"Gwen, your homeroom teacher told me you resigned as the President of the Student Council," George Stacy, sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper, called out to Gwen, who was trying to sneak back to her room.
Gwen stuck out her tongue slightly and nodded, "After all, I'm about to enter my senior year of high school soon, and I don't have that much time to deal with Student Council matters."
George put down the newspaper and looked at Gwen, "It's fine as long as you have a plan, I won't interfere much with your school life.
However, you've often disappeared after class recently, neither coming home nor going to a classmate's house.
Where have you been?" His tone was already quite serious.
"What are you doing? This is home, not a police station. Gwen is your daughter, not a criminal you need to interrogate," Mrs. Stacy, standing nearby, complained with a hint of dissatisfaction, giving her husband a side-eye.
George felt the hand on his waist, smiled helplessly, and said, "I'm just worried about Gwen. New York City hasn't been peaceful lately, and you both know about the monster that appeared at Stark Tower."
Gwen's expression shifted slightly, "That incident was known by everyone in New York. A lot of people at school were discussing it, so of course, I know."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Stacy immediately understood the implication in her husband's words, "Didn't they say that was an attack specifically targeting Tony Stark?"
George nodded, his expression troubled and conflicted, "What exactly is the deal with these monsters? I'm not entirely sure. But they've definitely appeared more than once or twice. The monster at Stark Industries Tower only became public knowledge because it was difficult to conceal in plain sight.
During this time, the military and special agent departments have sent a large number of personnel into New York."
Although S.H.I.E.L.D., the US government's special agent departments, and the military always attempt to keep things under wraps, the New York City Police Department can rarely access the exact situation.
The NYPD is, after all, the local authority in New York City. Regardless, major incidents happening in the city cannot be completely hidden from the NYPD.
"In any case, try not to stay out for long periods if there's no urgent matter," George instructed Gwen solemnly.
Gwen nodded, indicating that she understood.
Holy City Hospital.
"So this is the medical pod specifically for treating Bugster Virus patients?" Elena exclaimed in wonder, looking at the new equipment in the underground base.
Dan was showing the impatient Elena the Game Disease Medical Pod.
Li Hua, who was checking on the hospital patients, suddenly received a communication, and asked, "Someone infected with the Bugster Virus found their way to the Hospital."
Elena was startled, "Someone already knows our identity? They came straight to us?"
Li Hua shook her head slightly, "This patient doesn't know who we are; they're only infected with the virus, but it hasn't fully erupted yet.
They just came to the Hospital for a comprehensive health check because they were experiencing physical symptoms, and I detected the Bugster Virus infection with my stethoscope."
Li Hua sighed softly, looking at the rather dejected-looking man in the waiting room.
"So that's how it is," Elena nodded, enlightened.
"Since we have a patient, it's a perfect opportunity to try out the effect of the new medical pod equipment Dan equipped us with."
"Should we notify Gwen to come over?" Li Hua hesitated for a moment, then asked.
"No need. Gwen is still in school, and we just got the high-level Game Gashat.
One Bugster is more than enough to handle!" Elena felt it was completely unnecessary.
"Alright," Li Hua nodded in agreement.
"Mr. Otto Octavius, your condition is a bit unusual. We need to use the hospital's most advanced medical equipment," Li Hua approached the patient and said.
Otto looked slightly embarrassed, "How much will it cost?"
Seeing Otto's expression and his clothes, Li Hua immediately understood, "Our hospital's newly installed medical pod is currently in the testing phase, so you can use it for free.
But please rest assured, there will absolutely be no medical safety incidents."
Otto's expression relaxed, and he nodded. Free of charge was good.
Although as a top nuclear physicist, Otto could be considered brilliant, his current situation was truly difficult.
The artificial sun project, which represented nearly ten years of his hard work, was directly cut by the Osborn Group.
After all, Tony Stark's Arc Reactor was already a very safe and mature product.
Even if Otto's artificial sun succeeded, it wouldn't have much of a competitive advantage against the Arc Reactor.
Furthermore, Otto hadn't even started the real experiment yet; everything still existed only in theory.
Although Otto himself had full confidence, he couldn't claim a hundred percent success rate before the experiment truly succeeded, nor could he convince others.
From a general perspective, the success of the project was still an unknown.
The Osborn Group clearly couldn't continue investing in a project with such an uncertain future.
In fact, because of the generational hereditary disease in the Osborn family, Norman Osborn had invested most of the group's resources into bio-genetic engineering, with all other businesses primarily serving and providing resources for biological engineering.
