Ch: 428-435
Four Hundred Twenty-Eight: Spider Calamity
The Black Spider had never bowed during more than two hundred days of having his legs chopped at least five times a day; he sneered at the White Spider's feeble pretense of illness—clearly no coward.
So… when the Black Spider felt that powerful, aggressive aura already at his doorstep, he was utterly enraged.
Motherf***er!
Pushing your luck—don't think I'm easy prey.
The Black Spider erupted, bursting out of his cave in a frenzy. With the new body granted by CPH4evolution, he saw Locke's back and chose to charge head-on.
Bring it.
Face me.
Whoever flinches is a puppy.
The Black Spider's fangs gaped wide, spewing dense, endless Spider Silk. Countless eyes on his body blazed with the fury of one cornered, locking onto the seemingly stunned Locke: "Die!"
This was the true path of evolution.
Via CPH4, infinite replication—so long as the Spider Swarm he birthed lived, he would not die.
The Weaver?
Whoever the hell wants the job can take it—this daddy's done.
But… Boom!
Bang!
Locke watched the web lunging to swallow and corrode him, chuckled, and slowly lifted the right hand still in his pocket.
In an instant.
A dull roar echoed through the cave; the entire cavern seemed to quake.
Rumble-rumble!
The long-neglected cave shed stones and soil like a sieve under the tremor.
Ahem.
Locke coughed, waved the dusty air away, then stared in bewilderment at the petrified Black Spider still before him.
Who the hell said I came here to kill you?
Locke was speechless.
God's my witness.
He'd come purely out of curiosity, to see what was what—no murderous intent toward the Black Spiderat all.
But… the Black Spider seemed convinced he was the White Spider's heavy backer, here for revenge.
Do I look that idle?
Locke just wanted to know where the Black Spider came from. With jelly dead, he couldn't ask Gwen, leaving only the Black Spider to answer.
What a shame.
Locke sighed, watching the petrified spider begin to crack; he'd already got far more than the answer he wanted.
The spider could have lived and answered, but his own obsession drove him to the extreme.
The thought passed.
Bang!
With a cave-in roar, the cracked petrified Black Spider crumbled to dust—utterly, thoroughly dead.
Spider Swarm lives, so he lives?
In theory, yes—if the soul could escape. Locke had just obliterated the Black Spider's soul along with his body.
Immortal?
Go on—resurrect and show me.
"Pity!"
"But…"
"Serves you right!"
Locke shook his head again: regretful, but he never spared any being that dared bare fangs at him.
Right then.
Rumble-rumble!
Locke raised an eyebrow at the dark corner the spider had crawled from, feeling vibrations.
Next second.
One spider climbed up, then countless more—an endless tide gushing as though a gate to the Spider World had opened.
Immediately.
The dark tide of Black Spiders, like Army Ants in the desert, began swarming over everything in sight.
"Bang-bang-bang!"
"Crack-crack-crack!"
In a flash.
The Locomotive bore the brunt. Bereft of the Black Spider's will, the swarm's instinctive assault turned it pale, then rapidly corroded under caustic spider fluids.
"Whoa!"
Locke exclaimed, spun on his heel, and sprinted back the way he'd come: "Time to split!"
He'd entered under the identity of Locke Broughton.
Outside, two superiors were leading search parties; flexing his full power didn't fit his cover.
Beyond the Wall he'd breached.
Mr. Nameless and Ms. Maria Hill, with several Agents, had just arrived. The earlier quakes had drawn them to the blocked Wall.
As for why the pair were here—
simple.
When Locke had driven the Locomotive, he'd brushed past another train; the incident was reported, and Nameless and Maria Hill got word.
Yet… Nameless ran his hand over the Wall, looking around: "How do we break through…"
Before he could finish.
With a rumbling roar, and while his teammates behind him kept watch, the stone Wall began to slide upward.
The next second...
A panicked Locke came face-to-face with Nameless and Maria Hill. Before Nameless could speak, Locke blurted, "Run!"
Nameless and Maria Hill froze.
Then—swallowing hard—they and the Agents behind them saw the tide-like swarm of Marching Spiders surging toward them and yelled, "Pull out!"
Instantly.
Nameless and Maria Hill spun around, caught up with the already-sprinting Locke, and ran for their lives.
Just then—
Boom!
After they'd raced a hundred metres down the track, a boom echoed behind them: the stone Wall that had just opened slammed shut again, as if cutting off the path of the black Marching Spiders.
But—
the moment Nameless and Maria Hill dared to hope, thud, thud, thud—thunderous crashes—came as countless spiders simply bulldozed the Wall down with brute force.
Adrenaline spiking once more, the team spun around and radioed both the CDC standby unit outside Grand Central and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents on perimeter watch.
Alarms immediately blared through Grand Central Station.
Commuters waiting on the platforms looked at one another, then—eyes widening—moved with practiced, heartbreaking speed toward the nearest emergency exits.
In China, an alarm usually just draws curious onlookers who aren't sure what to do.
But in The States, when an alarm sounds, every citizen knows exactly what—and what not—to do.
In a way, that's the success of public education.
Yet… the Chinese would rather skip that particular lesson.
After all, in China you can stroll any alley in any city at three a.m. without fearing for your life.
Soon.
Locke hit the platform first, spun back, and hauled Nameless up with his left hand and Maria Hill with his right, dragging both onto the platform after him.
"Go, go, go!"
"Move, move, move!"
NYPD officers, federal Agents, and CDC personnel poured down the stairs, but the front line belonged to the fully-kitted Pest Control Team of the city health department—spider specialists.
After all, when it comes to spiders, the health department's pest-control team are the pros.
"They're behind us!"
"Lots of them."
"Watch out."
The last Agents up the stairs, still pale, tried to warn the poker-faced pest-control crew—who only looked amused.
But the warning seemed to bounce right off them.
"Lots?"
"Spiders?"
"A few spiders scared you guys this bad?"
"Relax, we're the experts."
"Step aside—time to show off."
"..."
The Agents exchanged glances as a dozen pest-control specialists swaggered down onto the track, chattering away.
"They're…"
"…going to die."
"Yup."
"Dead is dead—we warned them."
"Fair point."
With a shared look, the Agents watched the pest-control team disappear down the tunnel—eyes already mourning the soon-to-be-dead.
"What the fuck!"
Escorted by Agents, Nameless, Locke, and Maria Hill exited Grand Central unscathed. Once inside the command truck, however, they lost it. Nameless rounded on Locke: "What did you do now?"
Locke blinked, eyes innocent.
"Not my fault."
"Hah."
Nameless was livid; few knew he had mild Trypophobia. The crowd had kept him steady—had he been alone he'd have fainted, and the thought of waking covered in spiders made him shudder.
Locke raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
Nameless scowled and rubbed his temples. "What happened? What were you doing down there?"
Locke rattled off the perfectly logical excuse he'd prepared.
In short:
he'd only done what he was supposed to do.
With that,
Locke smiled at Nameless. "Mr. Nameless, this time I won't be needing a reward."
Nameless blinked, trading a look with Maria Hill.
"Good grief."
"Are we crazy, or is he?"
A reward?
What reward?
Chapter 429: It Is Treasonous To Refuse A Gift At Your Door
Let me put it this way.
If it were anyone else—even the President's son—at this very moment, they should be in an interrogation room, not on this command vehicle, let alone receiving any reward.
A reward?
A one-way ticket to Guantanamo?
Want one?
Nameless exchanged a look with Maria Hill, then turned to Locke.
"What reward?"
"The reward for maintaining the peace and stability of New York City."
Locke said with a smile, "Mr. Nameless, look at it this way: if it weren't for me today, giving you and S.H.I.E.L.D. time to prepare, imagine if those swarms of marching spiders suddenly surged up. Wouldn't New York City be completely caught off guard?"
Nameless was silent for a moment, then nodded: "That makes sense."
Frankly speaking, if it weren't for Locke, the CDC and Agents wouldn't have been mobilized so quickly, nor would the evacuation of Grand Central Station have been announced immediately.
Locke smiled brightly and shrugged: "So, no need to thank me. I'm a resident of New York now, and helping others is what we Cowboys love to do most. If you absolutely must thank me, how about an honorary citizen title?"
