Lu Mingfei doesn't want to be a superhero

While Lu Mingfei's departure by helicopter at school had an impact, it wasn't enough to change others' attitudes toward Peter.

It's understandable, considering that Harry Osborn, the sole heir to the chairmanship of the Oscorp Group, is Peter's best friend. Although the Oscorp Group is not as large as the Stark Group, Harry is Peter's classmate and they spend every day together. In terms of influence, Harry is far superior to Lu Mingfei, the major shareholder of Stark, who is far away. But even so, those people still ridicule and ostracize Peter.

After returning home, Lu Mingfei specifically asked Jarvis to keep an eye on Peter's situation.

Lu Mingfei couldn't explain why he did it. Perhaps it was because he saw a reflection of his past self in his former deskmate. But to be honest, Lu Mingfei didn't think he was as miserable as Peter. Back then, he was just an inconspicuous nobody in the class, and no one would specifically come to mock or bully him.

Regardless, he did have a good impression of Peter. At the very least, during the two days he attended school, Peter genuinely cared about his new classmate. Peter first reminded him to be careful of students who liked to bully others, then lent him his notes, and even asked if he needed free tutoring since he had just transferred schools—of course, Peter personally tutored him.

Therefore, he didn't want anything to happen to his friend.

"What happened to Peter?" Lu Mingfei asked.

“He got into a fight with a classmate named Flesh Thompson at school,” Jarvis said.

"How badly is he injured?" Lu Mingfei asked, frowning.

He remembered Flesh; the guy was tall and strong, all muscle, and two or three Peters wouldn't be enough to take him down.

“Peter Parker was not injured. According to the information I’ve gathered, he displayed exceptional reaction speed and strength in his fight with Flesh, easily defeating him,” Jarvis said.

"He's been hiding his true strength, playing dumb to catch a tiger! I underestimated Peter!" Lu Mingfei gasped.

“But he just signed a contract for underground boxing, where he can earn $3,000 if he can last three minutes in the ring, and he has to compete in two hours,” Jarvis said. “According to my investigation, that underground boxing is an illegal activity. The ace fighter is a retired champion who attracts audiences and popularity by physically assaulting his opponents and injuring them. Many of those injured in the ring are permanently disabled.”

"Damn! Has he gone mad?" Lu Mingfei stood up from the sofa. "He'd risk his life for three thousand dollars? Does he have a relative who urgently needs medical expenses?"

“Peter Parker currently lives with his uncle and aunt, both of whom are in good health, with no history of serious illness or significant hospital expenses,” Jarvis said.

“Damn it, where’s the address? Contact the organizers right now and have them stop the competition in my name,” Lu Mingfei grabbed his coat and strode out. “Warn them that if they refuse, their files will be on the New York City Police Commissioner’s desk within a minute, and before that, their backers will abandon them first.”

“Yes, Mr. Lu Mingfei,” Jarvis said. “The address has been sent to your vehicle’s navigation system, and the vehicle is on its way under my control. Please wait at the door.”

"By the way, who is the New York Police Commissioner?" Lu Mingfei asked.

“It’s Mr. George Stacy. He’s been invited to some balls held in Mr. Stark’s name. You actually met him once at a party, but you’ve probably forgotten,” Jarvis said. “Should I contact him? I found out he’s still working overtime.”

“No need for that yet,” Lu Mingfei said. “Who’s the backer of that underground boxing ring?”

"According to the information I found, their backer and protector is named Wilson Fisk, nicknamed 'Kingpin,' who is the head of the New York underworld. More than 60 percent of the criminal activities in New York are related to him, but at the same time he also restrains the underground forces in New York and is considered one of the maintainers of order in New York. Therefore, he has not been listed as a dangerous target by S.H.I.E.L.D., and Mr. Stark has no intention of dealing with him."

“After all, once this guy is dealt with, the gangs in New York will only become more chaotic, and in the end, all the citizens will suffer,” Lu Mingfei sighed. “Jarvis, contact Kingpin and have him warn his men.”

"Yes, sir."

