Ch.130 I Am Thor, For the Glory of Asgard

"Don't rush. Keep the hammer safe; he will come find us himself," Charlie said.

Elderly Steve raised the slightly trembling Mjölnir in his hand and frowned.

"Is it okay to keep occupying his beloved hammer for so long?"

Charlie rolled his eyes, "Have you done any good deeds lately?"

Elderly Steve grinned, "No."

"Then what are you hesitating for?"

"I'm afraid he'll get angry and beat me up."

"He can't even take back his hammer now. His condition must be off. What are you afraid of?"

As Charlie spoke, he ignored the group of suited men, stepped forward, and picked up the bloated corpse of Kingpin as if lifting a small mountain. He left the scene as if no one else were there.

The suited men were furious but didn't dare show it. They could only watch helplessly as their boss's corpse was taken away.

They had all seen it just now; even a bomb couldn't kill Spider-Man. Their small handguns were even less likely to work.

Seeing Charlie take Kingpin's corpse away, Carter and the others were puzzled, but said nothing.

They left one after another. Gwen remained behind as usual, waiting for George and the other officers to handle the scene.

Late at night, Charlie and the others returned to Gwen's large flat.

He threw Kingpin's corpse on the floor, "Peter, go ahead," he said to Lizard Parker.

Lizard Parker nodded, taking out a strange circular device from his pocket and pointing it at Kingpin's corpse.

"Zzzt zzzt~"

Immediately, as if a TV screen's color test pattern flickered for a moment, Kingpin suddenly "came to life."

"Mmm mmm…"

At this moment, Kingpin, on the ground, was bound by sparkling spider silk. With the slightest struggle, the sharp threads would slice through his suit and into his flesh. The pain piercing into his bones made him dare not struggle recklessly.

His mouth was sealed by webbing; he could only glare angrily at Charlie, as if wanting to eat him alive.

"What's going on?" Carter was startled.

Before Charlie could speak, Lizard Parker showed off the device in his hand.

"This is something I found in Mysterio's corpse. It can switch to a pre-made holographic projection. Unfortunately, I couldn't find his hallucinogenic smoke, so I can't deceive people's sense of touch," he said regretfully.

Elderly Steve seemed thoughtful. He said to Charlie, "So you deliberately let them see you kill Kingpin?"

Charlie nodded, "Of course. Kingpin's death does us no good, since we still need more information."

Carter suddenly understood, "No wonder only the Trident didn't disappear. I even suspected they weren't dead yet, but it turns out it was an illusion."

"No need to suspect, they're completely dead," Charlie squatted down and tore off the webbing from Kingpin's mouth.

"Mr. Fisk, you're already dead now. If you tell me what I want to know, I don't mind letting you continue to 'live' in this way," he said with a smile.

Kingpin originally wanted to curse, but he went quiet upon hearing this.

"Even if you don't do this, I might not necessarily die," he said coldly.

Charlie shrugged, "Is that so? Then I'll let you go now."

"Wait."

Kingpin took a deep breath, "Indeed, since the mission failed, I might be killed. But I think I'm still useful, so that lord might not kill me. But now that I've been captured by you, even if you release me, I have no way to explain myself when I go back."

"That's right," Charlie said with a smile.

"Your smile is really sinister."

Kingpin glared hard at Charlie; this guy completely disrupted his plan.

Hearing this, Carter also understood why Charlie did what he did.

"I must say, Charlie is indeed very smart. This is the simplest way to make Kingpin tell the truth, because he has no choice," she sighed.

Elderly Steve stroked his chin, "Yes, if we forced him, Kingpin wouldn't necessarily tell the truth."

Lizard Parker looked at the two of them, "No, shouldn't you be praising me? I figured out how to use the holographic projection in such a short time. I'm the smartest one."

Carter glanced at Lizard Parker, "Creating a lifelike holographic projection is the real technical challenge. You're just using a foolproof operation."

Lizard Parker opened his mouth, speechless.

Damn Mysterio, couldn't he have come up with a more complicated way to operate it?

He cursed inwardly.

Kingpin seemed to have resigned himself.

He looked at Charlie, "Speak, what do you want to know?"

"What can you tell me?" Charlie countered.

Kingpin hadn't expected that answer.

He thought for a moment, "My mission was to give you trouble, so you wouldn't have the time or energy to look for the clues you want."

Elderly Steve raised an eyebrow, "That's not right. You didn't seem to want to just stall us; you wanted us gone for good."

Kingpin nodded helplessly, "Yes, compared to the original mission, I felt that making you disappear entirely would better demonstrate my capabilities."

