"Does it even matter if we watch it to the end or not?"
Bruce spoke these words quite calmly to the Creator.
The Creator, however, stretched out his neck and brought his face closer to Bruce's, trying to glean something from him. But soon, he withdrew.
Because the bat standing before him showed no reaction whatsoever—remaining just as calm as before. Even using his perception abilities, he couldn't detect any acceleration in Bruce's heartbeat or blood flow.
"Then you must already know what we're going to do next."
The Creator no longer focused his gaze on Bruce. He retracted his extended body and turned back toward the rows of computer screens.
Bruce said nothing and simply turned to leave.
"Oh, by the way, there are some areas here that aren't exactly safe. Be careful," the Creator suddenly called out to Bruce before falling silent once more.
Bruce didn't pause his steps and directly exited the Creator's control room.
"Such a troublesome guy," the Creator commented, even while busily handling the multitude of matters before him, not forgetting to continue chatting with the still-present Conqueror Kang.
"Why else would we make him our ally?" Conqueror Kang didn't seem to mind at all. She slowly floated behind the Creator, watching as he issued dazzling commands to the screens.
"For the Ultimate Team, knowing that Captain America is in our hands would definitely make them hunt us down. But knowing that the Bat is with us..."
Conqueror Kang didn't finish her sentence, but the Creator already understood what she meant.
Walking through Alpha One, Bruce's surroundings were filled entirely with machinery and technology. There were very few living beings here; all the work was carried out by robots.
"To be honest, I don't understand why they pulled you into this," a slightly flippant voice echoed in Bruce's ears, though no one appeared in sight.
Bruce didn't respond to the voice; he simply walked forward silently, as if wandering aimlessly through Alpha One.
"Honestly, in this world, there aren't many people who make me feel any danger. You're one of them. But no matter how I look at you, you're just a regular human."
The owner of the voice finally lost patience. He appeared before Bruce—Pietro, dressed in a silver-white battle suit, stood firmly in front of him.
"I thought up a thousand ways to kill you just now. But every time I tried to get close, I felt like I'd be the one dead the next second," Pietro said, resting his chin on his hand and curiously observing Bruce. As the fastest person in this world, Pietro had already studied this Bat.
Initially, once he learned that the Bat was just a normal human relying on technology to fight crime, Pietro lost interest. After all, what waves could an ordinary man really stir?
Bruce still didn't answer Pietro. He simply continued walking forward silently, even sidestepping to avoid Pietro.
"If I went to your place now and killed those two little girls, what do you think would happen?"
Maybe it was to provoke the Bat into speaking—or maybe just to irritate him—that Pietro said this as he watched Bruce slowly walking away.
Bruce still didn't respond, but his pace slightly slowed.
Pietro was just about to say something—perhaps to mock him further—but before he could open his mouth, he swallowed his words.
"When did this happen?"
Pietro didn't dare to move. At some point, his surroundings had been filled with razor-sharp transparent spider silk.
Just the slightest movement, and the silk had already sliced through his battle suit and cut into his flesh.
The webs had completely trapped him.
If he tried to activate his speed ability, he would be instantly shredded into pieces.
All he could do was quietly watch Bruce disappear down the corridor.
"Don't mess with that Bat. He's extremely dangerous," Conqueror Kang's voice finally drifted over at that moment; she had witnessed everything.
But to Conqueror Kang, such matters were trivial. Only one thing truly mattered.
Conqueror Kang slowly approached the spider silk. She extended a hand to touch it, only to feel a sharp sting—the silk could actually cut through her battle suit and harm her.
"What a terrifying Bat."
Conqueror Kang wrapped Pietro in a protective force field with her abilities.
"You can leave now. Don't provoke the Bat again."
Pietro tentatively stepped forward. Sure enough, the silk still tried to block him, but this time he wasn't harmed, protected by Kang's shield.
Activating his speed, he dismantled all the webs in an instant.
"This stuff's really something," Pietro muttered, now understanding how potent the silk was.
"Don't even think about it. He's not going to leave you any weapons," Conqueror Kang said.
Although she hadn't interacted much with Bruce, based on the information they had, this Bat would never leave behind anything that could be used against him.
As Kang said, the silk in Pietro's hand slowly vanished.
"What...??"
Pietro couldn't help but wonder whether the Bat actually had superpowers.
The way the silk disappeared was practically supernatural.
Pietro was certain that if he hadn't removed the webs himself, they would have continued to trap him here until he died.
"Sometimes, when technology reaches a certain point, it feels like magic, doesn't it?"
Conqueror Kang didn't mind such things. She slowly walked back to her original position. They were going to quietly wait for the Ultimate Team to come to them.
"Go back to your position, Pietro."
Hearing Kang's parting words, Pietro clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
He had always harbored considerable hostility toward that Bat who joined them later.
Maybe because, aside from the Bat, the three of them had all made mistakes in the past.
But for now, Pietro dared not act recklessly. He obeyed Kang's orders and quickly vanished into the corridor.
Meanwhile, Bruce, who had already left long ago, now stood still, looking out the corridor window, observing the outside world.
