I Became Spider-Man's Cousin in Anime Crossover

Chapter 534 The Calm Before the Storm

Riley stood at the entrance to the Hand headquarters, his brow furrowed in a deep frown.

The vast underground base was completely empty at the moment, without a single person in sight.

The shelves that should have been piled high with weapons were neatly arranged, but there was nothing on them, not even a speck of dust.

A few emergency lights were still on, casting a pale white light that made the bare walls appear particularly desolate.

He took a few steps inside, his gaze sweeping over a desk.

The teacups on the table were still steaming.

Clearly, the tea had only been brewed a short time ago; the tea leaves hadn't even fully unfurled yet.

Meanwhile, the computer screen next to him was lit up, playing live news from the island nation, but someone pressed the pause button.

The scene was Riley appearing and kicking Bogan away.

Riley stopped and stared at the screen for a long time.

Although there was some distance, as a professional, I can see that this snapshot is very clear.

His black battle suit, his physique, the way he delivered his flying kick...

Every detail was clearly recorded.

This is precisely why the reason for the Hand's collective "disappearance" becomes obvious.

They ran away when they saw Spider-Man coming.

The evidence is that the tea was still hot, indicating that they had been gone for no more than ten minutes.

Riley suddenly felt something was absurd.

His decision to wipe out the Hand was a spur-of-the-moment idea.

Even before he set foot in Tokyo, he himself had no such intention.

He simply felt that since Kiriya had agreed to run for the next prime minister of the island nation, and since he was already here, he might as well help Kiriya remove some obstacles that might hinder his campaign. So he had the silly girl locate the Hand's base and then teleported over using the dimensional wall.

Before this, no one knew he was coming.

The Hand, however, was able to decisively choose to evacuate the moment they discovered Spider-Man's arrival in the island nation, without even a moment's hesitation or a thought of standing still...

This speed of reaction, this decisiveness, this understanding of his style of operation...

Not right.

Something's definitely not right...

Logically speaking, Spider-Man and the Hand have no prior contact or grudges...

How could they have predicted that Riley would come looking for trouble?

Could it be...?

Among the members of the Hand, there are enemies who have a deep-seated grudge against Spider-Man.

Thinking of this, Riley frowned even more deeply.

He stood in the center of the empty base, looking around.

The spider sensed things quietly and didn't sound any alarms.

Even the silly girl, who had searched repeatedly, was reminding Riley that there was indeed no one left here.

After a brief moment of thought, Riley pulled out the silly girl and quickly pulled up the base's surveillance footage.

The footage shows that the Hand headquarters began to bustle the moment he stepped into Tokyo—more precisely, the moment he flew into the depths of the sea with Pogan, causing the live television broadcast to temporarily lose sight of Spider-Man—the moment he stepped into Tokyo.

There was no panic whatsoever, nor any confusion whatsoever.

Everyone was methodically packing up, destroying files, and shutting down their devices.

The entire evacuation process was smooth and seamless, as if it had been rehearsed countless times.

A few minutes later, the Hand members, who had reduced the entire base to an empty shell, left through a secret passage.

To prevent Riley from tracing their movements, shortly after the last member entered the secret passage, a violent explosion and a blinding flash of light were heard inside.

Clearly, they have destroyed the secret passage and are determined to completely abandon this base they have built up over the years!

The reason for this is simply because they discovered that Spider-Man had appeared in the island nation!

This caused Riley to fall silent again after turning off the screen.

He really disliked this feeling.

As a transmigrator with "foresight," he was used to being in control of situations and to "predicting" his enemies' predictions.

But as Riley's interference in the universe gradually increased, things began to drift out of Riley's comprehension.

Just like this time, the Hand reacted faster than him.

As if they knew in advance that he would come, they had already prepared to evacuate before he even decided to make a move.

All indications suggest that this was not because Riley revealed a flaw.

It wasn't because there was an undercover agent nearby who leaked the news in advance.

Simply because the Hand knows Riley well enough...

They understood Riley's modus operandi and his way of thinking.

Even before Riley himself had this idea in his mind, they had already predicted his next move.

This sent a chill down Riley's spine.

It felt like there was a pair of eyes watching him from the shadows.

But he didn't know where the other party was hiding or what their purpose was.

Fortunately, Riley wasn't the type to get stuck on trivialities or waste time aimlessly.

After confirming that the scene had been thoroughly cleaned up, and that unless one could travel through time and rewrite history, it would be impossible to find the whereabouts of the Hand members, he temporarily abandoned the idea of ​​continuing the investigation.

He then made sure to remember this bizarre scene, and had the silly girl dial the number of Kiriya.

The phone was answered after only two rings.

"Lord Riley."

Kiriya's voice was still as respectful as ever, but it was clear that in just this short time apart, his voice had become much more energetic, a stark contrast to the listless, aged sound he had when they first reunited.

"Hui Lizai, I've found the Hand's base, but they've escaped."

"...ran away?"

"Yes. They were all evacuated before I arrived. Clean and tidy, they left nothing behind."

Upon hearing this, Kiriya's voice became serious: "The Hand has been operating in Japan for hundreds of years, its influence is deeply entrenched. Their ability to get the information and react so quickly makes me worried that they might…"

"I know," Riley interrupted him. "That's why I need your people to take over this base. Although some of the equipment and data inside were destroyed, there must still be some left. Investigate thoroughly and see if you can find any clues."

"Understood. I'll send someone over immediately."

Lai Li paused for a moment, then spoke again, "Oh, right, there's one more thing."

"Please speak."

"There may be someone behind the Hand directing us. That person knows my modus operandi very well, even better than I do myself."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

"Lord Riley..." Kiriya's voice hesitated, "Do you suspect that someone who knows you is manipulating all of this behind the scenes?"

Riley did not answer.

He stood in the empty base and pressed the fast-forward button on the paused scene on the computer screen.

Before long, Riley saw himself dressed in black armor, standing with his hands behind his back on Pogan's head. He looked dashing and composed, like a triumphant general.

Unaware that their every move was being watched.

"I don't know, but I don't like this feeling."

After a brief silence, Riley spoke again, his eyes now holding a subtle expression.

"So they'd better pray they're just avoiding me to avoid trouble..."

"Instead of secretly plotting something against Spider-Man."