The Attack

"If he doesn't show up soon, I'm going to turn into a couch potato..."

On Monday afternoon, during break between classes, Li Si lay lazily on the campus lawn with Gwen, basking in the bright sunshine. He felt content, but there was also a hint of worry.

It had been three days. Three damn days. He hadn't even gone to work at Oscorp while waiting for the Lizard to show up, and he'd spent all three days waiting at school.

"What?"

Gwen, lying beside him, hadn't caught his mumbled words and asked in confusion.

"Nothing. I was saying that this relaxing sunbathing has turned me into a couch potato!"

Li Si got up with a wry smile. The bell for their last class of the day rang just then, and the two of them dropped the subject and hurried to class.

Their last class was social studies. Just seeing the name of the course made Li Si feel even more dispirited. Aside from the usual 50 points of general experience, he wouldn't even get any targeted experience.

That was the worst thing about this game. Other games practically begged you to grind all day, but in this lousy game, even finding a monster to fight meant searching the whole world. He'd nearly waited until the flowers wilted for the Lizard to show up.

After sixty grueling minutes, the drawn-out class—long enough to rival anything Nanhu had produced—finally ended with the dismissal bell. The students began packing up to leave, gathering in groups of two or three to make plans for after school.

Just then, a tremendous rumble rang out, jolting Li Si, who had thought he'd wasted another day waiting.

Rumble!

Rumble!

The sound came from the restroom in the school building. Each heavy blow, like a pile driver at work, pounded at everyone's hearts. All along the corridor, people's eyes turned involuntarily toward the source.

Rumble—crash!

Suddenly, a huge hole appeared in the corridor wall, and chunks of concrete and brick scattered across the floor.

A humanoid monster over two meters tall, with green skin and scales covering its body, smashed straight through the wall and appeared before them.

"Ah!!"

It was as if someone had flipped a switch. Piercing screams and terrified shrieks rang out one after another as the countless students in the corridor fled in panic toward the school building's exit.

"With disaster response this bad, you're at least ten times worse than Gotham City. No wonder so many people die in New York..."

Li Si shielded Gwen behind him, still finding time to gripe to himself.

Of course, griping aside, they still had to run. Bumblebee was outside, and Li Si's little arms and legs weren't going to beat the Lizard. He'd leave stalling for time to Spider-Man.

"Let's get out of here first!"

Seeing how shaken Gwen was, Li Si patted her back to calm her down. He glanced at Peter Parker, who was moving toward the Lizard instead of retreating, then took her by the hand and followed the crowd out of the school building.

They reached the open lawn of the sports field. Still rattled, Gwen asked, "Li, what exactly was that monster?"

"Don't worry about that right now. Let's get to the parking lot!"

Time was short, and Li Si couldn't stop to explain. He pulled Gwen straight to the school parking lot, where they found Bumblebee.

"Bumblebee, transform into combat mode!"

Li Si took out his earpiece, put it on, and spoke urgently.

"Command confirmed. Bumblebee combat mode activated!"

Bumblebee's headlights flashed twice as a synthesized mechanical voice sounded. Then its limbs sprang out, parts whirring through the air. It first shifted into a kneeling position, then slowly stood up.

"Oh... my... God..."

Gwen was completely stunned. She gazed up at the enormous, bright-yellow robot, over four meters tall, and murmured without thinking.

Her daze didn't last long. Soon, she was staring at Li Si with disbelief, as if seeing him for the first time. Her jaw dropped. "This is the toy robot you told me about?"

Gwen felt like she was going crazy. First, a giant Lizard Monster had appeared, and now the boyfriend she thought she knew—the one she'd only just started dating—had summoned a giant robot.

Most incredible of all, the robot had transformed from a sports car, and she'd ridden in that very car several times over the past two days.

What on earth was happening to the world? Had she traveled through time? Were all kinds of impossible magic and giant monsters going to appear next?

"Ahem. I only said I was going to design a transforming robot. I never said it was a toy..."

Seeing Gwen's expression that seemed to say, "This world has gone completely mad," Li Si could only offer a sheepish explanation.

He'd deliberately kept quiet because he'd wanted to surprise Gwen, but he hadn't expected her to look so close to breaking down. He was starting to regret it.

"Wait here and call your dad to come help right away. I'll have Bumblebee hold off that monster!"

Seeing that Gwen looked ready to blow up at him, Li Si decided to play dumb. He rushed back toward the school building with Bumblebee, without stopping for a moment.

"Oh, I think I'm in serious trouble!"

Watching the giant robot disappear into the distance behind Li Si, Gwen covered her face helplessly. Then she pulled herself together, took out her phone, and started making a call.

"My God! Why is there a robot too?!"

"Damn it, is this the end of the world?"

"Are our taxpayers' dollars being thrown in the water? Why haven't the police shown up yet?"

Meanwhile, Bumblebee's appearance in robot form caused another panic. The students who had just escaped the Lizard's clutches barely had time to catch their breath before fleeing in terror again. Some even ran back into the school building in their confusion.

"Hey, wait! Look, that's Li—the kung fu guy from the graduating class!"

There were still a few calm people among those fleeing. After a quick glance at Bumblebee, one of them soon noticed something strange.

"What kung fu guy? Can kung fu beat a Lizard Monster? Can kung fu beat that giant robot?"

"Jeff, forget about Li. The important thing is to save ourselves!"

The others had no time to care about some kung fu guy. They were too busy running for their lives to even look at their surroundings, rushing blindly toward the school gates.

"No, no! I mean that robot monster is following Kung Fu Li. It looks like it's taking orders from him!"

Jeff hurriedly explained, grabbing his friend, who was running headlong back into the school building.

"Huh?"

Jeff's friend stopped in surprise. He stared at the robot for a moment, then slapped his smooth, bald head. "I think that robot looks kind of familiar. Am I imagining it?"

"You feel that too?"

Jeff was delighted. "See? I was right. Kung Fu Li has to be an heir to a Chinese martial arts family, and he must be a superhero like Spider-Man. Now he's taking the robot to stop that Lizard Monster!"

"Hey, man, Chinese martial arts families should use kung fu. Maybe they've got that 'qi' stuff they talk about too. How did you connect that to robots? A high-tech family like Tony Stark's would make more sense!"

Seeing that the giant robot wasn't attacking them, Jeff's friend stopped running too. He simply stepped aside to clear the way, then gave Jeff a speechless look.