"There should be more than just you who thinks this way, right?" Charlie pulled up a chair and continued to ask.

Seeing this, Kingpin said, "I'd like to sit comfortably too. Ideally, give me a bottle of beer, chilled."

"You should have the awareness of a captive." Charlie maintained his smile.

Kingpin sighed, "Okay, you guys are different from the superheroes I imagined. At least they wouldn't abuse prisoners."

Seeing Charlie had no reaction, he swallowed and continued.

"You guessed correctly. That Steve wasn't satisfied with just holding you back; he wanted to completely kill Spider-Man."

He looked at Charlie, "I guess the Spider-Man he wants to kill is you, not that girl."

"Yes, he's petty. I only killed him a few times, yet he still bears a grudge. Such a small mind," Charlie muttered.

Kingpin: "…"

In his mind, Spider-Man shouldn't act like this bitch.

But for some reason, he found this Spider-Man more pleasing than the one who wore a spider suit and fought crime, hailed as a hero by everyone.

Spider-Man is also human, and human nature is ugly.

The Spider-Man before him showed what a "human" should be like.

While that Spider-Girl was a product of public glorification, Kingpin hated that sort of thing from the bottom of his heart.

His tone eased a bit, and he smiled slightly.

"You must really want to know who told me to deal with you, but unfortunately I don't know. That guy is too mysterious. Maybe that Steve would know, but he's already dead."

Hearing this, Charlie showed no disappointment.

"One last question: where is Felicia? The girl the Chameleon impersonated."

"She's dead," Kingpin answered straightforwardly.

"Dead?"

Carter frowned, "You didn't plan to keep her to threaten us?"

Kingpin looked at Carter, "I've heard Steve mention you. He likes you very much, so he had Mysterio make holographic projections about you so he wouldn't see your face clearly, thus he wouldn't go easy on you and repeat the same mistake."

"Self-deception," Elderly Steve shook his head.

Carter was unmoved, "You still haven't answered my question," she said to Kingpin.

Kingpin chuckled, "I guess you really like watching movies."

Before Carter could speak, he continued, "Times have changed. Hostages are the most unstable factor. They interfere with my judgment, and I think the plan this time was good enough that we didn't need hostages.

So I had the Chameleon kill her directly. The body is…"

"No need to tell us; it's already rotted by now," Charlie interrupted Kingpin.

He felt no sadness or discomfort about Felicia's death.

After all, they weren't close.

Besides, it's just death; nothing to fuss about.

He didn't want to see Felicia's rotting corpse.

After all, that kind of scene is hard to forget once seen.

Then, the next time he saw the sexy, hot Felicia, he wouldn't be able to look at her directly.

Kingpin increasingly admired Charlie's cold and ruthless demeanor.

"Great, I lost to you, I accept it. If I'd been like you back then, I wouldn't have…"

At this, sadness glinted in his eyes.

"My child, my wife… Unfortunately, I can't go back."

He stared at Charlie's face, momentarily dazed.

"If only you weren't Spider-Man, that would be great," he laughed.

Elderly Steve was curious, "If he weren't Spider-Man, what would you do?"

"I'd want him to be my son…"

"Shut up!"

Charlie's face darkened, and he shot a web to seal Kingpin's mouth again.

He vowed never to let Kingpin say such disgusting things again.

Elderly Steve wore a strange smile and remained silent, not knowing what he was thinking.

"What do we do with this guy?" Lizard Parker asked.

Charlie waved his hand, "You take him back to the room."

"Me?"

Lizard Parker looked at Kingpin's mountainous body, "I can't move him."

"You can transform."

"I can only transform once a day."

"How long once?"

"I don't know, never tried."

"You're so lame."

Charlie released the webbing restraining Kingpin's body, "I still want to know some details. You won't run away, right?"

Kingpin stood up and stretched his muscles, shaking his head, "I know my current situation. I won't seek death."

"Good. Peter, take him to the room."

"Ok, big guy, come with me."

Lizard Parker led Kingpin to the room. Passing by Peter Parker who was playing with the cat, Kingpin couldn't help asking.

"Are you twins?"

Lizard Parker spread his hands, "Sort of!"

"No, triplets," Peter Parker looked up at Kingpin seriously.

Kingpin was puzzled, "Triplets? Where's the third one?"

"He's the older brother," Peter Parker pointed at Charlie.

Kingpin thought for a moment, "Okay, we'll do a paternity test sometime. A man must be strong; this isn't your fault," he advised Lizard Parker earnestly.

Lizard Parker: "…"

What nonsense?

