Gwen looked at Hannah's cute, quiet face beneath her red-framed glasses, quietly leaned closer to Merlin, nudged him with her shoulder, and teased, "So you like quiet girls. I thought your head was full of Gasoline Gears."
"If you didn't stand me up so often, I could like you too." Merlin gave her a hard pat on the back, then smiled at Hannah as if nothing had happened.
Gwen bared her teeth and raised her hand, wanting to retaliate, but after considering how poorly she still controlled her strength, she decided against it.
Just as she was about to retaliate with her words, a commotion suddenly broke out in the Technology Exhibition Center.
"Looks like some impressive exhibit showed up." Merlin followed the crowd toward the source of the disturbance.
But when they got closer, they found a sturdy crew-cut student bullying a skinny student with a backpack. Two crew-cut Black and white students stood nearby, watching with mocking expressions.
"Flesher's picking on someone again." Gwen frowned when she saw the scene causing the commotion.
"Okay, so it's not an exhibit... Is that Peter?" Merlin suddenly said as he looked at the struggling student pinned to the ground.
Gwen immediately looked over. Seeing that it really was her friend, she was shocked and moved to intervene.
But Merlin spoke before she could.
"Flesher, let Peter go. This is the Tech Expo, not your football field!" As he spoke, he pulled a strange pistol from his waist and pointed it at them.
The motion of drawing a gun startled the surrounding students, but when they saw the toy-like pistol he had taken out, they immediately wore expressions of utter disbelief.
Flesher instinctively stepped back with his hands raised, but when he saw the toy pistol wrapped in spring coils in Merlin's hand, he could not help sneering.
Gwen was also stunned when she saw the pistol. It was entirely blue and looked as though it were made of plastic. Instead of a conventional barrel, its front end was made up of a ring of yellow spring coils, making it look more like a Wave Emitter.
With its blue-and-yellow color scheme and strange shape, it was no different from an ordinary toy gun.
But she soon recognized it. Since she often stayed home, she knew it seemed to be a weapon from a game that had recently become wildly popular across the country. She remembered it clearly—it was from online mode.
Okay, this really was a toy gun.
Gwen tensed, ready to act at any moment.
"You want to try it?" Merlin remained calm, as though he had not noticed the strange looks around him.
Seeing the confidence on Merlin's face, Flesher was unsure what to make of it.
Merlin had a very low profile at school and had always been someone others bullied. But in a fight before the break, he had suddenly pulled out a wrench and taught his bullies a lesson. Since then, few people had wanted to provoke him.
Later, some students learned that he worked at an auto modification shop and carried wrenches, hammers, and other tools with him.
"Shit! You freak, you think a toy gun can scare us? Do you think we're idiots?" A furious voice suddenly rang out beside Flesher, and his crew-cut Black companion charged forward with an angry face.
Flesher instinctively wanted to stop him, but then he thought it would be good to have someone test Merlin out.
"This gun is still under development. I hope you'll be okay." As the Black student drew closer, Merlin pulled the trigger.
Ternard's face twisted viciously as he reached for the gun in Merlin's hand, intending to snatch it away, smash it on the ground, and then teach him a proper lesson.
But just as his palm was about to touch the toy gun, a strange wave suddenly burst forth. An irresistible force slammed into him immediately afterward.
Bang!
The Atomic Wave shot out, exploding into an arc of electricity in midair. Ternard, who had just rushed over, was flung away like a rag doll and crashed into Flesher and the other student behind him.
Under the enormous impact, all three of them were thrown straight out of the encirclement.
Thud! A series of bodies hitting the ground echoed through the silent exhibition hall. The watching students all seemed frozen, mouths hanging open in shock, as though they had yet to process what had just happened.
"What happened? What's going on?" At that moment, a teacher from the exhibition pushed through the crowd. When he saw Flesher and the other two groaning painfully on the floor, he could not help frowning.
Soon, his gaze settled on Merlin.
"Did you do this?" He simply could not imagine how Merlin had sent three burly men flying.
Merlin nodded and was about to explain when a middle-aged man in a suit suddenly approached him excitedly.
"Hey, kid, the... gun in your hand, can I take a look?" Looking at the Atomic Gun, which barely resembled a gun apart from its grip, he hesitated slightly.
"You are?" Merlin looked at him in confusion.
"Oh, I'm a technical scout from the Stark Industries R&D Department, Milen Otoro. Here's my business card." Realizing he had been abrupt, Milen quickly took a business card from his inner pocket and handed it over.
Merlin took the card and examined it. After confirming there was no issue, he nodded. "Sure, but it's still a prototype. Try not to touch the coils or the trigger."
He handed over the Atomic Gun.
Since he had entered the Academy Science Exhibition this time, he naturally wanted to attract the attention of Military Technology Enterprises, so he did not hide it.
"Thank you!" Milen thanked him politely, then eagerly accepted the Atomic Gun.
The teacher, who had originally wanted to question them about what had happened, slowed his steps and began asking the students at the scene about the situation.
"You okay?" While Milen examined the Atomic Gun, Merlin helped Peter up from the ground.
Because he was neighbors with The Stacy Family, Merlin had been close friends with Gwen since childhood. At school, he had also met Peter through Gwen.
But recently, Peter had often chased after Spider-Man with a camera, while Merlin had been busy with games and technology ever since he had transmigrated.
As for Gwen, barring any surprises, she was the Spider-Man who had recently stirred up such a huge uproar in Big Apple City.
After getting up, Peter nervously opened his backpack and checked it. Once he confirmed that nothing was wrong, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks! I'm fine."
"Peter, next time something like this happens, fight back. Otherwise, they'll just keep bullying you." Gwen spoke, but seeing her friend's frail body, she felt somewhat helpless.
"Find some time to learn how to fight. If you need one, I can recommend my coach to you."
Before seeking revenge, Merlin had specifically found a retired military coach and trained with him for a while in hand-to-hand combat and firearms.
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