Helen was stunned, her mind a mess.
She suddenly remembered what she had just experienced. The firefighters had obviously opened the door to come in, but when the crowd rushed out, the door was mysteriously closed.
It seemed that her eyes had deceived her.
Helen closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused her awareness outside of her sight to feel her surroundings.
Soon, she sensed Peter sitting beside her.
When she opened her eyes again, all the hallucinations vanished. She was still in the café, and Peter sat across from her, looking at her with a teasing smile.
Realizing she had been tricked, she felt the urge to throw her coffee in his face.
"You think this is funny, Peter?" Helen asked, trying to suppress the anger rising inside her.
Peter explained calmly, "I just showed you how I can enter the heavily guarded tunnel entrance. It looks like I succeeded. Even you, Teacher Helen, almost fell for it."
Unfortunately, he thought to himself, his attempt still had flaws.
The technique, though useful, was not perfect. It relied on a simple 3D projection, unable to interact with the surrounding environment or characters like actual things. Additionally, his mental projections could not alter the physical world around him.
For example, the simulated hell lacked the genuine smell of sulfur, which made it easier for someone like Helen to detect the illusion.
However, he noted, if used in combat, this ability could be a great asset, especially in distracting enemies and gaining an advantage in battle.
"That was a 3D projection, right?" Helen asked, clearly intrigued. "But it looked so real. How did you do that? Or did you use some kind of magic? But you're not a magician."
She looked around, scanning for any hidden machines or devices.
Peter chuckled. "Sorry, that's a personal secret."
Helen raised an eyebrow. "Very well."
She leaned back, a smile playing on her lips. "You've embarrassed me today, and I won't let this go so easily. If you don't tell me how you did it, I'm a woman who holds grudges."
Peter wasn't fazed by her threats. "Now's not the time, Teacher Helen."
Helen's face flushed with irritation at hearing her own words used against her.
"You'll regret this," she muttered under her breath.
---
The next morning, at Stark Tower, Tony Stark was holding a press conference.
"I'll be assembling an inspection team. I'll keep the details of the target secret for now, but the rewards will be generous. To ensure safety, I'll be hiring some superheroes or people with superpowers," Tony announced confidently.
He paused, adjusting the microphone before adding, "If you think you have the abilities, you can join my expedition team, except Spider-Man, of course."
A reporter raised their hand. "Why exclude Spider-Man, Mr. Stark?"
Tony shifted his body slightly. "No particular reason. It's just personal."
"What personal grudge do you have against Spider-Man?"
The reporter's question made the others lean in, sensing a juicy story.
"I don't like him, does that count?" Tony replied nonchalantly.
The reporters were stunned, unsure how to respond to such a simple answer. But one persisted.
"Sir, Spider-Man saved you at the airport. Why don't you like him?"
"I have the right to like or dislike whoever I want," Tony said. "It's like how you don't like sleeping with ugly women, but you prefer beautiful ones."
The reporter wearing glasses blinked, momentarily taken aback. "Are you saying Spider-Man is ugly?"
"No, I'm not saying he's ugly, I'm saying you have bad taste."
The room fell silent for a moment before erupting in laughter. The reporter who had questioned Tony stood speechless, realizing he'd been roasted.
The reporters, feeling embarrassed for the glass-wearing reporter, began arguing among themselves.
Tony leaned back in his chair, enjoying the chaos he had caused. But Obadiah Stane, standing beside him, took the microphone away.
"Apologies, everyone. The press conference is over for now. We'll release the details online later," Obadiah announced.
---
A few minutes later, backstage, after dealing with the media frenzy, Obadiah walked up to Tony.
"You should calm down, Tony," Obadiah advised.
"I've always been calm," Tony retorted, swiping through a tablet. "Knowing how to respond to reporters is my forte. I'm neither uncalm nor rash."
Obadiah shook his head. "Okay, let's get back to business. Why are you so insistent on forming a new expedition team, and why do you need superheroes?"
Tony didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stared at a photograph displayed on the tablet in front of him. It showed the silhouette of a vampire-like creature. The creature's wing structure was unusual, with a membrane stretching between ridges on its body, and the wings looked completely different from modern-day vampires.
Tony's thoughts wandered. Could this be an ancient vampire? Perhaps something he could investigate further.
Tony had recently been considering recruiting the vampire princess into his team. To enter the dangerous tunnel ahead, they would need all the protection they could get.
As he pondered this, his phone rang. A message from his men interrupted his thoughts, informing him of an incident in the tunnel.
---–--––-------------------------------
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