"Is this...Mr. John Stillman?"

Howard, who has been in the Pentagon all year round and occasionally attends White House banquets, recognizes the man in the photo at a glance.

The other party is the right-hand man next to the president, John Stillman, who was appointed chief of staff of the White House.

The seat he sat in, known as the "Second President" and the "White House Gatekeeper", can be said to be one of the politicians closest to the Center for Power in Washington, DC.

"Who is the other guy? Or a man - is it a problem with Stillman's sexual orientation? This is big news!"

Howard always has the extraordinary talent to turn anything into the lower body.

"But in politics, it shouldn't be considered a big deal. As far as I know, Hoover of the FBI is still a bisexual."

"Luke, you know, those high-powered big guys who claim to be high-ranking people, but they are actually very naughty."

"Please don't pick yourself out when you use mean words to mock them."

After glanced at Howard, who was gradually getting out of the subject, Luke stood up and walked to the wine cabinet, and took out a high-end whiskey that came from Stark's mansion.

"As the boss of Stark Industry and a deep-rooted arms tycoon... Howard, don't forget that you are also a part of the upper class who is full of vulgar people."

"And, to some extent, you are still the backbone!"

Dangdangdang!

The ice cubes hit the wall of the cup, making a crisp sound.

The amber liquid is injected, rippling with ripples.

"Come on a drink?"

Luke asked, turning his head.

"You are really good at doing business with my collection! No wonder the people on the Budget Committee get a headache when they see you!"

Howard was unforgivable but honest, and reached out to take the cup of whiskey.

"At the end, why did you notice Stillman?"

Iron Man's dad was a little confused. In his impression, Lieutenant General Superman was not very interested in politics, and even more so for politicians who played power.

Otherwise, if the president had expressed his intention to attract others before, he would not have refused so quickly.

Luke took a sip of the cold liquid, his eyes flashed, and he whispered: "According to the six-degree space theory, the distance between you and any stranger you want to contact will not exceed six people."

"In other words, you can get to know every stranger in the world by theoretically just through six middlemen."

Howard narrowed his eyes and curled his lips, "It sounds like a nonsense, but it is indeed interesting. Its logical trap is that no one knows who the six strangers are. They lack the conditions for specifying targets, so they can forcefully continue to do so."

He raised his chin and made a comment.

"Howard, why can't you always grasp the point?"

Luke shook his head helplessly, pointed at another man in the photo, and said, "I just want to say that if you want to explore a person's true identity and political stance, you can start with his social circle. Whoever he knows and has close ties with, to some extent, represents the class and position he is in."

"John Stillman is the president's confidant, the White House gatekeeper, and the second-person in Washington's privilege, but he privately met a vampire and stayed for a long time."

"vampire?"

Howard's voice increased a few degrees.

He was impressed by this.

"Yes. According to SHIELD's investigation, the one who met Stillman was called Gaitaro."

Luke pushed the information on the table over and said meaningfully: "The pure-blooded descendant of Grand Duke Dracula is also one of the leaders of the Vampire Council in the North American continent."

"It may sound incredible, but those night-walking creatures who walk in the dark and dare not face the sunshine have a social system and power structure similar to humans."

"The Vampire Council is probably equivalent to the White House cabinet, with great power and can mobilize family resources at any time."

"The White House Chief of Staff colluded with the Vampire Parliament..."

Howard seemed to have a little taste after savoring it.

"I heard you say before that vampires claim to be immortal species, and humans may be just a short part of their long life."

"So, Stillman wants to live longer?"

After thinking about it, the most tempting piece of bargaining for humans is the legendary immortality.

Everyone is afraid of death and hopes that the cruel time can show mercy to their own hands.

"It's not all right. Vampires can also age, but they are much slower than humans, far from reaching the immortal level of immortality."

Luke corrected Howard's misunderstanding and then continued: "As for Stillman's private contact with the Vampire Council, I began to think it was an exchange of interests, just like you."

"But with the in-depth investigation by Agents of SHIELD, I found it was not that simple."

