Chapter 80: The Black Cat and Genesis

Towering skyscrapers, buildings still under construction, metal fences and barriers everywhere.

Raindrops fell, shimmering in the distant city lights.

"You're not dead yet, are you? Little Spider."

The Black Cat looked at Peter leaning on the fence and asked him.

The two were on the 25th floor, where the temperature dropped even faster on a rainy night, giving the Black Cat a chill.

"Not dead yet," Peter replied calmly.

At this point, his body no longer felt the pain as before, but instead was overcome by a sense of weakness.

He felt powerless, unable to move even a muscle.

This even made him suspect if the weakness he felt was caused by something spawned by the alien embryo inside him.

Sitting on the ground, leaning against the railing, Peter asked the Black Cat, "Why did you show up?"

"I've been investigating Kinber," she replied, stretching lazily. "He has connections with the Hand, and those elusive ninjas, the assassins of the Hand, have appeared in this area before, so..."

She took off her mask, stretched, and continued, "As someone who often monitors here, I happened to witness your fight with that woman."

"She said your name is Parker."

The Black Cat turned around, her emerald eyes gazing at Peter's face wrapped in the exoskeleton.

"So, you're really Mr. Parker?"

She suddenly felt that her adventure today was quite rewarding.

Peter exhaled, not answering the Black Cat.

He was too tired to even speak, just waiting for his body to recover.

Seeing Peter silent, the Black Cat asked, "Well, let's change the subject. Who's that formidable-looking woman? You seem to be acquainted."

"No comment," Peter refused directly.

"Aren't we temporary partners?" the Black Cat leaned in, her green eyes close to Peter's white eyelids. "At least I helped you escape just now."

If it weren't for Peter's mask being impenetrable, she really wanted to tear it off and see his face.

"Not really," Peter shook his head. "That woman just now also wanted to be my partner, and you saw the result."

Hearing Peter's words, the Black Cat extended her finger and lightly stroked Peter's face.

With a snap, her wrist was caught by Peter.

"See, Little Spider, that's the difference between her and me. Maybe you'll trust me more, you won't fear my fingers piercing your skin."

The Black Cat's gaze became seductive as she spoke in French, "Or perhaps, you wouldn't mind if I stole something."

Peter grabbed the Black Cat's wrist. "Sorry, I don't understand French. Are you turning this place into your stage?"

He knew the woman in front of him was Felicia Hardy.

Her real identity was a somewhat famous singer in New York.

"My stage is quite large, the whole city is, not just limited to here."

The Black Cat withdrew her arm, asking Peter, "Have you investigated me?"

"No need," Peter shook his head, "Your name often appears on internet searches."

"That's quite an honor."

The Black Cat turned to look at the distant city.

On the metal railing to her left, there was a crow.

The crow was small, with a small tuft of red feathers at the front of its wings, looking like a drop of blood.

The crow's silhouette and the metal pole beside it formed a cross.

In the darkness, if you couldn't see clearly, you might mistake it for a crucifix.

As she looked towards the "cross," she suddenly felt a bit faint, reminded of the famous painting—Genesis.

Shaking her head, she cleared the strange association from her mind and said to Peter:

"Since you know my true identity, aren't you interested in why I play the role of a street hero?"

"Not interested," Peter replied directly. "Whether it's revenge or being driven by some responsibility, it's none of my concern. Or if you're some kind of believer, I wouldn't be surprised."

"You're excessively indifferent, Little Spider," the Black Cat's voice carried a lazy allure. She pointed to the crow and the metal "cross," saying to Peter, "I'm not a believer, but my father believes in some things, like that cross. He thinks the horizontal line represents humanity, the current world, a world filled with materialism, flesh, and dirt—mud, blood, stones, bones."

"And the vertical line represents the divine line of God, in a dominant position, perpendicular to the human world, it's the axis of the afterlife and the unknown world."

Peter frowned, asking her, "Is your whole family a bunch of zealots?"

The Black Cat shook her head, "Of course not."

"Then sorry, I don't understand your profound metaphors, I only know priests often spout nonsense to believers, like 'the cross is just a crossroads'."

The Black Cat's finger lightly traced the railing, "Hmm, perhaps the priests are right."

She suddenly remembered the reason she became the Black Cat.

Choosing not to be a puppet of fate at the crossroads of life, breaking the norms of life, that should be the reason she stood here now.

"Alright, Mr. Parker."

The Black Cat quickly pulled herself away from her thoughts, put on her mask, covering her exquisite face.

"It was a pleasant chat with you today. Hope we can meet again next time. I helped you this time, and we're even for what happened at Nelson and Murdock's office last time."

With that, she blew a kiss to Peter, flipped over the railing with a gymnastic move, and then shot out her grappling hook with a "whoosh."

Leaning against the metal railing, Peter watched the Black Cat's departure, the exoskeleton mask on his face slowly fading away.

His body had regained some strength.

Supporting himself on the railing, he stood up.

The rain in the distant city skyline made the whole city foggy, as if though the rain had stopped, the mist had spread.

The next morning, early dawn.

Peter slowly descended the stairs.

His body had recovered mostly, after a night of rest, almost all the fatigue had dissipated.

Though still puzzled by the changes in the alien embryo and worried about Helen's next move, he acted as if nothing had happened in front of Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

He was just about to ask Uncle Ben to help him take leave, to protect the two at home.

Suddenly he heard Aunt May and Uncle Ben talking.

Aunt May mentioned the church's flyers.

"This kind of promotion seems a bit outdated. Look at these words—'Jesus stands at the crossroads, he chose not the horizontal line representing the human world, but the vertical line representing God's.' I've heard the church's priests say this many times."

Peter, on the stairs, listened to Aunt May's words, which were somewhat similar to those of the Black Cat last night, and was momentarily stunned.

It seemed that the Black Cat's father and Aunt May went to the same church.

Seeing Peter coming down the stairs, Uncle Ben and Aunt May's expressions immediately became serious.

"Peter, come here, we need to talk, about you and Gwen, there are things you both need to take care of."

...

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