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In the sewer,
The stench filled the air.
At the same time, it was accompanied by a strange chemical smell.
Such a scent was odd in sewers, especially beneath downtown streets.
What caught Gwen's attention the most was the sense of crisis from her Spider Telepathy.
There was something extremely dangerous around the corner!
She subconsciously glanced at the battle suit on her body, her pretty face tensing slightly.
Wearing it, she felt as if Aaron was by her side, filling her with a sense of security.
But out of caution,
Gwen wandered closer with concern.
At the corner,
A ferocious-looking, self-supporting lizard man, two meters tall, was tinkering with some instruments.
From its face, one could actually see a hint of human-like thought.
At that moment, the lizard man did not resemble a monster causing trouble in school at all but rather an experienced scientist.
As Gwen watched,
The lizard man, who had been deep in thought, suddenly stopped the experiment in his hand.
It seemed to be considering something.
Then, it picked up a potion, injected it into a needle, and ran in another direction.
Seeing this, Gwen hurried out, preparing to follow.
Then she noticed a video device and a document on the instrument table.
What caught her attention the most was a name on the documents— Curt Connors!
She hesitated for a moment, then turned on the video equipment, revealing a recording of her biology professor, Connors.
In the video, he documented the progress and results of his limb regeneration experiment.
Gwen was immediately engrossed.
But behind her, the lizard man suddenly reappeared.
It cautiously approached, moving slowly, holding the prepared lizard reagent in its hand.
The lizard man was ready to transform Gwen, who had been following him, into one of his own kind.
Several people observing Gwen's situation tensed up.
"Gwen's combat awareness is still too weak. Getting distracted in such a dangerous environment is unacceptable," Sif, with her rich combat experience, commented.
Aaron also frowned. "Sif, after this is over, I want you to guide Gwen and trick her into building better combat awareness."
"Leave it to me! I'll make sure she becomes an excellent fighter!"
Sif patted her chest confidently.
She had absolute faith in herself—after all, she was the most powerful female warrior in Asgard!
Gwen had a strong foundation, impressive strength, and extraordinary crisis perception. With just a little training, she might even surpass Sif in combat ability!
That was potential.
"Jean, Amora, you two will also train together."
Aaron looked at the other women, and after a moment of hesitation, included them as well.
Though Jean had the Phoenix Force and professional X-Men training, her combat skills weren't particularly strong.
She was above the level of an ordinary person, but compared to real warriors, she was lacking.
Amora was even further behind.
She was, quite simply, the purest magician among Asgardians.
If something could be solved with magic, she absolutely would not resort to physical combat.
To her, the honor of a magician was far greater than that of a warrior—magicians were the true nobles.
Despite her good physical fitness, her actual combat skills were unimpressive.
Aaron had personally experienced this firsthand.
Amora was the type who relied on Asgardian physique to dominate Earthlings.
But against stronger opponents, she quickly ran out of options.
"What? Train with Gwen? I'm a magician! No, no, no!"
Amora waved her hands in protest.
But Aaron was unimpressed.
Amora immediately moved behind Aaron, rubbing his shoulders and flattering him:
"Let's discuss this, hmm? Can I skip training? Didn't you want to try that thing last time? I'll do whatever you want instead~."
"Whatever you ask of me in the future, I'll listen to you~."
Her voice was charming, alluring, and made it difficult to refuse.
But Aaron held firm.
It was fine to indulge her later, but right now, he had to put an end to Amora's escape tactics.
With her lack of combat awareness, she might end up seriously injured if she wasn't careful.
She needed special training from Sif.
If Aaron had the time, he would have trained her himself, but he had other matters to attend to.
Meanwhile, Gwen was still focused on the video.
She watched as Connors, excited by his experiment's success, injected the reagent into his own body.
His missing arm grew back!
But then—something went terribly wrong!
Professor Connors' body began to struggle violently as if something inside was trying to break free from his skin.
Lizard-like scales began to form on his newly grown hand.
In the video, Connors was caught completely off guard by the transformation, struggling in confusion.
