Over the past month, since he didn't have to go to school, Peter poured most of his energy into being a superhero.
During that time, with him around, public security in Queens improved a lot.
But Peter was the type who couldn't sit still. After clearing out the small-time troublemakers in Queens, he naturally wanted to expand his territory outward.
So he went to find Daredevil, the guy he had worked with before.
Ever since Bant dealt with Muse last time, and it was mistakenly believed Spider-Man did it, Matt's view of Spider-Man changed too. He stopped looking down on him just because he was a kid. Instead, their cooperation grew closer and closer. Together, they took down plenty of small gangs, and they also kept Kingpin and the Hand from doing crime as smoothly as before.
One Spider-Man already had that kind of power. Now there was another Spider-Man. If that guy got involved too, it would be even more troublesome.
Thinking of that, Madam Gao felt tempted by Kingpin's proposal for cooperation.
If they could kill Spider-Man and Daredevil, the two enemies who had always opposed the Hand, then the Hand's position in New York would improve a lot.
So Madam Gao nodded and asked, "Cooperation is fine. But how do you plan to do it?"
"If I remember correctly, you've already reached a partnership with the Green Goblin. And now that guy is locked up in the police station."
"So we first need to break the Green Goblin out and strengthen our side," Bullseye said.
By now, Kingpin had already paid to bring in quite a few assassins. When the time was right, they would move against Spider-Man and Daredevil.
Hearing that, a crafty smile appeared on Madam Gao's face. "If you want the Hand to help rescue the Green Goblin, fine. But I want two doses of the Lizard Serum."
As one of the Hand's Five Fingers, Madam Gao naturally knew what kind of treasure the Green Goblin had in his hands.
But Bullseye couldn't make that call.
"You're too greedy, Madam Gao."
A mysterious voice, Kingpin's, came from the walkie-talkie on Bullseye's waist. From the very beginning, he had been listening in on the conversation.
Madam Gao didn't look surprised at all. She only said calmly, "Kingpin, if you want to cooperate with us, you have to show sincerity."
Kingpin fell silent for a while, then said, "Fine. But in return, the Hand has to show sincerity too."
Madam Gao didn't speak. She only gave a cold snort, signaling for him to continue.
"Don't try to fool me with those street-gang punks!"
Kingpin knew very well that the Hand was an organization with mysterious power. The true Hand assassins mostly used ninjutsu and occult techniques, and some even used an energy called "chi."
Kingpin understood this clearly. To deal with superpowered people like Spider-Man, you could only send superpowered criminals.
"Don't worry," Madam Gao said. "I'll have the ninjas ready."
After the call was cut off, Bullseye left the Hand's turf.
Now, plenty of assassins had already gathered on Kingpin's side, waiting only for the right moment to strike.
As for what "the right moment" was, Kingpin hadn't said it outright, but Bullseye had his own guess.
After the Green Goblin was captured, every faction was watching him, all to get the serum in his hands. Breaking him out right now obviously wasn't smart.
If they were going to act, it would be when everyone else's vigilance had dropped to its lowest.
For example… on the day of the trial.
There was another reason for choosing that day.
In the past few days, the original Spider-Man was still swinging around New York City.
But that black Spider-Man who called himself "Hacker," after showing up once and defeating the Green Goblin, had disappeared completely.
Kingpin believed that since Hacker had beaten the Green Goblin back then, on the day the Green Goblin went to court, whether openly or secretly, he would definitely show up to witness the Green Goblin's end with his own eyes.
Of course, Kingpin had that part wrong.
Because the Green Goblin's ending was already set in stone.
Death by neurotoxin.
And Bant was even less likely to waste time on him.
The people watching Hacker Spider-Man weren't only villains, either. Plenty of others were paying attention too.
The Daily Bugle.
When Peter once again handed his "benefits photos" to Jameson, the old man, hair gray at the temples, feet propped on his desk, cigar between his fingers, immediately frowned hard.
"Unqualified!"
"Boring!"
"Trash!"
He flicked through the photos at high speed, tossing them onto the desk one after another, like they were nothing but garbage.
In the end, he seemed to lose patience entirely. He swept all the photos into the trash can at once, then shot Peter a look and roared, "Trash!"
The violent motion nearly snapped the ash off his cigar.
"Parker! I pay you good money, not to buy this trash from you!"
"Trash?" Peter's eyes widened in shock. "I thought you'd like them."
