Batman Incident (17)

Everyone behind the defensive line saw that the figure, which appeared somewhat tiny amidst the overwhelming swarm of bats, was directly attached to two nearby buildings by two Silk.

The two buildings were deserted, and their structures were already on the verge of collapse from the previous night's battle. This time, Spider-Man shot out two black Silk with the Web at the top, which directly stuck to most of the building's surface.

Immediately afterwards, Spider-Man exerted force with both arms, contracting inwards, and the two buildings began to tilt gradually with a teeth-grinding squeaking sound.

To everyone's astonishment, the two massive buildings collapsed with a deafening roar, sending up plumes of dust. The first wave of bats rushing toward the defensive line were caught completely off guard and were instantly buried beneath the towering structures.

Everyone present was stunned.

Those are two buildings that are tens of meters tall!

Previously on the battlefield, Peter played more of a highly agile support role. Wherever there was an emergency, he would arrive immediately to either repair fortifications or escort the wounded, playing a more auxiliary role.

This was the first time everyone realized just how powerful Spider-Man was. Stark opened his mask and stared straight at Peter, finding that he showed absolutely no signs of fatigue.

As the building collapsed, Peter nimbly dodged, then grabbed a nearby truck and hurled it at the remaining survivors. The giant truck, whose tires were as tall as a man, was no different from a small stone in his hands.

Stark swallowed hard. Steve asked, "Can your Jaeger do that at full power?"

Stark hesitated for a moment and said, "It's possible, but you can't use this method of exertion. You have to find a support point, which doesn't make sense..."

"His potential is probably much greater than this." Steve crossed his arms and watched Spider-Man wreak havoc in the center of the battlefield.

Having also undergone physical mutation, Steve was well aware of this. He said, "Peter's power is still a long way from being fully developed. His potential must be terrifyingly high."

Stark frowned, somewhat anxiously saying, "I'm starting to feel some pressure. If what you're saying is true, then his Spider-Sense might really be able to achieve the effect of prophecy."

"I'm talking about the future." Steve looked at Stark and said, "At least for now, Peter is still in the adaptation period. The power that this mutation has given him is far from reaching its peak, even his Spider-Sense is the same."

"To be honest, I think it's a bit strange. Peter told me before that his Spider-Sense rarely forms a specific image, especially for such a long time, from when you are ejected from the mech, fall, and then crash to the ground. This is too specific."

"Does Spider-Sense have any kind of scene-by-scene editing? First, it shows the environment you're in, then it shows you ejecting from the mech and falling, and finally it shows the result of your landing. Even a prophecy wouldn't be this clear and specific, would it?"

"Now that you mention it, I also feel that something is amiss," Stark said with some doubt. "Peter never mentioned before that he had the ability to foresee the future, especially with such clarity and accuracy."

"Perhaps he will be able to do it in the future," Steve concluded. "But for now, his Spider-Sense ability, which matches his current strength, shouldn't be able to make such clear predictions."

"In any case, I still need to be on guard, because if this is true, things will get very complicated."

Spider-Man blocked the first wave of the most intense attacks, giving the defenses behind him a chance to breathe.

When the second wave of bats attacked, the bats learned their lesson and no longer swooped down from mid-air. Instead, some of them transformed into human form to coordinate with ground attacks and weaken the human's air defenses.

After a day of preparation, human firepower was greatly enhanced. Thanks to Pierce and Nick's efforts, all the troops involved in the defense received ample heavy firepower, and the advantage of human weapons became apparent.

Most human heavy weapons generate high temperatures and explosions, which is exactly what vampires fear most. In addition to the need for precise targeting, they also cause significant splash damage.

At some key defensive locations, oil barrels that can be detonated by snipers have been placed. If necessary, the explosions and flames from the oil barrels can be used to disrupt the bats' attack rhythm.

At first, the entire defensive rhythm was excellent, with various weapons providing cover and the defensive line advancing layer by layer. Before long, they even launched a counterattack to the entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge.

However, many problems soon began to emerge. For example, humans underestimated the fearless spirit of these bats, or perhaps these bats were controlled by something and turned into crazy cannon fodder.

Hawkeye had just detonated an oil drum, the explosion severely injuring one bat and setting another on fire. But the burning bat didn't retreat; instead, it charged into the nearest machine gun base, engulfed in flames.

Despite the machine gunner's preparations, one man was still set ablaze and might have died had his comrades not extinguished the flames in time.

However, the burns also prevented him from continuing to fight, and he was soon taken away by a hexagonal nut robot.

These crazed bats are utterly reckless; they'd rather injure the enemy by a hundred while losing a thousand of their own than give up their attack.

Hawkeye lowered his bow, cursed under his breath, and then said to Natasha on the other end of the walkie-talkie, "What's going on? These bats are even more frenzied than last night!"

"Their legendary Bat God may very well have controlled them with some kind of power," Natasha said, her tone as calm as ever. "But Nick told me that perhaps things will change soon."

As the battle intensified, humanity's advantage gradually diminished, and the two sides entered a meat grinder-like stalemate.

Stark was firing a shot that repelled an attack by a mad bat when his Iron Man suit took to the air and fired several shots to drive back the bats that were about to charge into the position. At that moment, Jarvis's voice came from his face. "A communication from Stark Tower Laboratory. The communicator is Dr. Connors."

"Connect the communications," Stark said, floating in mid-air.

Dr. Connors' voice came through the earpiece. He spoke quickly and calmly. Connors said, "Listen, first of all, regardless of the principle, I've developed a drug that, if released properly, can render all the bats on the battlefield incapable of fighting at once."

