Chapter 75 The Puzzle of the Antidote

Nathan Hawke sat in his spacious office, looking solemnly at Hawkeye who came to him. Hawkeye was a top agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and his appearance made Nathan realize the importance of this meeting.

"A glass of iced juice, please." Hawkeye replied politely, sitting on the comfortable sofa with a calm and focused expression.

Nathan Hawke nodded, signaled his secretary to pour juice for Hawkeye, and then left the office. He knew that Hawkeye's visit to him was not a trivial matter, especially after the recent terrorist attacks by the Mandarin Extremis Warriors.

"Mr. Nathan, we have been dealing with terrorist attacks by Extremis warriors around the world recently, and we are really short of manpower." Hawkeye said straight to the point.

"Yes, the situation is indeed serious." Nathan took a deep breath, "We have dispatched superheroes to various places for support, but the scale and frequency of the desperate warriors are really beyond our ability to cope with."

"That's right, so I would like to ask your superheroes to focus only on America." Hawkeye continued to explain, "As for the situation in other countries, we at SHIELD will take action to deal with it."

Nathan Hawke was silent for a moment, then asked: "Why is it arranged like this? Is SHIELD not strong enough?"

Hawkeye's eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation, and then he answered frankly: "The truth is, we suspect there may be a mole within SHIELD."

Nathan Hawke frowned slightly, he understood the seriousness of this. "Are you saying that the reason why the desperate warriors can move freely in the United States is because someone leaked the information?"

"Yes, every time we implement a plan to arrest the Extremis Warriors, the other party always seems to know it in advance. We can only capture some small-scale targets, but not the big guys behind the scenes." Hawkeye explained.

"This is not good." Nathan Hawke pretended to look heavy-hearted. He knew that there was a bigger conspiracy behind the terrorist actions of the desperate warriors.

"So, we hope to focus on dealing with the Extremis warriors in other countries, and leave the situation in America to your superheroes. We will cooperate with each other and believe that we can better fight against the Extremis warriors." Hawkeye suggested.

Nathan Hawke thought for a moment and agreed with Hawkeye's suggestion. "Okay, I'll tell them to prioritize America's situation regarding the desperate warriors."

"Thank you, Mr. Nathan." Hawkeye nodded to Nathan with a firm expression.

After Hawkeye left, Zed came to Nathan Hawke and said, "No one was found."

"Thank you for your hard work. Would you like something to drink?" asked Nathan Hawke.

"Thank you, no thanks." said Jie.

"If you want to go, go ahead. There's nothing to do recently." Nathan Hawke said seriously.

After Jie nodded, he left in a phantom.

Nathan Hawke was sitting on the sofa, drinking a drink, with his leather shoes on the table.

"It seems that Aldredge is mixed up with Hydra. It's really interesting. However, this style of behavior doesn't seem to be the work of Pierce and Baron Strucker. So it must be the work of other Hydras. I am really looking forward to the moment when the mystery is revealed."

On the other side, Pepper Potts, who had already told Tony Stark about Aldredge and Mandarin, came to Tony Stark's villa after settling the group's affairs.

"Hello, Miss Pepper." Jarvis' voice appeared.

"Hello, Jarvis, where's Tony?" asked Pepper Potts.

"I'm conducting an experiment in the laboratory with Miss Zhao Hailun." Jarvis said.

"Helen Zhao?" Pepper Potts frowned slightly and asked in surprise.

"Yes, Ms. Zhao Helen is your friend," Jarvis replied.

"Oh, I see." Pepper Potts nodded subconsciously, then walked towards the laboratory cautiously.

Pepper Potts pushed open the door of the laboratory and saw Tony Stark concentrating on conducting an experiment with a girl named Zhao Hailun. Zhao Hailun was a young lady with an Asian face who looked very smart and focused.

"Tony, I'm here." Pepper Potts said softly, trying not to disturb the two people's experiment.

Tony turned around and smiled brightly. "Pepper, you're here. This is Zhao Helen. We are working on a new technology project together."

Helen Zhao nodded slightly and welcomed Pepper Potts. "Hello, Miss Pepper. I heard Mr. Tony mention you. I'm glad to finally meet you."

"Hello, Ms. Zhao Helen." Pepper responded politely, full of curiosity about the young lady. She knew that Tony didn't often work with strangers, and the person who could conduct experiments with him must be very special.

Tony Stark turned his attention back to the experiment and explained to Pepper, "Helen is helping me study the Extremis virus injected into the Extremis warriors. She is an outstanding scientist with in-depth research in biology and virology."

