After this outing, Steve had truly experienced the degree of freedom in this country.
To use Du Mu's words to describe it: it truly was Free America, a shooting every day.
He was lucky to have been born when he was.
If this were now, what he encountered in that alley back then probably wouldn't have been a fist, but a .45 caliber bullet. None of the subsequent events would have ever happened.
Before leaving, Du Mu suddenly remembered Nick Fury's instruction and said to Steve, "Oh right, our director wants to invite you to join S.H.I.E.L.D."
Steve thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I'll think about that later. I plan to go back to Brooklyn and rest for a while. I'm not considering anything else for now, sorry."
Du Mu shrugged, unconcerned by Steve's polite refusal.
"It's fine. After all, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s salary isn't great, the workload is heavy, the danger level is high, and we're open all year. It's perfectly normal for you not to join."
Steve: "..."
Is your director a slave owner?!
After getting Steve's answer, Du Mu reported back to Nick Fury.
Nick Fury was silent for a moment, then agreed to Steve's request, arranging a residence for him in the Brooklyn area.
However, based on Du Mu's understanding of Nick Fury, he blindly guessed that the cameras installed in that residence probably weighed several kilograms in total.
[Quest 'Return of the Centenarian Veteran' settlement complete!]
[Reward Received: 1,000 Experience Points, 20 S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation, 20 Steve Favorability, Equipment: 'Blood-Stained Pencil']
[Equipment: Blood-Stained Pencil (Someone personally saw a dog-lover kill three people in a bar with this pencil)]
"A pencil counts as equipment?"
Du Mu's mouth twitched.
The rewards in this game were not fixed; they were random, good at times and bad at others.
If he was lucky, he could draw some effective items. If he was unlucky, he would draw useless junk.
A pencil was fine.
Du Mu had once even drawn a Large Hemostatic Patch—it was also blood-stained—which he still didn't dare to take out.
In the following days, New York seemed to enter an unprecedented period of peace, with the crime rate dropping significantly.
This was inseparable from the string of superheroes who had recently emerged.
Ever since Tony announced himself as Iron Man, the United States seemed to have spontaneously spawned many superheroes.
The New York area, in particular, was a disaster zone for superheroes; Du Mu knew of several, even.
Spider-Man was the most active of them all.
As soon as a criminal showed their face, they would soon be met with Spider-Man's descending justice, leaving the NYPD with little to do lately.
The reason for all of this was that Peter's school was still being rebuilt, freeing up a large chunk of his time to fight crime.
If the criminals knew this, they would probably all curse Ross and the Hulk, the two main culprits who caused the destruction of Midtown High.
Du Mu hadn't received any special missions these days, just a continuous stream of quests with mediocre rewards.
Now that he had gotten used to big payouts, he didn't have the patience to grind through these low-yield daily tasks.
Whether it was an assassination mission or a stealth mission, he just served them an RPG!
As long as he eliminated every enemy in sight, the mission would naturally be completed.
His focus was purely on efficiency!
After completing another daily mission, Du Mu received a call from Nick Fury.
"Agent Du Mu, do you remember your previous investigation into the Oscorp Group?"
"They manufactured two doses of the Super Soldier Serum. One was used by the military on Emil Blonsky, and the other was kept by the Oscorp Group. Evidence suggests that Norman Osborn may have injected it privately."
"This serum amplifies the user's negative emotions, and recently, a fellow named the Green Goblin has appeared, using new equipment developed by Oscorp to continuously attack the Oscorp Group's shareholders. We highly suspect the Green Goblin is Norman Osborn. I need you to immediately apprehend Norman Osborn."
[NPC Nick Fury has issued a new quest to you]
[Quest: Evil Goblin]
[Goal: Apprehend Norman Osborn]
**[Reward: Experience Points +3,000, S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation +60, Random Equipment 1, Random Item 2]
"Norman Osborn?"
Du Mu had some recollection of this NPC.
He had also stolen... picked up some new equipment from the Oscorp Group at the time, which he hadn't used yet.
It was a good chance to try it out.
At the same time.
After days of deep thought, Peter decided to heed Du Mu's advice.
He dialed Mary Jane's number, intending to tell her the whole truth.
Peter dialed the phone, filled with anticipation.
However, a man's loud laughter answered on the other end.
"Hahaha, hello there!"
Peter: "?"
He hadn't heard that Mary Jane had gotten a new boyfriend.
Peter suddenly realized something was wrong; the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
"It's you, Green Goblin!"
A while ago, while Peter was fighting crime, he accidentally stumbled upon a green goblin slaughtering several unarmed civilians, and he immediately intervened.
However, he didn't expect this guy to be an ordinary person; his physical strength was not much weaker than his own.
Plus, the opponent had the benefit of various high-tech equipment.
After a dozen rounds, Peter was at a disadvantage and was caught and mercilessly beaten by the Goblin in mid-air.
If Peter hadn't acted quickly, tearing off the glider beneath the Goblin's feet and causing him to fly away out of control, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
And this Goblin was the Green Goblin on the phone now.
Ever since then, the Green Goblin seemed to have fixated on him, often showing up at the scenes where he fought crime to launch attacks on him.
And now, the villain had directly appeared on Mary Jane's phone.
Clearly, something had happened to Mary Jane!
Peter was immediately frantic. "Green Goblin, what do you want!?"
The Green Goblin laughed wildly. "Spider-Man, I'm waiting for you at the Queensboro Bridge! If you're late, I can't guarantee what kind of harm she might suffer."
With that, he immediately hung up.
Hearing this, Peter instantly realized that Mary Jane had been captured!
He panicked right away.
With a lunatic like the Green Goblin, who knew what he would do to Mary Jane.
Goblin, beauty, kidnapping!
Just these words alone made Peter imagine hundreds of thousands of words of unbroadcastable plot.
The more Peter thought about it, the more terrified he became. He immediately changed into his Spider-Man suit and swung at full speed toward the Queensboro Bridge.
"Aahhhh!!!"
Before he even arrived, a piercing scream cut through the sky, echoing from the distance.
Sensing the call of fate/law, Peter immediately followed the sound.
He saw a figure in green armor standing on top of the Queensboro Bridge, caught in the fierce wind. He was holding Mary Jane in one hand, dangling her in mid-air, and a broken cable in the other.
Suspended at the center of the cable was a tram car filled with over a dozen children!
The Green Goblin noticed Peter's arrival and shouted crazily:
"Spider-Man, this is why fools become heroes! Because you never know when some lunatic will set a cruel dilemma!"
"Just like now: will you let the woman you love die, or will you let the innocent children die?"
"Their fate is yours to decide!"