Chapter 60: Eight O'Clock: Beneath the Mask

Having temporarily lost track of Spider-Man, Mysterio understood one thing: he must have temporarily hidden in some enclosed space.

But Mysterio didn't care. A hero would surely regroup and challenge him again.

Captain America was powerful, but even he couldn't quickly defeat all of Mysterio's drones. Iron Man was temporarily trapped by anti-aircraft missiles, the other Fantastic Four members were nowhere to be seen, leaving only Human Torch.

Mysterio was toying with Human Torch for the third time. Undoubtedly, the kid hadn't listened to Iron Man, and under Mysterio's provocation, once again chased after Mysterio or his illusions. This time, Human Torch had made some progress, realizing that high temperatures could affect light refraction and maintaining a certain altitude for area attacks, taking down several drones without causing casualties.

His confidence boosted, Human Torch began to pursue Mysterio's illusions relentlessly. Mysterio dodged everywhere, and he chased everywhere, until—

"You know, Human Torch, the air is pretty thin at high altitudes."

"Of course I know, but we're still in the middle of the night!"

Human Torch charged upwards, breaking through the night. He had just been saved by Iron Man and knew his altitude limit. This was nowhere near it.

But he was wrong. After breaking through the night, what he saw wasn't a clear blue sky, but the visible atmospheric orbit.

"I have to commend you," Mysterio's voice echoed in his ear. "As long as you're willing to believe you can still burn, even break through your limits... Unfortunately, that's just what I wanted you to see."

Looking at Human Torch, who was barely maintaining his flame, the high-altitude drone revealed its true form, then self-destructed. The violent shockwave exhausted his last bit of energy, sending him plummeting from high altitude. He felt he couldn't ignite again; the intense feeling of weightlessness made him unable to control himself.

In a daze, he saw something falling with him. It wasn't an illusion because something really had caught him.

"I really did complain to Susan. You're less obedient than a high schooler." Tony Stark, having saved Human Torch again, was speechless at this college-bound brat. "You don't need to worry about Mysterio. I've sent the best Avenger to handle this."

"Is it Captain America? You know, a lot of people say I look like him."

Of course, it wasn't Captain America, but Spider-Man.

Before crashing again, Jarvis provided Peter with enough intelligence. After the X-Men disbanded, Oscorp Technologies had somehow acquired brainwave technology and developed a "neural transmission device." The prototype was in the lab on the twenty-seventh floor of Oscorp Tower.

Relying on his familiarity with New York, Peter quickly approached Oscorp Tower. Mysterio had already spotted him, and along the way, all sorts of bizarre sights appeared. For example, he felt like he was being sucked into a black hole, distorting. Or the buildings on both sides simultaneously collapsing, falling on top of him. Or Mysterio creating the sound of ordinary people crying for help, making it difficult to distinguish reality from illusion.

"Trust your movements, not your feelings!"

Having never entered Oscorp Tower, Peter relied on his previous impressions of swinging around its exterior, charging directly into the lobby of Oscorp Technologies. Glass shattered everywhere, and before he landed, he shot countless webs in all directions, sticking them to almost every corner of the lobby, forming a dense web. He landed on it, pulled out a spare web fluid cartridge from his waist, and reloaded.

"Spiders hunt with webs, and they're best at sensing environmental changes through web vibrations. Let me see—"

Relying on the distribution of his webs, Peter painstakingly explored the lobby environment. He felt some webs snap, and almost simultaneously, he fired electrified webs in that direction, directly striking down the attacking drones. Then he reinforced the broken web, connecting it to the main web, just like a real spider catching a fly.

But he wasn't there to catch drones.

He found the elevator, pulled open the elevator door, and climbed into the elevator shaft. Then he re-sealed the elevator door with webbing. When the elevator wasn't running, this shaft was an enclosed space, and Mysterio hadn't placed any drones here in advance, so this was real.

"Twenty-seventh floor—Quentin, you're truly a genius!"

He wasn't talking about the floor, but the elevator in the underground parking garage began to ascend rapidly, heading towards the rooftop. If not stopped, Peter would be carried to the roof. Peter glanced around and reacted quickly. He landed on the ascending elevator, confirmed there were no living people inside, then directly tore the elevator cables, letting the entire thing plummet. Then he ripped open the elevator door on the 27th floor and walked in. It was still pitch black, nothing there. Mysterio already knew he had arrived.

