In the restaurant, Stark, who had vomited three times, finally calmed down and sat at the bar, chugging a large glass of lemonade.
The look in his eyes when he gazed at Alvin had completely changed. Alvin now appeared mysterious to him. He was no longer the con artist who used a few large dogs to scare customers and peddled the guise of an exorcist!
Lucky Miss Pepper had fainted and hadn't woken up yet; she was currently resting in Jessica's room.
Unlucky Happy, the bodyguard, was so scared in the basement that he once again fell face-first. Alvin, seeing his sore-looking nose, kindly called an ambulance for him.
Alvin watched Stark sign a check and hand it to Frank, who wore a killer's expression. Alvin fiddled with the digital camera in his hand, checking the photos inside. Hmm, they were very clear.
He tapped the bar in front of Stark and said cordially, "Mr. Stark, I think our misunderstanding has been cleared up, hasn't it?"
Stark looked at the digital camera in Alvin's hand with a livid face. The photos inside were a huge stain on his life. He had many scandalous news stories, but none were as bad as the scenes in those pictures.
Looking at Alvin's punchable face, Stark suppressed the urge to punch him and said dryly, "Yes, buddy, you've shown me some incredible things. I think I owe you an apology for what I said earlier."
Stark glanced at the camera in Alvin's hand and said, "Buddy, you can name your price for the photos you have. I won't haggle!"
Alvin shook the digital camera in his hand, placed it in the bar cabinet, and said with a smile, "Mr. Stark, you are a billionaire, a genius inventor, a philanthropist. You must be full of social responsibility, right?"
Stark clearly felt there was a trick to this, but he couldn't shake his head and deny it; that wasn't his character. He said, "You're right, that person should be me."
Alvin smiled, like a seasoned pimp, and persuasively said, "Then I believe that a Mr. Stark, with such a strong sense of social responsibility, must be willing to show the media everything you saw today and warn all citizens that terrifying vampires are lurking around them."
Alvin said, pointing to where the camera was placed, "After all, if I were to show it to the media, this matter might just turn into tabloid gossip."
Stark gritted his teeth, looking at the smiling Alvin, regretting immensely why he had ever come to this damned 'Peace Hotel.'
Stark huffed indignantly and said, "No problem! This is a good thing. I'll call a press conference when I get back and show the reporters what I saw today."
Stark glared at Alvin and continued, "But you have to give me that damned digital camera of yours. To convince those reporters, I need some evidence."
Alvin and Stark exchanged glances, Alvin pursed his lips and nodded, then readily took out the digital camera from behind the bar and handed it to Stark.
Stark took the digital camera, a bit stunned. He clicked it open and saw that it was full of pictures of him vomiting in the basement. The scenes were too beautiful; he didn't want to look after two pictures.
He raised the camera in his left hand, shook it at Alvin, and asked, "Why?"
Alvin smiled and said, "Because I think you should have at least a basic sense of social responsibility. This isn't sarcasm this time. When facing such things, we should be on the same side. It's just that our methods might be a little different."
Looking at the camera in Stark's hand, Alvin added, "Actually, that was just a joke."
Stark was caught off guard by Alvin's praise, and instead of his usual arrogance, he said blankly, "You're right, this time we should be on the same side. Faced with these vampires, I can not only gather the media. I can also donate a sum of money to the NYPD to combat vampires."
Alvin laughed heartily; this guy was finally getting it. He had been racking his brain trying to figure out how to get Stark involved in the fight against vampires.
Alvin shook his head, chuckling, "Actually, when dealing with vampires, money is the most useless thing. If Mr. Stark is willing, it would be best if you could develop some targeted weapons. I can give you some references."
Saying that, he asked JJ for the silver dinner knife he kept for self-defense and handed it to Stark.
Stark took the dinner knife, examined it carefully, and found nothing special. Looking at Alvin's smiling expression, ready to answer his questions, Stark's face soured, and he studied it again meticulously. Finally, he tentatively said, "Is it, silver?"
Alvin gave an approving thumbs-up and said, "Mr. Stark, you truly are a genius! It's silver!"
Hearing that it was merely a material issue, Stark uninterestingly tossed the dinner knife onto the bar and said, "If it's just a material issue, you can totally make it yourselves; there's no need to waste my time. How much trouble could that be?"
That remark was a bit annoying again. Alvin smiled and said, "It's not troublesome, but it's expensive. Look at everyone here; who looks like they have more than 100,000 in their bank account?
Moreover, the best weapon against vampires is actually sunlight. If you could invent something like a sunlamp to illuminate all the dark corners of the world, then vampires would go extinct."
Stark looked disdainfully at the few paupers in the restaurant. He finally found his sense of superiority again, stroked his mustache somewhat smugly, and waved his hand generously, saying, "In that case, no problem. I can set aside a production line specifically to produce, hmm, silver-plated weapons and bullets. I'll provide them to the NYPD for free."
JJ, standing nearby, asked curiously, "Why silver-plated weapons and bullets?"
Stark held up the dinner knife in his hand and said, "Isn't this silver-plated?"
Stunned, JJ muttered to himself as he retreated to the side, "Damn, I should have known earlier, how could Old Kent be willing to give away pure silver cutlery."
Not wanting JJ to embarrass himself further, Alvin stood up formally, shook hands with Stark, and said, "Thank you very much for your generosity!"
Looking seriously at the future Iron Man, who was half a head shorter than him, Alvin said, "I genuinely think you're a good guy now. I hope we have a chance to become friends."
Faced with Alvin's praise, Stark felt a bit ashamed because he was actually a little excited, and he said with rare seriousness, "Nice to meet you, Alvin, you're very special!"
Saying that, Stark sized up Alvin's not-so-bulky arm and said, "Once I've mastered judo, I'll come back and witness your other special qualities."
Despite reaching a truce with Alvin, the eccentric Stark still hadn't abandoned the idea of beating Alvin up.
Perhaps all superheroes are like this: where they fall, they must get back up.
Alvin smiled at the defiant Stark and said, "You're welcome anytime!"