Things went exactly as Gaia expected.
Almost immediately after the five robbers rushed in, they were thrown back out like trash bags stuffed to the brim.
Two figures slowly stepped out of the club.
One figure wore greyish-blue sweatpants and a matching tight-fitting top.
He had short, silver-white hair, stood nearly 1.9 meters tall, had a lean build, and looked to be around twenty years old.
The other figure was shirtless, standing at a staggering 2.4 meters tall, boasting a mountain-like physique.
Monstrous muscles converged on his back to form a demon-face pattern, while the bulging veins on his arms made him look as if coiled by dark dragons.
The first needed no introduction, but Gaia felt obliged to give a grand introduction for the second.
Odebiao, a Delta-level mutant, was a Black man.
Don’t look down on him—this guy was Gaia’s most appreciated and favorite employee.
His mutant power was the ability to perfectly absorb and lock in the potency of anabolic steroids while remaining completely immune to any side effects.
In terms of sheer physical strength, he was not inferior to the pre-mutation Gaia.
Odebiao was the single greatest contributor to Ares Club expanding to its current scale.
A saying still circulated on the streets to this day:
*Without juice, seeing Odebiao is like a frog in a well looking up at the moon; with juice, seeing Odebiao is like a mayfly looking up at the vast blue sky.*
Today, Odebiao was the undisputed star under Gaia’s command, the absolute king of the fitness world.
Handing the fare to the taxi driver, Gaia opened the door and walked toward Ares Club.
“Pietro, Odebiao, nice work.”
That’s right, Quicksilver.
At first, Gaia had also wondered why he would run into Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in New York at this point in time.
However, considering that Ghost Rider and Moon Knight both existed here, Gaia quickly made peace with it.
Free powerhouse thighs—you’d be a fool not to hug them.
The silver-haired youth, Pietro, and Odebiao turned around simultaneously.
Upon seeing the newcomer, both froze for two seconds.
Pietro was the first to speak.
“Boss, how did you get so thin?”
Little Gaia leaped onto Gaia’s shoulder.
“Don’t you guys think I look handsomer like this?”
Gaia nodded in agreement.
“He’s right.
Don’t you two think I look handsomer like this?”
Pietro and Odebiao exchanged a glance, realizing Gaia was having another one of his episodes.
They nodded along.
“Definitely handsomer.
What do you think, Odebiao?”
“I think Boss looks way handsomer too.
A real man among men.”
Gaia sighed softly.
“I told you two before, no flattery.
But look at you now—much better.
Every word straight from the heart.
Call Richard and have him handle this mess.
He’s been mooching off me as a retainered lawyer for so long, it’s about time I give him something to do.”
Pietro and Odebiao both agreed, “Got it, Boss.
Leave it to us.”
Gaia nodded in satisfaction and turned to step into the club.
Almost the second Gaia set foot inside, every single person working out on the first floor stopped what they were doing and greeted him in unison.
“Big Brother Gaia!”
“Big Brother Gaia!”
“Boss!
Loyalty!”
…
Gaia responded with a smile.
Don’t misunderstand—these weren’t his customers.
They were all top-physique underlings he had personally picked to hold down the fort on the first floor and flex their strength.
It was worth clarifying that he wasn’t some mob boss; he was just an ordinary fitness club owner.
It was simply that the reputation of the Fist of Khonshu was somehow growing louder and louder.
An endless stream of people kept seeking him out, begging to recognize him as their boss.
Having read plenty of history, Gaia knew better than to look down on the power of the little guy, so he could only accept them all.
This had led to the current scene where one call summoned a thousand responses.
To date, he had four thousand six hundred eighty-two registered underlings on the books.
He walked straight to the elevator and took it down to the private area on Basement Level 2.
Gaia planned to test the post-mutation effects of physical training on his body.
Before being bitten by the spider, Gaia’s body had already reached its absolute peak, and the benefits of training had become negligible.
Now that he had been bitten and undergone mutation, his physique had reshaped into a balanced build, and he could tank heavy-caliber bullets unscathed.
Gaia felt his upper limit had been pushed significantly higher.
Based on past experience, through proper training, his strength could be multiplied by at least two.
Walking into the storage room, he hauled out custom fifteen-ton training equipment ordered from Stark Industries and set it in place.
Just as Gaia was about to start working out, a soft, low, captivating female voice drifted into his ears.
“Gaia…”
Almost at the exact moment the voice sounded, Little Gaia suddenly leaped onto Gaia, clutching his head with both hands while releasing a sharp, shrill screech.
“Oh shit!
It’s the Babylonian mega-slut!
Holy crap!
She wants to fuck us!
Run, pal!
If we don’t run now, we’re…”
Before Little Gaia could finish, his mouth was sealed shut by a cloud of scarlet, mist-like energy.
Immediately after, his entire body was enveloped in the scarlet mist and dragged upward with a *swoosh*, sticking him flat against the ceiling like a starfish.
“Mmph!
Mmph!
Mmph!”
His Spider-Sense screeched loudly.
Gaia glanced at Little Gaia stuck to the ceiling, put down the gym equipment in his hands, and turned toward the source of danger indicated by his spider totem.
Well, it was a woman wearing black workout leggings and a scarlet sports bra, her long brown hair tied into a ponytail.
She had a killer physique—proportions straight out of a Korean webtoon.
A total beauty.
Though it would be even better if her eyes weren’t glowing with a sinister scarlet light right now.
Looking at her, Gaia frowned slightly.
“Wanda, what’s wrong with you?”
Wanda didn’t answer.
She walked up right in front of Gaia, stopping only when the distance between them was less than a fist apart.
Tilting her head up to gaze at Gaia’s face, Wanda raised her hand, reaching out as if to caress his cheek.
Gaia didn’t give her the chance and grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t pretend to be mute.
What’s wrong with you, Wanda?”
Wanda glanced down at her wrist in Gaia’s grip, feeling the warmth emanating from his hand.
Beneath the scarlet glow in her eyes, an intense desire for possession flared up.
Savoring the firmness of Gaia’s grip, a trace of satisfaction flashed through Wanda’s eyes.
After a long moment, Wanda composed her emotions and said coldly, “Where…
did you go yesterday?”
Gaia’s brows furrowed tightly.
“Didn’t I tell you?
I went to the science expo with Peter.
Besides, why do you care so much?
Shouldn’t you be in class right now?
I paid your college tuition so you could study, not slack off.”
Choked up by Gaia’s response, Wanda felt the words *Why do you care so much?* echoing wildly in her mind.
A dark gloom flared faintly in her eyes.
She was extremely displeased with Gaia’s answer, yet for some reason, she secretly enjoyed this suffocating feeling in her chest.
At the same time, Gaia’s Spider-Sense was acting up intermittently, making him doubt whether his mutation was fully complete.
It shouldn’t be.
From his observations, his mutation speed was many times faster than Peter’s and Gwen’s.
Shaking his head, Gaia looked at Wanda, who remained silent, feeling a surge of irritation.
*Sister, if something’s wrong, just say it!*
*I’m not a psychic.
How am I supposed to know what your problem is if you don’t talk?*
Gaia admitted he lacked patience, but no matter how good someone’s patience was, you couldn’t play around like this!
“Wanda!
If there’s something on your mind, just say it directly!
I’ve always seen you and Pietro as family.
There’s nothing we can’t talk about!”
Gaia’s sudden shout startled Wanda.
However, the second half of his sentence instantly caused the scarlet glow in her eyes to vanish.
Blushing furiously, she lowered her head in embarrassment, screaming internally:
*Gaia said I’m his family!
Is he…
is he confessing to me?!*