Inside the car.
Peter Parker sat in the corner like a well-behaved little boy.
He did not dare look the Underground Emperor in the eye.
Mark, meanwhile, checked the time.
"Take me to school first."
Kingpin nodded. "All right. We can talk on the way."
He told the driver to get moving, then gave Peter Parker a slight smile.
"You're Mark's younger brother, right?"
"Y-yes... that's right." Peter Parker was startled again.
He kept his head down.
Kingpin took a gift box from the front passenger seat.
"We're all family now. This is a gift for you."
"For me?"
Peter looked surprised, but he did not move to take it.
He glanced at Mark beside him.
Mark's expression had already darkened.
"Family, my ass!"
"Listen, fatso," he cursed, "don't think I don't know what you're trying to do."
Mark folded his arms and stared coldly at him. "Only a mental hospital would have someone like you, going around claiming random people as relatives."
Kingpin looked solemn. "I'm serious."
Mark scoffed. "Do you really think I'm an idiot?"
He raised his hand, a glimmer of holy light blooming in his palm.
Thinking Mark was about to attack, Peter went rigid.
Kingpin, however, did not seem to care.
He rested both hands on his cane, a faint smile appearing on his solemn face.
"You're very cautious. Even the entire Underground Kingdom couldn't tempt you."
Mark closed his fist, extinguishing the holy light in his palm.
"That's not caution. It's knowing my limits."
He looked Kingpin in the eye. "You put countless hours of effort into building your Underground Kingdom. Why would you hand it over to someone you've only met once?"
"Exactly."
Kingpin seemed to stop hiding his intentions.
He laughed heartily. "Hahaha! Good. I like you more and more."
"Tell me what you really want," Mark said.
Kingpin stopped laughing. "I need your magic.
"Don't look so surprised. I know there are sorcerers in this world."
"So?" Mark's expression did not change.
Kingpin tightened his grip on his cane and took a deep breath.
"Only magic can let me return to the past and see my wife and child again."
At those words, Mark laughed.
"You think you can pull that off?"
"Yes. I do."
Kingpin slowly clenched his fists, his bones cracking audibly.
"Though I have no superpowers," he said with utter conviction, "the strength I've built through countless days and nights of training is my superpower."
He saw light bloom in Mark's palm again.
Kingpin abruptly relaxed his fists and put on what he thought was a friendly smile again.
"But now isn't the time to fight you. You still have time to think it over."
Mark also dispelled the holy light in his hand.
"Yes. You still have time to think it over," he said cryptically.
Kingpin, however, understood.
He said nothing.
For a while, both men turned to look at the scenery outside the window.
Before long, the car slowly pulled into Empire State University.
After Mark and Peter got out, Kingpin told the driver to leave without the slightest hesitation.
He made no further attempts to probe Mark.
Peter watched Kingpin's car leave and finally let out a breath.
"What a terrifying guy. Mark, what did you two mean by all that?" he asked.
Mark waved a hand. "Nothing. It's not important."
From the moment Kingpin had suddenly decided he wanted to play father, Mark had suspected ulterior motives.
Sure enough, when Mark exposed his intentions, Kingpin had not denied them.
Still, whatever the case, this did Mark no harm.
To bargain with a tiger, the other party first had to qualify as one.
The thought passed in an instant, and Mark looked at Peter.
"Take me to get enrolled!"
"Sure. I remember it's this way."
Half an hour later, Mark successfully enrolled, becoming a first-year student a year below Peter.
At the same time, thanks to Ben Parker's connections, Mark was granted an exception and became Doctor Octavius's student.
"Good news, Mark! Doctor Octavius is teaching us how to calculate the amount of tritium needed for the Artificial Sun experiment today."
Upon hearing the news, Peter hurriedly dragged Mark to Doctor Octavius's laboratory.
The laboratory was packed.
There, Mark spotted a familiar figure.
"Hey, you're here too." He patted Gwen Stacy on the shoulder.
Gwen Stacy turned around and was a little surprised to see Mark.
"Did Peter bring you here?" She glanced at Peter Parker.
Mark smiled. "I'm a year below you now."
Gwen Stacy was delighted to hear that.
"Great! Now I can help you catch up on your classes."
Mark rolled his eyes. "Don't underestimate how fast I learn."
No sooner had he spoken than Doctor Octavius, standing in front of the blackboard, suddenly pointed at Mark.
"You there. Come demonstrate the formula for calculating the amount of tritium required for the experiment."
Mark: "..."
"I don't know how." He stood tall.
Gwen Stacy: "..."
Doctor Octavius smiled faintly. "An honest student. Don't come to my lectures again."
Before Mark could speak, Peter Parker hurriedly stood up.
"Doctor Octavius, I can try. Please don't make Mark leave," he pleaded nervously.
"Mark Parker?"
Doctor Octavius's expression shifted slightly. "Oh, I see. I quite understand a first-year student having trouble with this.
"All right, Peter. Give it a try. Don't be nervous."
He had Peter come to the blackboard and watched with satisfaction as Peter got into his stride.
Everyone liked an outstanding student.
He was no exception.
Watching this unfold, Mark no longer had the energy to complain.
By the Marvel Universe's standards, anyone who had not mastered black technology by fourteen had to be an idiot.
Yes, he was that idiot.
Half an hour later, Mark finally survived his first class at university.
Games were much more fun than school.
He wanted to find a secluded place to enter the game, but Peter dragged him into the laboratory next door.
"Mark, let me tell you a secret."
Using the laboratory equipment, Peter skillfully blended several materials together perfectly, producing a white liquid.
He showed off his creation, but Mark looked thoroughly disgusted.
"Huh? Did you secrete that?"
Peter shook his head. "I'm not joking around."
As he spoke, he took out a device he had prepared earlier and loaded the liquid into it.
Then he strapped the device to his wrist.
Whoosh!
He flicked his wrist. The liquid shot out, reacting with the air and turning into a white, weblike strand that stuck firmly to a nearby test tube.
"Come here!"
Peter flicked his wrist again, and the web pulled the test tube into his palm.
"What do you think, Mark? This is the Artificial Silk I developed to imitate Spider-Man's superpowers," Peter said proudly.
Mark: "..."
He gave Peter a sidelong look. "You're hilarious."
Was Spider-Man shooting webs really that strange?
Peter looked back at Mark, waggling his eyebrows.
"Pretty hilarious, yeah."
He believed that, given how well he and Mark understood each other, Mark would surely know what he was trying to say.
However, Jeni happened to pass the doorway and witnessed the whole thing.
His eyes widened, disbelief written all over his face.
That wimp Peter Parker was actually Spider-Man!