Chapter 51 — Sandman: "Me? Join the Avengers?"
Arthur rested his chin on Gwen's head, enjoying the rare peace after the great chaos.
The person in his arms had been quietly pressing against his chest, her fingers unconsciously drawing circles on his clothes.
Gwen finally seemed to recover her senses from the series of worldview-shattering events just now, and her thoughts began to run again.
Soon, as if she had caught onto some blind spot, she raised her head, her clear azure eyes gazing straight into Arthur's face.
"Yu, why are you so powerful yet still hiding it?"
Gwen's face was filled with incomprehension, her brows slightly furrowed.
In her view, Arthur clearly possessed the terrifying strength to casually instantly kill the Old Green Goblin—that was a monster she had racked her brains and still couldn't defeat, yet in front of Arthur, it was smashed into a pit like a toy.
If he had made a move earlier, where would there have been these past few days of fearful living? The two of them could clearly have gotten along much more easily.
Arthur looked down at her curious face, his eyeballs rolling slightly, and with a very calm tone and without any concealment, he tossed out an answer that left her completely speechless.
"Because I am waiting for the right moment to reveal myself, and then put on a massive show-off."
Hearing this answer, Gwen froze, staying completely rooted to the spot.
Her face, which originally carried a hint of seriousness and confusion, instantly froze, and even her breathing paused for a beat.
She had originally thought Arthur would say some profound tactical reasons like not causing greater spacetime chaos, or not being detected while saving the World, or a deep reason about wanting to protect her and not wanting to break the balance of ordinary life.
And yet it turned out to be just because of this.
She clenched her teeth in exasperation, and a mix of helplessness at being teased by her own boyfriend, along with a mix of exasperation and amusement, immediately surged up.
Without any brain processing, she directly opened her mouth and bit down fiercely and hard onto the muscle on Arthur's shoulder separated by the fabric of his hoodie.
"Hiss. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Take it easy."
Arthur reacted extremely quickly, immediately cooperating by sucking in a breath of cold air.
His facial features were exaggeratedly squeezed together, as if he were suffering some inhumane torture, his mouth continuously emitting pretentious cries of pain, while one hand feigned pushing away her head.
"Stop pretending."
Gwen let go of her mouth, raised her head and glared fiercely at him, incidentally rubbing her cheeks which had become somewhat sore from exerting too much force just now.
Her cheeks puffed up angrily, like a little cat that wanted to bite someone only to find the bone too hard, pouting as she complained,
"Even my teeth felt jarred; your body can't even be pierced by a syringe, yet you say it hurts—who are you trying to fool, hmph."
Although she was complaining on her lips, not even a trace of anger could be found in her eyes; instead, those originally dim blue eyes were filled with uncontainable smiles and peace of mind.
After all, having experienced the near-collapse life-and-death choice of tonight, who would genuinely get angry with their lover over such a trivial matter?
Having spent these past few months together, she knew Arthur's occasional petty black-bellied nature and teasing all too well, which was precisely one of the reasons she deeply adored him.
The two of them slightly calmed their emotions in the dilapidated restaurant.
The secrets that needed to be confessed had all been spoken openly, and the ins and outs that needed to be explained had all been made clear. Arthur glanced at the onlookers gradually gathering outside and the police lights beginning to flash in the distance, feeling that it was almost time to leave this place of right and wrong.
Arthur took Gwen's hand, directly ignoring the Brooklynstreet outside that was slowly recovering order from the explosion and chaos.
They didn't pay attention to those shaken passersby, nor did they care about the police who were about to arrive to clean up the mess.
The two of them were just like an ordinary couple out for a walk after finishing dinner, taking cover under the night, avoiding the noisy crowds, and strolling all the way back along several familiar dark alleys to their own warm little nest.
Pushing open the apartment door, the familiar furniture and the air carrying the breath of their shared life rushed towards them.
Far away from the smoke of war and monsters outside, this down-to-Earth sense of daily life made Gwen let out a long sigh of relief.
The two of them hadn't even had time to take off their coats as they leaned against each other, both tumbling onto the soft old sofa in the living room, ready to properly enjoy this undisturbed night.
Until a sudden phone call mercilessly shattered the ambiguous peace that had just been brewing in the room.
Arthur impatiently picked up the phone placed on the coffee table, glanced at the caller ID, and pressed the answer button.
From the other end of the line came Tony Stark's voice, which always carried a bit of cynicism.
"Hey buddy, your sand friend has already brought the person—uh, or rather, the lizard—over. We are just waiting for you; when are you coming over?"
Hearing Tony's heartless urging, Arthur helplessly rolled his eyes.
He turned his head and glanced at Gwen, who was obediently lying in his arms.
Gwen obviously also heard the sound of Tony's speakerphone.
Although she was deeply greedy for the feeling of being held by Arthur now, and after experiencing such drastic ups and downs wished she could grow on Arthur's body, she still very sensibly loosened her arms that were hugging Arthur's waist.
She sat up slightly, tidying up the clothes that had been pressed out of wrinkles just now, and said to Arthur in a gentle and understanding tone,
"Go ahead, it is fine, I can wait for you to come back."
Arthur looked at Gwen's appearance of putting on a magnanimous front while her eyes clearly revealed deep reluctance, and sighed softly with heartache.
He really didn't want to crawl up from this warm sofa, and even less did want to leave Gwen alone at home while he ran all the way to find Tony to deal with those two big lizards.
It would be great if the Horse Talisman could cure others from a distance.
Look at how this matter turned out; the lizard serum virus on the other side just happened to flare up at this time and needed me to resolve it, which interrupted the sweet little life that Gwen and I had just escaped death for.
Once this little life is interrupted, the Gwen left behind will definitely feel lost and sad.
She is my most cherished girlfriend, so once she is sad, seeing her sad will definitely make me feel uncomfortable along with her.
Isn't this psychological discomfort equivalent to indirectly suffering damage brought by the external environment?
No matter how you calculate this, it definitely counts as external force causing mental-level trauma to my indestructible body.
Under this flawless logic of shielding one's own and being lazy, the power within his body seemed to reach a consensus in an instant.
The Horse Talisman expressed: "Since you have said so much, what else can I say? I will just heal them for you."
Almost at the next moment, Tony on the other end of the phone, who was still waiting for Arthur's reply, suddenly let out a ghost-like scream.
"Huh?"
From the earpiece came the shocked and dumbfounded voice of the Stark Industries boss, accompanied by a flurry of panicked movements knocking over parts.
"Hey, my friend, you always manage to do things I cannot understand. How did you make these two green lizards turn back into humans across the phone?"
Tony watched with his own eyes as the two manic behemoths in his laboratory, without any drug intervention, like a video playing in reverse, vanished their thick green scales and Talons out of thin air.
In less than a few seconds, they turned back into weak but fully-limbed human forms. This phenomenon, which completely defied biological common sense and the law of conservation of mass, once again precisely shattered the scientific worldview Tony had built his entire life.
Arthur was very receptive to Tony's shouting reaction. He leaned back against the sofa back with satisfaction, coughed unhurriedly, and assumed an unfathomable posture as he said,
"You do not need to worry about that; just tell me whether they have recovered or not."
Before Tony could summarize any conclusions from this miraculous phenomenon, the rough voice of Sandman Flint Marko, carrying a heavy nasal tone and crying tears of joy, squeezed in from the other end of the phone.
"My God, it actually really succeeded! Starting today, you are my family's savior. If there is anything in the future, I will definitely do my utmost to help you."
Sandman's voice was somewhat trembling; anyone could hear his wild joy of kneeling on the ground hugging his family at this moment.
But listening to this tearfully grateful statement, Arthur felt no ripples in his heart.
He didn't even think about having Sandman help him do anything; after all, with his current strength, plus the talismans as a foundation, there was simply nothing in this World that he lacked manpower to handle.
He only curled his lips and casually tossed out a smooth arrangement.
"If you really want to help, join the Avengers and save that bald Egghead some worry for me."
Arthur didn't even want to chat a single sentence of nonsense more, completely ignoring whether Sandman on the other end understood what the Avengers were, and even less caring about how Tony was going to further investigate the principle of this remote transformation.
Then without any hesitation, with quick eyes and fast hands, he hung up the phone in a second, his actions clean and neat.
