Chapter 73: Electro's Downfall, Electro-Man Rises, Peter's First Disciple

Max had never experienced anything like this before.

As a small, unnoticed figure in the workplace, he had rarely received any attention and had no say in his company.

Now, in Times Square, a large crowd of tourists was watching him from a distance.

Even the LED screens on the shopping mall displayed his image.

After absorbing electricity, his rationality had partially returned.

Looking at the blue monster on the screen, he was utterly shocked!

What... what is this monster?!

Facing Max, a blue figure surrounded by crackling electricity, the police held their guns with both hands, ready to shoot at any moment.

Just then, a truck rushed toward him. The driver, distracted by Max, was about to hit him!

Max instinctively waved his hand, and a surge of electricity shot toward the truck, instantly frying its engine.

But this was just his reflexive action, like dodging danger.

To the police, however, this was seen as a provocation, pushing their fragile nerves to the limit.

Times Square was always heavily patrolled by police, and with this incident, almost instantly, dozens of police cars arrived, surrounding Max.

Every officer drew their guns.

"Get on the ground! Now!!"

Max was panicked, like a child facing danger, completely at a loss.

"No!"

"This isn't my fault, sir!!"

"Please!!! Help me, I need you!!!"

"Get on the ground!! Now! Or we'll shoot!!"

"This is for your safety and the safety of others!!"

Just then, an officer threw a smoke grenade at Max's feet.

"Stop! Don't do this!!"

"Don't treat me like this!!"

"You're done, freak!!"

Max kept trying to explain, but no one listened. Instead, they kept provoking him with their words!

The smoke grenade made it hard for him to breathe.

Max's pent-up frustration finally exploded!

A surge of electricity erupted, flipping over a dozen police cars nearby.

The officers fired their guns at Electro, but the bullets had no effect!

At that moment, Gwen, in her black-and-white suit, arrived at the scene.

"Hey, I thought you never liked heavy metal!"

Seeing her, Electro became visibly excited.

"It's you!"

"Yes, it's me, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Woman."

"Don't you remember me?"

"Uh... no, should I?"

Gwen clearly had no memory of this blue-skinned guy in a black hoodie.

The only blue-skinned beings she remembered were the Smurfs and the Genie from Aladdin.

Electro was thrilled. He had recently bought several Spider-Woman figurines.

He was a devoted fan of Spider-Woman, and seeing his idol again filled him with excitement. He also hoped for her help.

"It's me! That day, I was standing on a building, ready to jump, and you stopped me, telling me to live on."

Hearing this, Gwen finally remembered him.

A few months ago, Peter had taken her to a Chinese restaurant, where a black man was about to jump off a building, and she had stopped him.

"Hey, I know who you are! I remember you!!"

Gwen sighed in relief, feeling like she had everything under control.

"What was your name again?"

"Don't tell me, let me think."

As she spoke, she walked toward Electro.

"You forgot me?" Electro's emotions were unstable, like a barrel of gunpowder placed in a power plant.

A single spark could cause a massive explosion.

"Max, I'm Max!"

"Right, your name is Max."

Gwen tried to keep her tone light.

"I didn't recognize you because you look different now. Tell me, what happened to you?"

Electro shook his head.

"I don't know what happened to me."

"It's strange. I feel this strange energy in me, and there's a fire of anger in my heart."

Gwen tried to calm Electro down.

"Listen to me, let's leave this place and talk somewhere else."

Electro nodded.

"Okay."

But as soon as he took a step, a sniper on the rooftop fired a shot!

This action enraged Electro!

A powerful electric wave surged out, knocking down a huge billboard!

Under the billboard stood a person.

Gwen shot a web, pulling the person back from the brink of death.

This act immediately drew cheers from the crowd.

People began chanting her name.

"Spider-Woman! Spider-Woman!!"

All the billboards in Times Square switched to images of Spider-Woman.

Seeing this, Electro was furious!

"You set me up!!"

In his anger, electricity surged uncontrollably!

He couldn't understand why he was always overlooked, never taken seriously!!

He had considered Spider-Woman a friend!!

But she had betrayed him!!!

Electro tightly gripped the cables, drawing electricity from the entire city into his body!

Times Square instantly went dark!

"Stop, Max!"

