Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 5809 - 4832: Home Alone (12)

Clearly, over the past few decades, East Hampton’s upper-class society has had a period of secretive past filled with tycoons and dramatic changes. If not "War of Inheritance," it would still be "The Great Gatsby." And Stark didn’t play any good role in it, mostly being that rebellious yet particularly smart child who embodies both positive and negative examples.

"So you came back to mock them," Coulson said sharply, "Taking advantage of the Christmas party name to disdain them fiercely, and to get back at them for the bullying you suffered in the past?"

"First of all, they never succeeded in bullying me," Stark rolled his eyes and said, "Those idiots are pathetically stupid, their methods of ostracizing others are just a few tricks repeated over and over, and after I cracked them, they couldn’t come up with anything more creative, so in the end all they could do was badmouth me behind my back. I took my revenge a long time ago."

"Secondly, who said I was going to host a Christmas party here? Binding everyone to the table, serving a bunch of dishes that are not delicious at all, and reciting those boring prayers I have never memorized. God, if that’s the case, I’d rather Jesus was never born!"

Natasha and Coulson exchanged a glance, then Natasha gave Greed a look, which meant, "See, I told you so."

"Howard never forced me to sit at the dining table like this back in the day, how could I torment Little Morgan this way? Christmas Eve should be about everyone reuniting in the most comfortable way, not having to resort to these formalities." Stark clearly despised this approach, his tone was full of unrestrained irony.

"Besides, these things ought to be handled by the lady of the house. Pepper has been exhausted for a year, she’s already worried sick about areas beyond my capability. The Christmas holiday should be her time to really relax, not making her do such tasks."

"Can’t you do it then?" Natasha obviously didn’t quite understand.

"If I did, Pepper might be mocked by the guests." Greed explained, "In this circle, hosting parties is the wife’s privilege, and if her husband doesn’t support it or outright stops her from hosting, she’ll be ridiculed by other wives."

"Crazy." Natasha bluntly said, "What kind of power is it to do such a tedious and thankless job?"

"That’s why I say this place is a giant psychiatric hospital," Greed said, spreading his hands, "Everyone has their designated role, and everyone must live within these roles. Society’s division of labor is stuck in the 17th century, family atmosphere remains in the 18th century, as if this shows they are ancient nobles, but in fact, even if you counted their family history in the old world, they wouldn’t touch the fringe of nobility."

Natasha could probably imagine it; she told Stark, "No wonder you don’t like it here, like a Bolshevik looking at the Tsar Family."

"Much more than that," Stark said, "Those people called me a freak who only fiddles with junk in the basement, and it’s that freak they’re talking about using that junk to create today’s Stark Group."

"Truthfully, I think you should host a Christmas party." Greed encouraged, "I really want to see their expressions."

"Come on." Stark was unwilling, "You can totally imagine what they would do. They would treat the party as your compromise, and completely ignore the current situation, holding onto the old things, trying to discipline you, desperately nitpicking and finding faults at the party, pointing out where you didn’t do well according to their rules, demanding you worship their setup. Just thinking about it makes me nauseous."

"Alright." Greed didn’t insist, then asked, "So what’s the reason you called me here?"

"Aren’t you looking at houses?" Stark said, "There’s a very nice estate for sale here, I’m planning to take you to see the house."

"Are you kidding?" Greed suddenly felt speechless, "You know well enough these people are all insane, and yet you want me to buy a house here?"

"Aren’t you a psychiatrist?" Stark argued, "For someone like me with anxiety disorder, it’s entirely juvenile. If you can cure this bunch, then it shows your superb medical skills."

"I think you just want revenge on them." Natasha couldn’t help but say, "Because you detest these people so much, you want to make Shiller buy a house here and live long-term. Despite how nasty they sound, I have to say..."

"No, you better not say it." Stark interrupted her, "Trust me; they deserve it."

Natasha still wanted to speak, but Stark continued, "Nick definitely wouldn’t oppose this suggestion because he knows quite a few aliens have chosen to settle in Long Island. Shiller and I returning here allows us to keep a close eye on their movements."

As expected, Natasha and Coulson fell silent. Greed frowned slightly and said, "Aliens buying houses on Long Island?"

"Yes, and the competition is quite fierce." Stark said, "The owner of that estate and I have some acquaintance, he agreed to prioritize selling it to me; otherwise, it would surely be bought by a member of the interstellar council, most likely a noble from the Shi’ar Empire."

Greed seemed a bit hesitant and said, "Let’s go and see the house first."

So they got into the car and headed to the house. Though claimed to be in the same area, it’s actually not in the same county—many streets in East Hampton are modeled after England, named after various counties to show off their aristocratic ethos—this house is closer to the sea, but on the other side of the coastline, opposite Stark Mansion across the bay.