Since Tony Stark had closed down Stark Industries' weapon manufacturing division, the Osborn Group could completely seize the massive void left in the arms business and achieve huge profits.
There was absolutely no need to invest resources and compete with Tony in the energy sector.
Therefore, Otto's artificial sun project was, naturally, directly abandoned.
If things followed the normal trajectory, Otto should have faded into obscurity.
The underground medical room of the Hospital.
Otto, infected with the Bugster Virus, lay on the medical pod, with the yellow glow of the Bugster Virus intermittently appearing on his body.
The medical pod began to operate, and Otto's body occasionally twitched from the pain of the viral infection.
Li Hua and Elena stood on the side with serious expressions, their Game Gashats ready to be inserted into the Gamer Driver at any moment to transform into Kamen Riders and fight the Bugster Virus.
"Dan, can this medical pod you designed specifically for the Bugster Virus really achieve its intended function—directly separating the Bugster Virus from the patient's body?" Elena asked Dan Kuroto, looking at the struggling and pained Otto.
Dan Kuroto's expression remained calm as he said, "Don't worry, this Medical Resonator is fully capable of drawing out the Bugster Virus.
Afterward, as long as you defeat the monster born from the Bugster Virus, the patient will recover their health."
"Although the underground base of the Hospital is relatively spacious, we can't fight the Bugster here.
We should use the Teleportation Circle to transfer us and the Bugster monster to a more open area," Li Hua said, watching more and more light spots emerge from Otto's body.
"That's right. Aside from directly separating the virus, the most important function of the new medical device is that it can form a Game Area, like a special stage in a game, confining the monster to a specific scene. This prevents the monster from escaping.
Furthermore, battles conducted within the Game Area can maximize the avoidance of destruction and impact on the surrounding environment.
You can also set up buff items in the game scene to boost your speed, strength, and defense," Dan explained.
"It sounds more and more like playing a video game," Elena commented, watching the bright yellow Bugster Virus separating and materializing from Otto's body.
"It's simply about using all available means to harness the power of the Bugster Virus to combat the Bugster Virus that infects humans.
The virus manifests in the world with various game characteristics, and the system I created also utilizes game rules to make the battle more advantageous for you," Dan Kuroto said with a slight smile.
"The Game Area can confine the Bugster monster to a specific region?"
Li Hua's expression shifted when she heard this, "Does that mean we can also activate the Game Area? If we encounter a monster born from a viral outbreak in the future, we can directly trap it with the Game Area.
Then we can prevent the monster from escaping and the patient from failing to be saved."
Elena looked at Dan with anticipation.
Dan shook his head, "The design of the Game Area is still just a concept at this stage, and this is only the first experiment. Currently, it can only be achieved by using the medical pod.
Theoretically, forming a Game Area requires a large amount of Bugster Virus as a foundation. The original plan was to use the Bugster Virus infecting the patient to construct the Game Area.
This could also serve to some extent to weaken the Bugster Virus.
However, if you want to construct your own Game Area, you need to become much stronger, allowing Brave and Snipe to control and utilize more potent viral power."
"So, theoretically, it's completely feasible, as long as the Kamen Riders we transform into are powerful enough.
Then let's use this actual combat to test the viability of this design," Li Hua watched as the Bugster Virus continuously emerging from the patient's body was vaguely forming a human shape, and immediately pressed the button on her Game Gashat.
"Taddle Quest"
A virtual screen with pixelated game graphics appeared behind her.
"But I must also remind you of one thing,"
Dan said with a serious expression, "While the current Game Area can confine the Bugster monster to a certain region, you will also be trapped within the Game Area once you enter. If you can't resolve the Bugster monster..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but both of them naturally understood the implication.
"BangBang Shooting"
"Woah, it sounds just like a gladiatorial arena for the ancient Roman warriors—only the winner gets to leave alive," Elena pressed the button on her Game Gashat and said at the same time.
The continuous surge of Bugster Virus condensing into a human figure seemed to have gained consciousness, roaring and struggling as if wanting to return to Otto's body.
"Use the power of your new Game Gashats to completely draw the virus out of the patient's body," Dan instructed.
Upon hearing this, Elena and Li Hua followed Dan's previous guidance, pressing the Game Gashats to draw the virus away from the medical pod.
[Translator's Note: The Game Area here is not based on the original setting. There have been some modifications.]
(End of Chapter)