Chapter 41: The Birth of Electro, Insulated Suit Makes Him Question His Life
On the holographic screen, the news helicopter's camera shook violently.
The anchor's voice became sharp and piercing out of fear.
"The Times Square power grid is completely paralyzed! The Police cannot get close!"
The camera zoomed in.
Max floated in mid-air.
The deep blue light tore open a gap in the gloomy rainy night.
Gwen bit her lip, her fingers tightly twisting the hem of her casual sweater.
Her knuckles turned white from pinching.
Watching the rolling cars on the screen, her breathing grew rapid.
"This monster... is it a human mutation?" Her voice trembled, her blue eyes filled with fear.
Mary Jane didn't speak.
Her action of chewing gum stopped.
Her whole body shrank into the corner of the leather sofa, her leather jacket rubbing against the cushion and making a slight creaking sound.
Felicia stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, her brows knitted into a dead knot.
Aaron slowly opened his eyes.
He swallowed the apple in his mouth.
The crisp and sweet flesh slid down his throat, washing away a trace of thirst.
He stood up.
Casually throwing the remaining half of the apple into the fruit bowl.
The apple hit the edge of the glass, making a crisp sound.
His cotton slippers stepped on the Persian carpet.
"Stay here. Don't run around."
Aaron raised his right hand, his thumb pressing against his middle finger.
Snap.
The crisp snapping sound overpowered the sirens on the television.
A blue spatial warp gate suddenly ripped open in the center of the living room.
Violent energy particles sizzled at the edges.
Aaron strode forward and stepped inside.
With a flash of light, the warp gate closed.
Only a faint smell of ozone was left in the living room.
Times Square.
The sky was gloomy, with a cold drizzle drifting down.
The cold rain hammered on the smoking asphalt road, making a harsh hissing sound.
The huge electronic billboards all went out.
Only in the center of the square, that dazzling deep blue electric light illuminated the dark night.
Max floated five meters above the ground in mid-air.
He used to be a timid and submissive maintenance worker.
No one remembered his name, and no one even wished him a happy birthday.
Now, he had changed.
Beneath his translucent blue skin, his veins looked like high-voltage power lines.
Lethal electric currents roamed across his body surface, crackling.
"Did you see me?!"
Max roared.
His voice was distorted by the current, sounding like a leaky, dilapidated speaker.
"Do you see me now?!"
He laughed wildly, his hands waving fiercely.
Two thick blue lightning bolts struck a surviving billboard.
Glass fragments smashed downwards like raindrops.
Dozens of riot Police raised their shields, retreating step by step.
Police riot shields simply couldn't stop high-voltage electricity.
Several Police officers screamed and fell into the stagnant water, their bodies convulsing violently.
Black smoke billowed from their body armor.
Max looked at those people who were usually high and mighty.
Now rolling under his feet like bugs.
That extreme inferiority complex of being stepped on by others for a long time.
Twisted into mad arrogance at this moment.
He was finally noticed by the World.
Everyone had to look up to him.
Hum——
The air made a muffled pneumatic explosion.
A blue light gate opened beside the scrapped Police car.
Aaron walked out.
He was wearing a white short-sleeve shirt, with the black jacket with a torn neckline layered on the outside.
Stepping on a pair of casual cotton slippers under his feet.
The soles of his shoes stepped into a puddle, splashing a few drops of muddy water.
The warp gate closed behind him.
Aaron stood in the sky-full of cold rain with his hands in his pockets.
Max abruptly turned his head.
His deep blue eyes stared dead at this intruder.
Everyone in the square was screaming and fleeing for their lives, yet this kid walked out leisurely.
Still wearing ridiculous cotton slippers.
"You!"
Max raised his hand, deadly electric arcs dancing on his fingertips.
"Do you want to ignore me too? Do you want to mock me too?"
His mind was full of humiliating memories of being treated as an invisible person.
That pitch-black Underground Room, that tattered blueprint with his name drawn on it.
Anger instantly swallowed his sanity.
Aaron looked up at him.
Rainwater slid down Aaron's bridge of the nose, dripping onto the black jacket.
"You're too noisy." Aaron spoke.
His voice was as flat as if he were commenting on the weather of the day.
These four words were like a red-hot iron needle, directly piercing Max's fragile nerves.
He hated most when others found him annoying, hated when others ignored him.
"Go to hell!"
Max roared, bringing his hands together in front of his chest.
The cables of more than a dozen surrounding street lights were instantly drained.
The lightbulbs burst one after another, shards of glass shattering all over the ground.
Two hundred-thousand-volt high-voltage lightning bolts, as thick as buckets.
Carrying kinetic energy that destroyed everything, they tore through the cold rain.
Blasting straight towards Aaron's face.
Aaron didn't dodge.
Even with both hands tucked in his jacket pockets, he didn't move at all.
Standing quietly right there like that.
Deep within his mind, a synthesized electronic voice suddenly exploded.
[Ding.]
[High-frequency energy attack detected.]
[Daily blind box opened automatically.]
[anti-venom suit reorganization: Absolute insulation form.]
Pure white Symbiote matter gushed wildly from his pores.
It didn't wrap around his whole body, nor did it turn into heavy armor.
It only formed an extremely thin matte white film on Aaron's body surface.
The surface of the film shimmered with a cold texture like special rubber.
Boom!
The hundred-thousand-volt blue lightning slammed fiercely into Aaron's chest.
The dazzling bright light instantly illuminated half of Manhattan.
The Police hiding at the street corner covered their eyes, letting out painful muffled groans.
The surrounding rainwater instantly evaporated under the high temperature of thousands of degrees.
Turning into vast white water vapor, rolling and rushing towards the night sky.
The high temperature distorted the air.
The asphalt road was split into a charred, large crater, with gravel flying around like bullets.
