Chapter 212: Progress 99%
"Let's move."
As John was lost in thought, the veteran Captain spoke from behind him. John turned around and did a double-take. The Captain had swapped his gear for a black leather jacket and a pair of dark sunglasses. He was currently puffing out a cloud of smoke from a cigarette clamped between his teeth, a shotgun resting in his grip.
"Whoa~ Captain, what's with the look?" John had no idea where the man had pulled this equipment from.
"Follow me," the Captain said, sounding like a completely different person as he led the way with his shotgun held ready.
"So cool~" John admired his Captain's back for a moment before hurrying to catch up.
The Underground Laboratory
"Almost there, Captain." The subordinate finally cracked a smile. It was almost over.
"Don't lower your guard. Word from the guys upstairs is that Spider-Man and Destiny have arrived," the terrorist leader said tensely.
The subordinate stared at the monitor. "Ten minutes left. We should be fine."
"Don't be so sure," the leader muttered. In his experience, the things you wanted to avoid were exactly the things that ended up happening.
"We're in the sub-basement lab. Unless someone knows this place inside out, they won't find us," the subordinate added, still relatively relaxed.
Five minutes later~
"Where did all the scumbags go?" John had led the Captain up to the fifth floor, but they hadn't seen a single enemy since leaving the third.
"Phew~ perfect. Time to pull back," the veteran Captain said, feeling a wave of relief. This was turning out to be easy.
Peter was having a similar experience. After rescuing the hostages, he hadn't run into any more thugs.
"Looks like Silas made his move," Peter thought. He knew Silas's Shadow Knight Corps was far more numerous than his own little "Spider-Squad."
"That is correct, Peter," Gaia's voice rang out. "I have successfully infiltrated the Oscorp network. There is a pocket of hostiles in the underground laboratory currently stealing experimental data."
"Experimental data?" Peter finally understood their goal. "Gaia, map out the fastest route for me."
The Shadow Kingdom portals didn't give Peter the exact internal layout of the lab, so Gaia took over. In less than a second, she responded, "Route planned. Navigation active."
"Cool~" A virtual waypoint appeared in Peter's HUD, marking his path like a video game objective. He accelerated his crawl, heading for the basement.
The Boardroom
"Master, the cleanup is complete. Should we deal with the ones in the basement?" Little Black asked.
"No need. I'll leave that to Peter," Silas Parker replied. He still wanted Peter to get more experience.
"Understood." With a thought from Little Black, all the Shadow Knights received their orders and dissolved back into the Shadow Kingdom.
Silas stretched his neck. Four Shadow Ninjas lifted him up and carried him back toward home.
The Basement Duct
"I always thought I was the only spider who used the vents." Peter was surprised to find a familiar face in the ventilation shaft: John!
"Spider-Man!" John immediately turned into a total fanboy. "Can I get an autograph?"
"Sure, but what are you doing here?" Peter asked, looking around the narrow space.
John excitedly pulled a black marker from his pocket and handed it to Peter, pulling his collar taut. "I'm a superhuman now!"
"Superhuman?" Peter gave him an incredulous look. John didn't look any different.
"Yeah! I'm way stronger now." John tried his best to flex his biceps in the cramped duct.
"Uh~ okay. So what's the plan?" Peter asked.
"The stairs are too dangerous—bombs everywhere. I figured the vents were safer," John explained. He recounted how he and the Captain had stepped on a mine, only for the Captain to calmly pull out a knife and defuse it right in front of him.
John had been stunned. Was this really his Captain? He felt like a different person. After defusing it, the Captain had just exhaled a puff of smoke and said: "Back in the day, I was Special Forces elite."
Suddenly, a voice yelled from behind John. "John! Why did we stop?"
"I found Spider-Man!" John yelled back.
A tearing sound followed, and the Captain shoved a piece of ripped cloth toward John. "Get me a signature too!"
"Sorry to bother you again, Spider-Man," John said, embarrassed.
"No trouble at all." Peter signed quickly and handed it back. "I've gotta go."
Gaia had already mapped a new route. Peter didn't want to bring John along; it was too dangerous.
"Right! Goodbye, Spider-Man! Good luck!" John cheered like a fanatic. Once Peter was gone, he turned back. "Captain, which way now?"
"Based on my experience... to the right." The veteran Captain was determined not to let John look down on him, even if he didn't actually know the way.
The Lab Fight
"I didn't expect a dozen thugs and researchers to be hiding down here," Peter whispered, looking through the grate.
"Peter, the priority is to stop the data duplication," Gaia warned. She had tried to hack the lab remotely, but the terrorists had severed the external network. "I cannot intervene unless you reach the console."
Peter didn't hesitate. He punched through the vent and dropped into the room. "Spider-Man is here!" He kicked the thug closest to the console and leaped onto the desk.
The massive screen showed the progress bar at 98%.
"What do I do, Gaia?" Peter asked, his fingers hovering over the unfamiliar equipment.
"Listen to my instructions. Enter these codes..."
"Stop him!" the terrorist leader roared. The thugs scrambled for their guns.
"Wait! Don't shoot!" the man Peter had kicked yelled from the floor. "If you hit the console, the transfer will fail!"
"Dammit!" the leader snarled, sheathing his gun and drawing a combat knife. "Use blades!"
"Uh oh. How much longer?" Peter's fingers danced over the keys, but the thugs were closing in fast.
"Ten seconds," Gaia said.
"Ten seconds?!" Peter braced himself on the console and kicked out, sending a charging thug flying. "Can you guys just wait a second before we start the game?"
The thugs didn't care. They saw their opening.
"Done, Peter," Gaia announced.
The progress bar on the screen froze at 99%.
"NO!" A massive face appeared on the giant monitor, roaring in fury.
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