Sophia rubbed her temples with a touch of headache, saying, "There aren't many media outlets focusing on you right now, everyone wants to know who those two guys who turned into emojis are. Even if they approach you, it's definitely to ask about that. You'd better be mentally prepared."
"That's impossible!" Beck shouted, raising his tone, "Why would they care about those two monsters? Shouldn't they be more concerned about me who defeated them?"
"Maybe because they are interesting," said the Chinese scientist, shrugging his shoulders as he sat in the chair: "There's no particular reason, just interesting."
"This is ridiculous!" Beck banged the table and exclaimed: "Even the newspaper we hired is going after those damned monsters..."
"But their reports are sensational," Sophia stressed: "They want to do an exclusive interview with you this afternoon to talk about that night. You need to meet their requirements as much as possible, a lot of viewers are waiting."
"I can't accept an interview, I'm Mysterio!" Beck pointed at himself and said: "They should be chasing after me to track my whereabouts. How can I actively accept their interview?"
"But if you don't do this, you won't have the chance to reveal Stark's conspiracy," Sophia said earnestly: "You have to win over the media first; otherwise, you can't change the jury's opinion of you."
The moment the jury was mentioned, Beck's heart sank, and he took off his helmet, sighing deeply, his expression fluctuating between dejection and irritability.
After a long pause, he finally asked: "When is the reporter coming?"
"In about two hours. Relax a bit first; think about how you're going to handle their questions later on."
Agent Coulson walked into Shiller's office with a few newspapers and a magazine, placed them on his desk, and said: "That woman named Sophia and the owner of the Daily Bugle have financial transactions. It seems like they are trying to promote Mysterio with the help of the Daily Bugle. Should we interfere?"
Shiller raised an eyebrow and remarked: "Didn't the Daily Bugle used to enjoy troubling Spider-Man? Why change targets now?"
"Because Spider-Man has been out of sight for too long," Coulson shook his head: "You forgot? Peter has been buried in his lab for almost half a year, and he's lost a lot of fans. Newspapers need to feed on hot topics too."
"So they have set their sights on this emerging superhero?"
"Yes, preliminarily speaking, they seem to be looking for a new cash cow. That boss does have some skills, which is why I'm asking if you want to intervene."
"Of course not, I understand the style of that newspaper," Shiller said without even glancing at the magazines and newspapers Coulson brought: "What do you think their strategy is for heating up topics?"
Coulson, who also hadn't looked at the materials, had dealt with many media outlets before so he said: "Anyhow, it's all kinds of hype, blowing things out of proportion. If that doesn't work, resort to distraction, or even rumours..."
Shiller shook his head and said: "The Daily Bugle is different. When others are eager to deify someone, they're eager to pull people down from the pedestal, even if the person isn't considered a deity in the first place; they just have to drag others down. That's their boss's secret."
Coulson seemed skeptical, so he picked up the magazine on the desk, which was published back when Spider-Man was still active; he looked at the headline, "Spider-Man surfaces in the Bronx for the first time in a month—does this spell the fall from his pedestal?"
Coulson read the line twice, failing to see the cause and effect between the two clauses, hence he repeated doubtfully: "Why does Spider-Man surfacing mean a fall from his pedestal?"
"Because that's Jameson's logic. He believes all superheroes are just oddly-dressed clowns who only bring trouble to ordinary people. So, as long as they appear, they are bound to fall from their pedestal," Shiller said with a smile: "Beck really knows whom to pick on; Peter has nearly reached his limits with him."
Coulson also chuckled and said: "In that case, Beck is really shooting himself in the foot."
"It's more than that. If Jameson were a man of strong stereotypes, Peter wouldn't just be annoyed by him, but would ignore him instead," Shiller explained.
"Oh?" Coulson leaned forward with some interest while Shiller gestured toward the magazine on the desk, suggesting him to have another look. Coulson quickly skimmed the magazine, then his eyes widened slightly.
At least in this article, Jameson made some valid points. He even inferred that Spider-Man might have originated from Queens based on the range of his activities, almost pinpointing the scope of Peter's high school. The entire article was well-founded, logically arranged, and easy to read.
This proved that he was not a fool who only knew how to engage in publicity stunts but was indeed an outstanding reporter and writer.
"That's exactly the issue," Shiller observed: "Peter even regards him as an equal adversary. Every time he appears as Spider-Man, he has to be exceedingly careful, afraid of giving him any leverage."
"But Jameson is a tough character. Peter almost gave himself away before, and it was Chief George who covered for him," Shiller revealed.
"Is he that formidable?" Coulson reassessed Jameson and said: "Is he targeting Mysterio this time?"
"Of course he will target Mysterio, because the script of Beck's drama is full of holes from the outset. Any smart person who collects all the information and analyzes it will find something wrong," Shiller reasoned.
"You mean..."
"First of all, the technology was not perfect," Shiller picked up a newspaper, glanced at it, and said, "His nuclear fire weapon attacks were too stiff, and several industry insiders had already come forward to analyze this."
