Of course, Peter didn't know what was happening in Rome. He didn't even know who Nick Fury had sent, only that Nick Fury definitely had someone on the job.
And the one thing Spider-Man did most often in Madrid was still taking pictures. Madrid was surprisingly free of excessive criminal activity; even when there were incidents, the local police were sufficient to handle them. If the police weren't enough, they could hire the Wild Pack. In short, for now, Madrid had no supervillains—it seemed those were a peculiar specialty of New York.
"This is definitely a problem."
Harry, carrying large shopping bags, complained as he looked at Peter with a camera hanging around his neck: "Why do you get to walk around with a camera while I have to carry everyone's bags?"
"It's very simple, Lyman, Parker is good at taking photos, and he's a skinny little guy," Flash said from the side, bumping Harry with his shoulder. The reason he bumped Harry with his shoulder was also simple—he was carrying bags too, and even more than Harry.
Peter shrugged helplessly, indicating it had nothing to do with him. He was actually quite happy with the current state; after all, having fun together meant he didn't have to worry about other things.
"So... you guys have been on dates, but you haven't made it official yet?"
On the girls' side, Mary Jane felt curious after hearing Gwen's words: "Because there are other girls who like him? I feel like the problem is more on his end."
"Maybe, but I don't want to pressure him. What if... what if he ends up disliking me more because of it?"
"Then you can ramp up the offense or something. Tell me, who's your competition?"
Gwen just glanced remotely at the person sharing photos with Peter, then shook her head helplessly.
Gwen didn't want to put pressure on Peter, as time when Peter Parker could truly relax was rare. Take last night's fight, for example; although Peter described it very casually, Gwen didn't believe it was that easy. He seemed to be deliberately downplaying the urgency of the battles he encountered.
Peter seemed to notice something, glanced at Gwen, and raised his phone. Gwen picked up her phone and looked at the message Peter sent, then raised an eyebrow. Mary Jane curiously leaned over to peek and was surprised to find it was a text inviting Gwen to lunch.
"So... do you mind bringing me along?"
"Definitely, yes, we mind."
MJ shrugged helplessly. "Fine, Liz and Harry are dating, Betty and Thompson are dating, and now you guys are almost there. Our band is going to fall apart in less than a month."
"If band members dating can cause a band to fall apart, then I need to consider whether our captain and lead singer has a massive problem." Gwen said, adjusting her bag. "You can use this time to write your articles while eating alone. Didn't the Daily Bugle give you a few reports to cover?"
"That's so cruel. You all get to date, and I'm stuck writing articles."
MJ gave a helpless and bored smile, waved goodbye to Gwen, and left. Gwen quickly jogged over to Peter. Peter looked at Gwen with a slight surprise: "You didn't buy anything?"
"You think just because my dad got promoted, I get more allowance? Not a chance."
"Well, I don't have that problem. I have two sets of internship salaries from Baxter Building and Oscorp, even though... I don't think I've actually done any of the internship work."
Gwen couldn't help but roll her eyes at Peter, then asked, "What made you think of inviting me to lunch?"
"Just... there's nothing much going on, and I wanted to say thank you."
"?"
"For the Earth-65 incident."
No matter what, Gwen risked danger to look for him on Earth-65, and while there, Gwen did help the local Spider-Gwen quite a bit. Peter couldn't help Spider-Gwen personally without triggering the Web of Life and Destiny event, so Gwen used her own abilities to provide significant assistance.
"Good excuse." Gwen paused for two seconds after saying that. "So, where are we eating?"
"There's a Spanish seafood paella place down the street. Madrid is inland, though, not by the sea, so I'm not sure if it's really good. Spanish paella actually originated in Valencia. The good news is, after our trip in Madrid ends, we'll go to Valencia to take a boat to Naples, so maybe we can eat an even better one there."
Gwen quietly listened to Peter's popular science lesson, then replied indifferently, "I'm not sure I'll be able to taste the difference."
"Me neither. Let's go."
Peter indeed chose a roadside restaurant. He had never been fond of high-end dining establishments. A small part of the reason was that he hadn't been to one, and the other part was his stereotype that those places purely used high consumption to create a sense of superiority, where it was easy to spend a lot of money and still not feel full, making it unnecessary to look for food there. Peter Parker's principle was to eat at the kind of local, home-style restaurants where the residents actually went.
After the two ordered a seafood paella at the restaurant, Peter went to the restroom while waiting for lunch. After asking the owner if there was a restroom and where it was, he entered the restaurant's washroom.
The moment he stepped in, Peter immediately realized something was wrong. For what was essentially a semi-public restroom, the smell was too neutral. He immediately turned around and heard the door click shut automatically. Then, the surrounding holographic projection retracted, revealing Nick Fury sitting on a chair with his legs propped up on a table, spinning a Rubik's Cube in his hand, as he asked, "How's the Europe trip, Spider-Man?"
"Actually, I need to use the restroom, and this clearly isn't it."
Nick Fury was silent for a few seconds, then sighed helplessly: "The restroom is next door. Go first. Don't even think about escaping."
"I just hope you don't waste too much of my time, Fury."
Peter shrugged. He was just here to use the restroom; if Nick Fury wasted too much time, anyone would know something was up.
"Gwendolyn already knows your identity, so if you disappear, it's definitely related to Spider-Man. But don't worry, it won't take up much of your time. I just came to tell you a few things about the Elementals."