"Ugh..."
Steve was hit by a blast, finally exhausting the negative energy within him.
He shook his head and got up, sighing, "...This era is far more dangerous than I imagined..."
"The world changes so fast. Far beyond your imagination."
Nick Fury approached him, extending his hand invitingly. "That's why we need you more, Captain."
Steve shook his head.
Baldy (Nick Fury) was somewhat surprised.
—He still hasn't recovered after just one fight? ...That's not like Captain America…
Steve shook his head and chuckled, pulling himself up before grasping Fury's hand. "You wouldn't be able to pull me up..."
"Wow~ So you really are Captain America?"
Tony landed beside them, "I can't believe it."
Steve nodded, "There are more things I can't believe. You are..."
Fury introduced Tony, "He's Tony Stark, Howard's son."
Steve recalled something, looking at Tony's Iron Man suit and feeling emotional, "You're a genius, just like your father..."
"Thanks for the compliment, many people say that."
"But actually..."
Tony narcissistically said, "I'll prove I'm better than my father."
Fury: "Captain, there are many things you need to know. I'll send you a file later... Tony, you'll get one too."
Ding~
A crisp tapping sound echoed abruptly on the emptied, silent street.
Tony and the others turned to look—
They saw Ye Li, now back in casual attire, elegantly sitting outside a café, lightly tapping his coffee cup with a silver spoon. "Will you send me a copy too, Director Fury?"
"Li?"
Tony greeted first, "What are you doing here?"
Ye Li chuckled softly, "Is it strange for me to be at my own café, Tony?"
"Alright, you being here reminds me of something."
Tony tapped his gauntlet a few times, projecting a scanned image titled "The Battle of New York." "Fury, Li said you could take a look. Do you like it?"
Baldy: ?? He's selling me art now?
Fury politely responded, "Wow… very good, Mr. Ye's work is truly great, but you know I don't have time for art..."
"This is..."
Steve was drawn to the blue beam in the painting—it resembled when Red Skull was teleported by the Cosmic Cube...
His fingertips reached toward the projection, wanting a closer look...
Zzz—
Tony abruptly turned off the projection.
Steve thought Howard's son was teasing him, "Mr. Stark? What are you doing?"
Fury thought Rogers liked the painting, adding, "Tony, show some respect to your elders."
"Huh? Captain never claimed he's my elder."
Stark retorted to Baldy, explaining to Rogers, "Li only allowed Director Fury one glance. Any more requires payment. Your viewing was already a bonus, Captain."
After saying that, Tony flew over to Ye Li, who was sitting comfortably, and handed him a small data chip from his gauntlet, "You saw it, Li. He took a look already and wasn't very interested. You'll have to expand your sales channels to S.H.I.E.L.D. yourself. I'm busy—I need to install new clean energy in Stark Tower... and I have a date with Pepper..."
Ye Li pressed the data chip curiously, displaying a projection of "The Battle of New York," and asked, "So, where's my original painting?"
"Oh... at Stark Tower."
Tony, somewhat guilty, began flying up, "Come get it when you're free; I'm leaving first!"
"Hmm?"
Ye Li's spider-sense flashed, and an image appeared in his mind: Tony holding the painting, which was then torn apart by a strong gust of wind...
"President Ye."
Fury sat across from him and said, "Though you declined to join and aren't one of us, I'll still send you a copy of the data."
"It concerns a SHIELD project. I hope we can cooperate on this. I'll have Natasha discuss the specifics with you..."
Ye Li glanced at Captain America next to Fury and replied casually, "I'll decide after reading the information."
If nothing unexpected happened...
He was probably referring to the Avengers Initiative...
Baldy's intention was obvious—
—He wanted to recruit superheroes from the club...
Even Black Spider...
Ye Li naturally wouldn't agree, but having a copy of the Avengers' data wasn't a bad idea.
…..
Ghost-Spider Club.
In the lounge reserved for core members.
"Come on, repeat after me~"
Gwen sat cross-legged on a yoga mat, calm and serene, clearly reciting, "The profound Tao of Heaven and Earth, the root of all energies, widely cultivate my method, manifest my divine power..."
Cindy, sitting similarly nearby, followed her, repeating awkwardly, "The profound Tao of Heaven and Earth... root of all energies... widely cultivate... widely cultivate my method... manifest my divine power..."
Her voice was soft and sweet but uneven, far less fluent than Gwen's clear enunciation.
"Cindy, merely reciting isn't enough."
