Ch.158 Peter Parker's Growth
Early the next morning, Ronan, still in the midst of a dream, was abruptly awakened by the sound of his phone ringing.
Half-asleep, he reluctantly reached out from under the covers and grabbed his phone from the nightstand.
"Hello?"
Ronan answered weakly.
"Ronan?"
"It's Peter. Did you see the news this morning?"
Peter Parker's voice came through the phone.
The fact that he had waited from last night until this morning to call was already quite surprising.
"No, I'm still asleep."
"By the way, Peter, don't you sleep in on weekends?"
Ronan asked groggily, his eyes still closed.
Isn't sleeping in the most comfortable thing in the world?
Does anyone actually not like sleeping in?
"Uh... I'm not really a fan of sleeping in."
"If I get up too late, my aunt will personally come and wake me up, so..."
Clearly, living with elders often leads to such outcomes.
Ronan sighed, rolled over to lie on his side, and placed the phone next to his ear.
Both hands retreated back under the covers.
"Alright, what's the matter?"
"If it's not important, I'll call you back after I wake up."
Ronan closed his eyes, feeling like he could fall back asleep any second.
Calling someone at 7 a.m. on a weekend—is that even human?
"Actually, I have something important to tell you."
"That lizard on the Brooklyn Bridge last night—you saw it, right?"
"I've discovered some new information, so I wanted to share it with you."
"If it's not convenient for you to come out now, I can come to your place."
Peter Parker quickly added.
New information?
Ronan could probably guess what Peter was referring to—where the lizard came from and how it appeared.
Of course, Ronan pretended to know nothing.
"Forget it, don't come over. Where are you now?"
Ronan grumbled reluctantly. There might still be people watching his place.
If Peter came over now and accidentally revealed something, it wouldn't be good.
Especially since Peter had a habit of climbing through windows.
"I'm planning to go to the secret base. I don't have any part-time work today, so I'm going to organize things there."
Peter Parker replied.
"Alright, let's meet at your secret base in half an hour."
After saying that, Ronan decisively hung up the phone.
Then, with one eye slightly open, he skillfully set an alarm for 28 minutes later, ordered some takeout, and closed his eyes again.
——
Half an hour later.
At Peter Parker's secret base.
Peter Parker was intently staring at his laptop.
It was filled with reports about last night's incident on the Brooklyn Bridge.
There were photos taken by people on the bridge, and some of them were so clear that many media outlets had used them.
After encountering the giant lizard last night, Peter knew it wasn't an ordinary lizard.
So, he wanted to find it.
If it continued to roam around New York, who knew when it might appear again and cause destruction?
If Peter couldn't arrive in time, there would inevitably be casualties.
Just as Peter was studying these things, a golden portal appeared in his secret base.
Ronan stepped through the portal.
"Peter... help me out."
Ronan was holding a toothbrush in one hand and a cup in the other, with some foam still in his mouth.
Peter was slightly stunned but quickly stepped through the portal to Ronan's side.
"There's breakfast on the table. Take it over first. I'll be done soon."
Ronan took a sip of water to rinse his mouth and pointed to the nearby table.
Peter didn't say much and walked over to the table, where he saw a large spread of food.
"This much?"
Although he was surprised, he simply muttered to himself and picked up everything on the table.
For Peter's arm strength, carrying all this was practically nothing.
Ronan spat out the water, wiped his mouth, and then followed Peter through the portal.
As soon as he stepped out of the portal, Ronan was greeted by the "warm welcome" of winter.
"Whew..."
"Peter, you can still endure in this kind of environment."
"Let's just say, if you can't become a superhero, then no one can."
Ronan exhaled lightly, his breath turning into a white mist.
In this kind of environment, Peter still helped the police catch criminals.
Sigh...
"It's not a big deal for me. Ever since I was bitten by the spider, my body temperature can adjust to the surrounding environment."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to go out in that tight suit."
Peter shrugged.
This was something Ronan had forgotten.
Spiders are arthropods, and their body temperature changes with the environment, which is their most remarkable trait.
Of course, once the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius, it limits their activity.
If it gets any colder, spiders can freeze to death.
As for why Peter inherited only the advantages and not the disadvantages, the reason was simple.
That spider had been specially bred and modified by his father.
It was designed to retain only the advantages and eliminate the drawbacks.
This was also why New Yorkers always saw Peter wearing the same tight suit, regardless of the season.
"Alright then, if you think it's fine, then it's fine."
"Let's get to the point."
"Why did you wake me up so early?"
Ronan sat down on the couch, picked up the breakfast on the table, and started unwrapping it.
He really hadn't eaten breakfast yet.
The half-hour "travel time" had been entirely spent on sleeping.
"About that lizard, I think I know where it came from."
"Or, more accurately, I know of a place where the lizard might have escaped from a lab."
Peter told Ronan about his internship at Oscorp.
As he explained, shortly after joining Oscorp, his exceptional knowledge quickly earned him the favor of Dr. Connors.
After some time, Dr. Connors discovered that Peter had a natural talent for biology.
