On the surface, Peter had come to Oscorp Industries for the tour.
In truth, he had another motive in mind.
He wanted to slip into one of the laboratories and uncover the truth about his parents.
Unfortunately, Peter was still thinking far too simply.
Even if Oscorp truly had something to do with what happened back then, there was no chance the company would be foolish enough to leave the evidence lying openly inside a laboratory.
As Gwen continued leading the students through the different departments, Peter quietly slipped away from the group.
Jonathan noticed everything.
Not wanting to miss the crucial moment when Peter became Spider-Man, he secretly followed him.
If Peter had been the only one missing, Gwen might not have noticed so quickly.
But Jonathan had disappeared as well, and that was a different matter entirely.
After searching for him and finding no trace, she immediately began looking around, visibly anxious.
Oscorp Industries possessed plenty of trade secrets.
If Jonathan accidentally wandered somewhere restricted without proper clearance and was arrested as a corporate spy, it would be no laughing matter.
With no other choice, Gwen asked another female intern to temporarily take over the tour while she doubled back to look for him.
Meanwhile, Jonathan followed Peter to the entrance of a laboratory.
A plaque beside the door read:
Biofiber Research Department
It was clearly protected by a keypad lock.
Peter had been clever enough to secretly watch a supervisor enter the password earlier.
Jonathan, however, had only followed him afterward and naturally had no idea what the code was.
He could only remain outside and reluctantly give up.
In any case, whether he personally witnessed Peter being bitten by the spider wouldn’t make much difference to him.
Just then, a fair, slender hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
Jonathan turned around and found Gwen standing behind him.
Her outfit today was rather distinctive.
She wore a white lab coat, khaki boots, and a navy denim skirt, with a thin black-and-white striped sweater underneath. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
In addition to her usual youthful energy, she now carried a touch of competence and professionalism.
To put it simply, she looked even more attractive.
“Hey, Jonathan.
What are you doing here?”
Gwen studied him with obvious suspicion.
“I was actually looking for you.”
Jonathan lied without so much as blinking.
“But I accidentally got lost.
Good thing you came along.”
After speaking, he even pretended to breathe a sigh of relief and casually patted Gwen on the shoulder.
Gwen narrowed her eyes and stared at him, clearly trying to decide whether his explanation was believable.
But after thinking it over, she couldn’t imagine Jonathan trying to steal Oscorp’s secrets.
“Come with me.”
In the end, she believed him.
“Stay close this time.
Don’t wander off again.”
Just then, the door to the Biofiber Research Department suddenly opened.
Peter Parker walked straight out.
The moment he raised his head, his gaze met Jonathan’s and Gwen’s.
The air instantly fell silent.
The three of them stared at one another, and the atmosphere became painfully awkward.
“Peter Parker?”
Gwen immediately became alert.
“Why did you just come out of there?”
“If I remember correctly, that laboratory requires a password to enter.
What were you doing inside?”
Her expression had turned completely serious.
He certainly couldn’t admit that he had been investigating his parents’ deaths.
He instinctively glanced at Jonathan, his eyes pleading for help.
Jonathan merely gave him a look that said, I can’t save you either.
Peter had no choice but to invent an excuse.
“Well…
the door looked like it had been left open, so I went inside to see if I could find the restroom.”
Even Peter himself thought the excuse sounded absurd.
After speaking, he instinctively scratched the back of his neck.
For some reason, it felt slightly itchy.
Gwen remained suspicious, but when she glanced inside the laboratory, she saw no obvious signs that anything had been searched or stolen.
In the end, she could only let him go for the time being.
Jonathan’s eyesight had already been greatly enhanced by his Coordinator genetics.
Because of that, he saw it clearly.
A small red spider-bite mark had appeared on the back of Peter’s neck.
The moment Jonathan saw it, he understood.
Spider-Man was officially online.
“Jonathan, wait here for me.”
Gwen suddenly turned toward him.
“I’m going inside to see what Peter was doing in there.”
Without waiting for Jonathan to respond, she walked to the door, entered the password, and pushed her way into the laboratory.
She searched for quite some time but found no trace of what Peter had been doing.
In the end, she could only emerge looking helpless.
Over the next few days, Peter appeared no different from before.
Then, one day, inside the school gymnasium…
MJ—Michelle Jones—was lying on the floor with several other girls, working on promotional signs for the following day’s competition.
She wore a pink vest over a gray hoodie.