Smashing against the steel plates of abandoned cars with clanging sounds.
The light dissipated.
The steam drifted away in the cold wind.
Right in the center of the large crater.
Aaron stood in place.
The cotton slippers under his feet were instantly burned to ashes, revealing bare feet.
But his torn black jacket, along with the white T-shirt inside.
Remained intact and undamaged.
Not even a single strand of hair was scorched.
That high-voltage lightning bolt, sufficient to electrocute an elephant into charcoal, hit him.
Just like a weak static electricity brushing over a sweater.
Aside from stirring up a slight breeze, nothing was left behind.
Max floated in mid-air.
The wild laughter on his face completely froze.
His deep blue skin flickered twice, and the light dimmed a bit.
He blinked hard, thinking he had seen wrong.
"Impossible..."
Max muttered to himself.
The arrogance in his voice cracked open a seam.
He looked at his own hands, then at the unscathed Aaron.
"I am a god... I am Electro!"
He screamed out, his voice carrying obvious voice cracks.
Max acted like he went crazy.
His hands waved frantically.
Ten.
Twenty.
Dense blue lightning poured down on Aaron like a rainstorm.
The violent thunder and lightning intertwined into a huge blue power grid, completely swallowing Aaron whole.
The thunder was deafening.
The electric light illuminated the entire square in a ghastly white.
Aaron yawned.
The insulating film perfectly isolated all electrical energy.
He even felt that this high-frequency electric shock was somewhat like a massage chair, vibrating his muscles quite comfortably.
Just right to relieve the stiffness brought by sitting on the sofa.
He took a step forward.
His bare feet stepped on the scorched asphalt road surface.
There was no burning sensation; the Steel Body's skin was tougher than the hardest metal in the World.
He took another step.
Braving the sky full of thunder and lightning, he strolled slowly towards Max in mid-air.
"Die! Die!"
Max shrieked, tears mixing with rainwater flowing down, instantly evaporated by the high temperature on his face.
He pushed the output power to the absolute limit.
The load of the surrounding underground power grid reached its peak.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The substation boxes in the distance exploded one after another.
Several blocks lost power.
The entire cluster of buildings instantly plunged into dead silence and darkness.
All electrical energy was brutally drained by him.
And madly smashed by him toward the monster in the black jacket in front of him.
Lightning leaped wildly on Aaron's body.
The electric light illuminated his face alternately bright and dim.
He didn't walk fast.
But every step felt like stepping on Max's nerves.
One minute.
Two minutes.
The blue light on Max's body surface grew dimmer and dimmer.
The plasma flowing in his veins began to dry up.
He felt like a fire was stuffed in his lungs, and his body was as heavy as if it were filled with lead.
The thickness of the lightning went from a bucket-size to arm-thick.
And from arm-thick to thumb-thick.
Finally turning into clusters of weak blue sparks.
Zzz.
The last trace of electric arc jumped on Max's fingertips once.
And went out completely.
Max exhausted his last bit of electrical energy.
His legs went weak and he knelt on the ground.
Aaron walked over, grabbed him by the collar of his rubber work clothes glowing with a faint deep blue light, and lifted him up from the ground.
Chapter 42: Max, I am giving you a chance to be the free power source for my apartment.
Aaron grabbed Max by the collar with one hand.
A large chunk of the collar on his rubber work clothes was scorched by electric sparks, emitting a pungent smell of ozone and burning.
Max was dangled in mid-air like a deflated ball.
His feet hung limply, their toes a mere two inches away from the puddle-filled asphalt road.
The cold rain smashed down head-on.
Landing on Max's eerie blue skin, it made a faint sizzling sound.
The electricity on the surface of his body was reduced to sparks no thicker than a few strands of hair.
After flickering twice, they completely went out.
Yellow warning tape was strung up in the distance.
Dozens of riot Police hid behind overturned Police cars.
The rain pattered against the transparent riot shields.
Their hands tightly gripped Glock pistols, their muzzles aimed at the two figures in the center of the large crater.
No one dared to approach.
That monster capable of releasing thunder and lightning was already terrifying enough, and now there was another formidable star who could withstand lightning head-on.
The leading Police sergeant swallowed hard, his fingers slipping continuously on the trigger.
Max slowly closed his eyes.
His eyelids emitted a faint blue light.
He bit down hard on his lower lip. His teeth pierced the skin, but no blood flowed out—only a bit of blue plasma.
He was waiting to die.
Or waiting to be taken away by the Military, tied to a cold operating table, and having his chest cut open with a chainsaw for research.
He knew he had messed up.
He just wanted someone to look at him, and ended up plunging half of Manhattan into darkness.
He was a monster. Absolute trash.
Aaron looked at Max in his hand.
The passive perception of God-level Predictionautomatically triggered.
Instead of predicting physical attacks, it traced upstream along Max's despairing brainwaves.
Scene after scene smashed directly into Aaron's mind.
A dark and damp Underground Room.
A circuit blueprint with the name "Max" written on it was casually crumpled into a ball by his supervisor and thrown into the trash can.
A birthday cake without candles.
He talked to himself alone against a wall covered with superhero posters.
Walking in the corridor of Osborn Tower, he was knocked down by a white-collar worker in a suit and tie without even a single apology.
No one remembered him. No one needed him.
He was like a transparent ghost.
Aaron felt a bit of discomfort on the soles of his feet.
His cotton slippers had just been burned away. Stepping barefoot on the road, a sharp piece of gravel happened to press right against the center of his sole.
He frowned and moved his foot half an inch to the side.
Stepping into a cold puddle, the muddy water submerged his instep.
He raised his left hand.
The back of his hand patted Max's eerie blue face twice.
Slap. Slap.
The sound wasn't loud, but it was very clear in the quiet crater.
Max opened his eyes abruptly.
His blue pupils were filled with confusion.