"Oops!"
Gwen's Spider Telepathy throbbed violently again.
She turned around—
The lizard man was less than five meters away!
And at that distance, an extraordinary being could reach her in less than a second!
Seeing that Gwen had noticed him, the lizard man lunged forward, needle in hand!
Gwen originally intended to use her webs to escape but hesitated.
She wanted to test her new battle suit's functions, so she stood her ground.
She waited, nervous but trusting.
She trusted Aaron. She placed her life in his hands!
The lizard man grinned viciously, eager to witness Spider-Woman's transformation.
However—
When the syringe touched Gwen's arm, it met immense resistance.
The metal needle bent to the side, unable to pierce through her battle suit!
Was this suit made of iron?!
The lizard man looked up, locking eyes with Gwen's startled expression.
"You damn bedbug!"
Frustrated, he tossed the reagent away and slashed at Gwen with his claws.
Gwen raised her arm to block it.
She knew the lizard man's strength—it was terrifying.
One punch could easily break a wall or tear through metal.
Last time, she lost in a head-on confrontation due to her lack of strength and combat experience.
Normally, she shouldn't engage him directly—she should rely on her agility to wear him down.
But this time, she wanted to continue testing the battle suit.
If she understood correctly, the suit absorbed kinetic energy, resisted high-intensity attacks, and had numerous enchantments.
Since she had already confirmed its defensive power, she now focused on its offensive capabilities.
She abandoned her usual combat strategy and decided to fight head-on.
The lizard man's powerful claws landed, gripping her arm. The force pushed her legs slightly downward.
Yet—
This time, the pressure was far less intense than before.
The lizard man's strength hadn't weakened.
She had become stronger!
The battle suit had absorbed much of the force.
Now, she could meet him head-on!
Seeing his attack fail, the lizard man struck again—only for Gwen to block it effortlessly.
This was nothing like last time.
The last time they fought, she had struggled using webs and the environment.
But now—
She stood firm.
He hadn't seen her in a few days, and she had become this strong?!
The lizard man was shaken.
Why? How?
A wave of panic surged through him.
The evolutionary power he had been pursuing shouldn't be this weak.
His opponent hadn't even moved yet still managed to block all his attacks effortlessly.
The Lizardman refused to accept defeat. Rushing to his workbench, he extracted a thicker dose of the lizard serum and injected himself once more.
His strength surged!
His face twisted into an even more monstrous form!
With newfound confidence, he launched another assault on Gwen.
But this time, something even more unexpected happened.
Not only did his opponent maintain her impenetrable defense, but now a golden energy shield had manifested, effortlessly blocking all his attacks.
This was getting absurd!
He had been talking about biological evolution, yet now she was bringing in advanced technology?!
Something felt very wrong.
As the battle raged on, Gwen began to counterattack.
However, her movements remained cautious.
Each strike was held back just enough, deliberately restraining her power.
Because of this, she effortlessly nullified all of the Lizardman's attacks, yet she still couldn't take him down completely.
Watching from the sidelines, Aaron shook his head in disappointment.
Gwen was still too kind.
He didn't mind having kind people around him, but there were times when kindness came with a price.
A heavy price.
Sighing, Aaron stood up, opened a portal, and stepped inside.
Both Gwen and the Lizardman turned their attention toward it.
The Lizardman blinked in disbelief, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
Great.
What started as a battle between evolution and technology had now introduced magic into the mix!
Gwen, however, tensed the moment she saw the portal.
She knew this meant that her hesitation had tested their patience.
She had promised to be more decisive, to give her opponent no chance to resist.
Yet, she still couldn't bring herself to do it.
She always wanted to save them.
To bring them back to the right path.
But now—
They were here.
If she didn't act now, Professor Connors was truly finished.
Taking advantage of the Lizardman's momentary distraction, Gwen swiftly fired several webs, binding him in place.
She then activated her suit's energy release function.
The suit absorbed the force of the Lizardman's physical attacks and redirected that energy back at him.
