Chapter 028 Chaos

From the moment the thug attacked to the moment he was subdued,

the entire process lasted only a few seconds, full of twists and turns, everything happening in a flash, leaving one breathless.

Gwen's emotions, like her heartbeat at that moment, rose and fell dramatically, leaving her momentarily speechless.

Helen Stacy, still shaken, picked herself up from the ground and looked at the subdued thug. It took her a while to come to her senses, then she tightly embraced her daughter, as if wanting to offer comfort through the broad warmth of a mother's love.

Of course, part of it was also the desire to feel her daughter in her arms.

Because just moments ago, she had almost lost her.

Although Gwen Stacy was held in her mother's arms, her gaze was fixed on the man who had broken into her home and subdued the thug.

This man was the mechanical soldier created by Wang Bo through the Conqueror.

Wearing someone else's face, after subduing the thug, he picked him up, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and walked out the door without a word.

These manufactured mechanical soldiers possessed simple artificial intelligence, capable of simulating ordinary human emotions.

But after all, they were mechanical soldiers, not as smooth as ordinary people.

In their programming, aside from obeying Wang Bo's orders and executing tasks, they had no superfluous thoughts. Saving Gwen this time was merely carrying out orders.

Thus, greeting Gwen or comforting her was, in their view, completely unnecessary.

"Wait!"

Just as the mechanical soldier was about to leave, Gwen quickly broke free from her mother's embrace and called out to him.

"Who are you, and why did you save me?" This was probably the biggest doubt in her heart.

The mechanical soldier glanced at Gwen and said in a low voice, "Just following orders."

"Whose orders?"

The mechanical soldier did not answer and left without a word.

Gwen Stacy hesitated a few times, as if wanting to chase after him, but at that moment, her mother stepped forward and pulled her back. This wise mother seemed to sense that there was more to this matter.

Thus, she was unwilling to let her daughter get involved.

In the end, Gwen Stacy stayed behind, watching the mechanical soldier slowly walk away.

...

On the other hand, having confirmed Gwen Stacy's safety, Wang Bo withdrew his gaze, plopped down on the sofa, and couldn't help but start thinking.

To be honest, today's Gwen had greatly surprised Wang Bo.

Especially the change in Gwen's breathing rhythm; Wang Bo was all too familiar with it—it was exactly the same as his own breathing rhythm.

And Wang Bo's breathing rhythm represented a peculiar breathing technique.

Ripple Qigong!

Yes, what Gwen used today was Ripple Qigong.

This was what amazed Wang Bo. He had indeed taught his Ripple Qigong to Gwen, but the problem was that it wasn't the Gwen of this world, but the Spider-Gwen of another world.

Yet, the Gwen of this world had used Ripple Qigong.

What did this mean?

It meant that someone had taught Gwen this breathing technique.

It implied two possibilities.

First, Spider-Gwen had once been to this world and taught Ripple to her parallel self.

Second, JoJo had been to this world and taught Ripple to Gwen.

And this JoJo was either the first or second generation, because from the third generation onward, JoJos didn't use Ripple; they used Stands.

So Wang Bo suspected that there might be a third time traveler in this world.

"Friday!" Wang Bo called out.

"Master." Friday responded to Wang Bo instantly, ready at any moment.

"Investigate Gwen Stacy's social connections for me. Find anyone named Gwen Stacy or JoJo. Look into recent years."

"Yes, Master."

At Wang Bo's command, Friday moved swiftly, hacked into networks, and investigated all of Gwen's relationships centered on her. But the result was... nothing!

There was no other Gwen in Gwen's circle, nor any man named JoJo.

This shocked Wang Bo. If there was no third time traveler, how had this world's Gwen learned Ripple?

It couldn't be that Gwen had deduced it herself.

That wasn't scientific.

Helpless, Wang Bo had to put the matter aside for now and focus entirely on the battle between Kingpin and the White Witch.

Kingpin, that muscle-bound fat bastard, had gone into hiding after Wang Bo's warning, secretly manipulating his men to fight the White Witch's forces.

For a time, all of New York fell into chaos.

Every night, groups of people would clash in New York, refusing to stop until dozens were dead.

All the funeral homes in New York were overwhelmed.

The White Witch's men had a simple strategy: find Kingpin's turf, take it over, recruit those willing to submit, and kill everyone else.

Kingpin's response was equally brutal: hunker down, strengthen defenses, and kill anyone who dared attack his turf—no survivors.

There was absolutely no finesse.

But for people like them, finesse wasn't needed.

Battles had always been like this: kill or be killed.

The only ones who suffered were the NYPD, who received citizen reports every night: "There's a shootout here, come quick!"

The NYPD had 77 precincts, 12 transit districts, and 9 housing police service areas across New York, with 30,000 sworn officers, 1,000 civilian staff, and 3,000 auxiliary officers.

But even so, it still felt insufficient, as if every cop was running around in circles.

In this situation, besides the police, the busiest people were journalists.

With the gang wars in New York, these reporters were like sharks drawn to blood, all of them excited.

All kinds of reports flooded every corner of New York. Wang Bo had read them; only a few newspapers stuck to the facts.

Most newspapers, for the sake of sales, fabricated stories, took quotes out of context, stopped at nothing, and plastered all sorts of sensational news and eye-catching headlines across their pages.

Headlines like "Gang War Overnight, Thousands Dead," "Police Brutality, Innocent Civilians Caught in Crossfire," "Hotel Suffers Astronomical Losses, Reason Turns Out to Be Him," and so on—fresh news that constantly lowered the bar.

Seeing this, Wang Bo couldn't help but applaud these journalists for their sheer shamelessness. And the consequence of their fabrications was mild chaos in New York, with countless cops cursing them out.