CHAPTER 373 ESPIONAGE

CHAPTER 373 ESPIONAGE

I scanned the crowd. The afternoon was packed with people streaming to and from the large skyscrapers around me. I used my Observation Haki to help find potential candidates. It was getting easier to sort through all the emotions of so many people. More natural to understand what ailed them as well.



One girl just started her period and was complaining about cramps, another girl 100 feet away was scared she was pregnant since she was late. One dude was worried about his boyfriend who didn’t say he loved him before he left work earlier in the day. One guy was thinking about his mistress. One girl was wondering why she couldn’t get anyone to look at her. Another guy was worried about a presentation. Another, another, so on, so forth.



I felt like Mel Gibson in What a Woman Wants, but I could read men and women’s minds. It wasn’t always so cut and dry of course. Mostly just emotions, but still I could distinguish many of them. Leading me to eventually deciphering the story of everyone as Rayleigh was able to do.



As I sat there I considered my other powers. I was getting a lot better at Nen. Expelling it out of my body and coating myself in condensed Nen so I could use Armament Haki at the same time. I was positive that the other me still hadn’t figured out that just using the powers wasn’t exactly making him stronger. He relied on chakra too much.

My Timeflow was a power I was trying to incorporate more. Speeding myself up was a cool way to get a little extra done. After I removed the lag weakness I could use it every minute, and the time between uses was becoming shorter.

My Spark was probably my favorite skill. I had practiced with it a lot when I got it at the hospital in Hero World. But I hadn’t needed to heal anyone yet. Talking to women’s bodies was it’s main use since I hadn’t been in too many fights.

Fusion was still a power I didn’t think I had found all the tricks with. I could fuse similar materials together easily. Fuse dissimilar materials as well with a burst of the power, but I could only fuse and unfuse myself to dissimilar materials. I could also morph items a little, like deform a rock. Molding it like clay.



The power was more than just fusing, and though I had been stuck to train with it for 6 months. I still hadn’t figured all the idiosyncrasies out. It was more like sculpting. Making things into what I imagined. I wanted to dig into it more, but for now completing quests was the important aspect. I studied my status screen as I waited.



Name



Weston Walker



Current Quest:



Power cause



World 1:



Marvel



World 1 Quest:



Power cause



World 2:



Invincible



World 2 Quest:



Passive Skills:



Memory Meld



Dead Man Walking



Handicap



Dismiss



Gemini



World Lasting Physique



Active



Summon:



N/A



Pet:



Matatabi - Level 6



Summon



1 Challenger Slot



Forms:



Viltrumite Physiology



2%



Usable Abilities:



Status Screen



Other



3 Challenger Slots



World Escape



Berserker Mode



Nen



Spark*



Bond



Fusion



Timeflow



Bonuses



Major Psychic Resistance



3 Challenger Slots



Body Mod Resistance



Adaptability



Minor Radiation Resistance



Items



Gantz Armor



Stored (29)



1 Challenger Slots



Item Choice



Bonus Copy



(2)



Currency:



USD



$15,995



My current quest was to find what caused my Fusion power. My Viltrumite physiology hadn’t raised yet, but I hoped that the quest or something else would start to raise it. Despite being able to fly I hadn’t found any other cool powers of the form. I still hadn’t decided on what to use the Item Choice on. The last time I had one I used it on a mobile home from DBZ, I would need to make the Item Choice worth it. I still hadn’t figured out who I wanted to use my Bonus Copies on either. I had thought Wolverine, but I wanted to wait. The world was still rather easy. There were plenty of heroes out there, I just had to find them.

I stopped looking at my screen as I noticed someone. Looking behind me he was my height, had my same unruly black hair, and was pretty handsome. He looked just like me. And he happened to be leaving the very place I was looking to enter.

“Well not so much made as found.”

“You found it?” She asked. “Where? How can you expect to sell it if you found it?”

“I didn’t say I found it on this planet,” I said, giving her a smile. “Trust me. No one on this planet has this suit.”

“So what? Now you’re an alien?” She asked. Rolling her eyes as she turned to study the suit. I shrugged and stepped away, letting her play with it.

A computer off to the side I sat down and entered the username and password I noticed earlier. Digging through some files I looked up the shipping company that crashed into my parents car. There was a database with a mention of it but it referenced the replacement for that shipping company. I then dug through to find the routes the shipping methods frequented.