"You also need to understand its meaning."
Gwen opened her delicate palm, strands of golden light emerging and becoming thinner and thinner...
Finally, the golden light turned into spiderweb-like golden threads, gracefully dancing in her hand~
After persistent effort, Gwen finally mastered the Golden Light Spell.
Perhaps due to her mutated physique, her exceptional talent enabled rapid progress, even creating a method to shape golden light into spiderweb-like threads.
Thanks largely to Ye Li, who carefully taught her the operation of the Golden Light Spell, personally pinpointing her body's meridians and acupuncture points...
"Yeah!"
Cindy nodded, "As long as practicing this makes me stronger; I'll do my best!"
Gwen asked with concern, "Is this Morlun you mentioned really that strong? You look worried every day, which isn't good."
"I'm not quite sure..."
"But occasionally sensing the screams of totems from other worlds... it's chilling..."
Morlun had almost become Cindy's lingering anxiety.
Previously, she worried only about herself.
But now, she also worried about fellow spider-totems Ye Li and Gwen...
Gwen comforted her, "Don't worry, Li, Jessica, and I—we'll all help you~"
Cindy glanced warmly at Ye Li playing with Skye, nodding sweetly, "Mmm... thanks to all of you..."
Inwardly, she firmly thought, '...I'll protect you too...'
…..
"Almost there, almost there!"
The flickering screen illuminated Skye's pretty, pale face.
Skye tapped rapidly on the keyboard, anxiously saying, "I'm almost..."
"OK!"
Ye Li pressed Enter. "I'm done again!"
"Ah..."
Skye complained, "How come you're faster again?"
Ye Li cheerfully replied, "A bet's a bet."
"But Gwen and the others are here..."
Skye half-heartedly protested while slipping beneath the desk, "This isn't appropriate..."
"It's fine. They've seen big things before~"
Ye Li comforted Skye, slid his hand over the mouse, and browsed through the hacked information—
[Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters begins a new semester...]
[Vought International's secret special drug research fails again...]
[Sir Reginald Hargreeves establishes the Umbrella Academy...]
[Residents of Hawkins, Indiana claim discovery of a suspected dimensional rift, confirmed as a rumor...]
["Project Monarch" has been unsealed and restarted...]
Previously, Ye Li hadn't paid much attention.
But ever since meeting Matilda, he had been paying attention to certain things.
Now, just as he expected, this world wasn't purely Marvel—it was mixed with various messy elements...
Xavier's school was understandable; the X-Men series was Marvel's sister storyline.
But what about the rest of these things...?
'Forget it... I'm just a superhero with connections anyway... Let's ignore these for now.'
Ye Li backed up the information.
Although he was curious, he planned to look into it later when he had time; there were other things to focus on now.
[Loading Complete]
SHIELD's "Avengers Initiative" had also been sent over by Fury ("Braised Egg").
The contents were still the usual suspects—Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America...
No information on Black Widow or Hawkeye, and no detailed data on Captain America. Clearly, Fury wasn't foolish and kept some information to himself.
Ye Li lowered his head and asked Skye, "Where's Barbara?"
"Umm... downstairs probably..." (mumbled unclearly)
Skye thought Ye Li intended to go downstairs.
Just as Skye was about to relax, she saw he still wasn't moving and rolled her eyes, "Why don't...you go...find her yourself..."
Ye Li: "Just casually asking."
Skye: "..."
…..
Hell's Kitchen.
"Matilda."
Jessica wore a pale brownish-yellow plaid detective coat with a newsboy cap, her collar pulled up to conceal half her face, looking mysteriously secretive. "Do you really want to become a superhero?"
Matilda nodded firmly, "Yes!"
Her two small hands held Meow-Meow Ball close to her chest.
If the fluffy ball were replaced by a crystal orb, she'd look just like a little fortune-telling witch.
"Alright, I'll take you to check out a hideout I just discovered!"
Jessica hugged her little sister tightly, stepping on the ground with her little boots, kicking up a silver gleam.
In the next moment, they landed on a rooftop.
The silver glow flashed continuously— jumping swiftly between rooftops, silently approaching a dimly-lit factory.
"Look…"
Jessica lifted Matilda onto her shoulders, holding her up higher. "We're going to take down this place."
At this height, Matilda could perfectly peek through the small window gap, seeing clearly inside. "They're…"
Inside the factory, rows of people stood numbly, eyes lifeless, mechanically sorting and packaging white powder.
