Chapter 189: A New Company
After finishing today's edition of the Daily Bugle featuring Spider-Man, Flash Thompson took out a comic book from his backpack. Since he was a child, Flash had been obsessed with the superheroes in comics, and the emergence of Spider-Man had further fueled his dream of becoming one. Unfortunately, that dream was currently far out of reach.
"Hey~ Flash is reading a report about you." Silas, using his excellent vision, spotted the text on Flash's newspaper and nudged Peter with his elbow.
Peter quickly covered Silas's mouth and whispered, "Shh~ keep it down! Be careful, or Flash will hear you."
"I'm sure Flash didn't hear me, but he definitely heard you," Silas said, patting Peter's hand away.
Peter turned to look at the back row. Sure enough, Flash was staring at him with a look of confusion.
"Did that nerd Peter just mention me?" Flash thought. He seemed to have heard his name come out of Peter's mouth. Their gazes met, and for some reason, the air briefly turned thick with an awkward tension.
"Phew~" Peter quickly turned back around and took a deep breath. The atmosphere just now felt weird. Flash also shook his head; what was he doing, staring at a nerd for so long?
"What's wrong?" Silas asked. Was it really worth getting so nervous just because Flash caught him looking?
Peter shook his head. "It's nothing."
"I feel like you're hiding something from me." Silas looked at Peter suspiciously; he smelled a hint of deception.
"No, no," Peter said with a sheepish smile.
"You know, Peter, there are many foul smells in this world, but the smell of a lie is the worst." Silas spoke without blushing once—even though he had told countless lies himself, he didn't hesitate when lecturing Peter.
"Give it a rest, Silas. I know you too well." Peter made a face that said he had already seen through him. He was no longer that simple high school sophomore; he was a senior now! And college life was just around the corner.
"What about me?" Silas spread his hands and shrugged. He saw himself clearly. He certainly wasn't fit to be a superhero, nor was he a supervillain, because he only acted for profit. However, regarding family, he felt he had done quite well, especially for his older brother in this life, Peter.
"Silas, which college are you planning to apply to?" Peter thought for a moment; he needed to know Silas's ambitions first.
"Empire State University," Silas replied.
"Sigh~ this is so boring," Ned said, slumping onto his desk.
"Boring? I think it's actually alright." Peter was busy taking notes on the key points the teacher was lecturing about.
Ned turned to Silas and reached out his hand for a high-five. "Silas, I bet you feel the same way I do, right?"
Slap!
Silas high-fived Ned but responded, "Nope. I actually think this class is quite interesting."
"I knew we were... wait, what?! Interesting?!" Ned's eyes widened in shock. Did he hear that right? Silas actually called the class interesting!
"Has God appeared?" Misty looked toward the sky outside the window after hearing their conversation.
"Of course not~" Silas said, playfully pinching Misty's cheek.
"Impossible. I must be dreaming," Ned said in disbelief. Between the Parker brothers, wasn't it usually Peter who loved studying while Silas didn't? Now they both seemed to enjoy it; it was too strange.
"Could aliens have invaded Silas's brain?" Ned said, letting his imagination run wild.
Peter turned around and laughed. "Hey~ don't say that. Silas is finally trying to study; don't go discouraging him."
"Sigh~ am I the only academic failure left now?" Ned said helplessly. He was only interested in mechanics and computer programming.
"Speaking of which, Ned, what college are you applying to?" Peter asked. After all, they had been close friends throughout three years of high school.
Ned went silent for a moment. "What about you guys?"
"Empire State University," Peter, Silas, and Misty said in unison.
"You guys planned this?" Ned was surprised. Why hadn't he heard a word of this?
"Well, as Silas's brother—and the older one at that—I have to look out for him," Peter explained. In truth, he just didn't want the two of them to be separated; he was used to being with Silas.
"I don't even need to say it, right?" Misty said, grabbing Silas's arm and hugging it tightly.
"You guys are breaking my heart! You didn't even tell me in advance," Ned said, clutching his chest in mock agony.
Peter put a hand on Ned's shoulder. "Well, we're telling you now, aren't we?"
"I'm going to Empire State University too," Ned said firmly. Since Peter was going there, he couldn't be separated from his best friend.
"Good luck, Ned," Peter encouraged.
"Don't worry! Once I break up with Freelon, I'm going to study hard." Ned made up his mind to set aside his romantic life for a while, hit the books, and get into ESU.
"Freelon? That hottie from the other class? You actually landed her?" Peter asked in disbelief, looking Ned up and down. He didn't think he was any worse-looking than Ned.
"Not bad, Peter. You're using the word 'hottie' now," Ned teased, giving Peter a thumbs up.
"How did you get a date with her?" Peter asked, unwilling to accept it.
Hearing this, Ned put on a profound expression. "Peter, sometimes love is like a gale of wind—you just can't stop it."
"..." Peter suspected Ned was just showing off.
Silas, however, looked at Ned with newfound respect. As expected of the "Guy in the Chair," his efficiency was impressive—he even got the girl from the other class. Silas had seen Freelon a few times; her figure was incredible, her face was pretty, and she had a ton of pursuers. For Ned to land her was quite the feat.
"Alright, let's get back to talking about studying." Having felt everyone's gaze, Ned finally felt like he had regained some dignity. It seemed he could bring this up whenever he felt suppressed.
Elsewhere
"The business license is fine, and all the procedures have been completed. Congratulations, Mr. Rida, your company is officially open for business." A man in a formal suit reached out his hand in congratulation; a secretary stood beside him.
"Alright. Take care," the company owner said, watching the government official leave.
The reason a government official had come personally was that the registered capital of this company had reached one billion dollars.
"Mission accomplished." Once the official was gone, the company owner tore off his clothes, revealing his true form: a Black Shadow Ninja.
Silas had amassed a massive amount of wealth; he couldn't just let it sit there and rot without opening a legitimate company. As for identification documents, money can make even the devil turn the millstone. The Shadow Corps had found a local civilian, and after giving him some benefits, he readily agreed to register the company in his name. The Shadow Corps wasn't worried about the man turning on them; if he dared to do so, he wouldn't live to see the next sunrise.
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