Pepper Potts expressed interest in Zhao Helen: "It sounds interesting. Do you have any new findings about the Extremis virus?"

Zhao Hailun smiled and nodded. "Yes, we have found a potential solution in our research. The Extremis virus seems to have a self-regulating property that allows it to exist stably and evolve continuously in the host. We are looking for a way to interfere with the self-regulating mechanism of the Extremis virus, thereby weakening its attack power or even causing it to die on its own."

Tony went on to explain, "Our goal is to find a way to weaken the activity of the Extremis virus, or even destroy it completely. In this way, the Extremis warriors will no longer pose a threat."

Zhao Hailun nodded and showed an experimental report. "We found in the experiment that the self-regulation of the desperate virus is mainly achieved through a special protein. We are trying to synthesize a special virus inhibitor, hoping to interfere with the function of this protein and thus weaken the activity of the desperate virus."

Tony Stark listened to Zhao Hailun's experimental report, and a glimmer of excitement flashed in his eyes. "If we can find an effective way to weaken the Extremis virus, then the Extremis warriors will no longer pose a threat."

He began to get busy in the laboratory, pulling out several computer screens to display various data and charts. Zhao Hailun also joined the experiment process. She and Tony analyzed the characteristics and behavior of the desperate virus and tried to find a suitable solution.

Pepper Potts stood quietly by, watching the two people work intensely and attentively. She knew it was a difficult task, but if anyone could successfully fight the Extremis Warriors and the Extremis Virus, it was Tony Stark and his team.

After hours of intense research and experimentation, Tony Stark and Zhao Helen finally made some groundbreaking discoveries.

"I think we can interfere with the self-regulatory mechanism of the Extremis virus by changing its genetic code," Zhao Hailun proposed an interesting idea. "If we can make the Extremis virus unstable during its evolution, it will lose its offensive power."

Tony nodded in agreement. "That's right, but we have to be careful. If we don't do it right, it could make the Extremis virus worse or cause unpredictable consequences."

Then he made a magnifying gesture: "That's the explosion."

"Yes, we have to be cautious. I will continue to conduct simulations and experiments to see if I can find a safe and effective method," said Zhao Hailun.

Tony Stark patted Zhao Helen on the shoulder: "You did a good job, Helen. I believe we can find a solution."

Pepper Potts looked at the two people's tacit cooperation and felt proud of them.

"We need to make a breakthrough as soon as possible, and then prepare to make an antidote to the Extremis virus." Tony Stark said to Pepper Potts, "Once the antidote is ready, we can shoot it into the bodies of Extremis soldiers and turn them back into ordinary people."

Pepper listened and nodded in agreement as she whispered, "Yes, this will be a powerful means to make the Extremis lose their superpowers and become ordinary and harmless. We can't let the Extremis continue to cause terror and destruction."

Tony and Zhao Hailun continued their intensive experiments and research. They were constantly optimizing the plan and looking for the safest and most efficient solution. The entire research and development process was not easy, but they all knew that as long as they could succeed, it would be a huge victory for the desperate warriors.

"Pepper." Tony Stark said.

"Yes, is there anything I can help you with?" Pepper Potts was leaning on the sofa feeling a little sleepy, but when she heard Tony's voice, she immediately stood up and asked.

"I need you to go to Hawke Group. It would be best if Nathan Hawke comes. Also, call Rhodes to come over. I remember he seems to have been discharged from the hospital. Also, tell him I'm sorry because I was too busy on the day he was discharged." Tony Stark was handling other things while talking.

"Leave it to me, I'll do it right away." Pepper Potts was about to go.

"Pepper." Tony Stark looked at her, hesitant to speak.

"What's wrong?" Pepper Potts asked curiously. At this moment, she looked very cute in Tony's eyes.

Tony Stark laughed and cursed: "Fool, it's dark now, let's go tomorrow."

After hearing what Tony said, Pepper Potts couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, I'll go tomorrow. You should also take a rest and don't be busy all day."

"Don't worry, I'll pay attention." Tony Stark smiled easily and watched Pepper leave the laboratory.

The next day, Pepper Potts went to Hawke Group as arranged by Tony. She entered the office of Hawke Group and saw Nathan Hawke sitting at his desk.

"Mr. Nathan, Tony asked me to come to you to discuss something important." Pepper Potts said.

"Really? Then let's sit down and talk." Nathan politely invited her to sit down.

Pepper and Nathan started talking, and Pepper conveyed Tony's request to Nathan, hoping that he could come over.