He didn't understand why this monster didn't kill him, but instead patted his face like petting a puppy.
"Manhattan's electricity bills are too expensive."
Aaron spoke. His voice, mixed in the wind and rain, was as casual as asking for the price of cabbage in a vegetable market.
Max was stunned.
Rainwater flowed into his eyes, stinging with irritation.
He stared blankly at Aaron, completely unable to follow the logic of that sentence.
Aaron let go of his hand.
Thud.
Max fell to the ground. His knees crashed into the muddy water, splashing up a pool of black filthy water.
He panted heavily and raised his head.
"I am giving you a chance."
Aaron looked down at him.
"Room and board included."
"To be the free backup power source for my penthouse apartment."
Aaron pointed in the direction of the nearby Stark Tower.
"I have a lot of electrical appliances at home, and power outages are a huge hassle. I need a stable power source."
The air fell dead silent for a few seconds.
There was only the ticking sound of raindrops hitting scrap metal.
"Backup... power source?"
Max kept his mouth open. A dry frictional sound came from his throat.
"You need... me?"
The word "need" was emphasized heavily by him. His voice was even trembling.
Aaron didn't speak, just looked at him.
And nodded.
This simple action.
Was like a heavy hammer, directly shattering that thick, hardened shell of inferiority in Max's heart.
In his entire life, he had never heard anyone say the word "need" to him.
He had always been the one who was abandoned.
Now, this god-like man who wasn't even afraid of a 100,000-volt lightning bolt actually said he needed him.
Even if it was just to be a battery.
That still meant being needed by someone.
Max's chest heaved violently.
Two lines of eerie blue tears gushed out of his eyes.
The tears mixed with the cold rainwater, streaming down his cheeks.
He propped his hands in the muddy water, his shoulders trembling violently.
"I am capable... I am very capable."
Max burst into tears, his voice hoarse beyond recognition.
He crawled forward abruptly for two steps and grabbed Aaron's lower leg in a hug.
"I have a lot of electricity. I will never discharge randomly. I will be your battery."
While crying, he nodded desperately like a child afraid of being left behind.
Aaron pulled his leg out.
He didn't like others hugging his thighs, especially when the other person was still wearing a wet rubber suit.
"Stand up." Aaron turned around.
His right thumb pressed against his middle finger.
Snap.
The crisp sound of the finger snap echoed through the rainy night.
The air distorted violently.
A blue spatial portal ripped open out of thin air.
The electric sparks at the edge made a faint sizzling sound, illuminating the nearby puddle.
"Keep up."
Aaron, barefoot, stepped directly into the blue light.
Max wiped the tears and rainwater from his face.
He climbed up from the mud pit using both hands and feet.
Dragging his heavy rubber boots, he stumbled and ran into the portal.
With a flash of blue light, the gate slammed shut.
Times Square was left in a mess, along with the riot Policestaring at each other in the distance.
...
Upper East Side, Manhattan.
An 800-square-meter penthouse duplex apartment.
The warm air in the living room was blowing whirringly.
The scent of citrus aromatherapy in the air was very strong.
The blue light opened up in the center of the living room.
Aaron walked out.
Barefoot, he stepped on the soft Persian rug. The rug immediately absorbed the rainwater on the soles of his feet.
Max walked out right behind him.
The rubber suit on his body was still dripping water.
Drip.
The black muddy water smashed onto the expensive rug, blurring into a few dirty round spots.
Max pulled back his foot in fright.
He stood awkwardly in place, his two hands tightly clutching the corner of his clothes, not daring to take another step.
For fear of dirtying this room that was as luxurious as a palace.
"Felicia," Aaron called out.
Felicia was holding a small broom, sweeping up the broken glass by the terrace.
Hearing the voice, she turned her head.
At a glance, she saw the glowing blue electro-man.
She was startled, and the broom in her hand almost dropped to the ground.
"Take him to the garage in the Underground Room," Aaronpointed at Max.
"Find him a set of dry clothes. Then connect him to the apartment's backup power switch."
Aaron touched his chin.
"By the way, get him something to eat. Two burgers."
Hearing that there were burgers to eat, Max's blue eyes lit up for a second.
He looked at Aaron gratefully, bowing repeatedly.
Mary Jane sat on the armrest of the leather sofa.
Her leather jacket was open.
She was holding a cup of ice water, staring blankly at this newly arrived roommate.
"You went out for a trip and picked up a living person back to act as a battery?"
She swallowed hard, feeling that the degree of craziness in this World had already exceeded her understanding.
Aaron didn't pay attention to her.
He felt a little cold on his body.
The black jacket was drenched by rainwater, sticking uncomfortably to his back.
He was preparing to take off his coat and take a hot shower.
Right at this moment.
A crisp "pattering" sound came from the corner of the living room.
A transparent glass cup fell onto the wooden floor and shattered into pieces.
Splashes of water splattered all over the floor.
Aaron turned his head abruptly.
Gwen had been standing next to the white leather sofa.
She was originally waiting for Aaron to come back.
Now, her legs went soft, and her whole body knelt to the ground without any warning.
Her knees slammed heavily next to the shattered glass shards.
"Ugh..."
Gwen let out a painful muffled grunt.
Her hands tightly covered her head, her ten fingers digging into her long golden hair.
Pulling hard on her scalp.
Her delicate facial features were completely distorted due to severe pain.
Before anyone could approach.
On Gwen's body surface.
A circle of eerie shimmering light erupted.
That light intertwined a deep blue and a dazzling scarlet red.
Like a burning cold fire, it instantly engulfed her entire body.
Chapter 43 Gwen Awoke? Ghost Spider-Man Online Ahead of Schedule
On Gwen's body surface.
A circle of eerie shimmering light burst forth.
That light intertwined a deep blue and a blinding scarlet red.
