Ch: 80-90
Chapter 80 – Every last one of them is brutally honest with their body.
After a small shake of his head, Peter polished off the final egg tart in his hand and got up to leave the dessert shop.
As for Felicia, Peter had decided to follow the ancestral master's classic playbook:
Don't take the initiative, don't refuse.
As for whether he'd take responsibility… that would depend on how far Felicia was willing to go on her own, and on when Gwen could accept the reality of gaining a few extra sisters.
Come to think of it, the "friendly-neighborhood" Peters in the multiverse seemed to treat Black Cat more or less the same way, didn't they?
They'd say, "We can't keep doing this," yet whenever Black Cat lifted their mask for an intimate moment, none of them ever actually pushed her away—every last one of them is brutally honest with their body!
Thinking like that, Peter figured he was actually a bit more aboveboard than those "good neighbors." At least he wouldn't freeze at the goal line and suddenly declare:
"No, I can't betray MJ again!"
Shaking off the jumble of thoughts, Peter set off for Island Park.
He planned to give William the good news—and, while he was at it, hire the taciturn man as Uncle Benand Aunt May's personal bodyguard.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents were outsiders at the end of the day, and some of them might even be HYDRAsnakes.
They could handle common thugs, but if a real super-villain showed up, it would still come down to Sandman.
In Island Park, Sandman was indeed keeping his daughter company.
At the moment he had turned his body into a huge sandcastle, letting his daughter slide down the spiral ramp and tumble into a soft pile of sand, her laughter ringing like silver bells.
Not far away, William's wife sat quietly, her weather-worn face brimming with happy contentment.
Her husband had come home, her daughter had recovered—for her, this was paradise on earth.
You had to admit, Sandman's wife was the very model of a devoted wife and mother.
When her husband was in prison and their daughter had a congenital illness, she hadn't run away.
Instead she'd chosen to live in hardship so her daughter could survive, waiting for her husband's return.
Even after Sandman revealed he'd become a "monster," she never abandoned him, never once urged him to use his powers for crime.
Her moral compass was practically unshakable.
Peter intended to recruit Sandman's wife into Parker Tech as well—maybe as customer service or an assistant.
Or perhaps she could look after employees' children full-time.
Someone that upright, even if her skills were average, was reassuring to have around.
"Sir!"
William sensed Peter's arrival at once.
The massive sandcastle dissolved and re-formed into the silent, hulking man.
He hurried over with his wife, gratitude nearly spilling from his eyes.
Peter had cured his daughter the day before; that alone was worth his life.
"William, look at this."
As he spoke, Peter pulled out a New York state ID.
It bore William's photo, but the name read William Marco—a plausible alias.
"I had a covert agency wipe your records. Officially, William Baker is dead.
From now on, only William Marco, security consultant at Parker Tech, exists."
Learning he could earn an honest living as a "normal" man and repay Peter by protecting his benefactor's family, the usually stoic man finally broke.
Voice hoarse, he swore:
"Sir, I promise: from this day on, anyone who wants to harm your family will have to step over my corpse first!"
William's wife knew what her husband's new identity meant; she covered her mouth, tears of joy streaming down her face.
From now on they could live openly in the sunlight, and their daughter could receive a proper education
instead of being stuck in some rough parochial school where she'd be bullied at every turn.
Realizing this, William's wife bowed again and again to Peter.
The devout Christian hurried to vow that she and her husband would devote their lives to Peter; if they ever broke that oath, may they be cast straight into hell.
Peter raised them up and stuffed every bill in his wallet into Mrs. Baker's hand, telling her to find a stable place for her daughter to stay.
Only then did he leave Island Park with William.
He still had time, and he wanted to confirm one more thing—Gwen's mention of The Prowler, Aaron Davis,
and the possible, or possibly non-existent, little black spider.
Following the address Gwen provided, Peter and Sandman quietly made their way to a Black neighborhood in Brooklyn.
What he saw there stunned him.
This World's "Prowler" turned out to be a mash-up of the movie and comic versions.
He had the movie name—Aaron Davis—but the backstory of the 616 original, Hobie Brown.
Incidentally, in Universe-138 Hobie Brown was the punk Spider-Man of *Into the Spider-Verse*; in this Universe Aaron Davis was ninth in his family, with one older brother and three older sisters.
As for where the rest of the siblings were… let's just say it's a sad story.
The current Prowler lived with his brother and sister-in-law.
His brother wasn't cop or crook, just a guy selling fried chicken from a cart.
From Peter's observation, Aaron Davis really had gone straight.
Under the Byakugan's gaze, the suit was locked deep in a closet and no enhancers were anywhere in the apartment.
That alone put him ahead of ninety-nine percent of the neighborhood.
While Peter and William watched, Aaron ate dinner with his brother and sister-in-law.
A tiny Black child of maybe four or five sat beside them—the only kid in the household.
The kid's tight curly crop made gender hard to tell, but clothes and how the family addressed her suggested she was a girl.
And her name… was Maynes!
Hearing it, Peter's mouth curved into a wild grin,
and a ridiculous thought flashed through his mind.
Turns out the "love rival" he'd agonized over was a gap-toothed little Black girl. The moment that sank in, a huge weight lifted from his chest.
Looks like this World wouldn't be getting a little black spider-girl.
As for whether a spider-kid from another dimension might show up… well, he'd better not. And if he does, he'd better not say anything weird in front of Gwen.
Otherwise Peter wouldn't mind adding another black mark to his tally.
Chapter 81 You Don't Want to Wake the Old Lady, Do You?
After confirming there was no Black Spider in this World, Peter felt on top of the World—so much so he polished off two extra bowls of rice at dinner.
After the meal, Peter didn't go anywhere; he stayed home and kept practicing sensing 'qi.'
At the stroke of midnight, when all was silent, he slipped out of the second-floor window of the Parker house and vanished into the night in a few quick bounds.
Following the familiar route, he arrived beneath Gwen's house.
In the moonlight, Gwen hung upside-down from the rooftop railing, her golden hair cascading like a waterfall, shimmering softly in the silver light.
The moment their eyes met, Gwen's gaze naturally drifted down to Peter's Adam's apple, now prominent as he looked up.
Gulp.
She swallowed instinctively, her heart skipping an uncooperative beat.
Why does Peter always radiate that damnable charm without even trying?
She hurriedly shifted her posture, using the motion to hide her flushed cheeks, then started, a bit awkwardly:
'Peter, you seem in a great mood today—did something good happen?'
'Pretty much.' Peter wasn't about to mention Menace, so he only told her he'd scouted The Prowler that afternoon—and planned to invite the man to join the Fist of Shadow.
Hearing that, Gwen's eyes lit up.
Not because The Prowler might join the Fist of Shadow;
she was happy purely because Peter had taken her advice.
It meant her words carried weight with the boy she loved.
For a girl head-over-heels in love, that was a huge plus.
An indescribable sweetness welled up, making her grin impossible to hide.
'That's wonderful! Congrats—your hero squad's growing stronger.'
She stretched out a hand, ready to haul Peter straight onto the roof.
Peter didn't take the offer.
He felt the need to cut a more dashing figure in front of his girl.
He gave a small shake of his head, then—right in front of her—performed a physics-defying 'double-jump' with Moonwalk.
By the time he landed gracefully on the rooftop, Gwen still wore a look of disbelief:
'How… how did you just do that?'
She knew Peter was strong and had even stolen the Green Goblin's flying skateboard,
but she'd had no idea he possessed such a miraculous ability.
'Well… think of it as a variant application of magic.'
Peter couldn't explain Moonwalk; in the real World its theory was pure bug.
Without the System's boost, Gwen could train her whole life and never replicate it.
He didn't want to mislead her.
Hearing it was yet another spell bestowed by the Dragon, Gwen felt a twinge of disappointment,
but she quickly rallied—her boyfriend wielded all sorts of unattainable powers; she was proud of that.
'So… what are you teaching me today? The Eastern kung fu the Dragon taught you?' she quipped, striking a goofy White Crane stance.
