“Hah… That felt good!” Gao Ming stopped in front of a cafe, feeling utterly satisfied.
But as he looked through the glass and saw the people inside the cafe staring with their mouths agape and eyes wide, he realized he hadn’t turned on his invisibility!
*Shit!*
*How could I be so careless!*
Gao Ming instinctively tried to activate his invisibility but immediately stopped himself.
He had no idea how much the people in the cafe had already seen.
He glanced to his right and saw that the street was no longer empty.
A crowd had already gathered around him, most of them holding up their phones to take photos with flashes—*click, flash*—while whispering and pointing at him.
Thanks to the enhanced hearing from the Ox Talisman’s physical boost, Gao Ming could clearly hear the crowd’s conversations.
“A crossdresser?”
“Is he a pervert?”
“Maybe it’s for some TV show?”
“No, maybe he escaped from a mental asylum…”
“Did anyone see where he came from?”
***
Most of the conversation focused on Gao Ming’s battle suit, but the comments weren’t very friendly.
Gao Ming felt a twinge of annoyance.
*Don’t you people have any normal sense of aesthetics?*
Suddenly, a boy shouted, “He just appeared with a ‘whoosh’! Did he teleport?”
As soon as he spoke, several people shot him mocking glances.
The boy, thin-skinned and unable to withstand the crowd’s incredulous stares, immediately retreated, lowered his head, and ran off.
However, some of the people who had seen Gao Ming appear were staring at him intently, wondering if they were hallucinating.
More and more passersby gathered, and the crowd showed no signs of thinning.
Gao Ming realized he couldn’t stay any longer and had to leave immediately.
*I’ll have to appear in public in this outfit sooner or later anyway,* he thought.
*Might as well consider this an early debut.*
He leaned forward slightly, adopting a starting position.
After scanning the area and finding a gap, he…
*Whoosh—*
A gust of wind swept past, knocking several startled bystanders to the ground.
The crowd watched in shock as the “crossdresser” had vanished from where he had just been standing, leaving no trace behind.
“Oh my god!”
The next few hours on this street were destined to be far from peaceful…
***
After leaving the crowded area, Gao Ming immediately took flight, making sure not to forget to turn invisible this time.
Flying at full speed, it took him very little time to return to the Queen’s District and reach his apartment.
Just as he arrived at his doorstep, his neighbor happened to open the door and see a suspicious-looking figure in a white bodysuit standing outside the Chinese man’s apartment.
The neighbor’s heart tightened, and he stared at Gao Ming warily.
Noticing his neighbor’s gaze, Gao Ming felt a mischievous impulse.
He slowly raised his palm and activated his Super Speed Force, causing it to vibrate at an incredibly high frequency.
This was a technique he’d learned from *The Flash*: vibrating his palm at high frequencies could make it sharp enough to cut through almost anything.
While waiting for Melvin to finish making his costume, Gao Ming hadn’t been idle.
He had practiced the abilities of all the talismans except for the Dragon Talisman, which was too destructive for casual use.
For the Rabbit Talisman’s speed, he had even developed several new techniques by drawing inspiration from *The Flash*, such as this High-Frequency Hand Blade.
Next, Gao Ming imitated another of The Flash’s moves, controlling his vocal cords to vibrate slightly, lowering his voice to disguise his true one.
Gao Ming’s voice became deep and magnetic as he asked, “Is there something wrong?”
*Crackle—*
Golden lightning flashed in his eyes, like a supreme god looking down at a lowly ant on the ground.
The neighbor instantly bristled with fear, the terror in his eyes deepening until finally, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed, fainting outright.
Seeing the neighbor scared unconscious, Gao Ming finally dropped his intimidating posture and knelt by the man to check on him.
The neighbor had merely fainted from fright and had no major issues.
Gao Ming didn’t want to scare people to death indiscriminately.
The lives of villains didn’t matter, but he still needed to maintain a level head when dealing with ordinary people.
To be safe, Gao Ming placed his palm on the neighbor’s forehead, cast a healing spell, and then returned to his own room.
Due to the healing power, the neighbor quickly awakened from his faint, only to find no one in front of him.
It was as if everything had been a hallucination.
But as the neighbor’s mind wandered to supernatural things, his panic grew.
Forgetting his original purpose for coming out, he fled back home in a fluster, slamming the door shut and locking it.
***
Gao Ming walked over to the mirror hanging on his wall, took off his helmet, and looked at his plain, unremarkable face.
If you asked how the double differed from Gao Ming, the answer was simply a pair of glasses.
In his past life, Gao Ming had developed severe nearsightedness from his internet addiction.
The double, however, had never had the financial means to access the internet, so he never had the chance to stay up all night surfing the web like Gao Ming used to.
Consequently, his physical condition and overall appearance were much better.
He didn’t have the dark circles and perpetually exhausted, decadent look that Gao Ming had carried in his past life.
Furthermore, the talisman’s power was subtly improving his body.
Although Gao Ming still had the same face, it was gradually trending toward a more perfect development.
*I’m damn handsome…*
Gao Ming admired himself in the mirror with a narcissistic grin.
*Yeah, absolutely shameless…*
After a few more self-compliments, he finally stopped, lay down on his bed, and started thinking about his next move.
“The costume is ready. I can officially go out in a while and help maintain order in the Queen’s District.”
Thinking of this, Gao Ming’s mind turned to the Queen’s District’s famous neighborhood hero—Spider-Man.
