Chapter One Hundred: Figures of Black and White

This was a newly developed district on the outskirts of New York. It was said that the United Realty Company was in charge of its development, and now, the place was scarcely populated, with most of the houses still under construction. As the saying goes, to get rich, you must build roads first; the transportation here wasn’t exactly thriving, but the supporting facilities were surprisingly complete.

Especially the dynamic surveillance cameras on the roads.

In theory, though all the cameras had already been installed, none were activated yet... mainly because there was almost no one here. What would there be to monitor? Ghosts, perhaps?

But this was precisely what Ivan had his eye on.

During his earlier secret adjustments to the monitoring network, Ivan had made a few subtle modifications here as well...

When he drove his fully loaded truck into the district, under Ivan’s control, nearly all the cameras along the route whirred to life, their electronic lenses swiveling to capture everything surrounding the truck without missing a detail.

Ivan slowed the truck a bit, his eyes fixed intently on the central screen, which was divided into many surveillance feeds. He turned to Peter and said,

“Come on, help me keep an eye on these. If you see anything unusual, tell me right away.”

“Okay,” Peter nodded, stepping closer, his gaze obediently glued to the screen.

Everything on the monitor matched what they could see out the window—a silent night, buildings under construction, some nearly topped out, others just foundations, empty asphalt roads stretching out, and a gray, misty sky.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Ivan continued driving at a steady, inconspicuous pace—nothing to arouse suspicion.

Soon enough,

He reached the boundary of the new district.

Any farther, and he’d be completely out of the range of these densely packed cameras.

Yet the monitors still showed nothing, implying that, most likely, no one was following them... unless someone could turn invisible.

Despite his lingering doubts, Ivan accepted the facts as they stood.

He had already spent quite some time on this... Each night he transported materials back to the secret base, their risk increased.

So, as soon as he left the new district, Ivan didn’t hesitate—he slammed the accelerator and sped toward the base as fast as he could.

But just then!

Peter suddenly tapped the screen, pausing the feed.

He cried out to Ivan, “Look, look! What is that!?”

Hmm? Ivan slowed the truck further and turned impatiently to look.

On the paused frame Peter had caught, there was a blurry black-and-white figure, vaguely human, leaping between the high-rises, captured in that split second by the surveillance camera.

If not for Peter’s quick reflexes and extraordinary visual acuity, they might never have spotted it.

Yes... it was him...

Ivan’s heart sank. He realized the unsettling feeling he’d had all along was caused by this shadowy figure.

No wonder they hadn’t noticed—he’d been on the rooftops, deep in a blind spot.

After thinking for a moment, Ivan said to Peter, “I suppose this is why Xiu wants you to follow me. Now, it’s your turn.”

“This person cannot be allowed to follow us back to the secret base,” Ivan said, laying it all out.

He didn’t specify how—he trusted Peter would have his own way.

Peter fell silent for a moment, then confidently donned his black hood and said to Ivan, “Leave it to me!”

———

Gwen had been tailing the truck from behind.

When she entered the new district, the unfinished buildings posed a great challenge; if not for her maxed-out parkour skills, she might have lost the trail.

She continued to use the buildings for cover, keeping her figure hidden in the shadows.

This ability felt like her innate talent—she could always clearly sense the limits of the other’s field of vision, allowing her to calculate her own safe, concealed position.

She couldn’t explain the principle, nor did she actually perform complex calculations in her mind.

It just came naturally: as long as she moved in certain ways, at certain angles, in certain positions, she wouldn’t be discovered.

Perhaps it was yet another of her mutation-induced superpowers, Gwen mused.

From her observation, Peter didn’t possess this ability.

In other words... this was her exclusive talent, just as spider silk belonged to Peter alone.

Suddenly.

While her mind wandered, she saw the truck make a sharp turn onto a narrow side road.

Gwen instantly snapped out of her thoughts and sprinted forward, determined to keep up...

But!

Before she could even start, she froze in place...

Her head jerked mechanically to the right, her face filled with disbelief.

At that moment, to her right stood a solitary structure, only some steel bars erected, no bricks laid or cement poured yet. Under the bright moon, a slightly slender figure stood perfectly balanced atop the steel bars.

He wore a black bodysuit, a matching hood obscuring his face and even his eyes.

When...?

Gwen could hardly believe it—how had he managed to appear at her right, silently, without her noticing, just standing there, watching her?

This was, of course, Peter, who had quietly jumped off the truck.

According to his simple plan with Ivan, he was to test this person—if he could win, he’d subdue her; if not, he’d delay, buying Ivan time to reach the base safely.

So, as Gwen sized up Peter, he was also sizing up Gwen.

The blurry black-and-white figure from the screen now revealed itself as a striking woman in a black-and-white bodysuit.

She was somewhat petite—not very tall, about as tall as Peter now—but her graceful curves, outlined by the suit, gave her a mature, alluring aura.

She wore a black hood, her mask predominantly white, adorned with black web-like patterns.

Seeing this outfit... Peter felt a strange sense of familiarity.

This... wasn’t it just a redesign of his own Spider suit? Only the colors were changed, and a hood added... otherwise it was nearly identical, even the web pattern!

Peter suddenly wanted to shout: “Did you pay the copyright fee?!”

But sensing the tense atmosphere, he held back, and instead, imitating Zhong Shenxiu’s tone, said coolly,

“Well, well—looks like we’ve got ourselves a little kitty cat!”