Chapter Sixty-Three: The Bat Armed Black Phantom

Gwen fastened her belt. The leather felt remarkably comfortable, as if crafted from some fine material. The buckle was a bit large, but its exterior was adorned with a spider motif. The whole thing had an ivory hue—not unpleasant to the eye.

Michael watched Gwen's movements and said, "Shout 'transform' for the full effect."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Do you take me for a child?"

But since no one was watching, Gwen decided to humor Michael. She slid the card into the belt and shouted, "Transform!"

The suit didn't appear instantly. White light burst from the buckle, projecting a white spider into the air, accompanied by an exhilarating sound effect.

"Spider Driver—White Phantom—Swift—Agile—Dangerous—Deadly Claws—Spider Armament!"

The white spider broke apart from its six legs, transforming into a stream of molecules shaped like DNA, which gradually enveloped Gwen's body.

Gwen had not expected anything like this, especially the peculiar sound effects. She stood frozen, bewildered.

Soon, the suit covered her entirely. Through the sky-blue visor, Gwen gazed at Michael, who was visibly excited.

Are all men like this? So childish.

The transformation crystal card, the belt, the exaggerated sound effects—was she about to become a masked hero and save the world?

Michael was delighted with his handiwork, entirely ignoring Gwen's urge to throttle him as he laughed heartily.

"Michael, what on earth is all this? Get rid of the sound effects!"

Gwen could already imagine transforming in front of a crowd; there’d be no need to fight—the enemy would die laughing.

"No way, I worked so hard on it!"

Gwen truly couldn't stand the sound effects; they were mortifying and served no practical purpose.

"They have to go."

Gwen disengaged the transformation and pummeled Michael’s chest with her small fists.

At last, Michael removed the voice effects, though the transformation visuals weren’t entirely just for show.

Since the exact transformation action couldn't be confirmed, the nanites simply covered the body.

Gwen calculated that without the sound effects, the suit could fully envelop her in five seconds—not much impact on combat.

"What about yours? I want to see yours."

Michael's gaze flickered, trying to avoid something.

"Mine's not finished yet."

Gwen's expression darkened. Her mind raced through possibilities—perhaps Michael had only added sound effects to hers for his own amusement.

"I don’t believe you. Come on, let me see it."

"Alright."

Reluctantly, Michael opened another storage container, revealing a black suit.

This black suit also had an integrated visor, but it was purple. Beneath the visor, the mouth area was decorated with bat-like teeth.

The bat suit's style was similar to the White Phantom—sharp, muscular contours and a tough, sinewy design. The difference lay in the left arm, which bore a round shield about the size of a plate.

The suit also featured a cape on the back, two sword hilts protruding from the shoulders, and bat-like bone spurs on the knees and elbows that elongated when bent.

Around the neck was a purple scarf, and below it, a wind ornament, giving it a touch of the Black-clad Avenger aesthetic.

"This is the Black Phantom, the counterpart to your White Phantom. The arm is equipped with a magical shield, the upper arm has mini-missiles, and the palms and soles have identical jet devices that can fire electromagnetic ion cannons."

"The blades on the back are my proud invention—superheated melting blades, capable of slicing through any steel."

Except for vibranium.

After all, aside from specific frequency sound waves, only Thanos’s great cleaver could cut through it.

"Try it on."

Gwen looked at Michael with eager anticipation, her excitement mirroring his earlier demeanor.

If I have to die socially, so do you.

Gwen insisted on hearing the sound effects.

A truly mortifying moment.

Michael put on his belt and inserted the crystal card.

"Bat Driver—Bat—Black Phantom—Blade of Judgment—Resolute Armament!"

Countless black feathers scattered and spun around Michael before gathering on him, forming the bat suit.

"Wow, those effects are amazing!"

Gwen ran over, excited, and touched Michael's suit.

"What’s the scarf and cape for? Surely not just for show?"

Can I tell you they’re purely for style?

"The scarf and cape are both made of nanomaterials. The cape aids flight, and the scarf can morph into other weapons, such as a spear."

Michael tugged at the scarf, and with a flourish, it transformed into a spear.

"So cool."

Gwen suddenly felt her own suit wasn’t as impressive.

Gwen disliked the spider gene fusion effect—the DNA chain always reminded her of that night’s nightmare—so she asked Michael to refine it.

In the end, Michael changed it to a spider fusion.

The new feature: a white spider descended on a thread, paused by Gwen’s side, then extended its legs to embrace her, and finally, the light shattered into the suit.

For Gwen, it was still passable, though she’d hoped for the feather effect like Michael’s.

Michael, too, couldn’t bear the sound effects. They were fine for his own amusement, but taking them out in public was just too embarrassing.

Next, Michael had Gwen acclimate to the suit’s capabilities and prepare for combat.

Gwen’s suit was tailored for ranged combat—a deliberate adjustment by Michael to keep her safer.

With Gwen’s danger-sensing abilities, keeping her at a distance would buy her time to react.

Michael’s suit, by contrast, favored close-quarters combat. He’d recently discovered that the fastest way to kill was teleportation plus a quick strike, so he focused on melee.

After testing the suit’s features and mastering stable flight, Gwen finally had a basic grasp of its functions.

She noticed many metal spheres and cylinders on the table and couldn’t help her curiosity.

"What are these?"

Gwen picked up a sphere to examine it.

"Mechanical animals. They can assist in combat, but their main use is infiltration."

Gwen pressed a button, and the sphere transformed into a scorpion.

The scorpion’s limbs were specially designed for silent movement and climbing.

The pincers and stinger could deliver electric shocks; the stinger could also morph into a USB port to steal data or implant viruses.

"Neat! Can I use it as a USB drive?"

Michael glanced at her and said, "You can, but—"

"Give me a few."

"Alright, but remember—they’re capable of self-destruction."

"Self-destruct?"

Gwen was surprised.

Michael replied nonchalantly, "If the mission fails, we can’t leave any traces."

Only then did Gwen realize Michael designed these mechanical creatures for espionage.

"No wonder you always know Ivan Vanko’s plans."

Michael thought Gwen was overthinking it. With Hammer Industries' system, he could infiltrate whenever he pleased.

Michael withdrew the crystal card, stowed away his suit, and said to Gwen,

"Get ready, let’s go have a look at Hammer’s big idiot expo."

Gwen was speechless—not just a bit dimwitted, must he be called an idiot?

But Justin Hammer really was an imbecile.