After quietly admiring the cityscape for a while, Bruce squinted against the sunlight and moved away from the window.
Watching Bruce's departing figure from the control room, the Creator simply chuckled and continued handling his affairs.
"Herbitron Fleet No. 42, proceed to Saudi Arabia for security deployment."
"Herbitron Environmental Engineering Team No. 4, increase the antibacterial fluid output rate to 300%. The Ganges will be purified within an hour. After that, you'll be responsible for the tributaries in the European region."
"Hobbitron Squad 63,042, prepare for compound invasion. Not a single poppy is to be spared. Herbitron Mining Team No. 1224, increase extraction output by 8%."
Suddenly, the voice of the Creator, who had been issuing commands, fell silent.
"Susan, you can come out now. My perception abilities have greatly improved."
The Creator spoke her name without even turning around. After Conqueror Kang had left, he had already sensed someone entering his control room, but he hadn't taken it seriously.
"Monica sent me to persuade you, but I told her it would be a complete waste of time."Susan's figure slowly appeared above the control room.
Her invisibility powers allowed her to infiltrate anywhere in the world with ease, and her force fields enabled her to hover effortlessly in the air.
"I told her we had gone our separate ways a long time ago. Even before you turned into... this, you already made my skin crawl. But that's not why I'm here."Susan slowly descended, landing behind the Creator, gazing at the figure who was now a shadow of his former self.
"I came to tell you that I'm not afraid of you anymore. You're just a child—a bullied child trying every possible way to become a bully yourself. Your story is just too clichéd."At this moment, a force field began to slowly gather in Susan's hand as she prepared to attack.
"Besides, I happen to know your physiological structure better than anyone else on Earth. So enough talk—I'm going to beat you to a pulp!"
"Wait."
The Creator stopped her just as she was about to attack. Instead, he summoned a computer screen and displayed it in front of Susan.
"Are you really sure you want to attack me? Strictly speaking, we are now the true heirs of America, aren't we?"
On the screen was Bruce, wandering inside Alpha One.
"That's impossible!"
Susan hadn't expected Bruce to appear here at all. Judging by his demeanor, it was clear he hadn't been coerced—he had come to Alpha One of his own free will.
"Susan, strictly speaking, I'm not even alive anymore. I survive in a vacuum. I don't need to eat or expel waste. My vascular system no longer even exists. What can you possibly do to me?"
While Susan's mind was distracted by the footage, the Creator suddenly extended his body, countless arms striking toward Susan.
But Susan, a battle-hardened member of the Fantastic Four, immediately activated her protective force field in the shortest time possible.
She wasn't alone, either.
"Hey, boss!"A figure bathed in a glow of energy strode in.
Though he no longer had his signature rocky exterior, that familiar face was instantly recognized by the Creator.
"Benjamin Grimm, my 'dear friend.'"
The Creator emphasized the words "dear friend" with unmistakable sarcasm and bitterness.
Using special technology, Ben Grimm had compressed all his cosmic energy to its utmost limits, resulting in his current appearance—although this state wouldn't last long.
He didn't waste any time. Charging forward, he landed a heavy punch directly on the Creator's face.
While the Creator battled Susan and Ben, another figure had already stealthily infiltrated Alpha One.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Hawkeye had made his way to Captain America's prison cell. His mission now was to break Captain America out.
Captain America was in a pitiful state—bound tightly by iron chains, his face covered in blood.
"Hang on, Steve. I'm getting you out of here."
"Clint?"Captain America, recognizing Hawkeye's voice, tried to respond.
"Just hold on a little longer, Steve."
"I'm sorry, Clint."
"You don't need to apologize, Captain. You only did what you—"
Before Hawkeye could finish comforting him, the chained figure before him suddenly began to dissipate, along with the chains clattering to the floor.
"WTF!"Clint was stunned by the scene unfolding before him.
The next moment, he had no time to think—because a figure appeared right before him: Conqueror Kang.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Alpha One, Bruce had reached a large, sealed door.
He placed his hand on the door, attempting to hack into it while carefully avoiding triggering Alpha One's alarms.
And he succeeded.
The door opened.
But what lay beyond it surprised Bruce—it was the Negative Zone.
The very Negative Zone that had troubled the Creator for so long. Yet now, the Creator had transformed it into a massive prison for criminals.
Bruce didn't step inside. Instead, he closed the door, turned around, and erased all traces of his presence there.
He knew the Creator had never truly trusted him.
But even the smartest individuals sometimes make mistakes. The Creator was now entirely focused on the power struggle within Alpha One and the battle against Conqueror Kang—not to mention Pietro, who was currently attempting to retrieve the seventh Infinity Stone.
All these distractions had loosened the Creator's control over Bruce. Right now, his main priorities were gathering the Infinity Stones and eliminating the Ultimate Squad.
Inside the prison of the Negative Zone, Captain America sat in a state of despair.
Watching a Herbitron robot slowly approach him, he realized it was mealtime again.
However, this time, the electronic display on the approaching Herbitron didn't show a simple emoji—it displayed the image of a bat.
(End of Chapter)
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