'Pretty much.' Peter shrugged. 'I'm a pragmatist, so no fixed forms.'
With a light sweep of his foot he drew a circle no more than a meter and a half wide on the rooftop concrete.
Standing dead-center, left hand behind his back, he extended his right, crooked a finger at her, and grinned playfully:
'Today's training is simple.'
'Using only one hand, I'll fight you with everything I've got until you push me out of this circle.'
'Pull that off and training ends early.'
One second she was lost in curiosity and sweetness; the next she puffed her cheeks like an angry dumpling.
'What?!'
'Stay in the circle, one hand only—Mr. Punisher, you're seriously underestimating Ghost-Spider!'
Gwen huffed, fired a web-line straight at Peter,
planning the crudest, simplest method: yank him out and prove her strength.
What happened next left her stunned.
The instant her silk shot out, Peter snatched it faster than the eye could track,
whipped a half-circle, and gathered the sticky web into a rope.
His forearm muscles flared as he yanked hard.
'Eek!'
A tremendous pull jolted the line; caught off guard, Gwen lost balance and flew shrieking into Peter's solid, warm chest.
Catching her with one arm, he let his free hand land a light pat on her pert backside and teased:
'Consider that an early warning.'
'Next time I won't be so gentle.'
'You—don't underestimate me!'
Face scarlet, Gwen wriggled free of his embrace.
Realizing webs wouldn't work, she dropped the cockiness and came in with proper stance.
Used to fighting muggers at a fraction of her strength, she telegraphed punches Peter easily caught.
He gave a light squeeze and Gwen let out a decidedly ambiguous moan.
'Keep it down—the old lady's a light sleeper.'
Before she could recover, a devilish whisper tickled her ear:
'You don't want Grandma Pauline hearing anything weird, do you?'
Mortified, Gwen slapped a hand over her mouth and shot him a 'fierce' glare.
She was now one-hundred-percent certain:
the scoundrel was doing it on purpose,
loving every second of rattling her with those suggestive lines.
Where on earth did he learn such cheeky talk?
It definitely wasn't in the study materials Gloria had sent her.
Good thing Peter couldn't hear her thoughts,
or he'd have snorted in disdain.
Western styles?
Nothing but rolling eyes and 'yes-yes-yes.'
Zero technique, zero aesthetics.
If you want real knowledge, the key to unlocking the New World, you need a Japanese sensei.
Sure, the resolution's lousy and they skip the details, but in every other way they wipe the floor with the competition!
Chapter 82: No Matter How Stubborn the Lips, They Are Soft When Kissed
After teasing Little Spider until she was red-faced as usual, Peter said solemnly:
"Seriously, in future battles against me, you don't need to hold back. Just use your full strength. Don't forget, my physical strength can directly suppress Dr. Lizard!"
Hearing Peter mention Dr. Lizard, Gwen suddenly recalled Peter's amazing feat of beating Dr. Lizardinto a complete coma in just one minute.
At that thought, Gwen couldn't help but feel a little eager to try.
Since she gained her powers, she hadn't yet experienced what it was like to fight an enemy with all her strength!
After confirming she wouldn't break Peter, Gwen took a deep breath.
When she opened her eyes again, her entire mental state had clearly changed.
With a sudden movement, she rushed toward Peter like a bolt of lightning.
Gwen planned to burst out with all her strength to knock Peter down and force him to leave that small circle.
But to her surprise, facing her "Spider Charge," Peter didn't show the slightest hint of panic, nor did he choose to dodge.
Instead, he struck as fast as lightning, landing an unexpected punch on her waist.
This sudden punch made Gwen gasp in pain.
Forget knocking Peter down; with this one blow, she couldn't even maintain her momentum.
If Peter hadn't caught her, she would have hit the ground with a thud and surely woken the sleeping old lady.
Seeing Gwen's painful expression, it would be a lie to say Peter didn't feel bad.
But he knew better than anyone how important durability was in actual combat.
When facing a supervillain, if she showed even a moment of weakness, the opponent would take Gwen's life immediately.
Letting Gwen sweat more now meant she would bleed less in the future!
Thinking this, Peter hardened his heart, deliberately refraining from showing concern for Gwen or using the horse talisman to heal her immediately. He just looked down at her coldly and asked:
"Is this all you've got?"
These mocking words clearly stung Gwen's pride.
"Again!" she snorted coldly, her fingers leaving deep prints on the ground from excessive force.
In the time that followed, Gwen rushed forward again and again, only to be sent flying back faster each time.
She couldn't win!
She really couldn't win!
This was no longer a matter of being underestimated; it was a complete dimensional suppression!
After being "fed" by Captain America and Madam Gao, Peter's fighting skills had reached the top tier of the world.
According to the Marvel power settings he had seen in his previous life, Peter's current combat skills could definitely be set at the maximum Level 7!
His strength, speed, insight, and neural reflexes were all superior to Gwen's.
And what about Gwen?
This girl was just an ordinary high school student before. Although she had been taught a few simple self-defense moves by her father,
those routines looked like nothing more than "Amateurish Flailing" in the eyes of a true martial arts master.
Furthermore, the "Spider-Sense" she used to rely on so heavily was completely ineffective when facing someone she was close to.
This resulted in Gwen being ruthlessly crushed, even though Peter stood in place, used only one hand, and didn't even use strength or speed that far exceeded hers.
Gwen was relentlessly overwhelmed.
From her initial disbelief to complete desperation, and finally to being exhausted with aching waist and soft knees, her cheeks flushed and gasping for breath.
She had clearly exhausted all her tricks, but forget forcing Peter out of the circle, she hadn't even touched Peter's torso even once!
Although Gwen's combat experience seemed pathetic to Peter—even giving him a guilty sense of "bullying a kindergartner"—
she did have two good points. One was that she was serious enough.
When Peter showed his serious side, no matter how hard or tired she was, she would never think of using methods like acting spoiled or throwing a tantrum to get Peter to go easy on her.
The other was that she was willing to use her head.
Although Gwen's attacks appeared reckless from beginning to end, it didn't mean she wasn't making progress.
Peter could clearly feel that after every move, Gwen was summarizing the lessons learned from her previous failures.
She was constantly trying to prevent Peter from hitting the same spot twice in a short period of time.
Precisely because Gwen had these two great strengths, her progress was quite obvious!
An hour later, Gwen successfully managed to make Peter feel a slight bit of pressure while he was using only one hand.
But correspondingly, she was now at the end of her rope.
Gwen looked extremely disheveled at this moment, appearing as if she had just been fished out of water, with her wet hair plastered to her face.
Her body was also dirty, and bruises and abrasions were visible through the holes in her clothes.
In November in New York, the average night temperature was only three or four degrees Celsius. Under such conditions, being able to train until she was soaked in sweat showed the extent of Gwen's effort.
"Huff... huff..."
Gwen supported herself with her hands on her knees, her chest heaving violently as she gasped for air.
Her stamina was almost completely depleted.
Even so, she gritted her teeth, slowly straightened her body, and assumed a shaky fighting stance once more.
"A-again!"
Her voice was trembling, but her eyes remained determined.
Seeing her like this, Peter's heart finally softened.
He sighed softly and voluntarily stepped out of the circle that symbolized the rules.
"Let's stop here. There's school tomorrow."
"I can still cont..."
Before Gwen could finish her sentence, her vision blurred.
Peter had already appeared right in front of her.
After pinning Gwen in a classic "kabedon" pose, Peter hesitated for a moment before choosing to steal a kiss.
And Gwen, who had previously been saying "this is moving too fast," only gave a token push or two before giving up her resistance... Well, how does that saying go?
No matter how stubborn the little mouth is, it's soft when kissed... After a long while, Peter and Gwenseparated slightly, and he whispered in her ear:
"Be good, let's stop here for today."
Her sensitive ear was "attacked" once again, causing her crystalline earlobe to be stained with a hint of red.
Feeling Peter's breath so close, the stubborn words Gwen wanted to say were suddenly stuck in her throat, and she couldn't speak them at all.
