The data's gone; it's completely over.
Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha!
Although the smoke of battle from the New York battlefield has dissipated, the suffocating sense of unease in the air has not completely disappeared with the reconstruction of the buildings.
Lynn remained indifferent. Unlike Tony, he didn't bask in the spotlight or deal with the tedious cleanup. To him, the farce was over, and all that remained was the boring job of cleaning up the trash.
He raised his hand and lightly traced a line in the air with his fingertips.
A deep, dark portal, glowing with a violet light, silently tore open in mid-air. The other end of the portal was not some distant planet, but a top-secret conference room inside the United Nations headquarters building in Geneva, Switzerland, specifically for handling matters related to supernatural phenomena and superheroes.
Lynn turned around, his gaze sweeping over the behind-the-scenes team members on the ground, imprisoned by the energy field like lambs to the slaughter, as well as Quentin Beck, who was pale and trembling.
"Come on, I'll take you to meet the real 'audience'."
With a thought from Lynn, a gentle yet irresistible suction force erupted instantly. Dozens of figures encased in transparent energy spheres were swept into the portal.
Geneva, meeting room of the SSC Special Operations Department of the United Nations SSC.
The atmosphere in the conference room was tense. Dozens of representatives from around the world sat upright, while a chilling "apocalyptic" scene of New York was frozen on the large screen. Just as they were discussing whether to activate the emergency plan, and even considering whether to use nuclear deterrence, the space in the center of the conference room suddenly distorted.
Immediately afterwards, a portal opened out of thin air.
Before the security personnel could react, dozens of people fell out of the portal like dumplings being dropped into a pot, tumbling onto the gleaming Dali floor.
Quentin Beck stumbled and fell at the front, his holographic suit dimmed by the power cut. He looked around at his familiar surroundings in horror, his face turning ashen.
Lynn slowly emerged from the portal, hands in his pockets, looking down at the group of con artists who had just been so powerful in New York but were now cowering like quails. His tone was as calm as if he were discussing the weather.
"You should all know what happened."
He pointed to the programmers and agents still struggling on the ground, then to Quentin, whose face was ashen, and continued, "They're yours now. I've repaired the damaged buildings. No civilians died, only a few dozen suffered minor injuries. Tony will handle the subsequent compensation and support."
The representatives in the conference room were dumbfounded, their minds blank. They stared at the excessively young man with godlike power, then at the culprits on the ground, and for a moment, they forgot to react.
Lynn didn't seem surprised by this reaction. He glanced at his watch and casually waved his hand, "If you have no further questions, I'll be going now."
After saying that, without waiting for the representatives to ask questions or try to persuade him to stay, he turned around and stepped back into the portal.
With a flash of light, the portal rapidly shrank until it disappeared completely, leaving behind only a room full of messy documents and a group of United Nations officials who were questioning their existence.
New York was still a hive of activity when Lynn stepped out of the portal again. Tony was yelling at JARVIS, directing the drone swarm to make its final cleanup, while simultaneously issuing a stern warning to any looters attempting to take advantage of the chaos via SSC's global broadcast system.
Lynn weaved through the bustling crowd, his gaze sweeping across them before finally settling on the red-haired woman who stood with her arms crossed, looking helplessly at Tony's outburst.
He strode over, naturally putting his arm around Natasha's slender waist, and whispered in her ear, " Tony isn't very good at handling these things, you know. Looking at him now, it's a miracle he's not causing any more trouble. Go help him out; calming the public and dealing with the media—he can't handle these delicate tasks."
Natasha raised an eyebrow, feeling the warmth of the large hand on her waist, and a playful smile curved her lips, "And you? Where does the great hero plan to go?"
Lynn pointed to the lone figure of the boy standing on the edge of the rooftop in the distance, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes. "Don't worry about me, I'll go check on Parker."
Natasha followed his gaze and saw the somewhat frail red and blue figure in the wind. The smile in her eyes faded slightly, replaced by a hint of heartache. She gently patted Lynn's hand. "Go ahead, that child must be feeling terrible right now."
Tony's personality now only wants him to be a hands-off boss, ignoring Peter's feelings.
Lynn nodded, released his grip, and with a swift movement, transformed into a blur, silently landing on the rooftop where Peter was.
It's very windy on the rooftop.
Peter didn't notice the person behind him. He sat blankly on the railing like an abandoned kitten, his hands gripping the edge so tightly that his knuckles turned white from the force and even bled slightly.
His armor had been removed, revealing a face so pale it was devoid of any color.
Those eyes, which were once clear and bright, always full of vitality and hope, were now bloodshot, their gaze empty and unfocused, as if their souls had been ripped away.
"It's fake... it's all fake..."
Peter's lips trembled slightly, his voice hoarse and broken, as if sanded. He began to mutter to himself, incoherent and illogical, his entire being engulfed in extreme self-doubt and collapse.
" Quentin Tarantino... He smiled at me, patted me on the shoulder, said I was the best partner... All those looks, all that encouragement, it was all an act."
"I actually trusted him so much. I gave him authority. I entrusted Mr. Stark's trust to him... Was I a fool? Was I the biggest fool in the world?"
Peter suddenly clutched his head, curled up, and shook himself in pain.
"If I hadn't given him the authority, if I had noticed something was wrong sooner, would this disaster have been avoided? The building has been repaired, but the screams of those people..."
They were so terrified, so desperate, and I was right there, completely oblivious, even defending him...