Like a cluster of burning cold fire, it instantly engulfed her entire body.
Mary Jane was so frightened that she drew in a sharp breath.
Her legs went weak, and she took three steps back in a row.
Her back heavily slammed against the backrest of the leather sofa, making the sofa emit a dull leather friction sound.
The empty glass salad bowl in her hand dropped onto the carpet, rolling far away with a clatter.
Felicia reacted extremely quickly.
She threw away the rag in her hand, swept her right hand across her waist, and pinched two alloy darts between her fingers.
But looking at that cluster of eerie light, she did not dare to step forward.
Her high heels stepped on the floor, cautiously retreating backward to the corner of the wall.
Aaron threw away the half-eaten apple in his hand.
He rushed over in a single stride.
Stepping barefooted on the floor full of broken glass shards, it produced a crisp crunch.
He grabbed Gwen's shoulders and lifted her from the ground into his arms.
Gwen's whole body was frighteningly hot.
Through the light gray casual sweater, Aaron could feel the violent heat beneath her skin.
She bit her lower lip hard, drawing blood.
A trace of fresh blood trickled down her pale chin, hitting Aaron's black jacket.
"Pain…" A broken moan squeezed out from Gwen's throat.
Her ten fingers tightly clawed onto Aaron's arm.
Her nails split from exerting too much force, oozing blood threads at her own fingertips.
That blue and red intertwined light grew brighter and brighter.
Illuminating the entire living room flickered between light and dark.
A smell of burning hair permeated the air.
Hum!
Deep within Aaron's mind, a synthesized electronic voice exploded like an alarm.
[Ding!]
[Detected that the destiny line of target person 'Gwen Stacy' has deviated seriously.]
[The host forcibly changed her predetermined death node, superimposed with the Multiverse energy stimulation brought by space warping.]
[The recessive spider totem inside the target has awakened ahead of schedule!]
[Warning: The target's native genes cannot withstand the totem energy, and genetic collapse is about to occur.]
Aaron's brows twisted into a dead knot.
He pinned Gwen's flailing hands with one hand, pressing her tightly into his arms.
"Don't move around, take a deep breath." Aaron's voice was lowered very much.
The power of Steel Body imprisoned Gwen tightly, preventing her from scratching herself.
Gwen could not listen to any words.
Severe pain was tearing apart every single cell of hers.
She panted heavily, sweat soaking the blond hair in front of her forehead, clinging to her face in wisps.
Aaron immediately split his consciousness, sinking into the system space.
Inside the virtual grid, there were still a few daily mystery boxes remaining.
"Open them all." He muttered silently in his heart.
The gray paper boxes shattered one after another in his consciousness.
The first two opened up a bunch of useless tactical daggers and bandages.
The third mystery box exploded, bursting out a cluster of gentle pink light.
[Obtained Reward: Totem Stabilizer.]
[Item Description: Can perfectly fuse the host and mutated totem genes, eliminating rejection reactions.]
Aaron's palm sank.
A metallic-textured silver syringe appeared out of thin air in his palm.
Inside the transparent glass tube wall, more than half a tube of pink viscous liquid was filled.
The liquid emitted a faint fluorescence.
Gwen's struggle became more and more violent.
She abruptly raised her head, the back of her head heavily knocking against Aaron's chin.
Making a muffled thud.
Aaron licked his bruised jaw, pinched her chin with his left hand, and forcibly pried open her mouth.
"Drink it down."
Aaron shoved the front end of the syringe tube into Gwen's mouth.
His thumb forcefully pressed down the plunger.
The pink liquid poured down Gwen's throat.
Gwen choked a little.
A few drops of pink medicinal liquid leaked from the corner of her mouth, flowing into the sweater collar of her neck.
She coughed violently twice, swallowing the rest of the medicinal liquid entirely into her stomach.
The medicine took effect extremely quickly.
In less than ten seconds.
That cluster of violent blue-red light on Gwen's body, as if splashed with a basin of cold water.
Dimmed instantly.
Replacing it was a layer of soft pinkish-white shimmer.
Gwen stopped twitching.
Her tense muscles relaxed, leaning limply in Aaron's arms.
Gasping heavily for the air in the living room.
The pain on her face disappeared, replaced by a sense of bewilderment of surviving a catastrophe.
The pinkish-white light did not disappear.
It was like a living creature, rapidly wandering and weaving along the surface of Gwen's skin.
That light gray casual sweater was covered by the light.
The texture of the fabric underwent visible changes to the naked eye.
Black, white, pink.
Nano-scale fibers of three colors reorganized in the light.
A tight-fitting one-piece battle suit automatically covered Gwen's whole body from bottom to top.
The upper body was pure bright white.
Printed on the chest was a black spider totem logo.
Extending from below the waist was a profound black.
The inner sides of the arms and the lining of the oversized hood were dotted with fluorescent pink spiderweb patterns.
Ghost Spider battle suit.
The light completely dissipated.
The living room returned to brightness again.
Mary Jane's mouth was wide open, her chin almost dropping to her chest.
She rubbed her eyes, looking at Gwen sitting on the floor.
"Goodness… Did you go to a Halloween party?" Her voice was floating.
Felicia put away the darts.
She stared at the seamless battle suit on Gwen's body, sensing the aura of her own kind.
That was a power fluctuation far exceeding ordinary people.
This girl was acting all delicate just a moment ago, and now she practically looked like she changed species.
Gwen sat on the carpet.
She lowered her head, looking at her hands wearing white gloves.
Her fingers clenched and then opened up.
A wonderful sticky sensation came from her fingertips, seeming to be able to grasp any tiny protrusion in the air.
The severe pain in her bones disappeared cleanly.
Replaced by it was a terrifying force capable of flipping over a big truck.
She felt her body as light as a feather.
Her vision became incomparably clear.