There were dozens of warehouses that were visited throughout the city. Gwen started lifting the centrifuge over her head. More and more confident with the suit. I continued on. Trying to think of other ways I could narrow my search.

Thinking back to the fatal road trip we had left Illinois. Then headed East. I was flown to Philadelphia so we were probably close to New York when the crash occurred. I added in another search for shipping routes that left the city. There were only 5 warehouses that handled that sort of thing.

Writing the addresses down I stuffed them in my pocket as Gwen asked, “What are you doing?”

“Just checking my Facebook,” I said with a smile. I was surprised that I got my answer so easily. Then again Batman did this sort of thing all the time. Since the company used an intranet it was their own problem for not breaking the information up into different areas.

“So what do you think?” I asked. “Think there’s a market for the suit?”

“Hell yeah,” Gwen said. “How much does it cost?”

“Each suit?” I thought back to Mei’s presentation. I was fairly certain she said the equivalent to, “$2,000. If it is mass produced. This one cost about $20,000.”

“$20 grand?” She asked, amazed as she looked to the black sleeves arms.

“Yep,” I said. “And if you go into business with me you can have that one.”

“What?” She asked, doing her best Anne impression.

“If you help me make them, I’ll give you that one. You can join my company and we can be billionaires,” I said.

“I thought you were here to pitch this thing to Oscorp?”

“Eh, I changed my mind. This place is already established. They’re all rich as it is. This suit could make us millionaires, to start. There are plenty of applications for the suit. A leap forward in nano technology for the world and you could be at the ground floor, Gwen.”

“Why are you offering this to me?” She asked, getting a little scared. “You don’t even know me?”

“Ah but I’ve done a lot of research on you, Gwen Stacy,” I said. Leaning against the desk as I took my least threatening pose. My arms crossed I looked her up and down.

Taking off my business jacket I rolled up my sleeves. “As you can see I’m not wearing one of those suits. So there is no reason to be scared. You’re 10 times stronger than me,” I lied. She calmed down a little realizing that the suit gave her a lot of the power.

“I want to go into business with someone that enjoys the science. From what I see, you do.” I began to spitball about what I knew from the comic. “Top of your class. Hired to intern at one of the biggest military contractors in the city. I don’t want some board of directors telling me we should make the suit yellow so people aren’t as scared of it. I literally found the suit. I have no idea how it’s made. I want to work with someone that wants to find out.”

“Why don’t I just steal it?” She asked. “You don’t own it.”

“You could,” I said. “But I have more. You really think you can learn all there is to know by dissecting one? Also I can provide money for equipment. Money for you to quit this place and do your own research.”

“Why?” She asked. “Again, you don’t know me.”

“No, but I’d like to,” I admitted. “This doesn’t intrigue you? Fine. I can find someone else. But you Gwen, I think you could get the answer. You think power suits are the end goal? Hell no, I want to make it so these suits can help people walk again. There are so many applications. I want you to find them-“

I stopped talking as an alarm began to blare. “Fuck,” I mumbled. Assuming I had been caught.

“That’s the contamination alarm,” Gwen said, running out the door. Going the opposite way of the elevator I decided to follow her. No one in sight, we ran into a room and the first thing I noticed was the spider printed on the inner door.

Inside the room was an inner room with glass windows looking into it. Gwen and I ran to the window. Inside was a large glass case with spiderwebs all around it.

“It escaped!” Gwen yelled looking into the case. The inner room had some white fog chemical spraying into it. “Peter’s in there!” She yelled.

I looked down to see a passed out boy in a white lab coat. He was between the glass in front of Gwen and I and the glass of the spiderweb encrusted enclosure.

Gwen moved to the door trying to open it. “The room is spraying poison in there. He could die.”

“What the hells in there?” I asked, trying to hide how upset I was that I missed my opportunity.

“A spider...a very bad spider,” Gwen said. Her black suit veins popping as she tried to pull the door. The doorknob flew off.

“Fuck!” She yelled, kicking the door.

“Step aside,” I said, moving her. Channeling Nen, Haki, and my strength I kicked the door in with a smooth motion. Jumping inside I grabbed Peter and pulled us out of the room. I felt people running closer with my Observation Haki. Since I didn’t want to be caught I pulled him out into a hall and into the office opposite of the spider room.

Gwen was a bundle of nerves as she followed us out. “Oh my god, Peter. Wake up, buddy,” she said as I set him down in front of a desk. When we were safe and out of sight I leaned over him. Searching him with my Observation Haki I was focused on the smallest details. Eventually I found it.

