Time passed.
Hospital.
Ye Li held a fruit knife and was peeling an apple.
The left bed was Stark's, the right bed was Strange's.
Being placed in the same ward, at least they had company...
Stark only had a mild concussion and just needed some rest.
However, his palladium poisoning was detected, and not long ago, Pepper scolded him harshly...
Strange was in a worse state—his left and right hands were both crippled.
Now, he had a miserable expression, full of regret, and cursed angrily, "That damn guy! I'm going to sue him! He should be in jail for life!"
Tony originally wanted to complain about Ye Li messing with them, but seeing Stephen in such a miserable state, he changed his words to comforting him instead.
Without comparison, there's no pain, right...
"Think positively."
Ye Li handed them the peeled apple...skin. "Want some?"
"Get lost!" x2
Two voices full of grief and anger!
"Nurse! Nurse!"
"Get this guy out of here!"
…..
Click~
Ye Li bit into his apple while listening to the continuous messages coming in...
Oh, don't misunderstand, they weren't for Stark and Strange, but rather—
Jessica: [...Brother! I saw the news!...]
Gwen: [...Li, there was a terrorist attack at the Monaco F1 race. Are you okay?...]
Felicia: [...Master~ do you need me to take care of you~...]
Skye: [...I looked it up, the attacker's name is Ivan Vanko, he...]
Cindy: [...I saw you spelling letters on the track! So cool!...]
Etc., etc.
Seeing Ye Li sitting there, leisurely munching on his apple, while his phone kept playing the sweet voices of girls.
Tony was so annoyed he wanted to snatch the apple from Ye Li's hand. "Are you kidding me! We're the injured ones here! Give it to me! Give it to me!"
"Don't rush, Tony, have this instead."
Ye Li pulled out a banana and stuffed it into Tony's mouth.
"Hey! At least peel it first!"
Stark spat out the banana. "I'm a patient, can you be a little gentler?"
"Don't say such girly things, Tony."
Saying that—
Ye Li noticed Strange had gone silent on the right-side bed, so he handed him a parchment map. "Don't be so down, Stephen. A lady gave me this."
"A lady?"
Stark always found the crucial points, interjecting, "So while we were injured, you had another encounter with a beauty?"
"I wish."
Ye Li: "But she specifically asked me to pass this to Stephen."
"What is this?"
Stephen tried to unfold the map using his mouth, but after failing, he called out, "Nurse...!"
"Alright, I'll help you."
Ye Li reached out and unfolded the map for him—on it, a location in Nepal was circled.
Stephen was puzzled. "What does this mean?"
At this point, he hadn't yet started seeking treatment for his hands, so he wasn't in complete despair.
"Magic, Stephen."
Ye Li advised, "When you run out of options, you can try it. But don't come bothering me when the time comes, find your own way."
Strange: ??
He was even more confused.
"Hey, Li, I have something for you too."
"Don't ask too much, just take it."
Tony pulled out two pieces of paper and handed them to Ye Li. "Give the other one to Black Spider... people say you're in contact with him."
Ye Li took the two papers and saw a string of zeros on them.
"Wow~ Two checks, looks like Mr. Stark wants to leave me some inheritance."
"Alright, Tony."
"I originally didn't want to get involved."
"But you're so slow, I can't stand it anymore."
Ye Li put away the two checks and started explaining, "Listen to me, don't interrupt..."
"The new element that can cure your palladium poisoning is inside the city model your father left behind..."
"Don't ask me how I know."
"Get the information from S.H.I.E.L.D."
It was all just a matter of a few words.
Since these two friends were in such a miserable state, he decided to just tell them outright.
"A new element?"
Tony grew more and more shocked as he listened and couldn't help but ask Ye Li, "How do you know this!?"
'...Didn't I just say not to ask?'
Ye Li casually brushed it off. "Cindy's spider-sense is strong, sometimes she can glimpse fragments of the future."
"'Silk' Cindy Moon?!"
Tony immediately wrote another check and stuffed it into Ye Li's hands, his expression serious. "Give this to that girl! Make sure to thank her for me!"
"..."
Leaving the hospital ward.
Ye Li looked at the three extra checks in his pocket, silent...
Money just keeps chasing after him.
…..
Some time later.
"Help! Save me!"
"No! No!"
Women were crying and wailing as they were forcefully shoved into a cargo container by several gang members.
"Heh heh! Shut up! Each of you is worth a thousand bucks."