Even the action of a small spider spinning a web in the shadow of the corner could be seen clearly.
"I… What happened to me?"
Gwen swallowed a mouthful of saliva, her voice passing out through the high collar of the battle suit.
She braced her hands on the carpet, wanting to stand up.
Her strength was not controlled well.
Her hands pressed down.
Bang!
A muffled air-burst sound exploded beneath her.
Gwen's whole person like a cannonball leaving the barrel, shooting straight up.
The speed was so fast that it stirred up a gust of wind.
"Ah!"
She let out a short exclamation.
The ceiling was five meters high from the ground.
Gwen flailed her limbs in mid-air, about to smash her head through the plaster ceiling.
Out of instinct, she abruptly extended her hands and feet, sticking firmly to the ceiling.
Slap.
A slight contact sound.
Like a giant white gecko, Gwen steadily hung upside down on the ceiling.
The tiny barbs at the bottom of the battle suit's gloves and boots firmly grasped the smooth plaster surface.
Not even a bit of dust fell down.
She was suspended upside down in mid-air five meters high.
Her blonde ponytail, affected by gravity, hung straight down toward the ground.
Sweeping past Aaron's head.
Aaron stood up, looking up at Gwen hanging above.
Patting the dust off his hands.
"Looks like the medicine's effect is pretty good." His tone was calm.
Mary Jane gripped the sofa cushion, her mind completely stunned.
"You can crawl on the ceiling?" She pointed at Gwen. "How many things are you guys hiding from me anyway!"
Hanging upside down on the ceiling, Gwen ignored MJ's scream.
She looked down at her hands, her heart beating wildly.
That was an ultimate excitement of controlling power.
She tried to move her right hand slightly, sticking it effortlessly to the side.
It was as simple as crawling on flat ground.
Using her hands and feet together along the ceiling, Gwencrawled towards the direction of the panoramic floor-to-ceiling window.
Her movements were a bit rusty at first, but quickly became smooth.
The combat instinct of the spider totem awakened in her blood.
She crawled to the upper edge of the floor-to-ceiling window.
The night snow outside had stopped long ago, and the streets of Manhattan were illuminated brightly by streetlights.
Gwen looked down through the glass.
This was the eightieth floor.
Overlooking downwards, cars looked like matchboxes, and pedestrians looked like ants.
Her spider-sense suddenly twitched gently in her mind.
It wasn't fatal danger, but rather a clear direction.
Gwen narrowed her eyes.
Her vision penetrated the distance of three blocks, precisely locking onto a dim intersection below.
There was a jewelry store whose rolling shutter door hadn't been pulled down yet.
An unplated black Ford van was parked on the curb.
Four men wearing black ski masks were brandishing large sledgehammers in their hands.
Fiercely smashing toward the bulletproof glass display window of the jewelry store.
White spiderweb cracks had already been smashed onto the bulletproof glass.
One of the robbers was also holding a sawed-off Remington shotgun, scanning the empty street vigilantly.
Gwen's breathing grew rapid.
She felt her blood burning.
That adolescent impulse suppressed for a long time as a top-student good girl, mixed with the power of totem awakening.
Made her completely unable to suppress the impulse to rush out.
Is this how Peter felt catching robbers in the snow last night?
No, she would do better than that idiot.
Gwen hung upside down on the window frame.
She extended her right hand and grabbed the white hood behind the battle suit.
Pulling it forward forcefully.
The hood was put over her head, covering that head of long blonde hair.
The edges of the pink eye sockets on the battle suit's mask exuded a fierce aura.
"It's my turn to be a hero!"
Gwen shouted excitedly, her voice coming out through the mask, sounding a bit muffled.
Her legs kicked fiercely against the ceiling.
Her whole person like a white lightning bolt, diving downwards diagonally.
Bang!
Instead of taking the front door, she directly crashed into an intact backup glass door next to the terrace.
The glass shattered at the sound.
Tens of thousands of transparent fragments exploded in the night sky, reflecting the warm light in the living room.
The cold wind instantly poured back into the apartment.
Gwen opened her arms, letting gravity pull her downward.
Passing through the sky full of glass shards, her figure was light and agile.
Completely blending into the cold night sky of Manhattan.
Leaving a roomful of dumbfounded people.
Aaron walked to the broken window.
Looking down at that small white dot falling rapidly in the night.
He sighed.
Sticking his hands into the pockets of his black jacket.
"This glass has to be replaced again."
Chapter 44: Couple tag team? No, Gwen solos, and I am just here to watch the show."
Aaron tucked his hands into the pockets of his black jacket.
"This glass has to be replaced again."
He looked at the messy living room and sighed.
He walked over to the coffee table that had been blown over by the wind.
The silver fruit bowl fell on the carpet, and a few Fuji apples rolled to the edge of the sofa.
Aaron bent down and picked up an apple that wasn't stained with dust.
He rubbed it a couple of times casually on his white T-shirt.
He strode forward and stepped out of the broken floor-to-ceiling window.
The cold wind filled his sleeves.
Gravity tried to pull him down to the concrete ground of Manhattan.
Aaron did not fall.
The muscles of his Steel Body trembled at high frequency, stepping rigidly onto the air molecules.
Bang.
A muffled sonic boom came from the soles of his feet.
He floated slowly in the night sky as if stepping on invisible stairs.
He followed the white figure ahead.
Gwen screamed in the wind.
Her voice was mixed with fear and irrepressible excitement.
She had no idea how to control her body at all.
She just instinctively stretched out her hands, and the glands on the inside of her wrists sprayed two streams of white web silk.
The web stuck to the lightning rod of an office building.
Like a sandbag hanging on a pendulum, she traced a crooked arc in mid-air.
She failed to control her center of gravity when landing.
Her shoulder slammed heavily against a giant billboard, rattling the sheet metal.