Really, wasting even one more second listening to the tech nerd Tony's grumbles was delaying his time getting intimate with his fragrant and soft girlfriend.
After hanging up this annoying phone call, Arthurimmediately threw the phone aside.
With a turn, he directly pounced on Gwen, steadily lying flat on top of her body, burying his head in the crook of her neck, greedily sniffing the faint fragrance belonging to a young girl on her body, and began wholeheartedly enjoying this moment of tranquil time.
Gwen let out a soft cry from being pressed down by his sudden action, but quickly relaxed her body.
Blushing, she extended her arms to tightly hug Arthur's broad back, her head naturally resting beside Arthur's head.
Feeling the weight pressed on her body and that steady heartbeat, a blush gradually bloomed on Gwen's face.
She slowly closed her eyes, revealing a deep, defenseless happy smile in the depths of her eyes.
The two of them thus mutually drew warmth from each other's bodies, neither speaking, the atmosphere so good it was like bubbling with pink bubbles.
At the same time, that phone thrown far away unromantically lit up again, emitting a short vibration sound.
It was a message sent by Tony.
It looked like after being hung up on in a second just now, Tony could be considered to have completely understood Arthur's current mindset of not wanting to be bothered in person.
Therefore, for safety's sake, he just sent a text message over to report the situation.
Arthur originally had his eyes closed and didn't want to pay attention, but the vibration sound was really somewhat disrupting the atmosphere. He could only helplessly stretch out his arm and pull the phone in front of his eyes.
He didn't get up either, just so comfortably lying on top of Gwen, holding the screen with one hand, half-squinting his eyes to take a casual glance.
The screen displayed a large paragraph of text sent by Tony,
"Lin, Egghead said that recently a special force has been detected lying dormant in space, estimating that it will invade Earth sometime soon. The destination seems to be a neighboring city named Metropolis. Pay attention to the news and wait for deployment notices at any time."
Arthur finished reading this line of words, his expression without ripples.
Whatever space force invasion, whatever S.H.I.E.L.D.deployment notice, to him who currently had his mind full only of wanting to cling to his girlfriend, they were all noise that didn't need to be taken to heart.
He glanced at it indifferently, and his finger was already ready to press the power button to lock the screen, intending to continue lying down and sleeping deeply.
About two seconds passed.
Wait a minute.
Arthur's eyes suddenly widened round, as if a thunderbolt had cracked through the depths of his brain.
His pupils, which had originally relaxed due to drowsiness, instantly focused. Carrying a trace of incredulous panic, he abruptly raised the phone back in front of his eyes again, refocusing to take another look at the last few words in that paragraph just now.
Metropolis.
"Holy shit."
Arthur abruptly straightened up and bounced off the sofa, an action so swift that it almost flipped Gwen, who was closing her eyes and enjoying the embrace, onto the carpet.
He grabbed the phone, his whole body sitting stiffly cross-legged on the sofa, his eyes practically glued to the phone screen, staring deadly and viciously at those three block characters,
[Metropolis]
Fearing that he had misread it just now because the lighting was too dim.
He didn't read it wrong; three truly tangible words, Metropolis.
"Metropolis. DC. Man of Steel."
A series of nouns flashed instantly through Arthur's mind: General Zod, Kryptonian, Superman, heat vision demolition—these destruction-level vocabulary words crazily swiped the screen in his mind.
He was about to break apart entirely.
"Damn it."
Arthur could no longer care about any image, and unreservedly cursed aloud at the phone,
"Did you make a crossover notification to Old Man Stan Lee? What do you mean there is DC in Marvel? Believe it or not, the old man will crawl out of his grave and beat you to death!"
Gwen next to him was startled by his sudden outburst, sitting up somewhat blankly, looking at Arthur who had just been clinging to her body like a big golden retriever, but now was shouting at a phone like he stepped on an electric wire.
She completely didn't understand what DC or Man of Steel was, nor did she know which big shot Old Man Stan Lee was, and could only blink her large azure eyes in utter confusion, her face full of incomprehension at her boyfriend's sudden freak-out.
Chapter 52: Fermentation, Daily Life
Arthur bitter-smiled and shook his head, his face full of helplessness and the resignation of lying flat.
He looked at Gwen, who was startled by him, and then looked at the glaring three characters "[ Metropolis ]" on his phone screen, ultimately choosing to give up resistance.
"I don't believe it! I absolutely don't believe that there are really those perverted immortals from DC in this World! This is definitely just a coincidently identically named city, yes, it must be an ordinary, peaceful, and serene little town!"
Arthur muttered loudly to the air, as if brainwashing himself, but the more he spoke, the less confidence he had. Things were already this chaotic; mixing in a DC element didn't seem entirely incomprehensible.
"...Even if there really is a Superman, so what! Anyway, it's from the next door studio, what does it have to do with me! Even if it's true, anyway I am invincible now! Who's afraid of whom!"
Not to mention the Dragon Talisman, right now just the flight from the Rabbit Talisman + Rooster, plus the physical enhancement from the Ox Talisman, would allow him to swagger horizontally through early Marvel, not to mention that on the DC side there is only one Big Super who can fight.
After completing this self-consolation full of Ah Q spirit, Arthur let out a long breath, spitting out all the panic in his heart caused by the cross-border intrusion.
He casually threw his phone into the corner of the sofa, completely ignoring the emergency notices that S.H.I.E.L.D.might send at any time, and instead turned around, with a posture of "even if the sky falls, I don't care", tackling Gwenback down into the soft sofa.
His head rubbed hard into Gwen's neck nook, which exuded a faint shampoo fragrance, letting out a satisfied sigh. No matter how the outside World tossed and turned, right now he just wanted to be a good-for-nothing who hugged his girlfriend and slept.
This heartless appearance teased Gwen, who was still somewhat worried, into a sudden chuckle. She reached out to wrap around Arthur's furry head, smoothing his hair like petting a large dog, and accompanied him on the sofa to spend this chaotic yet extraordinarily comforting night.
Early the next morning, the streets and alleys of New Yorkcompletely exploded.
After Old Green Goblin's big scene last night, coupled with Arthur's later heaven-shaking "purification" and "resurrection" miracles, the news media of the entire city, like sharks smelling blood, frantically reported everything that happened in Brooklyn last night.
News channels of major TV stations repeatedly broadcasted the blurred footage captured by intersection surveillance.
In the footage, because the speed of the Rabbit Talismanwas simply too fast, the movement trajectory was completely a blurry afterimage, almost invisible.
But when Arthur stopped, turned the berserk Lizard Menback into humans one by one, and even miraculously pieced together and resurrected the blown-to-pieces severed limbs and arms, that momentarily frozen clear face was still seen clearly by countless pairs of eyes.
As expected, Arthur instantly became a massive hit in this World.
Among this, naturally, there was no lack of the hidden pushing hand of S.H.I.E.L.D..
Nick Fury keenly seized this opportunity, letting the PR department wildly hype up Arthur's peerless demeanor of "saving the suffering", directly molding him into a sudden, compassionate superhero.
Paving the way in the public's hearts in advance for some of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s future plans, earning plenty of social favorability and popularity.
And while the entire World was going crazy for this mysterious Eastern hero, what was the person in question doing at this moment?
Naturally, in that old apartment in Brooklyn where the sunlight barely shone in, tightly hugging his soft and fragrant girlfriend, comfortably taking a second nap.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps of the improperly drawn curtains, slanting onto the messy bedding.
Originally today should have been an important day for the school's anniversary performance; as the band's drummer, Gwen had rehearsed for countless days and nights for this performance.
However, because of Old Green Goblin's crazy indiscriminate attack last night, many students and parents were affected, and quite a few people watched with their own eyes as their usual classmates or friends turned into monsters, suffering extremely severe psychological trauma.
To appease the students' emotions, the school jointly with the education bureau directly announced a one-day suspension of classes and holiday, and arranged psychological counseling.
Precisely because of this blessing in disguise with a touch of black humor, Gwen, who usually spun like a top running continuously between the three identities of student, hero, and drummer, finally had plenty of time today to lie in Arthur's arms without any burden, acting like a clingy little cat.
Until nearly half past twelve at noon, the dazzling sunlight finally restlessly crawled onto the cheeks of the two, and this long sleep was declared over.
Gwen let out a murmur like a kitten, slowly opening her eyes.
