Come to my place tonight.

Right away? Now? Staring at the system’s gentle reminder, Su Ye felt sarcasm bubbling up inside. Having the favorability score hit 80 was certainly something to be happy about, but what kind of prompt was this? System, you ask what I’m waiting for—well, I’m waiting for the right occasion, for the atmosphere, for the proper steps! We haven’t even had a real date yet, haven’t even kissed, just held hands for a moment, and you’re telling me to move on to that already? And in this classroom, in front of all our classmates? Or am I supposed to pull Gwen into the woods and get it over with? Are you kidding me? This system is truly incorrigible, always pushing nonsense, never understanding that between a man and a woman, it’s the heart that matters most. You don’t have to jump straight to the physical to be happy.

Su Ye ignored the prompt, his expression calm and unruffled as he looked at Gwen. It was only Thursday—just two days to wait. Did the system really think he couldn’t handle it? It underestimated him; this was the bare minimum of integrity for any decent man. As for the feminine hygiene products in Gwen’s bag, he had no idea what they were or what they were for. He was still blissfully ignorant—a baby in these matters.

Two days passed in a flash. While Su Ye waited—impatiently, though he pretended to be unbothered—the weekend finally arrived. During the day, Gwen had to intern at the Osborn Group, so their date was set for the evening. With nothing else to do, Su Ye decided to visit the Osborn Group building himself.

Gwen was interning in Dr. Curt Connors’s lab, where the research focused on cross-species genetic transfer in lizards—that very project that would eventually turn Connors into the Lizard. Su Ye needed to keep tabs on the project’s progress, since Connors was a potential enemy. Inheriting Spider-Man’s abilities came with the burden of facing his foes—Su Ye understood that well.

The Osborn Group building was in Manhattan, right next to the under-construction Stark Industries Tower—a five-minute walk at most. Su Ye didn’t waste time at the Stark Tower, still shrouded in scaffolding, and instead went straight to the Osborn building.

Drawing on Peter Parker's experience, Su Ye knew he could sneak in by grabbing an intern’s badge at the front desk. However, that method was risky—if there were no Asian interns, he’d be exposed in no time. And he didn’t want to get an eager, hopeful student kicked out for fraud because of him. Fortunately, with Harry’s help, he already had a fake intern badge.

In Dr. Connors’s lab, Su Ye kept a low profile at the back, not trying to impress Connors by answering questions. Instead, he simply blended in with the crowd, carefully observing. Yet, like a firefly in the night, no matter how much he tried to hide, his damned charisma caught Gwen’s attention as she led the interns around.

“So, you’re interning here too?” Gwen glanced at Su Ye’s badge and read the name aloud, “Snake Zhang?”

Snake Zhang was the name on his fake badge—not as intimidating as Snake Cannon, perhaps, but it suited Su Ye’s preference for keeping a low profile. There were plenty of people called Snake among foreigners; he wasn’t worried anyone would connect this badge to the Ironhead Snake Cannon.

With a shrug, Su Ye grinned. “Harry made it for me. Didn’t you say this was the fastest way to become an intern here—so I could be closer to you?”

Gwen rolled her eyes, though her heart was smiling. “Stick with me and don’t wander off. Even Harry won’t be able to save you if you get into trouble. The lab supervisors here are all pretty strict.”

“Is Dr. Connors strict too?”

“Not really. He’s a good man.”

Dr. Connors, the one-armed scientist, had unwittingly just been handed a ‘good guy’ card.

“By the way, how’s Dr. Connors’s research going? The cross-species gene transfer he mentioned—any breakthroughs yet?”

Even as he followed Gwen, Su Ye hadn’t forgotten his real purpose: reconnaissance.

Gwen shook her head regretfully. “There’s a crucial step where Dr. Connors can’t work out the key data. So, I’m afraid there won’t be results any time soon.”

Hearing this, Su Ye felt relieved. With Harry’s arrival, Green Goblin’s debut was imminent. If the Lizard appeared at the same time, Su Ye would be in deep trouble fighting two fronts as Spider-Man. When your equipment and level are about the same, even the strongest hero can’t handle two opponents at once. In fact, compared to Green Goblin and the Lizard, Spider-Man wasn’t even the strongest hero around.

“Um, other than lizard cross-species research, do you guys work on anything else? Like cockroaches, earthworms, spiders, that sort of thing?”

Su Ye pressed further. The Osborn super-spider gene lab was linked to Richard Parker’s Decay Rate Algorithm—the very reason Dr. Connors would eventually become the Lizard. But Gwen shook her head again. “Why would we study those? Dr. Connors hasn’t even figured out the lizard yet.”

She hesitated for a moment, then said, “About our date this evening…”

Su Ye raised an eyebrow. “What is it? Do you have something to do? Want to cancel?”

“No, no,” Gwen waved her hands quickly. “It’s just that my mom heard I was going on a date—and that it was with a student from the Dragon Country—so she suggested I bring you home for dinner.”

“She’s making lemon sea bass tonight. Do you like that?”

Lemon sea bass? Was it already time for him to have dinner at his future mother-in-law’s house? Wasn’t this a little fast? Dr. Connors hadn’t even figured out the lizard gene yet.

Just then, Su Ye’s phone rang. It was Harry.

“Hey, Xiao Ye, there’s an event tonight. I’ve invited Mary Jane—do you and Gwen want to come?”

Harry was quick—or rather, Mary Jane was quick to switch allegiances. Thursday morning, she was still Thompson’s girlfriend; by Saturday, she was already dating Harry. Women…

“You two have fun. I’m having lemon sea bass at Gwen’s place tonight, so I won’t be joining you.”

“All right, then. Have a great dinner!”

“Thanks, you two have fun as well!”

Hanging up, Su Ye smiled at Gwen. “If I embarrass myself eating fish, I hope your family won’t laugh at me.”

“Don’t worry. With me there, you won’t be the butt of any jokes.”