"R-Star..." Natasha froze for a moment. She had been looking for a way to become a player, but she had not expected it to come so suddenly.
She frowned, then turned the steering wheel left and pulled over by the roadside.
Once the car had come to a stop, she remained in the driver's seat, lowering her head to stare at the app on her phone for a long while.
After arriving in Hell's Kitchen, she had gone to make contact with Frank.
According to Director Fury's assessment, Frank Castle had undergone rigorous training in the Marine Corps.
He excelled at hand-to-hand combat, shooting, interrogation, intelligence gathering, and more, and was familiar with all kinds of firearms and vehicles.
He was a Level Ten Agent.
Yet even after receiving the Serum and living for decades, she herself was only Level Ten.
Therefore, following Fury's instructions, they only needed to make normal contact with him.
Fortunately, Frank had not shown much hostility during their meeting and had even shared information about the R-Star Game Platform.
After becoming a player, one could accept any mission. The rewards earned could be used to purchase special weapons and vehicles at offline stores, or they could be withdrawn as cash.
Clearly, R-Star Platform had no intention of hiding itself, but that made it even harder for her to determine the purpose behind creating this game.
At last, she pressed the button with a resolute expression.
No matter what, if she wanted to investigate it, she had to join first.
After opening the app, the interface she had seen with Frank appeared on her phone.
She opened the Shop and searched for nearby stores.
Very quickly, the map deeply imprinted in her mind appeared, without the slightest discrepancy.
Merlin's Custom Shop, which she had left not long ago, was marked on it as well.
And her next destination was also a weapons store not far away.
After browsing the R Star Store, all sorts of strange weapons and vehicles came into view. There was almost no difference from what she had seen online, except that many of them were still grayed out and locked.
"Ding!" At that moment, a notification suddenly popped up on her phone.
[Merlin's Beard: Go to the Brooklyn Police Department, retrieve the Bevel Magic Treasure, and drive it to Merlin's Custom Shop.]
[Mission Reward: 50,000]
[Merlin: Some idiot got this car impounded by the police. Drive it back, and I'll modify a car for you free of charge.]
Stealing a car?
Natasha's expression turned strange. Could he be talking about Frank?
She opened the mission, pondered for a moment, then chose to accept it.
After accepting, she did not hurry off. Instead, she restarted the car and headed to a weapons store she had already picked out.
"Welcome!" An elderly man seated behind the counter looked up at her while carefully polishing a Golden Revolver, then lowered his head and continued cleaning his gun.
What woman could possibly be more attractive than the gun in his hand?
Natasha's gaze paused on the handgun he was polishing, and she recognized it immediately.
A Golden Revolver. She had just seen one in the Shop.
"I want to buy guns. Do you have MK2 Model Guns and Special Bullets?"
Hearing Natasha's words, the old man, who had been polishing his revolver, immediately stood up in surprise.
"You're a player?" Ever since partnering with R-Star Platform, this was the first time he had seen a player come in. He could not help feeling curious.
"Yes." Natasha showed him the verification on her phone.
"Okay, pick whatever you want." After confirming it, the old man did not ask any further questions. He pulled the switch beside the display case, and the weapon rack on the surface rose rapidly, revealing the weapons hidden inside.
MK2 Heavy Sniper Rifle, Pump-Action Shotgun, Carbine Rifle, Evil Hades, rocket launchers, Vulcan Gatling...
Almost every weapon available in the R Star Store was here.
The old man had seen plenty in his day. He calmly stood to one side and waited in silence.
"Let me see the Evil Hades."
Meanwhile, after Merlin rode his motorcycle home, Gwen, who seemed to have been waiting for him for quite some time, immediately came forward.
"Oh my God, Merlin, you're finally back." Gwen finally let out a sigh of relief when she saw him return.
"I think I should be the one saying that. You've been pretty busy lately. I can barely ever find you." Merlin hugged her briefly before pulling away. Without waiting for her answer, he asked directly, "What do you need help with this time? Let's get one thing straight: don't even think about getting me to join your band."
"Our band members aren't going to eat you." Gwen rolled her eyes. Though, come to think of it, her bandmates really were rather noisy, and they had always wanted to pull Merlin into the band.
They thought Merlin had an adventurous spirit that suited rock music.
"I came to ask you to help me research something." She suddenly paused, glanced back at her mother sitting on the living room sofa, then mysteriously hooked an arm around Merlin's neck and pushed him into his house.
"Let's talk at your place!"
"What is it? Why are you being so mysterious?" Merlin was somewhat puzzled. Was she going to confess that she was Spider-Man?
Gwen gathered herself, then looked as excited as a fan. "You know, Spider-Man is my idol."
"First time I've heard that." Merlin scratched his head.
Gwen: "..."
So all those times I praised Spider-Man in front of you were for nothing, huh?
She grumbled inwardly, then continued, "Spider-Man has always been my hero, and Apple City's hero too."
"And yesterday, she actually came to find me. She's been pursuing the Lizardmen lately, and she told me there are two of them. One is Professor Connors."
"She received information that Professor Connors is preparing to release the Lizard Infection Agent in Queens and transform everyone into Lizardmen."
"But she's too weak on her own, so she came to me and asked me to develop an Antidote Serum and find a way to stop them."
The explanation she had prepared in advance flowed smoothly from her lips. As she spoke, she appropriately revealed an excited expression, as if being asked by Spider-Man was a great honor.
Merlin looked at her lifelike performance with a strange expression.
Gwen's acting seemed to be getting better and better.
"So..." Only after she finished did he slowly speak.
"I need your help. If we work together, we can definitely develop the Antidote Serum as quickly as possible." Gwen finally stated the purpose of her visit.
She did not know when Connors and the other Lizardman would carry out their plan, but naturally, the sooner they developed the Antidote Serum, the better.
"But we don't have a laboratory. How are we supposed to research it?" Merlin spread his hands helplessly. He did have his own laboratory, but it had nothing to do with biology.
"Don't worry about that. I already have it figured out."
"We'll sneak into Osborn Industries tonight. I even have an employee card."
Merlin rested his chin on his hand and considered it under Gwen's nervous, expectant gaze.
The basic platform in Hell's Kitchen was already largely complete. In a week, it should be able to expand into Apple City.
After all, this was the first major story mission for the first batch of players. If he missed it, who knew how long he would have to wait for the next one.
Before you continue