Chapter 667

Shiler squinted and scratched his ear; Stark pulled his mask back down; Steve shook his head; Natasha let out a bitter scoff and said, "Are you all mentally impaired? I'm codenamed Black Widow because I'm a widow, not because I'm a spider."

"Thanks, now we know," Steve sighed. "I thought maybe the Soviets used spider genes in their modifications, which is why you got that codename."

"Come on, are you all that imaginative? Peter's excitement comes from entering the spider's mating season—that's absurd!" Natasha leaned back lazily in her chair, lit a cigarette, and added, "Besides, doesn't he have a girlfriend? Why would he need to court anyone…?"

As she spoke, the female agent paused, froze, then suddenly wore a strange expression: "Peter and Gwen… they haven't…?"

She made a "you know what I mean" gesture; the adults in the room all understood. Stark stared in disbelief and said, "Impossible? They've been dating for nearly two years—surely they haven't…?"

"Hard to say," Shiler pulled up a chair and sat down. "When I examined Peter before, I noticed he's quite conservative about this. Maybe his uncle and aunt raised him with stricter values."

"I remember Peter telling me he attended a church high school—schooling probably played a part too," Steve added.

"And Gwen's father is the NYPD commissioner; her upbringing must've been strict too. So it's not surprising they haven't gone further—after all, not everyone's like you, planning to get intimate after two hours of knowing someone," Shiler said, glancing at Stark.

"I don't believe it. Kids their age can't possibly lack impulse. And after Peter confessed he's Spider-Man, shouldn't their relationship have deepened? Isn't that how it works?" Stark said, baffled.

Natasha, tinkering with her computer, said, "Confirmed: Peter and Gwen likely haven't had sex. The agents monitoring Peter reported he never stayed overnight at Gwen's place, and there's no record of them checking into any hotel. So…"

The group exchanged glances. Shiler paused, then said, "Suppose—just suppose—the situation matches our prediction: Peter has inherited certain spider traits, and at maturity, entered his mating season, making him hyperactive…"

"But he hasn't advanced his relationship with his girlfriend. Now the question is—how do we fix this?"

Stark opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Steve turned to him: "Watch your wording. There's a lady present."

Before Steve finished, Natasha said, "Why not get a female agent from the CIA to introduce them? Peter's young and handsome—he's definitely not as hedonistic as some people. He'd be a great catch; they'd fight over him…"

Stark glared, about to retort, but Shiler said, "That's a betrayal of Gwen. Peter would never agree. And I think it's not that simple."

"Peter's still human, and he's intelligent. I don't believe he's fully controlled by instinct. From a human perspective, his behavior suggests insecurity in his current emotional bond—he's seeking deeper stability."

"So it's just…" Stark began, then caught Shiler's look, clamped his mouth shut, and swallowed the rest.

"Either way, we need to resolve this. It's more than just an eyesore," Steve frowned. "If those webs multiply and land on people, they'll be hard to remove. Someone could trip and get hurt. Even if they stick to birds or insects, they could disrupt the ecosystem."

At that moment, Stark received a call from JARVIS. He said, "Hello? What? The webs are gone? Who cleaned them? Spider-Man?? But he's the one who spun them…? …Alright, I'm on my way back…"

When they returned to Stark Tower, Peter was conducting an experiment behind the lab bench. Stark stared at him, up and down, then asked, "You're not… I mean, you haven't lost your mind, have you?"

"Why would I lose my mind?" Peter blinked, confused.

"Then why did you spin so many webs over New York?" Stark asked again.

"Oh, that? Last time Gwen asked if I could spin webs, I tried it. Turns out the photo went viral—the photographer even won an award. Then some street art groups asked me to spin webs for their events or photo shoots, so I agreed."

"Don't worry—those webs are made of special material. They break down completely in five or six hours. Even if any residue remains, I'll clean it up myself. Won't burden the janitors."

