Chapter 68: Good Neighbors in New York

Tony Stark stands in front of the mirror.

In the dim light, the mirror faithfully reflects his bloodshot eyes, blue eye bags and haggard face. Mania has been his norm in recent months, and both his comrades and Chili Pepper have gradually gotten used to it. People don't understand, but choose to accept it, which is what makes ordinary people particularly lovable.

Only he couldn't stand it.

"I hate you looking at me like this." He said this to the person in the mirror in disgust, and then he walked out of the bathroom. The artificial intelligence created in the workshop with the mother box technology - he hadn't had time to name it, or even decide whether to let it 'live' - said to its creator:

"Sir, a source of danger has been detected within 500 meters. Category: biological. Danger level: high. It is recommended to evacuate the scene immediately and report to the relevant departments."

"Update your database. I am the relevant department."

He ignored the nagging artificial intelligence, took off his goggles and walked to the French window, staring at the two creatures fighting on the ground in the distance, "Record, zoom in. What the hell is this thing..." He raised his finger and made a zooming gesture on the virtual screen, focusing on Spider-Man, "This guy came out in pajamas? Can't he find a better tailor?"

"Sir," said the AI, "based on the scene reconstruction and result analysis, Spider-Man is the one who stands on the side of justice."

"It's obvious. The lizard on the right is so ugly that I don't even want to look at it." He crossed his arms and tapped his elbows with his fingers. "Who is Spider-Man?"

The artificial intelligence played him videos of hot topics in New York in recent days.

The red and blue superhuman above is swaying across the viaduct with his legs crossed, and the spider web shot out from his right hand entangles several armed robbers and hangs them upside down ('Criminal behavior is a test of IQ. Robbing a bank may be more difficult than getting into college. Why are you so stupid and making things difficult for yourselves?').

There's also Spider-Man giving directions to foreign tourists at the street corners ('Do you need me to install Google Maps for you? What? No, okay okay.').

Spider-Man used spider silk to stick the broken crutch in the hand of a disabled person together ('It will degrade automatically after two hours. I still suggest you buy a new one and change the brand.')

And so on.

Iron Man: "..."

He stopped the AI ​​from playing four or five videos at the same time. Although his brain could understand it, people cannot, or at least should not, embarrass their ears: "Stop, I get it."

"One more thing, sir." The artificial intelligence, which had been watching the old and young people downstairs for a long time, said, "The human who just left the building has a body shape similar to Spider-Man of more than 80%."

Its maker walked towards the workbench in boredom, paused, turned around and looked out the window again.

"Pull up the video footage of the fire escape in area A45."

In the picture, the boy, who had changed his clothes, knelt on one knee on the windowsill, pulled down his hood and jumped up nimbly and powerfully. He bent his middle finger and ring finger inward and pressed them on the palm of his hand. White spider webs shot out like bullets and stuck to the corners of the building. Then he swung his hand more than ten meters in the air and, contrary to the laws of physics, squatted on another building with a 90-degree vertical glass.

After several months, Iron Man's thoughts finally briefly escaped from upgrading his armor, researching artificial intelligence, and his endless anxiety.

"Although the situation is urgent, vigilance needs to be improved." After a critical assessment, he said to the AI, "Next time, throw the sentence 'It is recommended to evacuate the scene immediately and report to the relevant departments' to it."

**

"Hi." Moses lay on the glass window that reflected the blue sky. He was used to it just like standing on the ground. The sense of spatial dislocation was very interesting to him. "Are you lost? Do you want to go north? Geography class taught us that north is up and south is down, but it definitely didn't teach you to climb to the roof."

The creature, with a dark green body like a lizard, covered in scales but with vaguely human features on its face, turned its head to the side, its attention diverted from the things inside the building.

The staff in the building noticed the confrontation outside the window and began to scream and call the police to evacuate the scene. It is commendable that the weathered New Yorkers are as well-trained as the people of Gotham and ran away without much warning.

"Get out of the way!"

Ignoring the people who were running away, the reptile's cold vertical eyes stared at him, and the lizard monster's voice was hoarse.

"I've heard of you, Spider-Man. Don't treat me like a street thug. You can get out of here now while I don't want to fight you."

"You're totally wrong." The young man said in a brisk tone, "Being a superhero doesn't come with a fixed salary. I've always done all kinds of jobs. Guys like you are... a little rare. I mean, don't ordinary robbers paint themselves green?"

The lizard man was too lazy to listen to him and swung his tail without warning.

This monster was like an eagle protecting its cubs, ferocious but not very mobile. Its strong hind legs firmly grasped the glass, and it seemed that it was deeply obsessed with the things in the building, and did not want to leave after being discovered.

Moses took the time to look inside and found that the sign on the doorplate seemed to be a well-known laboratory, belonging to Osborne. The current president of this company is Norman Osborne, who is also a rich second-generation who inherited the family business. When he was young, his development was mediocre, but in recent years, he has suddenly become very successful in the country. Gradually, people have also recognized that Norman is also a hidden genius.

"Be careful!" Moses caught the thick animal limb with both hands. He carefully placed his hind legs on the glass, leaned back almost like a bow, looked back and breathed a sigh of relief, "Fortunately it didn't break. It seems you are not as strong as me - oh!"

In the middle of his speech he jumped up on the spot, dodging the opponent's angry claws that were swinging at him.

The sharp nails poked five holes directly into the glass.

"As long as it kills the spider," said the monster grimly.

"Everyone has the right to express their dreams, I don't judge." Spider-Man dodged the attack with several backflips, and was happy to find that his opponent had completely attracted his attention and was even brought to another building. He tried to continue talking to interrupt the opponent's thoughts, and aimed the spider web shooter at the TV tower next to him.

Further north is an open space, perfect for a hearty fight without disturbing passers-by.

