Bab 139: Restart, Spider-Man! [139] [DDD!]
December Double Drop!
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When Kingpin opened his eyes again, he realized he'd been taken hostage.
"What... who are you people?"
"Old men," Steve replied with complete sincerity.
Kingpin: "..."
Xia Luo shot Steve a look. "How many times are you going to use that joke?"
Steve scratched his head. "This is the first time! I thought long and hard about it. It's not funny?"
Carter deadpanned. "Beyond stale."
"Fine, I'll work on it." Steve sighed, crestfallen.
Xia Luo returned his attention to Kingpin. "By now, you should understand the situation you're in."
"I don't understand…"
Three minutes later.
"Okay. I understand." Kingpin let out a weary sigh. "Tell me, what do you need me to do?"
"You've got access to mercenaries. I need this entire operation kept absolutely secret," Xia Luo said.
Kingpin raised an eyebrow. "If you need manpower, I've got plenty."
"I said absolute secrecy. I can't trust your regular men."
"Fine. Got it. When do you need them?"
"The sooner, the better."
"Three days. I'll need a minimum of three days." Kingpin pulled a card from his coat. "Use the funds on this account. No one will track our moves."
"Perfect."
Xia Luo smiled, then assigned the matter to Steve. If that woman was right, the older a man, the wilier he got—and Steve could manage this covertly without a hitch.
Now it was time to decide who would lead this mission.
His gaze swept over Gwen and Carter before finally landing on Felicia and Lizard Parker.
"Big kitty," he said, "I don't think you've told me what your powers are!"
Felicia blinked. "Kitty? I don't recall us being on such... informal terms."
Xia Luo waved it off. "Don't sweat the details. I'm naturally friendly."
Felicia glanced at him with distaste before answering, "I don't have powers."
"No powers?" Xia Luo looked surprised. "A regular person's muscles would've torn to shreds swinging around like you do."
Felicia rolled her eyes. "Spider-Man, ever heard of technology?"
She held up her wrist to show them her grappling device.
"I spent a lot of time and money developing this. With some fine-tuned controls, I can swing through the city like you. And my suit's got an exoskeleton built in, so my muscles don't tear—and I stay nearly silent in motion."
Xia Luo gave an approving smile. "Excellent. You're qualified."
"Qualified?" Felicia asked.
"Yes. We need someone without any superpowers for this role."
"The main role?"
Hearing this, Lizard Parker's eyes lit up.
"Me, me, me! I want the main role too!" he said, hand raised eagerly.
Xia Luo gave him a once-over. "You? Are you sure?"
"Absolutely!" Lizard Parker thumped his chest. "In my normal form, I'm just an ordinary human without powers."
Gwen chimed in, "It's true. I've studied Peter's condition. In his normal form, there's no trace of regenerative cells in him—blood samples even confirm he's just an ordinary person."
"Interesting," Xia Luo mused. "It sounds like your transformation doesn't merge with your baseline biology—seems more like an external force momentarily takes over your body."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever—can I be the main character or not?" Lizard Parker looked at him, brimming with hope.
"Alright!" Xia Luo nodded. "Then you two will lead the mission."
Lizard Parker cheered, but Felicia looked exasperated.
"What's he so excited for? It's not his revival game."
Carter chuckled. "You wouldn't get it. When someone who's struggled with self-worth feels needed, their whole world lights up."
Felicia tossed her hair. "I wouldn't know. I've never been insecure."
Gwen smiled and glanced over at Lizard Parker. Then she leaned in to whisper to Felicia.
"Of course you wouldn't. You're a woman."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Gwen replied, slipping past Felicia to the fridge.
"Peter! Congrats! Let's break out some champagne."
"Thanks."
"Me too!" Felicia quickly joined her.
"Don't celebrate yet. First, get some gear."
Xia Luo leapt out the window.
Man, the Black Order's weapons were fantastic.
---
Three days later.
"Ding-dong~"
Outside Gwen's apartment, Cindy pressed the doorbell, waiting for a response that never came.
"Gwen…" she muttered, her face darkening as she uttered the name with growing resentment.
Just as she prepared to kick down the door, a cold voice rang through her earpiece.
"Cindy, someone's infiltrated the base."
"What?" Cindy gasped.
Meanwhile, at Osborn's Castle.
