An Encounter with Ghost-Spider

The daylight stretched on, and the night wind was cool.

Russell slowly woke up, feeling utterly refreshed.

He got up, stretched, and looked around.

He was the only one left in the consultation room. Dr. Yao had already departed, leaving a note pinned beneath something on the desk.

He picked it up and saw that it was a consultation schedule.

The time was set for three in the afternoon every Saturday.

There was also a message on the note.

"If you need to make any changes, Russell, you can adjust it yourself on the note and leave it here. I can arrange things flexibly according to your schedule.

—Dr. Yao"

Without making any changes, he put the note back where it had been.

He left the consultation room, got into his car, started the engine, and shot off from a standstill.

With the engine roaring, he drove out of Manhattan toward his little home in Queens.

New York was enchanting at night, but there were few pedestrians on the streets after dark.

Even fewer were beautiful, dignified young women.

Unfortunately, Russell happened to come across one.

A blonde girl being followed by a vampire.

"Miss, it looks like you've run into some trouble. Need help?"

Russell pulled over by the roadside, rolled down his window, and asked.

The girl turned around and looked at Russell with an indescribable expression in her eyes.

She seemed to want to say something, yet did not know where to begin.

While the girl was lost in thought, Russell carefully sized her up.

Short blonde hair, blue eyes, pretty features, and a tall, slender figure.

She looked like a student around eighteen years old, about 1.65 meters tall.

Russell quickly came to that conclusion, then grew puzzled.

Although judging people by appearances was not good.

A girl like this should have had decent family circumstances and upbringing. Why was she alone on the streets of Queens at night?

"Bang!"

"Hey, kid, don't stick your nose into other people's business."

The nameless vampire who had been following her hurried over, slapped the roof of the car, and shouted.

"I hate vampires."

With a soft sigh, Russell casually took out a UV flashlight and shone it at the vampire.

Vampires—the Blade version—were a race afraid of silver, garlic, and ultraviolet light, riddled with fatal weaknesses yet somehow brimming with confidence.

They reeked of blood, and killing them did not even yield Attribute Points.

What bad luck.

The girl snapped back to her senses. Watching the nameless vampire turn to ash, she helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead and shook her head with a bitter smile.

"I was planning to lure him out and use him to find the girls he abducted."

"Is that so? I'm sorry for ruining your plan."

Russell smiled awkwardly.

Had he misjudged her? An ordinary person would not have had no reaction at all to that scene.

"Forget it. You meant well."

As she spoke, the girl turned around and pulled up her hood.

She raised her hand, fired a strand of webbing, and swung into the night sky. Her voice gradually faded into the distance, leaving behind only a white silhouette.

"Besides, I've already memorized his scent. I just need to search around here slowly."

"Spider-Woman?!"

"Ghost-Spider."

She had already vanished into the night, with only her voice drifting back from afar.

What was going on with this world?

He had gone to see a doctor in the morning, only for his psychologist to seem suspiciously like the Sorcerer Supreme, The Ancient One.

Then on his way home that night, he casually rescued a girl and ran into Spider-Woman.

No, Ghost-Spider.

Ghost-Spider... that should be Gwen Stacy, right?

But George Stacy was only around thirty.

Was it someone else? Or had she come from a Parallel Universe?

Puzzled, Russell returned to his little nest.

It was an old seven-story building. The seventh floor was his residence, while the six floors below housed a bookstore.

Russell had not planned the building's layout.

A few days ago, Russell had bought the building from a young woman named Hong Fei.

She had been willing to sell it below market price on the sole condition that the bookstore be kept.

The building had been left behind by her late parents, and the bookstore was the work of their lifetimes.

Considering the discounted price, as well as his need for a job to pass the time, Russell agreed.

Back in his room, Russell turned on the television, hoping to find some entertainment.

"Emergency alert: Two unidentified flying objects are engaged in combat over New York. Both sides are carrying lethal weapons. Local residents are advised to seek shelter and avoid going outside unless necessary."

The broadcast was suddenly interrupted by an emergency alert. Footage captured by the television station showed—

A massive silver-gray robot stood on the highway, one enormous mechanical arm raised above its head, tightly gripping a red-and-gold robot in its hand.

Cars lay overturned and scattered all around, while panicked crowds fled in every direction.

Russell was very familiar with this scene.

The two robots were Iron Monger and Iron Man.

This was the climactic battle from the movie Iron Man, where Tony Stark fought his godfather, Obadiah Stane, near the Stark factory.

Although he recognized the two robots, Russell had no intention of getting involved.

Tony Stark's friendship was certainly valuable, and Russell did plan to befriend Tony in the future.

But now was not the right time.

For one thing, his Panel enhancements were still only in their first stage.

He had a Physique capable of resisting bullets, Perception that gave him reaction speed far beyond ordinary people, and a mental shock that ignored physical defenses.

But he was still a ground-bound chicken. He could not fly, his mobility was average, and large-caliber bullets and missiles remained highly dangerous to him.

If he caught him off guard, Russell was ninety percent confident he could subdue that old man Obadiah with a mental shock.

But what was the difference between ninety percent certainty and risking his life?

Without ninety-eight percent certainty, there was no need to risk his life over someone else's business.

On the other hand, he did not want to expose himself to the public just yet.

—There were still a few days before the Panel Upgrade.

If he stepped in, he would inevitably draw the authorities' attention.

He had transmigrated into this world three months ago, and his current identity was forged. It would not stand up to investigation.

For now, he needed to be a "law-abiding citizen" and quietly build himself up.

Once the Panel had been upgraded a few more times, he would definitely say that classic line out loud.

"I don't eat beef."

As for the possibility that the butterfly effect might cause Iron Man to lose or for both of them to die together?

Russell was not worried about that at all.

The butterfly effect had already happened.

At the edge of the screen, a figure clad in a black-and-white bodysuit and wearing a hood was swinging toward the combatants.

Ghost-Spider, reporting for duty!

Compared to Iron Monger, which had been reverse-engineered from the Mark I, Ghost-Spider was a battle-tested superhero.

Russell believed that with her help, Iron Man would definitely defeat Iron Monger with ease.

He took out his phone. The time was 10:24 p.m. on October 24, 2010.

It was still early. Remembering Dr. Yao's advice, Russell decided to make a recruitment notice himself and post it at the bookstore entrance. Interviews would begin tomorrow morning.

Hiring Several Reading Room Administrators

Job Responsibilities: To be discussed.

Requirements: To be discussed.

Salary and Benefits: To be discussed.

Working Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a two-hour lunch break.

Looking at the recruitment notice he had made, Russell nodded in satisfaction.

Naturally, this was not a proper recruitment notice, and the people Russell intended to hire were not proper people either.

He was merely looking for some amusement to pass the time until the Panel Upgrade.