"Whoosh~"

At this moment, a petite figure swung in through the window.

"Kingpin, you're not dead?" Returning home, Gwen was startled to see Kingpin.

Lizard Parker quickly explained, "Don't worry, it's a holographic projection device from Mysterio. We didn't plan to kill him."

"Those strange guys then… are they not dead either?" Gwen's expression changed.

"They're dead, dead for sure."

"But their bodies disappeared."

"They were eliminated, so of course they disappeared."

"You said the same thing last time."

"This time they're really dead."

——

After the big battle, the weary group soon returned to their rooms to rest.

Elderly Steve and Charlie stayed in the living room watching TV.

Mjölnir trembled from time to time, as if confirming its location.

Elderly Steve gripped Mjölnir tightly, expressionless, "Why hasn't Thor arrived yet? My hand is sweating."

Charlie leaned on the sofa and handed him a cup of hot milk.

"Drinking milk at night helps prevent insomnia."

"Did you hear what I said?"

"You said we still have no clues about the world crisis. Maybe we're being tricked?"

"I don't drink milk."

"Kingpin's snoring is so loud, I can hear it clearly. Lend me your earplugs."

"I want coffee."

"Old man, I feel something's off about this resurrection match, like we've been misled, but I can't figure it out."

"I want coffee!"

"The doorbell rang. I guess that's Thor."

"Thor wouldn't use the front door."

"Maybe it's the takeout you secretly ordered."

Charlie talked in riddles. He walked to the door and pressed against the peephole.

"No one's there," he looked back at Elderly Steve, his face showing a hint of fear.

"You bastard, I won't play these childish games with you."

The doorbell rang again, Elderly Steve looked disdainful and came to Charlie's side.

Looking through the peephole, he saw no one.

"Really nobody," he frowned.

"Ding-dong~"

The bell rang again, Charlie checked once more.

"Still nobody," he swallowed his saliva.

"Ding-dong~ ding-dong~ ding-dong~"

The doorbell suddenly became urgent, accompanied by weird knocking.

Elderly Steve's old face turned pale because he'd been watching the peephole the whole time.

Still no one.

His scalp tingled instantly!

He silently stepped back, his throat bobbing.

"Should we… open the door?" he asked.

Charlie also stepped back, hiding behind Elderly Steve, his voice trembling, "Old man, have you ever seen a ghost?"

Hearing this, sweat appeared on Elderly Steve's forehead.

"This is the age of science. That kind of thing can't scare people."

Charlie suddenly gripped Elderly Steve's shoulder, leaning in. His voice became eerie.

"Believe it or not, I've seen one."

"What?"

Elderly Steve's body stiffened, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Don't lie to me. There are no ghosts in this world, right? When did you see one?"

"Every day."

"You—"

A chill rose along Elderly Steve's spine.

His mouth dry, he swallowed hard, slowly turning around.

In an instant, Charlie's smile became extremely strange.

"Little Spider, you—"

"Hahaha, yes, now you've seen a ghost too."

Charlie flipped the light switch, the room brightened.

"You poor old guy!!"

He pointed at Elderly Steve, laughing aloud.

Elderly Steve: "…"

"Bastard, I actually believed your ghost story," he gritted his teeth.

Charlie pouted, "Who told you to watch TV with the lights off? With such a good atmosphere, how could I not make use of it?"

"Really can't do anything about you."

Elderly Steve exhaled, wiping sweat from his forehead.

When he looked at Charlie again, his face turned pale once more.

"You, you, you—"

"What now?"

"Behind you—"

"Behind me?"

Charlie turned around, a grim ghostly figure emerged from the void.

"Ah hahaha…"

A blood-red maw rushed towards him. Charlie's face changed, then rolled his eyes.

"Stop it."

He sighed and glanced at Lizard Parker in the corner.

"Uh, you found me." Lizard Parker rubbed his head awkwardly and retracted Mysterio's projection device.

"I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to join your game."

Elderly Steve's face darkened. He rolled up his sleeves.

"Very good, I'll play a more interesting game with you." He grinned cruelly.

"No, I'm wrong, don't come over—"

Lizard Parker's smile froze, and he turned to run.

But the room was so big, he couldn't escape.

"You're dead!"

Before Elderly Steve could chase him, the doorbell rang again.

"Ding-dong~"

"I am Thor, for the glory of the Northern Gods."

A voice like electronic synthesis sounded outside. Charlie couldn't help shaking his head.

"Peter, I told you to stop playing."

He opened the door, and sure enough, there was no one.

No, when Charlie's gaze lowered, his expression became very interesting.