Trap

"So, you deliberately lured them into that alley to rob you?"

Spider-Man felt a little dizzy. Were kids these days really this incredible? The little girl nodded without hesitation. "That’s right. I went easy on them. Trash like that should have been killed outright!"

"That’s wrong!" Spider-Man shouted. "It’s wrong to lure people into committing crimes, and robbery is even more wrong!"

The little girl looked at him with disgust. "How old-fashioned. No wonder you’re less popular than Electro. Kids all like Electro, not you!"

"Really? Kids don’t like me anymore?"

Spider-Man felt as if he had taken a critical hit. Then he remembered something and shouted, "Wait, that’s because Electro appeared on a children’s show. Uh, that’s not the point. The point is, you can’t do this. You need to give their things back!"

"Tch!"

The little girl was utterly dismissive. She stuffed the wallet and short baton into her bag, turned, and ran outside. Spider-Man was about to chase her when she yelled, "Help! Spider-Man is bullying a child!"

Spider-Man nearly tripped. This little brat was seriously difficult to handle. Just as he was about to pursue her, a woman’s cry for help suddenly came from the distance. "Help! Someone save me!"

Spider-Man hesitated, then decided to save the person first. Seeing that Spider-Man was no longer chasing her, the little girl snorted and took out the wallet she had just stolen to count the money. When she finished, she sighed. "So little. When will I ever save enough money to find Dad? Maybe I should rob rich people instead. The Osborn Corporation seems pretty popular lately?"

Leaving the little girl’s thoughts aside for now, Spider-Man followed the voice to the entrance of an abandoned warehouse. Inside, two muscular tattooed men were trying to assault a woman.

There was nothing much to say. Spider-Man rushed in and easily knocked the two men to the ground. Then he reached a hand toward the fallen woman. "Ma’am, nights in Hell’s Kitchen are dangerous. You shouldn’t be out alone!"

"Thank you, Spider-Man!"

The woman spoke gratefully as she raised her hand to take Spider-Man’s.

"Huh?" Spider-Man sensed danger and immediately pulled back!

Seeing Spider-Man retreat, the woman clenched her fist. The gemstone on her ring shot out like lightning and struck Spider-Man squarely in the chest. A blinding flash of electricity burst forth. Spider-Man screamed and fell to the ground, his clothes scorched black across the chest. "Spider-Man is nothing special after all!"

The woman sneered disdainfully and got up, intending to kick Spider-Man unconscious. To her surprise, Spider-Man suddenly swept her legs out from under her, then followed up with a kick that sent her flying far away.

Then Spider-Man got back up as if nothing had happened. Looking at his scorched clothes, he sighed. "Another one ruined. Making costumes is such a hassle. Maybe I should just buy Spider-Man merchandise from a store? It’s a little expensive, though, and I don’t get a cut."

At that moment, a group of men in black T-shirts rushed in through the warehouse entrance and completely blocked the doorway.

Spider-Man understood. This was a trap aimed at him. He looked around and found that the warehouse was small, its ceiling low, and it had only one tiny window. There was no way out at all.

"You really picked a good place," Spider-Man said.

A tall, burly man wearing a bullseye mask walked in, cackling strangely. "Of course it’s a good place. I even had people reinforce the walls. Spider-Man, you won’t escape today even if you grow wings!"

"I don’t have wings."

Spider-Man asked curiously, "Hey, buddy, can you really see dressed like that?"

"You’ll find out. Get him! The doctor said to take him alive!"

The tall man, Bullseye, Kingpin’s top enforcer, waved his hand and shouted. The men in black immediately began tearing off their shirts, revealing bodies covered in muscles.

"I keep telling you Enhanced Humans, you don’t need to rip your clothes off. It’s not like you transform," Spider-Man complained.

The Enhanced Humans flew into a rage, tossed aside their clothes, and charged forward with all kinds of weapons. The woman from earlier also climbed to her feet and joined the attack.

"Enhanced Humans are getting cheaper and cheaper these days!"

Spider-Man raised his hand to fire webbing, only to discover that his web-shooter had malfunctioned. He tried several times, but nothing came out. "It was that electric current earlier. Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have bought cheap parts!"

Spider-Man cursed and began brawling with the charging Enhanced Humans!

Spider-Man had always seemed like an agility-based hero, but in truth, he was well-rounded. His strength could even easily catch Winter Soldier’s punches. So, even while surrounded by so many Enhanced Humans, he was not at a disadvantage, trading blows with them evenly. "Thanks to the kind big sister, thanks to the bad-tempered big sister, thanks for beating me up every day!"

As Spider-Man chattered away, he spun around and kicked an Enhanced Human flying. Bullseye stood to the side with a deck of playing cards in hand, coldly watching everything unfold.

