Walking forward along the tunnel, Natasha and the group of rescued girls soon caught up with Linen and Steve.
Seeing the blood slaves reduced to ashes on the ground and the severed vampire head in Linen's hand, Natasha's lips twitched.
It wasn't that she thought Linen was too brutal for holding the vampire's head—she had seen plenty of killing before—but now that she was also a vampire, her instincts made her feel uneasy.
Natasha quickly realized her state of mind wasn't normal.
Steve, on the other hand, was visibly relieved to see her alive.
"Natasha! Thank God… I've been worried sick for the past two days. But—what's wrong with your eyes?"
Seeing the faint red glow in Natasha's eyes, Steve immediately asked with concern.
Linen glanced at her but said nothing.
Since they had already found Natasha, there was no point keeping the vampire alive.
"Wait—don't kill me! I know the locations of twelve other vampire clans across Europe! If you spare me, I can still—"
Before he could finish, Linen kicked the head upward and blasted it apart with a beam of heat vision.
Natasha pursed her lips, then said to Steve, "These girls were captured as blood bags. Steve, please take them out first."
Steve looked at the trembling girls and nodded.
"All right. You and Linen be careful."
He immediately escorted the girls back the way they came.
Once Steve was gone, Natasha turned to Linen.
After he removed his mask, she hesitated for a moment.
"Linen… Steve doesn't know what happened, but you should understand. I'm a vampire now."
Linen stepped closer and smiled.
"Is that so bad? Sure, sunlight's a problem now, but you've got longer life and a bunch of new abilities. Also—can you turn into a bat yet? I really want to see that."
Natasha froze for a second, then realized he was joking.
"You mean… I can turn back into a human?"
"It might take more time, but right now? It's easy. The Book of the Dead has a method for reversing early-stage vampirism."
Hearing Linen's confident tone, Natasha finally relaxed.
"Thank God… That's the best news I've heard since waking up here."
(This follows comic lore—though in the comics it was Hulk who became a vampire, not Black Widow.)
Linen continued, "We'll deal with the Greg family soon. Tony and Elsa are fighting them now—we need to help."
He paused.
"But you'd better stay here. Greg turned you himself, and the blood pact might force you to obey him."
Natasha nodded.
"All right. I'll wait at the entrance."
"Good. And don't go sunbathing. I don't want to come back and find you've turned into a pile of ashes."
The more Linen joked, the lighter Natasha's heart felt.
"Don't worry. Even if I turn into ashes, I trust you can summon my soul."
"Tsk… probably not. Vampires turning to ash usually take their soul with them."
Linen put his mask back on, nodded, and headed deeper into the tunnels.
Natasha let out a slow breath.
Even though she now possessed incredible strength, she still longed for sunlight… for being human again.
Her hand subconsciously touched her abdomen.
If only… If only I'd had vampire-level healing before, maybe I would've been able to become a real mother someday.
Meanwhile—
"FUXX!"
Tony Stark cursed as another group of vampires surged toward them. He unleashed more ultraviolet beams and shouted to Maria Hill:
"Didn't that blood slave say most of the Greg family was sacrificed? Why the hell are there so many bats!?"
Hill fired her specialized rounds while rolling to avoid a vampire's claws.
"Don't underestimate centuries-old vampire clans! Even if most were sacrificed, their numbers are still huge. This is exactly why S.H.I.E.L.D. spent a fortune driving them out of America decades ago!"
Elsa Bloodstone hurled a dagger, pinning a disguised vampire to the rock wall. The creature screamed and turned to ash.
"You should thank the hunter families," Elsa said proudly.
"If not for us hunting vampires and werewolves for hundreds of years, Europe would be completely overrun."
Tony blasted a cluster of bats and raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Then maybe I should show some respect. What do you think about helping me get Linen drunk and dumping him on your bed?"
"Huh?"
Elsa's eyes brightened dangerously.
Her sword pierced another vampire's chest as she replied:
"Are you serious? You'll need a better plan. Linen holds his liquor. I tried dozens of times and not once did he get drunk. The last time I hunted a werewolf in New York, I tried the same thing. I passed out—he didn't even wobble!"
Tony: "What about sedatives?"
The Blade Warrior, hearing the two casually discuss drugging and abducting Linen while slaughtering vampires, silently slid farther away from them.
Thank God for Bloodstone family rules… and thank God Elsa doesn't like Black guys.
Holy hell—this woman is terrifying.
"I don't think this is a good idea!" Blade muttered.
Two beams of scorching heat vision sliced through the air, instantly obliterating dozens of bat-form vampires.
Linen descended from above, landing in front of Tony and Elsa.
He looked directly at Elsa and said:
"If you really need something, buy it on Amazon. Or wait until I visit New York and I'll 'treat' you properly."
"But if you try what you did last time again, don't forget how swollen your butt ended up."
Elsa's eyes gleamed with excitement.
Linen fell silent.
Right… I forgot about her… tendencies.
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