The children immediately cried out in alarm, instinctively huddling closer to Gabriela, their small faces filled with unease and fear.
However, one girl was an exception.
The young Wolverine, Laura Kinney, calmly tucked her worn copy of the "X-Men" comic book into her cartoon backpack, then dropped to all fours, lowered her body, and let out a threatening, low growl from her throat.
She adopted a perfect beast-like attacking stance, and in her tender yet sharp eyes, a fierce, almost wolf-like glint shone as she fixated on the uninvited guest in the shadows.
"Laura, don't do that." A flicker of tenderness crossed Gabriela's eyes, and she put down her shotgun, pulling the small girl, who was crouched and ready to pounce, tightly into her embrace.
Her loving hand stroked Laura's back, trying to soothe the wildness surging within her. Under that gentle caress, the ferocity in the little girl's eyes slightly receded, but her body remained tense, like a young beast ready to pounce at any moment, staring intently at the shadow.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of boots treading on the ground was like the God of Death's countdown, and the figure shrouded in shadow finally stepped out completely, coming into everyone's view.
The newcomer had a slicked-back pompadour and wore a pair of brown glasses, feigning class, but a mechanical arm glinting with cold metal light was visible beneath his cuff. When he spoke, a large gold tooth was clearly visible in his mouth.
Donald Pierce.
The loyal lackey of the Alkali Institute, an experienced and cruel mercenary leader.
With his appearance, a large number of fully armed mercenaries immediately poured out from the passages on both sides of the corridor. Their firearms were raised in unison, and cold laser sights instantly covered Peter and the children, completing a tight encirclement.
"I finally found you!"
His cold voice sounded as if it was squeezed through his teeth.
"Damn mutants, you had good cages to stay in, why did you have to cause me trouble?"
Donald, who had just been reprimanded by Dr. Rice on the phone, slowly took off his glasses, his eyes fixed on Spiderman diagonally above him. It seemed the mutants he referred to clearly included Spiderman.
"It's your time to perform. Go get him."
There was almost no room for negotiation; the order to attack was quickly given to the killing machine in his team.
Before anyone noticed, a powerfully built man, whose muscles were exaggerated to an almost grotesque degree, emerged from the shadow behind Donald.
He had a messy beard, and his eyes were completely blank and cold, devoid of any human emotion. Most strikingly, beneath his arms, were three adamantium claws gleaming with a chilling cold light.
Screech—!
A teeth-grindingly sharp noise echoed through the corridor! The steel claws casually scraped across the nearby concrete wall, like a hot knife through butter, leaving three terrifying, deep claw marks!
He exuded a violent aura like that of a primal beast, purely born for destruction.
"It's X-24!" Gabriela blurted out instinctively, then gasped, picked up the shotgun from the ground again, shielded the children tightly behind her, and said tremulously, "They... they really did create you!"
X-24!!
Peter immediately retrieved relevant information from his merged memories.
—Wolverine Logan's clone, a perfect killing machine without a soul or emotions, codenamed Weapon X.
But... was something not quite right?
Peter dropped from the ceiling, straightened his body, and curiously compared their heights from a distance.
He found that this X-24, who looked burly, fierce, and muscular, was surprisingly... only up to his chest? Estimating his own height at 1.85 meters, the true height of this "Wolverine" was probably barely even 1.6 meters?
"Wow..." Peter couldn't help but exclaim, "Buddy, were you severely malnourished as a kid? Or did Alkali's cloning technology forget to add growth hormones? I get it, you became so cynical and irritable because you were mocked for your regrettable height since childhood..."
Peter's talkative nature was fully activated, his incessant trash talk attempting to break the tension. X-24 was unresponsive; it was merely a weapon, without emotions, and naturally impervious to insults.
But Donald, behind him, couldn't take it anymore. "Enough! You annoying little bug! I swear, I'll stitch your stinking mouth shut with the thickest needle and thread, stitch by stitch! Let's see how you'll ramble on then! Fuck you!"
"Hey, watch your language, Mr. One-Arm." Peter, even with countless muzzles pointed at him, didn't forget to correct him, "First, I'm not a bug, I'm Spiderman. Second, biologically speaking, spiders are not insects; they belong to the phylum Arthropoda, class Arachnida... I think it's necessary to clarify for the honor of my species."
Regarding the honor of spiders, Peter felt he had to argue for it.
"Shit!!" Donald Pierce's veins bulged on his forehead, his teeth grinding, the fury in his eyes almost erupting. "X-24! What are you waiting for, tear this stinking crawler apart for me! First, rip out his tongue and his foul mouth!"
The Wolverine Clone moved!
Its back arched sharply, its legs exploding with terrifying power completely disproportionate to its size, shooting forward like an arrow from a bow! Those ruthless Adamantium claws plunged straight towards Peter's face!
Peter executed a nimble sidestep, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow, and at the same time, with a flick of his wrist, a web shot accurately at X24-1's face, attempting to obstruct its vision.
"Honestly, my mouth doesn't smell at all." Peter moved at high speed, dodging X-24's continuous, storm-like claw attacks, but his mouth never stopped moving.
"I brush my teeth every morning and night, use fluoride toothpaste, always rinse after meals, eat a healthy and balanced diet, and have regular dental check-ups. I don't have any bad breath or gum problems... But I think that big gold tooth of yours needs some good care; the gumline seems a bit inflamed, and the color isn't quite right..."
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Donald Pierce completely lost it, the blood vessels on his forehead throbbing. He suddenly raised his automatic rifle and frantically sprayed bullets at the dodging Peter! "When I turn you into a sieve, let's see if you can even let out half a fart! Die, bug!"
Bang bang bang bang—!!
Bullets whistled out like a torrential rain, enveloping Peter.
However, the next second, something incredibly bizarre happened!
Pierce suddenly felt his hand lighten, and an utterly irresistible immense force appeared out of nowhere! His frantically firing automatic rifle... suddenly slipped from his grasp, not knocked away, but... quietly, defying all laws of physics, it floated in mid-air!
A wisp of gunpowder smoke still lingered at the muzzle, but it was completely silenced, like a mute whose throat was choked by an invisible hand, eerily hovering less than a foot from Pierce's palm.
Everyone, including the mercenaries, was stunned; time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Only Peter, hanging upside down in the corridor, having just dodged a volley of bullets, slowly curved the corner of his mouth beneath his mask.
And his finger, at this moment, was pointed at the floating rifle, making an extremely subtle... upward hooking motion.
Meanwhile, in the penthouse lounge of Stark Tower, Tony Stark, who had partied all night, woke up from bed, rubbing his groggy head.
"Hiss!! What time is it now?"
"Sir, it's almost noon. Ms. Potts came to look for you earlier, found you were still asleep, and left."
"Also, you asked me to keep an eye on Peter Parker. Two hours ago, an explosion occurred above an alley at 15 Chinatown, Queens. Residual fragments from Spiderman's suit and a broken camera were detected at the scene. According to drone footage, he appears to have been attacked."
Ever since Spiderman was recommended by Tony for the Avengers candidate list, he specifically had Jarvis monitor his whereabouts to prevent any major blunders. Now, hearing that Little Spider had been attacked, his muddled head instantly cleared. "
"That kid was attacked, why didn't you tell me sooner? Quick, pull up the surveillance footage from that area, track Peter Parker's current location."
"Sir, the location has already been found by the dispatched drones. We are just waiting for your action."
"GO!"
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