Her signature light pink gradient short hair was somewhat messy from sleeping, with a few strands playfully sticking up on top of her head.
Rubbing her sleepy azure eyes with the back of her hand, the moment she turned her head, she met Arthur's smiling eyes.
The unique laziness of waking up and the sense of security brought by the person before her made Gwen's heart soften.
She leaned forward and gently pecked Arthur's slightly dry lips, leaving a morning kiss carrying warm breath, before lifting the cover, stretching a big lazy stretch, and getting up to get dressed.
Today Gwen changed into casual clothes that very much matched her street rock style.
A loose dark gray hooded sweatshirt tightly covered her fine figure, the lower body wore a pair of washed blue jeans with holes at the knees, and her feet stepped on a classic black and white color-matched canvas shoes.
This outfit looked casual yet rebellious, but worn on her, it exuded a youthful and cool vibe.
The two slowly finished washing up, went out, and casually dealt with a brunch at a small restaurant on the street corner.
After eating and drinking their fill, Arthur bit on a straw, starting to ponder what to do with today's rare leisure time.
He looked at Gwen sitting opposite him, lowering her head and intently dealing with a pancake.
Since identities were completely exposed to each other last night, Gwen no longer felt guilty because of concealment, and he didn't need to pretend to be an ordinary person anymore; everyone might as well be straightforward and stop hiding things.
Arthur had a calculation in his heart, reaching out to domineeringly yet gently grab Gwen's hand placed on the table, startling her.
Under Gwen's puzzled gaze, Arthur took out the phone that always rang at the wrong time, directly dialing Nick Fury's encrypted dedicated line.
"Hey! Fury!"
As soon as the call was connected, Arthur drew out his voice, his tone as casual as if ordering takeout.
"I'm free today, I want to take my girlfriend to visit that legendary aerial Base of yours, alright?"
Nick Fury on the other end of the phone was busy running around with a scorched head over last night's cleanup work, and upon hearing Arthur's request which was close to a notice, he only remained silent for two seconds.
He deeply knew that Arthur possessed the terrifying strength capable of kicking Captain America like a ball, and even more knew that his primary task right now was to tightly cling to this uncontrollable factor.
Adhering to the core guiding principle of "humor you if I can, just don't tick you off", Fury very readily agreed.
He immediately reported coordinates located at a hidden location in the outskirts of New York, and stated that he would personally send a special plane to pick them up.
After eating, Arthur held Gwen's hand, as if they were truly just preparing to go play at an amusement park, leisurely arriving at the rendezvous location provided by Fury.
Not long after, accompanied by a low and powerful engine roar, a pitch-black Quinjet with a shape full of futuristic sci-fi sense slowly landed in the open space.
The cabin door opened, and Nick Fury, wearing his unchanging black long trench coat, stood at the hatch, still maintaining that cold look of a one-eyed bald man.
Fury calmly looked at the two walking over, and very politely extended a hand towards Arthur, meaning to invite them to board.
Arthur stopped his steps.
He looked at the cool Quinjet, and then glanced at Gwen, who was being held by him, putting on a strong facade of calmness but with eyes full of curiosity about high tech.
Finally, his gaze fell on the hand extended by Fury, the corners of his mouth curling into a meaningful smile.
Under Fury's somewhat puzzled gaze, Arthur did not shake that hand, nor did he walk toward the cabin door.
He simply turned around extremely naturally, opened his arms, and horizontally picked up the caught-off-guard Gwen.
"Ah!"
Gwen let out a soft cry, instinctively wrapping her arms around Arthur's neck, her cheeks instantly turning completely red.
The next second, holding the beauty in his arms, Arthur's feet directly broke free from the constraints of gravity, rising steadily into mid-air right under Fury's ghost-seeing one-eyed gaze.
Fury's extended hand awkwardly stopped in mid-air.
He stared at Arthur, who was suspended outside the cabin and raising an eyebrow right at him, feeling his already dark face turn a few shades darker.
He opened his mouth, and in the end could only helplessly take a deep breath, letting out a heavy sigh.
Dammit, after being busy all night, he had forgotten that this freak was not only infinitely strong and extremely fast, but also could fucking fly himself!
"Officer, do we... still pick them up?"
The Agent in the cockpit carefully requested via the communicator.
"Pick up my ass! Close the cabin door, take off!"
Fury roared in a bad mood, turning around and walking back into the cabin to sit down.
The Quinjet rose into the air again, flying toward S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier hidden above the clouds.
And Arthur, holding Gwen, unhurriedly followed behind and to the side of the jet.
The high-altitude howling wind was blocked outside by Arthur's deliberately projected aura, forming an absolutely quiet and warm small space.
Gwen, who was in an absolute state of weightlessness, did not feel a shred of panic.
She knew that the man holding her possessed the strength sufficient to contend against the entire World.
She turned her head sideways, looking up at Arthur's face illuminated by the sunlight above the clouds.
That smooth jawline, that slightly rakish yet incomparably firm gaze, made the little deer in her heart run wild once again.
After experiencing the complete loss of Peter Parker and those terrifying nightmares, Gwen originally thought that in this life she could only carry a heavy sense of guilt, acting as a lonely hero in a dark corner.
But now, she had a reliance that could prop up the entire sky for her.
In this man's arms, she no longer needed to pretend to be strong, nor did she need to worry whether she would lose something again when the next danger arrived.
She didn't need to fight anymore, she only needed to be loved by him and that was enough.
Thinking of this, the starlight-like brilliant light gradually surged within Gwen's azure eyes.
She unconsciously tightened her arms hugging Arthur's neck, the whole person like a stray cat that finally found its Master, burying her face deeply into Arthur's broad and warm chest.
After a moment of flight, they followed the Quinjet to steadily pass through the optical stealth force field outside the Helicarrier.
When that massive aircraft carrier, resembling a steel behemoth suspended in the clouds, appeared before their eyes, even Gwen couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation of praise.
Arthur, holding Gwen, landed on the huge flight deck, and the two followed Fury into the intricate corridors inside the Helicarrier.
Just having walked past two corners and entering a huge cabin similar to an equipment maintenance area, Arthur's sharp gaze instantly captured a familiar figure — it was last night's Sandman, Flint Marko.
At this time, Sandman was not locked in a cell like a prisoner, but instead wore a set of seemingly very heavy, seemingly custom-made one-piece protective suits.
This set of clothing was clearly designed by S.H.I.E.L.D.specifically to prevent the sand inside his body from scattering around and damaging precision instruments.
At this moment, he was carrying several heavy metal boxes, doing the most bottom-tier odd jobs of a porter.
Arthur raised his eyebrows, lifted his hand to wave casually, and greeted, "Yo, Marko, you're adapting pretty fast."
Sandman, who was working head-down, suddenly shook his body upon hearing this familiar voice.
He hurriedly put down the box in his hand, turned around, and upon seeing clearly that the newcomer was indeed Arthur, his originally dull and exhausted face instantly erupted with hard-to-suppress excitement.
He almost jogged up in front of Arthur, and across that custom protective suit, awkwardly yet extremely respectfully bowed deeply.
"Hey, Mr. Lin!"
Sandman's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"It really is you! I've always hoped to have the opportunity to say it to you in person, thank you so much for your help! You not only saved me and my family, freeing us from that old madman's hands..."
He wiped his face hard, his eye sockets turned red, and his voice carried obvious choked sobbing.
"Now, S.H.I.E.L.D. even found the top-tier Doctor team in the entire United States to treat my daughter's illness! Even free treatment! All of this... all of this is definitely because of your face!"
Regarding Sandman's heartfelt words of gratitude, Arthurjust smiled indifferently.
He reached out and gently patted Sandman's heavy protective suit shoulder twice.
"Work hard, don't embarrass your daughter, there will be even more benefits in the future."
Arthur half-jokingly encouraged.
Honestly speaking, him letting Sandman enter this so-called S.H.I.E.L.D. was just a casual remark.
It was probably Fury that Egghead with a mind full of tricks, in order to rope in this unstable superpower user and conveniently do a favor to butter up himself, who took the initiative to arrange these things.
After finishing, Arthur prepared to step past Sandman, who was still endlessly thanking him, and hold Gwen's hand to walk around other core areas of the Helicarrier.
But the moment he took his first step, something suddenly clicked in his mind.
