Listening to Peter's smug speech, Gwen couldn't help but break into a smile through her tears.
In her heart, she felt an incomparable warmth.
She knew, of course, that Peter was only saying that to make her happy.
In this World, it seemed only Peter would pamper her like this at every moment.
At this thought, she first gave Peter's chest a light punch:
"How annoying, you always know how to make fun of me!"
But then, she couldn't help but stand on her tiptoes and proactively kiss Peter's lips.
After a long while, she leaned against Peter's sturdy chest, slightly out of breath, and murmured:
"Peter, it's so good to have you here."
Hearing the deep exhaustion in Gwen's tone, Peter couldn't help but gently pat her back:
"Sleep. When you wake up, all the problems will be solved!"
He thought saying this would relieve the pressure in Gwen's heart and allow her to get a good night's sleep.
Unexpectedly, Gwen gently patted her own cheeks and then shook her head, saying:
"Since you've put it that way, I definitely can't sleep now."
She took Peter's hand, wrinkled her small nose, and spoke in a fierce but cute tone:
"My boyfriend is going to stand up for me, so of course, I have to see those bastards get beaten black and blue by you before I'm willing to sleep!"
Seeing her adorable appearance, Peter couldn't help but reach out and gently flick her perky nose:
"In that case, I'll have to deal with those green-skinned monsters sooner. I can't let those pieces of trash delay my Lady Girlfriend's beauty sleep!"
After saying this, he gave Gwen one last gentle kiss on the forehead:
"Then stay here and rest well. Wait and see how I make those green-skinned monsters regret provoking you!"
...
Not long after, Sif arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters with Mantis.
Here, the Superheroes who hadn't gone missing, aside from Gwen, had already gathered together.
"Sister Sif, who is this?" Daisy couldn't help but ask curiously.
"This is Mantis Brandt. She's a partner Peter and I met in space."
After a brief introduction of Mantis, Sif returned to the main topic:
"Peter has already gone to handle the Skrulls. He said you guys have worked hard enough during this time, so there's no need to keep busy. Just staying here to watch the show is enough."
Hearing this, the Superheroes present all looked at each other.
Good grief, this attitude was arrogant beyond measure, yet left one with no room for rebuttal.
One could only say... this was very Peter!
Just as everyone crossed their arms, ready to watch the show, Peter, who had left Empire State University, immediately took action.
The first thing he did was call JJJ.
The phone was picked up before it even rang twice.
On the other end, JJJ's voice was so excited it changed pitch:
"Mr. Parker! You're finally back! My god! Do you have any idea what has happened to this World while you were away?"
"I know." Peter directly interrupted his long-winded speech. "Old James, arrange a nationwide live broadcast for me."
"A nationwide live broadcast?" JJJ froze for a moment, then realizing something, he spoke with immense excitement:
"Sir, give me ten minutes!"
Ten minutes later.
The Daily Bugle's studio was temporarily cleared.
JJJ personally sat at the control desk, with twelve cameras simultaneously aimed at the center of the studio.
The signal was pushed simultaneously to 376 television channels across the U.S. and all mainstream network platforms via satellite and a presidential order.
At this moment, all television programs across the U.S. were collectively interrupted.
"Damn, what's going on?" Clueless viewers were about to start cursing.
The next second, they all collectively gasped in shock.
On the television screen, besides JJJ's iconic grumpy face, a figure wearing a black-and-gold Battle Suit slowly walked from the studio corridor—it was The Arbiter!
"Long time no see, everyone."
"Sorry, I went on a long trip and made you all worry."
Just two simple greetings like that.
No impassioned speech, no righteous statement.
The tone was as casual as if he had gone to the supermarket downstairs to buy a bottle of water and then greeted a neighbor on the way back.
But the effect was absolutely explosive!
The comment sections and live chats were instantly flooded:
"The Arbiter is back!!!"
"Waaaah, My Lord Arbiter, you're finally back! I was worried to death!"
"With My Lord Arbiter here, I'm at ease. No matter what state this World falls into, we don't have to worry anymore."
While the viewers were discussing so intensely, they saw The Arbiter on the screen speak with a calm face:
"Recently, many incidents have surfaced worldwide where Superheroes are allegedly persecuting citizens of various countries."
"As the leader of all Superheroes in America, I will give you a reasonable explanation within one hour! Everyone, please look forward to it!"
The moment the words fell, the live broadcast ended.
The whole process took no more than two minutes.
But it was this brief two-minute appearance that stirred up a storm in the court of public opinion ten times more powerful than the effect the Skrulls had spent an entire week creating.
On American social media, the direction of the wind began to reverse almost visibly to the naked eye.
The anti-Superhero sentiments that the Skrulls had painstakingly cultivated in the shadows collapsed instantly the moment Peter appeared.
The reason was very simple.
The Arbiter had already saved the people of the U.S. twice.
Now, everyone in America believed that when Earth faced another existential threat, the person standing at the very front to protect everyone would only be him!
This kind of trust wasn't built on propaganda and packaging, but was forged through actual actions.
Of course, not everyone was willing to buy it.
On a certain social media platform, a big influencer secretly controlled by the Skrulls was trying to stir up trouble in a final struggle.
"The faces of other Superheroes are already so ugly, how much better can The Arbiter be? Who knows if he's also done something unspeakable behind the scenes."
Before this post had even been up for three minutes, the comment section was flooded by angry netizens. Then, in just ten short minutes, the platform crashed directly due to the excessive number of users online.
Following that, something even more outrageous happened.
Netizens in the city where this influencer was located actually organized themselves spontaneously and doxxed his current location.
Twenty minutes later, a new video began to go viral on the internet—
In the footage, seven or eight burly American guys cornered this 'opinion leader' at the entrance of a cafe, madly beating him up while shouting angrily, 'Who are you to insult The Arbiter?'
When Tony saw this video on the big screen at Avengers Tower, the cola in his mouth almost sprayed out of his nose.
"Good grief..." He wiped the corner of his mouth and looked at the screen with a complex expression.
"If I were being beaten up on the street, it would at most make the social news section.
In contrast, if someone says one bad word about Peter, his fans will directly beat them up for him."
Seeing this, Natasha couldn't help but have a proud smile appear on her face, and then she teasingly said to Tony:
"In Peter's words, this is called 'the gap between people is sometimes larger than the gap between a human and a dog'."
Tony: ...
I'm reporting this; she's making a Personal Attack on me!
***************************
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