" Mr. Tony must be very disappointed in me, right? And so must Sister Natasha. Everyone must think I'm stupid and easily fooled. I don't deserve to be a superhero at all; I don't even have the most basic judgment. I only cause trouble for those around me; I only mess everything up..."
"Maybe I shouldn't wear this suit. Maybe I should just be my good neighbor Spider-Man, delivering takeout, helping neighbors find their lost kittens... I don't deserve to stand beside them. I'm a fool, I'm an accomplice..."
The boy's voice grew softer and softer, eventually turning into a suppressed sob. The anger of being betrayed by the person he trusted most, mixed with self-loathing for his own powerlessness, gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake. He felt like a joke, a clown running naked in front of the whole world.
Lynn stood quietly not far behind Peter, without saying a word or interrupting.
He listened quietly, listening to Peter's self-blame, listening to Peter's breakdown, listening to the most vulnerable defense in the boy's heart crumble little by little.
The wind whipped up the dust on the ground. Lynn looked at Peter's trembling back, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes, but more so a feeling of disappointment and frustration.
Quentin didn't hide his intentions, but unfortunately, he was so immersed in the happiness of being in love and the relief of escaping the troubles of SSC that he overlooked Quentin's unusual behavior.
Peter's "the sky has fallen" look, combined with his rambling, created a strangely endearing contrast.
Finally, Lynn couldn't hold back anymore.
"Pfft."
A clear laugh suddenly rang out on the empty rooftop.
The laughter sounded particularly jarring on the silent rooftop, instantly shattering Peter's immersive atmosphere of sorrow.
Peter froze, his mind, which had been immersed in pain, instantly shut down. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he sprang up and turned around in a panic.
When Peter saw that the person who came was Lynn, a complex expression of embarrassment, annoyance, and even a little bit of emotion instantly appeared on his tear-streaked face.
" Mr. Lynn. Lynn...?" Peter sniffed, his voice still trembling with tears, but his tone held a hint of grievance and accusation. "You... you were laughing just now?"
Lynn crossed her arms, leaning against a broken steel bar, a faint smile playing on her lips as she looked at him, "What? It's too difficult for me to cry in this atmosphere."
Peter was momentarily speechless, then his pent-up frustration exploded. He shouted, somewhat emotionally, "Did you all know all along?! You just watched things unfold like this? You watched me get fooled, watched that bastard Quentin put on a show for the whole world, and you just stood by and watched?!"
At this point, Peter's eyes reddened again. He pointed at Lynn, his fingers trembling, " Mr. Tony too, and you too! You clearly had the ability to expose him anytime, so why did you wait until the very end? Why did you make me rush ahead like a fool? Did you find it amusing to see me make a fool of myself?!"
Faced with Peter's questioning, Lynn was not angry. Instead, she suppressed her smile and became more serious.
He took a step and walked up to Peter, the two of them no more than half a meter apart.
" Peter, lift your head." Lynn's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable force.
Peter instinctively looked up and met Lynn's deep, star-like eyes.
"You think we're just watching a show?" Lynn pointed a finger at Peter's chest. "No, we're watching a necessary 'coming-of-age' ceremony."
"A necessary... coming-of-age ceremony?" Peter was stunned.
"Don't you really know what Tony expects of you? Do you think he just wants you to be an obedient follower?"
Lynn spoke slowly, his tone carrying a hint of persuasion, "He gave you the battle suit, taught you the techniques, and even let you join SSC, not because he needed a fighter, but because he saw your potential. But what he was more worried about was that you were too kind, too innocent, and too trusting."
Lynn turned around, looking at the street being cleared in the distance, and continued, "This world isn't just black and white. Peter's world of superheroes is full of lies, deception, and pretense. Quentin Beck is a living example. If you don't experience all of this today, if you don't see firsthand how trust is trampled, then next time you face a real enemy, will you still hesitate and soften your heart because of a single lie?"
"The price could be your life, or the life of someone you cherish, or even the entire planet."
Peter opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but found that his throat was blocked and he couldn't make a sound.
As for why we let things develop as they were...
Lynn turned to Peter, "Because everything is under control. Tony needs Quentin to jump high enough so he can fall hard enough to let the world see his true colors and completely eliminate any chance of a comeback. More importantly, we need you to understand one thing."
Lynn reached out and patted Peter's shoulder hard, so hard that Peter staggered.
"Trust is the most precious quality of a superhero, but blind trust is foolish! Angry? Aggrieved? Then remember this feeling. Turn this anger of being deceived into your motivation. As long as you grow to be able to stand on your own, to see through those clumsy disguises at a glance, and to stay true to yourself in this complex world without being taken advantage of, then the fright you all suffered today will not have been in vain."
"Because today's pain will make your armor even more indestructible tomorrow."
After Lynn finished speaking, he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and casually tossed it onto Peter's face, covering his still somewhat red and swollen eyes.
"Wipe your face, you look awful. Tony's probably still waiting downstairs for you to get yelled at, don't keep him waiting too long."
After saying that, Lynn ignored Peter, who was standing there dumbfounded, and turned to walk towards the rooftop exit.
A gust of wind blew by, Peter stood there, clutching the handkerchief with a faint, cool fragrance on his face.
Although the gloom in his heart had not completely dissipated, the self-doubt that had almost overwhelmed him had dissipated considerably after Lynn's words.
He watched Lynn's departing figure, then glanced at Tony busily working in the distance, and slowly unclenched his clenched fist.
"To be able to stand on one's own...?"
Peter murmured softly, and the deathly stillness in his eyes seemed to be rekindled by a faint but determined flame.