It was as if an electric current pierced through the intentionally neglected memory zone.
He abruptly stopped his steps, turning his head to look at Sandman.
His gaze was originally casual and lazy, but at this moment a trace of strange light gradually lit up.
The power within his body seemed to sense a certain obsession of its Master, beginning to stir restlessly.
"Wait a minute."
Arthur immediately called a halt to Sandman, who was just preparing to continue moving boxes.
Sandman turned around somewhat blankly, looking at his benefactor who suddenly became serious at a loss.
Arthur stared at Sandman, the corners of his mouth curling up bit by bit, revealing an expression that made Gwennearby feel somewhat amused; that was clearly his unique demeanor when discovering he could reasonably slack off while acting cool.
"You just said, your daughter is sick, right?"
Arthur's voice was not loud, yet it appeared exceptionally clear in this spacious maintenance cabin.
He looked at Sandman's increasingly puzzled expression, speaking word by word with an extremely decisive, commanding tone.
"Right now, immediately, take me to your daughter."
Arthur slightly raised his chin, and the Horse Talismaninside his body had long been impatient.
"Those damn top-tier Doctors amount to nothing. I can cure her."
The noble horse stated that this time it was coming out again to frantically farm presence.
Chapter 53: Just Cancer, An Effortless Matter
After hearing Arthur's casual remark—which sounded as nonchalant as wondering what to eat for lunch—Sandmanfroze completely in his tracks.
At first, he stared blankly at Arthur's face, which wore a nonchalant smile, as if trying hard to confirm whether he had just suffered auditory hallucinations.
As he vividly replayed in his mind the miracles this man had created in the city last night—especially the effortless feat of restoring a large batch of rampaging Lizard Menback to normal—an expression of wild joy instantly crawled across the tough guy's previously distressed face.
He didn't waste any words, simply nodding his head like pounding garlic and repeatedly saying good, then turned around and strode off to lead the way.
Along the way, this father, who had been through the vicissitudes of life and even forced down a crooked path in the past, was so excited that his hands kept rubbing together, his footsteps stumbling slightly, and he almost slipped at the corner of the corridor because he walked too fast.
Nick Fury, following closely behind Arthur, saw this scene, quietly slowed his pace, and closely trailed behind the group like a quiet piece of black charcoal.
Last night, in order to build momentum for Arthur, he had poured all his energy into media exposure and suppressing the social public opinion caused by Old Green Goblin, only glancing briefly at Arthur's unreasonable combat power afterward through the blurry videos and written reports submitted by Agent.
No matter how floridly written the report was, it couldn't compare to seeing it with one's own eyes.
At this moment, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director's single eye was filled with undisguised inquiry and curiosity. For an excellent opportunity like this to observe a close-up, face-to-face demonstration of supernatural power by an unsolvable existence, he would not miss it even if he had to cancel ten Department of Defense meetings.
As for Gwen, who was walking beside Arthur, her thoughts were much simpler.
Inside this heavily armed massive Helicarrier filled with various high-tech instruments everywhere, everything around her exuded a sense of unfamiliarity and oppression for an eighteen-year-old high school student like her.
She didn't ask any extra questions, simply sticking closely to Arthur's side like a well-behaved little tail.
Whether Arthur was going to save the World or just grab a hot dog, she only needed to know that following him was enough.
Soon, guided eagerly by Sandman, the four of them stopped at a quiet corner of the corridor.
There was a small, partitioned room here.
Sandman swallowed, stopped outside the ward, and pointed somewhat flusteredly at a soundproof glass window on the corridor wall.
Arthur looked inward through the window; inside was a single special-care ward with extremely complete medical equipment.
On a white hospital bed that appeared somewhat overly spacious, a tiny figure lay.
That was a little girl.
Although her pale little face was wearing a breathing mask at the moment, and she had been tormented by a terrifying illness for years, making her entire body so thin and frail that she seemed reduced to mere skeleton, one could still tell that the little girl's facial features had an exceptionally good foundation.
With those soft eyebrows and delicate contours, it wasn't hard to imagine that once she grew up completely, she would definitely be an extremely lovable and stunning beauty.
On the chair at the edge of the hospital bed, a woman wearing a casual coat draped over her was slumped over.
That was Sandman's wife.
The heavy burden of taking care of her gravely ill daughter in the hospital for years, coupled with the double torment of being forcefully turned into a monster by Old Green Goblin as a blackmail chip last night, made this poor mother appear exceptionally haggard and weak.
Even in her sleep, her brow was tightly locked together.
Arthur withdrew his gaze, raised his hand to press on the handle of the metal door, and gently pushed it open to enter.
The slight friction sound of the door hinges turning was magnified in this quiet ward.
The woman, who was already sleeping extremely lightly, was awakened by this subtle movement. She abruptly straightened her upper body, her eyes carrying the panic brought by years of vigilance against outsiders.
But when she saw clearly her husband walking right behind, along with that black-bald Director Fury, her tense nerves relaxed slightly.
She knew in her heart that since this black-haired young man in front of her was personally led in by her husband and the Director responsible for their family's security, he definitely wasn't a bad guy coming to cause trouble.
Sandman hurried to his wife's side, reaching out to gently embrace his wife's shoulder as a form of comfort.
Afterwards, he turned around, facing Arthur, slightly hunched his originally tall body, and lowered that unyielding head.
"Mr. Lin, please."
His voice was pressed very low, but anyone could hear the endless anticipation and heavy entreaty mixed within it.
Arthur didn't say an extra word of nonsense, simply giving Sandman a neat and decisive nod.
He walked to the white hospital bed, glanced at the sleeping little girl, and directly extended a hand, gently covering the girl's heartbreakingly frail arm.
Horse Talisman.
No flashy spell-casting actions were needed, nor were there any earth-shattering dazzling lights.
When that power quietly surged from Arthur's hand into the body on the hospital bed, the change occurred in an instant.
Faced with this fatal external force named disease, that power was as effortless as sweeping away a speck of dust on a table, completely banishing the lesions remaining inside the girl's body.
The effect could be said to be completely immediate.
The girl's body, which had been decaying beyond measure due to the repeated torment of the illness for years, suddenly regained vitality in this instant.
The skin that had originally appeared dead gray and even showed morbid blue veins rapidly recovered the normal rosy hue belonging to a child at a speed that completely defied medical physiology.
The organs and microcirculation systems inside her body that had long been destroyed by medication began to operate in an orderly fashion once more, gradually restoring the healthy functions they should have possessed.
The first to take effect was the stomach function, which had long lost its appetite.
Accompanied by her breathing becoming steady and strong, the little girl who had been in a continuous state of sleep trembled her eyelashes a few times and slowly opened her eyes.
She didn't seem to realize that she had just strolled around the gates of hell, simply blinking those eyes that had regained their clarity, turning her head to look at her parents guarding the bedside, opening her slightly chapped little mouth, and softly speaking a sentence.
"Daddy, I'm a little hungry."
This sentence falling into the quiet ward was like detonating a silent nuclear bomb.
Sandman's wife, who had been holding her breath watching the whole process from the side, was now thoroughly and completely stunned.
She tightly covered her mouth with both hands, fearing that she would lose control and scream out from excessive shock.
That terminal illness—which even top-tier famous Doctors from various medical circles had sat together discussing in meetings for half a day without daring to easily finalize a treatment plan—was cured just because the man in front of her walked over and touched her arm.
Sandman, standing aside, was no better off.
This fellow, who had almost gone to rob a bank just to cure his daughter's illness in the past, had his lips trembling continuously with emotion at this moment.
He opened his mouth, wanting to make a sound several times, but found that he simply didn't know what kind of language to use to express the gratitude he felt right now, which made him wish he could rip his heart out and give it to Arthur.
The scene in the ward was both heartwarming and shocking.
Yet Fury, standing quietly by the door as a spectator, turned out to be the first among everyone to react.
Although the muscles on this Agent boss's face were also twitching imperceptibly, he still maintained the professional competence cultivated over many years.
He stepped forward a few steps directly, deftly pressing the red button by the bedside to call the Nurse.
"Get a Nurse or the attending Doctor to take this young lady for a most comprehensive physical examination. After the examination is done, immediately take her to eat a nutritious meal, and remember to prepare the things she loves to eat."
Fury gave quick orders into the other end of the intercom, his tone carrying an unquestionable decisiveness.
