Chapter 90: The War of Good People (Part 2)

Although the lizard-man wanted to run away on its own, Peter couldn't just let this monster leave. If it were to rush onto the surface, given this monster's size, New York would definitely be thrown into chaos.

Just as the lizard-man turned to run back, Peter struggled to climb up and crawled quickly along the wall, following this monster.

Peter's sense of direction was quite good. He had wandered in the sewers for so many days that he remembered the routes very clearly. He estimated and discovered that this lizard-man didn't seem to be running around randomly, but was purposefully rushing in one direction.

Where was it going? What was it going to do there? What on earth was going on?

Then Peter remembered that among the biological tissue samples he saw in the maintenance point on the way to the reservoir, there was a lizard's tail. Could this be a monster created by that mad scientist?

The lizard-man ran in front, and Peter chased behind. Perhaps this scientist hadn't figured out the dimensions of the sewers; the monster he created was a bit too large, to the point that it had to lower its head when running. Although the ceiling of New York's sewers was over ten meters high, in some narrower paths, this lizard-man could only move forward while hunched over.

This gave Peter a good opportunity to delay its actions. Taking advantage of the lizard-man's inconvenience, Peter blocked its legs with a web. Who knew this monster seemed to retain some intelligence; it didn't get tripped by the web, but instead curled its body and stepped over it.

Peter tried one trick after another. He wrapped the web around the lizard-man's neck, wanting to use inertia to trip it, but the lizard-man didn't fall for his trick. As soon as it was wrapped by the web, it tugged on that section of the web and threw Spider-Man out again.

This time, Spider-Man also learned to be smart. When landing, he rolled on the ground and stood up directly. He discovered that he was very lacking in experience dealing with such huge monsters. After all, no robber or thief would be four or five meters tall.

Moreover, the lizard-man's most important weapon, besides its claws, was that huge tail. With one sweep of its tail, Peter was directly slapped against the wall. Spider-Man, who hadn't expected this monster to be able to change its moves, took a fierce horizontal sweep.

Fortunately, his stamina was abundant and his recovery ability was strong. Before long, he caught up with the lizard-man again.

Peter discovered that to deal with this monster, he really had to lure it to the surface. Although the sewers were somewhat disadvantageous to such a massive monster, Spider-Man also had no room to maneuver. The entire sewer space was directly filled by this monster, and he couldn't even surround it with webs.

And as the monster's forward direction gradually became clear, Peter discovered that it seemed to be heading for Stark Tower.

Peter understood this point all too well. After he finished exploring the sewers, he would usually take this road to his internship.

Peter couldn't figure out what this monster wanted to do, but he knew he couldn't let this monster rush onto the surface and then run into Stark Tower. Stark was in a very bad state right now; he might still be drunk and not sobered up. If he couldn't pilot the mech, then the hundreds or thousands of employees in this building would be in huge danger.

Just as Peter was thinking, this monster also discovered that moving forward in the sewers wasn't as good as running on the surface. So, it jumped fiercely upward at the nearest manhole.

Without caring at all about the size of the manhole, the lizard-man directly smashed through the road and rushed out. Peter followed closely behind.

Suddenly, a monster emerged from underground, and the road surface was thrown into chaos. Over a dozen cars behind slammed on their brakes, all crashing into each other and emitting violent explosions.

Spider-Man wanted to go over to save people, but seeing that giant monster stepping on cars and running quickly toward Stark Tower, Peter was truly at his wit's end. He pressed the communicator on his wrist and shouted loudly, "Mr. Stark!!!? Mr. Stark!!! Are you there?!! Wake up!! A lizard monster is heading your way!! Wake up!!!"

The communicator had no response. Peter cursed under his breath and then called Steve, saying, "Captain! Come over quickly to organize traffic! A monster ran over! It's on the main road east of Stark Tower. People here need rescue!!"

Just as he wanted to continue calling Schiller, he discovered that the lizard-man in front jumped fiercely and landed directly in the parking lot around Stark Tower.

Peter had to hurry over. His web stuck directly to the glass wall of another building in Stark Tower, and then he swung down quickly, kicking the lizard-man's neck.

This giant monster staggered, but used its tail to maintain balance.

It reached out a hand, wanting to grab Spider-Man, but Stark Industries' tower had a total of five or six buildings, presenting a surrounding structure, which provided the best room for Peter's mobility to be displayed.

Seeing the lizard-man reach out, Peter shot another web, swung directly past its side, and turning his head, used another web to stick to its arm, intending to pull the lizard-man down.

The lizard-man swung its arm fiercely, broke free from the web, and then rushed into the interior of Stark Tower.

