Chapter 871: Glittering Stars and Rotten (Part Sixteen) (Patreon)
Content
In DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List
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"Listen, Spider-Man, don't respond, it's me, Natasha. Just listen. Right now, I'm in an abandoned warehouse, temporarily immobilized. Their firepower is overwhelming, and our tactics of dividing their forces haven't been effective..."
"No, don't come to help me. Although my healing speed can't match Captain America's, it's far superior to an average person's. You need to find Coulson; he has a top-secret document regarding Hydra agents infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. Go to the Avengers' base, track his signal, and hurry to retrieve the list..."
Spider-Man hung up the phone and immediately swung towards his destination. When he arrived at the Avengers' base, he found Matt already waiting there. He hurriedly approached and asked, "Did you also receive Natasha's distress signal?"
"No, Hill contacted me through internal Avengers information. She's being pursued. It's said she possesses a list of KGB agents embedded in S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury is dead, and they've lost their protection. Everyone is taking advantage of the chaos."
Spider-Man slammed the table in frustration and clenched his teeth. "Those damn spies... forget it. I'll track their signal and notify other Avengers members. We must ensure the safety of that list."
At that moment, Eric the Vampire Hunter entered and said, "Bad news, Count Dracula has arrived in New York. I don't know his purpose, but it's likely he wants to take advantage of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s leadership vacuum to seek revenge."
Matt furrowed his brow. "But I heard Dracula wanted no part in worldly conflicts. When the bats invaded New York, he didn't show up. Why would he want revenge now?"
"Those vampires are all lunatics, don't you know? Besides, with the advancement of the immortality factor medicine industry, New York State's vampire population has almost been wiped out. It's normal for Dracula to come back and check. After all, he's still a vampire."
"Troubles always come together." Matt stood up and went to the screen to explain their tactics. He said, "Erik, deal with the vampire-related matters. You have more experience with them. Spider-Man, help Coulson. Erica and I will assist Hill. Now, let's plan our operation. Since we know that the ones pursuing them are agents, we should..."
After Matt finished explaining the tactics, the three of them set off. Spider-Man followed the signal and arrived at Coulson's location, about five to six hundred meters away. He saw Coulson cornered with only a handgun in his hand.
Spider-Man sprinted towards the destination as fast as he could, but aside from the distance, he also had to make a leap to get closer to Coulson. In those brief two seconds, Coulson was shot in the back.
As he witnessed the blood splatter, Spider-Man's anger reached its peak. He descended straight down, ignoring the pain of the impact, and kicked the agent who had fired the shot.
He then took down the remaining agents and rushed to Coulson's side. Coulson was clutching a briefcase and groaning in pain.
Seeing Spider-Man's arrival, Coulson struggled to raise his arm and handed him the briefcase. Spider-Man didn't take it; instead, he knelt down and began to administer first aid to Coulson. It seemed the bullet had injured Coulson's lung, causing him to convulse.
After basic treatment, Spider-Man took the briefcase and called an ambulance for Coulson. He had a bad feeling as he watched Coulson, who was almost losing consciousness, being carried on a stretcher.
Outside the emergency room, Doctor Strange, dressed in surgical attire, quickly walked in. Spider-Man anxiously waited outside the door. After a while, Natasha came over. Her arm was bandaged, but it didn't seem like a severe injury. Spider-Man turned his head to look at her and asked, "Are you feeling better?"
"I'm fine. I was just the distraction to divert their attention. Besides, regular agents can't harm me. I'll get hurt just to draw them after me. I deliberately jumped from the fourth floor to fake an injury."
"What exactly happened?" Spider-Man's tone was filled with anger as he asked, "How could they..."
"Why wouldn't they? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Natasha sat down on a chair near the emergency room and continued, "Nick Fury, the legendary agent, wasn't just a fancy title. Do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. has been running smoothly all these years because of who?"
"Do you think a mysterious, omnipotent organization like S.H.I.E.L.D., known to various countries and powers, wouldn't be targeted? Do you think they'd hesitate to send various elite agents here? Especially since S.H.I.E.L.D. started to become more public with its Solar System development plans, Nick Fury's name became known throughout Earth."
"So many hands have tried to reach here, but Nick's defenses were impenetrable. They've never gained an advantage from him over all these years. But now that he's gone, it's a free-for-all."
"All the information they never got before and what they want now is within their grasp. Even if it means sacrificing a few deeply hidden assets, it's a guaranteed win."
"Hill and I suffered from this. People we thought we could trust turned out to be long-standing moles. After the agents from various factions went crazy, we were caught off guard."