Steve, leading the charge, swung Mjolnir and unleashed arcs of lightning that exploded through the air, leaving the castle's armed guards convulsing in its wake.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Behind him, Kingpin and a squad of mercenaries swept through, clearing out any stragglers and ensuring no witnesses remained.
"Entrance to the underground is here!" Steve thundered, smashing down on a spot where the ground instantly exploded in fiery rubble.
Kingpin couldn't help but feel a shiver of dread. Such a brutal old man.
The mercenaries, exchanging uneasy glances, couldn't hide their unease either. Why would people this powerful need to hire us?
Did they just want an audience?
Soon enough, Steve and the others breached the underground base. The Cindy clones poured in from all directions, but in the face of Mjolnir's crackling lightning, their numbers meant nothing. If even gods fear thunder, why would they fare any better?
Whether it was Black Dwarf's massive axe, Corvus Glaive's deadly glaive, or Proxima Midnight's trident, these weapons tore through Cindy clones with ease. One by one, Cindy's forces fell, littering the hall with her fallen clones.
They advanced until they finally reached Ophelia's chamber.
"Lady Viper, leave her to me!" Steve proclaimed, charging in and completely forgetting Xia Luo's warning. The instant he stepped inside, a cloud of poison seeped into his body.
Thud~
Mjolnir clattered to the floor as Steve dropped, his strength drained.
Ophelia, draped in her snakeskin-patterned robe, looked down at him. "It's Madame Viper, not 'Lady.'" She corrected him with a cool smile.
"Apologies… I-I forgot." Steve gasped, sweating as he fought to stay upright.
"Senile old fool."
Ophelia chuckled, her gaze shifting to the group now flooding into the room: Kingpin and his mercenaries.
"I'm impressed you're still alive," she said to Kingpin, her voice frosty. "But your betrayal displeases me greatly."
It was Kingpin's first time laying eyes on Ophelia, and he was momentarily stunned—he hadn't expected the mastermind behind the scenes to be such a dangerously alluring woman.
And he wasn't the only one. The mercenaries, transfixed by her beauty, hesitated.
"What are you idiots standing around for? Let me handle this!" Lizard Parker pushed his way forward, wearing ill-fitting camo with a crooked helmet.
Determined, he aimed his rifle squarely at Ophelia, ready to unleash full firepower. But as Ophelia staggered to the floor, feigning weakness, Lizard Parker felt his heart melt.
"Wait…"
Kingpin put a hand up, halting Lizard Parker. "Allow me," he said.
Xia Luo: "???"
Watching through a camera feed from the mercenaries, Xia Luo couldn't believe his eyes.
"What are you doing?" he shouted into the comms. "You're here to fight, not fight over her!"
"Enough of this!" Lizard Parker ripped out his earpiece and turned to Kingpin.
He pointed his finger right at him. "Back off, you oversized slab! I'll protect this long-legged, gentle-hearted woman!"
Kingpin frowned, a cruel smile curling his lips.
"Fool. Only the strong deserve beautiful women. Now, die."
With that, his enormous fist balled up as his muscles tensed, and he swung a brutal punch at Lizard Parker.
Lizard Parker wasn't backing down. With a flash, he transformed into the Lizard, and the two clashed fiercely.
Amid the chaos, the mercenaries, still enamored by Ophelia, rushed to her side.
"Ma'am, this place is far too dangerous! Let us escort you out of here."
"Oh, thank you," Ophelia said, her voice dripping with gratitude. "You're all such good men."
She followed them out with a look of mock innocence.
Steve, helpless on the ground, watched it all with barely contained rage. Trembling, he activated his earpiece.
"Xia Luo, the mission's failed. Looks like no man alive can resist Ophelia's charms."
"It's fine," Xia Luo replied, "Felicia's waiting outside. She won't be swayed."
As he said this, Carter's panicked voice broke through the comms.
"Felicia's been killed by mercenaries!"
Xia Luo: "…"
"And you?"
"Well, I—"
Bzzt~
The line crackled with static, and it was clear Carter had been taken down as well.
Ophelia was well-versed in neutralizing superpowered individuals. But to her, ordinary humans were merely disposable toys.
Xia Luo exhaled. "Steve, we weren't prepared enough. The operation's a bust."
"I know."
Then he felt an icy chill creep up his spine as his body suddenly weakened.
