"We're already in the alley, so why are you still being sneaky?"
After saying that, Marcus flicked a few leaves from his hand, sending them flying to nail themselves into the wall. The bricks hit by the leaves began to crack and crumble, which nearly made the gangsters hiding deeper in the alley wet themselves with fear.
This was the first time they'd encountered someone like this—just a few leaves causing the same damage as bullets.
Still, these guys walked out bravely. Marcus had at least ten thousand dollars on him, and that kind of money was too much to give up on.
Soon, the entire alley was surrounded by about a dozen gangsters carrying various weapons.
"The preparation is pretty thorough, but don't you think you're underestimating me a bit?"
Looking at the gangsters around him, Marcus smiled, showing no fear at all. After all, the ones who should be afraid were these thugs. Even the Chitauri army couldn't do anything to him—what could these street punks possibly accomplish?
Marcus's mocking tone was unbearable for the gangsters. No matter how powerful Marcus was, they had numbers on their side. The other guy was just one person.
The gangsters rushed toward Marcus, but in his eyes, a mob was still just a mob.
Marcus casually slapped a thug holding a baseball bat across the face. The guy spun around from the impact and hit the ground with a very rhythmic thud, completely unconscious.
"Even if this is supposed to be a robbery, do you really need this many people to handle one man?"
As he spoke, he kicked the gangster standing in front of him away. Just as he walked deeper into the alley, a black gun was pointed at him by the tattooed guy.
"Hand over all the money you've got on you!" Wild Dog shouted loudly.
With that cash, not only could he live well, but he could also buy weapons to increase his gang's power.
But Marcus looked at him with a completely calm expression, not making any move at all.
"Didn't you hear what Boss Wild Dog said?" the homeless man shouted at Marcus. He wanted to show off in front of Wild Dog, but his words didn't make Marcus pull out any money—instead, he got a look from Marcus that made his blood run cold.
Marcus grabbed Wild Dog's gun hand and squeezed slightly. With a sickening crack, Wild Dog's hand was crushed by Marcus. While Wild Dog screamed, Marcus took the gun and kicked him against the wall.
"What made you think I'd be afraid of this piece of junk? And..." Marcus looked at the homeless man who was so terrified he was about to wet himself, "even if you want revenge, at least find decent equipment. A broken gun—this is what you're counting on?"
The moment he finished speaking, the homeless man also went flying, slamming into the wall.
"You've been watching for so long, why don't you come down and say hello? Little spider."
Marcus had sensed Peter ages ago. The guy was hiding on the rooftop, watching as Marcus dealt with the gangsters.
After Marcus called him out, Peter couldn't hide anymore. He dropped directly from the roof, landing in the classic one-handed spider pose.
"Spider-Man?"
After seeing the red and blue costume, the gangsters were terrified. The biggest reason they'd been having such a hard time lately was this self-proclaimed "good neighbor of New York."
Fear of the spider was growing like crazy in these gangsters' hearts. They'd heard the legends about Spider-Man—the guy who could lift cars. They definitely didn't want to face him.
The remaining gangsters scattered and ran, while Marcus laughed and patted Peter on the shoulder.
"Haha, looks like your reputation isn't bad! I beat them to the ground, but you're the one who scared them off."
Peter had left a good reputation through his crime-fighting, which gave him real influence. But Peter just shrugged his shoulders, bent his legs slightly, jumped onto the wall, and quickly climbed up.
When Peter reached the roof, Marcus was standing there waiting for him.
"Even though those gangsters are afraid of you, it's just because you're strong enough. Come on, let's spar—let me see your progress these past few days."
Marcus waved Peter over with one hand.
Facing Marcus's invitation to fight, Peter didn't immediately get into a fighting stance. Instead, he looked at Marcus seriously.
"Let's go to the east warehouse for our match. It's been abandoned for a long time."
After all, this was a residential area. If they fought here, it wouldn't be good to disturb other people. He was supposed to be New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, after all.
Marcus readily agreed to Peter's suggestion. While fighting here wouldn't necessarily affect the surrounding residents, since Peter wanted to be considerate, he didn't mind accommodating the good-natured Peter.
The two moved quickly and smoothly. It didn't take long before they appeared at the abandoned warehouse Peter had mentioned.
As Peter had said, this place was indeed spacious enough. Most importantly, no one came to this warehouse anymore.
Peter immediately got into a fighting stance. He could test his own training results and also gauge Marcus's strength. He was very curious about what Marcus was really capable of.
"Looks like you're ready, so I won't hold back."
Seeing that Peter had taken his position, Marcus smiled lightly, took a small step, and rushed toward Peter with fluid movement.
Against Peter, Marcus didn't use any special techniques—just the most basic fighting methods. But his skills were so refined that even the most common moves displayed impressive power. Combined with his extraordinary agility, Peter found him very difficult to handle.
Facing Marcus's attacks, Peter's spider-sense seemed to have bad reception, sometimes working and sometimes not...
Marcus's attack pace wasn't fast—he just wanted to see how Peter's fighting skills were developing. In this short exchange, Peter's performance left him speechless.
His attacks were completely disorganized, and he had no idea how to control his strength. There were always various problems in combat. If it weren't for his natural abilities being strong enough, with his amateur-level kung fu, he couldn't even beat random street thugs.
Peter crossed his arms in front of his chest after taking Marcus's side kick, then watched as Marcus stopped.
"Alright, I think I understand what's going on with you."
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