In the corner of the abandoned factory, Xia Luo suddenly sneezed.
"Which idiot is badmouthing me behind my back?"
He rubbed the tip of his nose and cautiously peered outside.
Through the window, a green streak of flames shot across the night sky, blood-red mist swirling wildly. Then, a bright electric arc split the darkness. Xia Luo sighed and rubbed his temples.
Dealing with Norman and HYDRA Steve was bad enough, but he really hadn't provoked Electro.
Why does everything have to be my fault?
The difficulty of the Resurrection Tournament was partly due to all these people he had previously defeated coming back for revenge.
He could only imagine what future tournaments might look like.
As General Douglas MacArthur once said, "Mixing personal vendettas into a match is very unprofessional."
After silently complaining to himself, he decided to abandon the task of killing other contestants for now.
As soon as he showed up, most of the participants would target him.
One or two would be fine, but if four villains attacked him at once, his chances of winning were slim.
Why four villains?
Because the fourth one had just appeared.
Clank!
At the factory entrance, a shadow loomed as a metal arm shattered inch by inch under the veil of the red mist. With a vicious roar, crimson claws ripped through a concrete pillar, shattering it with a deafening crash.
Boom!!
Bucky hurled the broken concrete like a giant spear. Xia Luo leapt onto the column, sprinted along its length, and launched himself through the ceiling, disappearing from Bucky's line of sight.
"There he is!"
Bucky shouted, as blood-red tendrils lashed out, while green flames and blue arcs of lightning surged, enclosing Xia Luo.
"Haha, Xia Luo! You can't escape!"
Norman hurled several pumpkin bombs, causing explosions to ripple through the factory.
"Damn it, Norman, we're still inside!" Bucky shouted angrily.
"Oh, sorry! I only have eyes for him, not you," Norman sneered as he shot forward on his glider, aiming straight for Xia Luo's head—but someone got there first.
Crackle!
A blue arc flashed past, diving into the sea of flames.
"Spider-Man, I hate you!"
Max lunged at Xia Luo, unleashing a torrent of electrical fury.
But Xia Luo charged straight at the solidified bolts of electricity, raising a fist.
Boom!!
In an instant, the air seemed to warp, flames flickered, and residual electricity dispersed, sending shards of nano-metal flying everywhere.
Xia Luo's exposed fist shimmered with faint purple patterns, unburnt by the electricity.
Electro could absorb a huge amount of power, and his body had become almost pure energy, but his output was still limited, with a poor energy efficiency that wasted most of his power.
Simply put, he was no Thor.
With a Titan-enhanced Spider-Man physique, Xia Luo's resistance to magical attacks rivaled that of Superior Spider-Man, and Electro's main threat was his lightning speed. If Max got in his way, there'd be no chance to target the other contestants.
"What the...?"
Max's face twisted in shock as Xia Luo charged, his speed unabated.
This Spider-Man wasn't normal!
Bam!
In a blink, Xia Luo barreled through Electro like a cannonball, leaving nothing but fragments of electricity in his wake.
Three seconds later, Electro's body reformed amidst crackling arcs.
"You blue-skinned idiot, what are you doing? Stop him!"
HYDRA Steve roared as he caught up, fuming at seeing Xia Luo escape so easily, and he berated Max furiously.
"What did you just call me?"
Max's eyes sparked with rage, blue lightning dancing in his pupils.
Boom!!
A surge of electricity exploded around Max, enveloping HYDRA Steve's tendrils. All Steve could do was raise the blood-red appendages defensively before he was swallowed by a storm of electric arcs.
Sizzle.
Pop, pop, pop.
Instantly, smoke rose from the crimson tentacles, the smell of burnt meat filling the air. Steve's charred flesh cracked and healed in a cycle, unable to withstand the raw electric force.
Boom!!
With a mere flick of his gaze, Max unleashed a torrent of electricity, flinging Bucky's smoking body to the ground.
"You've all bullied me! Now, you'll pay!!"
Max roared, the storm of electricity around him growing more intense.
Seeing this, Norman turned his glider around without hesitation, speeding away from the scene.
"Idiots! Losing their minds over Spider-Man—good luck surviving this mess."
In the distance, the factory sparked with electricity, explosions echoing through the night.
Xia Luo glanced back. Seeing that Max wasn't following, he frowned in confusion.
He had prepared to be chased down, given how fast Max could be.
But somehow, he'd broken free of their encirclement. Shrugging, Xia Luo leisurely swung toward the city.
Aside from the electricity-hungry Max, the other contestants were lying low, clearly wary of being backstabbed by another participant.
And with HYDRA Steve and the others ganging up together, there was no good chance to strike them down.
Loki hadn't opened a portal, and the Chitauri army hadn't invaded Earth yet.
Killing an Avenger wasn't impossible, but if he angered Bruce Banner, Xia Luo wasn't sure he could handle the Hulk's rage.
Who knew how strong this universe's Hulk was?
Even the movie version of the Hulk was dangerous—only Thanos had managed to put him in his place.
Besides, the Avengers from the multiverse always seemed to have uncanny luck on their side, and Xia Luo hated relying on luck.
He knew his limits.
No point wasting a Resurrection chance.
So his only real target left was Loki.
As for Thanos and Odin? Xia Luo had never seriously considered those.
It was just a cruel joke—whoever believed it would be sorry.
So now, the only question was…
Where was Loki?
Perched between skyscrapers, Xia Luo clung to a gleaming glass facade, lost in thought.
Without solid intel, he'd be floundering like a headless spider, wasting time.
Wait—Tony!
Remembering the troublemaker, Xia Luo turned toward a distant, unmistakable landmark.
The Stark Tower!
Without another second's hesitation, he swung off the building, launching webs towards the towering structure.
It wasn't long before Xia Luo had stealthily climbed to the top floor of Stark Tower.
Eyeing the luxurious rooftop pool, he gave a satisfied nod.
Both Tonys had identical taste.
"Hey, do you know where Tony is?" he asked, knocking on the floor-to-ceiling window, startling Pepper Potts inside.
"Oh, holy—! What a huge bug!"
"Wait, are you Spider-Man?" Pepper quickly recovered.
Tony had mentioned Spider-Man to her after returning.
"Yes, I need to talk to him," Xia Luo said, pressing his face to the window.
Pepper pointed to the side, indicating the door.
"Alright, thanks."
Stepping inside, Xia Luo glanced around at the simple yet undeniably luxurious furniture and artwork.
This was his first time in Tony's living quarters.
"Coffee?" Pepper asked, holding a steaming mug with a slightly nervous smile.
This was her first face-to-face encounter with another superhero.
Frequent visits from Coulson didn't count.
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