Natasha turned her head to the side, her hair covering her face, so Spider-Man couldn't see her expression. He believed that the battle-hardened Black Widow wouldn't feel sorrow for this, but at that moment, the lights in the emergency room suddenly went out.
Strange walked out, touching his wrist, and stood in front of the door, looking at Spider-Man. He said, "Phil Coulson has been called to the Lord."
Spider-Man couldn't believe it. "What did you say?!! Wait, even if the surgery couldn't... you still have magic, don't you?"
"I suggested using the Time Stone, but he declined." Strange looked at the box beside Spider-Man and said, "He said he may not be a good agent, but at least he's a human."
Spider-Man's chest heaved relentlessly, and even through his mask, one could sense his sorrow. However, he didn't dwell in grief for long. Suddenly, a loud crash from outside the window grabbed their attention.
Spider-Man was the first to rush over and saw a massive red monster appearing on New York's skyline.
"What is that? Why does it look so much like the Hulk? No, it's not the Hulk; it's red..." Spider-Man exclaimed in amazement.
Natasha also approached, squinting her eyes. "Look there, those camouflage-painted vehicles, they appear to be military. The military must have conducted some experiment and created this giant monster..."
At this point, Spider-Man had already jumped out of the window. He said, "I have to stop it. We can't let it rampage in New York City."
Meanwhile, on the street where the red giant was, Dr. Dora glanced outside the window, observed carefully, and then stepped back. She turned to the terrified researchers behind her and said, "Quick! Evacuate everyone, especially the mutants. It's coming for the mutants..."
"Lola, Andy, and Prue, get them out quickly. This guy is probably created by the military to deal with mutants!" Dr. Dora instructed as she moved back.
With a loud "bang," the window behind her shattered, and everyone screamed as they ran for safety. Dora took a few steps quickly and advised not to use the elevator but to take the staircase since the monster wouldn't be able to destroy the building in a short time.
"By the way, where's the intern? Why haven't they come out yet?" Dora asked as another colleague replied, "Before I came, Andy was teaching three interns to use the equipment. They're probably still in the laboratory..."
"No time! Hurry! You all go first; I'll go get them!" Dora ran in the direction of the laboratory and swiped her employee card to enter.
When she entered, Andy was still giving a lecture in the laboratory. Seeing Dora rushing in with a sense of urgency, she seemed a bit puzzled and asked, "What's wrong, Dr. Dora? Is something the matter?"
"Quick, leave! Take the interns and leave! The military has created a red monster, and it seems to be targeting mutants..."
Andy immediately showed signs of panic. It could be seen that scales had grown behind her ears, and she had developed some adhesive tissue on her fingers, but other than that, she seemed no different from an ordinary person.
Gwen, standing among the interns, immediately said, "How could they do something like this!! Creating a monster to deal with mutants? Are they insane?!"
"Hurry, young ladies! They've always been insane. Follow me, we'll go this way. We can't let it spot us!"
While in the corridor, Dora glanced outside and saw that the monster was getting closer. She couldn't spare any more time for Andy, who was already crying, and dragged her forcefully into the underground shelter.
Once they reached the shelter, she turned around and told everyone inside, "Wait here; I need to go back up and make sure everyone has arrived..."
At this moment, Gwen stood up and said, "I'll go with you, Dr. Dora."
Dora didn't say anything, and Gwen followed her as they headed back up. But just then, they saw another figure soaring across the skyline, a figure Gwen was all too familiar with – Spider-Man.
Gwen took a deep breath, trying to calm her somewhat panicked emotions. Following Dora through the corridor, they felt the building shake suddenly. Gwen stood by the door frame and said, "The building's structural integrity has been compromised. We need to leave quickly..."
As they were about to head down another staircase, a green monster appeared.
Two monsters, one red and one green, collided, causing the ground to shake violently.
Gwen held onto the door frame, but Dora stumbled and fell. Gwen rushed to help her, and just then, the building collapsed with a deafening roar.
The sudden loss of gravity made Gwen instinctively grab onto the nearby door frame. Debris from the collapsing building passed overhead. At that moment, a red and blue figure swung towards them.
Spider-Man, in the last moment, grabbed Gwen by the waist and swung her out of danger. Gwen turned back and shouted, "Dr. Dora!! No!!!!"
Setting Gwen down, Spider-Man swung back towards the collapsing building. In that brief moment when the spider web retracted, blood splattered in the air, soaking Spider-Man's combat suit, obscuring his vision in a crimson haze.
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Next Chapter>>Chapter 872 - Glittering Stars Rotten (Seventeen)