18. Osborn Industries and The Horn Daily (Please continue reading!)

Spider-Man... No, that’s not right.

The Spider Spirit has finally made its debut.

Hawk, observing Peter Parker’s rapidly contracting pupils, couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

The reason he had chosen to stand by in the shower room and been indifferent to Peter on the school bus wasn’t just because he didn’t want to get involved in the tragedies of superheroes; it was also because he didn’t want his interference to cause the first-generation Spider Spirit’s launch to fail.

There are three versions of Spider-Man.

Hawk only liked the first-generation Spider Spirit standing before him, whose face resembled the bully Maguire.

As for the Amazing Spider-Man? He didn’t like it at first, but after Garfield brought “The Amazing Spider-Man 3” to life, he grew fond of it by association.

But the Holland Spider-Man? Sorry.

Hawk really couldn’t bring himself to like it.

To put it bluntly, just because Holland’s Spider-Man fell for a Black woman, Hawk’s fondness for him dropped below zero.

So...

As Hawk’s thoughts shifted, he looked at Peter Parker, who was staring blankly at him, seemingly stunned, and was the first to break the silence.

“Good afternoon, Peter.”

“...Good afternoon.”

The bully Maguire snapped back to reality, his face once again settling into a simple expression. After greeting him, he turned to Gwen sitting nearby and greeted her as well: “Gwen.”

At the moment Hawk and Peter made eye contact, Gwen happened to see it too.

Though a bit suspicious inside, Gwen quickly suppressed her doubts and smiled in response. “Good afternoon, Peter. I heard you played a trick on Flash yesterday.”

Yesterday at noon, Peter and Flash Thompson had caused a ruckus in the cafeteria.

Gwen wasn’t there, but others said Peter seemed like a different person, leaving the bully Flash Thompson looking disheveled and humiliated.

Peter didn’t say anything, just scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.

Seeing this, Gwen didn’t press further but made a cheering gesture. “You should have fought back sooner. Keep it up, Peter.”

Peter smiled even more embarrassedly.

Once everyone was present, Mrs. Snow clapped her hands, urging Peter to take a seat. After he settled on the sofa opposite Hawk and Gwen, she walked to her desk and picked up three documents lying on it.

After a while,

Mrs. Snow handed one document to Gwen. “A summer job invitation from Osborn Bio-Industrial — assistant position in Dr. Connors’ laboratory.”

Gwen’s eyes lit up as she took the document. “Thank you. Dr. Connors just told me yesterday that they’d be contacting the school soon. I didn’t expect it to be so quick.”

Even without this document, she could still join Dr. Connors’ lab.

But having this letter would better validate her future resume.

Mrs. Snow then looked at Hawk and Peter. “There are two more summer job invitations, but I wasn’t sure which you’d prefer, so I thought you’d come to the office and choose yourselves.”

As Mrs. Snow spoke, she was about to continue when Hawk suddenly raised his right hand, interrupting her.

“Wait a moment, Mrs. Snow.”

“What’s the matter, Hawk?”

“I still don’t quite understand why I was called here.”

“...”

Mrs. Snow was taken aback, looking at Hawk’s puzzled expression. She couldn’t help but say, “Don’t you remember the chat we had last month in the office?”

Hawk blinked and recalled the scene from last month’s routine one-on-one counseling session.

He remembered it was a routine talk.

Except...

When he was about to leave, Mrs. Snow asked about his summer plans — whether he had found any summer jobs.

Hawk said he hadn’t found one yet, and Mrs. Snow offered to help if he needed it.

He didn’t think much of it and agreed casually.

After all, he really hadn’t found a summer job yet.

Remembering the conversation, Hawk subconsciously took a breath.

Mrs. Snow, amused by Hawk’s change in expression, smiled.

“Remember now?”

“Yes.”

Hawk nodded.

Mrs. Snow chuckled again and brought the topic back, shaking the two remaining documents in her hand. “One is another summer job invitation from Osborn Industries, this time in the Bioelectric Power Department. They need a summer worker to help organize materials. The other is from the Horn News Agency, which also needs a summer worker.”

Though both jobs sounded like they involved little technical skill.

That was indeed the case.

But if you tried to apply on your own, whether to Osborn or Horn News, they’d just say they weren’t hiring.

Because these weren’t just jobs — they were favors from Mrs. Snow.

In other words,

Only by presenting these documents from Mrs. Snow could one secure these summer jobs at Osborn or Horn News.

Peter Parker instinctively looked at Hawk.

“Hawk, why don’t you choose first?”

“I...”

Hawk came back to himself. Just as he was about to tell Mrs. Snow he didn’t plan to work this summer, he suddenly thought of something and changed his mind mid-sentence. “I’ll go to Osborn.”

He had just recalled a paper on gamma rays by Dr. Connors he’d seen in the library.

Perfect timing.

He was thinking of finding an opportunity to meet Dr. Connors, and now the chance had come.

Seeing this, Peter looked at Mrs. Snow. “Then I’ll go to Horn News. I quite like photography.”

Of course.

Not only did he like photography, but he also enjoyed selfies and even selling his selfies to his own newspaper.

Hawk thought this to himself as he listened to Peter.

Mrs. Snow paid no mind to their decisions. Once they’d chosen, she handed the two documents to Hawk and Peter without further ado and then gave them instructions.

“Peter.”

“Hmm.”

“When you report to Horn News, say you’re looking for Mr. J. Jonah Jameson. When you see Mr. Jameson, just give him the document you have. He’ll make the arrangements.”

“Okay.”

“Hawk.”

“Yes, Mrs. Snow.”

“When you get to Osborn Bio-Industrial, go to the Bioelectric Power Engineering Department and look for an engineer named Max Dillon. I’ll have already called ahead to their supervisor.”

“Understood.”

Hawk nodded subtly upon hearing the name.

Max Dillon?

Isn’t that the small-time engineer from “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” the one who thought the world had forgotten him until he fell into an electric eel power barrel and became Electro?

Never mind.

Not my business, Hawk thought, shaking his head internally.

Because compared to Electro, he was far more interested in Dr. Connors’ research on gamma rays.

After all...

He had a hunch that the “Gamma Neutron” he sought was probably connected to Dr. Connors’ work.