Using his heightened perception, Peter slipped back into the school and shed his tactical suit without alerting a soul. Almost the second he finished, the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch break.
When Peter walked back into the classroom, most students paid him no mind. Only Gwen stared at him, her eyes unblinking and filled with a complex swirl of emotions.
Don't misunderstand—she didn't suspect him of being "The Arbiter." Instead, she was deeply annoyed by his "mysterious disappearance."
Between the humiliating contrast with the Arbiter and being misunderstood by the police, she was in a foul mood.
Naturally, she had wanted to find Peter to vent and seek a little comfort, but he had been nowhere to be found.
Anyone who has ever had a girlfriend knows that when she's upset, even your breathing can be "wrong." If you dare to look happy while she's miserable, you might as well be dancing on a landmine.
So, when Peter finally strolled up to her with a faint, relaxed smile, Gwen's face puffed up like a steamed bun.
"Where did you go? I looked everywhere for you!"
As a transmigrator, Peter handled this with practiced ease. "Oh, I heard Ghost-Spider showed up at the Manhattan Bank, so I went to see the commotion."
He leaned in, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. "But the crowd was insane; I couldn't even get close.
Then I heard people saying Ghost-Spider was getting tossed around by the robber. I figured they must have seen wrong—there's no way the heroic Ghost-Spider is that weak, right? So I gave up and went to the library to read for a bit."
He paused, tilting his head. "By the way, you went early, didn't you? Did you see her?"
Peter's words nearly made Gwen choke on her own indignation. Her face flushed a brilliant shade of crimson.
I'm so sorry for being weak! she screamed internally.
But simultaneously, she felt a wave of relief. At least Peter hadn't seen her pathetic state firsthand. If he had, he might have walked away as a die-hard fan of the Arbiter instead! Faced with his question, Gwen stammered, painting a vivid picture of how "difficult" Shocker was and how "unreasonable" the new Arbiter guy seemed. She looked as helpless as a kitten in a thunderstorm.
Having successfully "handled" Gwen, Peter turned his focus back to his grand design during the boring afternoon lectures.
Even with Herman's battery technology, building a tech company from scratch wasn't easy. Production lines, raw materials, designers, distribution channels, marketing—every step was a money-eating beast.
Even if he dumped the $4 million he "borrowed" from Kingpin into the venture, it would be a drop in the bucket. Not to mention that money was currently "dirty" and couldn't be used openly.
To take that difficult first step, he needed a reliable Angel Investor.
The first name that popped into Peter's head was a man with a stylized goatee and a face that screamed "Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist"—Tony Stark.
As the head of Stark Industries, Tony had the wealth and the reach. But Peter quashed the idea in under a second. The "mentor-student" dynamic was a specific trait of the MCU's Peter Parker.
In this Gwen-Spider universe, he had zero connection to Stark. Moreover, the current Tony hadn't even become Iron Man yet; he was just a pure Playboy.
An unknown high school kid showing up with "black tech" would likely end up like Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3—stood up on a roof to freeze all night. Peter wasn't interested in that kind of humiliation.
Stark... Pass.
Who else? The answer was obvious: Oscorp.
In this universe, Peter was childhood best friends with Harry Osborn. Furthermore, Harry's father—the future Green Goblin, Norman Osborn—actually admired Peter's intellect, often more than he did his own son's.
Approaching Norman was far more logical than cold-calling Stark. With a battery prototype and the concepts of "Smartphone Integration" from his past life, Peter was confident he could secure an initial investment of tens of millions.
Plus, with Oscorp as a backer, he wouldn't have to worry about other corporate sharks trying to swallow his startup.
The only downside was owing the Osborns a massive favor. Generally, Peter hated being in someone's debt.
But the Osborns were an exception. Why? Because their "debt" was so easy to repay. The hereditary genetic disease that haunted them was "incurable" to the world, but to someone holding the Horse Talisman, it was a simple fix.
Even if the Talisman couldn't instantly rewrite their DNA, it could certainly suppress the symptoms and delay the onset indefinitely.
By solving the Osborn family curse, the entire corporation would become his most loyal ally. It was a much better deal than sucking up to Tony Stark.
The plan felt solid. As soon as school let out, Peter pulled out his phone and dialed Harry.
"Hey, Harry. Long time no see. You free after school?"
Harry sounded ecstatic on the other end. "Peter! You finally remembered me! I was gonna hit you up this weekend. Stay right there, I'm coming to get you!"
A short while later, a flashy convertible pulled up in front of Peter's house. Harry hopped out and gave Peter a boisterous hug. "What's the move today? Basketball? Or are we hitting the arcade?"
Peter twitched his lips slightly and looked Harry in the eye. "Actually, Harry, I called you because I wanted to ask... are you interested in going into business with me?"
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