42: Chapter 42 Mechanical Arm

By now, Otto had already patented his mechanical arms. Peter couldn't just copy them; that would be beneath him, and he didn't like copying other people's work. So, he decided to build his own.

Borrowing from Otto's technical framework, he began to build his own version.

The mechanical arms would be fixed to the back of the suit in the form of a backpack. Reed helped look over the basic design, but the rest was all Peter's own handiwork.

The system contained two sets of mechanical arms, one set on the top row and one on the bottom. Each arm had three joints and could rotate three hundred and sixty degrees. He set them to two modes: attack and defense.

The mechanical arms were made of reinforced titanium alloy, capable of blocking attacks and piercing through several meters of concrete in one go. He also hollowed out the inside a bit so he could fire Webbing from them, allowing him to swing using the mechanical arms and free up his hands.

The hardest part was figuring out how to make them fold and retract into the backpack.

Fortunately, his geometry studies hadn't gone to waste.

He eventually managed to make the mechanical arms four feet long when retracted; any longer and they wouldn't fit, but this length should be sufficient.

He made the backpack the core component of the suit. Now, when the suit wasn't in use, it wouldn't just lie there like a piece of cloth; instead, it would automatically fold and retract into the mechanical backpack, becoming a compact bundle of fabric and machinery. Once activated, the suit would eject and unfold from the backpack, ready to be worn at any time.

He put some effort into the backpack shell, allowing it to change color: black in sleep mode, red in active mode. It looked like an ordinary school bag, so he simply made it functional as one, adding a zipper on the back and a foldable strap so it could be worn as a crossbody bag.

An oversized crossbody bag.

However, he never needed to carry many books at school, so it should be fine.

A money-burning project naturally required money-burning funds.

The money issue was solved, entirely thanks to the revenue gained from the Scanning Adapter and Parker Blood on the open market.

The Scanning Adapter wasn't snatched up the moment it was released; after all, the price was high and market demand wasn't huge, but it still earned him a bit. The real hit was Parker Blood.

As soon as it hit the market, Stark Industries, Oscorp, and a whole bunch of tech giants immediately sent people to block the entrance of the Baxter Building, fighting to negotiate a price.

Susan Storm really wanted to give the exclusive license to Oscorp; a twenty-million-dollar annual buyout was a huge deal.

But Peter reminded her that Norman Osborn was untrustworthy and told her what he and Reed had found out: Norman was secretly colluding with Hammer Industries, doing some shady business.

Susan Storm eventually reluctantly rejected the exclusive agreement and changed it to licensing to several companies simultaneously.

Although the income from each deal was much less—after all, everyone wanted exclusivity—the total was enough to support the Baxter Foundation and enough for Peter to upgrade his equipment.

And the suit he was working on wasn't the only one.

A week after that child kidnapping and human experimentation mission ended, Fury sent him a package.

Inside was a female S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical suit with a note attached: "Don't make me regret this."

Peter was one hundred percent sure he definitely would regret it.

He heavily modified the tactical suit. He added a layer of protective insulation, installed gloves and soles with suction capabilities to simulate his wall-crawling ability. He also equipped it with a grappling gun and a few smoke bombs.

He went a bit crazy with the goggles, stuffing in night vision, zoom, and ultraviolet detection. The final product was a pair of thick, cat-eye-shaped goggles; they were opaque from the outside, but crystal clear when looking out from the inside.

Then, he couldn't help but tweak the appearance.

He couldn't help it; he really loved the classic Black Cat look.

Once everything was finished, he swung to the window of Felicia's house and tapped on the glass.

Felicia looked up from her computer, saw him waving outside, was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly opened the window to let him in: "Tiger? Why are you here?"

"Came to give you this." He handed her the black briefcase.

Felicia opened the case with a look of surprise. When she looked down and saw what was inside, she gasped: "Peter... did you make this?"

Peter took off his mask and shrugged: "Just some casual modifications. The base was a gift from Fury, but I added some technical upgrades and made some little gadgets for you."

