The violent shockwaves from Chen Chen's heavy blows against the ground sent tremors rippling through the auto repair shop. Fine gray dust continuously sifted down from the ceiling.
Clinging to the wall, Spider-Man gasped for breath. Seeing Chen Chen preparing to charge again, he hurriedly called out, "Stop! If we keep fighting here, this place is going to collapse! We can't just destroy someone else's property for no reason!"
Chen Chen paused in surprise. He glanced around at the surroundings, slowed his steps, then laughed.
"What's wrong? Weren't you the one who punched me in here first?" he said. "I thought this was the battlefield you chose."
Spider-Man choked on his words and retorted angrily, "Hmph! I'm actually curious—someone as strong as you, why not do something good? Why insist on committing crimes?"
Chen Chen's expression didn't change."I was acting like a righteous hero—robbing the rich to help the poor."
"Oh really?" Spider-Man eyed him skeptically. "I heard gunshots."
"That wasn't me," Chen Chen shot back. "When did you ever see me carrying a gun?"
In truth, he did have a handgun—but for convenience, it had always been stored in his storage space.
"Uh…" Spider-Man carefully examined him.
After their fight, Chen Chen's clothes were torn and ragged, practically resembling a beggar's outfit. There was clearly nowhere to conceal a firearm. This meant the gunshots Spider-Man had heard couldn't have come from him.
For a moment, Spider-Man didn't know what to say.
Did I beat up the wrong guy? he wondered.
Peter Parker had only recently become Spider-Man. Deep down, he was still an inexperienced, awkward virgin. Realizing he might have made a mistake, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"I'll look into this," he said. "If it turns out to be a misunderstanding, I'll find a way to make it up to you."
Chen Chen stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed.
"If it's all a misunderstanding, then let's just let it go."
At the same time, Chen Chen's body rapidly shrank as he exited his Potential Development state.
It wasn't voluntary.
The biological energy he had accumulated over the past three to four days through constant eating had been completely consumed in just over ten minutes. With it gone, Chen Chen no longer had the means to suppress Spider-Man.
Spider-Man nodded, guilt evident in his voice."Sorry for the trouble. Can I get your address? I'll try to prepare a gift as an apology."
"Of course," Chen Chen replied, giving him the room number of the hotel where he was temporarily staying.
"Great. See you around."
With that, Spider-Man fired webbing from both hands and leapt through the hole in the ceiling. After a few swings, he disappeared into New York's steel jungle.
Chen Chen narrowed his eyes as he watched him leave.
If he had the choice, he would have forcibly kept Spider-Man there—or even devoured and absorbed him.
Unfortunately, at his current level of strength, he still couldn't do anything to Spider-Man. In an open environment full of skyscrapers, Spider-Man could come and go freely, and Chen Chen wouldn't even be able to touch a single hair.
This filled Chen Chen with a growing sense of urgency.
Spider-Man wasn't weak—but in the vast and turbulent Marvel Universe, he was nothing special. If even dealing with Spider-Man was this difficult, it was obvious that Chen Chen still needed to grow much stronger.
That said, tonight's beating wasn't without its benefits.
It had provided him with nearly five thousand energy points.
Sure enough, the stronger the person beating him up, the better the results.
This single fight with Spider-Man had earned Chen Chen more energy than everything he had accumulated before.
In high spirits, Chen Chen found another open fast-food restaurant, devoured five hundred dollars' worth of food, then left under the owner's stunned, monster-like gaze. He returned to his hotel and went to sleep, thoroughly satisfied.
...
Elsewhere—
New York's infamous underworld emperor, Wilson Fisk, was venting his fury!
He smashed the table in front of him with a single punch and roared,"The Black Mamba Bar was destroyed! Over a dozen of my men are dead! I lost assets and personnel worth tens of millions—and you're telling me you don't know who did it?!"
Clearly, the Black Mamba Bar Chen Chen had stormed earlier that night belonged to Kingpin.
Across the table, one of Fisk's subordinates lowered his head, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.
"Boss… we pulled the surveillance footage and cross-referenced every record in the city, but we couldn't find anyone matching that appearance…"
Kingpin slapped him across the face, sending him flying.
"Useless trash! Why do I even keep you around?!"
The rest of the men trembled in fear, holding their breath, not daring to speak.
Seeing their cowardice only fueled Fisk's rage. Just as he was about to explode again, the door was suddenly pushed open.
A man in a black suit with a cold expression walked in.
Seeing him, Fisk's expression softened slightly."Bullseye. Did you find anything?"
Bullseye—Kingpin's top enforcer.
He possessed physical abilities, agility, endurance, speed, and reflexes far beyond normal humans, as well as an innate talent for throwing. Anything in his hands could be turned into a deadly weapon with terrifying accuracy.
His achievements included killing people with playing cards, spitting out his own teeth to pierce skulls, and killing a man by throwing a toothpick through a window from over a hundred meters away.
Bullseye answered respectfully:
"We did find something, Boss. Three blocks away from the Black Mamba, we discovered signs of a fight. After reviewing the surveillance footage, we identified one combatant as Spider-Man. The other was an Asian male."
"Although his facial features don't perfectly match," Bullseye continued, "his body type aligns closely with the individual who attacked the Black Mamba."
He paused, carefully observing Kingpin's expression before adding,"This could be a coincidence. It doesn't definitively prove that this Asian man was responsible. Boss, how would you like to proceed?"
A cruel glint flashed through Kingpin's eyes.
"When has Kingpin ever needed evidence?" he said coldly."Bullseye, bring that Asian man to me. And find out Spider-Man's real identity while you're at it—he's been causing me plenty of trouble lately."
"Yes," Bullseye replied, bowing slightly before leaving.
The answer had been exactly what he expected. As Kingpin said, they weren't police—evidence had never mattered.
Soon enough, Bullseye uncovered the address of the hotel where Chen Chen was staying.
Looking at the location in his hand, Bullseye's lips curled into a cold smile.
"Judging from the footage, this guy isn't ordinary," he muttered."Perfect. Non-ordinary people are my favorite to kill."