It has been two full months since the incident at the police station. In this time that seems to have passed in the blink of an eye, the big event surprisingly did not happen.

George. Stacy has announced her abdication and returned to her old position. Although many media still hope to find more news about him, George used his next performance to silence everyone.

With the death of Kim, the underground gangsters, who lack a real leader, are in complete disarray. The low-level thugs who had lost their 'jobs' began to make trouble in the streets again, and began to use innocent citizens as a source of their own money. And the situation at a higher level is not much better. Instead of disappearing, those gang fights escalated again with Kim's death. Almost every week, you can see the news of large fights.

And George's team has solved case after case in this chaotic period, and its behavior and achievements are so perfect that it is difficult to find fault. Of course, those who have a heart point out that the Red Knight has appeared in many of the large-scale events he has resolved. However, many more people just see this as a coincidence.

As for Peter himself, this ordinary life seemed to him like nectar after a long drought. He is able to devote more of his time to school and his daily life.

After completing the final exam of his sophomore year of high school, a month's vacation gave him a lot of pocket money and time to spend with Gewen, which made his little life quite nourishing. Mary. Jane returns to Boston near the end of the holidays, and Peter doesn't have to deal with Gwen's petty tantrums over her.

As for his abilities...

Peter was kneeling on his bed with his eyes closed. Having completely relinquished control of his body and putting all his attention on his own consciousness, Peter's mental power began to spread unconsciously, and began to perceive, to see, to 'see' everything it touched in a way that is difficult to describe in words.

He saw Uncle Ben and Aunt Mei downstairs, pedestrians hurrying downstairs, and even children playing in the park two streets away.

And just then, a cold feeling appeared in Peter's brain. And those who were shrouded by Peter's mental power also seemed to sense that something was wrong, and began to look at their surroundings invariably.

Peter took two deep breaths and opened his eyes.

The hidden danger left by Kilgrave in his mind still hasn't completely dissipated. After that battle, Peter seemed to have broken through a certain bottleneck, and the growth of his mental power, which had almost stopped, accelerated again. And those dark fragments of spiritual power took root and hid in his brain in a more subtle way, and grew with him. While this does not affect his use of the Force, it has other negative effects.

After finishing his morning practice, Peter gave a hache and walked down the stairs after changing into his school uniform. When he came to the hall, he was somewhat surprised to see a headline in the newspaper in Uncle Ben's hand that interested him.

"Three hundred and sixty days! The change and impact of the Red Mask on New York. ”

A sense of unreality suddenly emerged from his heart. yes, a whole year has passed since the moment he put that mask on. And his life has also undergone earth-shaking changes.

"Oh? What did Red Mask do again? Peter asked, pretending to be nonchalant, as he filled his plate with eggs and roasted mushrooms. At this time, he was a young and vigorous teenager after all, and he was very welcome to any words that praised him, let alone official media such as newspapers.

After all, the newspaper now praises the character of 'Red Mask' in addition to praise.

"Hey, now the newspapers have started to call him the Red Knight. Wearing red armor, a knight who can always appear in a critical moment. Uncle Ben grinned and threw the newspaper in his hand on the table. But the person who wrote this article is kind of interesting. J. Jonah Jameson, the one who dared to disagree at this time was either a man of courage or a madman. ”

"Huh?" Peter raised his brow and picked up the newspaper that Uncle Ben had thrown down. And when he began to read the article under the title, his face inevitably became a little ugly.

“... This masked man, who calls himself a hero, has no qualms in using his brute force to punish those he deems 'guilty'. Even if he did send many criminals to prison, can we really trust the judgment of a person, an unofficial person, so unconditionally? As for the legitimacy of Red Mask's actions, that's even more..."

“... Every action of every person has its own purpose. And the purpose of the Red Mask is undoubtedly fame. He seems to only care about whether his actions make headlines the next day, and he doesn't care about the consequences of his actions. Take, for example, the robbery in Central Park four months ago. Red Mask did prevent a heinous armed robbery, but the chain of car accidents caused by his actions left six people in the hands of six people and millions of dollars in property damage. He cares..."