After a while, Spider-Man leaped off the ground to evade an attack. Bullseye sharply flicked his wrist, and five playing cards shot toward Spider-Man like blades! Spider-Man was startled and tried his best to dodge, but three specially made cards still sliced his arm and calf!

Spider-Man landed and shouted, "Despicable!"

"Thank you for the compliment!"

Bullseye burst into laughter and kept throwing cards. The other Enhanced Humans intensified their assault as well, and Spider-Man’s situation immediately became extremely perilous.

Just then, several smoke grenades were tossed down through the small window. Thick smoke poured out! "Courting death!"

Enraged that someone had interfered, Bullseye flicked his hand, sending a rapidly spinning playing card toward the small window! He had used a clever technique on the card. The moment it flew outside the window, it curved through the air and shot downward!

A clear scream came from outside. It sounded like a little girl! Spider-Man’s expression changed drastically. Following his memory through the smoke, he charged outside. The Enhanced Humans could not stop him in time because their vision was obscured! Sensing movement, Bullseye sent card after card flying toward Spider-Man. Spider-Man grabbed an Enhanced Human beside him and used him as a shield to block the cards, then shoved him hard toward Bullseye! Bullseye sensed something crashing toward him and kicked out without hesitation. The Enhanced Human was sent flying on impact.

At that moment, Spider-Man rushed over and slammed Bullseye away with his shoulder. Then he quickly dashed out the door and ran to the side.

At the corner of the outer wall, Spider-Man found a little girl in purple lying on the ground in agony. It was the little girl who had committed the robbery earlier. A playing card had struck her in the abdomen, and blood was pouring from the wound!

With an injury like that, any other girl would have already been bawling her eyes out. But the purple-haired little girl did not cry. She covered the wound, scrunched up her little face, gritted her teeth, and endured it stubbornly.

I overestimated myself.

The little girl was full of regret. If she had known, she would not have stepped in to help Spider-Man. She did not want to die. She still had to find her father! At the same time, in a desert somewhere in Texas, a melancholy middle-aged man in a leather jacket riding a Harley Motorcycle suddenly looked up toward New York. He felt it. His daughter had been hurt. His daughter was looking for her father!

"No one can hurt my daughter!"

The melancholy man flew into a rage, turned his motorcycle around, and sped toward New York. Along the way, his fury became impossible to suppress. Raging flames engulfed his entire body, and even the Harley Motorcycle transformed into a blazing war machine! More shocking still, all the flesh and blood on the melancholy man’s body burned away, leaving only stark white bones. He looked like a flaming god of death that had escaped from hell! Outside the warehouse, Spider-Man’s heart ached with guilt at the sight of the little girl. If she had not tried to help him, she would not have been severely injured. That damned bastard was no human at all. He had even attacked a little girl!

"I’ll take you to the hospital right away!"

Spider-Man rushed over, picked up the little girl, and headed for a nearby hospital. At that moment, Bullseye and the others caught up. Seeing Spider-Man trying to escape, Bullseye immediately grabbed nearby objects and hurled them at Spider-Man one after another as concealed weapons.

Spider-Man had Spider-Sense and could dodge Bullseye’s attacks without even looking back. But his movements were too large, tugging at the little girl’s wound and making her let out a muffled groan! This won’t work!

Spider-Man was frantic. Then he thought of a place and was overjoyed. He quickly changed direction and fled toward it, with Bullseye and the others naturally chasing after him! Seeing Spider-Man being pursued through the streets, people cried out in alarm. Quite a few hurriedly called the police. Bullseye grew more anxious, but there was always just that little bit of distance between them. No matter how hard he chased, he could not catch up!

Just then, Spider-Man suddenly stopped outside a teahouse that had not yet closed and shouted, "Madame Gao, help me!"

Spider-Man did not recklessly rush inside, because he knew just how terrifying this teahouse was!

Madame Gao, who had been meditating in the rear courtyard, abruptly opened her eyes when she heard the shout. Moving at a speed utterly unsuited to her age, she darted into the main hall. Seeing Spider-Man, she signaled the attendant to open the door and said, "Come in first."

"Thank you, Madame Gao!"

Spider-Man hurried inside with the little girl in his arms. Madame Gao had him place her on the table and examined her injuries.

"It’s not a major problem. She won’t die."

Madame Gao tapped twice on either side of the girl’s wound. The little girl immediately felt much of the pain lessen and looked at Madame Gao gratefully.

"With such a serious injury, and you still didn’t cry. You’re a good child!"

Madame Gao smiled kindly and pressed lightly with her hand, forcing the playing card out with qi. The little girl let out a muffled groan but held back her scream!