Once the car stopped, Greed was stunned. He stood at the gate, looking at the estate and said, "My goodness, what’s the difference between this and Viscount Manor?"

By Viscount Manor, he referred to the large estate Arrogant lived in during his initial stay in Gotham, which has now been converted into Gotham’s Young Avengers’ headquarters.

The estate before them was indeed a very typical English manor, thus it bore some resemblance to Viscount Manor, but was actually somewhat more modernized. Besides retaining a certain British style with the spire and towers, its external lines were not overly complicated, showcasing more simplicity and elegance.

The overall outer wall was a pale gray color, while the roof was a dark brown. Both were relatively low in saturation, seeming fairly deep, yet they echoed with the far-off deep blue bay, giving an impression of abundant autumn.

"Is this really not a place for vampires to live?" Natasha’s spirit questioned, "It’s already the 21st century, and we can still see such houses."

"Uh..." Stark glanced around nervously.

The door quickly opened from the inside, and the person who came out surprised everyone.

"Hello, I’m Dracula." The person who approached had white hair, dark skin, and eyes with a faint hint of blood.

Natasha immediately frowned, knowing that Dracula once led the second vampire invasion of New York, injured Matt severely, and the superheroes at that time continuously hunted him. But this guy is simply undying, no matter what they did, they couldn’t kill him, ultimately leading to his sealing.

But in reality, the seal doesn’t solve the problem, because the power of the seal will eventually fade. It wouldn’t be long before Dracula returned to the world; just no one expected it to be this soon.

"Don’t misunderstand." Dracula tightened his cloak and then said, "I’m not here to fight you, and you can’t kill me, so don’t waste your effort."

"Your kin are already extinct," Greed pointed out.

"I don’t care about them," Dracula said, dismissively. "Do you want to buy the house or not? If so, come on in."

Greed hesitated. The house looked quite old, but if Dracula lived here, it appeared too modern. As he followed Dracula in, he asked, "Where’s your Dracula Castle?"

"This is just my residence in America," Dracula said. "I already found Iron Man a while ago. I just didn’t expect that the bargaining chip to make him agree to negotiate with me would merely be this house."

"What conditions do you want to negotiate?" Greed squinted his eyes.

"Sit down first." Dracula led them into the hall and invited them to sit. Once inside, the sense of déjà vu was even stronger. The dim lighting, the luxurious decor, the gloomy atmosphere—it all seemed incomplete without a Gotham-like cold rain outside.

Even though the house was on the coastline and the weather was relatively sunny, as soon as you entered, it felt dark and dreary, truly befitting a vampire’s abode.

"I want to immigrate," Dracula said. "I want to go to the Shi’ar Empire. Can you help me?"

"Why do you want to go there?" Greed asked, puzzled.

"I need their blood," Dracula said. "They are descendants of gods, their blood contains special powers."

"You want to use these powers to strengthen yourself?"

"No, just that it tastes great," Dracula said. "I’m tired of human blood, and I urgently need a new thrill."

"Then why not go for the Aesir?"

Greed almost laughed at his own question. Dracula seemed too lazy to answer such a dumb question; he said, "The Ferocious Feather Tribe is good prey. Even if I’m only going for a vacation, I probably won’t return for a millennium. It’s beneficial to you too, isn’t it?"

"Indeed it is," Greed said. "And your payment is this house?"

"Certainly not for free," Dracula said. "In the Shi’ar Empire, I also need money. You just need to give me some interstellar universal coins, exchanged at the house’s value."

"Isn’t that still buying it?"

"Yes. But I can offer you a discount. Many people are willing to help me immigrate and willing to pay, but I don’t want those alien barbarians to turn this place into a mess."

Greed pondered for a moment. Indeed, the house was secondary. To be able to dump Dracula in the Shi’ar Empire would be a tremendous relief.

Dracula’s destructive power isn’t actually strong because his intelligence and abilities aren’t very high. His most god-defying ability is his undying nature, something even Marvel’s Goddess of Death can’t shake. But with just this ability, he is equivalent to a large punching bag. The fact is, he hasn’t managed to accomplish anything significant over the years; the invasion of New York was much ado about nothing, ultimately ending in him being beaten and fleeing.

But that’s in regards to humans. Earth has many masters with vast experience, and Dracula naturally couldn’t cause much trouble. But this kind of undead cockroach, if dumped into the Three Great Empires’ heartland, would become quite the headache for them.

Dracula is an irredeemable villain who cannot become an antihero, nor will he dutifully work. Hence, it’s better to toss him out to harm others.

"Alright," Greed nodded, "We accept your proposal. Let’s discuss the specific price next. The human race’s current reserve of universal coins isn’t much, so you’d better not ask for too much."