The sharp rhythm of a knife striking a cutting board echoed through the kitchen.
Without using any special tools, the potatoes had already been sliced into perfectly thin strips. Beside them sat neatly cut green peppers waiting for the pan. The dish itself was simple: shredded potatoes with green peppers.
Since they started living together, Tifa had gradually figured out Drex Valen's favorite foods. This dish ranked near the top.
Second place belonged to char siu.
Unfortunately, she still had not mastered that one yet.
"Tifa, Lyra Yan, I'm heading out for a walk."
"Okay. Don't stay out too late."
"Want to co with you?" Lyra asked.
"No need. I'll be back before dinner."
Drex changed his shoes, slid the door open, and stepped outside.
The instant he left Everburg behind, he felt oddly liberated, like he had finally escaped so enormous fortress prison. Looking up at the wide open sky made the tension in his body ease almost imdiately.
Then he glanced back.
Leaning against the windowsill with a relaxed smile, Angel Yan waved at him.
Drex raised a hand in return and quickened his pace slightly.
Since he was already out walking, he might as well find sothing entertaining to do.
Esdeath was still obsessed with warfare sowhere out in space and apparently had no intention of coming back anyti soon. The rest of them, anwhile, had mostly gathered here.
Honestly, Drex suspected it was because he was too strong.
Esdeath's desire for conquest, control, and possession simply could not find an outlet with him, so she vented all of it on galactic warfare instead.
...
Unlike certain lunatics who stayed absurdly energetic around the clock, most people hit peak alertness sowhere between midnight and dawn.
Peter Parker had never been the type to sleep in.
Partly because he was both a student and a superhero.
Mostly because he had recently gone from Stark Industries intern to full-ti employee with an almost suspicious number of vacation days.
More importantly, Peter Parker had not died or mutated into a monster like he had in the original tiline.
Drex Valen had altered his fate personally.
Using genetic material extracted from Spider-Gwen, Drex created a spider serum and injected it into Peter.
Not just any spider serum, either.
This version combined the strongest traits from multiple spider species into one enhanced formula.
The result was a Peter Parker who might actually surpass the mainstream universe version of Spider-Man, along with many of his multiversal counterparts.
Spider-Man had technically appeared earlier than most modern superheroes, but his fa still lagged far behind soone like Iron Man.
Superpowers were impressive.
Money, however, was marketing.
Now that Peter officially worked under Stark Industries, things had changed a little.
Sure, hiring soone his age probably looked dangerously close to child labor.
But in Arica, that barely qualified as unusual.
Unfortunately, New York remained exactly as chaotic as ever.
While the passengers inside the vehicle were distracted, Peter quietly slipped toward the back, pulled his Spider-Man mask from his backpack, and put it on in one smooth motion.
He kicked off his shoes, opened the window, and jumped.
The casual-looking clothing he wore instantly shifted as the advanced spider suit reverted to its combat form.
Webbing fired outward.
A second later, Spider-Man was swinging rapidly toward the incident site.
What he found there looked like sothing ripped out of an ancient battlefield.
A heavily armored warrior stood in the middle of the street wearing rusted antique armor. In one hand was a massive shield. In the other, a bloodstained spear.
Crowds surrounded the area at a cautious distance.
Closer to the center, more than a dozen civilians lay sprawled across the pavent with serious injuries.
Clearly, they had already fought this lunatic.
"Hey, buddy," Peter called out while landing nearby, "you know I was literally on my way to work, right? I've got maybe fifteen minutes before I'm late, and the office is still like seven or eight blocks away. Today's my first day as an official employee. If I show up late, my boss might hate forever. There's probably gonna be salary deductions. Maybe paperwork. You know how traumatic paperwork is?"
Multiple web lines shot from his wrists and wrapped around the warrior's legs.
At the sa ti, additional webs latched onto the spear and shield.
Peter pulled hard, trying to rip the weapons away.
Instead, an absurd surge of strength yanked him off the traffic light he had been perched on and slamd him straight into a wall.
The armored warrior ignored Peter completely.
He tore the webbing off his weapons and charged.
Peter's spider-sense detonated in his skull.
Danger.
Not ordinary danger.
Death.
Peter instantly fired another web between the warrior's legs and used the tension to yank himself low across the ground.
He almost made it past.
Then the massive shield whipped sideways and smashed into him.
"Aw, crap!"
The impact bent roadside guardrails inward.
Pain exploded through Peter's ribs, and before he could even recover, the spear ca screaming toward him again, carving cracks through the pavent.
Steel screeched.
Sparks erupted.
The road shattered apart.
Peter barely dodged in ti and imdiately felt cold sweat break across his back.
This guy was ridiculously strong.
Usually Peter never stopped talking during fights.
Now he barely dared lose focus for half a second.
His agility, flexibility, and speed suddenly felt almost useless. The warrior's spear and shield perfectly intercepted every route Peter tried to take, like the man could sohow predict his movents ahead of ti.
Even the webbing failed.
Spider silk durable enough to restrain speeding vehicles tore apart instantly against the spear blade.
Boom!
The spear swept across the street, ripping massive chunks of concrete upward.
A split-second later, the shield slamd forward with explosive force, launching shattered pavent like artillery shells.
Peter's expression changed.
Crossing both arms, he unleashed layers of webbing from the enhanced multi-web shooters mounted on his wrists, creating overlapping nets to block the incoming debris.
At the sa ti, he used the tension from the web lines to fling himself sideways.
On the way, he grabbed two nearby civilians and pulled them clear of the battlefield.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The armored warrior tilted his head slightly while watching Spider-Man's rapid movents.
Then he hurled the shield.
The spinning mass scread through the air like a hurricane.
It barely missed Peter.
Even with the spider suit absorbing part of the force, agony still exploded through his waist from the shockwave alone.
Behind him, the shield punched straight through a building wall and vanished into the structure.
"Okay, that is absolutely Ghost-level!"
Peter finally blurted out between breaths.
Unfortunately for him, he completely misunderstood one thing.
The battle had not started when the shield was thrown.
That was rely the beginning.
Dust drifted from the warrior's armor as both hands tightened around the spear shaft.
The rusted blade lowered slightly.
His stance shifted.
Then locked onto Peter.
An indescribable sense of dread flooded Spider-Man's body.
At that exact mont, nearby S.W.O.R.D. sentinel drones began broadcasting ergency warnings.
The spectators who had originally assud this was just so weird cosplay event imdiately scattered in panic.
S.W.O.R.D. alerts carried far more weight than ordinary police sirens.
Peter suddenly felt overwhelming danger crash toward him.
Every hair on his body stood upright.
He fired a web line sideways and launched himself away instantly.
A violent gust ripped past him.
The spot where he had been standing exploded into a massive crater.
The spear thrust forward and retracted in the sa instant.
As the blade moved, it generated a roaring storm that swept outward across the entire street.
The spear's edge cut through steel like paper.
Peter's eyes widened beneath the mask.
What the hell is this thing?
...
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