She rubbed her sore arm and continued swinging forward.
Three blocks away.
A jewelry store at the corner of the intersection.
The alarm bell rang through the entire street, and the red lights flashed wildly in the night.
A huge hole was smashed into the bulletproof glass window.
Broken glass covered the floor, creaking when stepped on.
Four men wearing black ski masks were stuffing gold bars into canvas bags.
The leader of the robbers held a Remington shotgun with a sawed-off barrel.
He stood on the sidewalk, staring nervously at the street corner.
"Hurry up! The Police will be here in three minutes!"
He roared, his rough voice cracking slightly in the cold wind.
The sound of the wind overhead suddenly changed.
Gwen let go of the web and descended from the sky.
She had originally wanted to land on the roof of the black Ford van at the entrance of the jewelry store.
And strike a pose to deter the criminals.
But she overestimated her sense of balance.
Her toes had just touched the sheet metal on the roof.
The anti-slip boot soles slipped on the puddle after the rain.
Gwen tumbled forward.
Sliding down the slanted windshield.
With a bang, she smashed face-first into a pile of black plastic bags filled with garbage.
Her white hood slipped off, revealing a few wisps of long blonde hair.
Several stray cats were startled, scurrying out of the garbage pile and running into the dark alley.
The four robbers were stunned.
They stopped stuffing the gold bars and stared blankly at the girl who had fallen from the sky.
Her white tight battle suit was stained with two pieces of rotten vegetable leaves.
Looking utterly ridiculous.
"What is this thing? Did it escape from the circus?"
The leading robber spat.
He raised the Remington shotgun in his hand, its thick barrel aimed at Gwen who was still struggling in the garbage pile.
Click.
The mechanical sound of the bullet chambering was crisp and harsh.
"Kill her."
Gwen panicked.
Spider-Sense stung the back of her head like a needle.
She scrambled up using hands and feet.
Waving her hands blindly forward, a mass of white web silk shot out.
The web went off direction.
Instead of hitting the gun-toting leader, it splattered onto the face of a henchman nearby.
That robber screamed, dropped the gold bars, and desperately clawed at the sticky fibers on his face.
Bang!
The Remington fired.
The muzzle spat half-a-meter-long orange-yellow tongues of fire.
The pungent smell of gunpowder instantly permeated the air.
Dozens of tiny steel balls spread out in a fan shape, tearing through the air.
The opposite building.
A huge stone gargoyle protruded from the edge of the twelfth floor.
Aaron bent one leg and sat on the head of the gargoyle.
The cold wind blew the hem of his black jacket.
He opened his mouth and took a bite of the apple in his hand.
Crunch.
The flesh was crisp, and the sweet juice spread across the tip of his tongue.
The visual grid of God-level Prediction unfolded before his eyes.
The trajectory of the steel balls sprayed by the shotgun turned into dozens of red dashed lines.
Three steel balls headed straight for Gwen's right thigh.
Her awkward dodging posture simply could not avoid these blind spot areas.
Aaron didn't get up.
He didn't even stop chewing.
His left hand casually swiped across the back of the stone carving, digging out a few rough pieces of cement gravel.
His thumb pressed against his index finger.
With a gentle flick.
Swoosh.
A piece of gravel the size of a soybean broke the sound barrier.
Dragging an invisible white trace in the night sky.
It accurately collided with the three steel balls in mid-air.
Sparks of metal collision flashed by.
The steel balls deviated from their orbit, hitting the asphalt road near Gwen's feet and splashing a string of muddy water.
Gwen broke out in a cold sweat.
She thought she was dead for sure, but after the gunshot, she didn't even have a scratch on her body.
The combat instinct of the Spider totem finally overcame her fear.
She took a deep breath.
Her legs suddenly exerted force.
Her entire body sprang high like a spring, jumping over the roof of the Ford van.
"She's up there! Open fire!"
Another robber holding a pistol roared.
He raised the Glock pistol and prepared to pull the trigger on the white figure in mid-air.
Aaron sat on the gargoyle, swallowing the apple in his mouth.
A faint spiritual power spread along the night wind.
The robber's wrist suddenly tripped as if by an invisible rope.
The muzzle jerked upward sharply.
Bang bang, two shots.
The bullets shattered the neon sign on the second floor of the jewelry store.
Red glass shards smashed down like rain, covering the robber's head and face.
Gwen seized the opportunity.
She somersaulted in mid-air.
Her hands continuously sprayed web silk.
Two tough white fibers accurately wrapped around the robber's wrists.
She pulled hard towards her embrace.
The robber lost balance, was dragged flying directly by the web, and crashed heavily against the wall of the jewelry store.
Passing out.
The rhythm of the battle began to reverse.
Gwen fought more and more smoothly.
She discovered her terrifying neural reaction speed.
The movements of those robbers became like slow-motion playback in her eyes.
She ducked to avoid a swinging iron bar.
Her right leg swept out close to the ground.
The sweep kick landed solidly on the shin of the third robber's lower leg.
Crack.
The muffled sound of fracture mixed with the robber's screams.
The leading robber was blinded by anxiety and anger.
He threw away the shotgun with empty bullets.
He pulled a serrated dagger from his waist, went around the back of the van, and prepared to launch a sneak attack from Gwen's visual blind spot.
Aaron sat high up, watching this scene.
He finished the last bite of fruit flesh, leaving only an apple core in his hand.
He flicked his fingers gently.
The apple core crossed dozens of meters of street.
Impartially, it hit the instep of the sneak-attacking robber right on target.
The force wasn't great, but it was enough to disrupt his forward-rushing center of gravity.
The robber's left foot tripped over his right foot.
His bulky body tumbled forward rigidly.
His front teeth knocked against the curb, breaking two of them. His mouth was full of blood.
