NOVEL NEXT Chapter 67: Iron Takes Flight
"Alright, sir."
Little AI's voice rang out, and in the next moment, a steel battle suit, more than two meters tall, appeared right in front of them.
"What the hell!"
Even Huang Xiwen, usually composed and ladylike, couldn't help blurting out a curse. Realizing her slip, she awkwardly turned to Ned and asked, "What's going on here?"
"Nano-technology, an iron battle suit. You can also call it—'Iron Man.'"
Ned wasn't surprised at Huang Xiwen's reaction and introduced it with a smile.
After explaining to Huang Xiwen, Ned looked at the steel battle suit and said, " Little AI, go quickly. Don't keep Spider-Man waiting."
"Alright, sir."
As Little AI's voice faded, the battle suit opened the window and shot into the sky, heading straight for the Osborn Tower.
At the same time, Huang Xiwen's phone lit up automatically, displaying a live feed from the battle suit's perspective.
"This is so cool!"
Huang Xiwen exclaimed in awe.
She and Ned then huddled together, watching the live broadcast on her phone. However, the current view was still dark and blurry—it was because the battle suit was flying high in the air and hadn't reached the battlefield yet.
"The Galina device is initializing. Countdown: two minutes."
Dr. Connors placed a container filled with green liquid into a machine capable of curing polio across all of New York in an instant, his face twisted in madness.
"Haah!"
Just as Dr. Connors set the container and the machine began its initialization, Spider-Man, who had rushed there in a hurry and even taken a bullet from a police officer, finally arrived.
Swinging through the air, Spider-Man landed a powerful kick on Dr. Connors, knocking him away from the launcher.
"Argh!"
But what Peter hadn't expected was that Dr. Connors, while falling, clung tightly to Spider-Man's right leg with both hands, pulling him down from the height alongside him. The two of them crashed heavily onto the top of the building.
As they both got back on their feet, Spider-Man raised his right hand, shooting a web to try and swing back to the launcher. However, before he could take off, Dr. Connors grabbed his right leg again and flung him away with force.
"Ahhh!"
The throw sent Spider-Man flying beyond the rooftop of the building. As he plummeted hundreds of meters toward the ground, the wind howling in his ears, Spider-Man couldn't help but scream.
"Swish!"
"Bang!"
At the last second, Spider-Man shot a web onto the wall of Osborn Tower, using the tension to swing back. Clinging to the wall, he climbed swiftly back to the rooftop.
"Roar!"
Of course, Dr. Connors wasn't about to let him succeed. As Spider-Man neared the rooftop, Dr. Connors appeared, clutching a large metal container to smash him down again.
"Swish!"
Spider-Man, quick on his feet, immediately shot a web that struck Dr. Connors squarely in the face, forcing him to stumble backward.
"Haah!"
With a low growl, Spider-Man flipped back onto the rooftop and once again headed for the launcher. But Dr. Connors, having cleared the webbing from his face, used the metal container to slam Spider-Man back to the ground.
"Bang!"
Spider-Man crashed down, attempting to rise, only to be pinned by Dr. Connors, who stomped on his chest. The Lizard's tail coiled around Spider-Man's neck, lifting him off the ground.
Dr. Connors tore off Spider-Man's mask, sneering as Peter Parker's face turned purple from lack of oxygen. "Poor Peter Parker. No mom, no dad, no uncle. You're going to die alone!"
"He's not alone!"
"He's not alone!"
Two voices rang out simultaneously.
A steel humanoid figure flew in from the distance, now hovering near Dr. Connors and Spider-Man, raising both palms to aim at Dr. Connors.
Though he'd never seen such a weapon before, the glowing light from its palms made it clear that it wasn't to be trifled with.
The other voice came from Captain George Stacy, who arrived carrying a shotgun. Standing nearby, Captain Stacy glanced at the hovering Iron Man suit and muttered under his breath, "Another troublemaker!"
"Bang!"
"Roar!"
Iron Man's palm laser shot out, severing Dr. Connors' tail at the base, eliciting a pained howl from him.
Freed from the lifeless tail, Peter struggled loose. He then kicked the screaming Dr. Connors away and turned to Captain Stacy. "Mr. Stacy! Why are you here?"
"Gwen's gift for you," Captain Stacy replied, jogging over to hand Peter something from Gwen. "Go do what you need to, kid. I've got this."
"...Thanks."
Peter hesitated for a moment before nodding heavily. He glanced briefly at Iron Man hovering in the air—he recognized that voice. It was Ned.
"Swish!"
Peter shot a web at a nearby pillar and quickly swung toward the Galina device.
"Hello, Captain. Heard a lot about you," Ned, controlling the suit through Little AI, greeted Captain Stacy.
"Oh? Then why don't you take off that mask and show me your face?"
Captain Stacy remained convinced that these so-called "vigilantes" were nothing but criminals disrupting city order. If Spider-Man weren't Peter, and if Gwen hadn't been in danger, he would've locked Spider-Man up long ago.
"That's obviously not happening," Ned replied, knowing there was no way he could reveal his identity. He turned his attention away from Captain Stacy and looked at Dr. Connors, whose tail had already regrown but who still dared not act rashly.
"Dr. Connors, stay put. You've got no chance of winning," Ned said casually.
Dr. Connors sneered, his gaze fixed on the arc reactor at the center of Iron Man's chest. "The power of the sun..."
"In the palm of my hand? Is that what you're getting at?"
Hearing Dr. Connors' words, Ned's heart skipped a beat. "Where did you hear that?"
This was supposed to be the world of The Amazing Spider-Man. That line, however, belonged to Doc Ock from the Spider-Man trilogy. How was this possible?
Ned felt a bit panicked. While his Iron Man suit could easily handle Doc Ock in addition to Dr. Connors, any deviation from the expected could spell trouble—like the time he lost an arm when things spiraled out of control.
He had thought that magic didn't exist in the world of The Amazing Spider-Man. After all, even Spider-Man relied on web-shooters instead of producing webs naturally.
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