"Your performance today was already very good."
Peter continued to coax his Little Spider:
"I mean it. I've fought Captain America at S.H.I.E.L.D.
Trust me, right now, as long as you can use your Spider-Sense, you can definitely rub that 'Old Popsicle' without his shield into the dirt."
Hearing Peter call the Captain an "Old Popsicle," Gwen couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
With this laugh, she naturally couldn't keep acting stubborn.
Gwen then leaned her entire weight against Peter. Only at this moment did she feel the intense fatigue and pain wash over her like a tide.
Noticing her slightly furrowed brow, Peter quietly activated the power of the horse talisman.
Wherever the hazy white light passed, the pain receded like the tide.
Gwen let out a comfortable hum, like a kitten being stroked.
"The injuries are healed, but the fatigue still remains..."
Peter first put on a troubled expression, then suddenly changed his tone:
"However, I happen to be skilled in a massage technique bestowed upon me by an Eastern Divine Dragon. Since we are destined to meet, why don't I..."
Before he could finish, Gwen had already pushed this opportunistic guy away in annoyance:
"In your dreams... I'm going to take a shower!"
She said as she ran off. Just as she was about to return to her room, she winked playfully at Peter:
"Goodnight, Mr. Punisher~"
Chapter 83: Obadiah in Action
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.
Over the past half month, Peter and Gwen have been "dating" almost every night on the rooftop of Gwen's house.
The results of these "dates" have been quite astonishing.
Gwen is like a dry sponge, frantically absorbing the fighting techniques and practical experience Peterfeeds her.
She was already a genius with learning abilities no less than Peter's.
Furthermore, through day after day of sparring with Peter, she gradually mastered the ability to freely control her Spider-Sense even against those close to her.
This has accelerated her progress significantly.
Now, she can already trade blows for dozens of rounds without falling behind against Peter, who stays within a circle and fights using only his hands.
Peter estimates that Gwen's current combat level is roughly equivalent to his own when he first redeemed Kyougoku Makoto's Karate insights.
If compared to combat power in the original works... she could probably defeat Garfield and Holland, falling only slightly short of the pure stat-monster Bully Maguire.
In her current state, dealing with one or two supervillains working together is no longer a problem!
Of course, Gwen isn't the only one making progress.
With the amplification from the cold jade bed and the kunlun thimble ring, Peter's efficiency in absorbing "Qi" is also steadily increasing.
As more and more Qi is absorbed into his body,
Peter has also begun to experiment with the preliminary combination of Qi and Chakra.
After a series of tests, Peter concluded that "Qi" is a higher form of Natural Energy.
Although obtaining "Qi" is more difficult than Natural Energy, its advantages are correspondingly obvious.
It can be stored and is very gentle.
Qi absorbed into the body won't go out of control due to an imbalance in proportions during the synthesis of Senjutsu Chakra, like Natural Energy does, which would turn the user into a stone statue or a monster.
Even if Chakra and Qi aren't fused in a one-to-one ratio,
Qi can still provide an amplification effect to Chakra.
The most intuitive manifestation of this amplification is:
After injecting Qi into a Rasengan, the Rasengan can be thrown from the hand!
And the more Qi is fused, the further the throwing range.
If Peter had enough Qi, he might be able to manipulate the Rasengan like a flying sword,
allowing the Rasengan to cross mountains and ridges like a missile to deliver a precision strike on an enemy a thousand miles away!
Furthermore, Peter estimates that if he accumulates for about another month, he can probably try using Qi instead of Natural Energy to activate his own Sage Mode.
At that time, his peak combat power will be able to rise to another level... While Peter was training Gwen and improving his mastery of "Qi,"
the various "story characters" from the original work weren't idle either.
Under Peter's instructions, Harry has now almost finished snapping up the Stark stock sold off by retail investors.
He only needs to wait for Tony's press conference to arrive, and he and Peter will become super-rich in one fell swoop.
At the same time Harry secured the last portion of Stark Industries stock on the market,
Tony, who had already been pushed out of the company's board of directors by the shareholders, also returned from Afghanistan.
In the private lab on the top floor of Stark Tower, Tony hummed an unknown tune smugly as he let the robotic arms remove the suit from his body.
He had put on a spectacular debut performance in Afghanistan today, destroying a large batch of Stark Industries weapons in one go.
The looks of reverence from the Afghan people when they saw him made Tony incredibly excited, feeling as if he had found a new direction in life:
"Jarvis, repair the damaged areas of the suit. Also, how is the progress on the gifts I asked you to prepare for Ethan and that Punisher guy?"
Following Tony's inquiry, the AI butler Jarvis immediately opened two 3D projections.
On them were two design blueprints for Iron Man Suits.
The overall color scheme of the former was an interwoven "black, red, and green," the colors symbolizing Dr. Ethan's homeland, Afghanistan.
After being saved by Peter, Dr. Ethan did not choose to come to America with Tony to live a good life.
Instead, he chose to stay in Afghanistan to help local refugees rebuild their homes, attempting to use his brilliant mind to soothe the pain of his war-torn homeland.
In the past, Tony certainly wouldn't have understood such "idiotic" behavior.
But now, he only felt a sense of solemn respect.
Therefore, he aided Dr. Ethan with a large sum of money and specially prepared this suit for him, hoping it could help him and his fellow countrymen avoid the fallout of war!
The latter was primarily black and gold; currently, it only had a simple appearance setting, without more detailed equipment or configuration parameters.
Obviously, this was the suit Tony prepared to repay Peter.
However, because he hadn't yet figured out how to make that excessively young mage feel surprised, this set of armor was still in the conceptual blueprint stage.
"Produce Ethan's suit overnight first! The situation over there isn't very peaceful; I want to send the suit over sooner."
Tony gave the order while pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
"Sir, your heart rate is a bit high. I suggest you reduce your alcohol intake," Jarvis's voice rang out at the right moment.
"Give it a rest, Jarvis," Tony curled his lip. "This is excitement, not alcoholism. You know I never do stupid things that hurt myself."
Just then, a steady sound of footsteps came from behind Tony.
"Tony, aren't you going to pour a glass for your uncle too?"
The newcomer was none other than Obadiah Stane. A kind smile hung on his face, but his eyes were cold.
Noticing Obadiah's secret intrusion, Tony's expression shifted. He moved inconspicuously toward the mark iii, but spoke with an arrogant air:
"Unless you're willing to accept my proposal, there's nothing to talk about."
"You're still the same..."
Obadiah shook his head gently, then pulled a small remote control from his pocket:
"Just like your dead old man, you refuse to do things the easy way!"
The moment he noticed Obadiah was about to drop the facade, Tony immediately lunged toward the mark iii with all his might.
But just as his hand was about to touch the robotic arm... *Vrrr—*
A burst of sound waves invisible to the naked eye instantly spread out.
Tony felt his mind suddenly go blank, followed by an instantaneous stiffening of his entire body's muscles. Even moving a finger became incredibly difficult.
The mark iii was clearly within reach, yet he couldn't touch it no matter what.
"What... the hell is this?"
"It's just a sonic weapon that can temporarily paralyze the nerves." As Obadiah spoke, he slowly leaned down, admiring the arc reactor on Tony's chest as if it were a work of art.
And then... without any hesitation, he ripped it from Tony's chest, laughing triumphantly at the pale-faced Tony:
"Go to hell, Tony, just like your dead old man!"
Chapter 84 – iron monger and the Sinister Six
Gazing at the arc reactor glowing a ghostly blue in his hand, Obadiah had never felt so elated.
This tiny thing was a key.
Not just the key that would awaken the iron monger slumbering beneath the Base.
It was the key that would usher Obadiah himself through the gates of the New World and crown him the next king of war.
With this arc reactor he could replace Tony Stark as the Military's partner of choice.
Then he would lead Stark Industries—no, it should already be called Obadiah Industries!
He would expand Obadiah Industries, make it bigger, stronger, and greater than ever!
The entire global arms market would become his private garden.