Shiler leaned close to Stark and whispered, "He seems mentally stable. Are you sure you're exaggerating?"

Stark snorted, snapped his fingers, and said, "Peter, I'm launching a new research project…"

In a flash, Peter appeared before Stark. Shiler didn't even see how he moved—he shot forward like a gust of wind, speaking rapidly:

"New project? You mean new work? I'm totally up for it. I've already completed over half of my current fourteen projects. Here's my output from this week—quality's solid too. Dr. Connors praised me and reminded me to rest, but I'm not tired at all. Ten more projects? No problem. Mr. Stark, if I could stop being an assistant and lead my own research, that'd be ideal. I'm a college student now—I'm fully capable of…"

"Stop!" Shiler shouted. Peter turned, saw Shiler, and in another flash, zipped to his side. "Oh, Dr. Shiler, you're back! Long time no see—how was your vacation? I just got back too. Did you hear about the hilarious thing at my high school graduation? Thompson's date dropped her dress bag and fell flat, dragging Thompson down. He instinctively dodged like an NFL player and knocked over the principal he hated the most. Gwen and I nearly died laughing…"

"Stop!" Stark yelled again. "That's the eighteenth time you've told this story, Peter. Shut up. Don't say another word…"

"Oh, sorry, I can't control myself." Peter crossed his index fingers over his lips, shook his head, and stepped back two paces, signaling silence. But as Stark opened his mouth again, Peter added, "I didn't say it eighteen times. This is the seventeenth."

He clamped his mouth shut. Stark sighed helplessly, pulled Shiler over, and pointed at Peter: "I'm certain he's ill. Cure him—or take him away."

Bai Meng Shu

Seeing Peter's hair standing on end, Shiler knew Stark had reached his limit. If they didn't take Peter away soon, Stark would throw him out the window. So Shiler took Peter back to Arkham Sanatorium.

Back at the sanatorium, Shiler assigned Peter a room. "Stay here. For school, use the car in the second parking spot on the right downstairs. Most importantly—no gaming with Pikachu after 10 p. . or I'll throw your console and controller into the ocean…"

"Now come with me to my office. I need to test your mental state. You seem overly hyperactive."

Shiler led Peter into the office, had him complete a basic battery of tests, then questioned him based on the results.

After several rounds of evaluation, Shiler reached a conclusion: Peter's mental state was perfectly normal—healthy, cheerful, upbeat, so stable that even a misdiagnosis within a kilometer of a psychiatric hospital would be unlikely.

Sitting behind his desk, Shiler wore a grave expression. Peter misinterpreted it, worriedly asking, "What's wrong, Doctor? Is my condition serious?"

"No, you're not ill. You're perfectly healthy. The problem is—you're too healthy. If that's the case, why are you so hyperactive? Is it brainwave-related? Hold on…"

Shiler picked up the phone and called Professor Xavier. "Professor Charles, sorry to disturb you. I need your help—Peter…"

"Yes, exactly. I find it strange too. According to this analysis, there shouldn't be any issue, right? But he's hyperactive—speech accelerated, repetitive phrasing, poor focus, intermittent scanning of his surroundings. Could you check his brainwaves?"

"No abnormalities in the brainwaves? He's in a hyperactive state, but nothing's influencing him? Understood. Thanks, goodbye…"

Shiler's brow tightened further. He wasn't afraid of patients having problems—he feared when no problem could be found. In such cases, there were only two outcomes: either it was a false alarm, or the patient deserved a disease named after him.

As Shiler prepared to recheck everything, a portal suddenly opened in midair. Strange stepped out, followed by Loki. Strange flipped through a document as he walked and said, "Shiler, this quarter's bill's out. Any room for optimization?"

He looked up at Shiler—and then saw Peter sitting across from him. In that instant, Strange's eyes widened. He shook his head, then shouted in shock:

"Peter?! Where did you get this much faith energy?! Are you becoming a god?!?!?!"