16: Chapter 16 The Daily Life of Baxter Mansion

The new transfer student had always been aloof and was the dream girl of every boy in school. At this moment, she was staring fixedly at Peter with her emerald-green eyes, her gaze filled with a hint of inquiry and playfulness.

Peter met her gaze without backing down. The two stared at each other in silence for a few seconds until Felicia was the first to look away.

Peter knew in his heart that this woman was terrifyingly sharp; that eye contact just now was definitely an attempt to test him.

The bell rang, and just as Peter finished packing his bag, he heard Felicia call out from behind him, "Hey, Muscle Man, wait up."

Peter pretended not to hear and continued walking out. Felicia caught up in a few strides and grabbed his shoulder, "I told you to wait."

"What did you call me?" Peter raised an eyebrow.

"Muscle Man, obviously. What else?"

"Are you serious? The whole school thinks I'm as thin as a bamboo pole. If you're looking for a Muscle Man, turn left outside and go find Flash."

"Finally, something we can agree on!" Flash popped out from nowhere, blocking the two of them, and winked at Felicia, "Babe, you looking for me?"

"Get lost, meatball. I'm talking to Muscle Man." Felicia curled her lip in disgust.

Flash laughed out loud, "Are you crazy? Parker can't even lift a dumbbell!"

"That's because you're all blind." Felicia sneered, walked around Flash, and stepped directly into Peter's personal space.

She suddenly reached out, pressed her hand against Peter's pectoral muscles through his school uniform, squeezed hard, and gave him a provocative look, "Don't be fooled by these baggy clothes, Muscle Man. There's the real deal hidden underneath."

Peter looked down at her meddling hand, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth, "Felicia, if you want to take advantage, you should at least buy me dinner first, right?"

Felicia raised an eyebrow and withdrew her hand, "Sure. What does Muscle Man want to eat?"

"You?"

"Moving pretty fast, aren't we?"

"Right back at you. You were the one touching my chest just now."

Felicia chuckled, "In all seriousness, are you free?"

"Lunch?"

"Starving."

"Lead the way."

Mary Jane, not far away, took in the whole scene and said sourly to Liz beside her, "I don't like her."

Liz rolled her eyes, "No kidding. Flash, what were you trying to do just now?"

"I was just saying hi to the new student..."

"Shut up. If I see you hitting on that vixen again, we're over!"

Mary Jane ignored them, grabbed Liz, and chased after them, "Come on, let's see where they're going."

In the cafeteria, Peter and Felicia sat in the most conspicuous spot.

Peter took a bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and Felicia looked at the food on his plate, "You're just eating this?"

"I eat better at the company; colleagues treat me," Peter said indistinctly.

"What kind of company is so mysterious?"

"You won't even reveal your own background, so why should you ask me?"

Felicia chuckled, "Fine. Muscle Man, tell me, why does everyone avoid you?"

"Don't call me Muscle Man, call me Peter. Everyone thinks I'm a loner, and since I'm quite smart, they're afraid of me."

"Smart?" Felicia cut into her chicken salad, "You don't act like a high schooler. You're used to being isolated, even enjoying this state. You're a genius who should be in college, yet you're hiding in high school. What are you hiding, Muscle Man? I'll definitely find out."

Peter was slightly startled. This woman's observation skills were terrifying; she almost exposed his secret identity.

"Felicia, I think I'm in love with you." Peter suddenly laughed.

"Sorry, you're not my type."

"As expected. Tell me, what do you really want?"

"The physics teacher said my grades are too poor and told me to ask you for tutoring."

"So you started stalking me?"

"I didn't intend to, but what you said in history class moved me. I think you're quite interesting."

Peter thought about it. Between patrolling, working, and martial arts training every day, he really didn't have enough time. "I can spare an hour after school. But only one hour, at most."

"A proper genius, and you're only worth an hour?"

"I have my own life."

"Like that mysterious job?"

"Yes."

"Fine, an hour is an hour. I can't stand being with you for more than an hour anyway."

In the afternoon history class, Peter was zoning out when his Spider-Sense suddenly triggered, and he tilted his head to dodge a paper ball.

Mary Jane widened her eyes, then scribbled a few lines in her notebook and passed it to Peter.

'What's going on with you and Felicia?'

Peter replied: 'She asked me to tutor her in physics.'

'Can I join? I need tutoring too.'

Peter glanced at the note, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. Mary Jane was jealous, which made him feel secretly pleased for some reason.

'I'll go ask her, since she was the one who brought it up first.'

'Okay.'

After school, Felicia took Peter to a cafe on the corner.