Before long, Obadiah would be the most powerful man on the Planet.
But first, he would have to pay a small price to keep the Military happy.
With that thought, he pulled a phone from his pocket and dialed.
'My side is done; you can start your operation.'
The line went quiet for a moment, then a low voice answered,
'Wait. My people will be there shortly.'
Satisfied, Obadiah walked off.
Too triumphant to notice, he never saw Tony Stark struggling toward his workbench behind him…
Hell's Kitchen, top floor of Fisk Tower.
Kingpin ended the call, a victorious smile on his face.
He turned slowly to the six very different figures standing in a row across his desk.
These six were the 'masterpieces' he had painstakingly hunted down over the last half-month.
Kingpin called them the Sinister Six.
At their head was his right-hand maniac who could turn anything into a lethal weapon—Bullseye.
He now wore a high-tech battlesuit whose thrusters could boost his strength and speed to terrifying levels in seconds.
Beside Bullseye stood twin assassins in sleek black exosuits, built like praying mantises.
Code-named 'Execution Killers', they were already legends in the hitman World; the exosuits made them deadlier still.
Behind the twins came a Russian hulk armored in resilient polymer, a gaunt old man with massive metal wings strapped to his back, and a gaunt, twitchy middle-aged man in green bio-armor.
If Peter were here, he would have recognized them instantly.
They were three of Spider-Man's classic foes.
'Rhino' Aleksei, 'Vulture' Adrian Toomes, and 'Scorpion' Mac Gagan!
Kingpin's gaze swept across the six and he nodded in satisfaction.
'Today is your day to shine.'
'Remember, your target tonight is only one man—The Punisher, dead or alive.'
'Take him down, and I swear none of you will ever want for anything again!'
'Understood, boss!'
Bullseye bowed slightly, outwardly respectful, but his eyes blazed with excitement and bloodlust.
After the six left the office, an uneasy silence fell.
Finally, Adrian Toomes the Vulture broke it.
'Obadiah already controls Stark Industries; why bother helping us catch The Punisher? It makes no business sense—there has to be an angle.'
Bullseye glanced at him, amused, his gaze drifting to the metal wings.
'Old man, you're quicker than you look.'
He gave a meaningful smile.
'Normally you wouldn't be cleared for this, but since you asked, I'll throw you a bone.'
'Obadiah's only playing along because some very big people above us ordered the team-up.'
He tapped a finger to the ceiling, looking cryptic.
'You get it—The Punisher's spooky tricks make him a walking treasure trove to the real heavyweights.'
At the mention of figures bigger than Kingpin or Obadiah, the other five's breathing turned heavy.
So the op came with strings attached to true power.
If they delivered The Punisher, they could ride those coattails straight to the top.
Pleased, Bullseye laid out the full plan.
'Rhino, you'll hit the top of Stark Tower and fake-snatch Obadiah.'
'The rest of us lie in wait until The Punisher takes the bait.'
'Once he shows, the six of us plus Obadiah's iron monger tear him apart on the spot.'
'Even if he's got three heads and six arms, he won't slip the net.'
Toomes again spotted the flaw.
'And if he doesn't show?'
Bullseye's grin turned cruel.
'Then we use Ghost-Spider. I've mapped every time The Punisher's appeared—it's always when she's in trouble. Not a coincidence.'
'Plus, the girl can't help sticking her nose in everywhere.'
The others exchanged knowing looks.
Ghost-Spider was the real bait.
'All right, speech over—time to hunt.'
Not long after the Sinister Six left Hell's Kitchen, the Parker car radio crackled with an urgent NYPD bulletin.
'Emergency! A super-villain calling himself the Rhino is on the roof of Stark Tower. He claims to have killed Tony Stark and abducted Stark Industries acting CEO Obadiah Stane!'
'The Military has assumed control but wants a total blackout… All available units proceed to StarkTower perimeter and keep civilians away!'
Listening to the looping alert, Peter lay in bed, utterly bewildered.
'Rhino? Kidnapping Obadiah?'
What kind of crazy twist was this?
Chapter 85: Saving Private Tony
Although he knew clearly that the current trajectory of the Universe had been completely altered because he had disrupted the Web of Fate.
Still, the appearance of Rhino left Peter feeling somewhat bewildered.
Under normal circumstances, tonight's script should have been Tony Stark fighting iron monger!
What level are you, Rhino? What are your stats?
Do you really think you can challenge Iron Man and iron monger?
Something is wrong, twelve parts wrong out of ten!
Peter frowned, realizing that the situation was far from simple!
If there were no surprises, Kingpin should be the one backing Rhino.
Kingpin has been developing stealthily in Hells Kitchen for so many years; it makes no sense for him to suddenly go crazy and attack Stark Industries.
You have to remember that the Military stands behind Stark!
A gang boss dares to send his subordinates to kidnap a Military partner?
How is that any different from a mouse licking a cat for luck?
After only a brief thought, Peter quickly reached a conclusion.
This is likely a trap.
As for who the prey they intend to capture is... Peter hesitated slightly before pulling out his phone:
"Gwen, where are you right now?"
Gwen, who was moving rapidly between skyscrapers, answered through her built-in Bluetooth headset and reported truthfully:
"I'm heading to Stark Tower. It seems there's a small problem there."
"Wait for me, I'll go with you." Peter said, taking his battle suit out of his bag.
No matter what their goal is, with Gwen and himself teaming up, plus a crippled Iron Man providing support, this configuration is enough to smash through any fancy tricks.
Thinking this, Peter immediately stepped onto his flying skateboard and flew toward Stark Tower... Meanwhile, on the top floor of Stark Tower.
"When is that idiot called 'The Punisher' finally going to show up? I still need to clean out Tony's remaining loyalists at Stark Industries!"
Obadiah, who had long since grown impatient waiting, couldn't help but complain.
Rhino Aleksei glanced at him, then picked up the walkie-talkie and asked in a muffled voice:
"Vulture, have you spotted anything unusual?"
Vulture Adrian was observing the movements around them from above using thermal imaging binoculars.
As he watched, he suddenly let out a soft exclamation.
"What is it?" Rhino asked.
Vulture scratched his bald head and spoke, sounding somewhat puzzled:
"There's something, but it's coming from inside Stark Tower... He's moving very fast and is rapidly approaching you."
Boom!
Not long after Vulture issued the warning, the ceiling of the top floor suddenly exploded!
Amidst the debris and smoke, a figure clad in red and gold armor floated somewhat raggedly in mid-air!
It was Tony Stark, wearing the mark iii armor!
Tony was in terrible shape; the surface of the armor was dented, and the arc reactor on his chest was flickering, clearly indicating that his energy was nearly depleted.
In fact, if Pepper hadn't disobeyed Tony's order to throw away the old arc reactor, he would have already died by now!
Therefore, having just crawled back from the gates of hell, he decisively decided to rush here and settle the score with Obadiah.
However, the moment he rushed up, he witnessed this incredibly bizarre scene.
A large brute wearing Rhino armor.
An old man with metal wings growing out of his back.
Several other figures whose faces were obscured by shadow, and... Obadiah, who was "tied up" in a chair with yellow tape over his mouth.
Tony's processor crashed instantly.
What the hell is going on?
Obadiah was kidnapped?
If that's the case, whose side should I be on?
While Tony's mind was blank due to this inexplicable situation.
Obadiah's expression below changed drastically.
What the heck?
How is Tony not dead yet?!
Shouldn't he have already passed away because he lost his arc reactor?
Where did the reactor on his chest come from?
It's over!
Everything is over!
At this moment, Obadiah no longer cared about "hunting The Punisher" or gaining the Military's trust.
Startling the snake and letting "The Punisher" escape would merely make his path to becoming the King of War slightly more winding.
But if Tony leaves here alive, he will lose everything he currently possesses!
No, it's not just about losing everything!
Once Tony recovers, that kid will definitely come back and take everything he owns!
Even if he manages to survive by chance, he'll spend the rest of his life in prison!