Arthur withdrew his hand, leisurely stepping back a pace from the bedside.
Watching Fury's series of skillful arrangements, a mocking smile hooked the corners of his mouth as he spoke jokingly.
"What's wrong, our Director, do you not believe in my ability, having to find someone to verify it all over again."
Hearing Arthur's teasing, Fury hurriedly turned around, waving his hands repeatedly, a layer of fine cold sweat even breaking out on his bald head.
"No, no, no, Brother Arthur, don't get me wrong. I saw your ability truly and clearly in the video last night; I absolutely do not have the slightest doubt."
Fury hurried to explain,
"Isn't this because we have to follow standard procedures? Since they checked into the hospital, they have to be checked from head to toe, leave a medical record, and then get a clear discharge notice so they can leave with a clean record, right? We can't just climb out the window and leave right in front of those Doctors."
After listening, Arthur sighed softly, spread his hands somewhat helplessly, and curled his lips.
"That's why things like procedures are troublesome to the extreme."
During the time the two of them were chatting idly, the Sandman couple on the other side had already pounced onto the hospital bed.
This pair of parents, who had almost been crushed by despair, used trembling hands to carefully check their daughter's physical condition from top to bottom.
Listening to the rumbling sound of their daughter's stomach and touching her little face that finally had warmth, they finally became convinced that the nightmare that had hovered over this family for many years had truly completely dissipated with that casual touch.
Emotions exploded completely within their chests. Sandman pulled his tear-stained wife, and the two of them turned around abruptly, without any hesitation, facing Arthur as they prepared to kneel on the ground together.
The corner of Arthur's eye had already caught their movement. He coughed to clear his throat, his gaze sweeping over casually.
Rooster Talisman.
An invisible force instantly supported the undersides of the Sandman couple's knees, like an invisible soft wall of air, steadily supporting them and forcefully preventing them from completing the kneeling motion.
Arthur put his hands in his pockets, his body leaning casually against the ward wall.
Faced with a life-saving grace sufficient to make one weep with gratitude, he merely lifted his chin slightly, very naturally putting on an expression that was begging to be beaten as the number one under heaven, and that preachy sentence flowed smoothly out of his mouth.
"Just cancer, what a big deal. I can even make a dead person live with all their limbs intact, what does an effortless matter like this count for."
Hearing Arthur speak in such an arrogant and conceited manner, Gwen, who had been standing quietly behind him the whole time, finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
She raised a hand, gently covering her small mouth that hid a smile, her shoulders trembling slightly from holding back her laughter.
In her azure-blue eyes, as pure as New York's clear sky, there was entirely love that was about to overflow.
Tilting her head, she looked at Arthur's straight back, softly rebuking him in an intimate tone that only the two of them could understand.
"You, all you know is how to show off."
Hearing his girlfriend's complaint, Arthur not only didn't restrain himself, but instead pushed his luck further.
He turned his head leisurely, reached out to flick the scattered hair in front of his forehead in a very conceited manner, and met Gwen's gaze with a tone of taking it for granted.
"That's right, a normal man has zero resistance facing a scene like this. If I don't show off, who will."
Hearing his twisted logic, Gwen didn't haughtily retort or mock him like she usually did.
She just stood quietly there looking at him, not speaking.
The sunlight outside shone through the Helicarrier's glass onto the side of her face, giving her soft, gradient golden-pink hair a layer of warm halo.
At this moment, in her World there was only this man showing off, and the tenderness in her eyes was so thick it seemed capable of melting an iceberg.
Chapter 54: Welcome to the Annual Laugh-Suppression Challenge
The metal isolation door of the medical ward made a soft, crisp sound, closing seamlessly behind the three of them.
The door panel not only isolated the sterile environment inside, but also shut in Sandman's family's irrepressible cries of joy and the warm feeling of what had been lost and regained.
The lights in the corridor were very bright, shining on the dark gray alloy floor.
Arthur stopped and turned around. Instead of continuing toward the end of the corridor, he raised his hand and rested it very naturally on Gwen's shoulder beside him.
Gwen had been walking closely against him all along, and now she simply leaned toward him in response, resting half her body's weight against his arm, her pretty eyes looking somewhat blankly at her boyfriend who had suddenly stopped.
Hearing the footsteps behind him stop, Nick Fury, who was walking in front, also turned around.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Director still had the lingering shock of having just witnessed a medical miracle in his remaining eye as he looked at Arthur, patiently waiting for the young man who could conjure miracles with his bare hands to speak.
Arthur looked at Fury, his fingers tapping lightly twice on Gwen's shoulder, his tone as casual as asking how much Chinese cabbage cost per jin at a vegetable market.
"I almost forgot something. Besides bringing her to see the scenery today, I actually wanted to send someone to your place."
Fury's shiny dark bald head seemed to probe forward a bit, not quite understanding Arthur's meaning.
He looked at Arthur, and then at Gwen beside Arthur, who was wearing a hoodie and dressed like a rebellious rock girl.
Arthur casually pointed at Gwen with the fingers of his other hand and continued.
"A battle-hardened Ghost Spider, a genuine superhero, the kind who has fought hard battles with mutated monsters on the streets. How about it, Director Fury, do you want her?"
As soon as those words fell, Fury, who still had a bit of a Director's airs, was suddenly stunned.
His brain spun rapidly in less than half a second, quickly combining keywords like "Ghost Spider", "combat power", and "the currently pitifully small candidate list for the Avengers".
Only a second later, the spymaster who rarely saw the sunlight for years nodded heavily without hesitation, his voice even involuntarily rising by two octaves.
"Want! Are you kidding, how could I not want her?!"
Fury took a step forward, appearing somewhat impatient.
"Brother Arthur, you are truly sending charcoal in a snowstorm. Right now, the Avengers team is in its starting phase, and people who can fight are lacking everywhere. Being able to introduce Spider-Woman is something S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't ask for more."
Hearing Fury readily agree, Arthur was not surprised at all.
He chuckled, immediately extending a finger and shaking it in front of Fury, cutting off any further debate in advance.
"Don't get happy too early; let's get the ugly talk out of the front. She can join you, but the format must be exactly the same as mine. Only nominal, no office hours, no need to come to your damn helicarrier every day to clock in and report."
"Only when encountering dangerous situations that you ordinary Agents can't handle will she lend a hand depending on her mood. As for usual times, no one here has the right to order her to do any missions. Did you understand?"
The smile on Fury's face froze slightly, but quickly returned to normal.
Being able to pull such a powerful combat force into the team nominally was a win no matter how he calculated it; nominal was nominal, much better than turning into a hostile force.
He immediately patted his chest to guarantee that he would act strictly according to Arthur's requirements.
Gwen, standing beside Arthur, was completely bewildered now.
She tilted her head with its pink gradient short hair, her large azure eyes filled with incomprehension.
She reached out and tugged at the hem of Arthur's clothes, her voice lowered, carrying a trace of grievance she herself hadn't noticed.
"Wait a minute, didn't we agree we were just coming to visit? Why did you suddenly sell me to this weird department I've never even heard of? I don't want to be any Agent, I just want to stay with you..."
Arthur turned his head, looking at his girlfriend's mistreated yet daring-not-to-loudly-protest appearance, feeling both amused and somewhat heartache.
He lowered his head, leaned close to Gwen's ear, and coaxed softly in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Silly girl, how could I possibly sell you. Look at how you always cover things up when Web-slinging normally, this old black head is in charge of the government side."
"Hang a name, and from now on, whether you fly through the sky or tunnel through the ground in this city, it's equivalent to having an official legal pass. No messy Policewill ever come to look for trouble with you again. I will shoulder the big dangers for you."
"When there's no danger, you can wear this title and peacefully stay with me, isn't that good?"
Hearing Arthur's straightforward explanation, Gwen's eyes lit up instantly.
The troubles and anxieties brought by multiple identities were smoothed away by Arthur's single sentence.
Since this decision was entirely arranged by Arthur to protect her and to let her live a more grounded life, what else did she have to hesitate about.
Even if Arthur asked her to charge into the wall ahead right now, she would probably do so without hesitation.
Gwen immediately put away her earlier puzzled little expression, nodded very obediently and submissively, and her entire body softly continued to lean against Arthur's arm, thus muddled yet willingly becoming the second nominal Agent in the Avengers.
