Chapter 25: Rescue

After handing little Jack over to his father, Peter flipped off the bridge.

He wanted to track down the big lizard that had disappeared into the water. 

However, he waited a long time on the bridge pier but found nothing.

The vast sea had covered up all traces.

Helpless, Peter flipped back onto the bridge surface.

By then, Chief Stacy, stuck in heavy traffic, had led a group of officers on foot from the other end of the bridge over to this side. 

In the distance, fire trucks had also arrived outside the bridge, but due to the severe traffic jam, they couldn't get through.

When Peter returned, they were racking their brains over how to rescue the people in the several cars that had been thrown out.

A few firefighters were rigging safety ropes onto their bodies, apparently trying to climb down to save people.

Seeing this scene, Peter's eyes lit up. 

Wasn't this what he had planned before?

On the bridge, the firefighters moved very slowly, carefully taking each step.

There was nothing they could do about it because the fire trucks were blocked outside for now and couldn't get in.

But here, no one knew how long those thin strands of webbing could last.

They had just seen a car stuck with webbing fall down.

Some people had even seen the web attaching the car to the bridge and thought the web-shooting masked man was behind this whole thing, cursing and accusing him.

The officers believed it, and some were actually collecting so-called "testimonies" at the scene, as if to convict Peter.

Peter thought to himself, it's a good thing he came back, otherwise what would happen if he got blamed for this whole mess?

He could even imagine the news he'd see tomorrow morning:

[Is it the Loss of Morality or the Distortion of Human Nature? Last Night, the Masked Maniac Spider-Man Finally Extended His Claws to Innocent New York Citizens - Daily Bugle]

[The Terror Rampant on the Streets, the Shadow Hanging Over New York! Who is Spider-Man? - Daily Bugle] 

[What Guarantees are Made for the Safety of Citizens' Property? Who Should We Entrust Personal Safety To? - New York Economic Times]

[Shocking! Spider-Man, Who Was Praised by Everyone, Actually Did Such a Thing to Innocent Citizens on the Bridge Last Night - UC Shock Department New York Branch]

Peter vigorously shook his head, shaking those absolutely horrific scenes from his mind.

Without further hesitation, he ran directly along the bridge's edge, waving and saying, "Hey, let me through, let me through, I can save them."

"Spider-Man!" The officers led by Chief Stacy took out their pistols and pointed them at Peter.

Peter was stunned for a moment and quickly raised his hands. "Hey, I just want to rescue people. I'm not carrying any weapons!"

"Rescue people? Are those webbing on the cars your doing?" Chief Stacy shouted.

"Yes, but..." Peter quickly explained.

"You threw them out and now you want to rescue them? Are you treating us like monkeys?" Chief Stacy angrily yelled.

Peter thought, 'If you weren't Gwen's dad, I'd kick your ass so hard with my spider-boots it would bloom a flower!'

But he knew if he actually did that, Gwen would wear her sexy little riding boots and stomp hard on his butt.

Peter sighed. "Chief, please ask the people next to you and look at the scratches on some of the cars."

As he said this, he gestured to his hands. "Do you think these small hands could make such horrible scratches?"

The police chief still looked at him with great vigilance. As an officer, he didn't trust any masked maniacs, especially ones with a history of interfering with police and using violence at will.

He tilted his head slightly. "Omar, go check the nearby cars and see if there are any scratches like he mentioned."

"Got it, Chief Stacy." One officer holstered his gun and ran towards a nearby vehicle. 

Peter cupped his hands in front of his mouth like a trumpet. "Don't forget to look on the ground too, there should be some there as well!"

The officer named Omar stopped at this and glanced at Chief Stacy.

Chief Stacy nodded.

The confrontation continued.

At this time, something went wrong with the firefighters' rescue operation.

Since the vehicle was only suspended by webbing, the firefighters themselves were also suspended by ropes.

And here they were on the river. When the wind blew, the whole car and firefighters swayed.

For two swaying objects to safely merge together was extremely difficult. 

After working for a long time, several firefighters were still dangling upside down under the bridge, and no one had been rescued yet.

The fastest progress was just getting someone out of the car.

That person being rescued was Nils.

At that moment, a slightly stronger gust of wind blew through.

The safety rope was already very taut under the weight of the two adults. When the wind blew, it rubbed hard against the lower corner of the bridge, making bursts of breathtaking "tearing" sounds, as if it might break at any moment!

"Ahhhhh!" Nils screamed in horror, his body wrapping tightly around the firefighter.

But his actions didn't make their current situation safer, but more dangerous!

"Don't move!" The firefighter was so angry his nose was almost crooked. Originally, they just had to wait for the rope to steady, and the people above would pull them up.

When Nils thrashed, the safety rope swayed even more wildly. How could they get up like that?

What's worse, the friction between the safety rope and the bridge was getting more intense!

Although the safety rope was very strong and shouldn't break under normal circumstances, the violent friction sounds made people panic involuntarily.

But this kind of warning seemed to have no effect on someone in a panic.

In his panicked state, Nils angrily yelled, "I am Nils, head of the Osborn Group's biological research department. You must rescue me safely, otherwise I will definitely sue you!"

The firefighter rolled his eyes. 

If it weren't for this $80,000 a year job, the devil wouldn't want to rescue this kind of person.

But now, he could only patiently hold Nils steady, hoping his teammates could pull them up soon.

However, God did not fulfill his wish.

The wind on the river grew stronger and stronger, and with the sound of tearing cloth, the safety rope suddenly ripped open!

Cries of terror rang out.

This time, from two people!

On the bridge, Peter, in his confrontation with Chief Stacy, picked up the sound of tearing fabric with his keen senses. 

Seeing this, he leapt down without hesitation!

"Spider-Man!" Chief Stacy thought he was going to flee and rushed to the bridge's edge with his officers. However, they happened to witness Spider-Man shoot out webbing to snag the two people under the bridge and pull them up.

All the officers were stunned. 

Was he really rescuing people?

(End of chapter)