Restart, Spider-Man! [67]
"What happened?" he asked.
Harry glanced at Barton in the next bed. "Nothing, just a minor issue."
"He injured himself with a pumpkin bomb," Barton chimed in.
"I did not! I was trying to blow up the plane!" Harry became agitated.
Barton smirked sarcastically. "Yeah, but you ended up more hurt than me."
"You were just lucky."
"Have you thought about how you're going to explain this to the Commander later?"
"I don't need to explain anything. I look more like the victim. You're the one who should explain."
Barton: "..."
He couldn't argue with that logic.
At this point, Xia Luo had pieced together what happened.
Harry had injured himself. Though, of course, the Spider Totem influence couldn't be ruled out either. Still, it seemed Harry was tough enough to be okay for now—assuming they didn't meet too often.
Beep, beep
Both Barton and Harry's communicators went off.
"How are you both doing?"
In the virtual display, Nick Fury appeared, wrapped in bandages, looking no better than Harry.
Before Barton could answer, Harry quickly responded, "I got seriously injured trying to stop Spider-Man."
Barton: "???"
Nick Fury looked surprised. "Harry, I'm glad you're on our side."
"Commander, I—"
Barton tried to clarify the situation, but Fury cut him off.
"By the way, we just received word that Agent Carter has returned. She was frozen for seventy years by Steve, and she has evidence proving Steve is Hydra's new leader."
"What?" Barton was shocked. "Captain America? Hydra? How could that be? He's a hero from the last century!"
Nick Fury shook his head. "I couldn't believe it either, but Agent Carter has the proof. And many people witnessed Captain America turning into a monster on the Brooklyn coast. Those red octopus tentacles looked just like Hydra's emblem. It seems we've misunderstood Spider-Man."
As he spoke, Fury glanced at Xia Luo, who appeared in the background of the hologram.
"Harry, is that your friend? He looks quite capable. Could you invite him to join S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Harry: "..."
That lame excuse...
Before Harry could respond, Xia Luo took a step back, disappearing from the frame entirely—a clear rejection.
It seemed he had figured something out.
And honestly, it made sense.
How long had Xia Luo been "missing"? The same amount of time Spider-Man had been out of sight. If Harry hadn't joined S.H.I.E.L.D., maybe they wouldn't have been watching him so closely.
After all, with so many people in the world, S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't have cared about one ordinary, extraordinarily handsome, funny, responsible, disciplined, kind-hearted, and justice-filled young man.
But now, with Harry's involvement, everyone around him was under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s watch—Xia Luo included.
Whether it was the remnants of Hydra or S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, more and more people were starting to figure out Xia Luo's secret identity.
And that wasn't a good thing.
But Xia Luo had already come up with a plan to deal with it.
Fury then connected with other agents.
On the screen, Coulson, Natasha, and the rest of the agents appeared looking like "mummies," wrapped head to toe in bandages.
It was clear that Xia Luo hadn't held back when dealing with them.
But in his mind, he thought he had gone easy on them.
Xia Luo had no interest in these second-rate fighters.
He didn't linger in the hospital for long and soon left, swinging through the city in his Spider suit.
Having confiscated plenty of dirty money, Xia Luo was better off than the other Peter Parkers, easily affording a decent apartment.
The synthetic spider silk material project was promising. He just needed to find a reliable business partner.
His first thought was Harry's Osborn Group.
But that would take time.
As he pondered, the glider wings under Xia Luo's arms retracted, and he swung down, landing in Forest Park.
Swish
Perched atop a treetop, Xia Luo shot webs from his wrists, forming a hammock to lie on.
With his hands behind his head, he gazed up at the starry sky and slowly drifted to sleep.
Finally, after all this time, the tension in his mind eased.
The next morning, Xia Luo was awoken by the shouts of startled park rangers.
"Whoa! There's someone up there!" they cried.
Stretching, Xia Luo lazily yawned. "Ah, another beautiful day. Hello, everyone!"
He waved at the rangers before firing a web and swinging away, disappearing from Forest Park.
Before long, Xia Luo was back at Blake Street.
As he passed by a police car, he turned toward his house.
Opening the door, he found Ben Parker and Aunt May happily unwrapping gifts.
"Xia Luo, you came back last night, didn't you?" Aunt May asked as she admired a new scarf in front of the mirror, a broad smile on her face.
Xia Luo nodded. "Yeah, I came home and then went to see Harry." He poured himself a glass of water.
Ben Parker was fiddling with his pipe, speaking as he worked. "Harry said you went on another trip. I didn't believe it for a second."
"Oh? So what do you think I was doing?" Xia Luo asked casually after taking a sip.
Ben Parker put down the pipe and looked at Xia Luo seriously.
"Tell me honestly. Have you been living with a girl?"
"Pfth!"
Xia Luo spat out his water, looking shocked.
"You're too smart. You've figured it out," he said with a grin before adding, "I'm an adult now, so I've decided to move out. You two don't mind, do you?" he asked Aunt May.
Aunt May turned around, her face filled with warmth and pride. She approached Xia Luo and gently patted his cheek. "Our Xia Luo is so mature. Staying here is just wasting food. Your Uncle Ben can't afford to support you anymore."
Xia Luo's lips twitched. "I never asked for allowance money."
"That's not important. You're grown up now; it's time for you to have your own place."
Aunt May walked back to the bedroom and took out a small money stash from her cabinet. After counting it carefully, she pulled out a crumpled bill and handed it to Xia Luo.
"When you take her out, don't be too stingy."
"I'll make sure to buy the biggest ice cream."
"Oh, silly child. You can't just buy ice cream on a date!"
"But the money you gave me is only enough for ice cream."
"I'm old, I can't hear you."
Xia Luo: "..."
"Is it Mary Jane from next door?" Ben Parker suddenly asked.
Xia Luo thought for a moment. "I don't think so."
"What do you mean 'don't think so'?"
"Alright, definitely not."
Hearing him deny it, Ben Parker looked relieved.
"You don't seem to want me and Mary Jane to be together," Xia Luo said, confused.
Ben Parker had never meddled in such things before.
"Of course I don't."
"Why not?"
"Because I suspect Mary Jane has violent tendencies."
Ben put down his pipe, speaking in a hushed tone. "This morning, there was a huge commotion at her house. Apparently, she put her dad in the hospital after she found a spider."
"That's crazy!"
Xia Luo frowned. His sixth sense told him something wasn't right.
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T/N: This is where my stockpiled chapters end for Spiderman! I translated this at the very beginning so the translation is not up to par to my standards, sorry for that! I will update 3 chapters tomorrow then we can go back to 5! (past me you can ignore this message)
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you spot any mistakes or inconsistencies!
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