Although Charlie and Emma usually didn't bother Zed much, letting him do as he pleased, they still kept an eye on his grades during exam periods. They didn't want him to fail; it would make it harder for him to go out and have fun later on.
Forced into it, Zed could only sit obediently beside the two academic powerhouses, Ned and Peter, hoping to absorb some of their scholarly aura to boost his own scores.
During a break in tutoring Zed, Ned asked, "Zed, you're actually studying seriously! Unbelievable! Are you planning to go to university?"
Zed had no intention of going to university; collecting watch faces was his main goal: "I'm not planning on going to university. After high school, I'm going to open my own watch shop. As for studying, it's just because Charlie and Emma won't let me fail. Otherwise, they'll restrict my freedom and won't let me go out and play."
Ned and Peter looked at Zed with a bit of pity. "Then you'll have to work hard! The midterm is in a week. I don't want to not see you anymore, Zed."
"Aren't you guys going to Osborn Enterprises for a visit and internship after the exams?"
"Yeah! But don't worry, these visits don't take long. We'll still have plenty of free time. Except Peter, who has to deliver pizzas, but even then, we'll have lots of time to hang out." Ned naturally assumed Zed was worried about not having time to play together.
Zed didn't bother correcting the misunderstanding and buried himself in the borrowed notebook from Ned.
Time flew by, filled with test papers and notebooks. After a week, the exams ended, and Zed was fortunate enough to pass.
"Phew! Thank goodness! Charlie and Emma can't stop me from going out this time," Zed said, pleased with his results.
"Congratulations, Zed! You didn't fail a single subject!" Peter was happy for his friend. If Peter wasn't holding a report card with all A's, Zed might have been even happier.
"Hey! Peter, if we weren't such good friends, and if I didn't know you so well, I might think you were mocking me! But even though I understand, please put your report card back in your bag! Don't let me see it!"
"Aha~~ Hahaha~~ Aha~~ Ha~"
The three of them joked around as they walked home, then went their separate ways. Zed looked at Peter's departing back, knowing he had something to do tomorrow. He needed to witness Spider-Man's birth firsthand.
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury kept replaying Zed's words, focusing on the person who was least likely to be a Hydra spy.
Zed, untrained in the ways of espionage, couldn't possibly fool Nick Fury. Even someone professionally trained wouldn't be able to deceive Natasha. The information he provided was almost certainly true.
Nick Fury could also guess Zed's purpose: to mess with him. To get back at S.H.I.E.L.D. for taking his watch, Zed was deliberately leaking this information to pit S.H.I.E.L.D. against Hydra, making it easier for him to collect the watch.
But Nick Fury had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill and spend a lot of time and energy dealing with the Hydra problem.
Thinking of this, Nick Fury felt a headache coming on. There was a high probability that the former director, Pierce, was a Hydra spy!
S.H.I.E.L.D., the largest international intelligence organization, had been infiltrated by an enemy organization that had been defunct for nearly half a century. Their spy had even held the position of director. His own position as the current director had been hand-picked by the enemy. How ironic!
It was impossible for Nick Fury not to panic. Moreover, Zed had explicitly stated that there were many Hydra spies within S.H.I.E.L.D. How many was "many?" Ten was many. A hundred was also many!
How many of his subordinates were spies planted by Pierce? Zed hadn't avoided Hawkeye and Natasha when talking about Hydra, so those two should be okay. Hmm... probably!
After much thought, Nick Fury decided to recall Coulson. Coulson was the only subordinate Nick Fury truly trusted. After making this decision, Nick Fury seemed to recall something and couldn't help but touch his eye patch.
On the second day of the vacation, Peter Parker got up early to prepare for his trip. Peter was very excited, partly because he was going to visit Osborn Enterprises, and partly because the girl he liked was also in the tour group.
"Peter! Your breakfast is on the table. Your Uncle Ben and I are heading off to work," Aunt May said before leaving for her job.
With some time to spare, Peter looked in the mirror, styling his hair in a more mature way. He put on what he considered his coolest plaid shirt, and with a sandwich in his mouth, he confidently headed out the door.
He met up with Ned at the bus stop. Ned was surprised. "Peter, I've been meaning to ask you something. Do you like Mary Jane or Gwen Stacy? Or are you, like, a player!"
