Chapter 10
Aunt May, as a single woman, worked at a welfare-oriented relief organization, where her salary was not high.
Their life, while not exactly impoverished, was merely at a level of sufficiency.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to scavenge trash to save up for a computer.
If he had the ability, he naturally hoped Aunt May could live a better life.
In the past, he wouldn't have thought about such things.
But after his experiences as Shadow Spider-Man, he had indeed matured a lot overnight.
The first step of growing up was starting to care about the people around him.
"Then get ready. I have some other matters to attend to. This afternoon, my assistant will come to take you to your destination. His name is Happy," Tony said, standing up to leave.
"Okay," Peter nodded, also standing up.
He needed to prepare more spider webs during this time.
After seeing Tony off, Peter dealt with Aunt May, who kept questioning him.
He casually mentioned that he had received funding from the September Foundation.
This was good news for their family.
Aunt May was immediately thrilled and said they should go out to a restaurant that evening to celebrate.
However, Peter told her about Iron Man's arrangements: that afternoon, Iron Man would send someone to take him to handle some matters to ensure he met the September Foundation's support criteria and so on.
This was the cover story he and Iron Man had agreed upon for this "business trip."
Though disappointed, Aunt May knew that important matters took priority.
So, she pulled Peter aside and gave him a long talk, sharing advice on how to get along with others.
Peter's head felt like it was swelling, but he had to patiently listen to her.
At that moment, he mischievously wondered if Shadow Spider-Man had also been nagged like this by his Aunt May.
This was probably what they called "the wisdom of adults."
It was indeed well-intentioned for the younger generation.
But the younger generation really didn't enjoy listening to it.
After talking for nearly half an hour, Peter frantically hinted that he had to leave that afternoon and needed to prepare some things. Only then did Aunt May let him go.
Afterward, she prepared some clothes and essentials for Peter's trip and then left for work.
Back in his room, Peter lightly jumped, climbed onto the ceiling, pushed open a panel, and retrieved several small web balls from inside.
These were his homemade spider webs.
The formula for the webs was something he naturally learned after being bitten by a spider and gaining his abilities.
It was as if spiders in nature instinctively knew how to spin webs.
"One, two, three, four… I have eight web balls. That should be enough, right?" Peter counted the web balls and stuffed them all into his pocket.
This was a "long expedition," so he had to be well-prepared with ammunition.
Then he turned his attention to the web shooter.
Compared to the web formula, which came as a byproduct of his abilities, the web shooter was his true pride and joy.
Because he wasn't a real spider, he didn't have organs to shoot webs like a spider would.
So, he had to rely on external tools.
To achieve this, he taught himself biology, materials science, and mechanical dynamics.
Biology and materials science helped him understand the structure of spider webs and how to materialize them using the formula.
The structure of spider webs was very complex.
It consisted of a three-level structure.
The first-level structure was formed by hydrogen-bonded β-strands, where amino acid molecules were tightly connected through hydrogen bonds.
These hydrogen-bonded β-strands then connected via hydrogen bonds to form the second-level structure—hydrogen-bonded β-sheet nanocrystals.
These hydrogen-bonded β-sheet nanocrystals were embedded in a semi-amorphous β-turn polypeptide chain to form an α-helix structure, which then created the protein nanocomposite structure, the third-level structure of the web.
Based on this structure, he came up with a method.
He would first prepare the materials to the third-level structure of the web, then use a subatomic compressor to compress it back to a subatomic state.
This way, hundreds of meters of web could be compressed into a solution-like form the size of a fingernail.
The web shooter, on the other hand, was a miniaturized subatomic compressor. For portability, it retained only its pressure function, with other features removed.
Because the web solution required sufficient pressure to shoot and stop instantly.
If the pressure was insufficient, the web would keep shooting uncontrollably once triggered.
For these reasons, the materials for the web shooter were also very particular, and many materials on Earth didn't meet his requirements.
They were either too expensive or too brittle.
Later, he secretly went to downtown New York and found some suitable metals at the site of the Avengers' battle with aliens a few years ago.
After much effort in smelting and forging, he finally made it into the form he wanted.
At this moment, he couldn't help but envy Shadow Spider-Man, who didn't need to synthesize webs artificially but could shoot them directly from his wrists.
He wondered if, in the future, when he embodied other Spider-Men, he could gain such an ability.
For now, though, Peter planned to slightly modify his web shooter.
This was inspired by Shadow Spider-Man.
Shadow Spider-Man's webs could be freely altered at will—webs, web bullets, web nets, web whips, various forms for different scenarios.
He didn't aim for that much; modifying his web shooter to that extent was beyond his current capabilities.
He planned to add two shooting modes: [Web Bullet] and [Web Net].
In the past, his webs were merely a tool for movement, occasionally used to bind people.
But with web bullets, he could release a large mass of webs in an instant, using the web shooter to generate immense kinetic energy, producing a bullet-like effect.
Although the web's material and its rapid crystallization upon contact with air wouldn't make the web bullet lethal, it would definitely disorient an ordinary person if hit.
This was clearly a good offensive technique.
As for the web net, it built upon the existing method of binding people with webs, spraying the webs in a net-like pattern. It not only covered a larger area but could also directly immobilize enemies, rendering them unable to fight instantly.
To achieve this, Peter researched extensively, studying similar objects like bullets and fishing nets, observing their motion from release to completion.
At the same time, he repeatedly recalled the sensations he felt when embodying Shadow Spider-Man.
Finally, by two o'clock in the afternoon, he completed his modifications.
After finishing, he tested the product briefly and found it met his expectations perfectly.
A while later, a message arrived on Peter's phone.
"Hello, Peter. I'm Happy. Tony should have mentioned me. I'm downstairs."
Peter grabbed his newly adjusted web shooter, checked his gear, picked up the backpack on his bed, and headed downstairs.
He knew that what he was about to face was the first superhero in history.
Captain America!