Judging by the circumstances, this was the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so Spider-Man should be the Tom Holland version, not the one from the original trilogy or the Amazing Spider-Man series.
Peter Parker must still be a little kid right now, right?
It’s currently 2008.
Captain America 3, where the new Spider-Man officially debuts, won’t be released until 2017.
And Peter Parker is 15 in that movie.
So, that means Little Peter is…
6 years old now?
“Damn it, I have to wait nine whole years just to see that little bug…” As a die-hard Spider-Man fan, Gao Ming was utterly displeased.
But what could he do?
He couldn’t exactly go out and create Spider-Man ahead of schedule, could he?
*Imagine a six-year-old Spider-Man…*
*Actually… that sounds kinda interesting.*
He pictured a chibi-style Spider-Man and thought it would be pretty cute.
*Should I go find that mutant spider and have it bite Little Peter right now?
Just to bring the chibi Spider-Man into existence?*
Gao Ming was tempted by this mischievous and alluring idea, but after a moment of calm reflection, he abandoned it.
Because it simply wouldn’t work.
Little Peter is only six.
What would happen if a six-year-old child suddenly gained superpowers?
Even the fifteen-year-old Peter Parker struggled to control them.
A six-year-old?
He’d probably just use his powers to play around.
Besides, if I recall correctly, that mutated spider that changed Peter Parker’s life hasn’t appeared yet, right?
Even if research on genetic mutation has already begun, that mutated spider is just one of many “predecessors.” Its mutated genes are still unstable.
If I let this defective specimen bite Little Peter, he might end up as a humanoid spider who shoots webs from his rear…
Imagining a Spider-Man who shoots webs from his rear and has eight hairy long legs, Gao Ming got goosebumps all over.
The “Spider-Man Early Birth Plan” had barely formed in his mind before it was immediately shattered to pieces.
*Phew…
I almost ruined Marvel’s favorite son with my own hands.
That was close, really close.*
If he started cleaning up the scum in Queen’s District now, he would become Spider-Man’s predecessor in the future.
Imagining the future scene where Spider-Man would bow to him and call him “Predecessor,” Gao Ming actually looked forward to it.
To leave a tall and imposing image for his junior, he would work hard to act righteously and punish evil.
However, there was still one thing he needed to do right now.
Counting the days, Tony Stark’s original Iron Armor, “Mark I,” should be nearing completion, right?
Although the movie said he went missing for three months, it never specified the exact number of days.
Gao Ming couldn’t afford to be this imprecise with his timing.
Moreover, he still didn’t know Tony Stark’s exact location and would have to fly to the Middle East to conduct a thorough search.
Even with his flight and high-speed capabilities, it would still take some time.
If he delayed any longer, the whole plan would fall apart.
As for where Tony Stark was attacked in the Middle East, that was no longer a secret online.
Gao Ming planned to start his search from the site of the attack.
He believed he would find him quickly… wouldn’t he?
Then Gao Ming realized he was oversimplifying things.
If it were that easy to find him, why had the military spent three months searching without success?
It was only after Tony Stark caused a massive explosion that the search teams finally noticed.
“Damn it…”
A surge of urgency washed over him.
Gao Ming quickly went out and bought a hiking backpack, along with a large supply of water and food.
Although the Dog Talisman’s power could keep him energized at all times, he still preferred to eat normal meals every day.
Once fully prepared, Gao Ming wasted no time.
He donned his combat suit, shouldered the mountain-sized backpack, concealed himself, and flew relentlessly toward Afghanistan…
***
On the third day of Gao Ming’s journey to Afghanistan…
Afghanistan, a terrorist organization’s base.
“We can’t delay any longer. We have to activate Mark I immediately.”
The speaker was none other than the famous Tony Stark.
At this moment, the billionaire was in a wretched state, kidnapped and imprisoned by terrorists.
Naturally, his treatment wasn’t good—he wore filthy, tattered clothes, and his face was sallow and gaunt.
Only his eyes and the reactor in his chest shone with a bright light.
Beside him stood a man who looked like a scholar.
The glasses on the bridge of his nose and the dust-covered suit he wore all exuded an air of intellectualism.
This man was Dr. Ethan, the one who would change Tony Stark’s life.
Dr. Ethan was highly educated and fluent in multiple languages.
He had also been kidnapped by the terrorists.
He had performed surgery to remove the shrapnel from Tony’s body and created a crude electromagnet to hold the remaining shrapnel in place, sustaining Tony’s life.
It was Dr. Ethan’s encouragement that kept Tony from falling into utter despair after being brutally beaten by the terrorists.
He regained his confidence, feigning cooperation by pretending to build missiles for them while secretly using the materials they provided to create the Arc Reactor in his chest and the clunky Iron Armor before him—the “Mark I”!
Ethan frowned, his expression filled with worry.
“But…”
Before he could finish, Tony interrupted him.
“There’s no more time. We have to move now!”
For the past three months, Tony and Ethan had been planning their escape.
The plan was for Tony to don the Iron Armor and force their way out.
Just as they were on the verge of success, the terrorist leader grew suspicious and issued an ultimatum: build the missile, or be executed.
Tony refused to cooperate, unwilling to see his invention used to slaughter innocent civilians.
He certainly wasn’t about to just sit and wait for death.
Though their preparations were incomplete, the escape plan had to be moved forward.
Hearing this, Ethan opened his mouth to speak but found no words.
Indeed, the situation had become critical.
There was no longer any room to deceive the terrorists.
The arrow was on the string and had to be fired.
Tony and Ethan began preparing for their escape…