Turning him over I found a small spider still latched onto his neck. I moved to squish it but it let go and it’s legs curled up as if dead. But it’s Spiritual Energy wasn’t that of a dead thing. More sleeping than anything.

Standing up I found a beaker and cork stopper. Scooping the spider up I sealed it away for later. I wasn’t sure if the thing would die or live but having a radioactive spider in my inventory wasn’t that bad. There were plenty of opportunities if I kept it instead of letting it escape like in the movies. I put it in my pocket and moved back to Peter. Feeling a pulse I sensed him with my Spark. His nerves were aflame with excruciating pain. I rubbed my hands together. Sparks shooting out of the tips of my fingers.

“What are you doing?” Gwen asked, stopping her crying to watch.

“Saving him,” I said. “Clear!” I forced the electricity into him but instead of jolts of lightning that would cause pain I forced his body to heal. Telling it to fix the painful parts of him. The pain lessened as Peter’s body jerked up.

“You’re killing him!” Gwen yelled.

“Saving,” I clarified and did it again. Forcing his body to heal another section he shook and began to foam at the mouth. I continued on. Praying I was actually helping.

Turning him over thin spiderwebs of electricity shot from my hands onto his back. He cried out in pain but every second his body healed exponentially, forced to do what I ordered it to.

I studied him. His Spiritual Energy equalized and his lifeforce, though weak, was there.

“I think he’s going to make it,” I said, turning him back around.

“How can you know?”

“I’ve got some super powers,” I admitted. “Now what the hell is this thing?” I pulled the still comatose spider out from behind my back.

“I don’t know. It’s from some old experiment,” Gwen admitted. She began to talk in quick bursts as she breathed heavily. “We were told it killed the last 3 people it bit. It’s been locked away ever since. Peter is a classmate of mine. We intern here. He was assigned to keep an eye on the tank but...”

“Fuck,” I said. Either I really had saved Peter’s life and the spider was useless to me since it could kill me if it bit me, or Peter was special and would have survived anyway. I didn’t know the answer.



Marvel World Quest 4.1:



Escape Oscorp with Peter Parker



Rewards:



Bonus Upgrade



I extended my Haki out. In the hallway in front of the lab the spider was supposed to be in, it was a madhouse. There were guards with guns pointing everywhere.

“Double fuck,” I said. Standing up I looked at Gwen. “Gwen, I need to get out of here and I think I should take your friend with me.”

“What? He needs medical attention,” she said, moving for the door. “Oscorp can-“ I blocked her path.

“Oscorp can suck my left nut. I did not come here today for any noble reasons. Oscorp did something bad to me. Something that didn’t make it to the news. No one even knew about it. Despite what you may think, it is not a good place. You really think that they’ll let your friend go? No, this spider changed him. Trust me, it’s one of my powers, I can tell. They will study him. And keep him under observation. At the least. I know for a fact they would much prefer a wrongful death lawsuit than some survivor saying they keep killer spiders in this place.”

“You can’t be serious,” she said, but her heart wasn’t in it.

“I’ve tried not to lie to you yet,” I said. “I need you to distract the guards while I carry your friend out.”

“Why are you doing this?” She mumbled. Fear and tears in her eyes. “You don’t even know him, or me.”

“I know enough,” I said. “Do it. For your friend.”

She looked down to Peter who appeared to be sleeping. Gwen thought for a long time, biting her lip as her mind played events out. Cursing she nodded. Fixing her hair and clothes she said, “I’ll do my best.”

I nodded. As she stepped out she got a guard's attention and was escorted away. Using my Observation Haki I studied the area outside. Eventually I found the right timing. Throwing Peter’s arm over my shoulder I made myself see the moves people would make.

Studying those in the hall all at once there was an opportunity I just had to find it. As it called to me I stepped out. Someone turning their head I dashed to behind them. 2 people walking out the door I used my Timeflow and dragged Peter along. Dodging this or that view I was 20 paces away and started walking normally. At the elevator I hit the lobby button.

Seconds ticking away I studied everything around us. But I noticed more than a few guards far below on the lobby floor. Getting off on one of the cubicle floors I walked smoothly to a side window. Shooting some Nen at it the window busted and I jumped out. Carrying Peter with me we landed on the ground, no one the wiser as I joined the crowd and tried to figure out where the hell Queens was.