With this thought, Obadiah instantly lost the mood to continue acting with the Sinister Six.
He ripped off the ropes that weren't even tied tightly, tore off the tape from his mouth, and yelled loudly:
"Kill him! Hurry! Kill him for me!"
As he spoke, he was also rapidly activating the device transporting the iron monger.
Bullseye and Vulture exchanged glances, instantly understanding the shift in the situation.
The plan has changed!
"Move!"
Bullseye snarled softly, then pulled out several metal playing cards forged from high-carbon steel from seemingly nowhere.
He consecutively threw the cards in his hand; they flashed with cold light, heading straight for the joint connections of Tony's armor!
At the same time, Vulture flapped his wings, soared into the air, and his sharp steel feathers cut through the atmosphere as he dove towards Tony from above!
Now, Tony didn't have to be conflicted anymore.
So these people are all in league with Obadiah! He just didn't know what they were trying to achieve with this charade.
"Jarvis! Take off, then fire the repulsor ray!"
Tony roared, forcefully draining the last bit of energy from the backup reactor.
The mark iii wobbled as it ascended; due to the severely insufficient energy supply, its acceleration upon takeoff was very slow.
"Clang! Clang!"
Although Bullseye's playing cards missed the mark iii's knee joints, they were heavily embedded in the steel armor of the lower leg.
"Sir, the leg armor is damaged. The damage level is thirty percent, which will cause a slight impact on the flight system!"
"Shut up, displaying it on the screen is enough!"
Tony yelled, then fired a repulsor ray at Vulture in the air.
But Vulture was no mere roadside grunt.
He sneered, used his nervous system to adjust the flight direction of his iron wings, and easily dodged Tony's repulsor ray thanks to his superior flight speed.
"Scratch—"
Vulture circled behind Tony, and the sharp edge of his iron wing slashed across the back of the armor, causing a burst of dazzling sparks on the suit's back plating.
"Back armor damage exceeds forty percent! Movement will result in significant energy consumption!"
"Damn it!"
Tony couldn't help but curse under his breath, thinking, what the hell is wrong with New York.
Where are all these monsters coming from!
Before he could complain any further.
Boom!
A giant skylight was opened up again on the top floor of Stark Tower.
"Tony, this time, I won't give you a chance to escape!"
After confidently planting a flag on his back, Obadiah scrambled into the iron monger's cockpit and immediately launched three miniature missiles toward Tony...
Chapter 86: Jarvis: This Has to Be a Virus!
No matter how hard he accelerated, he couldn't shake the missiles iron monger had fired, and with his propulsion system damaged, Tony was about to be hit.
At that moment, Tony felt almost hopeless.
Was… today really the day he died here?
Damn it—if only The Punisher were in New York right now!
With that guy helping, taking down iron monger would be child's play.
Just as Tony was thinking that—
Rat-tat-tat!
The rattle of machine-gun fire echoed from afar.
The missile chasing him detonated instantly.
The blast hurled Tony through the air.
He wrestled with the sputtering thrusters, but Stark Tower's roof was still too far away.
He was seconds from cos-playing a human cannonball and face-planting fifty floors down when—
Swoosh—
A strand of webbing slapped onto his chest plate, and a tremendous yank followed.
It flung him onto the open rooftop.
"Whew—"
The near-death thrill drew a long, shaky breath from Tony.
Following the web to its source, he saw Ghost-Spider land gracefully.
At the sight of Gwen's athletic, lithe figure, the playboy's radar pinged.
While he scrambled for a killer opener, an icy stare drilled into him.
He shivered before he even turned his head.
The owner of that glare: Peter Parker himself.
The realization snapped the day-dreaming Tony back to reality.
He might be a womanizer, but he had lines he wouldn't cross.
A friend's girl is sacred.
Besides, Peter wasn't just a friend—he'd just saved his life.
Opening his faceplate to prove his innocence, Tony called out:
"P—Punisher, you're finally here."
"Help me out! I'm really on my last legs here!"
Peter's cold grunt told Tony the joke had landed—he'd already figured out Gwen was with Peter.
Feigning indifference, Peter said:
"I can help—but my appearance fee isn't cheap. What are you paying this time?"
Tony's eye twitched.
He'd dealt with Peter before and knew exactly what he was like; he also knew he'd been in the wrong.
If Peter had leered at Pepper, he'd have reacted the same way.
So, after a deep breath, he grumbled:
"Once I scrap that pile of junk over there, I'll custom-build a suit of Iron Man armor for you and the Ghost-Spider lady—any specs you want, full service and updates included."
Satisfied, Peter decided to let him off the hook.
He vanished in an instant.
At the same moment, the Vulture—mid-sneak-attack—saw a blur.
The next second, a crushing force slammed into him.
Curled like a shrimp, he plummeted faster than he'd taken off, smashed into a distant wall, and couldn't get up.
Only Kingpin's high-tech flight suit saved his brittle bones from shattering.
After drop-kicking the Vulture, Peter reappeared beside Tony and pressed a hand to the pock-marked chest of the mark iii.
"Don't—"
Seeing Peter power up, Tony wanted to play tough.
He meant to say, Don't heal me—the shrapnel in my chest is my problem!
But when the white light flared, nothing happened to his body.
Instead, his mark iii began refurbishing itself at lightning speed.
Gouges and craters melted away before his eyes.
Not just the plating—damaged thrusters and empty weapon pods refilled as well.
Moments later, the battered mark iii looked factory-fresh, its red-gold paint gleaming under the moon, not a scratch in sight.
"Beep-beep-beep…!"
Red exclamation marks popped on the HUD.
Jarvis spoke in Tony's ear.
Though it was only AI, Tony could swear he heard human bewilderment:
"Sir, unknown energy detected. Armor damage… zero percent."
"All systems nominal, power at one hundred percent."
"Data anomaly… initiating virus scan."
"No threats found. Sir, I suspect my core has been compromised by an unknown virus!"
Tony: …Buddy, you're making this awkward.
How exactly do you explain magic to an AI?
And seriously—when I said don't heal me, you took it literally?
Couldn't you show a little initiative?
After several false starts, Tony gave up trying to lecture Jarvis on the unscientific and simply ordered:
"Jarvis, stop diagnostics—battle mode, now."
He'd vent every ounce of grievance from Peter straight onto iron monger and Obadiah.
"At once, sir!"
With that, the fully charged mark iii snapped into combat stance.
Whoosh—!
The red-gold form shot skyward, charging iron monger head-on.
Obadiah still believed bigger meant better; his iron monger would crush the mark iii.
He grinned and met the charge.
Then… tragedy.
The mark iii's full-throttle thrusters left the knock-off in the dust.
The instant the suits collided, iron monger was flipped by the superior tech.
They tumbled off Stark Tower's roof and waged a dazzling mid-air slugfest.
Missiles and repulsor blasts lit the night like daylight.
While the Military and NYPD gaped at the aerial brawl, the Sinister Six shook off their shock.
Bullseye licked his lips at Peter:
"Punisher, we meet at last. Hope you're tough enough to entertain all six of us."
Chapter 87: Gwen vs. The Sinister Six
Listening to Bullseye's trash talk, which was practically begging for a retort, Peter couldn't help but roll his eyes.
What's with this suggestive language? Is this kid trying to be a flirt or something?
"So, the six of you weirdos and Obadiah staged this kidnapping just to lure me into a trap?"
Bullseye clearly didn't understand the trope that 'villains die because they talk too much.'
Upon hearing Peter's question, thinking he had the upper hand, he gave an affirmative answer without a second thought:
"Correct, but unfortunately, there's no prize."
Although the current situation had clearly exceeded expectations—they had to deal with Ghost-Spiderand Tony Stark in his Iron Man Suit in addition to The Punisher—
Bullseye still possessed a mysterious confidence, believing that things were still under his control.
Humans cannot imagine things that lie beyond their own perception.
This was exactly the case for Bullseye right now.
He knew that The Punisher had taken down Madam Gao, Electro, and Sandman.