"Oh my god, why did you put so much effort into this!" Felicia picked up the suit and examined it carefully, her eyes growing brighter. "This is amazing, Peter! This... there's even white fur on the collar!"

Peter blushed: "Ahem, well, I kind of got carried away. You've always had that cat vibe, so I wanted to match it. Go try it on."

Felicia nodded, put down the box, and started taking off her clothes.

Peter smiled, admiring his girlfriend's firm, perky butt exposed before him. She had been going to the gym very frequently lately, supposedly so he wouldn't firmly hold the title of "best butt in this relationship."

She put on the suit, slowly zipped it up, looked down at herself, and let out a soft exclamation: "Wow, this looks so good!"

It really did look good.

The suit tightly hugged her breathtaking curves, looking incredibly sexy, yet at the same time, a closer look revealed tactical armor hidden underneath. There was a ring of white fur at the collar and wrists, just perfectly placed.

"Peter, this is really great." Felicia spun around in front of the mirror, then turned around to stare at her own butt, pulling the suit tight, and narrowed her eyes: "Peter... did you intentionally make the butt area this tight?"

Peter grinned: "I was going to deny it and make up some excuse about the suit coming like that... but forget it, I did it on purpose. Sue me."

Felicia rolled her eyes: "Pervert."

"I am." He chuckled and handed her another pair of goggles: "Come on, try these."

She put on the goggles and blinked in surprise: "So cool."

"It's not over yet." Peter pulled out the last piece of equipment, a black hair clip that could securely clip onto her hair.

"What's this for..." Felicia was halfway through her sentence when she suddenly realized her silver hair had turned jet black. She gasped: "What's going on?!"

"A little gadget I had Susan Storm help make. Basically, it makes others think your hair is black."

"But... why?"

Peter reached out and stroked her now-black hair, smiling: "Kitten, I love you, and I love your hair color. But it's too recognizable; it's really too conspicuous. I found you in the first place because your hair was so unique. If you're going to be contacting your mother's clients, sooner or later they'll be able to trace that thread back to you."

Felicia's eyes went wide: "You're right... How could I be so stupid!" She raised her hand and slapped her forehead. "I knew I should have worn a wig, but damn, wigs are so hard to keep in place!"

Peter smiled and comforted her: "Relax, Kitten. So far, no one has taken a clear photo of you, so there's still time. You just need to 'accidentally' let someone take a photo of you with black hair, and from then on, cement the setting that Black Cat has black hair. If you want, I can post a photo on Twitter of me chasing Black Cat or something."

Felicia blinked, slowly catching on: "Yeah... that could work!"

She jumped directly into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, circled his neck with her arms, and kissed him fiercely.

When they separated, she whispered: "This is amazing, Tiger. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Kitten." Peter smiled. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Felicia's eyes widened: "What?" She turned her head sharply to look at the calendar and found that Valentine's Day was still a full week away. "It's still a week away!"

Peter shrugged: "I know, I just wanted to give you your gift early, my dear." He smiled, kissed her lips, pushed her onto the bed, and rolled on top of her.

"Then you must reward yourself well tonight." Felicia hummed softly in his ear.

Peter nibbled on her neck: "You're right about that."

A night of intimacy.

February passed.

On Valentine's Day, Felicia gave him a surprise: a one-day trip to Disneyland. She knew he had never been, and seeing him bouncing around with excitement made her incredibly smug. That day ended at her place with a cozy movie night belonging only to the two of them, talking in each other's arms; as for what happened after that, only they knew.

March also passed by peacefully.

Peter continued to be Spider-Man, continuing to fight crime. His fame was steadily rising, almost catching up to Iron Man.

However, one thing was worth noting.

News came from New Mexico that something had razed an entire small town in one afternoon. The footage on the news showed lightning and Fire intertwined.

Thor had arrived.

Peter went to ask that damn instructor David, but the other party refused to answer directly, throwing out a line: "Classified matter, kid, mind your own business. Go back to training! I want to..." and then he couldn't be bothered to listen.

But the point was, Thor had appeared, and the Avengers would be assembling soon.

And he had a premonition: very soon.