By Wednesday, Cindy still hadn't come to school. Peter shared the news with Amadeus and Harry. Harry looked at Peter with a look of considerable surprise. "Going abroad? You mean New York won't have a Spider-Man for a long time to come?"
"Personally, I feel like New York has plenty of Spider-Men right now—though of course, I know what you mean. Thanks, brother. Naturally, I have a plan. I intend to hand one of my old suits over to Flash, or simply have Venom mimic the appearance of a Spider-Suit, letting Agent Venom cover my shifts for a few days. If something truly urgent comes up, you guys can always contact me—provided you can reach me, that is."
Hearing this, Harry was a little taken aback. "Man, 'provided you can reach me' doesn't sound like a good thing at all."
"Because I'm not sure if that place has internet access, though there's definitely network coverage all over the place over there."
As Peter spoke, he also gave his brothers a few instructions. "So, I won't be able to participate in the detective agency's activities for the next few weeks. Please ask Senior Jessica for a leave of absence on my behalf. Also, keep an eye on those freshmen for me. You know who I mean—the group whose parents were arrested by SHIELD."
Peter was, of course, referring to the members of the Runaways, who had relocated their story from San Francisco to New York. According to the original plotline, after discovering that their parents were members of an evil organization and even wanted to sacrifice them, these children would flee in terror, which was precisely why they were called the Runaways. During this process, they would awaken and develop their own abilities—some of which weren't superpowers—and achieve personal growth.
But now, SHIELD had interrupted that entire process. They had directly raided the gathering of those atrocious parents, locking every single one of those remarkable individuals up in the Vault prison. As for the children, they temporarily inherited their parents' estates, with SHIELD handling a portion of the management. Meanwhile, the Avengers planned to turn them into the very first batch of students at the Avengers Academy.
The Avengers had asked Peter, who was also a student at Midtown High, to pay more attention to the situation of these kids. Peter hardly had that kind of time, so he subcontracted the job to Harry, who didn't have much else going on anyway. These days, aside from playing video games, Harry's most important task was keeping an eye on those young people.
"Alright, leave it to me. By the way, do you want to come over to my place to hang out before you leave? Coincidentally, there's no one else at my house right now." Harry finished and added, "You can bring as many people as you want."
Amadeus gave a highly helpless yet objective reply, "I can't bring anyone."
"It's best if I don't bring anyone either. Besides, I don't even know which day I'm leaving yet; it depends on when the tour guide is free." Peter said as he packed his backpack. "Alright, I'll take a good look at New York before I go. I'll be gone for half a month at most. If it takes any longer, I should be back. I have to come back eventually. Don't miss me too much, friends."
Amidst the laughing mock-insults of his friends, Peter left the classroom and walked over to his locker. He sent a few messages to Cindy, who said her condition was much better, though he didn't know if she was simply comforting him. Meanwhile, Gwen came rushing over like a whirlwind, happening to run right into Peter, who had finished packing his things and was waiting for her.
"How am I just now hearing the news that you're going abroad?"
"I told you this afternoon... so it's not exactly 'just now' hearing it." Peter shrugged helplessly. "And strictly speaking, I only got the idea the day before yesterday, and only made up my mind yesterday."
"Why the sudden rush?"
"It's not really a rush, it just so happened to line up, so I decided to go for it."
Peter replied this way, only to see Gwen staring at him. She spoke with a hint of perplexity, "If it's not a rush, then why not wait for another time? For example, during the winter or summer break?"
"It just so happened to line up, that's all."
Peter shrugged to indicate it was no big deal, and then threw a question back at Gwen, "But before I go, I'm actually pretty free. Do you want to go on patrol together? Who knows, maybe we'll run into some blind criminals or something."
Gwen raised an eyebrow. She got the feeling that Peter was hiding something from her again—or rather, there were simply far too many things he hadn't told her, and he especially hadn't told her about this one. However, she didn't call him out on it. Instead, she planned to look into it properly herself.
Besides, going on patrol together was indeed something the two of them hadn't experienced before. Gwen was still looking forward to it.
"In that case, let's go together."
Danny's timing was quite tight because he was already prepared to set off by the weekend. Peter's passport and other documents were also perfectly fine, so after requesting a leave of absence from school, he prepared to depart. Before leaving, Aunt May helped him pack his luggage and couldn't help but offer her reminders.
"Be careful out there, Peter."
"Don't worry, May. I'm probably going to the safest country in the world, and I can take good care of myself. Besides, I won't be gone for long."
After saying his piece, Peter gave Aunt May a hug, and along the way, he inquired, "Where's Uncle Ben? How come I didn't see him today?"
"Ben went to work. He said you don't need any grand farewell, that a big guy like you can take care of himself and doesn't need him driving you to the airport. But if you need it, I can drive you there in my car." Aunt May smiled. Peter naturally didn't accept the offer, simply telling her to take good care of herself before stepping out the door with his backpack and suitcase.
Just as he stepped outside, he saw the second-floor window of the Stacy house next door pop open, and Gwen poked her head out. "You're leaving?"
"Yes, things are pretty much arranged. Take good care of New York for me, Gwen. Especially the areas Flash might not be able to cover."
"Leave it to me, if you're worried."
Gwen sighed as she spoke. She was initially quite curious about why Peter suddenly wanted to go abroad at this specific time, but unfortunately, even Felicia—whom she believed knew quite a bit about Peter's little secrets—didn't know why he was leaving. In the end, she asked around and discovered that Cindy had been running a fever for a few days, only recovering her health yesterday.
Although there wasn't any concrete proof, Gwen felt that Peter's trip abroad was connected to Cindy's illness.
And so, as she watched Peter walk away, Gwen let out another long sigh. For a moment, she didn't know what to do, so she simply watched him leave in silence, ultimately shaking her head helplessly.
As for Peter, he first paid a visit to the entrance of Rand Medical Corporation, before heading to the airport together with Danny, ready to embark on this journey for the Immortal Weapon trials.
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