He didn't lack money.
As for fame... becoming an honorary citizen of New York City would be quite nice.
And don't underestimate this honorary citizen status. Let's just say, when Locke was in Texas, it wasn't like the Texas Rangers never caught him drinking before he turned twenty-one.
But Locke was never prosecuted.
The reason?
Part of the reason was that Locke was the leading Cowboy of the younger generation in Texas, and the Texas Rangers also called themselves Cowboys. Texas Cowboys are family; there's no logic in family members prosecuting their own.
But most importantly, Locke was an honorary citizen of Galveston.
For a city, even the mayor doesn't have a death-exemption token, but for an honorary citizen, from a certain perspective, such a thing does exist.
At the very least, as long as you aren't openly committing murder or caught with irrefutable evidence, under the halo of an honorary citizen, local District Attorneys Office will weigh their options carefully before prosecuting you. If there is even a ten percent chance of failure, they won't file charges.
"How about it?"
Locke smiled, lobbying for his benefit: "I helped New York City avert a spider disaster. Langley, go talk to City Hall and get me an honorary citizen title. That's not too much to ask, right?"
Nameless and Maria Hill exchanged glances.
He shook his head.
"It's not too much!"
"Huh?"
"But..."
Nameless changed the subject, looked up at Locke, and also smiled: "Is there perhaps a possibility that, say, if you hadn't shown up, then this spider disaster wouldn't have happened at all?"
Locke blinked: "What do you mean?"
Goodfellas.
I've been exposed?
That can't be right.
My disguise was perfect.
Locke's eyebrow twitched internally. He glanced around, wondering how he could pull off a clean, closed-room murder inside the vehicle while simultaneously washing away his suspicion.
The next second.
Nameless immediately started counting on his fingers, detailing Locke's glorious deeds to him.
Transferred to New York, met the assassin junior.
Went to Augusta, met Carrie the Witch.
Boarded the poseidon, met a giant sea monster.
Went to Lake Kali, and then met Vampires.
Afterward, went to New Orleans, met the Witch Convocation.
Now... Nameless looked at the five fingers he had counted, then looked at the five fingers on his other hand, paused for a moment, and under Locke's gaze, put down the sixth finger: "You went to the Columbia Science Center and Grand Central Station, and then a spider disaster broke out. I have a better suggestion for you if you want that honorary citizen title."
Locke raised an eyebrow: "What?"
"Stay put!"
"Ah!"
Mr. Nameless, wearing sunglasses, looked at Locke: "Stay quiet. You're still a student. School and home should be your two fixed points. Stop wandering around."
Locke blinked: "What do you mean? These disasters have nothing to do with me."
He was just implicated.
The assassin junior—if that damned Nick Fury had known how to care about the mental and physical health of his female Agents, that unlucky assassin junior wouldn't have run into the school and lost her life, and Nick Fury wouldn't have lost his life either.
Augusta? He went there to grind points; it was just a coincidence.
The poseidon incident was even more of an unprovoked disaster.
He just wanted to go on vacation. Who did he offend?
As for hunting at Lake Kali, that was the disaster of all unprovoked disasters. Others were wronged, but he was wronged even more. Before that incident, Locke thought he was the perfect gentleman, only to be told there that his future wife wouldn't be Gwen.
And New Orleans? At best, he went there as support; Carrie was the ADC.
This time?
What did it have to do with him? Even without him, once that Black Spider finished its silent development, it probably would have perfected its own species. In fact, Locke felt that if that Black Spider had been given a little more time, the power he'd need to kill it might have increased from fifty percent to ninety percent.
So... Locke felt extremely wronged. He wanted to live a quiet life, peacefully grinding points. Wasn't that much better?
Nameless nodded: "I know, you just have a Disaster Constitution. It's just that these disasters are always one step behind you, but for everyone else, they can't outrun the disaster."
Locke snapped back: "Disaster Constitution? What the hell is that?"
Nameless glanced at Maria Hill next to him and chuckled: "How about this: for one continuous year—no, wait, for one continuous semester—you honestly stick to just school and home, and if anything happens, call 911. If you can do that, at the end of the year, Director Hill and I will jointly propose to New York City Hall to give you the honorary citizen title. How does that sound?"
After all, neither Nameless nor Maria Hill were materialists.
They were genuinely terrified.
Thinking carefully, if these two hadn't run into Locke this time, what kind of scene would Grand Central Station be right now?
Especially now.
Outside the car window.
Members of the Department of Health's Pest Control Team were getting out one after another. In the distance, at Grand Central Station, dense, tide-like marching spiders seemed to be starting their invasion of New York City.
Fortunately, it was just spiders.
What if it had been something else?
For example... what if Locke accidentally dug up a rat nest?
Goodfellas.
The mobility of those things is far superior to spiders.
Therefore, it's better to believe it exists than to dismiss it.
"Locke?"
"Yes."
"Give New York City a vacation."
"..."
Locke opened his mouth, speechless as he looked at Nameless, whose expression clearly read, "Please stop using your powers, Azu, I beg you, Jackie Chan."
Just then.
Ding!
Mission generating!
Mission Name: "The Quiet Semester!"
Mission Reward: "achievement points * 100K", "potential points * 100K", "Three-Fold Treasure Discount Coupon * 1"
Mission Description: "Before summer vacation arrives, be an unremarkable, quiet, and peaceful eighteen-year-old boy. Study hard, make progress every day, and strive to... Pfft, prepare to become a capitalist who can exploit the poor in the future."
Mission Note: "Stop now, Luo Zu, the outside is full of George Nameless!"
"..."
Locke raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, accepted!"
"...What?"
Refusing 100,000 points delivered right to his door? Only if Locke was crazy. Seven times one is seven, eight times one is eight. Adding these 100,000 points, Locke felt he could accumulate one million points before summer vacation arrived this semester.
Moreover... It is treasonous to refuse a gift at your door!
Locke regained his composure, his lips curving upward as he looked at Nameless: "Fine, I agree. I promise that as soon as I step out of this car, I'll go home. Except for my own private matters, I won't go anywhere else. I'll even report to you before going to a new place. But, if I don't get that honorary citizen title by the end of the year, I'm turning against you."
Nameless's lips curled up, and he extended his hand: "Deal! It's a promise!"
Locke glanced at the smile on Nameless's face, reached out, and shook his hand: "Pleasure working with you!"
You might win.
But... I definitely won't lose, and I'll make a huge profit.
Nameless smiled brightly.
Locke smiled even more brightly. Three streets away from Grand Central Station, Locke got out of the car, waved goodbye with a smile to Nameless and Maria Hill, who had specifically driven him to the corner of Fifth Avenue, then put his hands in his pockets and walked toward Starlight Tower.
Behind him?
Roads were beginning to be sealed off, filled with the wailing sirens of countless police forces.
There was no helping it.
There were too many spiders. Manhattan's fire extinguishers were completely insufficient. At this very moment, fire extinguishers and various sprays from Brooklyn and Queens were being rushed toward Manhattan.
But... that had nothing to do with him.
Locke wasn't even interested in turning his head. It was just about living a quiet, peaceful, and unremarkable life as an eighteen-year-old boy. What was so hard about that? Hadn't he been doing that all along?
Inside the command vehicle.
After Locke left, Nameless and Maria Hill once again sped off, like Warriors going into battle, moving against the flow of people back toward Grand Central Station.
In the car.
Maria Hill's eyes lit up; she seemed to have thought of something and looked at Nameless: "You didn't tell Locke about that thing?"
Nameless glanced at Maria Hill, crossing his arms: "I don't understand what you're talking about."
Seeing this, Maria Hill became even more certain of her guess: "So, the reason you didn't tell Locke is because you're worried that Locke's Disaster Constitution would affect the Agent you care about?"
Nameless: "..."
Chapter 430: New York City Palpably Terrified of Spiders
Nameless took off his sunglasses and stared at the speaking Maria Hill.
After a moment.
Mr. Nameless put his sunglasses back on and shrugged. "Director Hill, I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."
The corners of Maria Hill's mouth curled up. "Mr. Nameless, I'm curious about one thing."
