On the sports field, Gwen Stacy raised her little fists again, and Lizard swung his tail at Lin Xiao once more. The next second, Lin Xiao moved. First, he hooked his left arm around Gwen's waist and tucked her under his arm. Gwen went completely stiff, her face flushing red as her chest heaved.
"You bastard, you-put me down-!"
"In a minute." Without turning his head, Lin Xiao gave Gwen another slap on the bottom. Gwen let out a shriek and went still, while Lin Xiao's right hand swiftly caught the tip of Lizard's incoming tail.
The big green lizard Dr. Connors had become had been fighting alongside Gwen only moments earlier. Now, with his tail clutched in Lin Xiao's hand, his entire body lost its balance. A distinctly human trace of confusion flashed through his slit pupils. No, wait, weren't we fighting him two against one just now? Weren't we supposed to beat this bastard up together? Now I'm on my own again?
Lin Xiao gave him no time to think.
Pulling on Lizard's tail, he hoisted him off the ground like a giant sack and slammed him to the left. With a boom, a two-meter crater erupted in the concrete sports field. Then he slammed him to the right. Another tremendous crash reduced the basketball hoop that had stood tall a moment ago to wreckage. After smashing him back and forth five or six times, Lin Xiao finally let go and flung Lizard away. Lizard bounced twice on the ground, rolled over, and lay belly-up, his tongue lolling from the corner of his mouth and his slit pupils rolling back to show their whites. He had passed out completely.
Lin Xiao chuckled and lowered his head, meeting Gwen's eyes. Her mask had slipped down to her chin during the chaos, exposing half of her bright red face.
Lin Xiao put her down. The moment Gwen's feet touched the ground, she backed away three steps until her back hit the edge of a flower bed, leaving her nowhere else to go. She lowered her head, both hands clenched into fists at her sides, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Lin Xiao looked at her and decided to clear things up first.
"Back at the docks, I didn't stand you up on purpose. I'd just finished a fight, and I still had a personal matter to deal with. You wouldn't understand. Anyway, it was urgent. I admit I was wrong, and I apologize."
Gwen lifted her head, her lips moving. She wanted to say, "I don't care whether you stood me up," but swallowed the words before they came out. She really didn't care about him standing her up. What she cared about was how he had run off after beating people up at the docks without saying anything proper to her, as though she were some unimportant passerby.
"That's not what I meant." Her voice was so low that Lin Xiao almost missed it.
Lin Xiao froze for a moment. Then he smiled. It wasn't his usual infuriating grin, but a smile with a little helplessness, a little indulgence, and a little compromise.
He turned his back to Gwen, bent over, and stuck out his bottom.
"Then hit me."
Gwen's expression froze. Her fists clenched tighter, her nails nearly digging into her palms. Looking at the hulking, seven-foot man sticking out his bottom and waiting for her to kick him, her mind went blank. Did she want to hit him? Of course she did. Ever since the night he had pinned her across his knees and spanked her in that unfinished building, she had imagined how she would beat him up every night before bed. But now that he was bending over and sticking his bottom right in front of her, she didn't know where to start.
Just then, Lin Xiao straightened, turned around, and took a step forward. Gwen instinctively shrank back, but the flower bed behind her left her nowhere to retreat. Lin Xiao bent down and gently patted her head.
Gwen's brain completely crashed at that moment. Her face turned red from the base of her neck to her hairline. Both hands covered the spot on her forehead he had touched, her blue eyes opened wide, and her lips opened and closed before a barely audible voice emerged. "You... you-bastard!"
Then she shot out a strand of webbing and swung away without looking back. The web traced a silvery-white arc through the air, and Gwen's figure flashed around the corner of the school building and disappeared. Lin Xiao stood there, looking in the direction she had vanished, and muttered to himself, "One little pat and she runs away. That girl gets embarrassed way too easily."
A violent fit of coughing came from the flower bed. Lin Xiao turned to see Peter standing behind it with an exceptionally colorful expression on his face. Peter said nothing about it. He walked over and looked at Banner, his face full of worry. "The doctor's all right, isn't he?"
Lin Xiao patted his shoulder. "Relax, I'm here. The police will be here any second. Go hold them off."
"Hold off the police? Me?" Peter's eyes opened even wider than when he had seen Lin Xiao kiss Gwen. "How am I supposed to do that? I'm just a high school student."
"Not my problem. It's one of Spider-Man's signature routines anyway. Don't tell me you haven't learned it yet?"
"Wait... who's Spider-Man?" Peter asked, looking bewildered.
