Summit War

As Christmas approached, the Western city grew increasingly cold after nightfall.

Especially atop the twenty-one-story skyscraper, where winds strong enough to knock over an adult howled through the night, carrying cotton-like frost and snow.

The entrance leading to the rooftop had long been locked from inside the building. Normally, let alone at night, no one would come up here even in broad daylight.

Yet on the rooftop at this moment—

One person crouched low atop the highest water tower, while the other leaned against the rooftop railing. They faced each other across roughly ten meters of night.

"Who are you?"

Gwen widened her eyes, her scrutinizing gaze falling on the other person through her Spider-Man mask.

And at first glance, she was stunned.

The woman before her did not appear particularly strong. The skin exposed beyond her armor was delicate and fair, with no obvious muscles. It was hard to imagine where that exaggerated strength came from. Yet the armor, weapon, crown, and boots she wore all carried an ancient, wild nobility.

She stood tall on the thinly snow-covered floor, facing the frigid night wind. The moon's bright silver glow happened to drape over her, making her wildly fluttering silver hair shimmer, as though her entire body had been plated with holy silver-white light.

Like a deity who had stepped out of the pages of ancient Greek civilization!

"So beautiful," Gwen blurted out in amazement.

Although the other woman stood slightly sideways, and her constantly dancing silver hair, the darkness, and the frost obscured her face, Gwen could not make out her exact features.

But still, she was so beautiful!

The praise came from the bottom of Gwen's heart. Other than beautiful, she could find no other word to describe her.

As Gwen studied Xi Nian, Xi Nian was also watching Gwen.

Though her body was tightly wrapped from head to toe in a skintight suit, unlike a "fake" like himself, her figure, attire, and even movements made it obvious at a glance that she was a real woman.

After all, compared to the women's dress armor he was currently wearing, this skintight suit made it much harder to conceal one's gender—no matter how tightly it was wrapped, a man wearing such a suit would have a slight bulge between his legs. He could never be as flat and unobstructed as the woman before him.

What made Xi Nian's eyes light up was—

The black-and-white Spider-suit on the mysterious woman perfectly revealed her slender, petite figure. Like a beast eyeing its prey and waiting to strike, the Spider-suit displayed smooth, powerful curves. Her raised muscles and sinews were perfectly balanced: any more would be overly muscular, any less would lack resilience.

Hearing her question, Xi Nian could not help but freeze.

It was a crisp, icy young girl's voice. He did not remember hearing it before, yet it felt inexplicably familiar.

Strange, yet familiar. What was this intense sense of dissonance...?

Then—

When he heard her call him "so beautiful," Xi Nian completely shut down and wanted to jump straight off the building.

"Who exactly are you? Are you not going to answer my question?" Gwen asked, bracing both hands against the water tower and looking down slightly at Xi Nian.

Xi Nian remained silent.

"I can sense that the weapon in your hand is dangerous. If you had truly fought back, those police officers from earlier, even the helicopter, probably could not have stopped you. Why did you only keep running away?" Beneath the Spider-Man mask, the girl's face grew increasingly curious.

Xi Nian continued to remain silent, merely lowering his head to glance at the Retro Longsword in his hand.

Even during his frantic escape earlier, he had not loosened his grip on its hilt in the slightest.

His aunt had hidden this at home. That alone meant he could not possibly lose it.

As for why he had not used it, did that even need to be said?

He simply did not know how to use a sword!

And there was another reason.

Gwen seemed to see through his thoughts and concluded, "You don't want to hurt those police officers... ordinary people."

Xi Nian nodded. Suddenly thinking of a way to communicate without speaking, he planted the tip of the Retro Longsword against the rooftop floor and drew it forward.

Forged from some unknown material, the Retro Longsword sliced through the floor like tofu, leaving a conspicuous horizontal line.

Gwen looked at the mark between herself and Xi Nian and immediately understood his meaning. "Don't cross the line?"

Xi Nian gave a slight nod and held the sword upright before himself, making it clear that if she continued probing, he would definitely draw his blade.

He did not want to clash with someone who seemed to possess supernatural power as well. He hoped to intimidate her into retreating.

"Fine."

Gwen agreed surprisingly readily. Just as Xi Nian relaxed, a flash of mischief passed through her eyes, and both wrists flicked forward!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two strands of white webbing shot from Gwen's wrists. One stuck to the Retro Longsword in Xi Nian's hand, while the other adhered firmly to the railing behind him. The two strands boxed Xi Nian in from left and right.

"Let me see your true face!"

Gwen grabbed both web strands and yanked hard. She failed to pull the sword from Xi Nian's hand, but using the webbing's astonishing elasticity, she immediately shot toward his arms like a human cannonball!

Social death, in an instant!

Realizing this, Xi Nian seemed to awaken a combat instinct. A flash of inspiration crossed his mind. Instead of holding onto the sword, he hurled it forcefully in front of himself!

Screech!!

The longsword pierced the air, turning into a streak of silver light.

Gwen's pupils contracted sharply. Just as she was about to evade in midair, she saw that the sword merely brushed past her, dragging along the web strand connected to her wrist!

"NO!"

Gwen's mouth fell slightly open. Her agile, slender body paused in midair, then she was dragged rapidly backward by the webbing stuck to the sword.

The longsword nailed itself into the rooftop's iron door, buried to the hilt.

At that moment, Gwen displayed reaction speed far beyond human limits. Just before her body slammed into the iron door, she tugged the web strand connected to the railing with one hand, bleeding off part of the momentum. Her body spun half a turn in the air to adjust her posture, and both feet landed lightly and firmly against the iron door.

Before Gwen could turn around, a shadow rapidly closed in behind her.

"Get away from me!"

Gwen delivered a fierce backward flying kick, but Xi Nian, who had pursued her, seemed prepared. One hand firmly seized her ankle, while his right knee drove forward against the center of Gwen's back, pinning her body hard against the iron door.

Worried that she might use an ability like shooting webbing again—

Xi Nian simply lowered Gwen from the iron door onto the floor, sat squarely on her bent back, and, while keeping hold of her ankle, used his other hand to seize both her wrists behind her back.

The entire counterattack flowed as smoothly as if he had practiced it countless times. Even Xi Nian himself was surprised. Before this, he could not even properly control his own strength.

All he could say was that his survival instinct was too strong.

Social death? Not a chance!

It was not as if Gwen had not struggled, but clearly, even among superhumans, there were differences!

In terms of physical strength, Gwen had suffered a complete defeat!

That was what shocked Gwen even more. Her strength was enough to lift an ordinary car! Yet now, with him sitting on her body and restraining her ankle and wrists, she could not move in the slightest!

This feeling of helplessness was the first she had experienced since gaining Spider Abilities!