At the Ares Club, Gaia was working out as usual.
Two months had passed since Dracula was sealed.
The physical mutation caused by the spider bite was nearing its end.
Perhaps because he had eaten the spider that bit him, Gaia’s mutation was noticeably stronger than Gwen’s and Peter’s.
The most prominent aspect was his skin’s toughness.
Over the past two months, Gaia’s skin had begun to exhibit a subtle, chitinous luster.
He could withstand close-range shotgun blasts loaded with armor-piercing slugs without taking any damage.
His physical stats were also incredibly formidable:
[Name: Gaia Parker] [Grip Strength: 34.84 tons] [Wrist Strength: 69.59 tons] [Leg Strength: 103.78 tons] [Speed: 198.93 m/s] [Reaction Time: 0.00036 s]
Even among strength-type heroes, these physical stats were highly impressive.
Aside from himself, Peter and Gwen had been playing the role of New York’s friendly neighborhood heroes for the past two months.
Almost from their very first appearance, they had captured the undivided attention of Gaia’s dear godfather, Jameson.
It was as if their DNA was reacting, or perhaps it was quantum entanglement.
The duo successfully replaced Moon Knight as the permanent front-page feature of the Daily Bugle.
They had both proudly earned the title of New York’s “menace” from the paper.
Harry had wanted to use his superpowers to make Jameson shut up.
But that only made Jameson more excited.
Looking like he had uncovered a massive conspiracy, he put on a show of defiance against tyranny and refused to back down.
Instead, he doubled down, denouncing Peter and Gwen on the front pages and even on the giant screens in Times Square.
This left the two young heroes gritting their teeth in frustration every time they saw Jameson.
Truly a joyous development, truly joyous.
Finally, there were the Parkers.
Ben and May’s lives had initially been fraught with trouble over these past two months.
All sorts of robbers and criminals had been popping up like mushrooms after rain.
Left with no choice, Gaia had to ask Pietro to act as a personal bodyguard for the couple.
As a side note, perhaps the Spider Curse had an expiration date.
Over time, the Parker family’s lives finally began returning to normal.
For this, special praise had to go to the Spider Totem.
At least it knew when to back off.
***
Wanda sat on a barbell, staring blankly at her phone, acting as a counterweight for Gaia.
Her thoughts drifted as she rose and fell with each of his reps.
Pietro, who was guarding the Parkers, had recently sent her a bombshell piece of news.
Apparently, a stunning girl with long blonde hair and an incredible figure had been running over to the Parker household quite often lately.
Hearing this, Wanda felt as if a bolt from the blue had struck her.
When!
When did this happen?!
She had once asked Gaia about the girl’s identity, only to receive this reply:
“You mean Gwen?
You’ve got to be kidding.
Gwen is still practically a kid.
I’m not some creep.
Even if I were interested, I’d have to wait a few years.”
Gaia’s answer had made Wanda almost lose control on the spot.
She had nearly used Chaos Magic to hypnotize Gaia then and there, or simply lock him up.
In Wanda’s eyes, the lack of a flat-out refusal was practically an admission.
Yet, in the end, Wanda held herself back.
She knew that if she actually did that, Gaia would definitely get angry.
She wanted to try a bit harder.
She refused to believe that after being the first one here, she would let some little girl pluck the fruits of her labor.
Of course, if she truly failed, then even if she couldn’t have his heart, having his body was still acceptable.
After agonizing over it for a long time, Wanda finally made up her mind.
She pulled up Odebiao’s contact info and sent a message:
“Come over.
Don’t forget what I instructed you to do.”
Odebiao: “Don’t worry, Big Sis!
I won’t let you down.”
Glancing at Odebiao’s reply, Wanda put her phone away and looked up at Little Gaia, who was currently pinned to the ceiling by Chaos Magic, squirming frantically.
She let out a chilling smile.
The sight made Little Gaia swallow hard in fear.
“Boss Gaia!”
Hearing Odebiao’s booming voice, Gaia set down his barbell and sat up, looking curiously at Odebiao as he ran over.
“What’s up, Odebiao?
Did something happen?