"What?"
"If you're so worried, then why did you recruit him?"
"..."
How was I supposed to know he had this kind of constitution?
If heaven gave him another chance... I would still want him.
Nameless sighed internally, then changed the subject with a chuckle, looking at Maria Hill. "Then Director Hill, why did you still send people before I recruited him? What, did you want me to give up so you could have him for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Maria Hill shook her head and said, "S.H.I.E.L.D. has no designs on Mr. Locke Broughton. If we have any, it's only because his disaster-prone constitution forces us to pay more attention."
Nameless looked at the solemn Maria Hill and laughed coldly to himself.
Simply put.
In Nameless's view, S.H.I.E.L.D. under Maria Hill's leadership was far more difficult to deal with than when Nick Fury was in charge.
At the very least, Nick Fury was a loudmouth with no real strength who liked to rely on his skin color to be unreasonably argumentative. Nameless didn't even want to use his brain for such a person; after all, if dealing with someone like that required brainpower, Nameless felt it would be an insult.
An insult to himself.
He had relied on his own strength to rise step by step from a trainee Agent to his current position.
Nick Fury?
Heh.
But Maria Hill was different.
At least in these two years since she took office, Maria Hill had led S.H.I.E.L.D. through a series of reforms. In the first year, she completely purged the lingering poison left by Nick Fury, and in the second year, she carried out even more drastic reforms. The birth of the Agent Ranking System alone had maximized S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operational capacity after the period of extreme paranoia.
After all... during the Nick Fury era, who was promoted or demoted was entirely up to Fury's word, and benefits and compensation were all based on Fury's smooth-talking deception.
But the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Ranking System provided by Maria Hill made benefits and compensation tangible and visible. Although there were many more constraints, again, the benefits and compensation were visible.
To put it bluntly.
Although many S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents used to work out of love and justice, most Agents were just there to earn a living. Talking about feelings can only stabilize Agents for a few years.
But if you talk about benefits and compensation, it's a different story.
Everyone is out here to work. If I don't talk about compensation with you, what else is there to talk about?
Furthermore, Maria Hill leveraged her gender and skin color to manage the 'First Lady route' in Washington D.C. quite well. Otherwise, the Department of Homeland Security wouldn't let S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents use their IDs when handling cases.
It's said that even the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which had blacklisted S.H.I.E.L.D., has begun to soften. Outside of New York City, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents can now pull out FBI IDs to handle cases again.
IQ.
EQ.
Maria Hill, with both high IQ and EQ, was far more difficult to deal with than the foolishly dim-witted Nick Fury.
And Nameless felt this most deeply.
After all, Mr. Nameless was in charge of European affairs, and in the past two years, he had truly experienced the methods of this S.H.I.E.L.D. Iron Lady.
In a word.
She was worthily a disciple educated by that person who had already retired and returned to London.
Nameless thought to himself, then looked at Maria Hill, who had a faint smile. "This news, we haven't confirmed it yet."
Maria Hill was slightly stunned. "Not confirmed?"
Nameless nodded. "At the time, I watched her die in the explosion."
"But you didn't see her body."
"In such an explosion, survival is absolutely impossible."
"Without a body, anything is possible."
Maria Hill said as much, then feeling the command vehicle come to a stop, she stood up, bent over, and walked toward the door. "If there's a need, maybe I..."
She didn't finish her sentence.
Nameless watched as she stepped one foot out, paused in silence for a moment, pulled it back, and then tapped the partition, shouting for them to return to the New York S.H.I.E.L.D. Base. "What's wrong?"
Maria Hill looked at Nameless, smiled slightly, and opened the back door of the command vehicle.
Upon seeing what was outside.
Nameless took a deep breath.
What was wrong?
Grand Central Station was about to be completely taken over by Army Spiders.
"Oh my god!"
"This is too terrifying."
"God!"
"Cindy, Pepper, and I were just shopping nearby. Oh my god, how did so many spiders suddenly come out?"
Gwen, sitting cross-legged on the sofa and organizing her shopping spoils from today, watched the live broadcast on the TV while telling Locke about what happened in the afternoon. "I heard that the dozen or so members of the Pest Control Team who first went down to Grand Central Station still haven't been found."
They had been swallowed clean by the passing spider army, with not even a speck left. How could they be found?
When Locke, Nameless, and the others got onto the platform earlier, it wasn't as if they hadn't warned those dozen or so laughing members of the Pest Control Team who looked down on them for seeing a few small spiders.
But like the other Agents, those dozen people treated Locke's warning as wind past their ears, certain that Locke and the others were only exaggerating the facts because they were as timid as mice.
Good words can't persuade a ghost determined to die.
Locke wouldn't strike innocent passersby, but that didn't mean he would step forward to stop them when they were determined to go and die.
He wasn't a saint. He had spoken, they didn't listen, and then they lost their lives—who was to blame?
Locke shook his head and directly changed the subject. "Where's George?"
"In a meeting."
Gwen looked up and blinked. "Fortunately, Mom and Little George went to Long Island; otherwise, I'd be worried about spiders getting into the house."
After all, Gwen's apartment was closer to Grand Central.
Just now, there were news reports that although New York City had increased the cordons, many citizens outside the cordons were still calling the police to report that spiders had appeared in their areas too.
"When did so many spiders appear in the underground of New York City?"
"Who knows."
Locke shrugged and said, "Maybe winter is over and spring has arrived, and the newly hatched Little Spiders are looking for a new place to live?"
This spider disaster wouldn't last long.
At most until tomorrow noon, these Little Spiders that briefly fell into a berserk state because they finally lost control would instinctively return underground.
Furthermore... even if they didn't, it was just a few million spiders. Locke cast his perception over and found that from the peak number at the start, the count currently didn't exceed two million.
If they worked hard through the night, the spiders would probably be gone.
It was no big deal. Besides, that group of spiders were clean and didn't carry any diseases. If bitten, the most serious outcome would be a trip to the hospital for an amputation; there were no other sequelae.
If there were any...
Locke smiled and looked at Gwen. "I reckon that after this spider disaster passes, for a long time, New York City—or at least Manhattan—will be palpably terrified of spiders."
He was giving her a heads-up first.
Lest Gwen remember she wasn't her old self and decide to turn into a White Spider and wander around; that wouldn't be good.
Gwen was slightly stunned and blinked at Locke. "You're not curious at all about how these spiders suddenly appeared all at once?"
Locke shook his head.
"Not curious."
"Ah?"
"Because I happened to be at the scene when it happened."
"..."
Gwen quickly set down the black embroidered silk stockings worth two hundred dollars she had just bought and sat her little butt down next to Locke, batting her eyes at him. "I heard them say the spider tide erupted from Grand Central Station. How were you at Grand Central?"
Locke shrugged and gave Gwen the same explanation he had given to Nameless and Maria Hill.
It was his sense of responsibility as the student council president of Midtown High School and the first president of the New York State High School Student Council Alliance—which would officially hold a press conference with Stark Industries next week—that drove him to understand the truth.
"After all..."
Locke shrugged and said, "Having Midtown High School students cause such a farce in such a serious setting requires serious handling and an explanation to the Columbia Science Center."
Yes.
Although the Columbia Science Center gave up pursuing responsibility.
But... Locke was the president of the Midtown High School Student Council. The three students involved in the fight might think it was no big deal, but in Locke's view, it shamed the reputation of Midtown High School as a high-quality elite school.
Gwen opened her mouth and looked at the serious Locke, slightly stunned. "So, how do you plan to handle this?"
"Suspension for a week!"
"This..."
Gwen frowned. "That's too heavy. And Locke, did you forget to consider Mary Jane?"
"What?"
"Mary Jane and Peter Parker are neighbors. And didn't they say the video camera was destroyed and the truth is no longer known?"
"Right."
Locke looked at Gwen. "I can't determine the matter of the secret filming, but the surveillance clearly saw three people from Midtown High School fighting at the Columbia Science Center. That's a fact. And do you know what the people from Long Island High School said when I went over today?"
"What?"
"That the quality of Midtown High students is even worse than theirs."
Chapter 431: One-Week Suspension
Yes.