"Just tell me what to do," Stark said bluntly.

"I told Nick before that I had a better way to solve the problem at its root, and now I have succeeded, and I only need to take the last step."

"In short, using the Lizard Serum I extracted—the same serum that turns me into a lizard monster—I created an infectious mutant serum to infect those bats."

"Once bats are infected, they begin to become lizard-like. Unlike humans, bats cannot become Lizardman; they can only become lizard-like, for example, growing thick scales all over their bodies, growing tails and legs, and losing the ability to fly."

"I changed the ingredients to make this mutation more uncontrollable, so they could either grow a tail on their chest or be crushed to death by the thick scales."

"This mutation is completely uncontrollable, so once infected, the mutated bats will almost completely lose their ability to fight."

"But wouldn't that infect humans?" Stark asked.

"Of course not, otherwise why would I bring so many bats here for research? This is a targeted infection serum that is completely ineffective against humans; I've already tested it."

"Okay, then what else do you need?"

"In order to eliminate all the bats' fighting force in one go, I need a spray generator with enough power. Ideally, it should be able to spray this mutated serum out in an instant, covering the entire battlefield and infecting all the bats. It needs to be fast to prevent them from using any magical means to retaliate."

Stark for a moment, then looked at the increasingly fierce battle on the ground and said, "Let's do it this way. I remember I still have UV emitter. Do you think that will work?"

"I've reviewed all your generator design drawings. Based on my estimates, its power is insufficient. Light and gas are different; gas requires tremendous propulsion to quickly cover the entire battlefield."

"Then hurry up and renovate. I've already granted you access to all the labs."

"Yinsen and I have already put together a version, it just needs the final testing. We'll be on site in half an hour. The problem you need to figure out now is where to set it up and how to detonate it."

Connors spoke rapidly, "Theoretically speaking, its spray range will be a sphere with a diameter of about 300 meters. In order to maximize the use of this range, the location of the generator will definitely not be on the ground. Find a tall building in the nearest area of the firefight zone. Once you have chosen the location, we will transport the generator there immediately."

Stark said, "In fact, there's only one tall building in the entire area."

He looked up and saw the Brooklyn Heights Tower, located on the east side of the Brooklyn Bridge.

As if sensing something, Stark asked Connors, who heard silence on the other end of the communication, "What's wrong?"

After a while, Stark's voice came through. "No... it's nothing. There's only one building that meets the conditions you mentioned. Once the device is set up, immediately transport it to the roof of the Brooklyn Heights Tower. Jarvis has already sent the exact location. I'll be waiting for you there."

Connors detected a strange emotion at the end of his voice, but he didn't have time to chat and quickly hung up the phone.

Meanwhile, Peter flew over to Stark's side on his Silk and said, "The situation at the front is very bad. Where is the turning point Natasha mentioned? Do you know, Mr. Stark?"

"Never mind that." Stark's voice came from the mech, distorted by a slight electrical current. Stark continued, "Tell Steve to take a squad and wipe out all the vampires near Highland Tower. I'm going up there."

"Highland Tower?" Peter turned around and saw that it was indeed the tallest building in the vicinity. He said, "No! Wait! You can't go!! You forgot, you forgot my..."

"I haven't forgotten, Peter, I remember it perfectly, but I have to go." Iron Man, clad in his armor, flew straight towards the destination, with Peter chasing after him, yelling, "No!!! You know you'll die if you do that! God..."

Peter pulled out his walkie-talkie and said to Steve, "Stop Stark! He's gone mad! He's going to Highland Tower!"

"Peter, protect Stark." Steve's voice came from the walkie-talkie. He had obviously received Connors's message as well. He said, "There are some things you have to do even if you know they won't end well."

Peter was frantic. Having witnessed the scene firsthand, he simply couldn't accept it happening. He told Stark, "You don't have to go up. I can go up by myself. Is there anything I can't handle? I..."

"It takes time to activate the device and for the infection to take effect." Stark's voice was very calm. He said, "One person cannot defend against the bats' attack, activate the device, and then evacuate. It takes someone to help. One person absolutely cannot do it."

"Then we can think of other ways, we don't necessarily have to..."

"Peter, I told you so..." Stark stopped, his visor rose up, Peter saw Stark's face. He didn't see any panic or fear on it; he looked calmer than usual.

"If I were a coward, I would be hiding under the protection of Stark Tower right now, instead of fighting here."

"I know better than anyone that if I am going to die, no matter how advanced the mech is, it can't protect me. I don't get any sense of security from this mech. I'm facing death every moment."

In the pitch-black night sky, Peter hung on the wall of a building, watching Stark float opposite him.

Stark's hair, hidden beneath his visor, danced in the wind, and his eyes seemed to absorb all the surrounding light, reminding Peter of the first sunrise he and Stark saw together.

"Even without your prediction, I was worried every single second on the battlefield."

"Advanced mechs, even more advanced mechs, I will keep developing all kinds of mechs, because of my fear of death."

"What I didn't tell you is that on that night in the Afghanistan cave, besides the pain, there was endless fear. No one is unafraid of death."

Peter heard pain creeping into Stark's voice, as if he were recalling things he didn't want to remember.

"At that time, I knew I was going to die, and no one could tell me whether I would survive..."

"Just like today, I knew I was about to die..."

Stark closed his eyes, his voice beginning to tremble slightly, gradually dissipating in the cold winds of the Brooklyn night.

"I must be crazy. I know it's a dead end, but a voice keeps urging me to do it. I have to do it..."

"That's all I can do."