Spider-Man's Great Wisdom (Part Two)

Once inside Stark Tower, Connors continued walking quickly, with Peter following behind. He said, "Alright, Doctor, I've gotten you safely. There shouldn't be any danger inside Stark Tower anymore. I'll be going now; I have things to do..."

"Got something to do? Of course you've got something to do! What? Are you planning to put on that weird bodysuit again and go wandering around aimlessly?"

"I'm not just wandering around. That monster is wreaking havoc in the city, and I have to stop him..."

"But Stark is already gone, isn't he? Do you think he can't beat that monster?"

"Uh, no, but he'll need someone to help him, won't he?"

"I also need help. Put down your backpack, put on your full lab coat, and we'll go into the lab. To solve this problem, we'll eventually have to start with the serum."

"But I have to join the fight; I can't just be a deserter, can I?"

Dr. Connors stopped, turned and put his hand on Peter's shoulder, looking him seriously into his eyes, and said, "The battlefield isn't necessarily there."

He pointed out the window and said, "The most important lesson I learned in my military career is that the battlefield is not only where bullets fly."

"Sometimes, here..." Dr. Connors pointed to the ground, "This is a more important battlefield than there."

"You have to understand, throwing a punch is never more noble than using your brain."

"You need to understand that beating up that monster won't turn him into a helpful good guy, and the military won't stop their evil experimental programs. To fundamentally solve all this, strength alone isn't enough; you have to use your brain."

"But what am I supposed to do? I don't understand..."

Peter followed Connors and continued walking forward, saying as they went, "This is what I've always done: stop bad people from committing crimes. What's wrong with that?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, but I think you can always do better."

"Peter, perhaps the mutation in your body, the powerful force you suddenly gained, makes you feel like you've gone from weak to strong, and makes you feel like you can change the world with this change."

"But in reality, you can do this even if you don't have this mutation."

"Haven't you realized it yet? You're a genius. Even if you didn't have this great strength and abundant physical strength, even if you just went to university and graduate school in an orderly manner, you would change the world sooner or later."

"Your mutation only accelerated the process, but it's not the whole story. You need to break free from that inflated emotion and think about who you really are."

"Who am I? I'm Spider-Man..."

"That's true, but you are also Peter Parker."

Dr. Connors walked in and pointed to the lab table, saying, "Look, this is your battlefield too. Here, you will do better than Spider-Man. You can change the world here as well."

Peter stood in the doorway, tiptoed, and rubbed his hands together, saying, "Really? But, but no one has ever said anything like that to me. They all think I'm weak, not good at sports, and always alone—a weirdo who doesn't fit in..."

"Does the person who gave you these evaluations have three doctoral degrees?"

"Uh, they're just some high school students, of course not."

"Then who do you think you should believe?"

Peter hesitated.

After a while, he said, "Okay."

Connors's affirmation gave him a lot of courage. He rubbed his wrists vigorously and said, "Then I can give it a try. Let's not be Spider-Man today, let Spider-Man take a day off. We'll just stay here... let's do it..."

While organizing the materials, Connors said, "That's right. He'll have even more vacations in the future. New York doesn't need another superhero swinging around in mid-air, but the world will always lack a Nobel Prize candidate."

"I think Peter Parker could take a break too. I really enjoy wandering around New York," Peter said with a shrug, as if he had breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the first time someone had told him that Peter Parker was more important than Spider-Man.

Originally, all the confidence he gained came from his identity as Spider-Man, who possessed great power. After all, he had suffered a lot of discrimination in school, and Spider-Man, who had great power to help others, helped him find the meaning of his life.

But he felt that Dr. Connors made a lot of sense. Those who didn't think highly of him and ostracized him were just a group of high school students who hadn't even gone to college yet. But now, there were a total of 7 or 8 people who had affirmed Peter's identity. Peter wasn't stupid. When compared, of course, the words of these people were more credible.

He originally knew that he was very smart and could achieve good grades without much effort.

But he never imagined that his mind could bring about any change to the world.

This is why he was so excited after obtaining the Spider Mutation power. He felt that he had transformed from a weakling into a strongman, without ever considering that he was never actually weak.

Peter actually has many more strengths. Even if he doesn't have such a brilliant mind and great strength, his kindness and determination are enough to enable him to achieve considerable success in ordinary society.

Children of this age are always full of fantasies about the future, yet also hesitant. When someone gives him a very definite answer, and that person has achieved top success in their respective field, Peter still believes it.

Meanwhile, Stark had already arrived at the battlefield, also encountered considerable trouble. This Red Iguana, as Stark called it, was even more troublesome than the Lizardman.

First of all, he is bigger than the Lizardman, his body size has exceeded 10 meters, and he is as tall as a building.

Secondly, he Superhuman Strength, capable of overturning a building with a single punch. Even more terrifying is that he appears to be in a state of rage, almost completely out of his mind, and simply rampages around recklessly.

Stark originally preferred dealing with these mindless enemies because Jarvis's intelligent calculations could outmaneuver them tactically, making it easier for Stark to win.

But this Red Iguana, though lacking in reason, is still deadly enough with its massive size and immense strength, even a single charge or punch could be deadly.

