Tony Stark was genuinely surprised that Wade's flesh was effective against the Spider-Men. However, he had no time for deep research. Instead, he swiftly paid for the usage rights to Wade's flesh.
Once the money hit his account, Wade didn't need Stark's intervention. He found a room and gleefully began cutting pieces off himself. Remarkably, he showed no signs of pain or discomfort and even smiled throughout the process.
Wade had previously boasted that no one could control him mentally or turn him into a puppet. However, it now appeared that with enough money, Wade didn't need to be forcibly controlled—he could sell himself at a suitable price and even provide after-sales service!
Soon, Wade's flesh was stored in small containers. Thanks to his powerful healing ability, these pieces remained biologically active. Wade even planned to retrieve them after the Spider-Men incident was resolved for future use.
With Wade's help, the Avengers quickly took control of the situation. Not only did the mutated Spider-Men freeze in the presence of Wade's flesh, but even the smaller spiders were affected. The little spiders, unlike the Spider-Men, had simpler commands from Naxhi, primarily to hide in the shadows. They couldn't handle complex tasks.
When these smaller spiders saw or sensed Wade's flesh, they too froze, unable to understand why another being with the same genes didn't obey Naxhi's orders or align with their frequency.
This phenomenon helped the Avengers locate most of the small spiders. Clark carried Wade's flesh around, using it to identify which spiders were Naxhi's minions. Any spider that froze was undoubtedly Naxhi's and was killed without mercy.
Unlike the Spider-Men, who were humans infected with the spider virus and possibly salvageable, the little spiders didn't warrant such consideration. Avengers didn't have any qualms about exterminating them, even if they accidentally killed some ordinary spiders in the process.
"There shouldn't be any left. I flew around the Earth a dozen times and didn't find any more spiders that would freeze," Clark reported to Tony Stark back at the Avengers' base, handing over the containers of Wade's flesh.
"Jarvis also did multiple scans and found no more mutated spiders. However, the situation with the Spider-Men is worsening," Tony replied as he put away the containers, sighing deeply.
Even though Wade's help had prevented new Spider-Men from emerging and all infected individuals were now contained at the Avengers' base, the incident's impact was just beginning.
Many of the Spider-Men were infected and began attacking civilians in broad daylight, with numerous witnesses. Hiding this from the public was impossible.
Despite Tony Stark and Steve Rogers having significant influence, they weren't official government representatives and couldn't completely silence the media. They also couldn't distract the public with UFOs or similar stories. Consequently, the Spider-Men incident was widely reported.
Additionally, various official entities wanted to investigate the incident. Organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. were particularly interested in understanding how the Spider-Men were created and whether they could harness this power.
The similarities between the Spider-Men and Spider-Man Peter Parker made it hard not to draw connections. Some speculated that this might be a method the Avengers were using to create superhumans.
As a result, media outlets began to throw mud at the Avengers. Stark and Rogers had their media allies, but they were now engaged in a war of words, struggling to keep the Avengers from falling too far in public opinion.
However, media battles were just one facet. Numerous official bodies wanted to uncover the truth behind the incident. Stark and Rogers were hard-pressed to handle these pressures.
If these entities were genuinely interested in resolving the Spider-Men crisis, it would be manageable. But it was clear they were more interested in how they could benefit from the situation.
Such behavior wasn't new. During the Shadow Soldier incident, some officials had secretly taken shadow people for research, only for those individuals to end up dead after Robert took down Tohru, the Shadow Mask, and General Myrtha.
During the previous dimensional rift event, officials had spent substantial resources to hunt down demons from various dimensions. This bounty was still in place. Perhaps the high costs and lack of effective research outcomes from the demon event led these entities to adopt a freeloading or indifferent approach in subsequent crises.
"I'm not great at handling these issues. It's up to you guys," Clark admitted, shaking his head. "But maybe you could release some information to the public. People are more accustomed to extraordinary events now…"
"During the demon incident, people weren't used to these supernatural beings. But the Shadow incident had a much broader impact than this one. It was limited to a few states, so the influence wasn't as vast. Yet, the public reaction this time seems even stronger," Clark observed.
