Ethan shot up, his violent movement stirring a cool breeze.
He gasped for air, his gaze sweeping around vigilantly, as if he hadn't fully escaped the abyss of Death.
His trembling hands slowly reached for his body, only to find he was still wearing the same clothes he had on when he was shot.
But after a brief search, he quickly realized something was wrong.
Although the clothes he was wearing were covered in dust, there wasn't a trace of blood or a single hole on them.
It could be said that, apart from being a bit dusty, the clothes weren't very dirty.
"I... how am I not dead?"
Spider-Man, standing nearby, also had his eyes wide open, his expression under the mask filled with shock and confusion.
The other person had been shot and fallen in his sight; how could he have come back to life just like that?
"Ho-how could he be alive..." Before he could finish, Spider-Man's words were cut off by Gwen raising her hand.
Gwen's lips curved into a mysterious smile, her index finger pressed to her lips in a shushing gesture, her eyes glinting with cunning.
She slowly turned, then crouched down to meet the newly awakened Ethan's gaze.
"Ethan, it's time we talked." Gwen's voice was perfectly gentle, yet it held an undeniable power. "I saved you."
Ethan propped himself up with his hands and scooted back half a step, his eyes a mix of vigilance and confusion, subconsciously licking his still somewhat dry lips: "Saved me? Why? We don't know each other..."
"Because I need you." Gwen reached up to brush a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her smile growing brighter. "I value your abilities, your loyalty, and your connections."
"Stark?"
"Clever." Gwen snapped her fingers. "As your savior, are you interested in working for me?"
"You're... using a favor to get something in return?"
Gwen nodded, not feeling ashamed even when it was pointed out: "That's right, I'm using a favor to get something in return."
Seeing Gwen being so direct, Ethan wasn't angry; instead, he changed the question.
"How exactly did you bring me back? I remember being riddled with bullets; it's impossible that I'm still alive."
Gwen didn't answer, just smiled at Ethan and said, "Before I answer that question, could you please return the bracelet in your pocket to me? The suspended animation function of this bracelet still has a small bug, which caused you to be 'dead' for a while and still bleeding profusely."
Hearing this, Ethan subconsciously began to search his pockets.
As mentioned before, Ethan's outfit only had pockets on his pants.
He searched left and right, and suddenly felt something in one of his side pockets.
Ethan tried to open it, but found it was tightly sealed with tape.
And the style of this tape felt somewhat familiar to him.
At that time, some parts on Tony's armor were not securely attached, and they were wrapped with the same type of tape.
A coincidence? Or... Without further hesitation, Ethan tore open the taped-shut pocket and pulled out the ring-shaped object from inside.
It was a silver bracelet with a light purple hourglass icon on it.
Ethan examined the bracelet repeatedly, but he couldn't piece together any memory of owning it, nor could he recall when he put it in his pants pocket, as if the item had appeared there out of thin air.
"What exactly is this?" Ethan clutched the bracelet, his gaze returning to Gwen's face.
His tone sounded like a question, but Ethan handed out the bracelet in his hand.
Gwen, however, waved her hand, her purple eyes reflecting the light purple hourglass icon on the bracelet, a meaningful smile playing on her lips: "No rush, Mr. Ethan. I need to see where to start modifying this thing. How about you help me test it out?"
Although Ethan was still somewhat confused by Gwen's words, he still nodded.
Under Gwen's direction, he put the bracelet on his wrist.
"First, the gunshot mode." Gwen hesitated for a moment, then chose a button and pressed it.
The next instant, Ethan felt as if his chest had been struck by a heavy hammer, and a great force caused him to fall back to the ground.
Warm liquid spread across his chest; looking down, a crimson blood flower bloomed vividly on his shirt, and blood gushed out, pooling into a dark red puddle beneath him.
It should have been a terrifying scene, but strangely, apart from the impact's vibration, he felt no pain.
He sat up again, watching his wound gush blood like a waterfall, somewhat surprised.
"Paralysis." Gwen still wore a smile, her fingertip gently pressing another button on the remote control.
Ethan suddenly felt an electric current shoot up his spine to his brain, and his whole body instantly tingled with a dense numbness.
The sensation came so swiftly that he yelped, then fell back onto the mat.
His entire body felt bound by invisible ropes, all strength seemingly drained from him, unable to move even a single finger.
This feeling of powerlessness... it felt so familiar.
That's right! This was the feeling after being shot down by a barrage of gunfire earlier.
Nowhere on his body hurt, but he just couldn't exert any strength.
Gwen didn't even look in Ethan's direction, her finger already moving to another button.
"Next is suspended animation..."
"Wait... wait a minute!" Before Gwen could finish, as if he had thought of something, Ethan quickly stopped her.
Hearing Ethan's words, Gwen paused her finger from pressing the button, turned to look at Ethan who was stopping her, and asked with some confusion: "What's wrong?"
Ethan was breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently, his pale face covered in cold sweat: "I believe you now, I understand how you saved me."
It should be known that falling into suspended animation mode before, apart from being able to be pulled back from the hands of Death, was actually not much different from truly dying.
And Ethan, who had already realized how the other party had saved him, naturally didn't want to try it again.
Gwen nodded, choosing another button on the remote control and pressing it. The fake blood on Ethan's body instantly vanished, and the numbness receded like a tide.
He sprang up from the mat as if propelled by a spring, immediately re-checking his physical condition, and found nothing unusual.
Ethan also roughly guessed what had caused such a terrifying effect, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with his body, he immediately took off the bracelet from his wrist and placed it aside.
Gwen put away the remote control, a gentle smile gracing her lips.
"Now we can talk, can't we, Mr. Ethan, and..." She suddenly turned, her gaze like a torch on Spider-Man nearby, her voice trailing off, "Mr. Peter Parker?"
Spider-Man stiffened, his eyes under the mask wide with shock.
He stumbled back half a step, subconsciously blurting out: "How did you..."
His words caught in his throat, and he quickly coughed twice in a panic, deliberately lowering his voice and explaining in a hoarse tone: "You've got the wrong person, I'm not Peter Parker."
"Alright, alright, you don't know him." Gwen wasn't annoyed, continuing with a smile: "Then I'll find time to talk to Mrs. Mei Parker, you shouldn't have any objections, right?"