The internal structure of Stark Tower was very complex, but because this building was very large, the ceiling height of each floor was also very high, and the lizard-man could move unimpeded inside.

Although Peter's communication hadn't been answered by Stark, Jarvis was at least awake. Hearing that a monster was coming, Jarvis directly activated safety protocols, evacuated most of the employees, and activated all protective measures that could be enabled within the safety measures, which effectively delayed the lizard-man's movements.

However, ultimately, the safety protocols required Stark's personal authorization. Without this safety protocol, many permanently sealed safety doors couldn't be lowered, and many large-scale lethal weapons couldn't be used. Although the lizard-man's pace was slowed, there were still no effective means to deal with it.

Spider-Man also discovered that he seemed to lack some powerful attack means. In the process of chasing the lizard-man inside the building, he knocked the lizard-man down several times and used webs to trip it several times, but this big guy was too durable. Peter landed a few punches, but it only shook its head.

This monster seemed to have superhuman recovery ability. Peter used falling broken glass to cut off a section of its tail, intending to first disable one of its arms. As long as it didn't have a tail, it would be difficult for the lizard-man to maintain balance.

As a result, before Peter could take the next step, the lizard-man's tail grew back quickly.

Peter swung back and forth on the ceiling with webs, wanting to use language to attract the monster's attention so it wouldn't just keep climbing up.

"Hey, big guy! Where did you buy your quick-acting glue? Look here, your spider-daddy is going to give you a fierce kick, just like this!"

Peter swung down quickly again, intending to kick the lizard-man in the chest. As a result, this lizard-man learned to be smart. As soon as Peter swung over, it dodged to the side, grabbed Peter's foot, spun him around a few times, and then threw Peter out directly.

Peter knocked over a pile of desks and then flew out along the floor-to-ceiling glass window.

Fortunately, he rolled in mid-air, a web stuck to the wall, and he swung back from another broken window on the other side, then kicked the lizard-man in the back.

Although Peter had learned quite a few combat techniques from Steve, right now he was only a little better than throwing wild punches. He had learned to use webs to increase his mobility, and then use gravity and inertia to strengthen his power.

This tactic couldn't completely subdue the lizard-man, but it could indeed effectively slow its pace. After all, Peter's power was great enough that with one kick, the lizard-man had to stagger, and with another punch, this monster would be confused for quite a while.

The two ran and chased, advancing floor by floor. Under mutual interference, the lizard-man finally climbed to the high floors of Stark Tower. Spider-Man shouted helplessly, "Jarvis, how much longer for Mr. Stark? Can you hurry up?"

"I am initiating emergency awakening measures..."

"What emergency awak..."

Before Peter could finish, a earth-shattering loud noise came from inside Stark Tower.

It was a rock music player with a volume of at least over a hundred decibels. The huge sound waves knocked both Spider-Man and the lizard-man over.

"Is this the emergency awakening measure you were talking about?!!! Couldn't you just get him some headphones?!!! This is simply indiscriminate attack!!!!" Peter shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voice was directly drowned out by the huge music.

Jarvis also turned up his own volume and said, "Mr. Stark hates noise very much!!!! This can effectively sober him up!!!"

Just as Jarvis finished speaking, a mech flew directly into the interior from a hole in the window. Stark was also shouting at the top of his lungs, "Enough!!!! Turn it off!!! I'm already awake!!!"

When the music ended, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the lizard-man all felt their heads buzzing.

Spider-Man hadn't recovered from the tinnitus yet. He was still shouting at the top of his lungs, "Jarvis!!! I have to say!!! This is your most effective weapon!!!!"

Stark didn't have the time to talk trash; after all, this was his own house being demolished. He directly performed a maximum-power sprint and rammed the lizard-man out of Stark Tower head-on.

The floor here wasn't low. If it fell, unless the lizard could grow wings, it would definitely be smashed into meat paste.

But this monster seemed to have decent balance. In mid-air, it flicked its tail, gave Stark's mech a hit, and then rolled and hung onto the edge of the window. It used its arm strength to jump up again, and then jumped forward directly back to the center of the battlefield.

Stark seemed to have just sobered up, his brain still not very clear. After being swiped by the lizard-man, it took him a long time to climb up.

Spider-Man kept harassing the lizard-man on the side. Stark connected to Spider-Man's communication and began to formulate a combat plan.

"Listen, we'll drive it to the roof, and then I'll use another mech to sneak attack and knock it off the roof. It shouldn't have flight capability, right?"

"No, if it did, it wouldn't be here anymore. However, its super-speed recovery is a trouble. Perhaps even if it falls, it won't die."

"But it definitely won't have mobility."