“... What is even more worrying is the beautification of his image. I believe everyone can understand that a change in a trademark is enough to greatly affect everyone's perception of the product itself. And the same is true of the Red Mask. Knight, this title represents justice, represents virtue. And the red mask has nothing to do with the above two points at all! However, this false name has been..."

Peter found that he could no longer read, and he threw the newspaper on the table, trying to control his ups and downs with his breathing. What he wants to do most now is to run to the office of the author of this article and let him see the consequences of talking nonsense.

Wait a minute...

At this time, Peter was shocked to realize that the idea that he had just popped up was far from his own values. Moved by such thoughts just because of someone else's words? Is he really just a villain chasing fame and fortune?

Thinking of this, Peter couldn't help but be a little frustrated. He sat down at the table and looked at Uncle Ben, who was munching on breakfast. After thinking about it carefully, Peter decided to open his mouth to see what the man he respected the most thought.

"Uncle Ben, do you think what this article says makes sense?"

"Hmm—" Uncle Ben gave Peter a strange look, and Peter avoided his gaze. After thinking for a few seconds, Uncle Ben spoke slowly.

"If you ask me, this article is clearly just a tool to attract attention and stir up controversy. But there are a few points in it that I quite agree with. Red Mask... Well, now it's the Red Knight, whatever he wants to call himself, but at the end of the day he's a guy who wants to attract the attention of others and wants to be famous. ”

Uncle Ben put half a piece of bacon into his mouth and chewed it for a moment before continuing: "To tell you the truth, I have always put such a person in my headlines. Today's newspapers no longer have the professional qualities of our time. Giving attention and fame to the Red Knight will only create a whole bunch of young people who want to emulate him. If you don't believe me, wait half a year and watch again. ”

"That's a bit of an exaggeration." With two cups of coffee, Aunt Mei, who was also sitting at the table, showed a completely different opinion. "He's doing good deeds. Don't forget the incident at the police station not long ago, he saved so many policemen, how can he be a bad guy? ”

"Hey, you're a woman." Uncle Ben raised his fork and shook it a few times at Aunt May. "I didn't say this guy was a bad guy. He's certainly done a lot of good things in the last few months. But just because he does something good doesn't necessarily mean he's a good person. ”

Uncle Ben picked up the newspaper again and pointed out the deeds of the Red Knight listed in the article. "You see, this red knight only appeared in important situations, obviously just to make a name for himself. If he really just wanted to help everyone, with his ability beyond ordinary people, why did he only show up when there were big cases? ”

Uncle Ben had already spoken to the point of interest, and it seemed that he was usually quite concerned about this matter, and the opinions in his heart were constantly turning from his mouth to words.

“... Not to mention his behavior after every appearance! Every time, almost every time he did just subdue the criminals. The ultimate goal of a true hero should not be to defeat the wicked, but to protect and help ordinary people. This is the true meaning of heroism! ”

Uncle Ben finished talking in one breath, and then he felt that he was a lot smoother. He picked up his coffee cup in a happy mood, and at this time, he realized that Aunt Mei's expression was a little wrong. Her eyebrows were curled, and her nose was pumping in anger.

That's when Uncle Ben realized that he had made a serious mistake.

Benjamin. Parker, do you have the courage to repeat the first sentence you just said? She asked word by word, and Uncle Ben couldn't help but shrink his whole body under this tyrannosaurus-like aura.

Peter, who was sitting on the other side of the table, bowed his head silently and devoured it, he didn't want to get involved in the dragon fight between Uncle Ben and Aunt May. And while he tried to ignore the quarrel across the table, Uncle Ben's words unconsciously came to his mind again.

There is no doubt that Uncle Ben's words were a wake-up call for him. The series of struggles with Kim in the past few months have changed him unconsciously, and he once just wanted to go out and help others, but now he is focusing all his attention on fighting criminals.

Protecting innocent people and defeating enemies can coexist, but they are fundamentally different. And Peter knew exactly what he wanted to be.

"What I'm supposed to do is... Help others...," Peter muttered to himself.

It's time to think about what you did in the first place, and to be back to who you were in the beginning.