However, because he hadn't personally fought them,
and because all traces of Peter's battles with Electro and Sandman had been erased by the horse talisman, there was no way to use the scene as a reference for power levels.
As of now, he had no concept of just how strong The Punisher actually was.
He naively believed that The Punisher was only formidable because of that ability to'steal others' powers'.
He thought that as long as the six of them joined forces and finished it quickly, The Punisher would be no concern at all.
"Very well~" Peter subconsciously narrowed his eyes.
"I originally wanted to let that fat bastard live through this year's Christmas, but since he's seeking death himself, I'll fulfill his wish."
Saying this, he turned to look at Gwen and asked in a relaxed tone:
"Miss Ghost-Spider, how many of them do you think you can handle right now?"
"Emmm~" Gwen thought for a moment and gave a relatively conservative answer:
"At least four? Maybe all six would be fine..."
Hearing this, before Peter could even react, the Sinister Six couldn't sit still.
The six of them were already incredibly arrogant after just gaining extraordinary powers.
Hearing Gwen say she could take on four of them at once made them feel looked down upon.
Except for Bullseye, the Captain, the other five scrambled to charge at Gwen, attempting to take her down immediately to prove their strength.
The Judgement Killer brothers glanced at each other and nodded in unison. Their black exoskeleton armor hummed as they flanked Gwen from the left and right.
Meanwhile, the Scorpion, Mac Gargan, let out a neurotic cackle. The green metal Scorpion tail behind him whipped like a venomous snake, piercing toward Gwen's heart with a sharp whistling sound!
Vulture circled in mid-air. He didn't dive down immediately, instead waiting for the right opportunity to deliver a lethal blow.
The one charging the most fiercely among the five was Rhino, Aleksei Sytsevich.
This guy already had a robust muscular build. After being bonded to a polymer skin and undergoing radioactive exposure, the muscles on his body had mutated.
This mutation made him incredibly strong; at full burst, he could strike with thirty tons of terrifying force.
If it were a pure contest of strength, even the current Gwen would be no match for him.
Only Peter could manage to go toe-to-toe with this guy using pure physical strength.
Of course, if speed and technique were considered, Rhino was not worth mentioning at all.
Because of Rhino's charge, the entire rooftop of Stark Tower was vibrating slightly.
It was fortunate that Peter had previously used the horse talisman to repair the large holes in the floor made by Iron Man and iron monger.
Otherwise, with Rhino's charge, the entire rooftop might have collapsed on the spot.
Facing the pincer attack of the six villains, Gwen didn't choose to dodge. Instead, she took the initiative to meet the Sinister Six head-on!
This was exactly what she wanted!
After being brutally trained by Peter for half a month, she was looking for some decent opponents to see how much she had improved!
Seeing the Scorpion, the fastest one, whipping his long tail toward her,
a relaxed smile appeared on Gwen's pretty face under the mask. With a light tap of her foot, she rose several meters instantly like a weightless feather, perfectly dodging the Scorpion's lethal strike!
Only... Bullseye and Vulture were waiting for this very opportunity!
Without needing eye contact, the two moved almost at the same time.
Vulture dived down from high altitude like a real Vulture foraging in the desert, spreading his iron wings with every intention of slicing Gwen in half.
Bullseye also aimed at the opening where Gwen was in mid-air and unable to dodge, raising his hand to throw six throwing knives.
After the knives traced perfect parabolas in the air, they actually converged on Gwen in mid-air. From the look of it, they had clearly sealed off all of Gwen's evasion space!
For anyone else, this would be a certain-death situation.
But Gwen, relying on her Spider-Sense, forcibly created a sliver of hope!
She flicked her wrists, shooting out two strands of webbing in an instant.
One strand covered Vulture's eyes, causing him to slow his dive due to the sudden loss of vision while in mid-air.
The other strand precisely stuck to one of the six throwing knives.
Then, with a flick of Gwen's wrist, the knife's trajectory was diverted, just in time to knock away two other knives.
Gwen took the opportunity to spin in the air, gracefully dodging the remaining three knives.
After completing this series of movements, she began her descent.
She aimed at the Judgement Killer brothers charging below, performing a split-like motion in the air, kicking both of them right as they rushed in.
"What?!"
The two brothers had thought that with the high-tech exoskeleton augmentation, their strength and speed were second to none in the world.
It wasn't until they met Gwen that they realized there is always someone better.
Gwen's movements were ordinary, but her speed was so exaggerated it didn't seem human!
The two only had time to barely raise their arms in an attempt to block before they were kicked flying by Gwen the next second.
And their bodies, flying backward, happened to land right in the charging paths of the Scorpion and the slowest-moving Rhino!
The Scorpion couldn't dodge in time and was knocked down on the spot.
As for Rhino, the moment he saw the younger Killer brother flying toward him, he tried very hard to slow down.
But unfortunately, his momentum was too fierce; at this point, even he couldn't perform an emergency brake.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Vulture, who had torn the webbing off his face, saved the day by diving down and pushing the younger Killer brother out of the way.
This prevented the tragedy of the younger Killer brother acting as a speed bump and being crushed into a meat patty by Rhino on the spot.
Round one of Ghost-Spider vs. The Sinister Six ended with Gwen holding an absolute advantage!
Chapter 88: Good Grief, the Speed Bump Just Counter-Killed the Hundred-Ton King!
Seeing Gwen perform with such ease despite being one against six,
Peter, who was sitting on the sidelines like an old man with his legs crossed watching the show, couldn't help but let out a whistle.
Impressive, my Little Spider.
Those beatings over the past half month weren't for nothing!
Seeing Peter's punchable expression, the Sinister Six were nearly fuming with rage.
As the Captain, Bullseye's eyes darted around before he barked an order:
"Rhino, you and Vulture go deal with The Punisher. The rest of you, follow me and take down this damn Ghost-Spider first!"
Bullseye was Kingpin's confidant, after all, and his analytical skills were quite sharp.
He judged at a glance that the reason they lost the previous round of confrontation was mainly because the group still needed to mesh; they hadn't formed enough synergy.
Aside from him and Vulture having some coordination, the other four could only be described as fighting their own individual battles. Furthermore, Rhino's rampaging was purely counterproductive.
This made it seem like the six of them were dealing with Ghost-Spider, but in reality, they were hindering each other, providing Gwen with the opportunity to take them down one by one.
Therefore, Bullseye chose subtraction, directly sending Rhino and Vulture to deal with The Punisher.
Conveniently, Ghost-Spider couldn't fly, and her strength couldn't match Rhino's, so she had no way to stop the two from bypassing her to launch an attack.
Bullseye thought his decision was absolutely correct.
However, just as he finished speaking, Peter couldn't help but let out a sneer:
"I've truly never seen anyone as stupid as you."
"The six of you together aren't Ghost-Spider's match. Do you really think splitting off these two pieces of trash will be enough to deal with me?"
Hearing this, before Bullseye could even react, Rhino had already reached a boiling point of rage.
He looked at Peter with a face full of discontent, bellowing in a muffled voice:
"Aleksei is not smelly!"
As he spoke, two plumes of white steam puffed from his nose, and he immediately charged at Peterregardless of the consequences.
Peter:...Will I be infected by an 'idiocy aura' if I fight this guy?
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The ground beneath vibrated continuously from Rhino's charge. This time, there were no obstacles between Rhino and Peter; Rhino was confident he'd make Peter pay dearly!
After all, he had done tests before—even a bank's vault door couldn't withstand his full-force impact!
Just a mere human... no matter how powerful, could he be harder than a vault door reinforced with all-alloy?
Seeing Rhino charging forward recklessly,
Vulture, who was in mid-air, let out a helpless sigh, ultimately choosing to coordinate with Rhino.
He aimed for the moment Rhino was about to reach Peter and suddenly vibrated the iron wings on his back violently.
With his movement, the iron feather darts beneath his wings were all flung out, flooding toward Peterlike a torrential rain of pear blossoms, cutting off any space for him to dodge to the sides.
Vulture felt his coordination was seamless and would surely drive The Punisher into a dead end.
