Chapter 2732

The next day, Natasha came again, still asking questions that Beck didn't know how to answer. The female agent pressed him step by step, and Beck felt he was about to go crazy.

Then came more long and boring psychological therapy, which was nothing more than filling out forms and answering questions. Schiller said some chicken soup for the soul that could be found online anywhere, which completely failed to solve any of Beck's problems and also wasted a lot of his time.

At the same time, Beck could feel that the so-called healing potion was taking effect in his body; his arm and chest didn't hurt as much anymore, but likewise, the side effects were gradually appearing, and he always felt weak and powerless.

He couldn't eat well, couldn't sleep well, and was facing immense mental pressure. In just a few days, Beck had become very weak, pale, with limp limbs, and even his speech was listless.

But more than the physical weakness, what made him feel worse was his mental state. During the day, he had to face the agent's interrogations, and at night, it was hard to get a good night's sleep. He kept having nightmares, dreaming that someone was chasing him, causing him to die and wake up in a fright repeatedly. All this pain was converted into irritability and anger, pushing his mental state to the breaking point.

Finally, five days after being rescued, Beck couldn't take it anymore.

After five days of treatment, the wounds on his body had mostly healed, at least he could move. Although he was still weak and powerless due to the drug's side effects, getting out of bed was no problem.

So, on the night of the fifth day, Beck snuck out of bed and dug his phone out from the cabinet nearby. He opened the phone, only to find that his account had been updating his recovery progress, mostly reporting to netizens that he was safe and that everything was fine.

These damn agents, he wasn't fine at all! Beck gritted his teeth inwardly, but he knew now wasn't the time to dwell on this. He found the indoor signal wasn't very good, so he went to the balcony to find a signal for his phone.

He was currently at the Manhattan campus of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and outside was the brightly lit Upper West Side of New York. Beck held his phone, shaking it back and forth, staring intently at the screen, wanting to find that moment of full signal to call Sophia.

But just then, a light lit up on the skyline. He turned his head to look, and house after house was lit up, a blurry and hazy behemoth speeding across the street.

Beck put down his phone and walked to the railing to look out, only to discover that the massive storm was actually composed of sand, and it had been chasing a small black shadow in front.

The sand kept changing shape, one moment turning into a terrifying tornado, the next sprouting two fists to attack the black shadow, while that black shadow swung flexibly between the buildings, occasionally even counterattacking the sand monster.

Beck desperately wanted to know what was going on, but this damn phone just had no signal. Suddenly, he heard a noise from inside the room, and Schiller shouted from inside: "Beck, Beck, where are you?"

Beck had no choice but to clench his phone, walk back from the balcony, and say: "Right here."

"What are you doing running out in the middle of the night?" Schiller asked with some suspicion.

"I couldn't sleep, went out for some air." Beck sat back on the bed, pretending nothing had happened, threw himself hard onto the pillow, and pulled the quilt over his face.

Schiller had no choice but to shake his head and say: "This is the 8th floor, you'd better not think about jumping down. Of course, if you do jump, I'll be relieved."

Beck suddenly threw off the quilt again and glared at him. The anger surging in his chest made him unable to endure it any longer. He looked at Schiller with cold eyes and said: "Is this how you act as a doctor? Instigating a patient to commit suicide?"

"I didn't instigate anything." Schiller sighed and said: "I'm just stating a fact. Why would I give up earning millions of dollars an hour in consultation fees to waste time here with you?"

"Because I'm a patient, and you're a doctor!"

"You're not sick." Schiller turned his head, hands in his pajamas' pockets, and said: "All the test results show you have no mental illness. I said it before, I'm just a trinket for S. H. I. E. L. D. to embody humanitarian spirit. I don't expect you to say anything good about me, but you'd better not cause trouble either."

Beck took a deep breath. He certainly wanted to curse Schiller out, but thinking about what he had to do later, he endured it and said: "I won't cause you trouble, and you don't cause me trouble. We can reach such an agreement, right?"

Schiller lay back on his own bed and said: "That's right, exactly. It's best if you can figure that out."

Beck also lay back on his bed, and there was no more talk for the night.

The next morning, taking advantage of Schiller's absence, Beck opened his phone. He found that the signal had improved this time. Just as he was about to try calling Sophia, he found that his app had pushed a news item to him.

"Mysterious criminal Sandstorm appears in Manhattan, New York. The new generation of Spider-Man turns the tide. Will he be the new superhero superstar?"

Seeing the keyword "superhero," Beck immediately clicked on the news. The first thing he saw was a huge poster with the ferocious sandstorm monster in the back, and the small black shadow in front swinging down on a spider web, the Manhattan night sky in the background exceptionally bright.

Beck looked closely and realized that this Spider-Man's suit was different from the previous one; it was no longer red and blue, but black and red—or to be precise, black, but with red and blue reflections, adding an extra layer of coolness and technological feel compared to the previous Spider-Man suit.

The following photos also introduced that this suit had many functions, even capable of extending octopus-like supports from the back. The editor speculated that this might be another masterpiece of the Stark Group.

Everyone knew that Spider-Man and the Stark Group had a close relationship; after all, Spider-Man and Iron Man were good friends, and Spider-Man occasionally appeared with some of Iron Man's equipment.