A gang leader held a bucket in his hand, threatening the women, "So, if you shut up, I'll give you a bucket. If you don't shut up…"
He picked up an electric baton in his other hand, switched it on, and blue sparks crackled at the tip—his threat couldn't be more obvious...
"Ahhh—!"
Terrified, the women screamed again, and as expected, they were rewarded with a round of electric shocks—
"No, don't!"
"Please don't! I beg you!"
"Cry as much as you want."
The gang leader spread his arms wide, looking down at the collapsed women in the container with arrogance. "Go on, scream louder, scream all you want, no one here cares."
The gang leader didn't notice that, right behind him on top of the cargo container, a figure in a dark red bodysuit was silently crouching...
"Ugh!"
Boom!
As Matt leaped down, his fist slammed into the gang leader's chin, and the battle between Daredevil and the gang members began.
Gunshots occasionally rang out, but with Daredevil's heightened senses, they were completely ineffective. These gang members stood no chance against a superhero...
In the distance.
Ye Li sat on a cargo container, quietly watching the fight, with no intention of interfering.
'Coming to Hell's Kitchen to watch Gwen and the others fight crime'—this was his new form of entertainment lately, kind of like watching a live-action movie.
But today, he happened to run into Daredevil, so he stopped to watch the show for a bit.
And thanks to the Knight Spider Suit's signal-blocking ability, Murdock hadn't noticed him at all.
…..
Matt's performance was decent.
Ye Li got bored watching and looked for another distraction. He opened the Chaoyang News Channel—
[Yesterday's News]
[...An unidentified object fell in New Mexico... According to witnesses, it seems to be a hammer...]
[Today's News]
[...Hammer Industries showcased Iron Soldiers at the Stark Expo... Due to unknown reasons, they lost control and are now fighting against 'Iron Man' Tony Stark...]
[Tomorrow's News...]
Beep—
A call came in.
The system suit had a built-in communication feature, so Ye Li answered directly: "Hello."
"Li~"
It was Cindy, the poor little thing.
Her distinctive soft voice came through the phone: "Why did you suddenly send me so much money? Are you trying to keep me as a sugar baby~?"
Ye Li: "Ah... originally, this money had nothing to do with you, but now, it does..."
Cindy: "Oh~ so that's what it means, huh... But... I don't really need this much money, I should just send it back..."
Ye Li: "Just keep it. Whether it's with you or with me, it's the same."
"Really~"
Hearing Ye Li say this, Cindy felt sweet inside and continued chatting with him for a while~
Finally, the call ended.
Buzzzz~~
Spider-sense.
Ye Li calmly flicked his trench coat.
He floated backward a short distance.
Immediately after, a grenade exploded where he had just been standing.
Boom!
Ratatatatata—!!
At the same time, the roar of heavy machine-gun fire rained from above—but the target wasn't him.
Ye Li looked up and saw—
"Iron Man" Stark was flying ahead, while "War Machine" Rhodey, controlled by someone else, was chasing him from behind.
Several Iron Soldier robots were also in pursuit—the grenade just now had been fired by one of them at random.
Ye Li focused his mind, pulling down the rogue robot and blasting it with a "Dragon Explosion," reducing it to ashes~.
"Tsk~ They've fought all the way from the Flushing Expo to Hell's Kitchen, almost hitting me."
After taking down the careless robot—
He didn't intervene further. Seeing that Daredevil had noticed the commotion, he quietly disappeared into the night.
…..
Iron Man circled around with the enemies in tow and then flew back toward the Expo—
Rhodey: [Tony! Good news!]
Tony: [What good news could there possibly be? Did you break free from the control? I doubt it—otherwise, you wouldn't still be shooting at me.]
Rhodey squinted: [Yes, I'm still chasing you to teach you a lesson~ But one of the Iron Soldiers just suddenly fell.]
Tony scoffed: [Oh, with Hammer's equipment quality, I wouldn't be surprised if Ivan Vanko's robots malfunction.]
Rhodey: [No, it looked like it was pulled down.]
Tony dodged a few more grenades from the enemies: [So, what are you trying to say?]
Rhodey: [Maybe a superhero is helping us. It could be 'Ghost Spider' or 'Silk'—they're capable of it.]
Tony: [Oh, come on, at this time, they're probably having fun with Li.]
Rhodey: [?...]
...
Ye Li appeared again.