Madame Gao approved even more. She used qi to seal the girl’s wound and stop it from bleeding further.

The little girl looked at Madame Gao in amazement. What kind of ability was this? It was so magical, and it felt so comfortable! At that moment, Bullseye and the others arrived outside. Bullseye was about to rush in when Madame Gao shouted, "It is easy to enter, but difficult to leave!"

"Are you trying to scare me?"

Bullseye was about to sneer when he suddenly saw Madame Gao clearly. Cold sweat instantly drenched him. Without another word, he turned and ran.

As one of Kingpin’s top men, Bullseye had met Madame Gao before. He knew exactly how terrifying this old woman was. In fact, even Kingpin treated her with great respect!

Not to mention that the place where the old woman now stood was Vampire territory!

Bullseye had barely turned around when a large group of people rushed out from the nearby construction site. The leaders radiated an extremely cold aura, moving as though they were flying! "Vampires!"

Bullseye quickly led his people away. This mission had failed, but not entirely. At the very least, they had obtained Spider-Man’s blood! The Vampires were about to pursue them when Madame Gao turned and called out, "Leave them alone. Let them go."

"Yes, Madame Gao!"

The Vampires answered respectfully, then turned and returned to the construction site—they were renovating the headquarters of the Blood God Group. Before long, the Blood God Group’s headquarters would officially be completed!

Seeing Bullseye and the others leave, Spider-Man sighed in relief. Then he remembered the earlier slip and his heart skipped a beat—Peter knew Madame Gao, but Spider-Man did not.

Fortunately, Madame Gao did not seem to notice anything. After stopping the little girl’s bleeding, she said, "Take her to the hospital next door for treatment. You should get treated too."

"Okay!"

Spider-Man nodded first, then remembered something and said awkwardly, "I don’t have any money, and injuries like this require identification."

"No money?"

Madame Gao snorted. "Are you planning to make her pay for it herself?"

The little girl immediately said weakly, "No money. I don’t have money either."

"You clearly have… Uh, you really shouldn’t be the one paying this money!"

Spider-Man was so troubled he almost scratched through his mask. Even a hero could be stumped by a penny! Seeing this, Madame Gao asked, "Why don’t you join the Watchmen Company? If you had a company helping you, you would not need to worry about things like this at all!"

"I just want to be everyone’s friendly neighborhood hero. I don’t want to be a celebrity, and I don’t want to profit from this kind of thing!"

It has been a long time since I saw such a pure child, Madame Gao thought. The little girl, however, cursed, "Idiot. You don’t even know how to make money when it’s right there!"

"You can authorize the Watchmen Company to produce your merchandise," Madame Gao said. "All profits can be used to cover the losses you cause. That way, it will not violate your principles!"

"That can be done? I’ve been annoyed by that merchandise for ages. They don’t give me a share, and they sell it at ridiculous prices."

Spider-Man was delighted. The little girl curled her lip and cursed again, "Idiot."

After thinking for a moment, Madame Gao said, "Forget it. Leave this girl here. I will treat her, and the medical fees will be deducted from your future earnings."

"Thank you, Madame Gao. Cough, thank you, ma’am!"

Spider-Man was overjoyed. Halfway through speaking, he remembered something and hurriedly changed his wording. Madame Gao looked at Spider-Man speechlessly. Did he really think she did not know who he was?

Spider-Man’s scalp tingled beneath Madame Gao’s gaze. He said to the little girl, "I’ll go now. I’ll bring you a gift tomorrow!"

The little girl called after him, "Bring gold as a gift! I don’t want anything else!"

Spider-Man staggered and nearly fell. Where was he supposed to get gold? Besides, who brought gold as a hospital visit gift?

After Spider-Man left, Madame Gao asked the little girl, "What is your name? Do you need me to notify your family?"

"My name is Mindy. Mindy Macready!"

Little Mindy said somewhat dejectedly, "My dad disappeared. There’s no one to notify!"

As Madame Gao felt Mindy’s bones, she asked, "You are a strong girl, Mindy. Have you killed anyone?"

Mindy said proudly, "I’m a Super Hero too. My name is Hit-Girl."

"Hit-Girl? A good name!"

Madame Gao smiled, then said to Mindy, "You have excellent aptitude for martial arts, but there is a problem with your training methods. If you keep training like this, you will become extremely muscular in the future!"

"Muscular?"

Mindy’s eyes widened. Was that a word used to describe girls? Especially a cute girl like her? "This old woman is not lying to you. Do you want to take me as your master? I can teach you real martial arts!"

Madame Gao spoke with a kindly expression. Her greatest pleasure now was teaching disciples, and Mindy was a genius disciple every teacher would want to accept!