He turned slowly to see Cindy approaching with a twisted smile.
"Gotcha," she whispered.
Powerless, Xia Luo slumped to the floor, watching her draw closer.
With a dry laugh, he managed to say, "Next time, can you try a different line? I'm getting tired of this one."
---
The Sixteenth Revival.
Steve and the mercenaries breached the underground base, pushing their way forward until they reached Ophelia's chamber.
"Hold on—stick to what Xia Luo said," Old Man Steve ordered, holding back Kingpin and the rest of the group.
Nodding in agreement, the mercenaries quickly blindfolded themselves with black cloth, firing blindly and emptying several clips toward the door.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Bullets riddled the chamber door, tearing it into shreds. Once the magazines were empty, Steve waved his hand.
"That should do it. I'll go in and check first."
He cautiously pushed open what remained of the door.
Through the camera feed on Steve's helmet, Xia Luo saw the scene inside.
"Damn it…she's still fine!"
Steve tensed, seeing that under the luxurious green bed lay a mound of bullet casings—and an energy shield that still shimmered, entirely intact.
Then, the woman on the bed stretched in a slow, languid motion.
"The game is over, you poor, foolish men."
Her sultry voice drifted into the hallway, and the mercenaries immediately felt themselves fall under her spell.
"Idiots! Move aside—let me handle this!"
This time, it wasn't Lizard Parker but Felicia who stepped up, hefting a rocket launcher onto her shoulder.
"Die, monster."
She pulled the trigger, and the rocket shot straight into the chamber.
"Crap! I'm still in here!" Steve ducked down behind his shield.
BOOM!!
A thunderous explosion ripped through the room, destroying everything in its path. Engulfed by the searing heat, Steve scrambled out in a hurry.
"The shield is still holding!" he shouted back to Felicia.
"Then fire again!"
Felicia tossed the empty launcher aside, but before she could reload, a strange, eerie mist began filling the base.
"Ahhh!"
"What is this?"
"My eyes—"
"I can't breathe!"
"Help!"
The mercenaries gasped and struggled, with Lizard Parker quickly shifting into his lizard form in an attempt to resist the effects.
"Damn it! That idiot's powers aren't reliable—this gas hits ordinary people even harder!" he cursed.
Old Man Steve, covering his nose and mouth, began to pull back.
"This isn't her gene toxin—this is a chemical bioweapon. The mission is compromised. Fall back!"
"You won't get away that easily."
The mist swirled, and out of it stepped the seductive silhouette of Ophelia herself.
"Seventy years, and this base has never fallen. Did you really think you could change that?" Her mocking gaze settled on them. "The game is over, and I must say, you've all disappointed me."
With a single delicate snap of her fingers, a thread of green wove through the fog. The moment it reached Steve and the others, they collapsed, powerless.
The camera feed went dead, and Xia Luo removed his headset, knowing Cindy would soon arrive.
The Seventeenth Revival.
This time, through Kingpin's network, Xia Luo spent a small fortune to procure an armor-piercing missile.
Unfortunately, Osborn's Castle had an anti-missile defense system.
Mission failed.
The Eighteenth Revival.
Xia Luo tried again, aiming to send a missile directly into Ophelia's chamber to shatter her energy shield.
But before the missile even reached Osborn's Castle, they were surrounded by law enforcement.
Mission failed again.
The Nineteenth Revival.
Xia Luo finally abandoned the idea of using tech weapons.
Ophelia had too many sources feeding her information. Buying weapons would never escape her notice, especially given her probable alliances with official forces…
With his gene toxin resistance now at 18%, Xia Luo could withstand a little more, but his tolerance for Ophelia's venom was still low. Even if he used up all his retries, the maximum 30% resistance would at best allow him to move freely, but he would still lack any of his spider abilities. Against Ophelia, he'd be fighting a losing battle.
From any angle, this looked like a dead end.
Or did it?
According to the Villain's Overconfidence Principle… there might be a way…
With this realization, Xia Luo hatched a new plan.
He sought out Felicia and Lizard Parker.
"I've got an important and dangerous mission for you two. You'll be our only hope—don't let us down."
When he finished explaining, Lizard Parker could hardly contain his excitement.
"I love this plan!" He shot Xia Luo a mischievous grin.
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Status Power Mingguan
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