So, he brought Peter into another research team.
That team was Dr. Connors' most important project.
They were using lizards to develop a serum that could regenerate limbs and potentially cure all known human diseases.
Peter didn't phrase it exactly like that, but that's how Ronan understood it.
As for the chemical reactions and biological theories, Ronan mostly tuned them out.
"So, you suspect that the lizard escaped from Dr. Connors' lab?"
Ronan summarized Peter's lengthy explanation.
That was the gist of it.
"Exactly. As for why the lizard is so big, it's probably due to the experiments."
"Though I haven't delved deep enough yet, otherwise I'd know more."
Peter also came up with a plausible explanation for the lizard's size.
To put it simply, the first half of Peter's guess was undoubtedly correct.
Because the person who escaped from there was Dr. Connors himself.
"Don't tell me your next plan is to investigate further..."
Ronan glanced at Peter, seemingly guessing his thoughts.
"No, I wouldn't..."
Peter was about to deny it, but seeing Ronan's expression, he couldn't help but deflate.
"Alright, I do want to investigate further."
Peter finally admitted.
"In what capacity?"
"Spider-Man? Or Peter Parker?"
Ronan took a bite of a still-steaming hot dog, holding a cold drink in his other hand.
Carbonated drinks had to be served cold, no matter the season.
That's the way to go!
"Peter Parker, I guess..."
"After all, I now have the clearance to access some experimental records."
Peter thought about it and decided it would be better to use his real identity.
"But have you considered that if your suspicions are correct, Dr. Connors or others might not let you access those records?"
"And once they find out you're looking into these records, they'll immediately connect it to last night's incident."
"At that point, do you want to be charged with espionage, or do you want to reveal that you're Spider-Man?"
Ronan quickly finished one hot dog and picked up another.
He could easily eat at least eight of these large hot dogs.
His words left Peter blushing and speechless.
He couldn't think of a single rebuttal to Ronan's argument.
"So, young man, let's eat breakfast first."
Ronan handed a hot dog to Peter, signaling him to eat.
The two of them ate breakfast in silence.
Perhaps Peter channeled his frustration into his appetite, as he only ate two fewer hot dogs than Ronan.
If anyone saw how much they ate and then looked at their physiques, they'd probably want to strangle them.
Eating so much without gaining weight—what a waste of food!
——
After breakfast, Ronan planned to head home.
Gwen Stacy was going to her grandmother's place today, so Ronan also intended to visit Kamar-Taj.
But as he was about to leave, he noticed the hesitant look in Peter's eyes.
It seemed he was still considering whether to give it a try.
Seeing this, Ronan couldn't help but sigh.
When Peter Parker from Earth-616 was about to make a mistake, Ronan had also stopped him once.
After that, he never interfered with his choices again.
There was no reason not to give this Peter Parker, who was closer to him, at least one warning.
"Peter, look at me."
Ronan spoke up.
Peter was slightly startled but raised his head to look at Ronan.
When he saw Ronan's serious expression, he couldn't help but feel nervous.
"Peter, are you still thinking about investigating the lizard incident?"
Ronan asked in a low voice.
Just as Peter was about to speak, Ronan cut him off.
"I want the truth!"
Though it was just a few words, it was the first time Peter felt a sense of pressure from Ronan.
This kind of pressure was something Peter hadn't experienced since becoming Spider-Man.
In fact, his Spider-Sense was screaming at him to get out of there!
But he held his ground.
"Yes, I do have that idea."
"Because I've thought about it—I might not get caught, and even if I do, I won't admit to being Spider-Man, and..."
However, before he could finish, Ronan interrupted him again.
"Enough, that's all I need to hear."
"Peter, as a friend, I have to remind you that your thinking is really naive."
"Even downright foolish."
Ronan took a deep breath. Sure enough, it was as he had guessed.
Peter looked at Ronan. Although he didn't fully understand why Ronan was saying this, he didn't argue or defend himself.
Because he knew that if Ronan was saying this, there had to be a reason.
More importantly, he believed that Ronan was his friend.
Ronan wouldn't harm him!
"You think that as long as you don't reveal your identity as Spider-Man, everything will be fine?"
"Wrong. Haven't you considered what those wealthy people might do?"
"If you successfully access those records and leave without a hitch, then sure, no problem."
"But is your success rate 100%?"
Ronan looked at Peter and posed the first question.
"No, it's not."
Perhaps because of Ronan's serious gaze, Peter gradually calmed down.
"Since it's not, there's another possibility."
"You get caught by them."
"According to your logic, you wouldn't use force to escape, so you wouldn't reveal your identity as Spider-Man."
"Then what do you think the people who catch you will do to you?"
Ronan raised an eyebrow. At least from the current situation, Peter wasn't beyond saving.
He was undoubtedly a bit more mature than the other Peter Parker.
But only by a bit.
"Send me to the police station and charge me with espionage?"
Peter tentatively asked.
When he said this, Ronan couldn't help but shake his head.
Indeed, Peter Parker was, after all, just a sixteen-year-old kid.
