Chapter 718: Chapter 718: Letting Them Know
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Having just spent a fortune buying an entire building, Henry obviously wasn’t in any position to compete with the Continental and the various criminal organizations that had received the news for the limited supply of raw materials on the market.
Besides the inflated prices, making purchases on that scale would attract unnecessary attention.
Henry had no intention of exposing himself, so his only option was to source the necessary materials from outside North America.
The obvious person to call on was the Red Guardian, Alexei Shostakov, who was currently in Europe.
Henry sent him a detailed message explaining the situation and listing the materials he needed, then waited for a reply.
After all, he was merely Alexei’s financial backer, not his superior.
He had very little authority over the man and could only negotiate politely.
Just because you were paying didn’t mean you were the boss.
Waving money around wasn’t particularly effective with a die-hard Soviet like Alexei.
So Henry didn’t dare rush him.
---
While waiting, Henry headed to his newly purchased building in the middle of the night.
On the floor he’d designated as his future secret headquarters, he began assembling a temporary automated ammunition-loading system and a production line for UV rounds.
He had figured there weren’t any outsiders in the building yet, so making some noise wouldn’t matter.
Unexpectedly, he still managed to wake the building’s other two residents—Tina and Gilgamesh.
Although both of them had tiptoed in like sneaking cats, Henry still noticed the footsteps behind him.
"Good morning? Or... good evening? It’s after midnight, so I’m not even sure how I’m supposed to greet people."
"So you do know it’s the middle of the night."
Yawning as he emerged from the darkness, Gilgamesh looked around Henry’s setup with obvious curiosity.
"What exactly are you doing?"
The building had twelve stories in total.
Each floor contained a single apartment connected by an elevator.
Tina lived on the ninth floor.
Gilgamesh occupied the tenth.
The first floor would eventually become commercial space, while Henry planned to live on the twelfth.
The floor he currently occupied—the eleventh—was reserved for his future command center.
The remaining floors would eventually be rented out.
Calling it a "secret headquarters" sounded impressive.
In reality, Henry had simply modeled it after the operations center from the Green Arrow TV series.
He had no practical experience building a superhero base, so he wasn’t entirely sure what equipment would prove useful.
The room wasn’t fully furnished yet.
But there were already enough monitors and enough powerful computer systems.
The cables remained a tangled mess, though every machine was up and running.
The screens displayed live reconnaissance footage transmitted by the Sparrow drones.
Several others formed a three-dimensional map of New York’s underground sewer network, constantly updating with newly identified landmarks.
Tina and Gilgamesh watched everything with considerable interest.
One Sparrow had already infiltrated a Reaper nest, and grotesque monsters occasionally wandered across its camera.
Originally, Henry hadn’t wanted to involve the two Eternals.
But since they’d chosen to settle down in New York, they deserved to know about the danger lurking beneath their feet.
Besides...
It wasn’t like he’d caused the mess himself and was asking them to clean it up.
It was much the same as John Wick warning him earlier.
John hadn’t expected Henry to play a major role in resolving the crisis.
He had simply wanted him to stay alert so he wouldn’t accidentally get caught up in it.
With that in mind, Henry spoke frankly.
"I’d rather not be the one bringing you bad news, but since you’ve decided to live here, I think you should know."
He proceeded to explain vampires, the Reapers, and everything that had happened.
Then he continued,
"What I’m doing now is sending reconnaissance drones into the sewers to determine exactly where those things are hiding."
Watching the monsters on the screen, Gilgamesh remained remarkably calm.
He merely asked,
"Hasn’t anyone reported this to the police? Or informed the military?"
Henry answered helplessly,
"The police and the military operate under the same restriction—they need concrete evidence before they’re authorized to act.
"Usually, those creatures would have to come swarming out of the sewers and start slaughtering people before anyone could expect official intervention.
"If they were allowed to mobilize based solely on suspicion, that would honestly be even more frightening.
"So if we can’t rely on the military and want to solve this before disaster strikes, we have to play by the rules of another world.
"The Continental is recruiting people and stockpiling ammunition, but honestly... I don’t have much confidence in a bunch of assassins fighting street battles in cramped tunnels.
"The enemy isn’t human."
Gilgamesh tilted his head.
"So you’re planning to intervene?"
Henry nodded.
"As long as I can reduce their numbers without anyone discovering my identity.
"Yes.
"I’d rather act now than wait until someone else botches the job and forces me to clean up afterward.
"This isn’t some petty bank robbery or armored-car heist."
"Need a hand?" Gilgamesh asked casually.
Henry laughed.
"I don’t think you two can help much.
"This enemy isn’t defeated through strength or skill.
"They have specific weaknesses.
"Sunlight.
"Or ultraviolet ammunition.
"One or two good hits are enough to kill one.
"In that sense, they’re actually easier to deal with.
"Our advantage is simply that we can beat them into pulp—or survive anything they throw at us.
"But that still doesn’t truly kill them."
Gilgamesh smiled.
"You’re in the same boat, aren’t you?
"So what’s the plan?
"Walk into the sewers with a pistol and go bang, bang, bang, shooting them one by one?"
Henry led them into another dark section of the floor before switching on the lights.
Rows of animal-shaped powered armor stood silently in the illuminated workshop.
Some were covered with camouflage fabric.
Others displayed bare metallic exteriors.
Some were fully completed.
Others were still halfway through construction.
The duck and leopard configurations of the Duck-Leopard Armor had already been moved over from the Yangdong Valley laboratory.
Rather than being displayed as fully assembled suits, every component was arranged separately.
All the wearer had to do was stand in the designated position, and robotic arms would rapidly equip the armor.
Besides those two, the most complete suit was a bear-themed powered armor intended for Alexei Shostakov.
Its bright paint, cartoonish appearance, and rounded metal plating made it about as intimidating as a mascot.
But beneath that cheerful exterior, the exoskeleton would elevate even a Super Soldier’s physical abilities to another level.
Apart from those three, the rest were still unfinished.
Rat.
Ox.
Rabbit.
Dragon.
Snake.
Horse.
Goat.
Henry intended to complete an entire set based on the Twelve Zodiac Animals.
Well...
Except for the tiger.
There was already a real tiger.
Some designs were realistic.
Others leaned heavily into cartoon aesthetics.
A few were simply humanoid suits wearing oversized animal helmets.
Their intended roles and specializations hadn’t been finalized yet, so they remained works in progress.
As for whether he even had enough people to wear so many suits...
Well...
If a Kryptonian wanted to wear one suit on Monday, another on Tuesday, and switch to a different one every day of the week, who was going to stop him?
Even alone, he’d build himself an entire superhero team!
Besides...
Comic-book Tony Stark had an armory containing forty or fifty different Iron Man suits.
Who said men couldn’t appreciate the romance of a wardrobe overflowing with outfits?
Travel suits.
Portable suits.
Emergency suits stored aboard aircraft.
Armor built specifically to fight the Hulk.
Armor designed to fight Thor.
Armor intended to battle Celestials...
What man wouldn’t get excited looking at that collection?
Henry wasn’t quite that obsessed.
Still...
He understood the joy of changing clothes.
A different outfit could completely change your mood.
So why wouldn’t he build a few extra suits of powered armor?
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