Li Ritian

Four days later, Friday, at sunset, in the garage at Li Si's home.

It could hardly be called a garage anymore. He had turned it into a workshop, and it was now stocked with almost every tool he commonly used.

Even more eye-catching was the enormous steel frame welded in the middle of the garage. It supported a gigantic robot.

The robot was clearly still unfinished. Dense bundles of wiring were exposed, its lower legs were nowhere to be seen, and its head had been tossed onto the floor beside the frame instead of being attached to its neck.

This was what Li Si had accomplished over the past few days.

The parts he'd ordered had been arriving one after another, and he'd assembled them in his spare time.

But there was still plenty missing: parts for the lower body, a Titanium Alloy shell, a processor and hyperspectral lenses for the head, materials for a Graphene Battery, and even the planned conventional weapons. He had none of it.

Worse still, he'd spent every last cent of his savings, while each missing component cost more than the last.

Graphene Batteries weren't available on the market, so he'd have to make one himself. But graphene, their main component, was still in the experimental stage on Marvel Earth and cost several times more than gold.

He knew how to produce it, but he didn't have the necessary equipment. Buying it was his only option.

And that was nothing compared to the miniaturized, high-performance processors and hyperspectral lenses, which were practically monopolized.

He'd gritted his teeth and bought a small amount of graphene. Enough material for just two large Graphene Batteries had already eaten up every last bit of his money. As for the rest, he was completely out of options.

"Am I really going to have to extort Norman Osborn ahead of schedule?"

Li Si frowned as he looked over his list of materials.

He did have one way to get money. The Osborn family suffered from hereditary Retroviral Hyperplasia, and Norman Osborn had invested in Curt Connors and Richard Parker's genetic fusion experiments at any cost in hopes of curing his illness.

Norman Osborn was probably already close to death. If Li Si made a vial of Modification Serum, he could extort quite a lot from him.

But that would clash with his plans.

His ideal trading partner was Norman's son, Harry Osborn. The best time to make a deal would be after Norman died and Harry was devastated by the loss. At that point, Harry would give him anything he asked for.

Besides, Norman Osborn was an old fox. Even while bedridden and on the verge of death, he could still control Oscorp and keep its covetous shareholders firmly in check. If he recovered, that would be disastrous for Li Si's plans.

"Forget it. I'll think of something else."

After weighing the pros and cons, Li Si promptly put the idea out of his mind.

Oscorp was the most important part of his plans. Rather than let Norman Osborn, that stumbling block, live, he'd rather work a little harder and take some online support jobs from the dark web's black market.

The thought was giving him a headache, so Li Si stopped dwelling on it. He put everything away, pulled down the garage's roll-up door, went back to his room, and collapsed into bed.

"Let me in! I work here!"

"Is there no justice anymore? You're calling security? You want a fight? I'll take on ten of you!"

"D-don't come any closer! I know kung fu! I'll take you down with my kung fu!"

The next morning was Li Si's first day working at Osborn.

Good things always lifted his spirits. Li Si got up early, dressed in a formal suit, and headed to Oscorp Tower full of enthusiasm.

He hadn't expected to walk straight into a farce at the reception desk.

"Sir, I've already explained. You work for Osby Industries. We're Osborn."

Behind the reception desk was the same white woman who'd helped Li Si last time. She was now patiently trying to explain things to a chubby young man being held back by two Black security guards.

But the yellow-skinned young man was stubborn as a mule and wouldn't listen. Even with the two big men holding him, he shouted angrily, his face red, and kept kicking.

What really caught Li Si's eye were the bright green words above the man's head: "Hao Bruce Player."

The suffix made it clear.

Names and identity suffixes were displayed by default to help players recognize one another. They could be switched off, and Li Si had already done so. He had no interest in walking around with a green label over his head.

This player clearly hadn't noticed the option. After all, the game had no real tutorial; players had to figure everything out for themselves.

It was rare to run into another player here.

Earth OL hadn't yet reached the fever pitch it would later enjoy. In fact, its reputation among players was terrible at this point. There were probably only a little over a hundred thousand people seriously playing the game.

And players didn't yet know how important New York was. They would gradually work out that it was the main setting for the central storyline, but that wouldn't happen for more than a year.

Most players who joined now were scattered around the world according to their own interests. Compared to the seven or eight billion people on Earth, a hundred-odd thousand players were less than a drop in the ocean. It was easy to imagine how unlikely they were to cross paths.

And, by an even stranger coincidence, Li Si knew this man.

"So this is what Li Ritian actually looks like. Tsk, tsk!"

Looking at the chubby young man, whose every feature seemed to exude sleaziness, Li Si nearly burst out laughing.

Before his rebirth, the player known as "Hao Bruce" had been famous. He was nicknamed Li Ritian—a name Li Si himself had given him.

Li Ritian had been very well known before Li Si's rebirth, though not for his strength. Instead, he'd created a player news show called Haotian Daily, which players also jokingly called the Day Heaven and Earth Daily.

He was a loudmouthed, casual player who loved to show off and act tough. Rumor had it that in real life he was the heir to an internet company, with a large army of paid posters at his disposal to clean up his image and attack people on the forums.

At first, he'd just liked to hang around the forums and show off. But over time, he'd built up a following and started making online video shows, which turned out to be quite a success.

The guy had a nasty mouth, though. On top of Haotian Daily, which regularly insulted players across the board, he'd also made a player ranking list. Every player on it had been given some ridiculous nickname by him.

Before his rebirth, Li Si had been listed thanks to his Hulk bloodline and his ability to beat players all the way through. The nickname this guy gave him, Grassland Hero, had nearly made him explode with anger.

But there was nothing he could do about it. Li Ritian had made enemies of plenty of people with his trolling. Someone had even dug up his real-life identity, but instead of getting angry, the shameless bastard had bought off a whole crowd of people to replace every photo that leaked with pictures of a famous actor, then claimed he was handsome. He was so shameless that no one could do a thing about him.