An Encounter with Little Spider

"Good lord~ What a brutal battle..."

The waiter tidied up the soaking wet sheets and bedding while stealing astonished glances at Su Ming, imagining the kind of stormy affair that must have taken place on that huge bed.

Su Ming had not expected this talent upgrade to cause such a huge commotion. He never wanted to experience that bone-piercing pain again, and he had not even realized when the bedding had gotten soaked.

Fortunately, the effects of the talent upgrade were obvious.

Su Ming used a throwing knife to carve a deep, long wound into his arm. Unlike before, when it had healed slowly, it closed in the blink of an eye after the upgrade. He could not even feel any pain.

Su Ming guessed that he had probably experienced every kind of pain during the upgrade, so his exceptional recovery ability now came with the bonus of feeling no pain.

He was quite satisfied with that. After all, who could truly regard pain as a form of enjoyment?

At the same time, his body gave him an intense sensation—regenerating a severed arm would be no problem.

After settling one talent, Su Ming considered whether he should continue improving his talent tree. Then a figure suddenly appeared in his mind again—Alisha.

"Right! That woman came up beside me without making a sound, and I did not notice her at all. I cannot blame her for hiding too well; I can only blame myself for being too careless.

What talent can sense the situation around me...?"

Thinking of this, Su Ming hurriedly opened the System Shop.

After flipping through only a few pages, he found a suitable talent:

[Spider-Sense → Danger Sense Lv1. $1,000,000]

"Damn! The starting price is a million?"

Even as he cursed, Su Ming's movements did not hesitate in the slightest.

"Exchange!"

[-$1,000,000. Talent exchange successful! Account balance: $1,865,000]

It was as if he had installed a radar. Su Ming's sensory awareness increased drastically, and he could clearly perceive even tiny insects flying past the window.

Footsteps outside the door... the waiters' whispers... even applause from a room three doors away came through clearly.

Well, this was a hotel, after all~

"Uh... looks like I need some time to adjust."

Su Ming frowned slightly. The foreigner's bull-slaughtering cries had no aesthetic appeal whatsoever, though he had no intention of offending anyone. The Manhattan Hotel's soundproofing was excellent; if anyone was to blame, it was only his senses for being too sharp.

Looking at the more than one million dollars left in his account, the old Su Ming might have been delighted to think of himself as a rich man.

But after spending fifty million dollars in one go to upgrade a talent, when he looked at that mere one million now, he only had one feeling—I'm broke!

It seemed he still had to work hard and take on jobs, so he could turn himself into a well-rounded man in the Marvel Universe as soon as possible!

Then, when he had nothing better to do, he could take a stroll around alien planets. Wouldn't that be great?

Having made up his mind, Su Ming picked up the landline beside the bed and was about to call Alisha.

Then he suddenly put the phone back, because he sensed that Alisha was already on her way over.

He opened the door, sat down calmly, and waited for Alisha to enter.

"Huh? Boss~ Were you waiting for me?"

Seeing the open door and Su Ming quietly watching her, Alisha asked curiously.

Su Ming's eyes lit up. This sensory ability really was useful!

Just as he was about to say something, a phone flew toward him. He casually caught it.

"Here~ I got this for you, so it'll be easier to contact each other in the future. Oh, right, I received some information."

Alisha casually sat down on the sofa, picked up the cup Su Ming had used, and took a satisfied sip.

Looking at the high-end phone in his hand, Su Ming sighed. Having subordinates did feel pretty nice~

Then he saw Alisha happily drinking from his cup as if she were savoring fine wine.

Does that count as taking advantage of me? It does, right...

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"Uh... what information?"

"A newly posted job from the exchange. The bounty is six hundred thousand dollars, and the target is a Lizard Man.

Oh, and Osborn Group posted the job."

Alisha did not even raise her head as she looked at her freshly painted nails and gave him the information.

"Osborn Group... isn't that what's-his-name's company...?"

