Sharon, do you have a dream?

Black, ugly, balding, with that unmistakable loser’s air about him, and on top of it the name Max Dillon. There was no need to doubt the identity of the man before him. He was Electro, the great villain of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Like so many villains, Max Dillon had not chosen darkness for no reason.

No family, no friends, shunned and bullied by his coworkers, forced to stay behind alone and work overtime on his birthday of all days. With a life like that, and then coming within a hair’s breadth of death only to gain power by accident, turning dark was almost inevitable.

That was why so many fans said Electro was one of the easiest villains to win over and recruit. Spider-Man had saved him once, had talked him around with that relentless chatter of his, and because of that Max had developed a peculiar attachment to Spider-Man.

The problem now was that Su Ye’s Spider-Man did not spend his days wandering the streets like some aimless drifter, so he had naturally missed the chance to save Max Dillon. In that case, was there still any hope of winning him over?

Su Ye was not sure. But if the opportunity came, there was no harm in trying.

While he was still thinking it over, Max Dillon spoke first.

“My name’s Max. Max Dillon. Are you an intern?”

“Yes, I’m an intern. Snake Zhang. Nice to meet you, Max.”

Though Max Dillon was ostracized, he himself was a kind man. Even after years of being pushed around by his coworkers, he remained warm-hearted, the sort of good soul who would hold an elevator door for others with his own hand. Seeing Su Ye, a new intern, he could not help wanting to say a few extra words.

“Hello, Snake. As an old employee, there are a few things about working here I can explain to you...”

In the few short minutes of the elevator ride, Max Dillon did his best to pass on some of the survival wisdom he had gathered at Oscorp over the years. Time was too short, so he could only touch on the essentials.

If Su Ye really had been an intern, he would certainly have learned quite a bit from Max about the unwritten rules for invisible little nobodies in the workplace.

So when they parted, Su Ye thanked Max sincerely, and in his heart one thought grew firmer than ever: a man this decent should never have been driven into becoming a villain.

After reaching the office, Su Ye used his access privileges to look up Max Dillon’s birthday.

The day Max would be forced into overtime and fall into the tank of electric eels was his birthday. That made the timing easy enough to grasp.

The information came up quickly. There were about two weeks left. Not long now.

As for improving Max Dillon’s current work environment before he became Electro, sparing him the bullying and exclusion, Su Ye had not even considered it.

True, an electrician who was no longer bullied and cast aside might suit Max Dillon’s own wishes better.

But it did not suit Su Ye’s.

What use was an electrician who could neither fly nor wield electricity, and only knew how to repair equipment? To write novels?

When he looked up the information, Su Ye had deliberately done it out of Sharon Carter’s sight. No matter how fresh-faced and pink-cheeked a newcomer she seemed, she had still come from an intelligence background. The proper instincts would be there. If Max Dillon attracted attention too early, it would only become troublesome to explain later.

In the office, Su Ye sat in a broad executive chair, leafing through the materials on Oscorp that Sharon Carter had gathered. Some were public internal documents from the corporation, some had been provided by the board, and some had come from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own investigations.

Ever since Gwen had returned to Dr. Connors’s laboratory, the technical and informational support she had provided to Su Ye as Spider-Man had more or less come to an end. Sharon Carter, with her computer expertise, was quite capable of filling that gap.

Watching Sharon Carter work with such earnest diligence, Su Ye suddenly felt that he really might need a secretary like this.

One who belonged to him, not a mole planted by S.H.I.E.L.D.

“Sharon, do you have any dreams?”

His sudden question caught Sharon Carter off guard. Still, she thought about it carefully before answering in all seriousness, “I want to become a hero like Captain America.”

“Good ambition.” Su Ye raised a thumb. In this world, before growing out of adolescent fantasies, nearly every American child had dreamed of becoming Captain America.

“Unfortunately, in all these years there’s only ever been one Captain America, so I’m afraid that dream of yours will be hard to realize. Pick another.”

Sharon Carter thought for a moment. “Then... I hope for world peace.”

“That’s a fine and noble wish. We’re of one mind there.” Su Ye clapped his hands lightly, then asked, “Then have you ever considered what the greatest obstacle to world peace is?”

Sharon frowned faintly. “There are many. Terrorism, energy crises, financial crises, food shortages, viruses, and a great many other things.”

Su Ye shook his head. “You left out the most important one. I don’t know whether you did it on purpose, or whether you simply never realized it.”

As he spoke, he lifted his head and looked straight into Sharon Carter’s eyes, pronouncing each word distinctly.

“Hegemonism.”

Her expression instantly grew grave. It was not that she had never thought about the issue. It was simply that, as an American, she instinctively glossed over it.

A bully never believes there is anything wrong with bullying. A hegemonic nation is much the same.

When Sharon did not immediately argue back, Su Ye continued, “Look at Iraq and Syria. In your view, which has caused greater destruction to civilians and to global security: terrorist attacks, or the harm brought by hegemonism?”

“And also...” Su Ye paused, then shook his head. “Forget it. There’s no point in talking about this. You’re an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and I’m just a student from the Dragon Nation studying abroad. You came into contact with me under orders; I can hardly refuse.”

“But in the end, you and I are not the same kind of people. So from now on, let’s simply speak less. You can write whatever reports you need to deal with your assignment, and I’ll enjoy the peace and quiet. We won’t interfere with each other. How about that?”

The moment Sharon Carter heard those words, her face changed completely.

What was going on? Hadn’t everything been going perfectly from morning until just now? Breakfast, the drive to work, checking documents together—it had all felt as though they had naturally slipped into the relationship of employer and maid, boss and secretary.

Sharon Carter had already been preparing to use that as a starting point, to devise a whole strategy for deepening their relationship, laying the groundwork for a domineering CEO and his secretary-lover. So how had it suddenly become a matter of drawing a clear line and staying out of each other’s affairs?

Was there something she had not done well enough?

Sharon Carter was confident in her professional abilities. So was the problem this question just now?

Does this blockhead care that much about hegemonism? If I want to get closer to him, or even influence him, do I need to start from that issue?

With that thought, Sharon Carter hurriedly shook her head and explained, “That’s not it, President Su. I was just thinking about what you said regarding hegemonism.”

“In that case...” Su Ye’s cold expression softened slightly, though his face remained stern. “Then please, from the standpoint of an agent in a United Nations security operations division, and from a neutral position, analyze the concrete manifestations of American hegemonism in its actions in Iraq and Syria.”

“This...” Sharon Carter panicked at once. She had never studied those matters in detail before. The question was far beyond the scope of anything she could answer on the spot.

Seeing this, Su Ye nearly laughed aloud inside. It gave him the same sharp pleasure as watching a sleeping deskmate in class get called on by the teacher and wake up in a daze, helpless and utterly bewildered.

On the surface, however, he remained calm and unreadable.

“It is a bit too much to demand an immediate answer from you. Let’s do this instead. Go back and look up the relevant information. Give me your answer tomorrow.”

That made it homework, in effect. If she answered poorly, she could pack up and leave.

Su Ye did not say it outright, but Sharon Carter understood his meaning all the same, and silently made up her mind.

I will absolutely produce an answer that satisfies the boss and make him willing to keep me.

Sharon Carter’s thinking was simple: whether she herself agreed with the answer did not matter. What mattered was that Su Ye agreed with it.

Su Ye’s own thinking was equally clear: as long as you can produce an answer that satisfies me, I will find a way to make you truly accept that answer in the end.

This, more or less, counted as the first exchange of blows between Su Ye and S.H.I.E.L.D.