Gwen heard the movement behind her.
She turned her head back and only saw the sneak attacker lying on the ground wailing.
She thought the opponent had stepped on a stone and slipped, thinking nothing of it.
Her wrists moved continuously.
Large masses of web silk spewed out.
In less than a minute.
The remaining two robbers were tightly bound to the doors of the Ford van by the webs.
The white fibers tightened more and more, as tough as steel cables.
All four people turned into motionless white twists.
Gwen stood amidst the broken glass all over the floor.
She gasped heavily.
Her chest rose and fell violently with her breath. The Ghost Spider-Man suit fit her curves, stained with some dust.
Sweat slid down her cheeks, and she wiped it blindly with the back of her white-gloved hand.
She did it.
Four armed ferocious robbers.
Resolved single-handedly by her alone.
An unprecedented sense of accomplishment burned the panic in her heart completely clean.
Her fingertips were still trembling with excitement.
She raised her head.
And saw the curved sheet metal street lamp pole on the roadside.
An excellent commanding height.
Gwen bent her legs slightly and leaped up abruptly.
Landing lightly on the horizontal bar extended from the street lamp.
She squatted down.
Her left hand supported the cold lampshade, and her right leg extended outward.
Preparing to imitate the classic pose after punishing evil and promoting good in comic books.
Aaron sat on the gargoyle of the opposite building.
He patted the residue on his hands.
Looking at the Ghost Spider-Man on the street lamp who was as excited as a little girl.
He didn't go down to steal the spotlight.
He stood up, preparing to quietly step across the portal back to the apartment to take a hot bath.
Just as Gwen had just struck her pose.
And the smile on the corners of her mouth hadn't had time to bloom.
The air around her suddenly underwent a bizarre distortion.
The asphalt road surface at the intersection emitted a tearing roar without warning.
Boom!
The hard ground directly exploded.
A huge crack spread wildly along the center line of the road.
Several cars on the roadside were shaken to roll over and smashed deep into the crack.
Sizzling lava spewed out along the cracks.
The temperature in the air soared instantly.
A pungent smell of sulfur overpowered the original smell of gunpowder.
The street lamp pole under Gwen's feet shook violently.
She stood up in panic, staring fixedly at the street beneath her feet.
A huge Lava Monster entirely composed of lava and obsidian roared and broke out of the ground.
It was as tall as four floors.
Fatal dark red lava flowed all over its body.
The monster opened its bloody mouth, revealing the crisscrossed lava fangs inside.
Issuing a deafening roar.
The heat wave rushed over her face, baking Gwen's mask hot.
Just at the moment when this Lava Monster raised its huge rock arm and prepared to smash it towards the jewelry store.
A burst of green light suddenly flashed in the night sky.
Thick green smoke pervaded mid-air.
A man descended from the sky.
He wore an exaggerated green tight combat uniform.
Dragging a long purple cape behind him. The cape snapped and fluttered in the heat wave.
The most conspicuous thing was his head.
He wore a completely opaque spherical glass helmet on his head, like an upside-down fishbowl.
The helmet was filled with rolling white mist, making his facial features invisible.
Dazzling green energy magic circles lit up on the man's hands.
He hovered in mid-air.
Blocking between Gwen and the Lava Monster.
He turned his head, glancing at Gwen through that comical fishbowl helmet.
He stretched out her right hand, making a protective gesture.
"Back off, little girl!"
The man shouted aloud, his voice spreading through the entire block via some amplifying equipment.
"Leave this monster to me!"
Chapter 45: Mysterio Wants to Fool Me with Holographic Projections? Eye of Falsehood-Breaking
"Back off, little girl! Leave this monster to me!"
The man's voice came through a cheap megaphone.
Accompanied by a faint background static of current.
The Lava Monster matched it by letting out a deafening roar.
Its massive rock arm smashed into the center of the intersection.
The asphalt road was smashed into a deep crater, and muddy water mixed with dark red magma splashed everywhere.
Sparks landed on the nearby fire hydrant, and a column of water shot up into the sky, instantly turning into boiling steam.
Gwen took two steps back.
The non-slip soles of her boots scraped harshly against the pooled water.
She raised her arm, blocking it in front of her pink and white mask.
A wave of heat hit her face. Even the nanofibers of the Ghost suit were baked until they felt a bit hot.
After all, she was just a newly awakened high school student.
Dealing with a few armed robbers was one thing, but facing a four-story-tall unnatural disaster like this was entirely another.
Her legs felt a bit weak.
Her fingers tightly clutched the cold iron sheet of the lamppost, her knuckles turning white from the strain.
High in the air.
The fishbowl-headed man began his performance.
He pushed his hands out flat, and a green magic array lit up in his palms.
Two thick beams of green light blasted into the Lava Monster's chest.
"Boom!"
The sound of the explosion rattled the bulletproof glass along the street with a clatter.
The monster clutched its chest and retreated, magma pouring down like a waterfall.
The firelight illuminated half the block brightly.
Outside the safety line at the street corner.
Several passersby secretly filming with their phones let out bursts of exclamations.
Further away, two news broadcast vans had their hazard lights flashing.
The cameraman shouldered his telephoto lens, locking firmly onto that imposing green back in mid-air.
This was precisely the grand spectacle Quentin Beckneeded.
He wanted to use this self-directed and self-acted savior play to trample the Avengers underfoot and become New York's new god.
Aaron sat on the gargoyle of the opposite building.
The cold wind blew the hem of his black jacket, the fabric flapping against the stone carving.
He watched the shoddy stage play below and yawned.
He casually tossed the apple core in his hand, accurately throwing it into a distant sewer grate.
He patted the lime slag off his trouser legs.
His feet left the edge of the stone carving.
Aaron leaped downward.
The biophysical field of his Steel Body unfolded beneath his feet.