This was the primary reason Locke felt the three involved in the brawl needed to be punished.
Giving Little Spider a hard time?
Heh.
Locke didn't have the spare time for that. Moreover, a mere Little Spider wasn't worth him lowering his status to target personally. As long as he was in school—even if he just unofficially expressed the view, "I don't like Peter Parker!"—there were plenty of students, from twelfth grade down to ninth, who would jump at the chance to help him cause trouble for Little Spider.
Business is business!
Locke was the president of the Midtown High School Student Council. Currently, because of these three brawlers, the reputation of Midtown High had been damaged. If no action was taken, it would mean that the consequences of what these three had done would have to be borne by all the students of Midtown High together.
If he didn't know about it, that would be one thing.
But knowing about it and not dealing with it was something Locke couldn't do.
As everyone knew.
Locke was a fair, just, and very principled person.
"So..."
"Suspended for one week!"
Locke smiled, repeating the punishment measure he had spent half an hour mulling over. He said to Gwen, "The damages at the Columbia Science Center are around ten thousand dollars. The Midtown High Student Council will cover this cost. As punishment for Peter Parker, Flashy, and Eddie, it's just a one-week suspension. I think I've been very merciful."
Ten thousand dollars was a small amount, pocket change, for the likes of Locke, Gwen, Cindy, and Kahn.
But for sixty percent of the students at Midtown High, it was actually a huge sum. Even if split three ways at over three thousand dollars each, it was still a significant amount.
At the very least, Peter Parker had no way of coming up with that kind of money.
Flashy and Eddie?
If they grit their teeth and refrained from chasing girls this semester, pooling their part-time job money and prize money from school activities, they could probably afford it.
Locke shrugged. "Either pay the money, or take a one-week suspension."
Gwen opened her mouth.
For some reason, even though Locke hadn't indicated he was targeting anyone specifically, Gwencouldn't help but feel that if one of the three brawlers had been Kahn, this issue probably wouldn't have even come up.
Was it just an illusion?
Gwen blinked. "But..."
Locke cut her off directly and stood up. "I've already sent my recommendation for the handling of the matter to Madam Cort. If you have any objections, you can raise them at tomorrow's council meeting, but I will maintain my decision."
After saying that.
Locke walked straight toward the stairs leading to the second floor.
Gwen turned her head, watching Locke slowly ascend the stairs, and blinked.
You can raise objections, but I'll maintain my decision!
Wow.
So cool.
Little stars flickered in Gwen's eyes.
Besides being Locke's assistant in the Student Council, she was also the grade-level student assistant. It was her responsibility to help every student fairly and impartially.
And suspension was undoubtedly a very severe punishment, second only to expulsion.
Normally, in elementary school, suspension was quite common. Or rather, in a 'Happy High School,' a one-week suspension wasn't really a big deal. After all, there wasn't much difference between a one-week and a one-month suspension in those schools; even after a month off, you could still keep up with the curriculum upon returning.
However, Midtown High was an elite school focused on quality education. Forget a week—even if you missed just one day, you'd find you needed to borrow notes from a top student and pull an all-nighter just to make up for what you missed.
Naturally, Gwen's role as grade assistant made her try to help the students avoid this penalty.
However... she had already made an effort to help, and the Student Council President's words were very clear: the three of them were the ones in the fight, but the damage to Midtown High's reputation would be shared by the entire student body. If they weren't punished this way, it would be hard to appease the public.
So.
After Gwen made her effort and found it was in vain, she could only let it go.
The next day.
Midtown High School.
"What?"
"Suspended for a week?"
"WTF?"
That afternoon, Flash Thompson and Eddie Brock, who had just received the notice of the disciplinary decision, looked at each other in shock. They then looked at Madam Cort, who had notified them, and stammered, "Madam Cort..."
Madam Cort raised her hand immediately. "This wasn't the school's decision."
Flashy and Eddie looked at each other again.
"Not the school's decision?"
"Correct."
Madam Cort also hadn't expected the Student Council to handle it this way. After all, it wasn't as if conflicts hadn't happened during off-campus trips before.
But... usually, it wasn't a big deal, and under normal circumstances, the school wouldn't intervene.
After all, while Midtown High had local students and those who got in on their own merit, more of them were brilliant students the school had poached from all over the country.
For the local ones, they'd be punished however they deserved.
But for the ones they 'bought,' a heavy punishment could impact college acceptance rates and the school's honors. Furthermore, the Columbia Science Center hadn't intended to press charges this time.
After all, the Columbia Science Center was dealing with a severe spider infestation. They didn't have the energy to trouble Midtown High over a mere ten thousand dollars right now.
So, since the victim didn't plan to pursue it, naturally, Midtown High didn't plan to either.
But this time, while the school didn't pursue it, the Student Council did.
Flashy frowned. "Madam Cort, this season's basketball tournament is about to start. Suspending us now..."
Madam Cort had no intention of taking the blame for Locke, nor was she obligated to. Moreover, Flashyand Eddie had the right to know. She cut him off. "The one who made this decision wasn't the High School Board, but the Student Council."
Flashy fell silent.
Eddie, standing beside him, sniffled.
"Locke?"
"Yes."
Madam Cort glanced at Eddie and nodded. "Yes. Locke sent me the recommendation last night. This morning, the student assistant, Gwen, also came to see me, trying to get the decision overturned."
"And then?"
"...Look."
Madam Cort picked up a document from her desk and looked at Flashy and Eddie. "The Council's official notice has arrived. However, don't worry, this disciplinary action won't be recorded in your permanent files..."
Before she could finish.
Flashy had already turned to leave. "I'm going to find Locke."
Was this a joke?
This week, almost all high school sports events were happening simultaneously. The High School Basketball League Cup qualifiers were coming up. To suspend him for a week—without him and Eddie, who would lead the Midtown High basketball team to the cham... top thirty-two?
Damn black kids, why couldn't they just stick to picking cotton and eating watermelon? They didn't even look human, yet they came to play basketball with everyone else.
Flashy turned and walked out of the office. Then, seeing Eddie still standing behind him motionless, he walked back in, grabbed Eddie, and rushed out of Madam Cort's office.
Madam Cort opened her mouth, then raised an eyebrow as she saw Peter Parker walking in after Flashy and Eddie. She wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but she felt Peter Parker's aura seemed different from yesterday.
"Mr. Parker, please sit!"
Madam Cort smiled slightly, pointing to the chair Flashy had just vacated, which was still warm. She invited Peter Parker to sit and then, just as she had told Flashy and Eddie, informed him of the disciplinary decision regarding the brawl.
Upon hearing that Flashy and Eddie had already been notified of their one-week suspension.
Peter Parker felt a bit happy inside.
Serves them right!
But... when Peter Parker heard that he was also to be suspended for a week, just like Flashy and Eddie, he looked up, his face full of incomprehension. "What... me? Suspended for a week? Why, Madam Cort?"
Madam Cort always had a soft spot for good students.
She liked anyone who could bring honor to the school, especially since Peter Parker was someone she had personally recruited.
Madam Cort shook her head. "This is the Student Council's decision."
Peter Parker was completely confused. "But, this has nothing to do with me. I'm a victim too."
He was the one being bullied.
Not the bully.
Heavens.
If Aunt May found out he was suspended for a week, she would be so heartbroken.
Madam Cort looked at the agitated Peter Parker, expressing her understanding while comforting him. "This morning, I spoke with President Broughton about this. However, President Broughton said that in this incident, there are two victims, and one of them is the Columbia Science Center."
Peter Parker nodded. "Right, and the other one is me."
Madam Cort shook her head. "No, President Broughton said the other victim is Midtown High. This activity was organized by Midtown High, not a private trip. When you are out, your every move represents Midtown High."
"What?"
Peter Parker was stunned. "But this all happened because of Flash Thompson and Eddie Brock. I didn't take any secret photos of Mary at all."
Even if he had, he couldn't admit it.
Anyway, the camera was broken, and the film had been overexposed.
Madam Cort said, "Yes, that's why for Flash Thompson and Eddie Brock, it's a full one-week suspension. This means they cannot participate in their basketball games. For you, it's only a suspension from academic classes for a week; extracurricular activities are not restricted."