But the reality was... facing Vulture's'Sky-Filling Feathers' and Rhino's'Savage Charge,' Peter was so calm he didn't even lift an eyelid.
He just lazily reached out a single hand.
What was he doing?
At that moment, let alone Vulture and Rhino,
even the other four supervillains tangled with Gwen in the distance were stunned.
Is he crazy?
Trying to stop Rhino's charge with just one hand?
In that instant, they all imagined Peter's bones snapping and being crushed into meat paste on the spot by Rhino!
Even Rhino was already designing his MVP victory speech in his head:
Aleksei didn't know~ Aleksei thought it was just a speed bump~!
While Rhino was lost in his fantasy, chuckling foolishly while charging at full speed toward Peter with all his might,
Peter showed a disdainful smile and then silently chanted in his heart:
Iron Body!
Hum~
In an instant, the muscles all over Peter's body bulged, taking on a metallic texture similar to steel.
Clang, clang, clang~
Vulture's steel feathers landed on Peter's body, actually producing sounds like metal clashing against metal.
And at that very moment, Rhino reached him.
Bang!
Under the tense and expectant gazes of the crowd, Peter's hand firmly pressed against the massive single horn atop Rhino's head.
The imagined scene of Peter's arm snapping, white bones piercing through his body, and him rolling on the ground screaming in terror did not happen.
The moment his palm made contact with Rhino's horn,
first, the ground beneath them suddenly erupted into spiderweb-like cracks.
Then... Crack~!
The sound of bone snapping finally rang out.
Hearing this sound, Bullseye and the others instinctively breathed a long sigh of relief.
I knew it, how could there be a monster in this World who could withstand Rhino's full-speed charge with just one hand!
AAAAAAAH!
Just as they were thinking this,
a scream like a slaughtered pig followed immediately after.
Hearing this scream, Bullseye and the others were stunned again.
This muffled voice... why does it sound so familiar!
The few of them subconsciously turned to look, and then, with perfectly synchronized movements, they displayed the same shocked expression as 'Eneru discovering Luffy is a rubber man.'
Good grief, the speed bump just counter-killed the Hundred-Ton King!
The snapped bone wasn't Peter's arm, but... the Rhino horn on top of Aleksei's head!
At this moment, the Rhino horn on Rhino's head was completely snapped off, and blood was gushing from his head like a fountain!
Although Aleksei was called Rhino,
in reality, he hadn't been injected with any Rhino serum or anything like that.
He was simply affected by radiation and chemicals, which caused a substance similar to Rhino hide to be bonded to his skin.
And the Rhino suit he wore was a specialized combat suit Kingpin had spent a fortune to build for him based on his characteristics!
Because the impact of Rhino's full-speed charge was simply too strong,
after the alloy Rhino horn on his suit snapped, its remaining base pierced through his Rhino suit and that layer of strange compound skin, embedding itself directly into Aleksei's own skull!
This was equivalent to having an iron stake driven into one's head without any anesthesia.
It was only because Rhino's body had become abnormal after the radioactive experiments that he didn't die on the spot.
But it was only to the extent of not dying on the spot.
Rhino, having taken this hit to the head, rolled on the ground in agony, even babbling incoherently to the point of calling for his Mama.
Clearly, Rhino was finished!
Just one exchange... no, this couldn't even be considered an exchange.
In fact, The Punisher hadn't even launched an attack.
He had just reached out to block, and Rhino was scrapped on the spot... what level of combat power was this?
The moment they realized this, a heavy shadow loomed over the hearts of the remaining five of the Sinister Six...
Chapter 89: Laser Weapons, old geezer~
While the whole crowd was left speechless by Peter's shocking performance, Peter looked up at Vulture in the sky as if nothing had happened:
"Next, it's your turn!"
The moment his eyes met Peter's cold gaze, Vulture involuntarily shuddered, as if he saw the phantom of the Shinigami behind Peter.
*Gulp~*
Vulture reflexively swallowed hard!
Snapping out of it, he suddenly flapped his wings, releasing all the steel feathers stored within his iron wings in one go.
Immediately after... he turned and fled, as if he had made a firm decision!
To hell with the Sinister Six!
To hell with Kingpin's reward!
What's the point of having money if you're not alive to spend it!
What? You're asking if running away now will offend Kingpin?
So what if it does?
Offending Kingpin only means you might die.
But if he stayed here to fight this monster, he would definitely die!
Thinking this, Vulture flapped his wings even harder!
Escape, quickly!
Ideally, fly right out of New York in one go!
Away from Kingpin, away from The Punisher—from now on, the sky's the limit!
Vulture put all his effort into trying to find a slim chance of survival.
He flew and flew until he could no longer hear any movement behind him, only then letting out a long sigh of relief.
It should be sa— Huh? What's this?
Vulture's peripheral vision... no, wait, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed something black silently following him.
What the hell?
Vulture stole a glance, and then his soul nearly left his body in fright.
The thing that had been following him was none other than The Punisher's flying skateboard!
The moment this thought flashed through his mind, The Punisher's voice actually came from the flying skateboard:
"Surprise, motherfucker~!"
Holy crap~!
High-tech, unmanned driving, they call it!
As a self-proclaimed inventor, Vulture had never hated technological progress as much as he did at this moment.
Without realizing it, his bald head was covered in cold sweat.
But he still hadn't given up, constantly cheering himself up in his heart.
It's fine, it's just a flying skateboard equipped with a heavy machine gun.
Just watch me outmaneuver you!
With that thought, Vulture steeled himself and immediately began performing stunts in the air.
*Rat-tat-tat~!*
The heavy machine gun on the flying skateboard began frantically spitting tongues of fire.
Vulture dodged and weaved through the hail of bullets. Although parts like his arms and thighs were shot and bleeding profusely, and one leg was even blown off on the spot.
But he couldn't help but burst into wild laughter.
I did it, I did it!
So what if it's a heavy machine gun? It still can't hit my vitals!
Just as he was thinking this triumphantly in his heart...
*Pew~!*
A bolt of azure electromagnetic pulse shot out. This energy blast instantly pierced through the iron wings on his back, along with his entire chest.
Looking at the large hole in his chest, Vulture's eyes bulged.
At that moment, he heard The Punisher's relaxed and lazy voice coming from the flying skateboardagain:
"Laser weapons, old geezer~"
Damn it~! I hate high-tech!
After this final lament surfaced in his mind, Vulture's vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
His body fell from the sky like a giant bird.
But before he could hit the ground and endanger pedestrians, the flying skateboard steadily caught the guy's corpse.
The iron wings on his back were good things that could be used for sacrifice; how could Peter just watch his prize fly away!
..."Done~!"
Through the conscious information sent back by the wheel of destiny, it was confirmed that Vulture was dead and his iron wings had been reclaimed by the wheel of destiny.
Peter glanced at Gwen, who was being surrounded by Bullseye and the other three, and finally asked out of concern:
"Miss Ghost-Spider, are you sure you don't need help?"
"No!" Gwen replied without a second thought.
"I said I'd take on four, so I'm taking on four!"
"Fine then!" Seeing that Gwen didn't want him interfering in her fight, Peter didn't push it.
"Then I'll go see how things are going on Tony's side!"
After saying that, Peter glided away using Moonwalk.
As for whether Gwen would suffer at the hands of Bullseye and the others...
The answer to that question was undoubtedly no.
After being trained by him for a full half-month, there was no reason Gwen wouldn't be able to handle these small fry.
Besides! Even if he wasn't on the scene, wasn't the wheel of destiny on its way back!
Stands possess a certain degree of independent consciousness!
If Gwen really fell into danger, the wheel of destiny would intervene to help her out!
...Boom boom boom!
In the high sky, the sounds of explosions continued incessantly.
At this moment, the battle between Iron Man and iron monger had reached a fever pitch!
And the situation was visibly developing in a direction unfavorable to Tony.
The performance of the mark iii was indeed superior to the iron monger.