"Come on, Ned! Stop it!" Peter's face, compared to Ned's and Zed's, was as thin as paper. He blushed bright red, like a cooked shrimp.
The two of them pushed and shoved their way to the entrance of Osborn Enterprises. The schoolteachers were already handing out visitor passes. They quickly got their passes and followed the group into the building.
Harry, the host, saw Peter and happily went over to greet him, taking Peter and Ned on a tour of the company. Peter, though getting special treatment, wasn't happy at all. He wanted to be with Gwen's group!
As if God had heard Peter's thoughts, an Osborn employee walked over and told Harry that his father, Norman Osborn, wanted to see him.
Harry could only shrug at Peter. "Sorry, man, I can't hang out with you. Hope you have fun."
"No problem, Harry!" Peter waved happily at Harry, then pulled Ned towards Gwen.
Dr. Curt Connors was explaining his experimental ideas to the students: "Look at my arm, it wasn't always like this. I was once an army medic, I participated in the Vietnam War. My arm was left on the battlefield, and after returning home, I began researching cell regeneration technology."
After speaking, Dr. Connors waved his half-arm at the students: "See! Isn't it inconvenient? I believe that cell regeneration technology can help a large number of disabled people, including myself, to regain healthy bodies."
These students who could participate in the research group were all extremely interested in scientific research. After listening to Dr. Connors' ideas and noble goals, many students had stars in their eyes, looking at the one-armed Dr. Connors with reverence.
Peter had seen similar topics in some of the notes left by his parents, and immediately put forward some professional terms that others couldn't understand to Dr. Connors.
Dr. Connors pondered for a moment after listening, and said to Peter: "Very good, very insightful. What's your name?"
"Peter Parker! Uh~ I'm Peter Parker." Peter was being watched by so many people for the first time, enjoying the treatment of being the center of attention, and was a little at a loss.
The surname Parker made Dr. Connors recall something, "You are very good. My laboratory welcomes a child as promising as you to intern. You can consider it." After Connors finished speaking, he bid farewell to the students and returned to the laboratory.
Zed, masked and dressed as a janitor, watched Dr. Connors leave from a distance. Seeing the one-armed man in the white lab coat, Zed immediately recognized the future Lizard Doctor. Once Connors finished his lizard serum, he would make an excellent experimental subject.
Turning his attention, Zed continued to follow Peter and his group, trailing them from afar and observing Peter's every move.
His efforts paid off. Twenty minutes later, Peter suddenly shuddered, reaching his arm back to scratch the back of his neck, as if experiencing an itch or pain.
Zed knew that Spider-Man had been born at that moment. Having achieved his first objective, Zed didn't plan to linger. He left the school's tour group and headed deeper into Osborn Enterprises.
Zed's second objective was naturally the various research materials within Osborn Enterprises. While cleaning and passing a server room, he saw maintenance staff performing routine checks.
Blocking the camera's view, Zed quickly grabbed a data testing disk from his toolbox and inserted it into the virus library he'd obtained from Dan Reito. After the data transfer was complete, he returned the disk to the toolbox.
If the maintenance staff inserted the disk into the server room, the virus could infiltrate Osborn Enterprises. Even if it wouldn't be used today, what about the next routine check? And the one after that?
Zed wasn't in a rush to obtain anything from Osborn Enterprises. He was more focused on understanding the Lizard Doctor, Doctor Octopus, and the Green Goblin's movements through changes in the internal files.
After putting the disk back, Zed leisurely mopped the floor, humming a tune, and left the vicinity of the server room. He took the employee elevator to the rooftop and disappeared.
Dan Reito had specifically set aside a small studio for Zed within the company, with direct access from the top-floor elevator, ensuring excellent privacy. The working conditions here were also far superior to Old Charlie's studio, let alone Zed's own small warehouse.
Back in the new studio, Zed changed out of the janitor's uniform, destroyed it, and put his own clothes back on. He looked at his limited stock of blank watch faces and picked up his tools to start making new ones.
While crafting the new watch faces, Zed also considered Uncle Ben's situation. After living in this world for so long, he'd already come to consider it his own. Charlie, Emma, and even Joey were like family to him.
He had met Uncle Ben and Aunt May many times, and they treated him with genuine care. Zed couldn't fully treat them as NPCs; he couldn't ignore the impending death of Uncle Ben.
Ugh~ Why am I such a softie, being a demon king and all?
------------------------
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(End of Chapter)