Without that restriction.
Madam Cort would have thought Locke was targeting Peter Parker too.
But with this restriction?
It was actually quite fair and just.
The handling was very appropriate...
Chapter 432: Little Spider Peter Parker
After all, Locke is fair and just.
Locke made this disciplinary decision entirely from the perspective of Midtown High School; in a way, it was already a special consideration given that Peter Parker was the weaker party in this brawl.
If it were anyone else.
A one-week suspension would just be a one-week suspension, without any additional clauses.
"Sigh!"
Locke sighed in his President's Office: "I'm still too soft-hearted."
Just as he finished speaking.
There was a thump.
The office door was pushed open.
Flash Thompson and Eddie Brock walked in one after another, their expressions somewhat anxious.
"Locke."
Flash Thompson got straight to the point, expressing his dissatisfaction with the punishment: "Eddieand I can't be suspended for a week. The High School League Cup Preliminaries start this week."
Eddie, standing by, also said: "Locke, how about we wait until after the game to start the suspension?"
Locke's brow twitched: "Do you think this is a supermarket?"
Goodfellas.
A one-week suspension, and you're still being picky?
Flashy sat down directly: "I know you don't care for basketball. I admit, Midtown High School's basketball career is indeed a bit poor, but if you suspend me, Flashy, and Eddie, forget the Round of 32, we'll probably just GG in the Preliminaries."
"Is that my fault?"
"Uh..."
Locke looked at Flashy with a hint of amusement: "Am I the one who made Midtown High School lose face? It was a trip organized by Midtown High School that day. If you had gone privately and beaten Peter Parker to death, I wouldn't have cared."
This was the truth.
If Peter Parker were beaten to death, that would be a matter for the NYPD. However, that wouldn't be good either, since it was a Midtown High School group activity that day. If Peter Parker died, Midtown High School would have to pay at least fifty thousand dollars in compensation to his family.
Flashy and Eddie looked at each other.
Beaten to death?
When did they ever think about beating Peter Parker to death?
Flashy said: "Peter Parker was secretly taking photos of Mary Jane."
Locke was expressionless: "Evidence!"
He knew Flashy and Eddie were right, but catching an adulterer requires being in bed; without evidence, it's a presumption of innocence.
"That camera is broken."
"And then?"
Locke chuckled: "That means there's no evidence. You were out with Midtown High School that day, not on your own, and you have no evidence to prove it. So, is there a problem with my disciplinary decision?"
Flashy opened his mouth: "But... the game!"
Locke shook his head, looking at Flashy and Eddie, who were clearly determined to be pests and not leave unless he let them play. He rolled his eyes: "This time, for your sake, the Student Councilcompensated the Columbia Science Center thirty thousand dollars."
Flashy and Eddie were slightly stunned.
"Wasn't the loss only..."
"I get it."
Eddie directly interrupted Flashy and looked at Locke: "Flashy and I will hand over our twenty thousand dollars. The suspension remains as it is, and we'll comply with the decision, but don't stop our basketball games."
Ten thousand each.
Gritting their teeth, it wasn't like they couldn't afford it.
Locke looked at Eddie's "I get it" expression with annoyance and was somewhat speechless. He walked over to the printer and tossed the receipt from the Columbia Science Center to the two of them: "Ten thousand is the loss reported by the Columbia Science Center. The other twenty thousand is to restore Midtown High School's reputation."
Giving ten thousand would be okay, but the price would be that the Columbia Science Center probably wouldn't open its doors to Midtown High School in the future.
The extra twenty thousand was for the apology.
Does the Columbia Science Center care about twenty thousand dollars? Obviously not, but whether you give it or not is another matter.
Eddie took the fax, smiled sheepishly, and put the paper back on Locke's desk without even looking: "I didn't mean that. The school's reputation was damaged because of us. We'll pay the money."
Locke chuckled and sat back down: "Once the twenty thousand arrives, except for training, the one-week suspension remains the same. But anyway, as long as you two can graduate, it's fine."
After all, Flashy and Eddie's post-graduation plans were already set.
Military!
According to Flashy and Eddie, with their grades, it would be hard to get into a good university. Besides, school was boring; it was better to just join the Military, kill some foreigners for a few years, then retire and use the Military benefits to find a university where it's easy to graduate.
So... Flashy and Eddie didn't have high demands for themselves; they just needed enough credits to graduate. To make up for the failing grades in academic subjects, they could only increase their credits through sports. It was a simple matter of addition and subtraction, balancing out perfectly.
Seeing Locke relenting, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.
The money didn't matter. Mainly, they enjoyed the cheers of the cheerleaders when they were on the court. Plus, with the new semester starting, they hadn't found new girlfriends yet. If they didn't play, what girls would take the initiative to chase them?
"Great."
"Thanks."
Flashy and Eddie thanked him repeatedly and walked toward the door. However, after opening the door, their happy expressions vanished. They coughed and turned back to Locke: "We're leaving."
Locke looked up and saw Peter Parker appearing at the door. He gave a nod to Flashy and Eddie, who were likely intending to warn him, and then looked at Peter Parker as he walked in.
Peter Parker watched Flashy and Eddie leave, then took a deep breath and looked at Locke: "Lo... Locke, I can't understand this punishment."
Locke didn't care about how Peter Parker addressed him.
It was the same old saying.
He had personal opinions about Little Spider, but in official matters like this, he had none at all.
"It's normal not to understand."
Locke nodded and invited Peter Parker to sit in the chair in front of the desk, saying with a smile: "Student Parker, do you feel you've been wronged?"
Peter Parker nodded.
Locke shrugged: "But Midtown High School is even more aggrieved than you."
As he spoke.
Locke placed the actual remittance voucher for thirty thousand dollars, paid from the Midtown High School Student Council's fund account to the Columbia Science Center, in front of Peter Parker: "Look."
Peter Parker looked closely and was slightly stunned: 'Thirty thousand? I thought it was ten thousand?'
Locke said: "Flashy and Eddie just asked the same thing. I said that in this incident, the matter of the three of you is one thing, but because of you three, the entire Midtown High School was dragged into it. Giving ten thousand is just for compensation, but giving thirty thousand is to ensure that future students visiting the Columbia Science Center won't be affected at all."
As he spoke.
Locke shrugged: "Flashy and Eddie just said they would pay for the losses themselves, ten thousand each. Even so, I didn't agree to cancel their suspension; I only agreed that their daily training and games wouldn't be affected."
Peter Parker was slightly stunned.
Ten thousand each?
Peter Parker snapped back to reality and looked at Locke: "This is unfair."
Locke was also stunned.
"Unfair?"
"Flashy and Eddie clearly started it; it has nothing to do with me."
"And then?"
"They are the ones who should be suspended and fined, not me. I'm the victim."
"I say..."
"You're targeting me, aren't you?"
"Hmm?"
Locke raised an eyebrow and looked at the somewhat agitated Peter Parker, then leaned back in his chair and frowned: "I don't understand that statement."
Peter Parker took a deep breath: "I'm clearly more qualified than Harry Osborn to participate in this Knowledge Competition, but you didn't choose me."
"Harry told you?"
"No."
Peter Parker shook his head: "I saw it on the list myself. You don't like me."
He felt he was being targeted.
And... he had evidence!
Clearly, given his grades, he was more qualified to participate in this Knowledge Competition. The prize money for winning would have been very important to him.
But he wasn't even on the list, while a Harry Osborn, who was inferior to him in every way, was on it.
In the morning, after seeing the list, Peter Parker went to find Harry to question him about what was going on. But Harry claimed it was Locke's decision and that he had suggested Peter replace him. Harryeven complained that he had been reading until three or four in the morning every night for the past two days after going home.
However.
Peter Parker didn't believe a single word of Harry's answer.
But while Peter dared to question his 'good friend' Harry, he didn't dare come over to question Locke. Now, knowing he couldn't participate in this year's Knowledge Competition and even being suspended for a week?
If this isn't targeting, then what is?
Locke laughed at Peter Parker's words: "I'm not targeting you."
"Then why can't I join the Knowledge Competition?"
"Because I think Harry is more suitable."
"You're targeting me."
