Waiting

The next day, Li Si got up early as promised and picked Gwen up, bringing her to school.

"Huh, when did those guys get mixed up with Spider-Man?"

As he arrived at the classroom with Gwen, Li Si spotted Peter Parker in the corner at a glance. There were also several familiar faces.

Li Ritian, Ye Xi, and the three male players who had gone with Li Ritian to buy a suit at the start.

It was worth noting that Li Ritian was now wearing a shit-green suit identical to Kick-Ass's, though without the mask. Beside him, Ye Xi wore a leather jacket and cape just like Hit-Girl's.

The two chatted with Peter Parker, pretending to act normal, but their faces were flushed and they wore blissful expressions. Li Si nearly cracked up laughing.

"Did they run into each other on the Williamsburg Bridge last night and hit it off because they're both into cross-dressing?"

With a strange look on his face, Li Si watched them from a distance, then led Gwen around the other way.

The fact that they'd followed him to school and met Peter Parker without wearing their skintight suits clearly meant Peter had revealed his identity to them.

That Spider-Man really was careless. He'd just met some random person in a skintight suit on the street, and he was already willing to reveal his identity.

His true identity might not be much of a secret to people at a certain level, but this was still absurdly reckless. If his father's ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. weren't so murky, he'd probably have been dragged into a lab and dissected hundreds of times by now.

"Those people just now didn't look like they went to our school. Should we go help Peter?"

After entering the classroom and taking their seats, Gwen furrowed her brows and looked out the window.

"Don't worry. They're probably just Peter's friends," Li Si said with a wry smile.

He knew what Gwen was worried about. Peter Parker had always been a quiet loner at school, so it wouldn't have been surprising if he'd run into bullies or gotten shaken down by thugs.

But Peter Parker wasn't the same as before. Those players with Li Ritian couldn't possibly be a threat. If they meant him harm, Spider-Man could take on all five without even needing a second hand. Gwen was worrying over nothing.

Peter Parker didn't stay outside for long. When the bell rang, he came in and returned to his seat, greeting Li Si on the way.

After returning the greeting, Li Si opened the quest menu and clicked on the faction option.

Side Quest: The Amazing Spider-Man—Battle of the Reptiles

Type: Faction Conflict

Available Factions: Spider-Man (Faction Members: 261) vs. Lizard (Faction Members: 153)

"Not bad. Spider-Man's protagonist charm really is something!"

After checking how many people had accepted the faction quest, Li Si clicked his tongue and glanced at Peter Parker, who had dark circles under his eyes and had flopped down to sleep.

There were probably fewer than five hundred players in all of New York, and already more than half were on Spider-Man's side. The other players didn't know Spider-Man was the protagonist, so those numbers were pretty astonishing.

Still, the number of players probably wouldn't make much difference to this quest. Most players were too weak right now.

The only ones with any real fighting ability were those who had bought paid starting templates like Soldier or Agent. But while those players enjoyed better treatment, they were also constrained by the organizations they belonged to. It was difficult for them to act independently, let alone come to New York for this quest.

"Maybe the players who bought my suits can tag along and serve as cannon fodder?"

An idea occurred to Li Si, but he soon laughed it off and dismissed it.

The players were still fumbling their way forward. Aside from those in the military or an agent division, hardly any of them had unlocked Combat Mastery or Long-range Shooting Mastery. Even with the boost from the Electro-Shock Suit, they wouldn't be much use.

The Electro-Shock Suit he'd put together merely stimulated the muscles to produce strength beyond their normal limits.

The players hadn't found any way to enhance themselves yet. They could only rely on leveling up their Commoner Templates, which required an absurd amount of experience. No matter how much time they spent grinding, they wouldn't get very far.

On top of that, their movements were stiff and clumsy. An ordinary soldier could probably take down several players with ease, while a monster like the Lizard, whose massive frame gave him strength far beyond the norm, could kill several of them with a single swipe.

And the Electro-Shock Suit's boost wasn't unlimited, either. The stronger someone's body, the less the suit could boost them. Once someone became strong enough to shrug off the weak current from a stun device, the suit would have no effect at all.

The sweltering summer air hung heavy with the eerie calm before a storm.

But only Li Si, who knew what was about to happen, could feel it. Classes went on as usual, and the students who hadn't yet ventured beyond their ivory tower continued to play around, carefree and oblivious.

People said death wasn't the most frightening thing. The worst part was learning that you were going to die, then having to wait for it to come. That saying might not have been quite right for this situation, but it certainly fit.

With the Lizard's attack on the school looming, Li Si spent the entire day on high alert. Every moment dragged by agonizingly slowly.

"Not today?"

School let out, and Midtown School of Science and Technology remained perfectly calm and peaceful. Li Si's brows drew tightly together. He couldn't bear another moment of this waiting.

The original story hadn't made the timing clear. He only remembered that not long after the Lizard mutated, he discovered Spider-Man's identity and attacked the school to get revenge. But he had no idea exactly which day it happened.

He couldn't exactly ask Peter Parker to confirm it, and he still had to remain on guard against a sudden attack from the Lizard. In the end, he'd wasted an entire day waiting.

"Should I just go look for the Lizard in the sewers?"

Thinking about having to endure another day of this tomorrow, Li Si hesitated.

But after considering it carefully, he gave up on the suicidal idea.

His own combat ability was still pitiful, and although New York's sewer system wasn't exactly narrow, there was no room for Bumblebee to maneuver with a height of more than four meters.

The Lizard, on the other hand, had inherited his species' traits. In a damp, cramped environment like that, he'd be in his element. If they fought in the sewers, Bumblebee might not even be able to beat him.