"I didn't lie to you!"

Gwen shot webs, trying to restrain Max, but the moment the webs touched him, the electricity conducted through them.

Gwen's web-shooters were instantly destroyed!

"This is bad!"

While the electricity destroyed her web-shooters, it also shocked Gwen. Though she was superhuman and wouldn't die from this level of shock, it still hurt.

Helpless, Gwen could only engage in close combat with Electro.

"Stop, Max!! Stop!"

"Do you even know what you're doing now?!"

But Gwen couldn't attack; the powerful electricity would just repel her!

Every time she tried to hit Max, the electricity would shock her back.

How was she supposed to fight this?

It was like he had built-in armor!

"Peter!"

"Peter can definitely stop him!"

Gwen didn't hesitate. One of her web-shooters was fried, but thankfully, the other was still functional.

"You lied to me!! I want everyone in the world to take me seriously!!" 

Electro's body grew bluer and bluer!!!

His energy grew stronger and stronger!!

Until all of New York was plunged into darkness, every bit of electricity absorbed into his body!

"Spider-Woman, I once considered you a friend!"

"But you lied to me!"

"I didn't lie to you, calm down!"

Electro had completely lost his mind. Anger swelled and fermented in his brain!

He swung his hand, and a powerful surge of electricity shot out!

Gwen quickly dodged!

Boom!

A figure landed steadily in front of Gwen.

Gwen was overjoyed!

"It's Peter... no, it's Gellert, the Punisher!!"

"Miss Spider-Woman, you're as weak as ever!"

Gwen: "..."

Just wait till we get home...

Electro's electricity struck Peter but couldn't harm him at all.

It didn't even give him a tingling sensation.

Peter frowned, his eyes glowing red!

This wasn't just heat vision—it was something more!

The two abilities fused together!

"Don't kill him! Max is just overwhelmed by anger!"

Gwen knew her boyfriend's methods all too well!

If she didn't remind him, Max would likely be killed!

Electro was stunned to see the Punisher completely unharmed!!

"How is this possible?!"

"I have the power of all of New York's electricity!!"

Peter remained expressionless.

"If you had the power of the entire world's electricity, hitting me might actually hurt."

Times Square was now completely dark. Without power, the city that never sleeps had lost its vitality.

In the darkness!

Peter's eyes glowed red, instantly hitting Max!

Whether in Marvel or DC, the saying held true:

The poor rely on mutation; the rich rely on technology!

Max's body, in a sense, was no longer human.

It was a mixture of electricity.

With electricity, he could live; without it, he would die!

Peter grabbed Max by the neck and hurled him into the sky!

This throw sent Electro straight into the stratosphere!

Electro's destructive power was too great. For him, the sky was the best battlefield!

Peter punched Electro repeatedly in the face!

Every attack from Electro drained his electricity reserves.

"Is this all you've got? You want the world to remember you???"

Peter held Electro by the neck, hovering in the air, and aimed his heat vision at Electro's head.

Electro screamed in terror!

He never expected to encounter such a powerful opponent!!

The heat vision was destroying his body, while the electricity inside him tried to repair the damage.

He couldn't fight back at all!

Soon, Electro's skin began to change from blue back to normal.

This was a sign that his electricity was almost depleted!

His blue skin turned black again!

Peter let go, allowing Max to free-fall back to the ground!

"Ahhh!!!"

Max screamed in terror!

He knew that without electricity, he was just an ordinary person.

Falling from this height would turn him into a pile of mush!

But just as he was about to hit the ground, he felt someone grab his ankle.

Max's Adam's apple bobbed as he opened his eyes, gasping for air.

His head was inches from the ground.

If he hadn't been caught in time, he would have died horribly.

Peter expressionlessly let go, and Max fell to the ground.

Even without Gwen, Peter hadn't planned to kill Max.

Compared to other villains, Peter felt more sympathy for Max.

And so far, Max hadn't killed anyone.

As for the city-wide blackout...

Didn't the West always preach about environmentalism?

Consider it Max forcing them to go green.

"Thank you... thank you for not killing me!"

"Thank you!"

Max's voice trembled as he spoke.

He never wanted to experience something like that again!!!

He had thought gaining such power would make him unstoppable, but in front of the Punisher, he was nothing.