He didn't fall in a straight line, but instead stepped toward the exact center of the intersection step by step as if walking on invisible stairs.
His leather shoes stepped on the air, making faint sonic boom sounds.
Quentin Beck was standing in mid-air.
He struck a hero pose with both hands raised toward the sky, preparing to welcome the media's camera flashes.
His peripheral vision suddenly caught the man in black who had intercepted him halfway.
His face hidden inside the fishbowl helmet instantly fell.
His teeth bit a white mark into his lower lip.
There was no such extra in the script.
Running out to steal the spotlight at a time like this would completely ruin his perfect debut.
Beck's fingers moved slightly.
The controller inside his tactical glove quickly issued a command.
The Lava Monster suddenly let out an angry roar, its massive body exploding abruptly.
Four lava dragons bathed in fire burst out from its back.
The giant dragons coiled around, carrying a terrifyingly high temperature.
Directly flanking toward Aaron's direction.
Aaron stopped in mid-air.
Beneath his feet was the burning street.
Four fire dragons opened their bloody mouths, surrounding him in the center.
The smell of sulfur in the air made people's throats dry.
Deep within his mind, a synthesized electronic voice sounded abruptly.
[Ding.]
[Detected that the host has intervened in the fate line of the key villain 'Mysterio'.]
[Daily blind box automatically issued. Open it?]
"Open."
Aaron chanted silently in his heart.
The gray virtual cardboard box shattered within his consciousness.
Transforming into a cool, light blue halo.
The halo followed the neurons straight to the optic nerve.
A wave of coolness came from the surface of his eyeballs, feeling like washing his face with ice water during the hottest days of summer.
[Reward obtained: Eye of Falsehood-Breaking.]
[Skill description: Sees through all optical camouflage, holographic projections, and low-dimensional illusions. Directly strikes at the essence of things.]
Aaron blinked.
A very faint blue light flickered across the surface of his pupils.
The scorching air around him changed instantly.
A layer of gorgeous wrapping paper was torn off the World before Aaron's eyes.
What Lava Monster.
What flame-breathing giant dragons.
What superhero with a green magic array.
They were all gone.
The heat wave disappeared, and the choking sulfur smell disappeared as well.
Only the biting cold wind of New York's early winter night remained.
Aaron saw the truth.
Hundreds of palm-sized black drones hovered densely above the intersection.
The projection lenses at the bottom of the drones flickered with high-frequency blue light.
The miniature speakers on the sides were playing the monster's roar sound effects at the top of their lungs.
Several drones equipped with live-ammunition launchers were firing micro-missiles directly at the abandoned cars on the ground.
Accurately forging the physical illusion of monster destruction.
And right in the very center of the drone swarm.
Quentin Beck was stepping on an oversized flatbed drone.
He wasn't wearing that imposing green combat armor at all.
He was only wearing a gray tight-fitting motion capture suit.
The joints of the clothes were covered with white sensor points the size of ping-pong balls.
Beck wasn't wearing that glowing fishbowl helmet on his head either.
He was wearing a bulky pair of VR tactical glasses.
His hands were waving wildly in mid-air, muttering words under his breath.
Because the motion capture suit was too tight, the fat on his belly was squeezed into an obvious circle of folds.
Aaron almost laughed out loud.
This scene was too comical.
It was like a middle-aged, out-of-shape otaku playing somatosensory games in his own living room.
Yet he was acting so invested in it.
Not far away at the street corner.
Gwen was still warily staring at the four "fire dragons" surrounding Aaron.
She clenched her fists tightly, the web-shooter glands on the insides of her wrists growing slightly warm, preparing to rush up and help.
The cameraman's telephoto lens was also firmly aimed at this mid-air standoff.
Aaron stretched his neck.
His cervical vertebrae made two crisp cracking sounds.
Facing the "fire dragon" with its bloody mouth wide open before him, he strode forward.
The soles of his shoes stepped on the force field in mid-air.
The phantom of the fire dragon passed right through Aaron's body.
There was no burning sensation.
Only the weak airflow stirred up by the drone rotors blew the hem of his jacket.
Beck saw this scene inside his VR glasses.
He panicked.
A layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, sliding into his eyes and stinging with irritation.
How come this kid's movement didn't dodge the damage at all?
He hurriedly manipulated the joystick, wanting to mobilize the live-ammunition drones to attack Aaron and create some real physical obstacles.
Aaron didn't give him the chance.
He walked into mid-air and stopped in front of a drone that was struggling to project the fire dragon's eyeballs.
This drone was less than three meters away from Beck.
The rotors were still buzzing.
Aaron extended his right hand.
His five fingers spread open.
He grabbed the high-speed rotating black drone in one go.
The plastic blades struck Aaron's palm.
Without even scratching a layer of skin, the blades directly snapped and flew off.
The drone lost its balance, emitting a harsh alarm sound.
Aaron held down the drone's shell with his left hand.
And pinched the projection lens at the bottom with his right hand.
Pulled hard.
Snap.
The crisp sound of plastic breaking rang out in the cold wind.
The fire dragon phantom in mid-air flickered violently, missing one eyeball.
Aaron forcibly ripped out the projection core module with a few red and blue wires attached.
Electric sparks crackled and danced wildly at the broken edges of the module.
Aaron casually tossed the scrapped drone away.
The black iron sheet smashed onto the asphalt road, breaking into several pieces of scrap.
He held the core module flashing with blue light.
Raised his head.
And looked at Quentin Beck, who was three meters away, still stepping on a flatbed drone and striking a pose in a tight motion capture suit.
Aaron twitched the corner of his mouth.
Tossed the projection module in his hand upward twice.
"The special effects are well done, Beck."
Aaron's voice pierced through the cold wind, clearly entering Beck's ears.
"How about showing the whole New York the behind-the-scenes footage?"