However, because Tony, in his pursuit of ultimate style, didn't want too many heavy weapons to ruin the aesthetic of the suit...
As time passed, Tony found that his weapon reserves were clearly running low!
After his on-board weapons were depleted, he only had the palm repulsors and the chest unibeam left.
As for the iron monger... built by the arms dealer Obadiah as a War Machine, beauty was never considered in its design; it was all about packing in as much as possible.
The iron monger was packed with a massive amount of ammunition all over its body.
This allowed the iron monger to gradually show its advantage after weathering the initial round of bombardment.
While Tony was left with only repulsors and his unibeam, the iron monger could still fire weapons from all over its body, forcing the mark iii to rely on its speed to dodge frantically.
"How ironic, Tony!"
Seeing the situation turning in his favor again, Obadiah regained his confidence and began mocking Tony once more:
"You want the world to be free of weapons, yet you invented the greatest weapon of all!"
"And... you're about to die at the hands of the very weapon you developed, all because you hate weapons!"
Just as Obadiah was triumphantly reciting his victory speech, and Tony was hesitating whether to use the high-altitude icing to deal with the iron monger...
"Oh~ is that so?" A relaxed and lazy voice suddenly rang out:
"But I don't think so."
This sudden voice startled both Obadiah and Tony.
The two instinctively turned their heads, and then... they saw Peter strolling through the air.
"Sir, abnormal scenario detected. It appears a virus is attacking my core programming again!"
Jarvis began reporting errors again.
"Shut up!" Tony crossly interrupted Jarvis's report and canceled the self-diagnostic program on the spot.
It's too rude to question Big Daddy like this!
"Jarvis, from now on, there's no need to report any abnormal reactions related to 'The Punisher' Peter Parker."
"Then sir, what should we do now?" Jarvis asked blankly.
"Do you even need to ask?" A relaxed smile appeared on Tony's face.
"Just watch Big Daddy do his thing!"
Chapter 90: Tearing Apart a Gundam with Bare Hands
High in the sky.
Obadiah Stane obviously didn't hear Tony Stark's muttering.
Even if he had heard it, he wouldn't have cared.
Because he had been tangled in a dogfight with Tony at high altitude, he was completely ignorant of what was happening on the ground.
He didn't know how Rhino had been insta-killed in one move, nor did he know how Vulture had been scared off by Peter and then turned into a sieve by the wheel of destiny.
As of now, he still viewed Peter as nothing more than a mortal flesh-and-blood body that had undergone some kind of experimental mutation.
In his simplistic worldview, no matter how capable a person was, they were still just flesh and blood.
Flesh and blood could never shake his steel armor!
"Who cares what you idiot thinks!"
Obadiah gave a sinister grin, his short, thick finger pressing down hard on the launch button.
"Go tell it to my anti-tank missiles!"
Obadiah was still fantasizing that his missiles could teach Peter a lesson.
However, the missile's tail flame had just ignited, and it hadn't even had time to leave the launcher.
Obadiah saw that figure floating in the air casually lift a leg, making a motion similar to kicking a soccer ball.
Tempest Kick!
Whoosh~
A visible cyan blade of air appeared out of nowhere, accurately slashing into the anti-tank missile that was just about to launch!
BOOM!!!
The missile exploded instantly upon the violent impact!
The fire and shockwave from the explosion knocked even a massive giant like the Iron Monger back quite a distance.
Inside the cockpit, alarms blared loudly, and the screens flashed red frantically.
"Chest armor damage at sixty percent!"
Obadiah was lucky enough that the missile had barely cleared the launcher before the Tempest Kick struck it.
Otherwise, if the missile had exploded internally and caused a chain reaction... he probably would have turned himself into fireworks on the spot!
At this moment, Obadiah was completely stunned.
What the hell?
What was that just now? An energy wave kicked out with a foot?
Is he a poet?!
Holy shit!
Before Obadiah could recover from his shock, Peter's mocking voice reached his ears.
"Now, who's the one about to be killed by their own weapon?"
Peter slowly "walked" over to the Iron Monger, which had finally managed to stabilize itself, and tapped on its helmet with his finger, producing a series of crisp "clang, clang, clang" sounds.
"Oh, wait, that's not quite accurate."
He tilted his head, looking like he was thinking seriously, and corrected himself a moment later.
"I should say... who's the one about to be killed by the weapon they plagiarized?"
Obadiah was already reeling from the missile's impact, and hearing this, he nearly spat a mouthful of blood onto the screen.
Lies don't hurt, but the truth is a sharp blade!
Thinking about how everything he had was copied from Tony, and yet he couldn't even use this stolen gear to kill that bastard Tony.
And now to be mocked like this by The Punisher, Obadiah's mental state completely shattered on the spot.
"Die!"
Obadiah screamed, raising his hand to let the machine gun on his wrist fire countless bullets.
Watching this, Tony even held his breath.
But what happened next made him go from holding his breath to gasping in shock.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The bullets clearly hit Peter's body squarely, but the sound they made was no different from hitting a steel plate!
Not only was Peter unharmed, he even had the composure to slowly let dazzling electrical arcs wrap around his arm inch by inch.
Then, with a motion like a hand-blade, he directly sliced off the machine gun along with the iron monger's hand armor!
Looking at the iron monger's arm armor that Peter had severed on the spot, Obadiah's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
What kind of monster is this?!
At this point, he had actually begun to feel regret.
But he knew he had no choice; there was no turning back.
So, he could only stake everything on a punch with his remaining right fist, trying to use the mech's own power system to blow The Punisher away.
"Oh? A melee attack this time?"
Peter said, still choosing not to dodge. Instead, facing the iron monger's incoming fist, he chose the simplest and most violent response.
Brute force against brute force!
Boom!
Peter's fist collided with the iron monger's fist.
Compared to the iron monger's iron fist, Peter's fist was clearly so small.
But the power that erupted was something even the iron monger's power system couldn't withstand.
Creeeeak! Screeeech!
The piercing sound of twisting metal rang out.
Under Obadiah's terrified and distorted gaze, the iron monger's massive fist, made of special alloy, was actually... punched straight through by Peter's fist!
As Peter withdrew his hand, he gave a gentle tug, and the iron monger's entire right arm armor was ripped off as well.
Now, the iron monger had become a handless monger... "No... this is impossible!"
Obadiah let out a desperate scream.
Dismantling a mech with bare hands—this kind of magical occurrence was completely beyond his comprehension!
"Nothing is impossible."
Peter's voice was like a demon's whisper.
After tearing off both of the iron monger's arms, it was as if he had become addicted to tearing apart mechs.
He began reaching out to tear at the armor on the iron monger's chest and back.
Creeak, snap!
The sound of alloy steel plates deforming under violent tearing was incessant.
Before long, the once-majestic iron monger had turned into a piece of scrap metal with sparks flying everywhere and wires completely exposed.
*Hiss~*
Watching this incredibly brutal scene from a distance, Tony felt a wave of phantom pain.
"Jarvis..." Tony murmured, his voice incredibly dry.
"Yes, sir."
"Take this down... immediately, right now, prepare for the development of the Mark IV!"
"What will be the focus of the new armor, sir?" Jarvis asked.
"Integrated armor! Seamless! At the very least, it shouldn't allow a human to stick their fingers into the gaps of the plating!"
"Shit, I will never allow my armor to be torn apart like that!"
While Tony was rambling to Jarvis about the design philosophy of the next generation of armor.
On the other side, seeing that he was about to be exposed to the open air, Obadiah completely broke down.
He knew he was finished.
His grand plan to become the King of War had completely turned into a pipe dream.
He was most likely not going to escape death!
Even if he luckily survived, he was destined to spend the rest of his life in prison!
He might as well just die!
At that thought, a hint of madness flashed in Obadiah's eyes.
If I can't have it, then no one else can!
If I'm going to die, then none of you are staying alive either! Not only that, I'll make all of Brooklyn be buried with me!
With that thought, Obadiah roared and smashed his fist through a button inside the cockpit protected by a red cover.
Self-destruct sequence! Activated!