Chapter 424 424: Conference

The steel battle suit—who else could it be but the famous Iron Man.

"You know, you're disappointing me."

"Didn't I tell you—"

"You were not allowed to interfere in this matter."

"I said someone would handle it."

"And because of you—"

"Because of you, Spider-Man, Peter Parker—"

"You caused the FBI to miss their chance—"

"You—"

Tony continued to reprimand little Spider-Man, while Peter sat there in silence, not daring to argue. After all, he knew he had made a mistake. Even though he had spent money to fix the situation, he was still being scolded by Mr. Tony in the end.

But he didn't complain. If he did something wrong, he deserved to be punished. As long as the people on the cruise ship were safe, that was enough. That was simply who he was.

"Yes—"

"All the responsibility is mine."

"If Happy had told me earlier—"

"Maybe it wouldn't have turned out like this."

"And he said he cared about me—"

"But you sent Happy to monitor me."

"I just wanted to prove myself."

"Spider-Man isn't just someone who buys groceries, finds lost dogs, and catches petty thieves."

"Is that really wrong?"

"Oh… forget it."

"You wouldn't understand even if I explained."

"You're not even here."

"You just send an empty suit to deal with me."

In the end, little Spider-Man couldn't hold back his frustration any longer. All his pent-up emotions poured out at the armored suit in front of him. He was still just a teenager—of course he had his own thoughts and opinions. Admitting his mistakes didn't mean he didn't have grievances.

Click—clack—

As if responding to his dissatisfaction, the armor suddenly began to shift. When little Spider-Man stepped closer and stared at it, the mask opened, the chest plates parted, and Tony stepped out in his suit.

"Do you understand—"

"Because of your unauthorized actions—"

"You didn't just disrupt the FBI's operation—"

"You also forced me to delay Stark's press conference."

"So—"

"I'm taking the Spider-Man suit back. Permanently."

"And without it—"

"You're just a kid who can't do anything."

"So you don't deserve this suit."

The two went back and forth like this, their conversation stretching on. Most of the time, it was Tony doing the talking.

Meanwhile, Blaine didn't concern himself with any of it. Another task had been completed today. Aside from the largest one—requiring a transaction of at least one hundred billion—he had now finished the other two. He was one step closer to advancing to the next Hunter level.

However, as he was leaving, Blaine vaguely heard Tony mention a press conference. He remembered the last time he had used Tony to hold a global press event, reintroducing the world to the Bounty Hunter—himself.

Now, he found himself curious about Tony's upcoming press conference. But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't recall what it was about. Perhaps too much time had passed.

In the end, Blaine decided to check the live broadcast and see what would happen.

The press conference was scheduled for noon the next day, so Blaine wasn't in a hurry. He teleported back to school.

Since both little Spider-Man and Blaine had been absent, the rest of the students had already returned under the guidance of their teacher and Happy. As for why Blaine came back—he was about to graduate.

Even though he had come from another world and barely attended classes, he couldn't just fail to graduate. If Tony—or worse, some gossip-hungry figure—used that against him, the reputation of the famous Bounty Hunter would take a hit. That was something Blaine absolutely didn't want.

So, he planned to talk to the principal about graduation—and make a small donation while he was at it. After all, with a touch of "capitalism," no school would make things difficult for a student like him.

By the time Blaine left the principal's office, everything had been settled. After donating one million, the principal had readily agreed to all his requests. With that done, Blaine prepared to head home. It was already getting late.

As he passed by the lockers near the school entrance, he spotted little Spider-Man in the distance.

At that moment, little Spider-Man seemed to have shaken off the gloom from Tony's scolding. He was dressed neatly in a student uniform—something Blaine himself had never worn—and was walking in a certain direction, holding what looked like an invitation card.

Following his gaze, Blaine quickly realized where he was headed.

MJ.

It seemed that after what had happened at Big Ben—and with Blaine's earlier encouragement—little Spider-Man had finally gathered the courage he needed.

And just as Blaine expected, little Spider-Man confessed on the spot, warmly inviting MJ to be his partner at the upcoming dance. Even more surprising, Blaine faintly overheard that MJ had invited him over to her house as a guest.

That was practically a prelude to meeting the future in-laws.

At this, Blaine gave a knowing smile and headed straight back to his villa.

In the backyard, he noticed the heart-shaped grass beginning to spread into the surrounding soil. After a brief glance, he stripped off his clothes and took a long, comfortable hot bath.

By the time night had fully fallen, Blaine made himself a cup of hot milk and slumped onto the sofa.

At this hour, little Spider-Man had probably already arrived at his "future father-in-law's" house.

Given Blaine's knowledge of how things were supposed to unfold, the next events would likely follow a familiar pattern.

After all, Marvel loved its dramatic twists. And sure enough, the classic trope—the villain turning out to be the father—was playing out right before Blaine's eyes.

When little Spider-Man discovered that his future father-in-law was the Vulture, and the Vulture realized that the young man standing before him was Spider-Man, the tension and mind games that would follow were bound to be entertaining.

Especially when Blaine recalled a line the Vulture would say—threatening to kill him if he interfered with his business… or worse, to hurt the people he loved.

The irony was that the Vulture had no idea that the person Spider-Man cared about most was his own daughter.

Just thinking about it made Blaine laugh out loud.

But as he laughed, something suddenly occurred to him.

He quickly reached for the remote, turned on the TV, and switched to the live news broadcast.

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