Little Spider looked at the distant explosion, his eyes under the mask wide with disbelief, his voice full of incredulity: "Could it be that Mr. Stark will also become a superhero?"
Is he crazy? What billionaire doesn't spend his time carousing at home, but instead runs around the city fighting crime? Is he insane?
If Gwen knew what Little Spider was thinking at this moment, her smile would probably become even more 'benevolent'.
Is it outrageous? She has at least two in her hometown.
One is in Star City, and the other is her sister.
"Even more exaggerated." Gwen observed Spider-Man's reaction with interest. "Tony, like you, firmly believes that with great power comes great responsibility. But you have this belief because of Uncle Ben's earnest teachings, while he..."
She deliberately drew out the end of her sentence, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.
"It's because of confidence, or... arrogance," Ethan sighed helplessly.
His sigh contained two reasons.
Firstly, based on his understanding of Tony Stark's character, it wouldn't be impossible for Tony to build a mecha army to protect the entire World.
Secondly, he fully realized that his new boss seemed to have a rather twisted sense of humor.
Little Spider was genuinely confused at this moment.
Coincidentally, he hadn't seen Mark I.
By the time Mark I was wreaking havoc, he had already been brought here by Gwen.
Ethan briefly explained what the two of them had made in the cave and the environment in which it was created.
Upon learning that Ethan and Gwen anticipated Tony Stark might create more advanced suits when he returned to New York, Little Spider's eyes lit up.
All-metal battle suit? Cool!
If it weren't for the difficulty of swinging webs while wearing a metal battle suit, he would definitely want a set.
Understanding the meaning of Ethan and Gwen's previous conversation, Little Spider suddenly realized: "So that's it! If Mr. Stark really becomes a superhero, even if he doesn't reveal his identity, the high-tech battle suits he makes later will still make people think of Stark Industries!"
Dr. Paradox, standing by, stroked his chin, a hint of understanding in his eyes: "Based on my experience, a company endorsed by a hero can have an influence that radiates throughout the entire Universe."
Just kidding, in those Worlds of Ben, who doesn't love Ben10000?
"Even if that's not the case, Tony Stark has found an industry to replace weapon production, hasn't he?" Gwen's smile was exceptionally bright at this moment.
Ethan's eyes lit up: "That small arc reactor in his chest?!"
"The plan is simple, it's like this! When Stark Industries' stock plummets due to the closure of its weapons division, we buy low; then, when Tony debuts as a hero, or uses his own methods to restore his reputation, we sell high, or hold long-term for dividends." Gwen said this, then suddenly turned to Ethan, blinking, "At worst, Ethan, you can use your old connections to ask Tony if he wants to buy back the stock!"
Ethan subconsciously nodded, as he genuinely felt the plan was feasible.
However, speaking of this, he was still a bit worried. After a long silence, he slowly began, "Boss, since you could save me, could you also save Stark?"
Upon hearing this, Gwen's lips curved into a mysterious smile, and she waved her hand: "No need to rush, even if I don't go to save him myself..."
Before she could finish, a sudden 'boom' echoed from afar, shaking the Earth. Immediately after, explosions erupted one after another, like thunderclaps in their ears.
Ethan's heart jumped, and he instinctively looked towards the cave.
There, flames soared into the sky, and smoke billowed, but within it, a fireball, enveloped in thick smoke, shot upwards. An object resembling a missile, trailing a long plume of fire, launched from the direction of the cave and streaked across the desert.
Gwen narrowed her eyes, watching the distant chaos, and calmly finished her previous sentence.
"After all, a true hero, no matter what predicament he encounters, can escape with his life."
...After confirming that Tony Stark's Rocket had successfully launched and then successfully crashed in the desert, Gwen began to pack her luggage.
As Gwen stuffed some items, including her suitcase, into the trunk, Peter Parker, who had put on regular clothes over his spandex suit, couldn't help but remind her.
"Bo... Boss, I don't think we can drive from Afghanistan back to the United States."
Gwen rolled her eyes at this, pulling out a small booklet from her pocket.
She couldn't leave this car here. After being modified by Grey Matter, this thing was considered top-tier Earth technology.
The arc reactor installed on it alone absolutely could not be left here.
She even planned to take it back as a gift for her sister, who was entering her rebellious phase.
However, the car was too large, and Gwen felt that Backwards Magic might not be able to shrink it that small.
She simply decided to try using the spellbook Grandpa Mark had given her, and secretly reminded herself to find time to visit Hank Pym to see if she could get some Pym Particles to play with.
Gwen held the ancient-looking spellbook to her chest, her fingertips quickly skimming over the yellowed pages, finally stopping on a particular one.
She narrowed her eyes, her expression focused, and began to chant, low and mysterious syllables emanating from her lips, swirling in the air.
As she chanted the spell, a faint purple glow gradually emanated from her body, growing brighter and brighter. Suddenly, Gwen sharply raised her hand, and a brilliant, pale purple magic beam shot out from her fingertips like lightning, accurately striking the modified car.
A miraculous scene then unfolded. The vehicle, enveloped in the magic beam, rapidly shrunk at a visible speed.
In the blink of an eye, the original car transformed into a miniature model the size of a Hot Wheels toy car, lying quietly on the ground, as exquisite as a work of art.
"Cool!" Peter Parker's eyes widened. He rushed over to Gwen in a few steps, pointing at the toy car, now the size of a Hot Wheels, his voice full of envy, "Boss, I want to learn this!"
Gwen casually stuffed the spellbook into her pocket and said in a coaxing tone, "Be good, you can't learn this. I'll teach you something else when I have time."
After picking up the small car model from the ground and putting it in her pocket, Gwen looked at Dr. Paradox.
She meant for Dr. Paradox to open a portal and send them back to New York.
After all, that's how they arrived.
However, Dr. Paradox merely smiled and took out the World Jumper Navigator from his pocket.
"I've already taught you how to use it. Now it's your turn to try it yourself."
Gwen took it in her hand and quickly scanned its list of functions.
Seeing functions such as accelerating time, slowing down time, pausing time, time reversal, and rewinding object time on the World Jumper Navigator, even though these functions had certain limitations, Gwen was still very pleasantly surprised.
Although she hadn't unlocked Clockwork yet, Dr. Paradox and Azmuth had given her an experience version.
If there was a way to combine these functions on the World Jumper Navigator with the heroes in the little broken watch, among other things, XLR8 should be able to run even faster.
Putting away her excitement, Gwen controlled the pocket watch to open a portal.
When Peter Parker followed the others through the portal and arrived on a rooftop in New York, he couldn't help but be stunned.
"We just came back like that?"
"Yeah, it's not like we could really take a plane, right?" After a moment of hesitation, Gwen then seemed to remember something and asked, "Speaking of which, Peter, how did you get to Afghanistan? There weren't any problems with immigration procedures, were there?"
Thinking about how he had secretly stowed away in the luggage compartment, transferred once, and hitched rides with others to find that cave, Peter Parker felt like crying.
Gwen turned and looked around, and seeing the bald woman in the orange robe sitting there sunbathing, she waved in greeting.
The woman saw the four of them, smiled and waved back, then comfortably lay back down to continue enjoying the Sun.