A powerful shockwave erupted, sending the Lizardman flying into the sewer walls, cracking the stone upon impact.
Just then, Aaron stepped through the portal, witnessing the scene unfold.
He sighed.
"Gwen, why didn't you just do that earlier?"
Like a student caught red-handed by a teacher, Gwen shrank slightly and muttered, "I wanted to test the suit's capabilities a bit more…"
Aaron crossed his arms. "A mere Lizardman—what's there to test? Even if you wanted to experiment, this wasn't the time or place. Are you really willing to gamble your life on a battle suit?"
"What if something unexpected had happened to it?"
Gwen's expression hardened. "Then what should I do?"
Without hesitation, she continued, "I believe in you."
Aaron held her gaze for a few seconds, words caught in his throat.
She believed in him that much.
What else was there to say?
Meanwhile, the Lizardman groggily picked himself up from the shattered wall, shaking his head.
But the moment he processed Aaron's words, fury surged within him.
How dare they look down on him?!
He was an evolved, superior life form!
Just as he prepared to attack again—
Aaron raised a finger.
Suddenly, a cage of lightning materialized around the Lizardman, sealing him off completely.
It was Aaron's custom-made spell: Lightning Wall.
A magical barrier formed from condensed thunder, preventing anything—living or non-living—from crossing through.
The Lizardman flinched, eyes darting around in panic. He saw no visible power source.
Desperation took over. He gathered all his strength and resilience, attempting to force his way through the barrier.
But the moment he crossed even a short distance—
CRACK!
A violent bolt of lightning struck him, sending him flying back.
Not only did the wall emit deadly shocks, but it also seemed to generate a strange magnetic force that repelled him!
With the Lizardman restrained, Aaron turned his attention to the surrounding lab equipment.
He examined the various chemicals and fell into deep thought.
"We can use Professor Connors' research to reverse-engineer an antidote for the lizard serum."
"If we can restore his rationality, I believe he'll abandon these dangerous experiments."
Gwen's eyes lit up at the idea but quickly dimmed when she saw the scattered, incomplete research.
Even as a top student, she wasn't omnipotent.
If they had access to Connors' full lab and research data, she was confident she could synthesize an antidote.
But here, with such limited resources…
She wasn't sure.
Just then—
Aaron took action.
Glancing over the rough research reports, he picked up an intact jar of lizard serum and examined it briefly.
Then, with practiced ease, he began working with the lab instruments, mixing various compounds with expert precision.
Gwen could only watch in shock.
His movements—
Smoother than any professor she had ever seen.
By the time she snapped out of her daze, Aaron had already finished.
In his hand was a vial of blue liquid.
A fully synthesized antidote.
Gwen was speechless. "Wait… This can't be the antidote, can it?"
Aaron raised an eyebrow. "What do you think I was doing?"
Gripping the vial, he stepped toward the Lightning Wall and deactivated the spell.
The Lizardman, filled with rage, lunged forward—
Only to suddenly hesitate.
For the first time, fear flickered in his eyes.
He had no idea what Aaron was truly capable of.
No idea whether the man had actually created an antidote or if it was something far worse.
And he didn't want to find out.
He turned on his heel and ran, disappearing deeper into the sewers.
But his escape attempt was meaningless.
A moment later, he found himself frozen in place, held by an invisible force.
Before he could react, the vial shattered on the ground beside him, releasing a thick blue mist.
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
The scent of death lingered in the air.
He struggled with all his might, but it was useless.
The serum in his body began to break down—
The lizard cells within him completely eradicated.
It was over.
Aaron turned away, pulling Gwen along with him.
Meanwhile, Connors, now fully human again, stood in the empty sewer, staring at his lost arm.
A bitter chuckle escaped him.
Then, with a resigned sigh, he grabbed his recording equipment and left.
He was going to turn himself in.
Aaron's telepathic command had left him no choice.
He had seen the extent of Aaron's power—
Disobeying was not an option.
Back at home—
Gwen was immediately met with Amora's resentful glare and Sif's piercing gaze.
For some reason—
She felt nervous.
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