And this time, this Spider-Man was clearly different from the previous one in both physique and style, so some speculated that Spider-Man might have always been a star promoted by the Stark Group, and all his abilities and equipment came from the Stark Group.

Beck also frowned. He agreed with this speculation; after all, he did the same thing himself. He knew how much economic benefit a superhero with star effect could bring. When he first formed the Mysterio project team, it was also to use the social influence of Mysterio after becoming famous to earn money to pay off his debts.

Beck felt an unprecedented sense of tension.

As everyone knows, the entertainment industry updates and iterates faster than any other circle. It can be said that one is a farmer in the morning and ascends to the emperor's hall in the evening; one is a nobody in the morning, and by evening, they are famous because of some inexplicable thing.

This is even more so in the self-media industry. People can become famous for all sorts of strange reasons, but they can also be forgotten very quickly.

Mysterio was indeed a phenomenal hit back then. After all, showing his face in front of people all over the world could be said to have made him a world-class superstar overnight. But unfortunately, just like a star, maintaining popularity requires exposure.

Although a flash in the pan can better prove that Mysterio does not seek fame and fortune, there is no doubt that his popularity is continuously declining, and it is a cliff-like drop. Although only five days have passed, he is nowhere to be found on the headlines and hot searches of major software.

Replacing him is the new generation of Spider-Man. Spider-Man was originally a very famous superhero. After all, he filmed superhero documentaries and entered the Disney Hall of Fame. His image is widely known all over the world.

This time, the change of Spider-Man also made people speculate whether something happened to the previous Spider-Man. The current mainstream speculation is that the actor of the previous Spider-Man fell out with the Stark Group, so the Stark Group took back his abilities and equipment, preparing to promote a newcomer.

This replacement method further illustrates that Spider-Man is a star promoted by the Stark Group. But people don't care. There are still many people chasing the craze of Spider-Man, squatting at various places in New York to take cool photos of him. "Encountering Spider-Man" has become a popular keyword, hanging on the hot search for three days.

This made Beck's sense of crisis explode. He went to great lengths to let Mysterio show his face so big. If the popularity goes down now, or if Spider-Man replaces him, wouldn't he have worked in vain?

No, he can't wait any longer. He must contact Sophia immediately. He has to move tonight.

Calculating the time, Schiller should have more than an hour before he returns. Beck took his phone and walked to the balcony to start making the call.

Sophia's voice on the phone was full of worry. She said S. H. I. E. L. D. had almost found their secret base. Fortunately, Sophia herself activated the special effects equipment to divert their attention. Then she said some things about Spider-Man being popular, and finally, they decided that Sophia would find a way to get Beck out tonight.

But considering the severity of social death, Beck felt he should not confront S. H. I. E. L. D. head-on, so they would arrange and perform at night and return before morning.

So now there is only one problem left, and that is how to get out at night. After all, he and Schiller are in the same room now. If he runs out, the doctor will definitely call the agents if he doesn't see anyone at night.

At this time, Sophia came up with an idea. She could get some sedative drugs and find a way to give them to Beck. As long as Beck puts the medicine in Schiller's water, he will sleep very soundly at night.

Beck really had no other choice. The two agreed that Sophia would make some noise at the hospital entrance that night, find a way to sneak into the hospital, find the ward where Beck was, and bring the medicine to him.

Things went very smoothly. Sophia seemed to use special effects devices to create the illusion of a monster invasion at the entrance, successfully arrived downstairs from Beck, and used a drone to bring Beck medicine and equipment.

The next evening, Beck put the sleeping pills in Schiller's tea. Sure enough, the doctor went to bed early tonight. As soon as it got dark, Beck put on his equipment and flew out the door on a drone.

Arriving at the base, he hugged everyone. Sophia had tears in her eyes and said: "It's great that you're back. We were all panicked during the days you were away. What should we do next? Continue directing the elemental invasion?"

"No rush." Beck said hatefully: "Since Stark wants to promote Spider-Man, let's compete with him. He is nothing more than using my technology to create monsters, then I have a way to use the stage he built to perform my own play."

The Chinese scientist next to him brought two videotapes. After playing them, everyone watched together. Beck looked at the sandstorm that was almost identical to the elemental creatures he created, and curled his lips with some disdain.

"Still the same old trick." Beck said disdainfully: "It seems that the Stark Group can't solve the problem of materialization either, and can only make this kind of specious fluid state."

Sophia nodded and said: "This technical bottleneck is not so easy to break through. But what do you think happened with the mechanical invasion back then? Those robots had physical bodies."

"But they were weak and vulnerable." Beck didn't take it to heart at all. He said: "I think it might just be a mechanical model, not much different from our technology. It's probably an attempt by the Stark team. I said that without me, those two idiots Peter and Borrent couldn't make anything good."

"But I heard that Tony Stark is the best mechanical engineer in the world." Sophia said with some worry.

"So what? Didn't he still follow my old path?" Beck said: "This shows that he has no innovation ability at all. I will let him see what real illusion is."

After speaking, Beck flicked his cloak, walked towards the door, and said: "Prepare the drone, I want to let that kid called Spider-Man see what a real superhero is!"