Is someone trying to rob us again?
Damn it!
That would be the thirty-second time this month!
It’s only been seven days!
What is wrong with these people?
Are they brain-dead?
Why skip the jewelry stores to rob a gym?!”
Odebiao glanced at Wanda, who was staring at him expressionlessly, and a cold sweat broke out across his back.
“Uh…
Big Bro Gaia, come with me for a second.
I have something private to tell you.”
“Huh?
Something private?”
Gaia’s eyes lit up.
He nodded solemnly:
“Sure.
Let’s go to my changing room.”
Gaia waved to Wanda and led Odebiao toward the changing room.
Closing the door, Gaia looked at Odebiao with a questioning, curious gaze.
“Alright, out with it.
What is this private matter you wanted to discuss?”
“Uh…
I…
I wanted to say…”
Odebiao fell silent for a long moment.
Realizing he had absolutely no idea how to fish for information, he broke out in a sweat.
Oh no!
He was only good at working out.
Aside from lifting weights and fighting, he didn’t know how to do anything else!
But if he failed the task Big Sis Wanda had assigned him, he was going to die a horrible death.
Gulping, and seeing the impatient expression on Gaia’s face…
…Odebiao prepared to grit his teeth and just force the question out.
Suddenly, a stroke of genius struck his pointy, reflective bald head.
*Big Sis Wanda wants me to find out what kind of women Big Bro Gaia likes.*
*Then can’t I just ask Big Bro Gaia what kind of adult videos he likes to watch?*
*I’m a genius!*
Wasting no time, Odebiao spoke up:
“Big Bro Gaia, do you have any adult videos to recommend?”
“?”
Gaia looked at Odebiao in surprise, scanning his massive physique up and down.
Had this guy taken too many testosterone boosters?
Still, Gaia didn’t think much of it.
What kind of adult videos he liked wasn’t some shocking secret.
There was no harm in sharing.
“To be honest, I prefer Asian girls.
Their looks fit my aesthetic pretty well.”
“As for videos…
hmm…
search ‘Akiryayo’ online.
If you can find them, I think his BZHW models are extremely nice.”
“Of course…
you might not be able to find them right now, because it’s still a bit early in this era…”
Sitting on the dumbbell, Wanda watched Gaia and Odebiao through a magical mirror and listened to their conversation.
She pulled out her phone and searched for what Gaia had mentioned.
“?!”
Looking at the characters on her phone screen, Wanda’s face instantly flushed crimson.
“So Gaia likes that kind of style?”
Wanda raised a hand to touch her own hair.
The hair color matched, the eye color matched, and as for the figure…
well, hers was actually better.
That just left the face.
Wanda waved her hand to conjure a magical mirror and examined her own face.
She remembered what Gaia had said when lecturing his underlings:
“Everyone has their own unique traits.
It is these distinct combinations that form our independent, complete selves.
So, don’t pay mind to those who criticize you.
They usually just put others down to fill their own emptiness.
We don’t need to change ourselves because of them.”
“A truly mature person won’t fixate on others’ flaws.
Those who have a mess of a life themselves but love to nitpick others are just trying to steal a bit of validation from a sense of superiority.”
“Also, if someone changes for you, remember to cherish them.
Because change is incredibly difficult and incredibly precious.
If someone changes for your sake, it represents the purest form of affection they have for you.”
“Guys, no…
my friends, I wish for all of you to be the best versions of yourselves, and to find that purest affection in the world that belongs uniquely to you.”
Gaia had told them to stay true to themselves, yet he also said to cherish those who changed for them.
What was she supposed to do?
Wiping her hand across the mirror’s surface, Wanda looked down at her phone screen, her mind racing.
“Can’t I just use magic to project an illusion onto my face?
That way, the moment Gaia sees me, he’ll feel a sense of familiarity.”
“But is that too fake?
Maybe I should just make some subtle adjustments instead?”
Wanda was deeply conflicted.
“Gaia, I hope you’ll cherish me just like you said…
otherwise, I will be very, very angry…”
Deep within Wanda’s pupils, a flash of crimson flickered…