Restart, Spider-Man! [61]

“Spider-Man! It turns out he’s a member of Hydra!”

Steve suddenly shouted in alarm and quickly hurled his shield toward Xia Luo.

Bang!

The shield shot forward, but Xia Luo raised his hand and caught it by the edge. The sharp metal cut through the nanometal covering his hand but failed to even scratch his skin.

He released the shield, letting it fall to the ground. The triangular shape of his eyes glowed faintly blue in the rising firelight.

In the tense atmosphere that Steve had deliberately created, Coulson and the others didn’t have time to think deeply and quickly surrounded Xia Luo.

“Spider-Man, drop your weapon!”

Xia Luo spread his hands. “Actually, I don’t have a weapon.”

“Wait, this has to be a misunderstanding.”

Riding his glider, Harry swooped down and placed himself between Xia Luo and Coulson. “Spider-Man isn’t the enemy. This is a misunderstanding. Don’t do anything rash.”

Coulson’s expression was grim. “If he’s not the enemy, does that mean Captain is?”

“That’s not impossible,” Harry replied.

“Harry, Spider-Man is part of Hydra. Don’t let him fool you,” Coulson said firmly, unwilling to listen to Harry’s explanation. As a devoted fan of Captain America, he fully trusted Steve.

Nick Fury stepped forward. “Harry, come over here. That guy is dangerous.”

“No, he’s my friend.”

Ignoring their pleas, Harry pointed at Steve behind them. “He has no proof that Spider-Man is with Hydra.”

“You’re right, I don’t have evidence, but I have seen the truth,” Steve said from behind the group, a cold smile in his heart, but his face a picture of sorrow.

He looked at Xia Luo. “Spider-Man, we fought together against the Green Goblin. Back then, I thought you were on our side, just a free spirit unwilling to be tied down.

“But I never expected you to be the leader of Hydra, planning to overthrow the world. That can’t be allowed, and I won’t stand for it.”

His voice was resolute, and his body radiated righteousness, quickly influencing those around him.

“Yeah, Hydra’s evil organization shouldn’t exist in this world!”

“Harry, get out of the way!”

The group grew more agitated, and even Nick Fury and Natasha discreetly drew their weapons, aiming them at Xia Luo.

Seeing the situation escalate, Harry rubbed his temples in confusion. “Why do I feel like…”

“Like he’s right?” Xia Luo’s voice snapped Harry back to reality.

“No, I won’t believe him,” Harry shook his head vigorously.

“I know,” Xia Luo said, as the red and blue glow in his eyes briefly flashed. He smiled, looking at Steve in the crowd.

“I understand now.”

“Understand what?” Steve frowned.

“Your power,” Xia Luo replied. He gently pushed Harry aside. “I have to admit, your ability to sway people works well on regular folks, but you overlooked one thing.”

“What?” A sense of foreboding crept into Steve.

Xia Luo clenched his fist, and the nanometal on his palm creaked under the pressure.

“They choose to believe you, and I’m not surprised. Who cares about that? In the face of absolute power, if I wanted to kill you with one punch of fifty tons, who could stop me?”

“What?”

Hearing this, the agents’ faces turned pale.

Fifty tons of force? Impossible!

Almost as if to prove his point, Xia Luo suddenly pushed Harry away and kicked up the shield on the ground. In an instant, his wrist fired out webs, spinning the shield in mid-air with a sharp sound. The agents felt an intense pressure on their chests, followed by cries of pain as they were thrown back onto the scorched ground.

“Ah!”

“Phil!”

“Natasha!”

“Motherf—”

Nick Fury cursed, but in the next second, his weapon was snatched away by a web, and he collapsed unconscious under an overwhelming force.

Whirring

In the night sky, a helicopter’s blades chopped through the air, and an arrow shot straight toward the back of Xia Luo’s head.

Whoosh!

Clang!

With his spider-sense tingling, Xia Luo reached back and grabbed the arrow mid-flight, his palm enveloping the arrowhead. After a dull thud, sparks flared from his fingers, a wisp of smoke curled up, and bits of the arrowhead crumbled to dust.

“What?”

On the helicopter, Hawkeye’s face changed, and without hesitation, he nocked three more arrows.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The three arrows whizzed toward Xia Luo, targeting his head, chest, and legs with lightning speed.

But for Xia Luo, they posed no threat.

With the increased number of spider totems he had activated, his spider-sense was now fully functional. Combined with his new Titan-Spider hybrid physiology, he was far more agile and durable. Even if the arrows exploded right next to him, they wouldn’t harm him.

But there was no need to passively endure the attacks.

Clang!

The shield ricocheted off into the air, striking the arrows and causing an explosion.

Boom!

As the fire lit up the night sky, Xia Luo launched himself like a missile from his “web slingshot.”

“Damn it.”

Steve, trying to flee, felt a sharp gust of wind behind him. With his seasoned combat instincts, he dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding Xia Luo as he smashed through the tree in front of him.

Bang!

As splinters rained down, Steve quickly turned, caught the falling shield, and leapt toward a charred opening in the ground.

The reborn Spider-Man was far stronger in every way—strength, defense, everything had skyrocketed. Steve hadn’t expected that.

Spider-Man was indeed powerful, but Steve had his own trump cards. He had more than one way to kill Spider-Man.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Steve felt the shield being pulled from his grasp. The underground entrance was within reach, but he couldn’t move forward.

Looking down, he saw that the shield was caught in a web. A powerful tug followed, and Steve’s shield flew from his hand.

“Captain, your shield,” Xia Luo said with a smile as he caught the shield.

Steve’s face darkened. With a cold huff, he dashed into the underground tunnel.

“Thanks for the gift, Captain,” Xia Luo quipped, strapping the shield onto his back before following him.

In the sky above, Hawkeye’s view was blocked by Harry.

“Wait. I think we need to clear this up first,” Harry pleaded.

Hawkeye remained stone-faced. “The facts are clear. Spider-Man is the enemy.”

Harry clenched a pumpkin bomb in his hand, taking a deep breath. “You really won’t reconsider?”

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to betray S.H.I.E.L.D.? Think carefully.”

“It’s not betrayal. I just want to help my friend,” Harry said firmly.

Hawkeye was unmoved. Drawing his bow, he aimed at Harry’s heart. “You won’t even have time to throw that.”

Harry smiled. “You’re right, your aim is impeccable, but your intelligence…”

Before he could finish, a pumpkin bomb attached to the bottom of the helicopter blinked, and an explosion engulfed it in flames.

“Aw, shit!”

Meanwhile, in the chaos of the underground base, Steve ran for his life while Xia Luo chased him relentlessly.

Previously, Steve had relied on Xia Luo’s bulky Titan form to evade him in the complex underground base.

But now, with Spider-Man’s full agility, the maze-like terrain had become a disadvantage for Steve.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh

Webs shot out, and the red-and-blue figure quickly swung ahead, cutting Steve off.

Before Xia Luo could strike, the metal doors around them slammed open, and hordes of cyborgs rushed out.

“Spider-Man, do you know why I lured you above ground?” Steve asked with a smirk as he stopped.

Xia Luo crossed his arms. “Then take a guess at what I have in my hand.”

With that, he tugged sharply on the web in his hand.

“What!!?”