"..."
Locke looked at Peter, who was so agitated that he snapped off a corner of the desk with a crack. He raised an eyebrow.
Peter didn't seem to notice at all.
Locke said directly: "I'm the one leading the team for the Knowledge Competition. I'm the Captain. Only those I deem suitable can join. It has nothing to do with whether I like you or not. As for your suspension..."
He paused.
Locke pointed to the remittance voucher: "Flashy and Eddie are covering the loss themselves. You can too. If you do that, I'll revoke your suspension."
Finally.
Locke stood up, hands in his pockets, watching Peter, who also stood up with a face full of indignation: "I like a saying: 'Admit your mistakes, and take your lumps.' I'm giving this saying to you, Student Peter Parker."
Peter Parker: "..."
Four Hundred and Thirty-Three, I'm Not Your Father
When Locke was a small child, five or six years old, he would never argue with the orphan, who was deeply loved by an old man, about why the orphan had more food while he had only a little.
Similarly,
Locke would never argue in elementary school about why the school gave clothes to other students but not to him.
In a word,
Locke always had a clear understanding of his position, just as he said he wouldn't let personal opinions interfere with his work.
Apparently... Peter Parker had not learned this.
Or rather, Peter Parker had already learned it, but what he learned wasn't "to find the reason within himself" but "it's impossible for me to be wrong, it must be someone else's fault."
Like father, like son; a rat's child will dig holes.
Peter Parker clearly understood Locke's words.
But,
Asking him to pay ten thousand dollars was absolutely impossible.
"I don't have ten thousand dollars!"
Peter Parker turned around, looking at Locke, who was walking towards the door, and said in a deep voice, "Besides, this isn't my fault. I have no reason to pay the money, and you have no right to suspend me."
Locke glanced at Gwen, who was walking over from not far away, then turned to look at Peter Parker, who was still in his office with a "you won't leave until you give me an explanation" expression, and chuckled, "I don't know you, and we're not close, so I won't humor you."
"I'm going to report you."
"Be my guest."
Locke's expression was indifferent: "Oh, and that desk of mine was bought with my private funds. I won't extort you. There are surveillance cameras in my office. My lawyer will discuss with you how much it will cost to repair and how much you should compensate."
That desk of his was custom-made.
It wasn't cheap.
After all, Cindy and the others said that Locke would be the president of the Mid-Town High School Board for at least two more years. Using that old desk didn't fit Locke's status and temperament, so Locke personally paid for a desk from a collector, rumored to be from the Ming Dynasty in the East. Now that a corner had been chipped off by that little spider, he couldn't pretend not to see it.
Again, that saying.
Locke was not the little spider's father and wouldn't humor him.
After speaking,
Locke said to the approaching Gwen, "Let's go to the conference room. There's a clause I plan to add."
Gwen glanced at Peter Parker, who was still in Locke's office, seemingly so angry he was about to boil like a kettle. She blinked, somewhat unsure of what had just happened here, then, hearing Locke's words, she paused slightly: "Add a clause? What clause?"
Locke shrugged: "I can't control the knowledge competition on the university platform, but for the knowledge competition on the student council platform, I think we should add a character report."
Simply put,
Anyone with misconduct in school, no matter how high their IQ, is not allowed to participate in the knowledge competition, which is held on the student council platform, has not yet begun its first session, and has a total prize pool exceeding twelve million.
Locke initially only wanted to build a platform for himself to earn points, but now that it had come this far and the skyscraper was about to be built, it should be done well.
To create a competition platform that develops both character and knowledge.
In plain language... it's better to feed the prize money to a dog than to a ingrate.
Although the prize money wasn't funded by him, Locke felt that since Stark Industries chose to invest, Locke had a responsibility to consider the Maria Stark Education Fund. After all, both Locke and Stark were pursuing a win-win situation, not one where someone would take their money and then curse them in the future.
Regarding Locke's proposal, the dozen or so student council presidents involved in the plan did not object and all expressed their approval.
As for the person in charge of the Maria Stark Foundation, after seeing the newly released clause about character assessment, they also had no objections.
After getting everything done, Pepper Potts even called specifically to say that Locke's thinking was very comprehensive, and indeed, one should not only look at grades and ignore a person's character.
After returning home,
Locke received the damage assessment report from the insurance company regarding his antique desk.
"Heh."
Locke chuckled, then sent this damage assessment report, which would be valid in any court, to Buson Laun, his exclusive lawyer: "And the surveillance footage, I've sent that to your email as well."
Buson Laun, who was in his office, said, "Received. What is Mr. Broughton's intention?"
"Compensation."
Locke said expressionlessly: "Handle it officially, not a penny less."
Lawyer Laun understood: "Okay, Mr. Broughton, I understand."
"Thank you."
Locke hung up the phone, smiled, then looked at Gwen, who was at the bar, with her left hand on the beef and her right hand on the tomatoes, looking at him, and blinked: "What's wrong?"
Gwen said, "I'm waiting for you to cook, didn't you notice?"
She had done what she could.
And... Locke's handling, from any perspective, was acceptable. The suspension of the three was not treated equally; at least, Peter Parker was only unable to attend school in the morning. He could still participate in afternoon club activities and such.
As for later?
That was after Flash and Eddie accepted their punishment that they were allowed to continue participating in daily basketball training and games, but even then, the decision to suspend them could not be canceled.
With all that, what was unfair?
Gwen, in any case, felt that Locke's actions were no longer just about having an opinion on the little spider; it was completely about having an opinion on Flash and Eddie. Yet, Flash and Eddie didn't complain, but Peter Parker did.
This made Gwen somewhat difficult to understand.
And then there was that knowledge competition.
Gwen watched Locke put down the phone, walk over, and then, with her help, put on an apron. She said with some wonder, "Did Peter Parker really say that, that he was going to report you?"
Locke nodded: "Didn't you hear it?"
Gwen hummed, "But what would he report you for?"
Locke shrugged: "Who knows, maybe he'll report me for not picking him."
Again, that saying.
He was the captain of the knowledge competition team, and what team members he wanted was up to him, the captain.
What could Peter Parker report him for?
Originally, Locke hadn't planned to say that the student council's knowledge competition required character assessment, but Peter Parker jumped out himself, making Locke realize there was such a loophole.
Fortunately, the loophole was patched up in time.
Locke thought to himself.
The next day,
Locke met Harry in the rest corridor.
Harry must have been specifically waiting for Locke there.
"Good morning, Harry."
After Locke and Gwen walked in, Locke saw Harry already waiting by his locker, raised an eyebrow, greeted him, then watched Harry step aside to let him open his locker. As he opened his locker and put his backpack inside, he asked curiously, "You're here so early, is something wrong?"
Harry nodded: "Parker was suspended?"
Locke hummed, "Yes, how did you know?"
"Flash and Eddie told me."
To be precise, it was when he was driving this morning. Harry went to pick up Mary, and as usual, wanted to take Peter to school together. He waited for a while but Peter didn't show up, so he knocked on the door, saw May Parker who had just returned from her night shift, and asked. That's when he learned that Peter had left for school early today.
But this was very strange.
Because ever since he transferred to Mid-Town High, Harry basically drove from Manhattan to Queens every day to pick up Peter, and Peter had never taken a bus for a day.
One day, when Harry was sick, Peter even jokingly told Harry to drop him off at school first, so he could ask the teacher for leave on the spot.
Harry felt a bit strange, and after arriving at school, he still didn't see Peter. Later, he saw Flash and Eddie, who also seemed to have come to school early for training. He thought Peter had been dragged away by Flash and Eddie again to play a prank.
But... Harry followed Flash and Eddie to the basketball court, and then, upon asking, he finally learned about Peter's one-week suspension.
Goodness.
Locke really disliked Peter.
But... why?
Harry couldn't quite figure it out.
Frankly, Locke also couldn't quite figure out why honest Harry would be friends with such a person. Locke knew why Peter wanted to be friends with Harry—wasn't it just because Harry had money?
But what about Harry?
Locke had spent an hour pondering this question these past few days and finally concluded that it might be because Peter Parker was the first person to give Harry a feeling of friendship.
Even if that feeling was an illusion.
