Chapter 318: Harry's Identity as the Green Goblin Exposed!
Silas and Peter began to organize the contents of the wooden box, laying everything out to categorize them. The items included photographs, diaries, a work ID badge, a notebook filled with formulas and symbols, newspapers, a calculator, a pair of glasses, and an access card.
Having already skimmed the photos, ID, and diaries, Silas set them aside. Peter picked up the notebook filled with formulas, while Silas picked up the newspaper. The headlines reported on the "accidental" death of their parents.
The report stated that the two had met with an accident mid-flight; the plane crashed, and both were killed, leaving no remains to be found.
"Silas, look." Peter put on Richard's glasses.
"You look a lot like him," Silas said with a slight smile. Indeed, Peter took after Richard, while Silas himself bore a stronger resemblance to their mother, Mary.
They began examining the remaining items. First, they focused on the access card—what door was it meant for?
"It should be related to Oscorp," Silas noted, holding up Richard's Oscorp employee badge.
"Should we go try it out some other time?" Peter asked, his interest piqued.
"We'll see." Silas wasn't particularly interested; Oscorp didn't hold anything he truly wanted. He could guess that the card was likely used to access a specific laboratory back then.
Finally, only the notebook filled with formulas remained. Peter immediately flipped it open to study it, discovering several formulas related to anti-aging decay. However, there was nothing seemingly classified about them; anyone researching anti-aging fusion could likely derive these.
Was this all their parents had left behind?
Peter turned his attention back to the wooden box. He reached out and tapped the wood.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Peter and Silas locked eyes immediately. The compartment was hollow, meaning something else was hidden inside. Silas didn't bother looking for a latch; he used brute force to break the false bottom, revealing a hidden brown notebook.
"Let me see, Silas." Peter snatched the notebook. As soon as he opened it, he realized something was different.
"What is this..." Peter squinted. Compared to the first notebook, the formulas here were exponentially more complex. Even Peter struggled to grasp them, only recognizing that it was still the decay algorithm, but far more advanced. It was like comparing a multiplication table to high-level calculus.
"What's wrong?" Silas asked.
Peter said excitedly, "We need to study this notebook carefully. I have a feeling something big is hidden in here."
Silas glanced at the pages. Like Peter, he couldn't fully understand the calculations at a glance. Many parts required looking up external reference data.
Click!
Ben Parker pushed the door open. Peter instinctively shoved the brown notebook under the bed.
"Oh my... Peter, you really do look like him," Ben Parker sighed the moment he saw Peter wearing the glasses. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "How is the search going?"
"It's alright. By the way, Uncle Ben, did you know Father worked at Oscorp?" Peter asked.
Ben Parker nodded. "Of course I knew. Though, back then, I thought he was just a regular employee. But looking at you two now, it seems he wasn't just a low-level worker." Ben shook his head with a smile.
Ben didn't know much about his brother Richard; it seemed Richard always had secrets. After marrying Mary, that was even more true—the couple had their own little secrets they weren't willing to share with Ben. The reason was simple: to protect him. The more he knew, the faster danger would find him.
"Richard was good to us. When May and I got married and needed money, he always lent a hand and never asked for repayment. That time they left in such a hurry... after handing you and Silas over to us, it was as if they already knew their fate. We couldn't get in touch with them after that, until we saw the names of the victims in the newspaper crash report." Ben sighed.
Even though the paper called it an "accident," Ben Parker couldn't bring himself to believe it. The whole situation was riddled with suspicious details. But what could he do? He was just an ordinary man. To avoid being targeted, he had to pretend nothing happened and focus on raising Peter and Silas.
For this reason, Ben and May never had children of their own; they had raised the Parker brothers as if they were their own flesh and blood. They did their best to provide parental love, though they knew it could never truly replace Richard and Mary. Regardless, Peter and Silas had long viewed Ben and May as their true parents.
"You two keep looking," Ben said, standing up. He trusted Peter and Silas's judgment.
After Ben left, Peter sat in silence for a moment before quickly pulling the formula book from under the bed and sitting at his computer to look up data. Since there was only one computer, Silas didn't want to disturb him. He packed up the other items and returned to his own room. He would wait for Peter to crack the code.
Once in his room, Silas locked the door, opened his own computer, and sent several familiar formula sets to Peter's email. Silas and Little Black had researched similar concepts before, so he understood the logic. Sending them to Peter would save his brother from taking unnecessary detours.
With that done, Silas prepared for his "ranked match" of the day. Playing arcade games was getting old; it was time to start his first real competitive test in the Marvel world.
The Dragon and the Goblin
Elsewhere.
"What can you give me?" The Mandarin sat high on his dragon throne, looking down at the figure standing before him.
"We can cooperate. We share a common enemy," a dark figure said in a raspy voice.
"Common enemy?! Hahaha!" The Mandarin looked up and laughed. "Your enemy is Spider-Man, while mine are Iron Man and Destiny. Are those supposedly the same?"
"Don't push it! You're the one who sought me out first!" the figure roared in anger.
"Fine, fine. Just a joke," the Mandarin said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I need you to provide me with funding and materials."
"And you? A trade must be of equal value," the figure asked.
"Me? I'll help you kill Spider-Man," the Mandarin said with extreme arrogance. In his eyes, Spider-Man was beneath his notice.
"And is that just an empty promise?" The man stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to be Harry Osborn!
Upon returning to Oscorp, he had received a message from a stranger—the Mandarin himself.
"Trust me, it is no empty promise," the Mandarin said, clenching his right hand. The five rings on his fingers glowed with a brilliant light.
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