This time, in a dark alley.
Tap~
A figure casually walked out of the alley, as the Black Knight Spider suit receded like a tide, gathering around his wrist.
This scene looked like Venom, but the suit wasn't alive—it was more like nanotechnology.
Ye Li turned the corner onto the street, planning to wander around a bit more before heading home to sleep.
As he passed a spiral-stair building—
He heard a series of gunshots coming from inside.
His heightened senses instantly identified the weapons—a shotgun, a revolver, and a submachine gun...
Bang—!
Bang—!
Bang—!
Ratatatat!
Bang—...
'No surprise, it's the New York slums.'
'It really is a shootout every day~'
He was just thinking this as he walked away.
But suddenly, his senses detected—
A beautiful woman, dressed like a detective, hurriedly slipped into the building...
??
'What's she up to?'
That familiar black-haired, delicate face... Ye Li recognized her instantly—it was his dear sister.
'Do amateur detectives have to go straight to crime scenes now?'
He stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at the old building...
He wasn't too worried about Jessica.
But it was still better to check it out...
"Eh..."
Just then, a girl in a hurry bumped into his chest. She was holding two bottles of drinks, which were about to fall—
Pa.
Ye Li caught the drinks and handed them back to the girl while sizing her up—
The girl looked quite young, about five or six years younger than Jessica and her soon-to-graduate friends.
She had a slender figure, but her delicate and pretty face bore red marks and some bruises. There were traces of blood on her nose and the corner of her lips that hadn't been wiped clean.
It looked like she had just been beaten up...
Judging from her outfit, she wore a black choker with a silver sun pendant that had a human face design.
She had a black, slightly laced inner top, layered with a white mesh shirt, and wore a green jacket over it.
Underneath her shorts, she had on white patterned tights with comic-style designs...
"..."
'This looks really familiar...'
Ye Li was searching his memory.
The girl took her drink and spoke with a soft, slightly husky voice, "Sorry... thank you..."
She lifted her face, seeming a little shy as she looked at the handsome adult man before her. Carefully, she asked, "Excuse me... did you hear the gunshots just now? Did they come from this building?"
Bang—!
Before Ye Li could respond, another gunshot rang out from inside the building. That answered the question for him. "..."
The gunshot startled the girl, making her tremble slightly. She quickened her pace and rushed into the old building.
Ye Li followed her at a steady pace, making her glance back at him nervously. "What are you trying to do?"
"Going inside."
Ye Li passed the girl and entered the building, intending to find out where Jessica had disappeared to. As he walked, he casually asked her, "What's your name?"
"Mathilda..."
Mathilda clutched her drink, her gaze carrying a hint of timidity...
…..
Wu~~
A silver sedan came to a stop in front of Hammer Industries' research department. Happy and Natasha quickly got out of the car.
"Stay in the car."
"I'm not staying in the car. Hey... what are you wearing?"
Happy was stunned to see Natasha in her full 'Black Widow' S.H.I.E.L.D. agent attire...
bierdeng——bierdeng——
With the blaring of alarms.
The two of them stormed in.
Black Widow rushed through the corridor, effortlessly taking down every guard she encountered—they were no match for her.
Meanwhile, Happy got entangled in a brawl with a Hammer Industries security guard, engaging in a rather clumsy fistfight—
[Rocky-style fight music playing]
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom!
"Oh!"
"Oh oh!"
Both were equally weak, fighting like rookies pecking at each other.
In the end, Happy secured victory using his ultimate move—the "ear bite."
"Hah..."
Happy, smiling and out of breath, looked down at the fallen guard and nodded, "Hah... Hah... Ye was right... You can't be restricted by just techniques..."
'Mathilda?'
Ye Li finally remembered.
He was wondering why she looked so familiar... But wait, isn't this the Marvel Universe? How is another movie world crossing over into it?
Although compared to the Marvel Universe, the gunfights in Léon: The Professional were child's play.
But Ye Li felt this was a sign—if "Mathilda" could randomly appear, then who knows what other strange and bizarre things he might encounter in the future...
"Mathilda, brother. Why are you two together?"
Jessica swung herself over the handrail of the spiral staircase and landed in front of them.
"Jessica, be careful..."
Mathilda reminded Jessica to be cautious, then suddenly realized something and looked at Ye Li in surprise. "Brother? You're Jessica's brother?"
"You two know each other?"
Ye Li turned his questioning gaze to his sister.