Hardy.
Ben returned to his seat.
In a place like the U.S., teachers wouldn't punish students for arriving at class right on time. In fact, they were thankful these students were even willing to come to school.
Just then, a blonde girl peeked out while the teacher had his back turned and whispered,
"Hey, Ben, why were you late today?"
"One second late isn't late, Hardy," Ben replied, taking out his homework from his backpack.
Felicia Hardy.
She was a well-known rich girl in school and very beautiful. However, what Ben cared about more was her other secret identity—Black Cat.
Of course, the current Felicia didn't know yet that her father was the famous Black Cat, nor had she become Black Cat herself.
"You always have an excuse," Felicia straightened herself. She saw Ben's homework on the desk and wasn't surprised.
Ben was quite diligent in his studies at school. Felicia had never seen him skip homework or do it carelessly. In terms of academics, Ben was hardworking, but unfortunately, in this Marvel Universe, where geniuses were everywhere, mere effort wasn't very useful.
Ben could handle ordinary schoolwork, but for competition-level knowledge, his brain wasn't quite enough.
For many people in this World, talent was just an entry ticket. Even with Peter's intelligence, he would be criticized by Connors or Otto for not working hard enough, let alone ordinary people.
Felicia could completely empathize with this, because she was such a person: hardworking, but not so talented.
Felicia watched Ben take out his textbook, looking preoccupied, and felt that they were truly kindred spirits!
'Perhaps I should organize a study group and invite Ben to join.' She thought. She was about to crane her neck to tell Ben this, but the homeroom teacher had already turned around, startling Felicia into quickly pulling her head back.
As for Ben, he didn't notice any of this.
From the moment he sat down, he had been thinking about the Iron Man Suit. Few boys could refuse an Iron Man Suit, especially when it was an original, authentic one, directly removed from Tony Stark!
'I can transform into Little Commando and disassemble it for research!' Ben thought.
Although he had disassembled it once before, Quick Flash Star's disassembly could only be called taking apart parts, whereas Little Commando could thoroughly study the suit's structure and technology.
"Too bad the most crucial Arc Reactor can't be removed," he sighed inwardly.
The Arc Reactor was actually the core technology of the Iron Man Suit, essentially cold fusion.
Cold fusion was a technology that was almost impossible to achieve in Ben's previous World, but here, Tony achieved it. Not to mention, Tony managed to miniaturize such a massive energy source to the size of a heart.
Besides the energy source, other parts of the armor were also filled with difficult-to-achieve technology.
Ben actually wasn't very interested in science. He only studied hard so as not to disappoint Aunt Mei and Uncle Ben.
However, he was very interested in researching armor and building his own suit. If he could thoroughly understand the technology of the Iron Man Suit, he would be able to develop his own suit or create a batch of mechanical monsters.
Just as Ben was still distracted, a slight tingling sensation came from his brain. Ben instinctively reached out and caught a note.
[I'm planning to host a study group and intend to invite Gwen. Do you want to come to my house too?]
The sender was Felicia.
A study group?
Ben paused, then looked to the side and saw Felicia blinking at him, mouthing:
"You can bring your cousin, Peter Parker."
It sounded pretty good.
Ben thought.
Gwen and Peter could be said to be the two best students in the school, their grades consistently holding first or second place.
More importantly, Felicia and Gwen were both beautiful girls. If he brought Peter to the study group, it might help him get to know Gwen, which would be better than him constantly talking about Liz Toomes.
But… what does that have to do with me?
I don't have time for any study groups. After school, I still have to research the Iron Man Suit!
Ben thought.
He could turn into Little Commando to thoroughly research it, or he could transform into Upgrade and possess the armor to see what changes he could bring to it. Perhaps he could use the characteristics of a Galvan transformation, which is Upgrade's ability, to Upgrade the armor or build a Spider Suit for Peter.
He can't just let him fight crime in baby pajamas, can he?
He had so many things to do, which one wasn't more interesting than attending a study group?
So Ben crumpled the note into a ball and shook his head at Felicia.
"Sorry, Felicia, I have things to do after school. As for Peter, I don't think he has much time lately either."
Ben was telling the truth. These days, Peter's mind was mostly occupied with spiders, Osborn, Dr. Connors, and his parents, so he probably wasn't in the mood for a study group.
Furthermore, if Ben remembered correctly, Gwen also had club activities after school. She, Mary Jane, and a few others had formed a small band.
"Alright, then forget it!" Felicia's tone was cold and a little angry, clearly not expecting Ben to reject her. She turned her head, forcing herself not to look at Ben.
She clearly remembered that Ben almost never participated in club activities and went straight home after school every day, saying he had no time, which she knew was just an excuse!
Just say you don't want to study with me, hmph!
Darn Ben, once I invite Gwen and form a study group, and our grades improve by leaps and bounds, you'll have plenty of time to regret it! It won't be so easy for you to join my study group then!
She thought, gritting her teeth.
'Unless he begs me on his knees!'
Not only that, Felicia also decided not to pay any attention to Ben until at least after school today, to show him what she was capable of!
As for Ben, he actually didn't pay any more attention after rejecting Felicia, and instead focused his mind on the class.
He wondered if it was his imagination, but during class today, he felt his mind seemed to have become a bit clearer. Knowledge that usually required some time and practice to understand now seemed to click instantly.
"Did I get smarter?" He was a little surprised.
"Is it because the spider abilities stimulated my brain? Or is it because I was influenced by Little Commando after transforming into him?"
Ben suspected it was both.
The spider abilities almost completely enhanced his body. In this situation, it wasn't impossible for his brain to become more agile. And although transforming into Little Commando didn't permanently change Ben's genes, at least some physics knowledge remained in his mind.
In addition, Little Commando's way of thinking might also influence him.
Of course, no matter which one it was, it was impossible for Ben to become a genius instantly.
For the first time, Ben felt that class time passed so quickly.
This feeling of being completely immersed in studying made him feel very good. For a moment, he even thought he had truly become a genius.
But in reality, if he were truly a genius, he wouldn't need to expend effort to diligently study the class content.
For a genius, that knowledge wouldn't even be considered basic. Take Peter, for example; in middle school, he was able to develop web-fluid materials that were impossible to achieve with the technology of Ben's original World.
In fact, let alone Peter, even Dr. Connors's intelligence was far beyond what ordinary people could achieve. Even though his research failed in every World, and sometimes he seemed more like a foil for Peter or Peter's parents, the technology to transform people into Lizard Man also surpassed reality.
Compared to them, Ben's intelligence level was still at the ordinary person's level.
However, he wasn't unhappy about this.
After all, he was originally an ordinary person. Moreover, he had now successfully activated the Omnitrix. Among the millions of alien genes, there were plenty of incredibly intelligent races he could transform into. The Galvan were just one of them; in addition, Crab Armor Brainstorm, and others like Whatchamacallit, were all races very skilled in technology.
Of course, the omnipotent Superman naturally also meant omniscience and unparalleled wisdom.
After a full day of studying, Ben felt completely refreshed, and Felicia was both pained and happy. On one hand, Ben was sitting right next to her, making it hard for her to ignore him all day. The feeling of forcing herself not to talk to him was like a cat scratching at her heart with its claws.
On the other hand—
'I ignored him all day, he must be heartbroken!' Felicia thought triumphantly. Now that school was out, she couldn't wait to see Ben's reaction. She guessed Ben must be as miserable as she was.
But when she turned her head, she found Ben's seat was already empty.
Looking up and into the distance, Felicia only saw Ben's back as he rushed out of the classroom without looking back.
"Ben!"
She stomped her foot in anger.