Chapter 106: The Mutual Restraint of All Things

“By the way, what’s going on with the streets here?” Coulson pointed to the neatly lined-up trash bins outside the Zhongshen Clinic, then gestured toward the overflowing garbage bins down the street—those were the usual state of Ingram Street.

The bulky agent followed his finger and instantly understood Coulson’s question.

“These are cleaned by the local gangs,” he replied.

“Gangs?” Coulson was puzzled. It was the first time he had heard of gangs moonlighting as cleaners...

The hefty agent wore a strange expression as he recounted everything he knew. “I heard the target mentioned once that the doorstep was too dirty...”

“So those gangs, trying to curry favor, started cleaning up in front of Zhongshen Clinic... Some gangs from other streets even trekked long distances just to help with the trash once in a while.”

At this point, the agent’s face was filled with disbelief.

He simply couldn’t understand why the target held such authority among these gangs. He added, “Later, to compete for the cleaning rights here, those gangs even fought a battle over it... Naturally, no one would back down until they finally made a schedule—Gang A cleans Monday, Gang B cleans Tuesday.”

“This ridiculous upheaval finally ended. Thanks to these gangs’ tireless efforts, this area became unbelievably clean...”

Unbelievable. Coulson listened, stunned. He couldn’t help but wonder: Had Zhongshen Xiu become the kingpin of New York’s gangs without him knowing?

He recalled the day he escorted Zhongshen Xiu back, when those gangs lined up quietly at the door like well-behaved children.

The more he thought about it, the more plausible this theory seemed.

A simple complaint about a dirty doorstep could trigger countless gangs to fight over the cleaning job. Zhongshen Xiu’s influence among these gangs was extraordinary... Coulson thought, even the so-called gang emperors might not command such respect.

Having resolved his doubts, Coulson decided not to waste more breath with this overly smart agent. Instead, he fell silent, gazing into the distance.

That direction was Stark Industries in New York.

Rafael is so slow... Coulson thought.

———

“...Are you done yet!?”

Gwen found herself on the rooftop of that building, hands on her hips, bent over and gasping for air. Her tight suit revealed the subtle rise and fall of her youthful chest, clearly exhausted.

She glared at Peter, who was still chasing her relentlessly like a deadly shadow, and snapped irritably.

The moment Peter shot out his web, Gwen knew she probably wouldn’t outrun him. Besides, she had wasted too much time fighting him.

She couldn’t even spot the truck anymore and was being tracked.

So after just a few steps, Gwen changed direction, intending to signal to Peter: I’m not chasing the truck anymore, so you can stop chasing me.

But Peter seemed determined to lock horns with her today. No matter which way she turned, he followed without hesitation or relent.

This infuriated Gwen, who immediately went all out, moving between floors with the fastest parkour speed she could muster, trying to shake Peter off.

And then...

She ended up breathless like now... not a step ahead of Peter.

Mainly because he was cheating. He could swing on webs; she was relying on her legs alone. She simply couldn’t match his stamina, Gwen thought.

Peter looked toward the bent-over figure in black and white, clearly exhausted, and felt a thrill of victory. He shook his aching arms, controlled his own heavy breaths, and taunted:

“Wh-why’d you stop running?”

From the moment Gwen leapt to the next floor and looked down on Peter with contempt as he struggled to clear the gap, the nature of their fight changed.

After all, Peter had been swinging between skyscrapers for months as Spider-Man. He wouldn’t let his traversal skills be bested by some unknown who only knew how to run.

So even though Ivan had told him the truck had already reached the base and he could return, Peter chose to keep chasing—not for anything else, but to restore Spider-Man’s glory!

...Perhaps this was the difference between a child and an adult’s mindset. Zhongshen Xiu and Tony had fought as if their lives depended on it—as far as Tony was concerned, that was true. Meanwhile, these two kids were playing a game of chase:

“You chase me~ If you catch me~ I’ll let you... no, that’s not right; it should be:

I, Gwen Peter, hereby recognize you as the fastest Spider-Man at traversing buildings!”

Seeing that Peter hadn’t attacked immediately after landing, and knowing she couldn’t beat him, Gwen ignored his taunts.

Instead, she plopped down on the ground, catching her breath, and casually opened a conversation to probe:

“You’re so strong. Are you working with that truck robbery gang?”

Peter enjoyed this bit of flattery and felt pleased, but no matter how confident he was, he wouldn’t betray Zhongshen Xiu.

So he denied firmly, “No.”

Gwen instantly confirmed her suspicions.

She pressed on, “What did you steal from Stark Industries?”

“What we stole...” Peter was about to say “None of your business,” but then caught himself. He quickly corrected, “What we? I’m not with those robbers!”

“Uh-huh, you’re not. I believe you,” Gwen said casually.

“Is there something dangerous inside Stark Industries?” she asked again. After calming down, she still wanted to trust Peter’s character. Although a bit clumsy, he was kind-hearted and wouldn’t do such evil for no reason.

But Peter was wiser now. He flatly refused, “I told you, I’m not with them. I don’t know their plans...”

Oh? There’s a plan, Gwen thought.

Indeed, to pull off this robbery, besides the truck driver and Peter, there had to be another person distracting Stark Industries’ security.

And those guards who collapsed like wheat? Probably caused by that other group.

After some probing, Gwen got what she wanted. Now, by following Peter and eliminating possibilities step by step, they would uncover all the clues of this robbery.

She waved Peter off, “I’m leaving first.” Then she turned abruptly, warning, “Don’t chase me anymore. I really don’t want to run again!”

Peter smiled broadly as she fled.

Sure enough, under my flawless words, she got nothing and left disappointed—

If Zhongshen Xiu were here, he’d definitely slam Peter down, scolding him for being clever usually but turning into a silly fool around Gwen.

Oh, by the way, Peter still hadn’t realized it was Gwen...