All these people were Asian and appeared blind.
Surrounding them were many gangsters holding guns, acting as overseers and security.
"What should we do, Jessica?"
Matilda's eyes filled with resentment. It was drugs like these that had destroyed her family…
She took out a cigarette and placed it between her pink lips, though she didn't light it. "Should we make a plan to defeat the bad guys, like in cartoons?"
"Exactly."
Jessica slightly furrowed her brows, a glint of intelligence in her eyes, and spoke with a detective-like reasoning tone from behind her raised collar.
"I already have a plan..."
Matilda asked nervously and excitedly, "What plan?"
Jessica said seriously, "We rush straight in!"
"?....."
…..
"Ah!!"
"What the hell is that!"
"Shoot! Shoot quickly!"
"It's lightning!"
Da-da-da-da-da—!! (Gunfire sound effect)
Ding-ling-ling.... (Magical/electric sound effect)
Shattered lightning deflected the bullets as Meow Meow Ball transformed into ball lightning, rolling into the factory, precisely avoiding the workers, striking the gang members.
Ordinary people had no defense against such power. The villains unleashed a hail of bullets, but all they got in return were their own miserable screams.
"Matilda, your ball is so powerful~"
Jessica, seeing the enemies defeated before she could even act, felt deep admiration for her younger sister.
"Mm-hmm, just like Meow Meow."
With a wave of Matilda's hand, Meow Meow dispersed its lightning, spun gently, and floated back into her embrace.
Jessica looked at the workers. "Since you're blind, hurry up and leave..."
A few seconds later.
"...Huh?"
Jessica glanced at the dazed workers; apparently, their repetitive tasks had dulled their reactions.
She deliberately put on a stern face and shouted sharply, "Get out now!"
Whoosh—!
The laborers finally snapped out of their daze, fumbling around as they scrambled to escape, dispersing in a chaotic rush.
"Uhh..."
At that moment, a surviving gangster lying in a corner shakily raised his gun, aiming directly at Jessica.
Clang!
Jessica kicked a pistol lying on the ground, sending the iron chunk flying and knocking the gun from his hand.
Bang!
The gangster's shot hit the ceiling.
Crack!
At the same moment, Jessica had already reached his side, swiftly kicking and snapping his neck.
Clap clap clap~
Applause came from the factory's entrance.
Madame Gao, escorted by several ninjas, walked in. "Jessica Ye, you're far more ruthless than the rumors suggest. It's hard to believe you're just a high school student."
"I'm about to graduate, though."
Jessica stared directly at her, eyeing the ninjas and mockingly said, "Didn't the Hand members all die? Why is there an old hag still left?"
"Haha... You know nothing about the Hand."
Madame Gao maintained her calm, though her eyes gradually turned cold. "Our power is beyond your imagination. I advise you to stop interfering with my business! I recall you have an ordinary older brother, don't you..."
"Just try it!"
In an instant—
Jessica swiftly appeared in front of her, and several Hand ninjas immediately drew various weapons to intercept.
But Jessica's physical strength far exceeded these ninjas. With martial arts taught by Ye Li, the ninjas' only advantage in combat skills vanished.
With muffled thuds, the ninjas vomited blood and collapsed in a corner, barely breathing.
Madame Gao's old eyes cunningly shifted.
Taking advantage of Jessica's brief opening, she quickly raised her hand, delivering a palm strike from afar!
Boom!
Jessica crossed her arms defensively and was knocked back slightly, surprised. "What was that?"
This half-buried old lady actually has superpowers...
Brother was right—this world is indeed full of wonders.
Successful in her attack, Madame Gao drew a sword from her cane, sneering and pointing at Jessica. "I told you; our strength is unimaginable—"
Boom—!
She hadn't finished speaking.
A thick bolt of blue-white lightning suddenly erupted, blasting her aged body into the wall and continuing straight through, sending her flying out of the factory.
Jessica froze briefly, turning toward the source of the lightning—
She saw Matilda holding Meow Meow Ball between her hands in front of her chest. The hovering ball slowly stopped spinning, and a mysterious rune on its surface gradually faded away...
Noticing her sister looking at her.
The girl glanced at the metal ball in her hands.
Then she ran outside to check Madame Gao, who had been reduced to a piece of charcoal.
Finally.
She moved her soft lips, timidly murmuring to Jessica, "I... I didn't expect it would be that powerful. I saw her knock you away, so I thought she was pretty strong..."