I'm working on Marvel's Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 23 Welcome to the New Era

Hermann Schultz sat in the truck bed, the chill of the metal seeping through his armor into his bones. In the past, he would have thought someone robbing a bank in a truck was insane. Did he think they were filming Batman? He was imitating the Joker and robbing a bank with a large vehicle?

But reality is even stranger than a movie script.

Kingpin's subordinate, the black man named "Prowler" in a purple jacket, only told him one sentence: "You can't drive an ordinary car to rob a bank with this equipment." And Herman couldn't spend another hour wearing his armor in front of the bank. The only way was to find a truck and sit in the truck to go to the bank.

And I don't know if it's a coincidence, but this damn "Prowler" actually arranged an ice cream truck to transport him! The whole car was playing the ice cream truck commercial music!

"Will you please stop this damn music?!"

The terrifying hand slammed hard on the car, and the driver's voice came through the intercom: "Sorry, man, we don't know how to turn it off. It started as soon as the ignition started."

"FXXK!"

The Wanderer wasn't actually mocking Hermann's armor's heat dissipation issues. Unlike Hermann, who was a pseudo-illiterate who couldn't afford school, the Wanderer was truly illiterate, completely unable to comprehend any of this chaotic technological equipment. The ice cream truck was the only one they had on hand.

They were going to rob the Union Bank of New York, where Horizon Labs stored a large amount of materials. The boss, Kingpin, was very interested in something in the vault. He needed the best lock picker, and no one was more suitable for the job than Thriller.

The ice cream truck arrived at the bank entrance playing music that attracted children. Two people in the driver's seat and the passenger seat got out. The surveillance camera at the bank entrance captured the two men in hoods kicking open the glass door. The roar of the shotgun had already shattered the chandelier.

Herman jumped out of the car, and the moment his boots hit the ground, spider-web-like cracks appeared on the concrete floor. However, Herman did not notice this and walked into the bank. At this time, his two accomplices had already controlled most of the bank employees.

"The Avengers will be here in three minutes at most, and by then we won't be able to retreat." The driver urged Hermann, "Can you do it? Three minutes, one lock."

"More than enough, as long as you don't mistake which safe it is."

Seeing this ferocious guy in high-tech armor walking towards him, the bank manager who had quietly pressed the alarm signal swallowed his saliva and watched the horror who had caused a lot of trouble in the city two days ago walking towards him.

"Where is the safe at Horizon Labs?"

He didn't expect Jingle to ask such a question, and he didn't expect that after Jingle didn't get an answer, he raised his hand and shattered the bulletproof glass in front of the counter, and then asked again in a casual manner.

"Where is the safe at Horizon Labs?"

The bank manager came to the safe with Jingzhe in a tumble. Jingzhe put a hand on the safe, and under the bank manager's witness, the safe door twisted and deformed little by little, and then he pulled it off. Jingzhe threw the torn safe door to the ground and saw the purpose of this trip.

Is that a... glass fish tank?
Why is Horizon Labs’ experimental product a fish tank?

Herman, not quite understanding, picked up the fish tank-like thing. It didn't feel like it was made of glass, but seemed to be made of some organic material. It was quite tough and was probably a sample of some new material.

He walked out with the fish tank head and called to Jin Bing's men who were on guard: "We got the things, let's go."

"Okay, give me the things..."

Jin Bing's men were also stunned: "Where did you get a fish tank?"

"Ask the nerds at Horizon Labs." Herman rolled his eyes beneath his armor mask and shoved the fish tank into the hands of Kingpin's men. "Here's the stuff, take it back. I'll distract any Avengers who might be coming, and we'll split up."

The robbery was pulled off smoothly, so smoothly that even Herman was amazed. He unleashed a shockwave and then quickly bounced off the bank, using this convenient but road-destroying method. The super criminal would destroy the road as he went, leaving clues for those damned superheroes so his minions could take the loot back to Hell's Kitchen. On that day, New York City's crime rate increased by 400% year-over-year, and almost all of them were bank robberies. Several of these involved the Shocker, but until the Shocker actually showed up, no one could pinpoint which robbery he was involved in. As a result, the Avengers had no way of catching him.

"Okay, let's summarize. We've got a Ram now. Besides luck, there's one other thing that makes him different from the real Ram: so far, no matter what kind of lock he uses, he can't defend against his punches."

Tony sat at the conference table and expressed what could be described as boredom and fatigue as he looked at the crime map of New York where red marks were spreading like herpes. The captain also sighed.

Hank is more focused on technological issues. He finds that the taste of horror is quite good. The loot is all about technological prototypes and data, and most of them are not weapons.

"Also, the number of bank robberies in New York City skyrocketed around the same time. It was clearly a cover-up for Thriller, as only the banks he targeted were the real targets. Most of the stolen items were experimental products from various labs, and quite a few of them weren't even patented."

"Someone hired Shocker for these technological products. Based on our understanding of Herman Schultz, he is very confident in his own technology and would not use other people's technology casually. There is no way to mobilize so many people at the same time."

The captain said as he pulled out a list of names. All the big and small New York underground gangs appeared here. Generally speaking, these were not under the jurisdiction of the Avengers, but they needed to know who hired Thriller.

"Hammerhead, Tombstone, Vipers... do we have any specific suspects?"

The captain said as he saw Kingpin's portrait sliding across the holographic projection.

"I'm honored to have you join us, Mr. Schultz."

The Emperor of Hell's Kitchen sat before him, his table filled with the finest food and wine Herman had ever seen. He was a towering figure, a massive figure, like a wall. Herman, without armor, looked even smaller in front of the Kingpin. But he doubted he would have been as muscular as the man before him, even in armor.

"Mr. Fisk, I'm honored to work for you." Herman watched Kingpin devour his meal and introduced himself: "I was born in Harlem. To us, you are..."

"Thank you." Kingpin smiled, picked up his knife and fork, and interrupted Herman. "I'm glad you recognize my past..." He waved his hand and made an inappropriate guess: "Achievements. But now it's a new era, and everyone knows the old ways are no longer effective. So, I need you to help me unlock those geniuses and see what they think about the future."

Kingpin finished speaking and clapped his hands. Standing in the shadows, Kingpin's henchman, wearing a purple jacket and calling himself the Prowler, placed the fish tank Herman had brought out on the corner of the table, and then a thin man was brought up.

"In this day and age, anything can work miracles, like this... Explain, Mr. Baker?"

"Oh, yes, okay, Mr. Wesker."

The timid, thin white man gestured helplessly and began to explain in a completely incoherent manner: "Everything we can see is actually light. The reflection of light creates everything. So, um, for me, light is an image. If we can manipulate light..."

"Relax, Mr. Baker." Kingpin smiled as he cut into the salmon and motioned for Herman to join in. "I'm not very knowledgeable about science, so I can be straightforward. What is the use of this thing you want?"

"okay."

The man called Baker was practically dazed, but he still managed to speak timidly, "It's just a projector, but the target isn't any physical object, it's light particles. It can directly change the state of these light particles. This means that if this technology is perfected, it's possible to create 3D projections anywhere that appear to be real, but aren't actually there..."

"Thank you, Mr. Baker. Take him down to rest."

Kingpin waved his hand and had Baker taken away. "Just think about this... the projector. If our people can complete it, we can let people see what we want them to see, such as a Spider-Man who burns, kills, and loots, or a group of Avengers who massacre people in a foreign country. People may not believe the rumors, but they will believe what they see."

"Welcome to the new era, Mr. Herman."

(End of this chapter)