Peter still used his trick, continuously firing webs around him and tying them to his waist, checking his surroundings.

"Spider-Man, your little tricks are good, and you are indeed very clever."

Countless Mysterios appeared around Peter. They looked at Peter, involuntarily puffing out their chests: "But here, in such a confined space, you are no match for me."

"I'm not here to defeat you, Quentin. I'm here to tell you that you're wrong."

Under Mysterio's gaze, Spider-Man put his hand on his mask. Mysterio seemed to realize something: "What are you doing?!"

"You think I wear a mask because I'm scared." Peter slowly pulled off his mask. "You're wrong. The reason I wear a mask is the same reason I wear this suit—just to help others, to protect others."

"I don't wear a mask because I'm afraid of other people's judgment."

"I wear it to protect them."

"Just like now, I'm taking it off to defeat you."

He tore off his mask. As Peter slowly pulled off his mask, Mysterio used a holographic projection to re-create a mask on Peter's face, but this couldn't fool Mysterio himself. He immediately shut down all drone cameras and shouted, loudly and fearfully, "No!"

The sound was so clear that even within the illusion, Peter heard exactly where he was.

"What are you doing, Quentin Beck?!"

Kingpin, who had witnessed everything from his office, stood up and roared, slamming his fist on the table: "Turn on the cameras! Spider-Man just exposed his identity, and you shut down the signal?!"

"It shouldn't be like this! It shouldn't be like this!" Quentin Beck cried, trying to remove the device connected to the projector on his head. He heard Spider-Man's footsteps and let out a desperate wail.

"You should wear your mask! You should hide your identity! Wear it! Wear it!"

"I'm right in front of you, Quentin. Look at me! See if Spider-Man is what you thought!"

Peter tore the wires from the device, pulling out Mysterio, who was still wearing the projector and armor. Mysterio maintained the illusion at a certain distance around him, but he raised his arms and covered his eyes.

He created illusions that no one could see through, yet he himself could always see the true side.

Only he himself could not see the false mask he had woven for Spider-Man.

"What's wrong, Quentin?" Peter looked down at him, his tone shifting from sharp to pity. "Didn't you say that once you put on the helmet, you would be fearless and be your true self?"

"Is the true Quentin Beck... actually just a coward who's afraid to face reality?"

"Wear it, wear it..." Mysterio trembled, repeating like a final incantation.

Kingpin, who had been observing, became furious and disappointed.

"Mr. Gargan, I believe you're nearby? Put on your goggles and take down Spider-Man for me, even if you can't, tell me who he is!"

MacDonald Gargan, who had been monitoring Quentin, finally realized something was wrong. He quickly put on his specialized goggles and walked towards Spider-Man. From a distance, he saw Mysterio lying on the ground, covering his head with his arms, and that idiotic Spider-Man who had removed his mask, revealing short black hair.

At this distance, taking him down would be effortless. He hoped Kingpin would pay enough.

MacDonald raised his pistol, ready to shoot, but just before pulling the trigger, Spider-Man, without looking up, swiftly shot a web, sticking to his pistol and pulling it, twisting the barrel in another direction. At the same time, for some reason, a web from behind stuck to his back, pulling him away, and the shifted barrel aimed directly at himself. As MacDonald fell, the bullet that should have hit Spider-Man's head fired, piercing Gargan's body.

"Ah!"

Peter, hearing the cry, paused for a moment, then chose to smash Mysterio's fishbowl head first. All the surrounding illusions instantly vanished. Peter turned around and saw Cindy, in her suit, who had appeared behind him at some point.

"I don't know New York as well as you do... but following you is easy. You're welcome, it was no trouble at all," Cindy said, looking at Mysterio trembling on the ground: "What about him?"

Peter was silent for a moment, then put his mask back on, crouched down, and his voice softened.

"It's alright, Quentin," he said gently, "See, I put it on."

Mysterio trembled, moving his arms away, and seeing Spider-Man wearing his mask, finally collapsed into a ball, sobbing.

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