"If he had been a bit smarter, he would have distinguished the special effects animation he used from the monster attack animations prior, but he might have been overconfident, thinking that the part he used later was completely different, having undergone a comprehensive upgrade, so he didn't change the type of animation. He still used things like fire, water, fog, and so on."
"If someone simply took part in the tirades about the monster attacks, they might not make this connection, but if someone experienced both incidents, they can hardly help but link these special effects together."
"Jameson is one of them?"
"Yes, and he is probably the one who reacted the fastest. He wouldn't have approached the target if he wasn't sure," Shiller said.
"Like an agent?"
"He does it much better than any agent," Shiller shook his head slightly and said, "He knows his place well. He is not a powerful fist like an agent, but rather a flexible tongue."
"People run away when they see a fist, but when they see a soft tongue, they feel they can control it, or even use it to their advantage."
"A tactic of feigning weakness?"
"Pretty much. This strategy always works like a charm on those with ulterior motives, which is why Jameson finally gave up harassing Peter. After such a long period of sparring, he realized that Spider-Man was almost a person without selfish motives. He never intended to use him to turn around his own reputation. It's because Jameson himself is deep in the battleground of fame and fortune that he understands how rare it is for someone like Spider-Man to tolerate a bad reputation yet still keep working quietly."
"Sounds like they would make good friends," Coulson said.
"I think it's very likely that Jameson already knows that Spider-Man is Peter Parker, and because he admires Spider-Man, he hasn't disclosed this," Shiller said.
"Wait, doesn't that mean Miles is..."
"That's why this is the real test for Miles," Shiller said with a light chuckle. "Peter told me that Miles confessed he wanted to be famous, but if his desires overwhelm his conscience, Jameson will show him no mercy. However, if his conscience does prevail over his desires, then Jameson will definitely not be stingy in helping him achieve what he wants."
"Looks like he's a Spider-Man fan, and a very enthusiastic one at that," Coulson said, sitting down with a smile. "He wants the best for Spider-Man more than anyone else."
"Of course. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the number one fan," Shiller said. "The reason Peter could so easily entrust such a powerful legacy to Miles is because he knows that Spider-Man is not fighting alone. There are people who care about him and who watch over him. Whoever ends up with this identity and this power can only be Spider-Man. If he tries to do something else, there will be too many people waiting to take him down."
Coulson couldn't help but marvel, "Peter set a good precedent. I haven't forgotten the abuse he took in the beginning. He has paid a lot for the identity of Spider-Man, even shaping the term into a benchmark."
"That's right," Shiller nodded and said. "That's why he could retire with his mission perfectly accomplished, without worrying that no one would take up the responsibility or that the power would go to waste. In fact, if Miles weren't the chosen successor, the followers of Spider-Man would have continued to step up. They would all do well."
"Is this a selection process?" Coulson began to think further. "Seeing through the essence of Spider-Man's initial bad reputation means they are smart and clear-headed enough. Being willing to follow Spider-Man means they embrace common morality and are quite kind-hearted. Keeping an eye on and supervising Spider-Man even after the change of person signifies that they honor the name of Spider-Man and have even developed a spirit of Spider-Man."
"Based on my professional judgment," Coulson said, "Anyone who possesses these qualities wouldn't just waste the Spider powers. They would definitely make a difference, however minimal, with them."
Shiller gently twirled the pen in his hand and said, "Haven't you realized? Our universe's Peter Parker is more like a spider than any other Spider-Man in any universe. He wove a special web at a specific time and place, a web that catches only what he needs."
Coulson's mouth dropped open, "So this isn't a coincidence."
"Peter had a thousand ways to clear up public misconceptions about him, but he chose not to. Nor did he have to let Jameson chase after him forever. If he wanted to hide, no one could find him. His time is precious, and, logically speaking, should be spent on research rather than playing chase with fans..."
"He didn't want to do it anymore," Coulson said. "This time might have come even before the so-called third generation Spider-Man."
"Because of death," Shiller said, looking at Coulson. "Although he didn't die for real, the social death of Spider-Man, and the impact that came with it, made Peter see clearly the characteristics of society and ordinary groups of people. This destined that if he did nothing, Spider-Man would one day truly fall from grace."
"And he established another set of rules," Coulson said thoughtfully. "He made people think that it didn't matter who Spider-Man really was, what mattered was what he did. With Jameson at the core, he set up a complete system of supervision."
"Do well and you get the reward of fame, maybe even money. Do poorly and you get public punishment, with fans leading the charge in insults, saying you brought shame to the name of Spider-Man. Even if someone dares to misuse the power for bad, Jameson has the ability to track down their true identity and expose them, ensuring their complete downfall."
"And it wouldn't affect the next Spider-Man. People would just say that the previous person did a poor job, damaging the reputation of Spider-Man, while still having high hopes for the next one."
"This makes more sense, doesn't it?" Shiller opened his hands and said. "It's the same for all superheroes. Their identity shouldn't only be about themselves, but should become a symbol to be passed down. Their legacy and actions should be judged by future generations."
Coulson, somewhat stunned, stared at Shiller and said, "You mean Iron Man, Captain America, the Supreme Magician, they all..."
"Why not?"