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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones. or 500 Collections
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Adrian Toomes originally operated a discarded items recycling company in New York.
About two years ago, after the earth-shattering New York War ended, Adrian Toomes, believing his opportunity had arrived, exhausted all his assets and successfully obtained official authorization from the government to recycle the chitauri scrap left behind by the Chitauri Legion.
However, just as Adrian Toomes was full of ambition, intending to make a fortune by studying these alien technologies, he was unexpectedly interrupted by the federal government and Tony Stark's Stark Industries forming a special department—Damage Control—which unilaterally tore up his recycling contract, despite him having exhausted all his assets to obtain it.
When he received the eviction notice, Adrian Toomes stood there blankly, his eyes hollow, as if all hope had instantly vanished from his life.
And it was the kind that couldn't be salvaged...
His company went bankrupt because of it.
He personally was saddled with huge loans he couldn't repay!
It was from that day on that Adrian Toomes began to hate Tony Stark and the entire Avengers.
So, during the subsequent material handover process, he secretly hid all the chitauri scrap that had already been recycled.
He then convinced several of his subordinates, who had always worked with him, to form a new team, specializing in developing high-tech weapons using chitauri scrap, and then selling them privately to gang members or thugs to earn huge sums of money.
After a period of research, they finally made some progress, and the weapons they sold privately were extremely popular.
However, their supply of chitauri scrap quickly ran out.
So Adrian Toomes began to eye the Damage Control transport convoys.
Of course, if he were to directly rob the Damage Control warehouse, even if he had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare.
Although the high-tech weapons they developed had fierce firepower, it depended on who they were facing.
If they went up against the Avengers, no matter how many weapons they had, it would be useless; Adrian Toomes was well aware of this.
So he set his sights on the Damage Control convoys transporting chitauri scrap.
After all, compared to robbing a heavily guarded warehouse, robbing a convoy was simpler, safer, and more convenient.
"OK, Mason, I see the convoy. Attempting to approach the last vehicle!"
The helmet Adrian Toomes wore had night vision capabilities. From the outside, his eyes glowed with a ghostly green light, like a chilling phantom lurking in the darkness.
He controlled his Mechanical Wings, flying swiftly towards the convoy, like a raptor hidden in the night.
At a height of about ten meters above the convoy below, Adrian Toomes skillfully operated the two turbine power fans embedded in the central area of his two massive Mechanical Wings to rotate in reverse.
"Whoosh—"
The two circular turbine power fans spun rapidly in reverse, emitting a sharp whistle, and the powerful airflow impacted the surrounding air, causing Adrian Toomes to hover steadily above the carriage.
"Swish swish—"
Adrian Toomes controlled his Mechanical Wings to launch two magnetic grappling hooks from both sides, which firmly attached to the container with a soft "clank" sound.
After successfully stabilizing himself with the grappling hooks, Adrian Toomes slowly descended. Once he reached a safe distance, he pulled out four square, thumb-sized blue Phase Emitters from his Pregnant and lightly tossed them onto the roof of the carriage below.
The magnetic devices on the four Phase Emitters caused them to firmly adhere to the carriage body, then they began to flash with purple light and emit a faint "sizzling" electric sound.
Immediately after, the four Phase Emitters linked together, collectively creating a rectangular purple energy field in the enclosed area.
This energy field had the property of altering the surface of covered objects, allowing them to be directly penetrated.
"Ready to enter."
Seeing this, Adrian Toomes's eyes under his helmet gleamed with excitement. He spoke into the communicator, then decisively pressed the button to separate the Mechanical Wings from himself. With a "click," the Mechanical Wings disconnected from the simple exoskeleton device he was wearing.
Adrian Toomes leaped, his figure falling straight into the carriage below like a meteor.
"The convoy hasn't sent out a distress signal." Phineas Mason reported nervously, his eyes fixed on the signal detector, beads of sweat constantly forming on his forehead. "You can continue the operation."
A moment later, Adrian Toomes's slightly joyful voice sounded again from the communicator, "Mason, it looks like there are a lot of good things here!"
He began to rummage through the carriage, his eyes filled with greed.
A few minutes later, he leaped out of the carriage, carrying a bag full of chitauri energy stones.
The Mechanical Wings exoskeleton flight suit Adrian Toomes wore, in addition to the Mechanical Wings that provided him with flight capability, also included a simple human limb exoskeleton armor that could be used separately from the Mechanical Wings, designed to enhance the user's physical abilities.
Among them, the foot area featured a claw-like gripping structure, typically used for lifting heavy cargo, but also providing the user with additional jumping assistance.
"Hey, big bird, those things don't belong to you."
Just as Adrian Toomes was retracting the four Phase Emitters, then leaping to reconnect with the Mechanical Wings hovering in mid-air, and preparing to use the same method to steal all the energy crystals from the other two trucks, Gwen's figure, like a fairy in the night, suddenly swung in from the side on a web.
Whoosh—
Gwen shot a web from her wrist, accurately hitting the bag full of chitauri energy stones Adrian Toomes was carrying, then pulled it back forcefully. Adrian Toomes felt a strong pull, and he instinctively tightened his grip on the bag, but it was still easily yanked away by her.
"Damn it, how does she have so much strength?"
"I suppose you're Vulture Adrian Toomes, the one secretly selling high-tech weapons to thugs in Queens?" Gwen asked with a cold voice.
"Damn it, Spider-Woman... wait a minute, how do you know my real name?"
