Improved Web-Shooters

As a single woman, Aunt May worked at a welfare-oriented aid organization, and her salary was not very high.

Their lives were not exactly difficult, but they only had enough to get by.

Otherwise, he would not have had to save up for a computer by collecting junk.

If he had the means, he naturally hoped Aunt May could live a better life.

In the past, he would never have thought about such things.

But after experiencing Shadow Spider-Man's life, he had indeed grown up a great deal overnight.

The first step in growing up was to start caring about the people around him.

"Get yourself ready first. I have some other matters to attend to. This afternoon, my assistant will come take you to the destination. His name is Happy." Tony Stark stood, preparing to leave.

"Okay." Peter nodded and stood as well.

He needed to prepare some more webbing during this time.

After seeing Tony Stark off, Peter had to deal with Aunt May, who kept questioning him.

He took the opportunity to tell her that he had received funding from the September Fund.

This was good news for their household.

Aunt May immediately said happily that they should eat out that evening and celebrate properly.

However, Peter told her about Iron Man's arrangements for him: someone would come that afternoon to take him to handle some matters and ensure that he met the September Fund's support criteria, and so on.

This was the story he and Iron Man had agreed on for this "business trip."

Though Aunt May was disappointed, she knew that important matters came first.

So she pulled Peter aside and gave him another round of advice, telling him about getting along with other people.

Peter's head was about to explode from listening, but he had no choice but to patiently hear her out.

At that moment, he mischievously wondered whether Shadow Spider-Man had also been nagged by his Aunt May like this.

This was probably what they called "advice from experienced adults."

It really was for the younger generation's own good.

But the younger generation really did not like hearing it.

After she had talked for more than half an hour, Peter frantically hinted that he would be leaving that afternoon and had to prepare some things first. Only then did Aunt May let him go.

Afterward, she prepared some changes of clothes and other necessities for Peter's business trip, then left for work.

Back in his room, Peter gave a light jump and clung to the ceiling. He pushed open a ceiling panel and pulled out several tiny balls of webbing from inside.

These were the webs he had made himself.

The formula for the webbing was something he had naturally learned after being bitten by the spider and gaining his abilities.

Just as spiders in nature naturally spun silk.

"One, two, three, four. Eight web balls left. That should be enough, right?" After counting them, Peter stuffed them all into his pocket.

This was an "expedition," after all. He had to make sure his ammunition was ready.

Then he looked at the web-shooters.

Compared with the web formula, which came as part of his powers, the web-shooters were his true masterpiece.

After all, he was not an actual spider, and he did not have organs like a spider's that could shoot webs.

So he could only rely on external tools.

For that, he had taught himself biology, materials science, and mechanical dynamics.

Biology and materials science had helped him understand the structure of spider silk and how to use the formula to materialize webbing.

The structure of spider silk was extremely complex.

It consisted of three levels of structure.

The first level was hydrogen-bonded beta chains, formed when amino acid molecules were tightly linked together by hydrogen bonds.

The hydrogen-bonded beta chains then linked to one another through hydrogen bonds, forming the secondary structure of spider silk—hydrogen-bonded beta-sheet nanocrystals.

Only when these hydrogen-bonded beta-sheet nanocrystals were embedded within semi-amorphous beta-turn polypeptide chains to form an alpha-helical structure could they create a protein nanocomposite structure, the third-level structure of spider silk.

Based on this structure, he had come up with an idea.

First, he would prepare the material until it reached the third-level structure of spider silk, then use a subatomic compressor to compress it back into a subatomic state.

That way, hundreds of meters of webbing could be compressed into a fingernail-sized, solution-like form.

The web-shooters were miniature subatomic compressors. For ease of carrying, however, they had removed all other functions and retained only their pressure function.

The web solution needed sufficient pressure in order to start and stop instantly.

If the pressure was insufficient, once the webbing started spraying, it would not stop.

For these reasons, the web-shooters also required highly specific materials, and many materials on Earth did not meet his requirements.

They were either too expensive or too brittle.

Later, he had secretly gone to downtown New York City and found some metal that met his standards at the site where the Avengers had fought aliens several years ago.

Only after much arduous smelting and forging had he finally shaped it into what he wanted.

At this moment, he could not help envying Shadow Spider-Man. Shadow Spider-Man did not need artificially synthesized webbing at all; he could shoot webs directly from his wrists.

He wondered whether he could gain such an ability when he possessed other Spider-Men in the future.

But for now, Peter planned to make some minor modifications to the web-shooters.

This was inspiration he had gained from Shadow Spider-Man.

Shadow Spider-Man's webs could be freely changed according to his will—web strands, web pellets, webs, web whips, and all sorts of other forms, suitable for all kinds of situations.

Peter did not demand that much. Making such major changes to his web-shooters was not something he could accomplish yet.

He planned to add two firing modes: web pellets and webs.

Previously, simple web strands had merely been tools for him to move around with, occasionally used to tie people up.

But web pellets could release a large mass of webbing in an instant, using the tremendous kinetic force generated the moment the web-shooters activated to create an effect similar to a bullet.

Although the nature of the webbing, combined with the way the web solution rapidly crystallized upon contact with air, meant that the web pellets would not be lethal, any ordinary person hit by one would definitely be left dazed and disoriented.

This was clearly a good means of attack.

As for webs, they were an enhanced version of his existing method of tying people up with webbing. He could spray the webbing directly in a net-like pattern, creating broad coverage and binding enemies tightly enough that they could not move, instantly losing their ability to fight.

To accomplish this, Peter consulted a great deal of information, carefully studying similar things like bullets and fishing nets and observing the changes in their movement from release to completion.

At the same time, he repeatedly recalled how it had felt when he had taken Shadow Spider-Man's place.

Finally, before two in the afternoon, he completed his modifications.

Afterward, he tested the finished product a little and found that it completely met his expectations.

A while later, a message arrived on Peter's phone.

"Hello, Peter. I'm Happy. Tony should have told you about me. I'm downstairs."

Peter picked up the newly adjusted web-shooters, checked his equipment, then grabbed the backpack on his bed and headed downstairs.

He knew that what he was about to face was history's first superhero.

Captain America!