No sooner said than done, Peter and Stark wove back and forth. Both of their movements were very flexible. Stark also controlled the internal firepower of Stark Tower, cooperating with his palm cannons, chasing the lizard-man all the way to the roof.

On the roof, Stark stood at the edge of the building, firing shells at the lizard-man non-stop. The lizard-man didn't care at all about Spider-Man, who was harassing it non-stop on the side, and rushed toward Stark head-on.

Stark pretended to reveal a flaw and lowered his flight altitude. The lizard-man indeed jumped up and hugged Iron Man's mech. Iron Man directly used inertia to carry it and rushed off the roof, and the two began to fall together.

Originally, Stark wanted to bait it, and after it jumped to the edge, use another mech to knock it away. But as a result, this monster's movements were too fast, and it grabbed the mech Stark was piloting in one go.

This lizard-man's power was very great, and the mech soon began to smoke. Stark shouted inside, "Jarvis! Discharge!"

"Sir, you cannot discharge now. Once the mech is scrapped, at such a high altitude, you will be smashed to death."

The two fell quickly, and the whistling wind sounded in Stark's ears. Stark said, "Discharge immediately! Scrap the mech! Eject me! Someone will catch me!"

Jarvis was silent for a second, and the entire mech began to erupt with violent electric light. The pain of the lizard-man being electrocuted made it let go directly. The mech exploded amidst a burst of electric light, the cockpit was ejected, and Stark directly detached physically, falling together in mid-air.

Rather than saying this altitude was too high, it was better to say that the time of the fall at this altitude saved Stark's life. A web swung over, and Spider-Man directly caught Stark, who was falling.

Soon, the wreckage of the exploded mech and the lizard-man fell to the ground together.

Amidst the flying dust, Spider-Man put Stark down. It was truly a hair's breadth away just now. Falling from such a high altitude, if he had truly hit the ground, even God couldn't have saved him.

Soon, the dust from the landing and the smoke from the explosion dissipated. That giant monster landed in a pit. Its limbs seemed to be completely broken, and its internal organs should have also turned into a lump of paste.

But its superhuman recovery ability was still constantly exerting its effect. Within a few breaths, the twisted bones were gradually returning to their normal positions. Spider-Man said, "God! It can even recover from this! This is already completely a medical miracle, right??"

Stark narrowed his eyes and said, "This is indeed a medical miracle..."

"We have to subdue it quickly. If we wait for it to recover, that would be terrible."

Saying this, Spider-Man was about to walk forward. Another mech flew in mid-air. After Stark armed himself, he stopped him and said, "This kind of self-healing ability consumes energy. Its energy should be running out soon. Let's see its true face."

Stark seemed to be implying something. Spider-Man was somewhat confused. What was the lizard-man's true face? A big lizard?

Peter said, "A few days ago, I discovered someone conducting experiments in the sewers. This monster must be the product of his experiments. We'll capture it, and then we have to find that mastermind behind the scenes."

Peter was explaining to Stark how he discovered those traces from the sewers and then encountered this monster. He glanced into the pit and discovered that the monster's size seemed to be constantly shrinking. In just this short while, it had already shrunk to about the size of a normal person.

Then the green color on its body and the unique characteristics of a lizard began to fade. Peter gradually widened his eyes. He saw that lying in that big pit was a middle-aged man with graying hair.

"Dr. Connors!"

Peter was simply shocked beyond measure. He even stammered directly: "How could it be... How could he? What happened to him? How could this monster be Dr. Connors????"

"I just said this ability of super-speed recovery looked familiar." Stark raised his faceplate. He walked into the pit, and Peter followed behind him.

Peter said somewhat incoherently: "There might be some misunderstanding... Was he framed? How could he be a monster? Dr. Connors is a very good teacher. He helped me a lot. I..."

Stark appeared somewhat silent. The face under his faceplate was very haggard, just like someone who had just woken up from a hangover.

The man lying on the ground moved. Peter couldn't care about much else and hurried forward to support him.

Fortunately, although the lizard-man had fallen from such a high floor, the super-speed recovery ability allowed the wounds on his body to basically recover by the time he turned back into a human.

Dr. Connors turned over by his own strength. His head was covered in blood, and his entire clothes were almost soaked in blood. He turned his head to look at Stark, his voice low and saying, "I was only a little bit away... only a little bit away, cough, and I could have judged you, this devil..."

Stark didn't mock his enemy as he had in the past. He looked at Connors silently.

Peter couldn't accept the situation before him at all. He said somewhat brokenly: "What on earth is going on??? What is going on with you two? Dr. Connors, why... there must be some misunderstanding here, right?"

"Peter, Peter Parker." Dr. Connors closed his eyes, his tone full of exhaustion, "Spider-Man, you ruined..."