Before, Jameson treated him like this too, acting disdainful toward every Spider-Man photo.
But after dealing with him for over a month, Peter knew the truth. He was just trying to drive down the price.
Today was different, though, because Jameson had very decisively tossed the photos into the trash.
"Like them?" Jameson let out sharp, scornful laughter like he'd heard the funniest joke in the world. His many chins stacked together, and it felt like every layer was laughing at Peter.
Then his face snapped cold. "If you think I'm paying for this outdated garbage, you're dead wrong!"
Peter froze, not understanding what he meant.
At that moment, Robbie, standing nearby, said, "He wants Black Spider's photos."
"Black Spider? You mean Hacker?"
Peter finally got it.
"Good, at least you know!" Jameson shouted, his neck turning red. "Do you know who the hottest masked freak in all of New York is right now? Black Spider! Hacker!"
"If you want money, then get your Spider buddy to help you shoot something with a little creativity! Otherwise get out!"
Under Jameson's terrifying roar, Peter was driven out of the office in a daze.
He wasn't exactly scared of the guy. He just genuinely hadn't expected that Hacker Spider-Man, who had only appeared once in the public eye, would instantly become the explosive headline.
It made him happy for Bant, but also a little jealous.
Seriously, who was it crawling into stinking sewers every day, and getting battered half to death by that flying green fly?
Me. Spider-Man!
Peter shook his head helplessly.
At that moment, Robbie came out of the office, patted his shoulder, and said, "Peter, don't take it to heart. You know how it is. Sometimes the fewer times you appear, the more buzz you get."
Peter nodded. "I don't think Spider-Man would mind, since he and Hacker seem to get along. I can go find Spider-Man and have him introduce us…"
He said it with a smile.
But in his head, he was already thinking about how to beg Bant to put on the suit so he could take a few photos.
He stuffed his camera into his backpack, ready to leave, when the girl beside him called out.
"Wait, Peter. Your pay."
She handed him a small stack of bills, and Peter didn't know what to do with his hands.
"But Mr. Jameson said he wouldn't pay, and he threw all my photos in the trash."
"Oh, please," she said. "Give it a little while and he'll dig them back out of the trash can, pick one for the front page, then write up some Spider-Man threat nonsense. He might even drag Hacker Spider-Man into it too…"
Clearly, Robbie and Betty understood Jameson better than Peter did.
After getting the money, Peter's mood improved a lot.
Honestly, at this point, he didn't even need to rely on taking photos to earn money anymore.
After Bant started the company, the financial situation of their whole family changed completely. Uncle Ben finally stopped panicking about losing his job, and Aunt May was even considering quitting to do volunteer work in the community.
Originally, Bant wanted Peter to do research at Primus.
But Peter couldn't let go of his identity as Spider-Man, so he refused.
Not only that, just like in the movie when he refused Norman Osborn's help, he also refused Bant's money. He wanted to make his own way.
He happened to like photography, and he could be Spider-Man too. Why not?
But today's incident still made Peter consider something.
"Just taking pictures of me all the time really is… kind of stale. Should I actually go beg Little Bant to let me take a few photos of him?"
The moment he thought that, Peter rushed to Queens and found Bant's company.
Primus Technology.
After Bant exposed the company last time, he had given the address to Peter and the others.
Aunt May and Uncle Ben had even made time to visit. When they discovered the fugitive Connors was here too, they were so scared they nearly fainted.
Luckily, Bant explained what had happened and proved Connors was innocent.
But today, when Peter arrived, he found that everything in the company lobby was gone.
In its place was a bus that looked kind of beat up.
"What is this?"
If Connors hadn't been standing not far away holding a lizard, Peter would have thought he'd walked into the wrong place.
"A large RV," Connors said.
"I can tell," Peter said, "but why is there an RV in here?"
At that moment, a small gray head poked out from under the vehicle.
"To attend the Stark World Expo, I'm planning to make a car with an anti-gravity system," Little Qibing said. "Pass me the wrench."
Little Qibing reached out.
Peter handed over the tool from the ground, then asked, "Even if that's the plan, you didn't have to pick a car like this…"
He looked the vehicle up and down, staring at the metal panels that were yellowing and even starting to rust, his expression complicated.
This thing was so old it looked like a grandpa.
Bant ignored him. Holding a wrench taller than he was, he crawled back under the car. Connors, however, explained calmly.
"He says this is the classic model."
"That's a little too classic."
/-\
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