A Chance Encounter with Max

It was a perfectly ordinary day, Chen Changsheng and Gwen were out shopping.

Ever since Tony Stark returned, Little Pepper Pepper had been buried in intense assistant work, while Gwen found herself with free time. So what the heck was an assistant's assistant?

As the two strolled down the street, Gwen, with her sharp eyes, noticed a small black dot in the sky, trailing a long fiery tail as it flew into the distance. Gwen immediately grabbed Chen Changsheng's hand excitedly and said, "Jack, look, a shooting star! Let's make a wish."

Following Gwen's pointed finger, Chen Changsheng indeed saw a figure like a shooting star. However, with Chen Changsheng's exceptional eyesight, he only needed to slightly adjust his focus to clearly see the true nature of the "meteorite."

A figure clad in red and gold armor – wasn't that Iron Man? Where was he going in such a hurry? He dared to take off in broad daylight, wasn't he afraid the US military would mistake him for an unidentified flying object and shoot him down?

Gently ruffling Gwen's hair, Chen Changsheng softly said, "That's not a shooting star, it's a person. An arrogant one..."

Just as Chen Changsheng was about to say more, he heard other sounds in his ears. He stopped what he was going to say, took Gwen's small hand, and walked deeper into the street.

After finally managing to go shopping with Gwen, Chen Changsheng didn't want anyone to disturb them.

A few blocks away, Spider-Man Peter Parker was also swinging through the streets of New York, looking for anyone who needed help.

Spider-Man now considered stopping crime his personal mission, living a life of heroism in New York every day.

However, since Chen Changsheng had recruited Dr. Lizard and Doctor Octopus into the Umbrella Corporation, Peter now lacked formidable opponents and seemed a bit too idle.

But Peter was still enjoying himself. This was the joy of being a superhero, fighting for justice – how could it be called boring?

Today, Peter was still swinging between skyscrapers, and with the wind whistling past his ears, he heard the distant sirens of police cars several blocks away.

"One, two, three... eight! Oh my god, eight police cars! Looks like a big case. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is here." Shouting out, Peter quickly changed direction, heading towards the sound of the sirens.

"Set up a cordon on Fifth Avenue, block his path," George barked orders into his police radio.

Through the radio, reports of the suspect's location came in continuously, guiding the pursuing police officers.

As Peter swung past an intersection, he finally caught up with the main police force.

Looking at the endless stream of police cars and the sirens echoing throughout New York, Peter felt his blood boiling.

This was the feeling he craved, the feeling of being needed by the people of New York.

"Here I come... Roar!" Peter swung on his webs, spewing trash talk as he passed George's police car and charged towards the speeding truck ahead.

George, sitting in his car, couldn't help but twitch his mouth as the red figure flashed past. At the same time, he cursed inwardly, "Damn Spider-Man, the NYPD is going to get an earful tomorrow..."

Swinging through the air, Spider-Man looked at the rampaging heavy truck. He shot out a web and leaped, landing steadily on the truck's trailer. The sound was faint, but it still caught the attention of the robbers inside.

Hearing the commotion, the robbers simultaneously looked up vigilantly, carefully observing the roof of the truck. Although there was no further sound, the large dent on the roof told a story.

One robber tentatively shouted, "Who's there?"

"It's me, your friendly neighborhood Spider... Whoa!" Peter's words were cut short by a response. A burst of machine-gun fire sent Peter yelping, but not a single bullet hit him. Instead, it riddled the entire roof with holes.

"Is he dead?" The robbers exchanged glances, but there was no reply.

Just as they relaxed, a voice echoed, followed by a red figure bursting through the truck's roof.

In a flash, he tossed the robbers out of the trailer through the large hole in the roof. Two long webs then shot out, casually hanging the robbers from a roadside lamppost.

After quickly securing the valuable items inside the trailer, Spider-Man jumped out and crawled towards the front of the truck.

The speeding heavy truck showed no regard for innocent citizens, smashing into regular cars on the road, sending them flying and tumbling. Countless ordinary people screamed and ran to the side of the road, then stopped to watch the thrilling cat-and-mouse chase...

On the sidewalk not far away, a Black man was picking something up off the ground. Wearing headphones, he hadn't noticed the chaotic scene at all.

Just as the truck was about to hit him, Spider-Man leaped and saved the bewildered Black man from under the wheels.

Seeing the Black man looking dazed, still not realizing what had happened, the talkative Spider-Man said, "Hey, bro, you okay?" As he spoke, Peter grabbed the Black man's shoulder and shook him vigorously.

When the Black man saw that Spider-Man had saved him, he was stunned for a moment, then he kept repeating, "Oh my god, Spider-Man saved me! I actually saw Spider-Man."

Seeing that the Black man seemed a bit disoriented, Spider-Man shot out a web, snatched his glasses, and put them back on him. "Everyone is indispensable. From now on, you're my eyes and ears."

With that, Spider-Man swung away on his webs, chasing after the departing truck. This was just a minor incident; Spider-Man had more important things to do.

