Wounded Beast

Walking through the dark night, Li Si enjoyed this rare moment of leisure and tranquility, having forgotten how long it had been since he last took such a relaxed stroll.

Before long, Bumblebee had transformed into his sports car form and caught up, but neither of them got inside. They continued to walk forward slowly and aimlessly, with Bumblebee following closely behind, step by step.

The night was deep and there were no other pedestrians around; otherwise, seeing a car stopping and starting without a driver inside would surely have scared someone out of their wits.

"Li, what did that person mean by 'natives' earlier? Are they aliens?"

After walking in silence for a long distance, Max hesitated for a long time before finally asking the question that had been weighing on his mind.

"Not exactly aliens..." Li Si hesitated for a moment, then countered, "Do you know about the parallel world theory?"

"You mean they are all humans from parallel worlds?" Max was stunned.

"Something like that... actually, I haven't figured it out myself."

Li Si had no intention of hiding anything from Max; in any case, as the number of players grew and their influence expanded, the natives of Marvel Earth would eventually notice.

However, he hadn't truly figured out what kind of existence the players were either. He hadn't reached a conclusion even before his rebirth, and perhaps only the game developers behind the Astral Gaming Company knew the truth.

The only thing he could be certain of was that this world was definitely not some virtual game.

Under the non-full-dive virtual mode, one might not feel it, but in full-dive virtual mode, this world was almost indistinguishable from reality. Every NPC was flesh and blood; even a passerby on the street had their own thoughts and life.

Perhaps thoughts could be simulated by artificial intelligence, but with billions of AIs, no computer could likely handle that level of computational load, not to mention the simulation of various physical laws.

Even if there were some incomprehensible computer capable of doing this, no game operator would likely be so extravagant as to waste such computing power.

Not to mention the achievement exchange system that would open in the future, where items, strength, and even characters from the game could be brought into reality. If it were still just a virtual game after reaching such a level, then who could be certain they were living in reality?

"There is also a... in the parallel world..."

Max was clearly very interested in this topic, but just as he was about to press for more, he suddenly froze, staring blankly ahead.

Without realizing it, the two had left the main road and arrived at an outdoor parking lot, where two people were arguing not far in front of them.

The two were rather strange: one was a disheveled white man with blonde hair, and the other was a freak wearing a red, skin-tight mask with a black spider pattern on his chest.

The two seemed to be having some sort of conflict. When Max looked over, the blonde man had already pulled out a folding knife, but his face showed neither anger nor cruelty, only sheer terror, as he kept repeating, "Let me leave."

"Is that a knife?"

"No, the thing I fear most is this kind of small blade..."

The freak in the red tights knelt on the ground with a neurotic, bizarre cry. He covered his face with his hands, and although he was saying words of begging, there was no fear in his tone, only a sense of madness and mockery.

And that was indeed the case; the red-clad freak quickly ended his neurotic and clumsy performance, suddenly shooting something resembling a spider web from his wrist to stick the blonde man's knife-wielding right hand to the wall behind him.

After successfully disarming the blonde man, he didn't stop there; he continued to taunt and tease him with words while firing several more webs to pin the man entirely against the wall.

"Have you vented enough?"

Li Si, who had been quietly watching this farce from the side, walked over and looked at him coldly.

Hearing the voice suddenly emerge from behind, the red-clad freak turned his head abruptly, his wrist—which had been firing the strange webs—already raised and aimed at Li Si.

However, upon seeing Li Si's appearance, his movements suddenly stalled.

"Are you the 'Justice Kid' Spider-Man mentioned in the news?"

Although he knew in his heart that Peter Parker was hidden under that tight suit, Li Si did not expose him.

"Hey, that's right, I am your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Mr. Justice Kid!"

Stunned for a split second, Peter Parker reacted. He first did a hip-hop move, then swayed over to Li Si's side, leaning against his shoulder.

"Justice Kid?"

Li Si shook his head as if disappointed and sneered, "What I see now is just a wounded, irritable beast, a poor wretch hoping to vent his negative emotions through violence."

"I..."

Peter Parker opened his mouth, but remained silent, unable to refute.

"There is a saying that I personally don't like very much, but I think I should give it to you."

Li Si patted Peter Parker on the shoulder, "With great power comes great responsibility. Whether you understand it or not, take care of yourself."

After saying this, Li Si didn't wait for his reaction; he led Max back to Bumblebee's driver's seat and drove away immediately.

"With great power comes great responsibility..."

Peter Parker murmured these words.

He ignored the departing Li Si, and after a long time in a daze, he silently took out an old mobile phone and played a recording.

"Peter, I know you've been having a hard time lately. I'm really sorry, I think I understand how you feel..."

The phone contained a voicemail from his late uncle, Ben Parker. Thinking about it now, everything still felt like a dream.

Just two nights ago, he had left in a fit of anger after an argument with his uncle, but his uncle had been killed by a robber who had just finished a heist while out looking for him.

What made him even more remorseful was that he had been in the convenience store the robber was robbing at the time, and he hadn't stopped the robber simply because he didn't like the store owner's attitude.

He had the ability to stop it; ever since he was bitten by the spider, his strength and reflexes had long surpassed those of an ordinary person. As long as he wanted to, he could have easily caught the robber, and his uncle wouldn't have been killed by the panicked, fleeing criminal. Yet, he hadn't done so.

"Maybe Li is right, I really am crazy now... a mad dog venting its madness after being wounded, heh..."

"With great power comes great responsibility..."

"If only I had heard this sooner... how good that would have been!"