Rewinding to a few minutes ago, just after Gravik hung up the phone with Jia.
Rossili Beach, England.
This was not a typical crowded beach where everyone lay on the sand sunbathing or surfing.
There were relatively few tourists here; most travelers came to admire the natural coastal scenery by hiking or driving rather than swimming or sunbathing.
After all, if it were just for swimming or sunbathing, there were plenty of such beaches in America; there was no need for Gwen's family to travel all the way to England.
However, this family hiking trip hadn't been Gwen's idea.
Instead, it was proposed by the busy man of the Stacy household, Chief Stacy.
This dedicated Director, who was always on the front lines, had rarely taken a few days off to take his whole family out to play.
Ryan knew about this; after all, Chief Stacy had even invited him to come along before they left last night.
But at that time, Ryan was busy pit—ahem, I mean, guiding Strange onto the path of a sorcerer, so he politely declined.
Chief Stacy wasn't disappointed by this; on the contrary, he was actually quite secretly pleased that Ryan wasn't coming.
Although he was quite satisfied with Ryan as a son-in-law—finding him capable, responsible, and courageous—
Ever since Gwen and Ryan confirmed their relationship, the time his beloved daughter spent with her old father had become even less, making Chief Stacy a bit 'jealous'...
So with Ryan not coming this time, he was quite happy to be able to have another private talk with his daughter.
As for what he wanted to talk about, it was naturally Gwen's other identity...
He had long since realized that Gwen was the female Spider-Man of the Spider Family, Ghost-Spider.
But since Gwen hadn't taken the initiative to tell him, as her father, he didn't feel right asking, fearing he might cause a misunderstanding.
However, lately, he had seen that the threats the Spider Family faced were becoming increasingly dangerous. The Supervillain Ryan faced last time had even affected the entire Harlem district, and a single battle had caused countless civilian casualties!
Although he understood that it was already difficult enough for Ryan to step forward against a Supervillain of that level and that Ryan shouldn't be blamed for the resulting civilian casualties,
Chief Stacy simply couldn't suppress the worry in his heart and intended to have a good talk with Gwen.
He wanted to see if Gwen could discuss it with Ryan; if they had to fight powerful Supervillains next time, could they do it outside of New York? Causing massive casualties within New York City every time put immense pressure on him as the Director of the New York Police Department!
And most importantly, he wanted to ask how much longer Gwen intended to keep her identity a secret from him?
Did she really not trust her father that much?
Why didn't she dare tell him about becoming Ghost-Spider?
In fact, under Ryan's influence and the Spider Family's restraint—not frequently interfering with the Police arresting ordinary criminals—the Chief Stacy of this Universe didn't actually dislike those Superheroes, nor did he dislike New York's Spider Family.
Because he knew that in this era where superhumans appeared more and more frequently, Superheroes were a necessity.
Only superhumans could defeat superhumans. Whether ordinary Police could even capture superhuman criminals was one thing, but even if they did, the price they would pay compared to a Superhero's intervention would surely be countless times greater, potentially costing many officers' lives.
So, regarding Gwen becoming Spider-Man, although Chief Stacy was worried, he didn't oppose it.
After all, he was also protecting New York...
As the Stacy family walked along the coast, Chief Stacy walked alone at the back. Watching Gwen chatting happily with her mother, he quietly cheered himself up and finally mustered the courage to ask Gwen.
"Gwen, I want to talk to you alone..."
"Hey, Gwen!!!"
Before Chief Stacy's somewhat timid words were finished, his voice was drowned out by another, much louder voice.
Chief Stacy looked closely and saw a tall, upright figure with a sunny smile jogging toward Gwen.
That was... Ryan?
Chief Stacy couldn't help but frown.
Didn't this kid say he wasn't coming last night?
Why had he quietly followed them now? Was he planning to give Gwen a surprise?
Chief Stacy couldn't help but feel a bit disgruntled. This kid used to be quite straightforward; why had he learned to do such frivolous things now!
The more he looked at the Ryan walking toward Gwen, the more disgruntled he became.
Especially seeing the bright smile on Ryan's face, Chief Stacy felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but today's Ryan was completely different from the Ryan he had seen before, who always gave him a refreshing sense that his words and actions were perfectly in line with his wishes!
Something's wrong...
An old Police officer's intuition made Chief Stacy keenly sense that something was off. Therefore, he stepped forward quickly and, just as Ryan opened his arms and was about to hug Gwen, he blocked Gwen and took the embrace for her.
Gwen looked at her old man standing in front of her. Her arms, which she had already begun to raise slightly, dropped back down as she crossed them over her chest and raised an eyebrow.
It seemed her keen Director dad had also noticed something~
Indeed, as Gwen watched the Ryan running toward her with a bright smile, she didn't even need her Spider-Sense to tell; she realized at a single glance that he was a fake.
As a fangirl who had waited for Ryan for years, Gwen was already as familiar with every one of Ryan's little habits and movements as an obsessive fan.
Although Ryan usually fought with bold and sweeping movements, he would never show such an idiotic smile to someone or have such an idiotic running posture.
Although she didn't know how the other party managed to disguise their appearance to look exactly like Ryan, Gwen was two hundred percent certain that he was definitely not her Ryan!
If her father hadn't suddenly blocked her just now, and if this fake had dared to pounce on her, he would have been punched into the sea to feed the fish by now!
But now that her father had stepped in, she would see what this guy was really up to.
Gravik, who had transformed into Ryan, let go of Chief Stacy. A flicker of annoyance appeared in his eyes as he looked at the old man; he was ruining everything!
But he had also read the files and naturally knew that the man in front of him was Gwen's father, so he still kept a smile on his face, patted the other's shoulder, and greeted him in a very familiar tone:
"Hey, George, long time no see. How have you been lately?"
Chief Stacy was stunned for a moment, and then the last bit of the smile on his face slowly vanished.