After resolving the small interlude of legalizing Gwen's identity, Arthur held Gwen's hand and continued walking forward.
As he walked, he dragged the topic back to the other matter he cared most about today.
Last night after Old Green Goblin caused trouble, in the message Tony sent him, the place name Metropolis was clearly mentioned.
When Arthur saw that message at that time, he was half-numb.
Metropolis, that was not something belonging to this normal Marvel Universe; that was the hometown where the Superman with red underpants worn outside flew around every day next door.
Since the Worlds had fused, many things had to be figured out in advance.
Arthur slowed his pace, put away his earlier casual expression on his face, and became a bit more serious. Looking at Fury walking beside him, he voiced out his request.
"Fury, this matter is done, now it's my turn to make a small request. Last night that guy Tony told me that your S.H.I.E.L.D. deep space detectors found mysterious alien armed forces lurking outside Earth."
"Let's not discuss the specific details of this matter first; Tony mentioned a place name, Metropolis. I have a few requests, and you must help me handle them."
Seeing that Arthur's tone was serious, Fury also restrained his smile, putting on a posture of official business and obeying orders.
Arthur cleared his throat, raised his finger, and reported them one by one.
"First, mobilize all available resources under your hands and investigate all basic intelligence of the city called Metropolis for me. Including but not limited to its defense forces and major events in recent years."
"Second, and this is the most important point. Help me investigate someone in Metropolis. That person's name is Clark Kent. He should be a newspaper reporter, and usually likes to wear a pair of somewhat tacky-looking glasses."
"As for features... his physique should be quite robust, looking honest and submissive."
Arthur searched his mind for the body shapes of several generations of Superman, unsure if the real Supermanwould have that exaggerated inverted-triangle body shape like Henry's version; anyway, mentioning it in passing couldn't hurt.
"Anyway, screen out everyone who matches this name and characteristics for me."
"Third, help me look on the map to see if there is a city called Gotham. This place is quite dark, so it shouldn't be hard to find."
Throwing out these key pieces of information in one breath, Arthur crossed his arms directly over his chest.
He wasn't someone who liked to bully others with power, but he knew too well about spymasters like Fury whose politician stats were maxed out; if things weren't said thoroughly, the other party could easily use perfunctory intelligence to muddle through.
Therefore, Arthur deliberately put on a straight face, slightly threatening with a light yet very dangerous tone.
"These three things mentioned above must be completed without discount for me. This intelligence is very important for my subsequent arrangements. If you don't do it well, old black, you'd better not plan to close your eyes and sleep tonight, I guarantee you'll have an unforgettable time."
This was indeed just a casual deterrent said off the cuff.
If Fury really messed up, of course Arthur wouldn't take his life, at most just moving a thought slightly.
Directly throwing a Monkey Talisman over, turning the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director into a pitch-black little mouse, and then throwing him straight through the window into some stray cat's nest to let him spend a thrilling night.
Actually, whether Arthur threatened him or not, Fury had long regarded Arthur as the highest-level object of worship.
Although he completely didn't understand why Arthursuddenly cared so much about an ordinary reporter and a Gotham City he had never heard of, the first rule of Agentcode was not to ask what shouldn't be asked.
Since it was a task personally given by Arthur, let alone not sleeping, even if he had to stay up continuously for a week, he would have to investigate these materials to the bottom.
Fury's single eye didn't even blink, without even letting Arthur wait another second, he directly and readily accepted the errand.
"Look at what you're saying, Mr. Lin. Your matters are the highest-level matters of S.H.I.E.L.D.."
Fury turned around, reached out to make a gesture of invitation, pointing to the wide and heavy door deep in the corridor.
"This matter is very simple. There's no time like the present; if you have time, you might as well come with me to the main control room to slightly tour our office efficiency here. Those few things you mentioned, I will immediately arrange for people to investigate them for you right now, guaranteed to make you satisfied."
Seeing that he was so tactful, Arthur didn't continue to tease him, holding Gwen's hand and following Fury toward the command room.
As soon as the door of the S.H.I.E.L.D. main command room opened, the ticking sounds of various instruments and the noisy sounds of typing on keyboards rushed over his face.
This was an extremely spacious circular sunken space, outside the huge curved glass was the blue sky and white clouds outside.
Several technicians wearing unified uniforms were sitting in front of their respective workstations, frantically operating against various constantly scrolling screens.
Fury led them to an open area near the door, casually called over an Agent hanging a high-level permission badge on his chest, repeated the names and characteristics Arthur had just mentioned, and asked him to retrieve them from the database.
After receiving the order, the Agent trotted all the way back to the console.
Arthur held Gwen's hand, casually looking at this sci-fi-filled place, silently calculating how much time it would take to mobilize national data here.
Right at this moment, the heavy double-opening door of the command room that had just closed suddenly made another sound of valve exhaust.
The door instantly slid open to both sides, and the sound of footsteps followed inside.
Arthur had just turned his head, still murmuring in his heart: could it be that in less than a minute, the intelligence had already been printed and delivered to the door? That was too unreasonable.
As a result, when he saw clearly the two people walking in, he found that they were not reporting personnel holding documents at all.
Swaggering in front was Tony Stark, wearing only an ordinary high-end casual long-sleeve shirt, not even having all the collar buttons done up.
This young master had his hands tucked in his pants pockets, walking with wind. Following slightly behind him was the honest and submissive Dr. Yinsen pushing his glasses.
Tony saw at a glance Arthur, who was looking around in the doorway area, and Gwen, who was tightly clinging by his side. As well as Fury standing directly in front of them with a big bald head.
Tony's expression, which was considered decent, instantly turned into a frivolous look of enjoying the spectacle without fearing big trouble.
He didn't care at all that this was the core area of S.H.I.E.L.D., directly in front of all the technicians, he greeted Arthur, and that leaky mouth of his wasn't polite at all.
"Yo, I thought who this was."
Tony raised his eyebrows, walking swaggeringly in front of Arthur.
"Lin, what's up, are you planning to move the dating location directly into this damn floating iron ship in the sky? Then your taste really makes me feel regretful."
Saying this, not only did he not feel restrained, but instead used his chin to provocatively point at the Directorstanding nearby, continuing to spout nonsense.
"Except for cold broken computers and a smell of engine oil, there's no scenery worth visiting here."
"Of course, unless you have some special hobby, bringing your little girlfriend to specifically run over and appreciate this shiny black Egghead."
As the words "Egghead" bounced out of Tony's mouth, the air seemed to quiet down in this second.
During this period, because Tony's fast mouth called out this extremely apt nickname, this word seemed to grow wings, and somehow spread among those core key members of S.H.I.E.L.D..
Fury had originally planned to see how the Agent was doing with the investigation, but suddenly being called "Egghead" by Tony in front of so many subordinates and outsiders, the muscles on his dark face instantly twitched wildly out of control.
Normally, if anyone else dared to arrange him like this, he would have long found a way to send the other party to Siberia to shovel snow.
Yet precisely he knew that this wicked and smoky nickname was originally created from the mouth of the smiling Arthur in front of him!
Facing Arthur, could he flare up? He didn't dare to flare up.
Facing Tony, what could he do to this young master who didn't play by the rules? Same, completely helpless.
Thus, the iron-blooded Director could only bite his back molars hard, forcibly swallowing this breath, his face turning even blacker, and veins could even be seen throbbing on his shiny forehead.
Hearing this episode, Gwen, who had been hiding behind Arthur quietly acting as a little transparent, originally didn't want to attract anyone's attention. But she really couldn't hold it in.
She quietly poked out half her head, her watery blue eyes following Tony's voice, involuntarily glancing toward Fury's dazzling, even somewhat reflective forehead under the overhead lights.
Looking at this glance, Gwen, who originally just felt that the Director was too serious, instantly conjured up the image of those thoroughly braised black eggs in breakfast shops in her mind.
The image was simply too fitting.
No matter how much Gwen usually pretended to be that cool girl who kept strangers at a distance, she was ultimately just an eighteen-year-old girl.
The laughter suppressed in her throat simply couldn't be controlled; she hurriedly retracted her head, her entire person completely hiding behind Arthur's broad back.
One of her cheeks pressed tightly against the fabric of Arthur's back, and because of holding in her laughter, her two small hands tugging at Arthur's clothes were also trembling along with it.
