Gwen's supposedly accurate intuition was proven once again.
Even though only the two of them could hear these words, as soon as Russell finished speaking, Gwen's face, which had carried a hint of anticipation just moments ago, turned crimson.
Gwen didn't say anything. She raised her right hand and gave Russell's chest a firm thump.
A small fist pounding on his chest!
If Gwen were a normal human, her action would have seemed like affectionate playfulness between lovers.
However, the issue was that Gwen wasn't a normal person.
Her seemingly unimpressive little fist hitting his chest made Russell feel as if he had been hit by a car.
Gasp...
Suppressing the intense impact on his chest, Russell involuntarily sucked in a breath.
Only after the punch had landed did Gwen realize that she had forgotten to moderate her strength to a human level.
"Are you okay?"
Gently, Gwen asked Russell, who was enduring the pain.
"I'm alright. If it were any harder, you might have had to protect me."
Though Gwen's punch was surprisingly powerful, Russell quickly recovered.
The regenerative abilities of the serum were no joke.
"Hmph!"
Upon hearing Russell's response, Gwen let out a nasal snort.
For Gwen, making a nasal sound like that might have been just a little habit of expressing her emotions.
But for the man who witnessed the scene, her small gesture was nothing short of alluring.
"Now that you've snorted, I'll take it as your agreement!"
"By the way, I forgot to tell you—I've already purchased those special costumes we talked about!"
Russell had been interested in Gwen for quite some time.
He knew the Spider-Woman videos were ranked first in the Superheroine category on that learning website, so how could he not be prepared?
As the saying goes, better safe than sorry!
Just as Russell finished speaking, Gwen's face, already as red as an apple, grew even redder.
Just as she was about to lift her small fist to give Russell a few more taps, he decisively turned around and walked toward the gang members surrounding them.
While he had no grudge against these gang members, he was willing to do some unsavory things to fulfill Gwen's small wish.
Moreover, he didn't mind doing so for his own small wish. It was just a matter of displaying his masculinity and protecting his girlfriend.
A minor affair!
As long as Gwen was willing to fulfill his small wish, even if he had to go against S.H.I.E.L.D., Russell wouldn't hesitate.
When these gang members initially saw a delicate beauty like Gwen, they thought today was their lucky day.
They had even started imagining alluring scenes of playful interaction with Gwen.
However, they couldn't have anticipated that today wouldn't be their lucky day; it would be a day of suffering.
To fulfill Gwen's small wish, Russell wasn't polite with these gang members.
On this street with half the streetlights broken, cries of pain and screams of agony rang out quickly.
Amid these cries of pain, the sounds of bones breaking and the muffled thuds of fists landing on flesh created an unconventional background melody, shattering the stillness of the night.
As Russell disciplined these gang members, Gwen stood in place, her Cardcaptor eyes fixed on his every move, a slight smile forming at the corners of her mouth.
In less than three minutes, all of the gang members lay on the ground, each one crying out louder than the last.
When Russell returned to Gwen's side, she rose onto her tiptoes, and her alluring crimson lips lightly brushed against his cheek.
Before Russell could speak, Gwen took his right hand and briskly headed towards their apartment, her steps light and quick.
Observing Gwen's joyful expression, Russell suddenly felt that this sensation was rather nice.
He spent the night at Gwen's apartment, not returning home.
Thankfully, Diana was away on a business trip; otherwise...
The next day.
After enjoying a breakfast Gwen had personally cooked at the apartment, Russell returned to the Octopus Monster Lab in a contented mood.
Seated comfortably in his office chair, he recalled the pleasant scenes from the night before.
Gwen had fulfilled his small wish as agreed, giving him a glimpse of a very different Spider-Woman.
As he reminisced about last night's enjoyable experience and anticipated his next meeting with Gwen, a knock suddenly interrupted his thoughts, bringing him back to reality.
"Come in!"
The office door opened, and Peter, clad in a lab coat, walked in.
Though it was morning, Peter had arrived at the lab early to work alongside Experiment 3, putting finishing touches on the remaining four Zaku battle suits.
He wasn't skipping class; he was on summer break.
Seeing Peter's conflicted expression, Russell directly asked, "What's wrong? Are you facing some trouble?"
Peter looked at Russell, hesitating for several seconds before slowly speaking, "Sir, um... can I get an advance on a portion of my salary?"
An advance on his salary?
Hearing Peter's words, Russell was momentarily taken aback.
If he remembered correctly, Peter had just received his salary for the previous week a few days ago.
Peter was no longer an intern at the Detective Agency; he was now the chief engineer at the Octopus Monster Military Technology Laboratory.
His weekly wage had increased to fifty thousand dollars.
Fifty thousand dollars might not sound like much, but that was his weekly wage.
If converted to an annual salary, it was a staggering two million six hundred thousand dollars.
Put it this way: the average annual salary for a Wall Street employee was around four hundred twenty thousand dollars.
"Getting an advance on your salary is no problem, but can you tell me why you need it?"
Peter wasn't the type to act recklessly when he had money.
Until now, he still took the bus and subway to the lab every day.
"Sure, it's like this..."
Little Peter quickly explained why he wanted an advance on his salary.
After listening to Peter's story, Russell's brow furrowed slightly.
He hadn't expected that Peter's request for an advance on his salary would have a connection to him.
Peter's beautiful aunt had become unemployed not too long ago.
Although Peter now had a decent income, his beautiful aunt, May Parker, obviously didn't want to rely on her nephew for her livelihood.
It was just unemployment; it wasn't a big deal.
After losing her job, May Parker didn't return to her previous occupation. Instead, she accepted an invitation from the "Good Samaritan," Martin Li, to become a volunteer at FEAST, a shelter for the homeless, and eventually became an official staff member.
Yes, the same Mr. Martin Li who had been cured of superpowers by Russell and had then died.
At first, Martin Li's "disappearance" hadn't had much impact.
But as time went on, the shelter's situation grew increasingly dire.
Without the economic support of the "Good Samaritan" Martin Li, the shelter was forced to confront a severe problem.
Closure!
---
If you're interested in reading more, feel free to visit my patreon which already contains 20 chapters:
https://www.patreon.com/XElenea