A Fateful Meeting

"So handsome!"

Gwen was a little smitten for a moment, but she quickly came to her senses.

"No, Gwen. You already have someone you like."

She warned herself, thinking back to that day in Los Angeles. That person had also "fallen from the sky" like this and saved her in a dark alley.

She absolutely couldn't "fall for someone else"!

Gwen didn't recognize Li Chen because he'd been wearing the Superman Glasses back then, while now he wore a Batman mask.

With all those factors interfering, it was only natural that Gwen didn't recognize him.

"I'm fine."

Gwen immediately said, "Sir, could you put me down?"

"Of course."

Li Chen floated back to the dock with her.

"Could you let go of me?"

Gwen noticed that he was still holding her tightly and couldn't help feeling a little helpless.

Li Chen let her go, but smiled and said, "I thought you'd give me a thank-you kiss."

"Don't get the wrong idea."

Gwen immediately said in annoyance, "There's someone I like, you know?"

Li Chen was startled. "Really? Who is it?"

"He's in Los Angeles."

Gwen moved a little farther away from Li Chen, then described him. "He's Asian, and he wears glasses... Anyway, he's more handsome than you."

Although Li Chen looked handsome even with a half mask on, Gwen absolutely wouldn't fall for someone else.

Then she noticed Li Chen smiling at her.

Next, Li Chen took off his Batman mask, pulled a pair of glasses from inside his clothes, and put them on.

"Are you saying you have a crush on me, Gwen?"

Once Li Chen put on the glasses, his whole bearing changed.

Gwen was stunned and at a loss. "I-I-I..."

"Wait, how did you know it was me?"

She touched the mask on her face. It hadn't fallen off, so how did he know it was her?

"I knew it was you at a glance."

Instead of explaining, Li Chen gave a rather romantic reply.

Then he stepped right up to her and lifted Gwen's white mask, as if lifting a bride's veil.

Under the mask, Gwen's face was bright red. She had never imagined their meeting would happen like this.

And Li Chen had saved her again. Could this be fate?

"I thought you'd give me a kiss."

Li Chen said it again.

Gwen simply resigned herself to it, closed her eyes, and kissed him.

Then she felt as if she might faint from happiness.

What could be more exciting than kissing the person she had a crush on?

Unfortunately, someone interrupted them.

The Hand's ninjas climbed out of the sea.

The sunken ship was beyond saving, and the people who had fought them had already left.

Lady Deathstrike, who was seething with anger, immediately spotted Li Chen's familiar face. He was the one who had destroyed the Hand's base in Los Angeles.

"You?"

Lady Deathstrike interrupted Li Chen and Gwen's tender moment with a cold snort.

Gwen came back to her senses and quickly put her mask back on with her back to everyone.

"Who are you people? New York isn't a place where you can come and cause trouble."

Gwen, now Spider-Woman again, immediately spoke to the members of the Hand.

She only had to look at them to know they weren't good people.

Lady Deathstrike gave the strangely dressed girl an indifferent glance and mocked her. "This is none of your business. You should direct your sense of justice elsewhere. That ship was ours, but Kingpin's men blew it up."

"If you have a sense of justice, why don't you go deal with Kingpin?"

The Hand had always been at odds with Kingpin, and he hadn't spared them either. They had been fighting openly and covertly all along.

Gwen fell silent for a moment when she heard Kingpin's name.

Even she had heard of Kingpin's reputation.

"And now, it's time to settle what happened before."

Lady Deathstrike looked at Li Chen with a cold smile.

She wore a black, skintight combat suit, and adamantium "claws" suddenly extended from her fingernails.

She was Japanese, and her father was a Japanese scientist who had once researched a technique for bonding adamantium to human bones. She inherited his techniques and underwent surgery to turn herself into a cyborg. Like Wolverine, her entire skeleton and the blades on her hands were made of adamantium.

She also possessed the same self-healing ability as Wolverine.

Without another word, she charged straight at Li Chen.

"Let me deal with her."

This triggered Gwen's protect-boyfriend buff.

After that kiss, she had already set her heart on Li Chen.

Besides, if she wanted to become a superhero, she had to go through some training.

And so, Li Chen's favorite thing to watch, a fight between women, unfolded.

Gwen, who had only just started out, was clearly no match for Lady Deathstrike.

Apart from anything else, Lady Deathstrike's sharp adamantium claws were more than Gwen could handle.

Even though she was Spider-Man, it probably wouldn't feel good if Lady Deathstrike got her claws into her.

So Gwen was instantly put on the defensive and could only dodge.

Li Chen was worried she would get hurt, so he could only teach her how to deal with her opponent.

"Use your speed. She isn't as fast as you."

Li Chen wasn't much of a fighter himself, but he had fast reactions and a super brain.

Gwen's reactions were extremely fast as well.

Although they were both Spider-Man, the differences between Spider-Gwen and Peter Parker were still obvious.

It was like the difference between men and women. Men were stronger than women, and the same applied to Spider-Man.

On the other hand, Gwen was more nimble and faster than Peter Parker.

Lady Deathstrike wasn't slow compared with other people, but her body was full of adamantium.

Her skeleton alone weighed more than Gwen's entire body!

So she couldn't keep up with Gwen; the adamantium was bound to slow her down.

Sure enough, things went just as Li Chen had imagined.

Unable to keep up with Gwen's speed, Lady Deathstrike found herself being toyed with.

As the saying went, of all martial arts under heaven, only speed was unbeatable. Gwen didn't approach her recklessly, and when she did, she would punch or kick her once and then run off.

"Ah!"

Lady Deathstrike was going a little mad.

Seeing this, the other ninjas of the Hand took the opportunity to approach Li Chen and surround him.

But Li Chen tossed them all into the sea in an instant.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

They were like sandbags.

"Wee-oo, wee-oo!"

Just then, the sound of New York police sirens rang out.

Whatever else could be said about America, at least the police responded quickly.

"We should go."

Li Chen spoke, then came over and wrapped his arms around Gwen.

Seeing this, Lady Deathstrike swiped at him with her blades.

But Li Chen caught them.

"Clang!"

Even adamantium was useless against him. It merely made the sound of metal striking metal and couldn't pierce him in the slightest.

"Off you go!"

Li Chen wasn't even interested in killing her. He sent her flying with a kick.

She fell straight into the sea like a ball.

After all, Gwen was still in his arms, and it wouldn't be good if she got the wrong idea and thought he was a homicidal maniac.