All those irrepressible "pfft pfft" breathing sounds were truly and clearly felt by Arthur.
Feeling his girlfriend's trembling little frame behind him, along with Tony's spectator expression, Arthur's expression that was still a bit stiff completely broke down.
To take care of Fury's pitiful self-esteem, Arthur quickly raised one hand, tightly pinching his own nose and lower half of his face, his shoulders also beginning to tremble slightly.
He and Gwen behind him were like two electrocuted quails, staging a terribly difficult-to-endure laugh-suppression challenge by the door of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s high-end command room.
And Fury, standing directly opposite them, watched these guys laughing into a group openly and flagrantly, his chin trembling, and the twitching frequency of the corners of his mouth had obviously reached the absolute peak of anger in his life.
Chapter 55: Accessing the Hulk Plotline
Beside the imposing alloy door of the S.H.I.E.L.D. main command room, the air seemed to still linger with a hint of awkward aftertaste from holding back laughter just now.
Tony's shrewd eyes darted around, seeing the atmosphere vaguely heading in a strange and bizarre direction, especially when he caught a glimpse of Fury's face, which was almost turning dark to the point of reflecting light, he immediately realized that the joke had gone far enough to quit while ahead.
Tony carelessly tucked his hands back into the pockets of his high-end casual trousers, intentionally rubbing the toes of his shoes twice against the smooth metal floor.
He shrugged his shoulders and directly diverted everyone's attention with a tone so brisk as if nothing had happened.
"Lin, let's put those boring jokes aside for now and talk about business."
Tony raised one eyebrow, his gaze falling intently on Arthur, his tone mixed with a trace of inquiry and gossip.
"I just don't understand what got into you today, why you would be interested in running over to tour this ice-cold big iron box. Usually when I throw parties and invite you, you always refuse these kinds of public events."
Hearing the opening Tony provided, Arthur finally completely forced the churning laughter back down into his stomach.
He coughed twice to clear his throat, quickly following up on the topic Tony threw out, and answered very naturally.
"I didn't come here today specifically to tour these computer screens; I actually have something I want to find Lu..."
As that habitual name rolled halfway across his tongue, Arthur suddenly realized something was wrong, abruptly swallowing the remaining half of the sound, and in less than half a second, under the guise of clearing his throat, he glossed it over with a "Bah".
"Find Fury to help me look up something."
At this moment, in front of the operation console on the other side, the Agent who had just been assigned by Furyto sort out intelligence walked back holding the organized information.
Holding several paper documents printed with the highest secret emblem of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Agent walked steadily to Fury's side and respectfully handed the materials over.
But Fury was quite perceptive this time; he didn't even glance at the document, nor did he raise his hand to take it.
He directly used his hand wearing a black fingerless glove to point in the direction where Arthur was, giving a very brief instruction to the Agent.
"Don't give it to me, hand it directly to him to read."
The Agent showed no doubt about this operation of bypassing ranks to pass intelligence, turned around and strode to Arthur, respectfully handing the materials to Arthur with both hands.
After completing the task, the Agent turned around very obediently and stepped back, returning to his workstation to sit down, tapping his fingers on the keyboard to continue handling other miscellaneous routine work.
Arthur took those few light yet very heavy pages of paper with one hand.
Seeing new fun, someone with excessive curiosity like Tonynaturally wouldn't sit idle; he immediately brought the reticent Dr. Yinsen and crowded next to Arthur, their two heads practically sticking onto the document to see what was going on.
Arthur casually turned to the first page, which was a preliminary reconnaissance report about Metropolis.
A dense string of urban construction coordinates and garrison troop counts. Arthur only glanced at it roughly and turned the page nonchalantly.
He had no interest in how prosperous the city was; the contents on these few scraps of paper were not his main purpose at all.
Along with the crisp sound of turning paper, the next layer of information came into view.
At the most eye-catching position of that page was pasted an ID photo of the investigation target, with his name written next to it: Clark Kent.
In this not-very-clear photo, the other party wore a pair of wide, thick black-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose, wore a tacky plaid shirt that looked very cheap and inexpensive, and wore an honest, easily bullied, good-natured smile on his face.
But the surprisingly broad shoulder contour hidden beneath the shirt, the unmistakably angular jawline without glasses, plus this appearance identical to Henry Cavill's version of Superman in his memory, completely confirmed the high value of the data.
The resume on the side introduced in a few lines of small print plainly that this man named Clark was currently just an ordinary daily newspaper reporter working at the Daily Planet in Metropolis.
Looking at this background information that even scriptwriters wouldn't dare to write this way, Arthur felt as if the stone that had been hanging in his heart crashed down heavily.
Like a deflated ball, his shoulders couldn't help sagging down, and he let out a long sigh deep in his heart.
Just as he had been terrified of before, this fused Worldhad been stirred up a hundred times more chaotically than his worst expectations.
Over the past few days, he was willing to foot the bill for those already-appeared dual Green Goblin or older-generation hero crossovers, feeling that Marvel's own messy affairs were already rotten and headache-inducing enough.
But now this top-secret report placed before his eyes was like real society ruthlessly raising its palm and slapping him fiercely across the face.
With a near-numb state of mind, Arthur turned to the last few pages of information summary about Gotham City.
This time, he didn't even have the desire to read word by word, just casually sweeping across the paper surface with the corner of his eye.
Even so, those shocking key vocabulary words marked in black bold font still stabbed into his eyes like awls.
Things like the Arkham Asylum riot, Batman fighting crime on a rainy night, or bizarre rumors about some madman wearing Joker makeup.
After seeing all these familiar configurations, Arthur was completely convinced this time.
No doubt about it, that flying Kryptonian in Metropolis, and this dark bat freak playing hand-to-hand combat every day in the dark night, both solidly existed on the same Earth.
He envisioned his subsequent schedule in his mind.
Well, since heaven insisted on playing this way, did he have to take some day when he had nothing better to do and run over to Metropolis to play the plane-lifting game with that honest Superman?
And then when night came, run over to that damn Gotham, kick open any door at random, and make an appointment with the gloomy Batman to spar and compare kung fu.
This thought survived for less than two seconds in his mind before he immediately and very decisively threw it into the trash can.
Forget it. His usual life was going quite well, eating, drinking, and sleeping every day without missing a thing; how could he have so much leisure time to care about how completely unrelated superheroes tossed and turned.
With the energy to go meddling in other people's business, he might as well set aside a little more time, stay in his quiet and comfortable apartment, and cuddle more with his sweet-scented girlfriend Gwen, which was much more practical.
After figuring out the thoughts in his mind, Arthur no longer dwelled on the secrets on these papers.
He sighed, lacking even the interest to take another glance, and casually tossed this high-secret document that outsiders coveted onto the large conference table in the command room.
Tony, who had been sticking his head out watching the fun nearby, didn't see any mystery in these boring names at all.
Watching Arthur make a special trip to S.H.I.E.L.D. just to see what an ordinary man wearing glasses looked like, the expression on his face became a little incomprehensible. He frowned and asked.
"Lin, why did you go to such great lengths to have Furypull up these completely unnutritious documents?"
Tony touched his exquisitely and beautifully trimmed mustache, his mouth still teasing unmercifully.
"Could it be that you suddenly changed your taste and became interested in this rustic kind of man? This is truly a regrettable piece of news."
For Tony's terrible jokes that emitted wild imaginations at all times, Arthur chose the most direct response.
He was too lazy to even turn his head, directly rewarding Tony with a huge eye roll, and then casually replied with a completely indifferent and perfunctory attitude.
"Put away your nasty imagination. I just wanted to verify a guess that had been beating in my heart before. Now it's good, my guess has been confirmed to be completely true. There's nothing strange about it."
After perfunctorily brushing off Tony's nagging, Arthurturned his head and cast his gaze back to Fury, who was pretending to be profound on the side.
He brought the topic back to the main business in last night's communication.
"Forget about those documents for now. Old Black, that department of yours called S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't been idle these past few days, right? Can you predict roughly when that group of unknown fellows in the sky will arrive on Earth?"
Fury had originally been observing Arthur's reaction to the documents, but upon hearing this question involving global security, that single eye instantly narrowed.
Without any concealment, he gave the most accurate time calculated overnight by the technical department.
