Chapter 38
"If you don't want to kill, then cripple your opponent." Yang Le said, ignoring Gwen and flying towards his designated group of enemies.
"Easy for you to say," Gwen grumbled before shooting Web to intercept the enemies.
Swinging in mid-air, Gwen imagined herself like in the Superhero Comics she'd read, using Inertia to kick enemies away. But when she actually tried it, she realized Comics were nothing but lies.
The Ninja she targeted wasn't going to just stand there dumbly waiting to be kicked. Instead, because the Ninja dodged, she lost her momentum and had to release her Web early, landing right in the middle of the Ninja's encirclement.
"Hey! Everyone, lovely night, isn't it?" Gwen greeted the Ninja surrounding her, who were armed with various Bladed Weapons and glaring menacingly, with an awkward but polite smile.
"Okay~_~, anyone know where the director is? Let's talk, I think we could redo that last take." Gwen suggested to the surrounding Ninja.
Although no one spoke, the Spider-Sense buzzing in her Head answered Gwen for the Ninja.
"Guess that's a no," Gwen lowered her stance. "But as a superstar, I can handle anything thrown at me."
As Gwen finished speaking, she spun around, dodging a Slash from a Ninja's sneak attack behind her. She shot Web, sticking it to the Ninja, and with a single arm, swung him around like a Meteor hammer, knocking down many Ninja who were leaping at her.
Releasing the Web in her hand, the uncontrolled "Meteor hammer" continued to smash into more Ninja along its path.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" Several sounds of air being torn apart echoed as deadly Hidden Weapon, under the cover of darkness, flew towards Gwen.
Spider-Sense blaring, Gwen tapped her toes on the ground, raised her hands, and spun like a ballerina, the Hidden Weapon narrowly missing her.
"Ugh!" "Ah!" "Baka!"
Gwen dodged the sharp Hidden Weapon, but they struck the Ninja trying to pounce on her. Bleeding profusely, they got a real taste of friendly fire.
Gwen landed steadily, striking a pose to prepare for the next fight, but noticed that apart from those already on the ground, the remaining Ninja surrounding her were all pulling out small balls from their chests.
The Ninja threw the small balls to the ground, and instantly, a thick fog erupted, filling the Warehouse in moments.
Gwen vigilantly scanned her surroundings in the smoke. The Filtering Function of her Spider Mask prevented her from choking on the fumes, but the Lens on the Mask couldn't penetrate the smoke to see clearly.
Before she could stay on guard for long, a bone-chilling Cold Wind swept through, freezing the swirling smoke into dry powder and blowing it away.
As the smoke cleared and her vision was no longer obstructed, Gwen turned around and, as expected, found Yang Le behind her.
Yang Le slowly descended from mid-air. Clearly, the Cold Wind had come from him.
"Where are the Ninja?" Gwen looked around. Perhaps because of the Cold Wind, there wasn't even any ash on the ground. The Warehouse probably hadn't been this clean in ages.
"Obviously, they retreated, and didn't leave a single survivor," Yang Le said, glancing at the ice sculptures he had just created.
The Ninja inside the ice sculptures had vanished, leaving behind human-shaped outlines filled with ash, like bizarre artworks in an exhibition, possessing a strange, morbid beauty.
"Fought so hard and didn't even get any intel," Gwen grumbled, feeling like all their effort had been for nothing.
"There's more to it than meets the eye," Yang Le gestured for Gwen to be patient. Gwen looked at Yang Le, waiting for his explanation.
"This isn't the place to talk. Let's head back to Base and discuss it."
Seeing this, Gwen could only raise her right hand and activate the Wristband she wore.
This Wristband was no longer the original Suppression Wristband. The previous Suppression Wristband had been damaged because it couldn't handle Gwen's Super Strength, for which Gwen had apologized to Yang Le.
However, Yang Le had been planning to replace Gwen's Wristband anyway. After about half a month of training with Yang Le, Gwen had adapted to and controlled her Super Strength.
Gwen's Wristband breaking down was perfectly timed. This new Wristband, besides lacking the suppression function, had gained a new Ability: Teleportation Ability.
This Wristband was essentially an anchor point. Activating it would Teleport them back to Base. Although currently, it only covered New York, Grey Matter guaranteed that the range would expand globally in the near future.
Gwen activated the Wristband, and a blue Teleportation Portal, tall enough for a person to walk through, appeared out of thin air. Gwen glanced at Yang Le before stepping into the Teleportation Portal.
The Teleportation Portal was sustained by Gwen's Wristband. Once she went through, it would quickly close. Seeing the Teleportation Portal shrinking, Yang Le quickly followed.
Out of sight of Yang Le and Gwen, a Ninja hiding in a High-rise observed everything through a Telescope. Seeing Yang Le and Gwen disappear, he made a Phone call.
"They vanished through a door that appeared out of thin air," the Ninja reported into the Phone.
"Understood, retreat," Matt, who had already retreated to the Safe House, replied on the other end of the Phone. Through his subordinates' reports, he knew everything that had happened in the Warehouse.
Hanging up the Phone, Matt fell into deep thought. He had arranged the men in the Warehouse to test Yang Le and Gwen.
If Yang Le and Gwen were just all bark and no bite, he'd break their limbs and force them to reveal where they got their information about his connection to The Hand. Even if the information was inaccurate, the fact they were sniffing around was not to be taken lightly.
However, after the chaotic fight in the Warehouse, Matt knew Yang Le and Gwen were tough opponents. Their Abilities in combat, and especially the final Teleportation Portal, showed they were not simple. They might even have powerful backing.
"Masked Special Police cracking down on criminals? And a human-sized Insectoid who can unleash Cold Wind?" Matt's tone dripped with sarcasm, his raised eyebrows conveying disdain.
"Like something out of Comics, what am I? The Final Boss waiting to be taken down?"
Matt's tone shifted from sarcasm to resentment. He squeezed the Mobile phone in his hand until it creaked, finally crushing it in a burst of sparks before throwing it to the ground.
Staring at the Mobile phone fragments on the floor, Matt panted, loosened his tie, and took a few deep breaths to calm his anger.
"Unfortunately, reality isn't like Comics. Justice? That's a Luxury Item. Those who wield it are never Heroes, but Winners!"
Matt picked up a Wine Glass from the bar, downed the Liquor in one gulp, and slammed the Wine Glass heavily back onto the counter.
"Yes, Winners!"
His low voice wasn't a declaration, but more like self-persuasion.
(End of chapter)