He stopped, not knowing if he didn't have the strength to continue, or didn't want to continue.

"Yes, I am Peter... Doctor, can you tell me what on earth is going on?"

Connors' physical strength seemed to be completely exhausted. A frail researcher no longer even had the strength to sit up.

He lay in the center of that big pit, his voice dry and saying, "I told you this story before, but you didn't seem to listen carefully..."

"I was a captain, once followed a combat unit to participate in the war. Although I was only a military doctor, I persisted for a full sixty-three hours in the area where the artillery fire was most intense..."

"For this, I lost an arm and almost all my comrades..."

"We followed their orders, held our ground and didn't retreat. Of the 32-man squad, only 6 survived. I lost an arm, and others lost their legs, but we all came back alive..."

"Compensation... oh, yes... of course there was compensation. They checked our bodies, let us stay in the hospital for a period of time, and then gave us a sum of money, and then, there was no then..."

"No one cares about what difficulties you will have continuing to live as a disabled person. No one cares about the predicament of not even being able to open a can after paying the price of an arm..."

"And even less will anyone care about the sympathetic looks others give you, or the impatient attitude they show when you can't pick things up..."

"I just wanted to change all this, just wanted to change all this..."

Peter felt somewhat suffocated. Complex emotions surged in his chest. He took off his mask and began to breathe heavily.

His eye sockets were red. He said, "You already changed all this! We were almost successful at the time. That recovery serum was indeed effective..."

"Yes, just a little bit... I also thought it was just a little bit, but later I discovered that this little bit might be a high wall that can never be crossed..."

Dr. Connors' throat moved more and more slowly. He said, "We were driven away like rats. No one cares how much change this research could bring to the dregs at the bottom of society..."

"Even if I had succeeded just one minute earlier, I still would have been driven out."

He turned his head, his somewhat dull eyes looking at Stark. He said, "Driven out by these devils who only care about private interests and profits..."

"It's not like that, it's not like that!" Peter knelt halfway beside him. He said, "There's a misunderstanding here, I think I can..."

Peter's voice stopped abruptly. He took a deep breath, then covered his face. His breathing began to tremble uncontrollably. When he discovered that Dr. Connors was beginning to gradually lose consciousness, he truly broke down.

"No, wait... Dr. Connors! Dr. Connors! Hold on a little longer, we will save you..."

Peter didn't even know how he said such words. Clearly, ten minutes ago, he had been wishing he could immediately eliminate this monster.

Now the matter was already very clear. Stark was under pressure from the military, he terminated the medical technology R&D collaboration with the military, making the super-speed recovery serum project Dr. Connors was conducting unable to be completed.

Therefore, he turned into a giant lizard monster, wanting to come and take revenge on Stark.

Peter suddenly thought, since this lizard monster was Dr. Connors, then was the stronghold he destroyed at the time the location where Dr. Connors was conducting his final research?

Was it because he destroyed that stronghold that the serum failed? Was that what made Dr. Connors become such a monster?

A sense of suffocation engulfed Peter. Why did it happen like this? Why did it happen like this? He clearly just wanted to do good deeds!

This feeling of extreme helplessness was a pain Peter had never experienced before.

Clearly, Dr. Connors was a good person. He and his comrades had sacrificed for the country. After receiving unfair treatment, he still actively participated in scientific research, wanting to improve the lives of these people through his intelligence.

But Mr. Stark was also a good person. The error of terminating the medical project collaboration wasn't entirely his fault. He defeated this lizard monster and saved other people in New York.

Peter felt that he himself was also a good person. He clearly made a disposition at the first opportunity when he saw some possible dangerous situations.

But now, Dr. Connors was lying in the big pit, covered in blood, life or death unknown. Stark was standing there silently. He seemed to treat all this as a punishment for facing his crimes, suffering greatly for it.

Peter felt huge pain, even more painful than when that sharp blade cut through his chest.

The teacher who taught him carefully on his academic path, and the predecessor who provided him with a battle suit and protection and taught him various knowledge—the two of them were at daggers drawn.

Peter didn't know who to help. It was like a double-edged sword, held by him, stabbing into their chests at the same time. Tears had almost soaked the collar of his spider suit.

Peter stood up. What he faced was another sunset. In a trance, he remembered the words Schiller told him: there was no black here, nor was there white, only a lump of hazy gray fog that couldn't be seen clearly.

The true face of this world was just like this. He couldn't stand on the side of justice forever as he had thought.

Now he finally understood that the most pathetic thing in this world wasn't good people being defeated by bad people, but good people being defeated by good people.

This war between good people had no winner. ===== CHAPTER 91 =====