Chapter 5034

Selina could see the same shock in those spider compound eyes. The other party seemed equally confused—how could there be a person at twenty-two stories up? Normally he moved freely along the building's walls, never encountering anyone like himself. Even if it were a Superman with the same color scheme, he'd usually just be floating in midair. He came around from the other side of the wall, and upon seeing Selina, he must have been so startled his soul nearly flew out of his body.

Seeing the even greater bewilderment in those large eyes, Selina almost laughed out loud. But she cleared her throat, then waved her hand and said: "Get lost, don't interfere with my work."

"You… what are you doing here?" Spider-Man asked.

He knew Selina, knew she was his girlfriend from another universe, but since he didn't know the other Catwomen, he had no idea what Selina actually did for a living. Though he could see the muscles on her limbs, suddenly seeing her hanging in midair caused his already slow-thinking mind to completely freeze.

"I came to observe Stark Group's interview," Selina said calmly, "there's a friend of mine among the interviewees, I was worried he'd get nervous and forget his lines, so I came to check. How did you end up here?"

"I'm on patrol," Spider-Man said, "I'm responsible for security in this area."

"You've already started fighting Iron Man, and they still won't reassign you?" Selina asked, somewhat puzzled.

"This place is relatively safe," Spider-Man replied, "it's the safest area in all of Advance York. If I went elsewhere, I might not be able to handle it."

"You'd better change locations then," Selina kindly warned, "with Stark Group running into trouble, the security situation here will definitely deteriorate. I know you don't shy away from difficulties, but if you can't cope, things could get even worse."

Selina certainly couldn't say that Hydra would definitely be targeting this place hard. Though this universe's Hydra was weak, this universe's Spider-Man wasn't exactly strong either. Hydra, after all, has strength in numbers, and besides, there might be others watching this place—Spider-Man coming here is basically just delivering himself as prey.

"Things getting worse?" Spider-Man pondered, then said, "I'll report to headquarters—they can send reinforcements, but I still need to keep patrolling."

"Go ahead," Selina waved her hand, continuing to stare intently into the window. Spider-Man quickly crawled away, but as he walked, he began to feel something was off.

Generally speaking, even if a friend was interviewing inside, one wouldn't hang outside the twenty-second floor to watch, right? It's not easy to get up there—ordinary people don't have this kind of equipment. Could Selina have previously worked as a high-rise window cleaner?

Unable to figure it out, Spider-Man stopped thinking and continued patrolling, swinging back and forth between buildings, soon spotting some suspicious individuals. These people wore tight clothing and strange masks. Spider-Man wanted to follow them to see what they were up to, but they were highly alert and vanished in just a few moves.

Spider-Man's greatest strength is being receptive to advice—once he realized he couldn't handle the situation, he immediately messaged headquarters. However, Natasha had taken nearly all the agents, along with a large group of superheroes, to the cathedral for drills.

Carter had no choice but to tell Spider-Man not to act rashly, to monitor the surroundings and report promptly. But this Spider-Man isn't a surveillance expert—he can watch this spot, but not that one. After a busy afternoon, he got no useful information, at least wearing himself out in the process.

Selina hung outside the office, watching the interview—sure enough, Pepper soon noticed something was off. These interviewees didn't look like office workers, but before she could investigate further, she was called away by a phone call.

Although the remaining people also had doubts, it was clear they just wanted to quickly resolve the staffing shortage. After eliminating the most suspicious few, several Hydra agents remained. Selina breathed a sigh of relief.

The wall Selina was hanging from was actually the back of Stark Group's building. Since the front faced the main thoroughfare, hanging there would be too conspicuous—if a passerby reported it, police might come to arrest her, so she deliberately chose the back alley.

If she were being precise, she should now climb up, since the upper floors are definitely empty and she wouldn't be noticed—but the back alley is quieter, with no one on the ground, and Selina wanted to conserve energy, so she simply descended, planning to walk from the ground.

She descended all the way to around the seventh or eighth floor, lowered her head, and saw Pepper actually leading a few people out through the back door. Selina instantly had a bad premonition and hurriedly grabbed the rope to climb back up.

Before she could climb a few steps, several figures suddenly emerged from the back alley and charged toward Pepper. Selina redoubled her efforts, climbing the wall at the fastest speed she'd ever managed in her life.

She had already made them out—these assassins were the talons of the Owl Court. She needed to flee the scene immediately, otherwise when the Revival Alliance arrived, they'd likely take her along too.

No wonder they say Catwoman is experienced. Just as she used every ounce of strength to climb to the rooftop in a few seconds, Wonder Woman's figure appeared on the skyline. Selina lay on the rooftop, gasping heavily, watching Wonder Woman chase off in one direction toward the back alley.

