Chapter 46

Yimir floated out from Dr. Otto's body, belched loudly, and patted his stomach: "Artificial intelligence really does have the worst taste."

He had intended to take advantage of this opportunity to swallow the delicious, terrified soul of Dr. Octopus in one go. However, for some reason, a vague feeling told him that his devouring ability had not yet grown as powerful as he imagined.

It wasn't that it was completely useless. To put it in perspective, if Yimir's ability to devour souls was like eating, then Dr. Octopus's terrified soul would be like a premium pizza, a large slice covered with top-quality cheese, pizza sauce, and fresh toppings. The artificial intelligence in the metal tentacles, in Yimir's eyes, was like a tiny sesame seed on the pizza.

However, at the moment, the limit of what Yimir could digest was just this tiny sesame seed. It wasn't that he couldn't devour Dr. Octopus's soul, but if he did, Yimir wouldn't be able to digest it in time, and it would be of no use.

Yimir didn't want to waste such a high-quality soul, one that was both powerful and filled with fear. Following the great teachings of his past life, he believed in the virtue of frugality and the shame of extravagance.

Dr. Octopus wasn't going anywhere. Unless he could overcome his fear of Yimir, he would remain a walking food source for Yimir. Yimir would eat him when he had the appetite. For now, just the artificial intelligence in the metal tentacles was enough to make Yimir feel full.

This sense of happiness from a full stomach was something Yimir had never experienced before. He regretted killing Old Babu and Red Hair so easily, missing out on two potential "meals."

In Yimir's mind, he compared the souls of superheroes and ordinary people. The stronger the superhero, the greater the sense of satisfaction Yimir would feel after devouring them. The more fear they had of Yimir, the more power he would gain from absorbing them.

This was the difference between "quantity" and "quality." In terms of food, the stronger the superhero, the more food there would be, allowing Yimir to feast to his heart's content. The more fear they had of Yimir, the higher the nutritional value of the food, and the more he could absorb.

However, even an ordinary person, in the face of death, would provide a soul that, while rich in nutrients, was too small. A hero with no fear of Yimir, on the other hand, would be like a plain steamed bun, nutritious but bland, only good for filling the stomach.

A soul like Dr. Octopus's, which was both powerful and filled with fear, was hard to come by.

After much consideration, Yimir decided to keep Dr. Octopus's soul for later, when his appetite had grown. He chose to devour the artificial intelligence that had been controlling Dr. Octopus.

Although the taste wasn't great, it was enough to fill Yimir's current, still-growing appetite. Artificial intelligence couldn't generate fear, which was a pity, as Yimir could have gained more benefits from it. However, even absorbing a fraction of the power from the metal tentacles, which were top-tier technology, was better than devouring the souls of ten ordinary people.

It was this "moment of mercy" that led Yimir to spare Dr. Otto's soul just as it was about to be consumed by the flames. In exchange for his life, Dr. Otto revealed everything he knew to Yimir and agreed to leave the Sinister Six and help Spider-Man.

When Yimir floated out of Dr. Otto's body, he saw Dr. Otto using his four metal tentacles to fight the other supervillains, while Spider-Man, like an outsider, was perched on the wall, watching the chaos with interest.

The ghostly flames in Yimir's eyes dimmed. Each time the flames ignited, Yimir's resentment could no longer be suppressed. Although the power and ruthless methods were strong, Yimir didn't like the feeling of being overwhelmed by negative emotions.

He landed next to Spider-Man, intending to greet him and leave quickly.

However, before Yimir could speak, Spider-Man took a deep breath and shuddered involuntarily: "Specter?"

Yimir suddenly didn't know what to say. It seemed his invisibility wasn't as invincible as he thought, at least not against Spider-Man's spider-sense.

But his mood soon improved when he saw Spider-Man shaking his head and looking around, unable to pinpoint Yimir's exact location.

Seeing that the Specter who had helped him escape refused to speak, Spider-Man fell silent.

The silence lasted less than a minute before Spider-Man couldn't help but speak, his voice curious: "Who are you?" There were too many questions, too many whys, too many impossibilities, but he only managed to ask these three words.

To instantly subdue Dr. Octopus and use some kind of magic or supernatural means to make him attack his teammates was something Spider-Man couldn't do. He doubted that even a few of the other superheroes he knew could achieve such a feat.

Yimir had graduated from college in his past life, and this body had been admitted to Columbia University based on academic merit. His intelligence was above average. However, when it came to superheroes, Yimir felt a sense of despair. Superheroes weren't just muscle-bound brutes; most of them had minds that surpassed ordinary people.

Not to mention, among the superheroes, there were geniuses like Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Spider-Man. Even Bruce Banner, before he turned into the Hulk, was a top-tier scientist in gamma ray research.

If it came to intelligence, most of these superheroes, and even supervillains like Doctor Doom, could easily outsmart Yimir. When Yimir helped Spider-Man, he wondered if it would lead to his true identity being discovered.