Chapter 171: The Masked Man
After collecting all the useful items, the Black Shadow Ninjas stored everything in the Shadow Realm.
At Home
"Aww~" Peter stretched leisurely, lying on the sofa, eyes closed to rest. These peaceful days were truly rare. Silas was still at school, and the only people home were Peter and Aunt May, who was watching a drama.
"Want some snacks, Peter?" Aunt May turned and asked.
Peter waved his hand with his eyes still closed. "No need, Aunt May. I just want to sleep quietly right now."
"Do you want me to turn off the TV?" Aunt May prepared to get up and turn off the TV.
Peter quickly said, "No, no, no! Aunt May, I think listening to the sound of the TV actually helps me sleep."
"Alright." Aunt May took the remote and lowered the volume.
Peter's time of tranquility passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Silas was home from school.
"Oh? Is Peter still sleeping?" Silas opened the door when he got home and saw Peter asleep on the living room sofa.
Aunt May said helplessly, "Yes, he didn't respond when I tried to wake him up at noon. If I hadn't seen him breathing, I would have thought he was dead."
"He must have been exhausted yesterday," Aunt May said with a touch of sympathy.
"Yeah~" Silas wasn't quite sure what excuse Peter had given Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
"Are you hungry? Would you like some snacks?" Aunt May remembered the cookies on the table and immediately brought them to Silas. Aunt May glanced at Peter, who was still sound asleep on the sofa, and explained, "I just learned how to make these from TV. I was worried Peter might be hungry, but since you're back first, you can try them."
"Uh..." Silas coughed awkwardly, looking at the slightly burnt cookies in front of him, and then shouted, "Peter! Alien invasion!"
"Where?!" Peter, who had been sound asleep, instantly performed a back handspring, landing on the floor in a low crouch, assuming an attack posture.
"..." Aunt May.
"..." Silas. He hadn't expected Peter to react so strongly.
"Uh..." Peter looked around and, finding no danger, looked at Aunt May and said awkwardly, "Hi~ Good morning, Aunt May?"
"No, it's afternoon now," Aunt May shook her head helplessly. What was wrong with Peter? Why such an intense reaction?
Seeing this, Silas took the opportunity to slip away and said, "I'm going upstairs first!" With that, he quickly ran up the stairs.
Just as Peter was still groggy and trying to figure out what was going on, Aunt May brought a plate of black things over to him.
"Peter, hurry and try them. These cookies were made just for you," Aunt May smiled.
Peter's mouth twitched. He complained internally: Aunt May, are you sure those are cookies? They look like mutated cockroaches.
"I'll try one?" Peter, feeling Aunt May's shining eyes on him, reluctantly picked up a cookie. He swallowed hard, then tremblingly put the cookie into his mouth. He bit down, Crunch!
"Umm~ Aunt May..." Before Peter could finish his sentence, he collapsed onto the sofa behind him.
"Peter!" Aunt May cried out.
Spider-Man deceased!
Upstairs
Silas, hearing Aunt May's call, smiled about it. He had a clear view through the perspective of the Black Shadow Ninjas. There was no way Peter could be poisoned to death; he probably just found them too awful to eat and pretended to faint. After all, he hadn't slept enough yet.
"Did John inject it?" Silas asked, taking off his schoolbag.
Swoosh!
Little Black suddenly emerged from Silas's shadow and said, "He's fine, but he looks very hesitant."
"Whether it succeeds or fails is up to him," Silas smiled faintly. After all, the gene serum given to John had a very low success rate, and he couldn't guarantee it would work. Therefore, getting powerful strength depended on his own luck. If he was lucky, he could survive safely in this Marvel world.
"Have you found Stark's location?" Silas turned and asked.
Little Black said, "Of course. They crashed five kilometers outside Rose Hill, Tennessee."
"Mhm." Silas nodded.
Tennessee
"Why?! Jarvis! I didn't say I wanted to come here?" Tony questioned loudly.
"I have to go save Pepper!" Tony's mood was extremely complicated right now; Pepper must have been taken by those people.
"I prepared a flight plan, and the destination was here," Jarvis explained. This plan was originally designed for the Mark 42 to test its flight performance.
"Who told you to do that?" Tony was angry at Jarvis's unauthorized action.
Tony took a deep breath and said, "Now, open the armor."
"I... I can't do that, sir. The suit has malfunctioned," Jarvis replied haltingly.
"Open the ejection system," Tony said.
Clang! Crack! Crack! Crack!
The armor quickly began to dismantle. Tony immediately sat up. The cold air rushed in instantly from the surroundings, and his entire body felt chilled.
"Ha~" Tony blew on his hands and quickly rubbed his arms.
"Wait! Who are you? Why are you here?" Jarvis suddenly asked.
"What?" Tony questioned. "Jarvis, I wasn't talking to you."
"No, sir. It's an unfamiliar friend," Jarvis replied.
"Friend?" Tony frowned. "What friend?"
"I just think it should be a friend. Also, sir, I might need to take a nap," Jarvis said.
"Hey! What friend? And a nap? Jarvis? Jarvis?" Tony called out twice, but Jarvis gave no response.
"Please, don't leave me, buddy," Tony's eyes showed a hint of loneliness.
"Hmm~" Tony looked up at the snowflakes dancing in the sky and the silent surroundings. He was speechless. He observed the scene around him and stood up.
One minute later
Tony used a chain to drag the Mark 42 forward, leaving a long drag mark in the snow, but it was quickly covered by the heavy snow again.
After walking for a long time, Tony arrived at a gas station. Seeing the clothes on an Indigenous American puppet in front of him, he decisively took them off and put them on, bringing a bit of warmth to his body.
"I owe you for now," Tony said to the puppet, after feeling his pockets and realizing he hadn't brought any money.
After resting for a while, he continued to drag the Mark 42. He had to find some tools to fix the armor and hurry up to save Pepper.
Bang! Tony used an axe to pry open a wooden door, threw the armor onto the sofa, and then sat down, panting heavily.
"Now it's just me," Tony tapped the back of the armor's head, then stood up and started searching the room for anything useful.
"Don't move!" a small boy shouted, holding a homemade toy gun.
Tony stopped his search and looked up at the small boy. He examined the toy gun in the boy's hand and said, "Is that a potato gun you made? Not bad, but the barrel diameter is too large. The power will be reduced."
Bang! The little boy shot and shattered a cup.
"Hmm~ You're out of ammo now," Tony said.
"What are you doing?" the little boy asked.
Crack! Tony redirected the desk lamp, revealing the Mark 42 behind him.
"Iron Man?!" the little boy exclaimed in surprise.
"I'm the Iron Man," Tony countered.
"But they all said you were dead," the little boy pulled out a newspaper from his pocket, threw it into Tony's lap, and then excitedly ran over to the armor, stroking it.
"The protagonist doesn't die," Tony put down the newspaper, saw the little boy fiddling with the armor, and said, "I'm going to fix him."
"Like a mechanic?" the little boy smiled.
"Yes, and don't touch him, he feels pain." As soon as Tony finished speaking, the little boy took off a finger part.
The little boy said awkwardly, "Sorry."
After some small talk with the little boy, Tony struck a deal, exchanging small parts from the armor for the things he needed.
Swoosh! A Black Shadow Ninja leaped in from the window.
"Whoa!" The little boy quickly hid behind the sofa, aiming his potato gun at the Black Shadow Ninja.
When Tony saw the Black Shadow Ninja, his smile immediately returned. "Don't worry, a masked man who's late for the ball has arrived."
"If you talk like that, Stark, I won't take you with me," Silas slowly poked his head out of the Shadow Realm.
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