"Sure enough, you really are fond of this."
Hawking glanced at the sketch Peter drew; it was Spider-Man's original red and blue spider-suit from his early days of underground boxing.
"Flavius!"
He pointed his hand, and the Deformation Curse activated. Peter's school uniform immediately transformed into the spider-suit, though Hawking had beautified it a bit, making it similar to his spider-suit a few years later, with a spider emblem on the chest.
"This is so cool!"
Peter touched the spider-suit on his body, excitedly jumped twice in place, struck a spider pose, and shot a barrage of webs at the tree in front of him.
"Hawking, your abilities are like magic."
"The suit will last for about three hours, then it will change back. Tomorrow, you'll still need to get a new one yourself."
Hawking gave an instruction, then also transformed his own clothes into a golden battle suit.
And at this moment, Peter was stunned again.
"So you're the—Armor Hero!!!"
He naturally knew about the God of War, or rather, the Armor Hero, because the class had been buzzing about him these past two days. Many of his classmates, including Thompson, who he didn't get along with, greatly admired him.
When Hawking invited him to help fight criminals that night, he felt it was a bit like the Armor Hero. He thought Hawking was imitating the Armor Hero, but he never expected Hawking to actually be the Armor Hero.
"Let's go, today we'll mainly be active in Queens!"
Hawking leaped up, and Peter followed closely behind him.
Peter only had two hours free in the evening. Going to the Bronx was too far, and the round trip would take up a lot of time. It was better to just operate in Queens.
He mainly sought Peter's help to utilize his Spider-Sense to find indoor murder cases, thereby more efficiently gaining Justice Points. Such incidents were not uncommon in Queens.
After the two hours were up, he could return to the Bronx on his own.
It was also mainly because Peter currently lacked experience. Once he became proficient, he could directly go to Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan, which wasn't far from Queens and also had many murder cases.
"There, in that building, I sense a cry for help!"
Not long after, Peter suddenly stopped and called out to Hawking, pointing towards the eighth floor of an apartment building nearby.
Following Peter's guidance, Hawking quickly rescued an elderly man living alone who had accidentally fallen and almost died, and also called an ambulance for him.
"There, that factory seems to have gunshots."
"Underground, someone fell into the sewer pipe, hit his head, and is almost gone."
With the help of Peter's Spider-Sense, Hawking's efficiency greatly increased, and the progress bar for Justice Points grew several times faster.
At this rate, he might be able to unlock the third protagonist template in less than a year.
Two hours later, on the rooftop of Peter's house.
"You did very well. That's enough for today; we'll continue tomorrow."
Hawking patted Peter's shoulder, a satisfied expression on his face.
However, at this moment, Peter's face showed some hesitation:
"Hawking, why can't we intervene in every single matter?"
During the two hours of fighting crime, he discovered many criminal incidents, but Hawking didn't intervene in every one of them. Even when he wanted to help, he was stopped.
This made him a bit confused.
Hawking was not surprised by Peter's hesitation. Instead, he explained in a serious tone:
"It's not that I don't want to help, but some matters aren't that serious. The victims at most only lose some money or suffer minor injuries.
If we waste time helping them, it might lead to other people whose life is currently threatened dying because they couldn't receive our help.
Don't you agree?"
"Yes, that's the logic, but I still feel a bit guilty inside."
Peter scratched his head.
"Still too kind."
Hawking immediately knew upon hearing this that Peter must have attributed the consequences of the incidents they didn't intervene in to himself.
The current Peter hadn't fully transformed yet due to Ben's death, nor had he been brainwashed by the phrase "With great power comes great responsibility." But his nature was kind, and even without those events, he would still walk a similar path.
For example, if he had the same experience as Peter, then upon hearing "With great power comes great responsibility," he would only dismiss it as nonsense. If you were to say "With great authority comes great responsibility," he might believe it a little.
If his uncle were murdered, what he would definitely do is use his abilities to make the other party pay a blood debt. In his future life, he would help out when convenient, but sacrificing his own life to help others like Peter is definitely impossible.
This is the difference between people; he and Peter are not the same kind of person.
Of course, deep down, he still greatly admired and liked people like Peter, just as Simon admired Jack but would never become Jack, nor would he become friends with another Simon.
"Alright, for now, I'll get you familiar with things. Once you're proficient, we'll split up and communicate via walkie-talkie.
If you discover something that could endanger life, you notify me, and I'll handle it. You handle other less dangerous matters. We'll cooperate and strive to help everyone who needs it."
"That's good, Hawking. Compared to you, I feel I'm really a bit selfish.
Once vacation starts, I'll also have time during the day. I'll come help when I'm free then, and you don't need to pay me anymore."
Hearing Hawking's reply, Peter's face showed an expression of shame.
Hawking used his abilities to help those in need, while he himself was only willing to help for money, for a sports car, and yet he even questioned Hawking's actions.
Compared to Hawking's nobility, he felt he was too selfish.
Hawking replied with a smile:
"Hahaha, don't think that way. I have nothing else to do and have spare money, while you have school and your own dreams. There's no need to think like that; that would be moral blackmail.
However, if you have time to help during the summer vacation, I'd naturally be willing, and it would still be one hundred U.S. dollars an hour.
Don't refuse. I know you need tuition for school, your uncle was laid off, and your family needs money. The premise of helping others is to first help yourself and your family."
"Thank you, Hawking!"
At this moment, Peter looked at Hawking as if he were looking at a Sun full of light, so dazzling, so brilliant.
They were roughly the same age, but their ideological realms were vastly different.
He sometimes felt that Hawking was like a mature philosopher, while he was still a naive child.
In reality, what he didn't know was that, according to the age in this World, Hawking was two years younger than him.
"Tomorrow, still Queens Park."
Leaving his last words, Hawking leaped away, returning to the Bronx to continue his unfinished work.
It was only one o'clock now, and he still had five more hours of work to do.
Although his efficiency couldn't compare to when he was with Peter, every little bit helps, and he still needed to continue building his image.
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