One police car after another sped past, finally catching Gwen's attention as she was trying on clothes in a store. Gwen, who loved excitement, didn't hesitate to grab Chen Changsheng's hand and leave the clothing store, ready to be a spectator.

Chen Changsheng couldn't help but feel a bit helpless. He had originally wanted to keep Gwen away from danger, but he never expected her to actively seek it out.

As Chen Changsheng and Gwen walked out of the clothing store, they saw the police cars whizzing by, rustling the newspapers on the ground.

When Gwen saw one of the cars, she immediately pointed and said to Chen Changsheng, "Look, that's my dad's car."

Chen Changsheng only glanced at it and saw George in the police car, sweating profusely.

Just as Gwen was about to say something else, a Black man nearby started cursing, "Hey, those are my blueprints! You can't do this!"

Chen Changsheng and Gwen looked over simultaneously. A Black man was on the ground picking up blueprints that had been scattered by the speeding police cars.

Gwen saw that her father's car had sent the Black man's blueprints flying and immediately went over to help him pick them up.

Chen Changsheng also joined in to help. As he handed the blueprints back to the Black man, Chen Changsheng happened to see the ID badge on his chest.

"Osborn Industries, Power Engineering Department, Engineer, Max Dillon."

Isn't this Electro? Well, for now, he's just a loser. Looking at his greasy hair and protruding front teeth, Chen Changsheng seemed to understand why he was always bullied by his supervisor.

"Thank you. Without your help, I would have been picking these up for a long time. It's all these police officers' fault, they don't care about civilians at all, driving dangerously with taxpayer money," Max clearly resented the recent police car incident. His fear of interacting with strangers also made Max speak without much thought.

Hearing Max's words, Chen Changsheng and Gwen exchanged a look, both offering awkward smiles. Although the NYPD could be terrible, his father-in-law was a cop...

Max seemed to sense that his words had caused a misunderstanding, and immediately regretted it. After all, he hadn't met many strangers who actively helped him in his life.

As Max was considering how to ease the awkward atmosphere, Chen Changsheng smiled and spoke first, "What you said isn't entirely wrong... Ouch!"

Before Chen Changsheng could finish speaking, Gwen pinched his arm. In daily life, Chen Changsheng always adjusted his body to be like an ordinary person. Thus, when Gwen pinched him, Chen Changsheng felt it. Although it didn't hurt, Chen Changsheng still pretended to be in pain.

Chen Changsheng's comical act caught Max's attention, while Gwen felt a bit embarrassed. With a helpless smile, she also gave Chen Changsheng a playful eye-roll.

"Just kidding, Max, don't mind me." Chen Changsheng, seeing his girlfriend's embarrassment, pulled Gwen's hand and apologized to Max. Chen Changsheng didn't want Max to feel that he didn't value their relationship.

"Why are you apologizing to me? Oh, my god, you know my name!" Max was confused as to why Chen Changsheng was apologizing to him, but the next moment, he was overwhelmed with joy that someone knew his name.

Max was a bit flustered at this moment. It was the first time in decades that a stranger remembered his name. Other times, his colleagues only took advantage of him or bullied him.

Seeing Max like this, Chen Changsheng comforted him, "Don't be nervous, I just saw your ID badge, Max. Do you work at Osborn Industries?"

Chen Changsheng had extensive experience dealing with strangers and quickly put Max at ease. Max felt as if he had met Chen Changsheng a lifetime ago and instantly considered Chen Changsheng his best friend.

Chen Changsheng also considered Max a friend, even abandoning their shopping trip and turning to walk with Max, discussing New York's power system together...

In terms of professional knowledge, Max was clearly an expert. He spoke eloquently about various aspects of the power supply system, and Chen Changsheng's memories also contained related knowledge, so they found themselves hitting it off more and more.

When they finally bid Max farewell, Chen Changsheng saw the wistful look in Gwen's beautiful eyes and couldn't help but laugh. So, the genius girl Gwen could get jealous too.

Gently cupping Gwen's small face, Chen Changsheng stroked it and said, "Don't underestimate Max. He designed half of the entire power system in New York."

Hearing Chen Changsheng's words, Gwen was a little stunned. In her eyes, Max was just an ordinary, greasy middle-aged man. She never expected such an ordinary-looking person to be so capable.

Holding Gwen's hand, Chen Changsheng and Gwen resumed their unfinished shopping mission. The future was still bright.

Meanwhile, on Spider-Man's end. Spider-Man, who had caught up to the heavy truck again, quietly climbed onto the top of the cab and suddenly poked his head out, saying with a mouthful of playful banter, "Hey man, where are you headed?"

Spider-Man's sudden appearance startled the robbers, who slammed on the brakes in a panic, leaving a long skid mark on the road.

With a prolonged screech of brakes, Spider-Man was flung from the roof of the truck and crashed heavily into a roadside store.

Due to the sudden braking, the robbers' heavy truck was closely surrounded by the NYPD.

After surrounding the robbers, the NYPD began to hail them, "You are surrounded, surrender immediately..."