Selina rested on the rooftop for a while, walked to another direction of the terrace, and continued looking down. Wonder Woman had already taken down the talons. She had just furrowed her brow when she saw another black shadow appear at the street corner.

Bang!

At the instant the gunshot rang out, everyone scattered in panic. Pepper clutched her chest and collapsed. Selina, however, locked onto the shooter—if she wasn't mistaken, it should be an assassin from the Assassin's League.

As expected, the restless criminal organizations had long had their eyes on Stark Group. Hydra was slow to react—possibly because they'd never clashed with other villains before, and in their heavy losses, they were barely coping on their own. But the Owl Court and the Assassin's League? Their response wasn't slow at all—they wanted to completely eliminate Stark Group.

While Selina was pondering the extent of Pepper's injury, she suddenly heard the rooftop door creak open. She startled, quickly flipped to the outside of the wall where she was hanging, and soon heard a heavy tread of footsteps.

She cautiously poked half her head out and saw a black-and-yellow figure. Selina suddenly understood—of course, the world's number one mercenary, Deathstroke, wouldn't miss such a big job. Many on Wall Street wanted Stark Group to fail.

But the ironic part is, everyone trying to destroy Stark Group is targeting Pepper Potts, not Iron Man. No one knows whether they think Iron Man is already finished, or whether they know that without Pepper, Iron Man will inevitably run the group into the ground—either way, all the assassins are aiming for Pepper.

Selina watched helplessly as Deathstroke set up his sniper rifle. But she noticed the bullets he loaded were anything but ordinary, and she felt a hesitation.

Though she isn't a superhero, she also never wanted Pepper to really die. But now the problem is, if she jumps up, she might not be able to beat Deathstroke—their weight classes are too far apart, she hasn't brought any heavy weapons, her odds of winning are truly low, and she might end up getting herself killed in the process.

So she simply descended from the other side toward the ground, lowering herself while calling the Revival Alliance to report her position. Counter-sniping is still relatively simple—as long as she doesn't appear in the enemy's line of sight.

Who would've thought—before Selina even reached the ground, the gun fired. This shot was louder; she didn't see whether it hit Pepper, but soon saw Wonder Woman flying someone toward the hospital.

Selina let out a helpless sigh, landed on the ground, and retracted her grappling hook. Just as she was about to call Bruce, she looked up and saw Iron Man streak across the sky, flying into Stark Tower.

She had thought he'd come upon hearing Pepper was under attack, to rescue her—but instead, Iron Man's flight was wobbly and uneven, as if his mech had malfunctioned. Could it be that Bruce had intervened?

"Hey? What's wrong with Iron Man?" Selina asked.

"His armor's operating system was hacked by Brainiac," Bruce said.

"How did he end up facing off against Iron Man?"

"He wants an improved version of the Despair Virus," Bruce said, "don't forget—earlier, the kind of Despair Virus that made fish stronger could also make other animals bigger and better. Brainiac has always wanted to develop livestock farming, but lacks the technology—he definitely wants to trade with Iron Man."

"This Iron Man probably won't trade with him," Selina sighed, "the white can just keeps puffing away, not moving, firing in reverse. It's hard to imagine how they'd communicate rationally—more likely, the white can will threaten Brainiac again to help him carry out his evil pyramid scheme."

"And Brainiac isn't exactly a pushover either," Bruce continued, "he just disguises himself as a human, but he's actually an evil robot. Besides, Iron Man's symbiotic battle armor is damaged, leaving only these mechanical suits, which Brainiac naturally counters—he's probably doomed."

Bruce sounded like he was lamenting Iron Man's fate, but Selina knew him well. Brainiac is, after all, an electronic lifeform—he has no research on bacteria or viruses, and it was absolutely Bruce who urged him to work on the Despair Virus.

"How's your side going?" Bruce asked.

"Hydra has infiltrated Stark Group, but they're obviously still too mild. The Owl Court, the Assassin's League, and Deathstroke have already acted—Pepper should currently be undergoing emergency treatment."

"Next up is Luthor," Bruce's voice turned colder, "this guy is simply beyond help—lost an eye, and still wants to frame Spider-Man…"

"Wait," Selina said, "he wants to frame Spider-Man?"

"He's always wanted to frame Spider-Man," Bruce said, "for some reason, he dislikes Spider-Man more than Superman."

"But Spider-Man has spider-sense, so he shouldn't…" Selina paused for a moment, but she also knew spider-sense isn't infallible. For an inexperienced Spider-Man, there are still far too many dangers.

"Don't worry, someone will take care of Luthor," Bruce said, "he won't be able to jump around for much longer."