The tutoring session was a bit torturous; Felicia's foundation in physics was appallingly bad. However, Peter still patiently explained the basic concepts to her.

During the session, a waitress came over to serve coffee, and Peter keenly noticed that Felicia's gaze was glued to the waitress's curves.

Bisexual? Peter muttered to himself, this woman was becoming more and more fascinating.

When the hour was up, Peter said while packing his things, "I have a friend who wants to join the tutoring too, Mary Jane. You don't mind, do you?"

"Depends on how she behaves. But if you two dare to date on my dime during my tutoring time, I swear I'll kick her ass."

"Deal."

In the following days, Peter's daily routine working for the Fantastic Four remained fulfilling.

One day, he saw The Thing, Ben Grimm, clumsily holding a sports magazine. Because his hands were too big, he couldn't hold it steady and accidentally tore the magazine in half. Ben sighed in frustration.

Peter saw it and took it to heart. Ben was suffering the pain of turning into a monster but remained optimistic, so Peter decided to help him in his own way.

He spent two sleepless nights in the lab, utilizing the resources of the Baxter Building to create an invention called the "Scanning Adapter (SA)."

Thursday night, the Fantastic Four were gathered around the dining table eating pizza.

"We really should hire a chef." Susan took a bite of pizza and sighed, "Our financial situation is terrible. If we don't launch a profitable product soon, we might have to cut expenses."

"Are you planning to fire the kid?" Ben asked in a muffled voice, spearing a slice of pizza with a wrench.

"I hope not, but we might have to." Susan said helplessly.

"Where's Peter? Haven't seen him all day." Johnny asked.

"He's working on a personal project." Reed said.

"Hey! Everyone!" Peter rushed into the dining room, hugging a black elastic frame, his face full of excitement.

"Peter, want some pizza?"

"Pizza again? You really should hire a chef." Peter placed the frame on the table, "Look at this, I call it the Scanning Adapter."

He pulled the frame open, expanding it to three times its original size, placed it over the magazine, and shouted, "Scan."

A blue light lit up inside the frame, and the magazine cover was instantly projected in the center of the frame.

"This frame can expand to the size of a blackboard or shrink to the palm of your hand. It can scan documents and store them on a phone. It can also scan quickly." Peter had Susan hold the frame while he quickly flipped through the magazine; in less than a minute, all hundred-plus pages were scanned.

"Save as October 2011 Time Magazine." Peter commanded. The screen showed a checkmark, and all pages were automatically synthesized into an electronic magazine.

"So, you made a fancy e-reader?" Johnny curled his lip.

"This is a smart whiteboard that can instantly compile and adapt books! Compared to your birthday candles, it's a dimensionality reduction strike." Peter rolled his eyes, then handed the enlarged Scanning Adapter to The Thing, his voice softening, "Ben, with this, you never have to worry about tearing books again. It's very sturdy, and even if it breaks, the data can be transferred directly to a new device."

Everyone was stunned.

"You... did you make this specifically for me, kid?" Ben's voice trembled slightly.

"You've suffered enough from becoming like this; I wanted to make your life a little easier." Peter smiled.

Ben put down the wrench and carefully hugged Peter, afraid of breaking his bones, "Thank you, kid. I really owe you one."

"Peter, this is incredible." Reed exclaimed, "We didn't even notice Ben's struggle."

"You have your own troubles too." Peter shrugged.

Susan's eyes lit up, "We can apply for a patent and sell the production rights to Amazon! Although piracy is an issue, adding a security system can solve it. This will definitely make a lot of money!"

"Can it make money?" Johnny perked up.

"Of course." Susan smiled, "Congratulations, Peter, you just saved your job."

"Wait, what?!" Peter widened his eyes, "You were going to fire me?"

"Only considered it." Susan shrugged, "But now you've saved yourself."

Peter breathed a sigh of relief. Susan quickly contacted a patent attorney; Peter not only kept his job but also received a share of the patent royalties.

Sunday morning, Peter went downstairs for breakfast with dark circles under his eyes. He had been patrolling until dawn last night and was exhausted.

The Thing was sitting in the living room watching TV. Peter originally intended to go straight to the kitchen, but the news report on TV made him stop in his tracks.

"The Stark Expo will be open to the public this Friday!"

Today is October 30th.

Peter's gaze sharpened. The plot point for Iron Man 2 had begun.

He knew what was going to happen next, and he knew this was a huge opportunity for him.

Justin Hammer.

Peter silently traced the name in his mind. He needed a plan, an absolute plan targeting Hammer. He had to ensure everything happened according to his vision.