.
So this time, he specifically brought all three of them along!
"So… we're facing a group of bomb-men who have self-healing abilities but could lose control and self-detonate at any time?"
Black Widow pointed at the information projected by the Mark 43 Hunter Armor in front of her and asked with a serious expression:
"Then why don't we just use the aircraft cannon to level their Base directly?"
"Because the actual situation could be even worse."
Facing the inquiring gazes from Captain America and the others, Tony Stark shook his head helplessly. "According to Maya Hansen, a man named Curt Connors successfully merged the Extremis Virus with the Lizard · Cross-Species Gene Serum…"
So what we're facing now could very likely be a group of Lizard Men with superhuman strength, self-healing abilities, and who can also breathe fire!"
"Breathe fire? I'm best at that."
Human Torch Jonathan Stone, who had been distracted ever since he discovered he resembled Captain America, finally heard a topic he could chime in on.
He snapped his fingers in front of everyone, and a flame suddenly appeared from his fingertip out of thin air.
"How about it, isn't it amazing?"
Everyone immediately looked at this clown with the eyes of an idiot, then couldn't help but glance at Captain America, who resembled him.
Looking alike isn't scary, but whoever's stupid is embarrassing!
"If I remember correctly, isn't the leader of the Ten Rings Gang that Middle Eastern man called Mandarin?"
Seeing her brother acting foolish again, Susan Stone quickly brought the conversation back on track, "Also, that woman named Maya Hansen, is her word trustworthy?"
"Don't worry, she definitely won't lie to me. After all, we had a one-night stand before… cough, I mean, she and I are old friends who haven't seen each other in years. There's absolutely no need for her to travel all the way to my house to lie to me about something like this."
Tony Stark said confidently, "According to her, that Mandarin seems to have left for something, so currently, the true power holder of the Ten Rings Gang is Aldrich Killian."
"As for the fusion of the Extremis Virus and the Lizard · Cross-Species Gene Serum… I suppose I can count it as having seen it with my own eyes, because among the trash that previously attacked my Villa, there was a Lizard Man… He was unharmed in the explosion and then turned into a lizard and escaped into the sea."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions immediately became serious.
If what Tony had just said was true, then simply using aircraft cannons to level the area would clearly not be an effective way to kill these Lizard Men with powerful self-healing abilities.
Nick Fury, however, seemed to have discovered a blind spot and asked with burning eyes, "Where is that female scientist now?"
"I drove her away!" Tony Stark blurted out.
"Huh?"
Nick Fury immediately sternly reprimanded, "Why didn't you hand her over to S.H.I.E.L.D. directly? Don't you know how dangerous the Extremis Virus she developed is?"
"Such a talent… cough, I mean, a dangerous individual, must be personally supervised by S.H.I.E.L.D."
Clearly, Nick Fury also had ulterior motives for the Extremis Virus, which could release high temperatures and possessed powerful self-healing abilities.
Unlike Aldrich Killian, who was eager for mass production, he could give Maya Hansen ample time to successfully perfect the flaws of the Extremis Virus.
"Uh… After all, our previous relationship was a bit awkward, and Pepper was also at home at the time. If I had taken her with me, Pepper would have been suspicious…"
Tony Stark gave Nick Fury a "you know" look, but the latter completely ignored it.
Nick Fury eagerly pressed, "Then did she say where Mandarin went?"
Because the other party had previously publicly executed Brigadier General Jerritt, the highest Commander of Salem Air Force Base, causing widespread panic.
President Matthew Ellis even personally ordered that he be brought to justice at all costs.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. could successfully capture Mandarin, it would certainly gain the President's attention, thereby increasing the funding for the next quarter.
This was also the fundamental reason why Nick Fury immediately summoned all Avengers members after receiving Tony Stark's related request.
S.H.I.E.L.D. desperately needed to demonstrate its necessity and important value through an inspiring battle.
Otherwise, not only would all the glory be stolen by that bastard Karl Merks, but the financial allocation for the next quarter would also continue to decrease.
Currently, Nick Fury was almost having to pay out of his own pocket to maintain the operating expenses of his Skrull subordinates.
The landlord's family was almost out of grain too!