"But you don't look much like a lizard, either."

Considering the current popularity of Spider-Man on the Internet and modern people's proficiency in cashing in on popularity, Moses also secretly attached a small camera next to the TV tower, intending to take pictures of Spider-Man fighting the Lizard, and sell them for a good price when there is a chance - thank Superman for bringing inspiration to the younger generation.

"Forgive me, but you look a bit like a combination of Jurassic Park, Avatar, and Resident Evil. I guessed it right, right? Which laboratory did you come from? If you look closely, you actually look a bit like Crocodile Man."

After mentioning the laboratory, the Lizard Man was finally completely enraged.

He attacked madly: "Shut up, idiot! I'm a doctor, a scientist, and a professor, but those idiots can have healthy limbs, but I have to endure the pain brought by disability. What's wrong with studying technology to regenerate severed limbs?! I'm making a contribution to all mankind, don't compare me with those disgusting lunatics!"

The anger increased the Lizardman's speed to another level.

Spider-Man was caught by him accidentally, and two huge green claws were clamped on his chest. If what the Lizard Man said was true, then he changed himself into this appearance in order to cure his disability. Maybe there is something worth learning from his research, but I believe that most people do not want to change into a cold-blooded and ugly monster in exchange for regeneration ability.

Additionally, similar to the self-modifying insane beings in Arkham Asylum, the Lizardman now possesses immense strength and superhuman agility.

Moses was strangled by him and couldn't breathe well (it might be the problem of the hood), so he was forced to look up and fumbled in his pockets to find a small electric shock device or something like that - it might not be lethal, but it would at least scare people. But damn, when he was sewing the clothes, it seemed that he accidentally left the pocket too small, and it was difficult to reach his hand in at the critical moment.

He was even more worried that he would tear his uniform if he used too much force, and now it already had several scratches on it.

I'm definitely the newest superhero.

Moses thought with a smile.

Because only amateur tailoring can ensure that each of their works is different in every way except for the color matching.

"I'm sorry..." he trailed off, "but I suppose you could always go to Arkham and reserve a, ahem, bed."

A green magic light suddenly appeared and hit the lizard man's arm accurately, causing him to wail in pain and be forced to let go of his arm.

Moses turned around and found that his father on the top of the Stark Building was leaning over and holding up the pufferfish as a greeting, which meant: No need to thank me, it's what Dad should do.

He couldn't help but smile under his hood and continued to lead the lizard man towards the open area.

After confirming that his opponent would not be able to return to the crowd in a short period of time, he stopped and asked seriously: "So you really made yourself like this? Or did someone force you?"

"If it's the latter, maybe we should stop fighting and think about solutions. Violence cannot solve everything."

"You are too naive, Spider-Man. Let me teach you a lesson - you should call me Professor. No one forces me, and no one can stop me. I just go back to take back what belongs to me." The lizard whispered, "As long as I can get the drug, I can turn my wife, son, and even all New Yorkers into the same existence as me. Then mankind will enter a new era without worrying about pain."

"Well, Professor Lizard, I don't have the chance to take your professional course anyway. But don't you think you should consider the feelings of others? They may not be willing to become like you."

"Really? But you're a superhuman yourself." Professor Lizard sneered, "Look at what you did when you had the power?" He punched the wall of the ruins of the construction site, and stone fragments flew, cutting a fingernail-sized hole in Spider-Man's mask.

"I once dreamed of building a world without weak people, Spider-Man."

The monster lifted the heavy cement bucket on the ground and smiled at its retreating opponent.

“Now is the time for me to realize my wish.”

"Oscorp is only interested in making money, and capitalists are all leeches. But if I can smuggle research data and finished products out, the whole world will thank me! But you want to stand on the opposite side of human evolution?"

"It sounds good, but you don't even give others a chance to choose. Although I don't think the strong and the weak can be simply distinguished, your actions are just erasing the meaning of their existence."

"I'm beginning to think that you're just like the villain in a Japanese manga, full of twisted ideas and a love of preaching. Maybe this is an occupational disease of being a professor? Excuse me, I don't see where your strength lies."

Spider-Man kicked Professor Lizard on the back, causing him to roll several times.

"And you are definitely not mentally sound."

"But you can't beat me, Spider-Man." The two have been fighting until now, and Professor Lizard has actually been gaining the upper hand, so he is not in a hurry and even smiles. "Just like the lizard's tail, I can regenerate even if my limbs are broken, but you will become more and more tired and weaker until you are killed by me."

He pounced over like a real beast and grabbed his opponent's neck again.

"It's over." Professor Lizard curled his fingers.

"I'm afraid you've been so focused on educating me that you haven't had time to pay attention to your surroundings."

Spider-Man struggled to squeeze the last words into his hand.

Then he pressed the web shooter.

The spider web hit a steel bar on a high floor of the abandoned factory building with great precision.

It was shaking from the fight and was about to fall. After the force was applied, it finally fell down, unable to bear the weight. It hit the top of another metal beam that was lying across the rubble with a bang. The middle of the metal beam was raised high by stones, and the bottom was between the lizard professor's feet. Under the effect of the lever, it suddenly rose up without a sound, and with lightning speed -

The professor was dealt a fatal blow.

At this moment, the miserable howling sounded in the empty space was so heartbreaking that it made anyone who heard it cry. Iron Man, who happened to arrive, felt his scalp tingling and his sleep-deprived brain started to dance like a wild bee.

After finally coming to his senses from the buzzing sound, Tony saw Spider-Man crawl out from under the monster's hands, foaming at the mouth and falling. He half-knelt on the ground and lifted his eyelids to check his vital signs. Then, with sincerity that no one could doubt, he asked, "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask you just now. Can your, uh, lower body still regenerate in this situation?"