Locke listened to Harry's words, nodded, and closed his locker: "Yes, he's suspended."
"Why?"
"The Columbia Tech Center incident."
Locke's expression was calm: "They **** went there from Mid-Town High. Such a fight essentially damages Mid-Town High's reputation. So, is there a problem with imposing such a punishment?"
Harry was stunned, and opened his mouth.
Locke was prescient.
"You want to ask why Flash and Eddie are still in school?"
"...Uh."
"Because they admitted their mistake."
Locke then chuckled, told Harry about Flash and Eddie paying twenty thousand dollars, admitting their mistake, and writing an apology letter to the Columbia Tech Center, then said, "Moreover, Flash and Eddie are still suspended for a week. However, this week, football, basketball, and the knowledge competition are all starting at the same time, so I didn't completely ban them to avoid delaying the games."
Harry looked at Locke: "Then can I pay Peter's fine for him?"
Locke raised an eyebrow!
434. Girlfriend or Friend?
"What?"
"Have you lost your mind?"
The moment Harry said it, not only was Locke stunned, but even Gwen—who had finished packing and was walking over—was shocked.
And badly.
She didn't swear, but under normal circumstances Gwen would never have spoken that way.
She stared at Harry with the look and tone reserved for a mentally challenged child: "Harry, are you okay?"
There was, admittedly, no direct proof of the peeping.
Still… Gwen figured that if Locke and a friend of hers had been secretly photographing her, she might—lacking evidence—choose to ignore it. But ignoring it didn't mean she'd keep calling that person a friend.
Like hell.
You've been spying on me and I'm supposed to stay friends with you? Am I crazy?
Gwen, at least, definitely couldn't do it.
Leaving aside how gross it felt, it was simply too awkward.
It was like when she, Cindy, and Kem were together: they'd chat about risqué topics with unimaginable candor, but because they were all girls, they had an unspoken rule—if Locke or Kane was around, they dropped the subject.
Even the closest friends have a clear, unmistakable red line that must never be crossed.
Peter Parker had obviously trampled the line of "a friend's wife is off-limits"; there just wasn't proof he planned to turn that into "a friend's wife? Don't mind if I do."
But this wasn't a court case.
Courts demand evidence; in real life, mere suspicion was enough for Harry Osborn and Mary Jane to blacklist Peter Parker.
They hadn't done it yet only because Harry and Mary were kind—or still believed in Peter.
That was understandable.
But not only believing him—actually rushing to hand him money?
What kind of outrageous move was that?
Gwen couldn't wrap her head around it.
"...Does Mary know?"
"Uh… no."
"Oh!"
Gwen suddenly saw the light.
Mary didn't know, so this was Harry's problem alone.
No wonder. Mary's personality was soft, but inside she was tough; Gwen knew Mary had never lived the bow-and-scrape life before coming to New York.
On many issues Mary used to compromise—but that was before. After arriving in New York and enrolling at Midtown High, she was still gentle, yet no longer the pushover she'd been.
So… male friendship is weird.
Gwen shot Locke a sidelong glance and grumbled inwardly.
If something like this happened to her Locke, she'd never be able to accept it.
No woman wants to stay friends with a potential peeper, let alone watch him wander around in front of her.
Thinking that, Gwen spoke up for Locke before he could.
"Harry, leaving aside whether the peeping even happened, I seriously wonder: who exactly is your girlfriend—Mary or Peter Parker? Or do your friends matter more than your girlfriend?"
"I… I…"
"I get it."
Watching Harry stammer, Gwen nodded thoughtfully, left those words, grabbed Locke's arm, flicked her ponytail, and dragged the about-to-speak Locke away.
Soon.
In the classroom.
Gwen set her morning books on the desk and mused aloud, "If your best friend peeped at me and I kept quiet, would you still stay friends with him?"
What the hell?
Locke blinked—how did the fire reach the innocent bystander?
Harry was simply too honest, mistaking a feeling for reality. At first Locke thought it might be Harry's upbringing.
After all, Harry had lost his mother young.
Norman Osborn was still around, but because he believed he and his wife had been true love and Harrymerely an accident, he blamed the boy for his wife's death and had held it against him ever since.
So although Harry had a father, he might as well have been an orphan.
Peter Parker, on the other hand, hadn't been an orphan.
At least until age seven he'd had both parents, prominent scientists. Back then the Richard Parkerfamily and Osborn Biologics had been in their honeymoon phase.
Most likely, it was around that time that Harry first met Peter Parker and began to form a bond.
It sounds absurd, yet it's not entirely impossible.
Still, it doesn't explain the almost pathological depth of feeling in this honest kid, Harry.
So.
Curious as to why Harry clung so stubbornly to his friendship with Peter Parker—or rather, why he was convinced they were each other's best friend—Locke couldn't resist skimming Harry's thoughts as they walked the corridor.
The reason… matched Locke's guess almost exactly.
Yet Harry's unwavering belief in that friendship wasn't rooted in Peter Parker himself but, strangely, in Mary Parker?
Hmm.
That seemed to be the case.
In Harry's inner World, back when he was a newborn cold-shouldered by Norman Osborn, a chance mishap led little Harry—wandering the halls of Osborn Biologics—to encounter Mary Parker, who was touring the labs while holding Peter Parker's hand.
Apparently.
Motherless from birth, Harry cast Mary Parker as his mother; at the very least, in Harry's memory, after meeting her the company no longer felt like a prison.
Er… so Harry funneled his feelings for Mary Parker onto Peter Parker by mistake?
Locke thought to himself.
It sort of made sense now.
But understanding it and living it were two different things.
Locke blinked, gave a soft laugh, and shook his head. "Not a chance."
Gwen raised a brow. "Because you don't have a best friend?"
Locke shook his head. "No, because your hypothetical could never happen."
"Why not?"
"Because that guy definitely wouldn't survive long enough to peep at you."
"…"
Peeping is a verb, after all.
Should the day ever come when someone lusts after Gwen, the moment the thought forms his fate is sealed:
A thousand cuts and… every ancestor for eighteen generations!
Locke now had the strength to back those words. Contemplate it and you start with a thousand cuts plus eighteen generations of forebears.
Just ask Bullseye.
Perfect.
Henceforth he could claim there was precedent and a story to cite.
Gwen blinked at his declaration; her Spider-Sense flared, then she quickly quelled it, gave Locke a radiant smile, and slid back into her seat.
Though his words dripped murderous intent…
Gwen loved the answer; in her eyes it was the correct choice any normal boyfriend would make between her and a friend.
What's a friend?
A girlfriend is everything.
Sweet, huggable, kissable—even touchable.
Could a "blue" friend do that?
Luckily…
Locke had given the right reply.
As for that flicker of Spider-Sense?
If her boyfriend killed for her, it wasn't murder—it was love.
Besides… Locke was so gentle, so chivalrous; he could barely slice beef, worse at it than she was.
She pictured yesterday's scene of him tackling a steak, looking as if it were his first time holding a knife, and gave him another sweet smile.
Locke smiled back.
Then… dismissed it.
To him it wasn't even a choice: anyone who'd peep at Gwen couldn't be a friend; since they weren't friends, the decision was obvious.
Harry mistook illusion for feeling because he was too honest.
Locke was no honest child.
Right then—
"What about me?"
"Hmm?"
Locke lifted a brow and glanced left.
Carrie, seated nearby, asked softly, "If someone peeped at me?"
Carrie was curious.
To be precise, everyone was.
Cindy, not far off, batted her big eyes at her boyfriend Kem.
Wanda, pondering, looked at Pietro—who was chatting up some girls—since she had no boyfriend but a foolish brother who could answer.
Luckily…
With Locke's perfect answer before him, Kem made the flawless choice without a second's hesitation, then silently saluted trailblazer Locke.
Locke didn't notice.
He looked at Carrie and, smiling, answered firmly, "You too—you're the sister I adore!"
435. The Semester is Getting Better
From the very beginning, Locke had treated Carrie as his own sister.
Otherwise… how could his power be wielded only by Carrie, without any restrictions?
So, if there was a pervert peeping at his sister, shouldn't he kill him? Was he going to keep him around for the New Year?