Adrian Toomes was not a fool; almost as soon as Gwen spoke his real name, he realized that something must have happened to the subordinates he sent out to sell weapons.
However, at this moment, with his mind clouded by greed, he wasn't prepared to give up those readily available chitauri energy stones... Or rather, for himself to avoid prison, and for his family, who had grown accustomed to a lavish life, to continue enjoying and squandering.
Adrian Toomes wasn't going to let this little bug, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to meddle, get away.
So, after deciding to 'give it a try,' Adrian Toomes first retracted the two magnetic grappling hooks fixed to the top of the carriage, then glared fiercely at Gwen, threatening hysterically:
"Spider-Woman, I advise you not to meddle. These things originally belonged to me. I was the one who first obtained the contract to recycle this chitauri scrap back then, but Damage Control...
No, it should be said that Stark Industries used their connections to play dirty behind the scenes, not only unilaterally tearing up the previous contract but also forcibly snatching this job from my hands."
"And, they didn't compensate me for any of my losses, which directly led to my company's bankruptcy and closure, and I ended up with huge debts because of it. My family almost ended up on the streets!"
He waved his arms as he spoke, his emotions reaching a fever pitch.
"I'm just taking back some of what was originally mine from that 'thief' Tony Stark."
"So, if you know what's good for you, quickly return that bag to me. I can pretend you were never here, otherwise... don't blame me for being impolite!"
Adrian Toomes's voice was filled with anger and resentment. However, Gwen was not impressed by his words. Her eyes firm, she shot two webs from her wrists, firmly sticking the bag full of chitauri energy stones to the carriage.
Then, in an unquestionable tone, she said to the angry Adrian Toomes in mid-air: "Sorry, I'm not interested in what happened between you, Stark Industries, and Damage Control, or who is right and who is wrong."
"But you and your people are selling those powerful and highly destructive high-tech weapons to dangerous gang members and street thugs... So in my opinion, you're no different from those despicable scumbags!"
Swish swish—
As she spoke, Gwen unhesitatingly rushed towards Adrian Toomes. Her figure was like a white lightning bolt. She raised her hand and shot a web into the air, accurately sticking it to his thigh, then forcefully pulled the web, attempting to yank Adrian Toomes down from mid-air.
Adrian Toomes felt a tightening in his thigh and his body swayed uncontrollably, but the Mechanical Wings provided him with powerful thrust, enough to contend with Gwen.
"In that case, there's nothing more to say..."
A ferocious expression appeared on Adrian Toomes's face beneath his mask, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.
Then, he controlled the Mechanical Wings to use the sharp parts at the front, shaped like the outermost 'flight feathers' of a bird's wing, to cut the web stuck to his thigh. The web snapped with a clear "thwack" sound.
At the same time, he pulled out a pre-prepared homemade Energy Shooter from his waist. The pistol gleamed with a cold metallic luster under the moonlight.
"Damn bug, you won't stop me today!"
Biu, biu, biu...
Adrian Toomes, relying on the flight advantage of his Mechanical Wings, constantly changed his attack angle in mid-air, firing purple energy blades with 'cutting' properties.
The energy blades sliced through the night sky, emitting a sharp whistle, as if to tear the air apart.
Seeing this, Gwen had no choice but to continuously dodge on the very limited footing of the carriage roof, moving backward little by little.
Swish swish swish—
Although the purple energy blades failed to hit Gwen, they left charred craters or neat gaps instantly cut into the ground and the carriage upon Impact.
However, Adrian Toomes's true target was not Gwen, but... the bag of chitauri energy stones Gwen had stuck to the top of the carriage.
Clearly, Adrian Toomes was no stranger to the famous Spider-Woman and knew that if he couldn't 'deal with' her quickly, he would ultimately be the loser.
Because even if he managed to escape using his Mechanical Wings, his identity would surely be exposed by Spider-Woman, leading to a global manhunt by Damage Control.
This was not the outcome he wanted.
Therefore, even if the Impact wave from exploding the chitauri energy stones might destroy the two trucks in front as well, he had no other choice.
"Little bug, you forced my hand!"
After successfully forcing Gwen away from the bag of chitauri energy stones with his attacks, Adrian Toomes decisively aimed his gun at it.
"!!!"
Gwen, who was about to use her web to snatch the Energy Shooter from Adrian Toomes's hand, understood the enemy's true intention the moment her Spider-Sense screamed a warning. Without thinking, she leaped towards the front of the truck.
Bang—
She kicked the windshield of the driver's cabin, shattering it, then, under the bewildered gaze of the driver, she yanked him out and threw him towards the surrounding woods, simultaneously shooting a web to successfully catch the driver between two large trees.
Then, just as she leaped towards the truck in front, preparing to rescue the other driver in the same manner, the chitauri energy stones, struck by the energy blade from behind, were already emitting a captivating purple glow.
Boom—rumble—!!!
A blinding flash of Fire shot up into the sky, followed by a deafening explosion, like rolling thunder, instantly breaking the original tranquility of the night.
The huge explosion instantly engulfed the transport truck Gwen was on, and then, after a few seconds, an even more violent secondary explosion occurred.
The first transport truck, which was relatively further ahead, was flung far away like a toy car in a child's hand under the Impact of such a massive explosion.
After rolling a dozen times on the highway, it crashed into a patch of trees by the roadside.
"Boss, I'm afraid we have to leave here quickly!!"