"Judging from the cosmic jump signals we have captured so far, the time for that alien force to reach the atmosphere is roughly within these two days. Time is very tight, and the other party carries weapons of mass destruction. By then, it will be a solid Earth-invasion-level disaster. So when trouble really breaks out, we will still need to trouble you to make a trip yourself and solve it."
Listening to Fury's solemn entrustment with a hint of passing on a heavy burden, Arthur didn't feel how heavy the burden of saving humanity was on his shoulders.
Anyway, come what may, he just nodded calmly, raised his hand and decisively made an OK gesture at Fury, indicating that he would handle this matter.
Having solved this impending big trouble, Arthur spread his hands, feeling that the matters he needed to handle on this trip seemed to have cleared out.
He turned his head and looked again at Tony beside him and Dr. Yinsen, who was as quiet as a shadow.
"By the way, you two aren't staying in the luxury Villa by the sea in broad daylight; what did you run up to the sky for today?"
Pointed at by Arthur like this, Tony suddenly snapped out of his previous spectator state as if he had been pricked by a needle.
He slapped his thigh, suddenly remembering that he had boarded the ship today with a clear goal in mind.
"Hey, Fury, I almost forgot because of Lin's interruption. I came here specially today also to have some business with you."
When Fury heard this sentence, his bald head twitched unnaturally to the side. He was really quite helpless now.
Why did all these ancestors seem to have conspired to come to him to get things done today?
Usually, you couldn't see a shadow for a year or a half, but now, his aircraft carrier worth hundreds of millions was almost turning into these people's exclusive service hall. Why did these people have so many things to do?
But he sighed, still maintaining the Director's professional composure, and asked with a straight face.
"What do you need S.H.I.E.L.D. to step in for this time?"
Tony didn't waste any words. He very readily reached his hand into his pants pocket, dug around for a long time, pulled out a messy, folded list slip, and directly slapped it onto the desk in front of Fury.
"Have someone take a look at this; this is a long list of metals and polymer composite materials I want. Use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s omnipresent channels to help me find them. Remember, everything must be of the best material and highest purity; I don't accept defective goods."
"Recently, Dr. Yinsen and I have been planning our new toy in the Underground Room, which is the subsequent improvement and manufacturing plan for the Mark III. The performance of the previous generation was a bit poor, and we need materials with better quality and stronger weather resistance."
Fury lowered his head, his single eye swiftly scanning the long list of rare metal names on the list that couldn't be found on the market at all.
He knew the importance of this armor research and development, so he didn't feel a heartache over the funding. He resolutely nodded and agreed to Tony's errand.
"Alright, I accept the list. In the next two days, I will instruct a specialized procurement department to go to major Bases around the globe to help you look for materials. Once all the supplies are gathered, I will have someone pack them up and send them directly to your garage."
Since the desired materials had a destination, Tony's personality naturally couldn't stay put.
He nodded at Fury to indicate a deal, then neatly called out to Dr. Yinsen behind him, and the two walked side by side directly out of this oppressive command room.
When the door of the command room closed, the surroundings were once again left with only the humming sound of machines operating. Arthur stood in place and stretched his neck.
He suddenly felt there was nothing left to do. The overall situation he wanted to explain had been negotiated, and the business of inquiring about Metropolis intelligence was all done.
The whole person seemed to have lost all plot todo items in an instant, suddenly becoming so idle that he didn't know where to look.
He looked at Fury boredly, chatting with the mindset of finding some random fun.
"Old Black, leaving aside this alien business. On the premise of not destroying the World, you guys don't have anything else special to be busy with recently, right?"
Fury, who was already prepared to let Arthur go back to rest, was taken aback by this question.
His bright head tilted slightly, and closing his only eye, he recalled for a few seconds. Immediately after, as if remembering some long-standing cold case pressed at the bottom of a drawer, he abruptly raised his right hand and heavily struck a blow on his left palm.
"Ouch, if you hadn't mentioned this matter, I really would have forgotten. Speaking of special things, there really is a big matter on hand that has been suppressed for a long time."
After speaking, Fury didn't wait for Arthur to ask in detail, and directly turned around to come before the large screen responsible for displaying global dynamics just now.
He clacked away at the keyboard on the console, inputting his highest clearance password.
Subsequently, from the depths of the huge and encrypted database, he alone retrieved a deeply hidden top-secret video data file.
As the screen flickered, the image froze on the face of a flaxen-haired man wearing rimless glasses, with curly, messy hair, looking very down and out.
That was a character data screenshot of Bruce Banner.
Pointing at the somewhat timid scientist in the screen, Furybegan to explain to Arthur in a tone as if he were recounting Resident Evil.
"This person is called Bruce Banner. He used to be a top physicist in a Military project. But during an experiment to restart the Super Soldier project, he was directly exposed and irradiated with a large amount of fatal gamma rays."
Fury pressed the spacebar on the control console, and a set of photos showing the tragic destruction of the experiment Base immediately popped up on the screen.
Collapsed walls and torn tank parts could be seen everywhere.
"Later, due to the interweaving of various uncontrollable factors, that ray experiment completely failed. Banner's body underwent an inexplicable runaway mutation, directly turning into a green bulky monster without any reason and only knowing how to destroy wildly."
Accompanied by his narration, the system retrieved several tall Hulk image materials cropped from various incomplete surveillance footage.
That outrageously thick muscle and the face always roaring in anger were clearly visible.
Fury paused, turned his head to look at Arthur, and continued.
"After that massive destruction, Banner has been fleeing everywhere for several years, and the Military and we have never been able to catch him. However, just in these past few days, an informant of ours in South America reported that recently in some remote area of Brazil, rumors of someone suspected to be Bruce Banner living under an assumed name over there were successfully probed."
Fury put his hands behind his back, looking at Arthur with that consistently deep gaze.
He calculated very clearly in his heart: dealing with this kind of non-human who could smash half a city with a single burst of anger meant that no matter how many Agents with machine guns were sent over, they would just be walking to their deaths.
Only with the guy in front of him going would it be considered the best decision.
"Once that big guy goes crazy, the local armed forces simply cannot control the situation. To ensure the absolute safety of local personnel from being accidentally injured, I think since you happen to be free, you can go over there in person."
"You can bring this body full of mysterious power and try to have a rational conversation with him. Of course, if conditions permit, our best plan on this side is for you to bring him directly back to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret Base."
"As long as the person is brought back, we will use special equipment to conduct omnidirectional observation and control over him, preventing him from causing civilian casualties in the future."
Listening to Fury's lengthy dispatch plan, Arthur stood in place with his arms crossed and thought about it.
The timeline matched very well. Right now, from the timeline of that Hulk solo drama that smashed the Harlem neighborhood to pieces, there was indeed still a distance that could be calmly arranged on the periphery.
Even if he just went over to join the fun, it would probably just be to see that scientist who couldn't even bear to replace a broken heart rate monitor with a new one. Why not just follow Fury's intention and go to the Brazilian town in person to see the legendary Hulk.
Spending a few leisurely days in a tropical country, this proposal sounded much more interesting than moldering in New York.
After making up his mind, Arthur turned his head and looked at Gwen, who had been obediently tugging at the corner of his clothes without letting go since just now.
He completely ignored Fury's noble appeal counting on him to save lives, but instead asked a completely different question with a somewhat pampering smile.
"Babe, taking advantage of our free time, how about the two of us go traveling to South America for a few days and enjoy the local customs of Brazil? Not only is the charter flight covered, but it's also an all-expense-paid kind of errand."
Standing opposite these two, Director took a sudden hearing of those blatant words "public-funded travel," and even though his dark face had seen many battles, the muscles at the corner of his mouth still twitched violently completely out of control.
This bastard really treated S.H.I.E.L.D. as an ATM.
And as the invited object, hearing her boyfriend take the initiative to take her out to play, Gwen's watery blue eyes instantly lit up with two pretty brilliance.
This girl's original cold-exterior-warm-interior shell that stubbornly forced everything had long been melted away layer by layer by Arthur.
Now what was left in her mind of hero duties or academic baggage?
Gwen didn't need to think about any questions regarding whether the local area was dangerous or not. She immediately wrapped her hands around Arthur's arm, nodded heavily in agreement, rubbed her cheek against Arthur's shoulder, her voice full of a sweet, sugary taste.
"Wherever you go, I go; no matter where you go, I will follow you."