It was the same old saying.
Locke had always believed not in the laws of this place, but in the scales of justice in his heart; he only killed by mistake, never letting anyone go.
Carrie smiled slightly, listening to Locke's answer.
It seemed… she was both satisfied and dissatisfied with the result.
It was very strange.
However, at this moment, Mrs. Cord walked in, and Locke didn't pay any attention.
Peter Parker also didn't pay any attention.
For Locke, his life was the main storyline; in the morning, after Mrs. Cord announced the official start of this semester's new knowledge competition, Locke, Gwen, and the competition team members immediately switched back to the state they were in when they participated in the knowledge competition last year.
Locke.
Gwen.
Cindy.
Kahn.
Matt.
The five people from last year, without even a moment of buffer time, immediately re-entered the high-intensity training of endless questions; after the first time last year, this time, they were already somewhat prepared.
The newly joined Helen Cho and Jane Foster, due to their prodigy-level attributes, were a bit unaccustomed for the first two days, but by the third day, they had already integrated and could keep up with the pace.
The most unaccustomed one was actually only one person.
Harry.
But… Harry was also the most serious one.
Frankly speaking, when Locke first brought Harry in, it was merely to make up the numbers; Gwen was well aware of this, let alone the others. However, Harry's transformation from being completely bewildered on the first day, to utterly confused on the second, and then to having a partial understanding today, truly shocked them.
At the same time, Gwen also learned from Mary Jane, who waited for Harry to leave school with her every day, that in the past few days, Harry would actually go straight to his study room as soon as he got home and listen repeatedly to the audio of Locke and the others' discussions in the small conference room that day.
These past two days, Mary Jane, who had just gotten her driver's license and had only driven a few times in total, was the one driving, at a speed of twenty miles per hour, and in these two days, she received five or six speeding tickets from the NYPD for driving too slowly and obstructing traffic.
Fortunately, after Gwen found out about this, she took the tickets from Mary Jane's bag, and then, at noon today, she went to the NYPD, found George, who had been extremely busy these past few days, and told him about it.
And then… there was no then.
George directly took the five or six tickets and said he would handle them.
After all, this was understandable.
If it were a girl driving a luxury car and deliberately cruising, George definitely wouldn't do that, but if it was for studying, and with his daughter's assurance, George felt it was forgivable. At the same time, he confirmed the license plate number and said he would talk to his colleagues in the traffic department to ensure that during this period, if it was only because of slow speed, no tickets would be issued. After that, he ushered Gwen and Locke out.
Nothing else.
These past few days, the NYPD had been busy with follow-up work.
After all, a few days ago, the spider disaster at Grand Central Station had thoroughly shocked Manhattan, and as Locke had guessed, Manhattan had completely fallen into a state of arachnophobia.
In fact… the day before yesterday, a financial building on Wall Street was urgently evacuated at midday because someone in the second-floor pantry claimed to have seen hundreds of small spiders, densely packed together.
When the members of the pest control team, who were exhausted and almost collapsed these past few days, went in, they found that the so-called hundreds of densely packed small spiders were just a handful of black sesame seeds accidentally scattered on the floor by someone. Coincidentally, the person who saw it at the time was nearsighted and wasn't wearing glasses during their break, so it was mistakenly identified as small spiders.
This was not a joke, so it was clear how much Manhattanites now hated small spiders.
Wall Street was disgusted, and then it was the NYPD's turn to get busy. After all, Wall Street collectively invested ten million dollars, demanding that the NYPD completely clear out the spider nest under Grand Central Station.
In the East, money might not be omnipotent, but in the Federation, money can be said to be omnipotent. At the very least, the NYPD could not find any reason to refuse this largest donation; the only requirement was to destroy the discovered spider nest.
So, these past two days, George had also been busy deploying his forces. After all, this was his last mission before his promotion. As long as he completed this, he could be promoted with a bonus of three million dollars.
Of course.
This three-million-dollar bonus was not for George, but was specifically allocated, as the geographical locations of the several precincts George was to take over next month, while not exactly picturesque, could certainly be described as producing difficult people from impoverished and harsh lands.
Truly unruly people.
Dark-skinned.
Dark-skinned people without legal documents.
Dark-skinned people without legal documents who also liked to clamor about human rights.
Not to mention the endless stream of illegal dark-skinned gangs, whose numbers could almost be said to encompass one-third of the East Coast's gangs.
However, Locke trusted George.
After all, sometimes, upholding the law also had another interpretation.
That was being unyielding.
Those without legal documents, if they fell into George's hands, haha, no matter how many there were, George would not hesitate to directly hand them over to immigration for processing.
As for their so-called legal wives, children, or daughters, they could cry all they wanted; it wouldn't make George hesitate in the slightest.
So, from a certain perspective, George was quite to Locke's liking.
Locke and Gwen didn't disturb George at noon and continued their high-intensity knowledge competition training, which had started two days ago and would last for a month.
The student council's knowledge competition had already held a press conference yesterday, hosted by Ms. Pepper Potts of Stark Industries and Cindy. After Pepper Potts announced that the Maria Stark Education Foundation would provide ten million US dollars to sponsor the student council's knowledge competition, it received unprecedented attention, as expected.
Since yesterday afternoon, Locke's phone had not stopped ringing.
Some colleges that were initially unwilling to join Locke's platform, and even colleges from other states, specifically called to inquire if their colleges could join the platform, and stated that they would strictly adhere to all regulations of the knowledge competition platform.
Locke did not refuse this.
It was the same old saying.
He had initially only planned to earn points, but now, it seemed like a grand structure was being built. Since that was the case, they might as well let everyone contribute to make the fire burn brighter, because, as Gwen put it, the more successful this platform became in the future, the more successful Locke would be.
After all, Locke had started this project from scratch.
Indeed, even in the evening, the president of a college student council from New Haven, Connecticut, who had somehow gotten his number, called him, saying he needed to meet Locke tomorrow.
Locke, adhering to the principle of not refusing anyone, expressed his agreement and arranged to meet at Midtown High School tomorrow at noon.
He hung up the phone.
Gwen, who had finished five test papers within three hours tonight and was preparing to pack up and end the night's battle, looked at Locke, who had just hung up the phone: "Who was it this time?"
Locke put his phone away: "New Haven City College."
Gwen paused slightly, then covered her forehead: "God."
Locke raised an eyebrow.
"What's wrong?"
"I almost forgot."
Gwen slapped her forehead and looked at Locke: "Yesterday, Pepper called me and said that her alma mater had contacted her, hoping to participate in this project. Pepper asked me to ask you if I could give them your number. You were in the shower at the time, so I said yes. I forgot to tell you."
But she couldn't be blamed for that.
Who told Locke to be a hooligan right after his shower, before she even had a chance to speak?
Locke didn't care anyway. After all, don't think the confidentiality of phone numbers in the Federation is that good; spam calls and spam messages are just as common here.
But… "Pepper is from Connecticut?"
"Hmm, you didn't know?"
Gwen nodded and walked ahead with Locke towards the rest corridor: "When Pepper was still at New Haven City College, Howard Stark and Maria Stark took notice of Pepper. Afterwards, as soon as Pepper graduated, they recruited her and then provided her with tuition for Yale. After graduating, Pepper directly became Howard Stark's secretary."
Locke shook his head.
This was the first time he had heard of it.
After all, he and Pepper were good friends, but due to age and gender, it wasn't to the extent that Locke knew Pepper that intimately. At most, Locke knew that after Pepper joined Stark Industries, she became Howard Stark's secretary.
And he was completely unaware of Pepper's experiences before Stark.
Locke said, "So, what does Pepper mean?"
There were many types of cooperation.
Gwen pursed her lips: "Close cooperation, I suppose. After all, New Haven City College was the only one Pepper Potts called personally."
It wasn't that no one else had contacted Pepper Potts, but those people had all directly interfaced with the student council's knowledge competition office, which had just been established, through the Maria Stark Foundation.
Locke nodded.
Just then.
A gasp came from behind: "God!"
Locke and Gwen turned to look at Harry, who was listening to his phone with a somewhat disbelieving expression.
"What's wrong?"
"...Ben Parker is dead."