P.S.: My sleep schedule is messed up again... I'm writing the next chapter now, and I expect to update around 11 PM, sob sob~

Chapter 100 Lu Mingfei: I know this script very well!

Fisker Building.

This is the headquarters of "Kingpin," the New York underworld tycoon, to which criminals and gangs from all over New York and even most of the United States must bow down.

On the very top floor of the building, there is a huge office. Standing in front of the office's floor-to-ceiling windows, you can overlook the lights of half of New York City.

Beside the desk, a bald, overweight man in a white suit was holding his phone, his face ashen.

Kingpin, the uncrowned king of the New York underworld, protector of countless criminal organizations, and of course, enjoys their tribute.

"Boss, you don't seem to be in a good mood," said the man playing with playing cards in the corner of the office.

“The second-largest shareholder of Stark Industries called me and asked me to warn a small gang in an underground boxing ring.” Kingpin turned to look at his chief assassin.

"What? Is that little gang troublesome? Should I go and take them out?" Bullseye held a playing card between his fingers.

“They’re not that difficult for me, but I have to take orders from them.” Kingpin casually crushed the phone in his hand, which was as big as a fan. The normal-sized phone looked as tiny as a baby toy.

“It seems you don’t like being ordered around. Why don’t you refuse?” Bullseye asked.

Kingpin stared at him expressionlessly.

“Okay, never mind.” Bullseye shrugged.

Before Stark Industries withdrew from the arms business, it was a heavyweight in the American military-industrial complex, practically controlling one of the lifelines of the United States. In the face of such a behemoth, Kingpin, let alone being just the overlord of New York, even if he were the overlord of the entire United States, would not stand in the way of the military.

After exiting the arms business, Stark Industries did not decline; instead, it dominated the energy industry, developed rapidly, and showed signs of monopolizing the entire US energy sector, further expanding its influence.

Moreover, Stark Industries claims to have withdrawn from the arms business, but... who doesn't know that the world's most advanced weapons are in Tony Stark's hands!

Kingpin may be domineering, but to openly oppose such a behemoth...

Let whoever wants to go, go ahead; he's not done living yet anyway.

Wouldn't it be ridiculous if the front page headline of the Daily Bugle was "Renowned entrepreneur Kingpin shot five times in the back, investigation reveals suicide"?

……

New York, a backstage corridor of an underground boxing ring.

Lu Mingfei was led to a room by the person in charge, whose head was almost touching the floor.

As he reached the door, Lu Mingfei glanced down at the person in charge, whose back was almost bent in half from walking: "Wait outside for a while."

"Okay, please go ahead." The person in charge quickly took two steps back.

Lu Mingfei pushed open the door and entered, behind which was Peter, who looked rather awkward.

Seeing Lu Mingfei push the door open and enter, Peter's initial helplessness immediately turned into surprise: "Mingfei? What brings you here?"

Why am I here? If I hadn't come, you would have been beaten to death! Lu Mingfei thought to himself.

Peter looked at Lu Mingfei with a surprised expression.

Everything started going wrong about ten minutes ago.

He had already signed the agreement and was waiting to enter the arena. Although his opponent was known as the most brutal boxer, nicknamed "Sawblade," he was not afraid. Ever since he visited Columbia University's School of Science and was bitten by a spider some time ago, he had found that he seemed to have acquired some characteristics of spiders.

Not only is he incredibly strong and agile, but he can also grab walls with his bare hands and even shoot out tough spider silk from his wrists.

Simply put, after being bitten by a spider, he mutated and evolved.

That's why he challenged the underground boxing match. If he could last three minutes, he would earn three thousand dollars to buy a nice used car and then invite his neighbor Mary Jane to go for a drive—even though Mary Jane already had a boyfriend, Flesh Thompson.

But for some reason, after he had only waited a short while in the waiting area, the person in charge, whom he had only met once before, came over with two scantily clad placard girls, eagerly invited him into this room, and even brought him two cups of hot cocoa, asking him to wait here for a while.

Just as he was drinking hot cocoa and waiting in utter confusion, a familiar person pushed open the door and walked in.

Seeing the change in Peter's expression, Lu Mingfei sighed and sat down opposite Peter: "Peter, are you here to fight in underground boxing matches?"