Lin Xiao laughed it off and decided not to answer that question, counting off on his fingers instead. "Stand in front of the police and say you're a superhero's friend, or tell them a superhero is handling things and ask them to wait. If that doesn't work, just block them in front of the police tape. The police are generally pretty polite when they hear a superhero is involved. All three generations of you Spider-Men have done it. Sure, your generation awakened a Stand instead of spider powers, but you can't abandon tradition."
"What three generations? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
Lin Xiao gave a dry cough, scaring Peter into silence. Not long after, Lin Xiao spoke again.
"Oh, and advertise Super Earthling while you're at it. Tell the police the guy in the Arab robe isn't a terrorist. He's a superhero from the Middle East who traveled all the way to New York to maintain world peace. Not all Arabs are bad guys. They could also be superheroes here to carry out heaven's justice. Also mention that advertising space on his flag is available. Interested businesses can get in touch."
Peter fell silent. Behind him, The Fool buried his face in his forelegs and let out an extremely faint whimper.
"...Can I just hold off the police without doing the advertising?"
"The advertising is the point."
"You're making this difficult for me-"
"I'll buy you dinner tonight."
Peter shut his mouth. He looked at Lin Xiao's beaming face, then at the three-meter-tall Lizard still lying belly-up on the sports field. His lips worked for a long while before he finally spoke.
"...I want something good."
"Cow cud hot pot."
"What's that?"
"A specialty from Dragon Country. Very nourishing. Look it up and you'll see."
Dubious, Peter took out his phone, opened Google, and typed in "cow cud hot pot." A few seconds later, the color visibly drained from his face, turning from rosy to pale, then from pale to ashen. He raised his head and looked at Lin Xiao, his lips trembling several times.
"This... the broth is made from juice squeezed out of the half-digested grass in a cow's stomach?"
"Yep. Extremely nourishing." Lin Xiao gave him a thumbs-up. "Builds a strong, healthy body. Especially good for growing teenagers."
"...I don't want to grow anymore."
"Enough chatter. The police have been keeping order outside. Now that it's gone quiet in here, they'll come in to check soon. Remember: hold off the police, promote the ads, and I'll treat you to hot pot tonight. Perfect!" With that, Lin Xiao turned, hoisted the three-meter-tall lizard onto his shoulder, and ran. Watching it all, Peter wanted to cry but had no tears. What a way to screw over his nephew!
By the time Lin Xiao slipped out through the school's back gate with Dr. Connors, he had changed back into his suit. The robe with several holes torn in it and the face covering had been stuffed into System Space, transforming him from a "Middle Eastern thug" back into a "Level Six S.H.I.E.L.D. agent." Dr. Connors lay over his shoulder, having already returned to human form-the Lizard Serum's effects seemed to have a time limit, or perhaps they automatically wore off after he was knocked unconscious.
Lin Xiao found an abandoned warehouse and laid the doctor on a pile of old cardboard in a corner. The doctor's breathing was steady; he simply hadn't woken up yet. In no hurry, Lin Xiao took his phone from his pocket, checked the call records for the "Boss" on Scar-Eye's phone from earlier, then checked the time, figuring Peter should have stopped the police by now.
About twenty minutes passed before Connors's eyelids twitched. He gave a hoarse groan, his right hand unconsciously clenching and relaxing, then jolted awake, his back striking the wall and his eyes wide as though he had just had a nightmare.
"Calm down," Lin Xiao's voice came from across from him. "You're human now, not a lizard. Take a deep breath."
Connors's chest heaved several times. He looked down at his body, which was completely intact. Then he felt his face. No scales, no protruding snout-just the feel of normal human skin. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. When he opened them again, his eyes had reddened.
"I... what did I do? I think I remember... at the school... those children-"
"You wrecked a basketball hoop, knocked three trash cans askew, and left several big craters in the concrete sports field." Lin Xiao counted on his fingers. "But there were no casualties. You did scare quite a few students into tears, but nobody was hurt. The damage was pretty serious, though. Those high school students will probably have to take PE in their classrooms from now on."
Connors lowered his head, a bitter smile touching his lips. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Lin Xiao pull something from inside his jacket and wave it before his eyes. He focused on it.
It was a S.H.I.E.L.D. ID!
Lin Xiao flashed the ID, then put it away, his expression turning unusually serious. "Let's get down to business first! Dr. Connors, I'm very curious. How did you make your Lizard Serum? Judging by Oscorp's currently published research, limb regeneration shouldn't have reached the level you just demonstrated. Don't tell me you suddenly had a breakthrough-there has to be a reason Kingpin set his sights on you."
Connors's expression shifted. It wasn't fear, but a kind of unease at having a sensitive point exposed. His fingers tapped unconsciously against his knee several times before he spoke.
