Chapter 164: Black Tiger Toru
Tap tap tap tap! The sound of hurried footsteps continued from the roof of the train.
"What is that!"
"Oh no!"
Panic spread through the carriage. People looked uneasily toward the ceiling.
"No~" Peter looked up at the ceiling. He tried to stand up, but his legs suddenly gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor.
"Hey! How are you doing!" John immediately knelt down and helped Spider-Man up.
"Tell everyone to duck down and hide beside the seats," Peter said, lying exhausted in John's arms. He barely had the strength to speak.
"Alright!" John quickly shouted, "Everyone, please duck down immediately and hide beside your seats!"
"Help me up..." Peter whispered softly.
"What are you going to do?" John carefully helped Spider-Man to his feet.
Peter gently waved his hand, leaning against a nearby railing, and weakly pushed John away, "You hide first."
"Me?" John knelt down, confused. He didn't quite understand what Spider-Man was planning.
Bang! Just then, the roof suddenly collapsed. Mantis Men dropped in from above, glaring ferociously at Spider-Man.
"Aaaah!" The crowd quickly erupted into chaos. There was no way around it; the Mantis Men's appearance was simply too terrifying.
"Hey~ How many brothers and sisters do you have?" Peter quipped. "Maybe I know your long-lost father." This father, of course, referred to Teacher Killian.
"Spider-Man, it's time to say goodbye." A voice came from the Mantis Men's necks—it was a black amplifier. The owner of the voice was Killian. He was currently hiding in a temporary secret base, watching Spider-Man through the cameras on the Mantis Men. These six Mantis Men were all his remaining assets. Spider-Man was completely weak right now; if he couldn't eliminate Spider-Man even now, he would lose his mind.
"I'll give you a grand funeral, Spider-Man," Killian said.
Peter rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Yeah~ If possible, I hope the main color scheme of the funeral is spider-themed."
"Goodbye," Killian said no more.
The Mantis Men opened their mouthparts wide, emitting a harsh roar, and then charged toward Spider-Man all at once.
Peter strained to raise his fist, attempting to counterattack, but because he failed to properly grip the railing, he fell to the floor, narrowly dodging the attack of the first Mantis Man.
"Why!" Killian couldn't help but suspect. Did these superheroes truly have the 'protagonist halo' from the comics?! How did he even dodge that? Enraged, he viciously kicked a nearby table, then gradually calmed down. He might have dodged once, but he couldn't possibly dodge twice!
Bang!
"Get lost!" John grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and smashed it into the monster trying to attack Spider-Man.
"Go away! I'm fine!" Peter lay on the ground, looking weakly at John. Honestly, he hadn't expected John to step forward to help him.
"What are you saying!" John turned back to look at Spider-Man and smiled. "You saved my life! Besides..."
John turned back to the Mantis Men and shouted, "I've always dreamed of being a hero since I was a kid!"
"Me too!"
"Count me in!"
"My wife is still undergoing surgery. I'll stop you even if it costs me my life!"
"F*ck! You monsters, stay away from Spider-Man." Seeing so many people stand up, John's morale also soared.
However, ordinary people are still just ordinary people. How could they possibly be a match for the Mantis Men without even having learned professional fighting techniques?
Clang! Hiss hiss hiss!
A Mantis Man sliced the fire extinguisher in John's hand with a single blow. The gas inside then sprayed out, quickly spreading through the carriage.
"This is bad!" Peter suddenly stood up. He shot two streams of webbing from his wrist-mounted web-shooters, blocking the path between the Mantis Men and the crowd. Then Peter punched through the adjacent window, allowing the fire extinguisher gas to dissipate quickly. Although the gas in the fire extinguisher was non-toxic, if the passengers inhaled too many particles in the confined space of the carriage, it could cause suffocation. Fortunately, this type of dry chemical extinguisher settles quickly, and with Peter breaking the window, the gas vanished in less than a minute.
"That really hurt." John lay on the floor, releasing the fire extinguisher, rubbing his chest in pain. The force of the fire extinguisher being exploded had thrown him to the ground. Luckily, he hadn't hit the back of his head.
"Everyone, quickly go to the front carriage!" After shouting this command, Peter's body finally reached its limit. His vision went black, his mind went blank, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
"Ugh..." John quickly scrambled up, rushed to Spider-Man's side, and said, "Don't worry, I won't leave you behind."
Scratch! A Mantis Man sliced through the last webbing Peter had shot and stepped forward.
"I have a good idea, but I need to borrow something from you." John turned to ask Spider-Man, but the unconscious Peter couldn't possibly answer him. So, John nodded and said, "I'll take that as a yes."
Then John lifted Spider-Man's wrist, pressed lightly, and a web shot out, sticking to the mouth of one of the Mantis Men.
"Yes! Haha!" John laughed excitedly, "Everyone, run! I'll hold them off..." Before he could finish the last word, John was kicked flying to the other side by a Mantis Man and passed out.
"..." The crowd.
"This time, it's truly goodbye, Spider-Man." Killian finally breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way Spider-Man could be saved now, was there? Having eliminated a potential future enemy, Killian was in a great mood. Once he dealt with that conceited Stark, he would establish Killian Industries!
The Spider Squad wanted to stop the Mantis Men, but they could only obey Peter's last conscious command: protect the woman undergoing surgery.
John lay on the ground, panting. At that moment, he desperately wished he had the immense power of a superhero.
Just as John tried to get up, a hand appeared on his chest, pressing him down.
"I'll take it from here." Silas walked past John, looking indifferently at the snarling Mantis Men in front of him. He had received news of Peter's plan to pull the train and rushed there through the Shadow Realm. He had initially wanted to stop Peter, but then realized Peter needed to grow and couldn't always rely on him. Of course, for Peter's safety, he was ready to open the Shadow Realm in the ruins. That way, even if Peter failed to stop the train, everyone would simply enter the Shadow Realm along with the train.
"Killian, I know you're the one behind this," Silas spoke to the Mantis Men. "Come out, coward."
"Coward? The one who lives is the hero, not the one who dies!" Killian roared.
The Mantis Men spread the double wings on their backs, flapped them hard, and charged towards Silas with a gust of wind.
Silas grabbed Peter, who was lying on the ground, and took a step back, muttering, "Black Tiger Toru, it's your turn."
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