“Mingfei, how did you know?” Peter asked in surprise.

“A friend of mine told me,” Lu Mingfei said.

"You have friends here?" Peter was even more surprised.

"That's not what I meant... No, that's not important!" Lu Mingfei covered his face and said, "What are you thinking? You're risking your life for three thousand dollars? Do you know that the selling point here isn't fighting at all? The audience just wants to see bloodshed. They want to see people get beaten up, injured, and screaming, preferably with massive bleeding and multiple fractures. That's something you can't see in a normal fighting match, which is why they're willing to pay for tickets here..."

“Uh,” Peter raised a hand, “actually, injuries and fractures can happen in legitimate fighting matches too…”

Lu Mingfei silently watched Peter.

Peter lowered his hand and shut up.

Lu Mingfei now vaguely understands how Tony, Natasha, and Nick Fury felt when he suddenly interrupted them.

"In short, this is not a place for you. Why would you come here for three thousand yuan? That amount of money isn't even enough for you..." Lu Mingfei complained.

“I know, it’s not enough to cover my medical expenses,” Peter replied.

“Wrong,” Lu Mingfei rolled his eyes, “It wouldn’t even cover your funeral expenses. It’s common for people to die in a place like this.”

“Really?!” Peter exclaimed in horror.

Although he had gained spider superpowers, he was still a high school student at heart. Hearing Lu Mingfei say that, he felt a sense of lingering fear.

"What else did you think?" Lu Mingfei picked up his cup of hot cocoa and drank it all in one gulp. "If I hadn't come, your family would probably have had to bury their child."

While it's true that deaths are inevitable in these underground boxing matches, they're not so frequent as to be "commonplace." He just wanted to scare Peter.

“I…I didn’t expect it to be so dangerous. I just wanted to buy a car so I could take Mary Jane for a drive,” Peter scratched his head and looked at Lu Mingfei gratefully. “Thank you for reminding me, Mingfei.”

"No, wait a minute!" Lu Mingfei suddenly put down his cup, looking puzzled. "You mean Mary Jane from our class, the school beauty?"

Peter nodded.

“If I remember correctly, she had a boyfriend back then, Flesh Thompson, right?” Lu Mingfei asked. “What, you’ve got your eye on the school bully’s ex-girlfriend? Aren’t you afraid they’re still entangled, and Flesh will come after you?”

Peter was a little embarrassed: "Actually... Mary Jane didn't break up."

Lu Mingfei was stunned.

He then looked at Peter across from him with a mixture of surprise, admiration, emotion, and even a "I never expected you to be like this, Peter" look: "Are you... trying to put a hat on Flesh?"

“What? A hat?” Peter was stunned.

"A green hat!" Lu Mingfei clicked his tongue and exclaimed, "I never imagined my friend would be such a traitor!"

Peter was even more puzzled.

“Even if you like someone else’s wife or girlfriend,” Lu Mingfei explained.

Peter blushed and quickly explained, "No, no, I... I just consider Mary Jane a very good friend. Her house is right next to mine; we're neighbors, so we're quite familiar with each other..."

"So close that you'd take someone for a drive just to buy a car, and then come here to fight a deadly boxing match?" Lu Mingfei retorted.

Peter remained silent.

“Wait a minute,” Lu Mingfei suddenly realized, “I’m not familiar with this Mary Jane. Let me ask you, do you have a crush on her, and is she popular at school, treats you well, and always manages to make you think about her unintentionally…”

"How did you know!" Peter felt like he had used up all the surprises he had accumulated over the past month.

"Damn it! I know this script inside and out!" Lu Mingfei slapped his thigh, heartbroken.

Peter:? ? ?

……

Leaving the underground boxing ring, on the streets of the city.

Lu Mingfei earnestly advised Peter: "Trust me, Peter, go back and seriously examine your relationship with Mary Jane. You two may not be a good match."

“I know we’re not a good match. I only see her as a friend,” Peter said softly. “I’m happy just being able to hang out with her and take her for a drive…”

Lu Mingfei thought to himself, "I know this script like the hell!"