Chapter 96: The Lizard Bewitched by a Demon

By the time Hawk and Gwen arrived on the second floor.

The Lizard had already vanished, replaced by Dr. Connors, who had reverted to human form but still bore the irreversible wounds on his chest.

Blood spilled from the corners of Dr. Connors' mouth, yet he managed to squeeze out a smile as he watched Hawk walking toward him.

"Thank you!"

"..."

Hawk did not speak; he simply looked at Dr. Connors and raised an eyebrow.

Gwen, standing to the side, asked with some confusion: "Doctor, why did you want to kill me?"

She could not understand.

If Dr. Connors was doing it because of the Williamsburg Bridge incident, he should have been looking for Spider-Man.

If Dr. Connors was doing it to get blood, he should have been looking for Hawk.

So why was he fixated on her?

Leaning against the wall, his strength completely spent, Dr. Connors chuckled upon hearing Gwen's question.

But as his chest heaved, a flush of red appeared on his pale face, and with a *puff*, he spat out a mouthful of blood, his breathing becoming extremely faint.

Now on the verge of death, about to close his eyes forever, Dr. Connors uttered the final words of his life.

"I don't know either."

"Perhaps..."

"I was bewitched by a demon."

"I am..."

"...sorry!"

"Thump!"

As he finished that sentence with great effort, Dr. Connors closed his eyes for good, his lone left arm dropping to the floor with a crisp sound of impact.

Dr. Connors, dead!

Seeing this, Hawk withdrew his gaze from Dr. Connors' corpse and said to the Spider-Man standing nearby: "Aren't you leaving yet?"

Peter, still in shock that Hawk had taken out Dr. Connors with just one punch, snapped back to reality and looked at Hawk.

"What about you?"

"The person was killed by Spider-Man; what does that have to do with me, Hawk?"

"I'm not Spider-Man."

"Then your spider-web..."

"I'm leaving first."

Peter didn't waste any more words; he turned, shot a strand of web, performed a mid-air twist, punched through the glass window on the ceiling with his toes, and disappeared from the sight of Hawk and Gwen after slipping out through the window.

Just then.

Gwen also reacted, seemingly thinking of something, and exclaimed before pulling Hawk toward the library's surveillance room downstairs.

"No, the surveillance."

"Don't worry, it didn't record anything."

"Ah."

"The spot where I struck was a blind spot; you can only see the Lizard flying backward, but you can't see who made the move."

Hawk explained with a smile as he was pulled downstairs by Gwen.

Perhaps this was fate.

He truly didn't care about being exposed or not; he hadn't known it was a blind spot when he struck—he only realized it afterward.

Then it was none of his business.

Perhaps, just maybe, God felt it wasn't time for him to be exposed yet.

If God existed, that is.

Half an hour later.

The New York Police Department moved the body of Dr. Connors, who had died and gone cold in the library, out of the building.

George Stacy, the captain of the Manhattan 19th Precinct, also arrived at the scene.

"Gwen!"

George stepped out of his car, rushed straight to Gwen, and pulled her into a hug: "Thank God, you're okay."

"Dad."

After breaking free from George's embrace, Gwen glanced at Hawk, then took his right hand and said to George: "It was Hawk who protected me."

George then looked toward Hawk.