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Chapter 104 Don’t Tease Honest Men
TL: Kyous
“Peter, why are you still here? Don’t you need to keep an eye on your project?!”
Peter widened his eyes, “Erm, Mr. Erwin, what about the synthetic Mutated Spider Silk and web shooter? Didn’t you promise you’ll give me?”
“I said, it was a reward for your project.” Leo smiled, “How is your project progressing?”
“Project… The project is progressing well, the mechanical prostheses for commercial use are being quickly built.”
“Peter, you’re slower than me! In just a few days, I’ve already made the formula of web fluid out while your project is still incomplete. You should work even harder!”
Leo caressed his chin and said, “You should go back and keep an eye on your project first. After completing it, I’ll give you the web fluid and web shooter as your rewards. If you’re scared of being drained empty, go out less these nights and shoot fewer webs. Instead, you should save more energy for your work.”
“Oh, alright!” Peter was slightly frustrated when his expectation fell short.
“I’ll finish the project quickly.” After saying that, Peter left for the staircase next to the training ground dejectedly, readying to go back to work.
Wait, what?! Peter, you should at least try to persist, even if it’s just an act. Show your determination, boast, or make guarantees! I’m happy to hand them to you and I’ll give a few words of encouragement too. It will show mutual trust between employees and employers to heighten the employees’ motivation for work!
What’s up with you giving up just like this?!
Leo suddenly felt teasing Peter was a pointless act, even silly. There wasn’t any satisfaction gained from this. Peter was too much of an honest man, he would believe whatever Leo said.
Certainly, one shouldn’t tease honest men, otherwise, it would make one’s heart suffer instead.
“Peter, I’m joking with you just now! The web fluid and web shooter are done, follow me to the lab.”
“Really? That’s great!” Peter didn’t mind at all that Leo was joking with him. His dejected face made a 180-degree turn, becoming an expectant face.
……
Almost all of the employees knew Leo had a private laboratory built in El Building’s basement.
What private here meant was, besides Leo, no one else ever entered it. So, it remained a mystery for one to guess.
Today, the lab finally welcomed its first guest, Peter Parker.
Steam, as the mastermind of El Building, naturally recognized every single employee of El Tech Company.
“Buzz! Good afternoon, Master. Good afternoon, Mr. Parker.” Steam’s crispy voice resounded throughout the lab, making others unable to distinguish its source.
“Who?! Who’s speaking?” Before Leo was able to reply to Steam, Peter jumped in fright and looked at his surroundings. The feedback given by his Spidey Sense only showed Leo and him were the only two living people.
At the right side of the lab’s entrance was a robot with tracks, pretending to play dead. Leo pointed at it and introduced it to Peter, “The one who spoke now is it. Its name is Steam, an intelligent robot that I created.”
Steam finally moved. Its oblong mechanical probe head shook while its two multifunctional mechanical arms swayed back and forth as if greeting Leo with gestures.
“Erm, Mr. Steam, good afternoon to you too! I’m Peter Parker. Nice to meet you.” Peter waved at Steam and Steam nodded back at him. Then, with its tracks buzzing, Steam ran to a corner of the lab. Using its multifunctional mechanical arms Leo installed for it two days ago, it began piling some wooden blocks.
“Peter, over here.” Right now, Leo had arrived in front of an iron shelf. Seeing Peter still standing by the entrance and staring at the faraway Steam, he suddenly let out a chuckle.
Peter approached Leo while looking around the lab, ”Mr. Erwin, your lab is too high-end. It’s even more high-end than every professor’s lab at NYU. I’ve never seen such a lab that’s filled with senses of technology.”
“Mine is different from them. Their research specialized in a single topic, so they only required certain instruments. Mine is all over the place, the lab has every bit of here and there. That’s why you have a refreshing feeling.”
Leo picked up a bottle of fluid from one of the compartments in the middle of the shelf and handed it to Peter, “This is the web fluid I synthesized. Usually, this thing is in inactive liquid form. To use it, stimulate it instantly with a temperature of 89 degrees Celsius. When it meets with air, it will solidify into Mutated Spider Silk.”
Opening the bottle, Peter peered into it and took a sniff of it. It was colorless and odorless.
“Steam, grab the web shooters over.”
“Buzz! Okay.”
Steam, who was busy piling the wooden blocks, suddenly frantically moved its tracks before revving to a table and picking up two items that looked like a wrist guard. Then, he revved in front of Leo.
Plack!
Steam threw the two webs shooters into Leo’s reached-out palm before revving back to his piles of wooden blocks.
“This is the web shooter I made. Every shooter stored two hundred shots worthy of web fluid. Two means four hundred shots, it should be enough for you.” Leo handed one of the web shooters to Peter. Using the remaining one, he demonstrated its usage to Peter.
Peter fiddled with it a bit before succeeding in shooting a shot of spider silk onto the wall.
“The web shooter is powered by the Miniaturized Highly-compressed Battery. A single battery can last for several days. Since you’re familiar with this battery, you can charge it yourself if it runs out of power.”
Handing the other web shooter to Peter, Leo turned to the compartment before taking out a small notebook, “Here’s the manufacturing method of the web fluid. You can figure it out yourself, it shouldn’t be hard for you to make it.”
Watching Peter leafing through the notebook, Leo added, “Don’t be in a rush, you can read it when you get back. Now, I’ve given you the rewards I promised in advance. So, you must work hard and complete your project soon. By then, if you did well, I’ll consider giving you a promotion and raise.”
“Thank you, Mr. Erwin! I’ll work hard for sure.” Peter was overjoyed as he pocketed the notebook.
The web fluid and web shooter were something Leo promised Peter and the consideration of the raise came from Peter’s hard work. All of these were what Peter deserved. Besides, there was still another thing Peter deserved. It was the ventilated mask Leo promised to make for him.
“Steam, stop playing for a bit. Come here and measure Peter’s head.”
Once again, Steam revved over. Under Peter’s curious gaze, Steam’s oblong probe head scanned at Peter’s head.
“Buzz! Project ‘Spider Helmet’, measurements acquired.”
“Peter, I’ll be busy lately. So, it will take some time for the helmet to be done. Be patient about it.” Leo explained a bit before preparing to see the guest out. “There’s nothing else for you now, you can return to your work.”
Thanking again, Peter moved to the lab’s entrance and prepared to leave.
“Buzz! Goodbye, Mr. Parker.”
“Erm, Goodbye, Mr. Steam.”
……
After Peter left, Leo finally had the time to summarize his attainments from the match with Bucky.
Ignoring what method Leo used, he was still capable of defeating Bucky ultimately! This signaled that even when the era of Gods and Demons walking among humans arrived in the Marvel Universe, Leo possessed the ability to protect himself.
With the ability to protect himself, Leo finally could start planning the next order of business.
For example, the plan to gather the Infinity Stones could be brought forward. Then, which stone was the easiest to search for?