"A few months ago, there was a robbery in Brooklyn. A masked man subdued all the robbers before the police arrived, then disappeared into an alley." Connors's voice was low and unhurried, as though he were recalling a secret only he knew. "By the time the police followed him, he was gone. All they found was this in a trash can."
He took a sealed bag from an inside pocket of his lab coat. Inside was an empty syringe.
Lin Xiao stared at the syringe.
He called out inwardly, Doupao.
"Ding-here."
This syringe... is it the one I used? Wait, the needle's gone!
"Ding-this injection was a system-produced injectable reagent. The accompanying needle came with a defense-piercing effect. With the host's strength and skin toughness at the time, an ordinary needle could not have penetrated. This needle was a system-supplied consumable made of superalloy composite fiber, capable of administering an injection regardless of the target's bodily durability. Recovery failed."
Recovery failed? Lin Xiao frowned. Why didn't you tell me?
"Ding-the host casually threw the empty syringe into a trash can at the time without performing a recovery operation. The system cannot recover discarded items without the host's authorization. As for a reminder-the host did not ask."
Lin Xiao drew a deep breath, his pectorals rising beneath his shirt. He knew it. He just knew this damned system always had "you didn't ask" waiting for him.
"So the police picked up this syringe, handed it to the military, and then it ended up with you." Lin Xiao looked back at Connors. His tone had returned to normal, but every trace of amusement had vanished from his eyes. "How did the military handle it? And where's the needle from this syringe?"
"General Ross's department took over." Connors put the sealed bag back in his pocket, his fingers trembling slightly. "They took the syringe for preliminary analysis and discovered that the residual liquid contained extremely abnormal cellular activity. They tried to replicate the liquid, but every attempt failed. Its composition was too complex to synthesize with existing bioengineering technology. So they gave me the few remaining drops of diluted solution. The needle supposedly stayed with the military. They wanted to see if I could discover anything. I spent several months finally extracting the key component from the diluted solution and making that serum. There was only one finished dose. This morning, the man who captured me last time suddenly broke in. In a moment of desperation, I injected it into myself, and I became like this."
Lin Xiao fell silent.
His mind raced. General Ross? That guy from Hulk? The needle. Those key words collided in his mind, sparking a sense of unease. Dr. Connors had collected the residual components. Although the military hadn't worked out the serum's composition, the needle had definitely remained in their hands. If he used that thing to make Hulkbuster weapons...
Doupao, could the military use that needle to make something to use against Hulk?
The system was silent for a second.
"Ding-evaluating... the needle was produced by the system. In theory, it can easily penetrate the defenses of any target at rank A or below. If turned into a penetrating weapon, the consequences would be unimaginable! Note: the host's unintentional action may be rewriting the fate of this universe's Hulk."
Lin Xiao said nothing. He leaned against the wall with both hands in his trouser pockets, his fingers unconsciously tapping out a rhythm.
"Ding-additional note: if Hulk loses his combat capability because of this technology, there will be no one to stop the Leviathan during the Battle of New York. The Leviathan's base strength is estimated at over eight hundred points. If the host wishes to face him alone, raising strength above one thousand points beforehand is recommended, or raising agility to the threshold required to evade large AOE attacks-that is, over 100 points."
Lin Xiao's fingers stopped.
...You're trying to scare me.
"Ding-this system is merely stating objective facts. The host need not use stats on paper to gauge his own strength anymore. Isn't there a ready-made opponent? The Leviathan: thick-skinned, tough, eight hundred strength. He perfectly meets the host's challenge requirements."
Lin Xiao closed his eyes, his voice somewhat hoarse.
"Where is Dr. Banner right now?"
"Ding-Dr. Bruce Banner is currently conducting gamma-ray experiments at Culver University in Virginia, working alongside General Ross's daughter, Betty Ross. Approximately four months remain until Hulk's birth. General Ross's current attitude toward Banner: an apparent honeymoon period of cooperation, with covert surveillance."
"...That's good, then. But that's not what I care about right now. What I care about is..."
Lin Xiao's expression became utterly solemn and serious.
"That Betty Ross-is she pretty? Got a photo? Send me one!"
Doupao: ...
Dr. Connors froze briefly, somewhat baffled as to why the big man before him was talking to himself. Though he didn't understand, he respected it. Seeing Connors looking at him strangely, Lin Xiao coughed a few times and said, "Doctor, where do you plan to go now?"
Connors shook his head, looking lost.
"Kingpin's men have their eyes on me. I don't want to cause any more trouble for my family or my students. And now I turn into a giant lizard. I'm afraid..." The desolation in the doctor's eyes deepened.
Lin Xiao's eyes lit up. "Hehe, Doctor, I know where to take you. It's big and spacious, and you can smash whatever you want."
Looking at Lin Xiao's ill-intentioned smile, Connors instinctively swallowed...