Peter looked at Max, his thoughts drifting.

What if Max had a Stark arc reactor?

And fought Thor without his hammer?

Who would win?

"Max, I hope this doesn't happen again."

"Next time, it won't be as simple as just beating you up."

Peter said coldly.

Max lowered his head.

"Sorry, sir. I couldn't control myself earlier. I just felt this burning anger in my chest!"

"This won't happen again. I'll turn myself in!"

"Turn yourself in?" Peter sneered.

"You overestimate American law. Everyone in power will want to study you."

"Once you're in prison, you'll be taken to a lab, studied for the rest of your life."

"Even your corpse will be dissected."

"Your brain will be sliced, and your heart will suffer the same fate."

Peter, under the guise of Gellert, spoke in a cold, low voice. His face was stern and unyielding.

His words sent chills down Max's spine.

The black man, who had just absorbed all of New York's electricity, sat on the ground and cried.

"Damn it!!!"

"Why am I so unlucky?!!"

"Today's my birthday! Today's my birthday!"

"I just wanted to catch the last bus home, light a candle, and eat some cake!"

"Why did I have to go through all this?"

Max's emotions completely broke down.

In America, he was black, a minority. His childhood was unhappy, and even though he excelled in school, he was never taken seriously.

At work, it was the same.

He had been suppressing his emotions until a few minutes ago, when they exploded like a compressed spring.

"Max, you couldn't change the past because you were just a nobody."

"But now it's different. You have immense power. No one will dare bully you again."

"You should fight back. If kindness doesn't have teeth, it's just weakness."

Peter stood up, gazing into the distance.

"Come on, I'll take you to get revenge on those who wronged you."

Max was stunned.

"How... how do you know I was bullied?"

Peter's expression didn't change, his eyes slightly narrowing.

"I know everything."

"Damn it!!"

"Manhattan hasn't had a blackout in years. How could this happen?!" (Like Queens, Manhattan is a district of New York.)

Smythe, in his luxurious villa, cursed as the lights went out.

Because he had stolen Max's patent, he had received nearly seven million dollars in patent fees.

He had bought a villa in Manhattan and lived a wealthy life.

Recently, with Oscorp's personnel changes, he needed to perform well.

He made sure all his subordinates worked overtime!

This counted as his achievement.

Smythe turned on his phone's flashlight, took out two candles from the kitchen drawer, and lit them with a lighter.

As the flame flickered to life, two figures appeared in the room.

Smythe was startled, screaming, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest.

"Who... who are you?!"

He calmed his breathing and, in the dim light, recognized one of the figures, then sighed in relief.

"Max, what are you doing in my house?"

Facing the boss who had oppressed him for years, Max clearly had a psychological fear of him.

Peter glanced at Max, then said coldly.

"Max invented the power grid. The patent fee."

"Ten million dollars. Not a cent less."

Smythe's expression changed, growing angry.

"I get it. You're the ones who messed up my power!"

"I'm calling the police to arrest you for breaking into my house!!"

"Max, don't think just because you brought backup, you can order me around!"

"I'm the boss. You're fired!"

Peter snorted. His gaze fell on a meat cleaver on the kitchen counter.

This wasn't common in American households; it was used for cutting meat with bones.

Peter picked up the cleaver and walked over to Smythe without a word.

He grabbed Smythe's hand and chopped it off in one swift motion!

Smythe screamed in agony, trying to stand up, but his left hand remained on the cutting board.

"Ahhh!!!"

Peter tossed the cleaver aside.

"I'll give you one more chance to answer!"

Smythe had never seen anything like this. His left hand gushed blood.

The intense pain and fear overwhelmed him.

He even lost control of his bladder.

"Sir, this..." Max, now regaining his senses, couldn't stop trembling.

"Max, you're not needed by others. You've just been robbed of your achievements," Peter said.

"This man stole everything from you. Kill him."

"You can absorb all of New York's electricity. Is killing one person so hard?"

"You're right, sir. I won't let anyone trample on me again!"

Max picked up Smythe's phone, and a small current flowed into his body.

Though weak, it was enough to kill.

He raised his hand, and a surge of electricity entered Smythe's heart.

The boss who had exploited him for years...

was sent to hell.