Moreover, the Lizardman had only appeared a few days ago, and Stark's armor upgrade would take time. He had just come up with some ideas for dealing with large monsters, but before he could put them into practice, another behemoth like this appeared. This annoyed Stark, as his current light armor was not very effective against this kind of enemy.

As Stark was pondering tactics, a gleaming shield flew in and struck the monster squarely on the forehead, knocking him off balance.

Stark's face darkened when he saw Steve. He hadn't forgotten how Steve had beaten him up under the guise of expelling Venom, and then refused to admit it, insisting it was for his own good.

Stark hates it when people talk to him like an elder, hates it even more when someone beats him up first and then talks to him like that, and hates it even more when that person beats up an even more troublesome enemy after beating him up, making him seem useless.

Steve retracted his shield, leaped onto the monster's neck, and delivered two powerful punches.

The brain is a vital organ for any living being. After being hit twice like that, the monster was stunned for a moment. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Steve threw his shield and hit the monster's right calf. The monster pulled its leg back in pain, and Steve then rammed it from the side, knocking the monster to the ground.

"Thank you, Tony. I've never dealt with such a behemoth before, except for you. You've given me a lot of experience."

Jarvis, inside Stark's mech, said, "Your heart rate is too fast and your blood pressure is high. Please calm down and take a deep breath..."

Stark said, "Start Hive Plan, immediately! Right now!"

"Are you sure you want to disable all security measures, and..."

"I'm sure! Start it now!!"

During a lull in the fighting, Steve looked up and saw Stark, who was flying in mid-air, raising his arm. With a wave of his hand, countless whooshing sounds rang out, and dozens of black dots appeared in mid-air, instantly appearing above the battlefield. Those were dozens or even hundreds of mechs.

Stark said, "Get out of the way! You old fogey!"

Instantly, a mech swooped down and exploded, sending the Red Iguana staggering back several steps. Steve, shield in hand, was sent flying. He clenched his fist and said, "Stop firing on friendly forces! You did it on purpose!"

Stark smiled and said, "You've misunderstood. I'm only doing this for your own good."

Stark waved his hand again, and more than a dozen mechs flew over and surrounded the monster. In an instant, high-voltage current burst out from between them, forming an electric net. After a violent flash, the monster let out a terrible scream and was electrocuted and fell to the ground.

Stark said, "That's a good move, but I think there's room for improvement. By the way, don't forget that the inspiration for this move came from that yellow mouse named Pikachu. He shocked my mech, and I haven't made him pay for it yet."

Although the monster collapsed for a moment, it quickly got up again. Stark said with a headache, "It must be related to that giant lizard. What's with their weird Self-Healing ability?"

Indeed, the charred scars from the electric shock healed completely in just a few minutes, and his stamina seemed to recover quickly as well. He was back to his old self, jumping around and causing trouble, even after being beaten up by Captain America.

These two are quite powerful, but without Spider-Man, they lack a means of control. Spider-Man's Silk can easily make them lose their balance or trip them up when dealing with such a huge monster. Just as Stark was about to make a call, he learned from Jarvis that Peter was conducting experiments with Dr. Connors.

He hung up the call immediately without saying anything.

Just as the battle was becoming increasingly intense, a red and blue figure suddenly appeared in the sky above the city. Peter swung over quickly and kicked the monster in the back, knocking it to the ground.

He was carrying a box, which he then tossed to Stark, saying, "This is the antidote. Inject all five doses, and the world will be quiet."

Stark tossed the box to a nearby mech, then flew off, saying, "Is this the result of your research?"

"No, it was mainly Dr. Connors helped out; I was just assisting him."

"That is your research result."

As he spoke, the mech, under Stark's control, opened the box, took out the syringes, and then distributed them to the other mechs. Steve distracted the monster, and the mechs attacked from behind, injecting the syringes into its body.

The monster began to scream madly, then stretched out its arms and struggled incessantly, but after a while, its size began to shrink, and it quickly returned to the size of an ordinary human.

Stark saw that the man lying on the ground had no arms. He sighed and said to Jarvis, "Send a Jaeger to take him away. If anyone asks, tell them he was blown to pieces."

He saw Spider-Man standing on the rooftop. Stark flew over and stood next to him. He asked, "How does it feel to save the world as Peter Parker?"

"Great, I mean... fantastic!"

Peter exhaled, as if he had suddenly unloaded some kind of burden.

For the first time, he gained confidence in his true identity, a confidence not based on the immense power granted by the Spider Mutation, but rather stemming from the very essence of Peter Parker's personality.

He had considered what he would do if his Spider Mutation was just a dream, or if the power disappeared the next day.

In fact, he lived in this doubt and fear for many days. He was afraid of losing this identity and felt that the world could not exist without Spider-Man.

Today, for the first time, Peter felt that perhaps the world needed not only Spider-Man, but also Peter Parker, him, and this man without any special powers.

"Wisdom is humanity's greatest treasure." Stark didn't look at him, but looked ahead and said, "Don't set your goal as becoming a street hero. The path of wisdom is endless."

Peter smiled, took off his hood, as if breaking free of shackles.

His hair danced in the breeze as he saw the magnificent clouds at sunset on the horizon, and the sun's last brilliant rays disappearing below the horizon—

He saw a door to a new world.