"Four-Armed Overlord!"
The moment Bant pressed his watch, his body began to change.
Before Dr. Connors' astonished eyes, the battle suit on Bant's body vanished, replaced by black-and-white striped clothing. His skin turned a deep crimson, rough and coarse to the touch.
His body surged upward in an instant—then a second pair of arms burst forth from beneath his ribs!
At that very moment, Bant felt as if he possessed the power to lift the entire world.
He stretched all four arms wide, venting the overwhelming strength surging through him, his roar shaking the entire building!
His height doubled in an instant, reaching twelve feet—3.66 meters—now nearly on par with the massive dinosaur-like Connors!
A Tetranite!
Among the ten original heroes of the first generation, the one who embodied pure strength and hand-to-hand combat!
His record was legendary—he had once defeated Luma Princess, who herself had brought down the God-Powered Tyrant Dragon. He stood at the absolute pinnacle of all Tetranites: the undisputed King of Combat!
"Ready to take a beating, Connors?"
Bant slammed his four fists together, bones cracking like thunder.
Facing him, Connors felt an undeniable sense of danger—but more than fear, confusion filled his eyes.
Red skin. Four arms. Four eyes—
"So… you really did become a spider?" Connors laughed. The aggression in his gaze faded, replaced by something almost approving, as if he were looking at his own kind. "Just look at you now. So powerful. You've finally cast off the pitiful human body!"
"After tasting this kind of strength," he continued fervently, clenching his fists as though delivering a speech, "why would you still try to stop me?"
"That's obvious, isn't it?"
Bant replied flatly.
"Because I don't want a buck-toothed, bad-breath lizard freak as my girlfriend."
If Felicia or Mary Jane ever turned into something like Connors…
Bant didn't even dare imagine it. A mouthful of jagged fangs and rancid breath—one bite and maybe only Diamondhead's little brother could survive that.
"You're selfish!" Connors snapped with disgust.
"You could have changed the world, but instead you insist on keeping humanity's path of evolution in your own hands! Your selfishness is burying humanity's future!"
Hearing this, Bant let out a cold laugh.
"Don't kid yourself, Connors."
"Human evolution? You think you get to decide for everyone? What, do you think you're a god? You really believe everyone wants to become a monster like you?"
"And how do you know they don't?" Connors shot back.
"How do you know the disabled, the sick, the ones crushed underfoot and treated like dirt… wouldn't want this kind of power?"
Every word he spoke was about himself—and yet not just himself. It was about everyone living in humiliation beneath the glittering surface of New York.
Faced with those damned, brutal realities, some people really would make a deal with the devil.
Even Bant himself—if he hadn't had powers, hadn't had the watch—would he really have been afraid to become a monster in exchange for the strength to protect his family?
He wouldn't.
But right now, he couldn't let Connors go on.
He knew Connors might genuinely believe he was doing this for humanity's benefit. He also knew that there truly were people willing to bargain with demons.
He just didn't care.
All Bant knew was that Uncle Ben and Aunt May would never want to become monsters. And he didn't want a world overflowing with superhumans either—because that would only make Uncle Ben and Aunt May more vulnerable.
Right now, he had only one thought:
"There's nothing left to say, Connors. Get ready to be beaten!"
Bant slammed his four fists together again. The collision of pure power kicked up a violent gale!
Connors clearly lost any interest in talking as well. In his eyes, Bant had become the obstacle standing in the way of human evolution—the thorn he needed to rip out.
All he wanted now was to tear Bant apart and devour all four of his arms alive!
Connors' claws slashed forward, ripping through the air!
This time, Bant didn't dodge.
He charged straight ahead like a crimson tank.
Connors' claws were razor-sharp. Bant's skin was abnormally tough.
BOOM!!!
They collided head-on, the shockwave turning tangible!
At the point of impact, a violent storm erupted like the eye of a typhoon!
The force sent cracks racing across the surrounding walls!
The instant they clashed, Connors realized something was terribly wrong—
The strength of the monster before him was horrifying.
It felt like slamming headfirst into a city wall several meters thick. The red beast didn't budge an inch, while pain exploded through Connors' arms.
He instinctively tried to retreat—but after taking a single step back, he couldn't move anymore.
Because the second pair of arms beneath the Four-Armed Overlord's ribs had locked tightly around Connors' wrists. The sheer strength made escape impossible!
"You said you wanted to twist my head off, didn't you?"
Bant grinned savagely. His two strongest arms clasped together, raised high like a hammer about to smash a volleyball.
The massive shadow of his arms loomed over Connors' vision.
Connors looked up, meeting Bant's four dim-yellow eyes—
And in that instant, he once again felt the pitiful helplessness he'd known back when he was still human.
"Wait—"
But the fists, each as big as a cooking pot, came crashing down mercilessly!
"BOOM!!!"
The ground beneath Connors' feet shattered!
Even the floor itself seemed to sink several centimeters—
Connors felt as though his brain was about to burst. The overwhelming force slammed his jaws together, and the steel-rending fangs in his mouth shattered and fell out one by one.
Stars danced in his vision. He felt his wrists suddenly loosen—then another force seized his head.
Bant grabbed Connors by the skull with one hand, lifting him to eye level, and demanded in a rough, booming voice:
"Tell me—where is Dong Wu?"
Even after defeating Connors, Dong Wu—the one who truly controlled the mutation genes—still hadn't appeared. Compared to Connors, Dong Wu was the real danger, the truly deranged scientist.
"Dr. Dong Wu…"
Connors was dizzy and barely conscious, but at the sound of that name, he still laughed.
"You've lost, Parker…" he said weakly.
"You think beating me means something? Soon enough, Dr. Dong Wu will use the Cannery Device and the Gene Variator to force all of New York to evolve!"
He laughed wildly, mocking him.
"How many people can you stop?"
"And among them… how many will be your friends and family?"
Those words struck a nerve.
The moment Bant imagined Aunt May and Uncle Ben turning into hideous monsters, his rage became impossible to contain.
It felt as though a fire had been ignited in his chest.
"All I know," Bant snarled, "is that I can smash you flat!"
He hurled Connors upward. All four arms drew back at once, fists clenched like a fully drawn bow. His muscles coiled and knotted like massive dragons beneath his skin.
Crack!
The instant his fists swung, the air itself exploded—
Four arms struck out like a torrential downpour!
/-\
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