Speaking of this, Luke paused, looked at Howard, who was being hung up, and asked with a smile: "Have you heard of the 'Ha Ghost Clan'?"

"Is it some kind of underground group that worships vampires?"

Howard thought for a few seconds, combined with the literal meaning, and gave the correct answer.

"The predecessor is indeed the case. Humans are very complex creatures. Sometimes they need a specific image as a spiritual support."

Luke raised his wine glass, stared at the amber liquid, and said lightly: "The more empty the heart is, the more spiritual support is needed - but this is just a belief within the normal range, belonging to personal freedom, and there is no problem."

"When talking about worship, that's another matter."

“There is money worship, the worship of men’s organs, and the most common idol worship—all kinds.”

"People always like to attach a strong desire or need to something specific."

"And the Ha Ghost Clan is a group of people who pursue eternal life, immortality, young bodies, fresh vitality... who later gradually developed into worshiping vampires, wanting to become vampires, and even considering themselves to be slaves of vampires, and humans are low-level creatures."

"Ha, the sad guy with short-sighted eyes."

Howard showed a look of contempt on his face.

With his knowledge and pride, he naturally looks down on these guys.

To be more precise, he believed that because he was not strong enough in his heart, he gave up thinking and handed over this power to others - he could all be classified as idiots.

certainly--

Except for personal beliefs, there is no saying that worship is there.

Howard himself is not a devout Christian.

"I really didn't expect Stillman to be a harp-man, who secretly worships vampires. He graduated from Duke University's law school. I thought law-based people should be more rational than normal people."

"Don't label people casually. Before I met you, I also thought that the genius of MIT was probably the kind of nerd who was not close to women. I also felt that scientists were always serious and stereotyped."

Luke's rebuttal left Howard speechless.

His harsh and vicious tongue, which was always tried and savage, seemed to be ineffective in putting it in front of the other side.

"After I left Washington, D.C., Stillman began to contact the Vampire Council, and before that, he did not show any abnormality."

Luke opened the information of Guetaro, the vampire parliament, and the content was relatively simple, and it was not as detailed as the White House Chief of Staff John Stillman.

From this we can see that the agents and agents of SHIELD may be fine in the face of ordinary people.

But it seems a bit too little to deal with a creature like a vampire.

"In fact, it's not just Stillman. Judging from the information I have on hand and the results of the investigation, there may be one-third of the members of Congress, who are all Hagicides, or have close contacts with them."

Luke tells a shocking fact.

This is equivalent to the upper level of the state power pyramid, almost infiltrating the vampires.

Realizing the seriousness, Howard finally restrained his cynical frivolous expression.

"The vampires on the North American continent seem to be developing a little better than those on Europe."

He took a sip of whiskey and expressed doubts.

"The situation on both sides is different. The pure-blooded descendants of Dracula know more about unity. They are closely connected with human society, while the situation in Europe is more chaotic."

Luke briefly introduced two sentences.

"In addition, the New York Sanctuary did not hit dark creatures very hard, which gave the Vampire Council a chance to survive."

Over the years, pure-blooded descendants have penetrated quite strongly into the business and political circles.

At its peak, half of the senior executives of large-scale financial institutions on Wall Street were all members of the Ha Ghost Clan.

Therefore, Wall Street elites are called "vampires".

In a literal sense, it is actually true.

"Howard, do you remember the Conqueror Kang I mentioned?"

After closing the information, a sharp light flashed through Luke's eyes.

Howard, who was sitting opposite, felt a little frown and asked, "That guy who can travel through time and space and pretend to be a historical celebrity everywhere?"

"Yes. I thought at first that if Conqueror Kang had to choose a leader with a high status and powerful enough, he would probably have focused on the Soviet Union."

Luke tapped his fingers on the side of the wine glass and whispered: "If he really did this, he would turn himself into the Kremlin, even if he wanted to provoke World War III, it might not be a problem."

"But, after I returned to New York, to Washington, DC, I saw the chief of staff colluding with the Vampire Council, and seeing the Mr. President who was secluded... I couldn't help but have another idea."
Chapter completed!