"That's because, last time, they didn't see any potential benefits. This time, they see a superhuman experiment program. Of course, they're excited," Tony scoffed, expressing disdain for those who only knew how to reap the benefits without any real contribution.
Despite his disdain, Tony knew the situation needed addressing. If public opinion turned too negative against the Avengers, it could be exploited by people like Nick Fury, who had lost his main role and authority but never gave up on the idea of reclaiming the Avengers to serve S.H.I.E.L.D.
Soon, Tony released some information about the existence of dimensional beings. Although this information was quickly censored, it captivated the public's attention. Many people continued to download the document on the dark web and discussed it both openly and covertly.
Of course, some opportunists continued to slander the Avengers, claiming they were illegally detaining infected individuals and should hand them over to official medical institutions for treatment. The public discourse reached a new level of confrontation.
While the Spider-Men crisis was mostly under control, with only public opinion and the final settlement of the Spider-Men left unresolved, Robert and Naxhi's battle in the mirror dimension was nearing its end.
Even though Robert had the upper hand and repeatedly beat Naxhi into a state of indefinite suspension in mid-air, he couldn't kill Naxhi quickly. This was because, during his madness, Naxhi had drawn too much power from his true self. This power wasn't enough to overcome Robert, whose combat prowess kept rising, but it granted Naxhi immense vitality.
This excessive vitality was a curse for Naxhi. Instead of dying quickly with regret and resentment, he was trapped in agony, unable to find relief. He could only endure as Robert meticulously inflicted more damage, slowly eroding his body.
If he could, the now-defeated and Earth-abandoning Naxhi would have self-destructed to end his suffering. But Robert wasn't about to let him go, unsure if Naxhi would actually die obediently.
In his suspended state, Naxhi couldn't even self-destruct, prolonging his torment. If Naxhi's true self hadn't cut off their connection, he might have lost composure again after such prolonged suffering.
"Bang!" At some point, Robert felt he had reached his combat limit and was in a state of peak excitement. His punch pierced through Naxhi's body, no longer sending him flying but leaving him momentarily stunned.
This didn't stop Robert from continuing his combo. He was well-practiced in this sort of fight.
Energy surged from Robert's fist, exploding upon impact and sending Naxhi's body flying once more. Blood sprayed into the air but vanished in the mirror dimension before touching the ground, its destination unknown.
From this moment on, Naxhi's power began to wane. Previously, Naxhi could quickly recover from Robert's attacks, but now he couldn't regenerate under Robert's relentless onslaught. The fight had entered its final, tedious phase, and even Robert's battle fervor was diminishing.
However, defeating a formidable foe like Naxhi made Robert happy. Initially, Naxhi wasn't particularly strong, and Robert had no intention of a prolonged fight. But as Naxhi received power from his true self, Robert's desire for battle grew, leading to a satisfying showdown. Robert was even less eager to rush into finding Seldar and the hellish lord behind him.
"Bang!" As Naxhi's body flew into the sky again, a powerful energy wave formed between Robert's hands. He aimed and unleashed it, obliterating Naxhi's body.
"How does he manage to release such varied forms and powers from what seems to be the same energy?" Ancient One pondered as she observed Robert's techniques. As a master who often borrowed and adapted others' energies, she was amazed by Robert's abilities, especially since she couldn't fully replicate his moves—something she had never experienced before.
Ancient One could mimic the techniques of dimensional beings to use against them, earning comparisons to figures like Murong Fu and Kakashi.
"Swish!" Robert, unaware of Ancient One's thoughts, focused on Naxhi, who struggled to reconstitute his body. Smiling, Robert gathered energy for a full-power Kamehameha as Naxhi barely reformed himself. With a final burst of energy, Robert's Kamehameha obliterated Naxhi's body completely.
"Ah, finally, I am free!" Facing his imminent demise, Naxhi felt no fear—only relief. His eyes glowed with gratitude, wishing Richard Parker had never summoned him, sparing him from this excruciating ordeal.
"Boom!" A terrifying explosion echoed through the mirror dimension, shaking the entire space. Naxhi's body was utterly annihilated, bringing an end to the battle.
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