Just as Su Ming was considering whether to accept the job, Alisha seemed to recall something. She raised her head and looked at him obediently.

"Boss, I already accepted the job for you. I used Destiny as your codename~

You have to complete the job properly and pay me my salary~"

After saying that, she threw Su Ming a flirtatious wink.

Su Ming remained expressionless—who exactly was the boss here?

He immediately put on the air of a boss and said sternly,

"Alisha, I need to know exactly who posted this job. Now."

Alisha looked at Su Ming with a smile, completely unfazed by his act. She blew him a kiss as she replied,

"The owner of Osborn Group is, of course, Norman Osborn. Capitalists like them would never bother lying to a low-level exchange."

As he muttered Norman Osborn's name, memories came rushing back—wasn't that the Green Goblin himself?

When he further learned from Alisha that Oscorp Industries was a multinational corporation centered on high technology and bioengineering, Su Ming could not help seeing Alisha in a new light.

Su Ming said that jobs from companies like Stark Industries and Osborn Group could be prioritized in the future. They were not short on money~

After gaining a basic understanding of the job, and after Alisha repeatedly insisted on giving him a hug, Su Ming left the Manhattan Hotel.

As he passed a sewer entrance, Su Ming noticed many small lizards crawling into it through the ventilation opening.

Su Ming immediately recalled that in a city like New York, creatures like Lizard Men had nowhere else to go but the sewers.

He simply went to a deserted corner, took off his trench coat, and revealed the modified Crimson Suit he had already put on underneath.

After putting on the mask, he transformed into a nobleman of the night. Enduring the stench, he jumped into the manhole.

With his Spider-Sense fully spread out, Su Ming vaguely identified a direction and broke into a rapid run.

When he reached an intersection of pipes, Su Ming was surprised to find the place completely covered in a web formation.

"Oh? Looks like I'm about to meet an old friend again."

When Su Ming recalled that the head of Osborn Group was the Green Goblin, he had already had a feeling that he would soon encounter Spider-Man.

He had not expected it to happen so quickly. Little Spider was probably still in his growth phase at this point...

Su Ming walked steadily along the webbing when a young man's voice came from the shadows.

"Don't come any closer. It's dangerous here!"

It was Spider-Man.

Hearing Little Spider's well-meaning warning, Su Ming smiled. His Spider-Sense told him that the Lizard Man was directly above Little Spider's head. How could Peter Parker, as Spider-Man, not notice at all?

"Still too young..."

With a silent sigh, he warned aloud,

"Above you! Little Spider!"

Peter Parker suspected that Dr. Connors had used a genetic drug, and that drug had been developed using the decay-rate algorithm Peter had provided him.

It was also the research result Peter's father had deliberately hidden away all those years ago. As for why he had hidden it, the answer was already obvious—this thing was not suitable for humans.

He had followed the small lizards into the underground pipes as well, laying down a massive web formation to strengthen his Spider-Sense and search for the Lizard Man's trail.

He had not expected that instead of the Lizard Man, a man dressed in Scarlet attire would arrive. The man wore a mask and seemed exceptionally mysterious, yet his otherworldly temperament remained untouched even in the filthy sewers.

He had already warned the man that this place was dangerous, so why was he still walking forward?

And why was he warning Peter instead?

Huh?

Warning... him?

Peter Parker's Spider-Sense seemed to finally switch on at that moment. A sudden warning flared in his mind as a dark shadow pounced on him and pinned him to the web formation. The Lizard Man completely suppressed Little Spider in terms of strength, and its sharp claws carved several long wounds across his chest...

Su Ming watched the fierce battle between the two animals with a slight frown.

One lizard, one spider...

He sighed softly to himself.

"I was planning to kill it in one strike, but who told you, Little Spider, to be here..."

Whoosh!

A cold gleam flashed—

The arm the Lizard Man was using to suppress Peter Parker was severed at the root.

It hurriedly glanced in Su Ming's direction, a trace of terror flickering in its eyes.

The Lizard Man dove into the water and fled...