He had no real understanding of how society worked.
"Send you to the police station, so you can expose their dangerous experiments and the giant lizard they released?"
Ronan countered.
This left Peter speechless once again.
"The most likely scenario is that they'll find a way to send you to an unknown place, kill you, and be done with it."
"Because they can't risk exposing their experiments. Getting rid of you is the simplest solution."
"At that point, would you still refuse to reveal your identity as Spider-Man?"
Ronan looked at Peter.
By now, Peter had lowered his head.
It was clear that he realized how foolish his earlier thoughts had been.
Ronan's words weren't harsh at all—if anything, they were quite mild!
"Alright, maybe that's a bit extreme. Let's talk about the other extreme."
"Maybe the head of Oscorp has a sudden stroke of conscience and actually hands you over to the police."
"He only charges you with espionage."
"I don't know how many years you'd get for espionage, but I do know your uncle and aunt wouldn't be able to wait that long."
What Ronan was saying now was similar to what he had done for Gwen Stacy's family.
You can have your job, your hobbies, and even your dream of being a superhero who saves the world.
But there's one condition.
Don't let your actions harm your family or others' families.
That was Ronan's bottom line.
"Peter, I don't know what you're thinking, but I can probably understand you."
"Having superpowers, you want to protect more people. That's a good thing."
"But you must always remember one principle."
"The people you protect first should be your family, and then everyone else."
"If your family gets hurt because of you, you'll regret it deeply."
Ronan patted Peter's shoulder and spoke earnestly.
Although he had said a lot, it was only for this one time.
The secret base fell into a brief silence, with Peter hanging his head and saying nothing.
Ronan sighed. Perhaps Peter wasn't used to hearing these words yet.
After all, every young person has some unrealistic dreams and a bit of laughable pride.
But Ronan had said all he could.
Whether Peter understood or not, that was that.
He stood up, ready to leave.
At least he needed to give Peter some time to digest everything.
Just as he reached the door, Peter suddenly looked up.
"Ronan."
He called out to Ronan.
Ronan stopped and turned around.
He was surprised to see that Peter had been crying.
There were two tear streaks on his face.
"Thank you, Ronan. If it weren't for your words today, I wouldn't have realized how I'd forgotten such an important thing."
"Uncle Ben and Aunt May raised me, and yet I almost put them in danger because of my own ideas."
"Thinking about it now, I feel so ridiculous."
Peter's face showed a look of sadness.
These words came straight from his heart, and they were what he most wanted to say.
If it weren't for Ronan, he would have been completely focused on studying the giant lizard.
And he would have forgotten that his actions could change the fate of those waiting for him at home.
If something happened to Uncle Ben and Aunt May, Peter knew he could never forgive himself!
"I'm really glad you think that way."
"If you want to be a superhero, never reveal your true identity."
"Once your face as 'Peter Parker' is exposed, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Ronan pointed to his own face and smiled at Peter.
Peter seemed to understand something and picked up the Spider-Man mask, putting it on.
Seeing Peter's action, Ronan smiled slightly. A familiar portal appeared behind him, gradually engulfing his body.
Watching Ronan disappear, Peter took off the mask.
He stared intently at the Spider-Man mask in his hands. For the first time, he felt that the mask looked so unfamiliar.
Back when he first gained his powers, he immediately thought of Iron Man and Captain America.
These superheroes had protected many New Yorkers and were beloved by the city's residents.
So, he wanted to be like them.
Coincidentally, both of them wore masks, so he made one for himself.
After putting on the mask and using his powers to fight crime, Peter felt like he had truly become a superhero.
Every day on the streets, he could catch thieves, robbers, and even people carrying guns.
Every life he saved made him feel like he had gained something.
Gradually, he wasn't satisfied with just handling small crimes. He wanted to do something big, like Iron Man and Captain America!
For a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old kid, this mentality was quite normal.
Young people always crave an exciting future and despise mundane daily life.
They always want to make headlines.
Finally, after waiting so long, he got his chance—the lizard attack incident.
From every angle, this lizard was no ordinary creature. It even seemed to possess unique intelligence.
It was clear that the mastermind behind it was even more terrifying.
This ignited Peter's restless heart.
From last night, he had researched until almost 3 a.m., only to fall asleep and wake up at 7 a.m.
That's why he had called Ronan so early in the morning.
He wanted to do something big!
But when he shared his thoughts with Ronan today, Ronan's initial words felt like a bucket of cold water poured over his head.
It was hard for him to accept.
After breakfast, he thought that maybe he wouldn't get caught.
So, he still wanted to try.
But the following conversation completely stunned Peter.
Because he had never considered what would happen to his uncle and aunt if something happened to him.
And today, Ronan had pointed that out to him.
Only now did Peter finally understand what it meant to be a true superhero.
A true superhero would never let those who care about and love them get hurt.
If he couldn't even protect them, how could he protect others?
From this moment on, Peter felt that he truly deserved the mask and the name.
"Thank you, Ronan."
"Someday, I'll become the greatest Spider-Man in the universe!"