A few days later.
While the Northern Hemisphere was experiencing heavy snowfall, Ronan was lying on a beach, enjoying the sun, the sand, and the company of beautiful women.
At this moment, he was on a small island in the Southern Hemisphere, enjoying a rare holiday.
In just a week, he'd have to go back to school.
To make this vacation feel somewhat meaningful, Ronan decisively abandoned the cold American winter and came to this island where spring was still in full bloom.
No need for visas, no need for airplane tickets or any other factors.
With just a small portal, Ronan arrived here.
This was also a "benefit" of being a sorcerer of Kamar-Taj.
After all, they never needed to buy plane tickets when traveling far.
Wearing sunglasses, Ronan lay on a beach chair, watching, with an expressionless face, one bikini-clad woman after another walking by.
Whether it was a three-piece, a more conservative one-piece skirt, or a one-piece shorts style, Ronan regarded them all as nothing.
For these "pink skeletons," Ronan simply turned slightly, crossing his right leg over his left.
In broad daylight, wearing something like this—what do they think they're doing?
There were even some who weren't wearing anything at all.
Tsk. Bah!
Slurp.
"You are... uh, um..."
Just then, his phone rang on the table, interrupting Ronan's moral condemnation.
Ronan picked up his phone and found it was an unknown American number calling.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to answer it.
"Hello, hello, hello?"
However, the moment he answered, he regretted it.
The voice from the other side of the call was none other than Peter Parker, whom he'd just encountered a few days ago.
"Ronan, do you know what I found a few days ago?"
"At the scene of an explosion, I saw someone who could open a golden portal, just like the other day."
"He claimed to be Mr. Stark's A.I., but I don't think he is!"
Peter Parker's voice was full of excitement.
Hearing his tone, it seemed he was very excited about his discovery.
Ronan, on the other hand, pursed his lips. He had been practicing spells in recent days, and his phone had been off.
He hadn't expected that as soon as he turned it on today, while vacationing, Peter Parker would immediately call him.
Ronan didn't believe Peter could be that naive.
The story he made up a few days ago was full of holes.
Okay, maybe not completely full of holes, but very coincidentally, every point was broken by Tony Stark.
Anyway, no matter what, the next time Ronan sees Tony Stark, he's going to make him pay!
Those who manage to make Ronan feel embarrassed rarely have a good ending.
"Mr. Stark?"
"Are you talking about Tony Stark?"
"And also, what's this about an explosion?"
Ronan rolled his eyes, deciding to pretend he knew nothing.
His tactic for now was to act clueless and avoid any slip-ups.
"Haven't you seen the news?"
"A few nights ago, there was an explosion in downtown New York City! A lot of people got caught up in it!"
Peter paused, seeming to be taken aback by Ronan's response.
"Ah, I really didn't know."
"I'm currently abroad, vacationing with my family."
"I haven't been paying attention to what's happening in New York."
Ronan obviously knew what had happened, but could he say that?
Of course not.
All he needed to do was act like an ordinary high school student on vacation abroad.
Saving the world and such had little to do with him.
"Ah..."
"So you weren't in New York yesterday."
For some reason, Peter Parker's disappointment was very clear in his tone.
It was like he'd filled out an entire exam sheet only to find out all his answers were wrong.
Ronan actually knew why.
It all stemmed from Parker's "emotional knot."
Ever since being bitten by the spider, gaining his spider powers, Peter Parker had gone from being just an ordinary high schooler to becoming New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
This gave him a whole new experience in life. But over time, as he moved beyond the initial phase and grew accustomed to his powers, another feeling started to settle in.
A feeling called...
Fear.
Yes, fear.
Because in the eyes of a regular person, his powers could very well be called a mutation.
Whether it was Iron Man or Captain America, their powers came from technological advancements.
One used technological armor, while the other was enhanced through scientific serums.
But someone like Peter Parker was exceedingly rare.
So sometimes, Peter felt like he was a freak.
He desperately wanted to find a "kindred spirit."
Until he found Ronan.
At the end of the day, Peter's emotions stemmed from still not letting go of his "normal person" mindset.
Becoming a superhero from a regular person also required a psychological transition.
But neither his confession last time nor this attempt to probe got him the answer he sought from Ronan.
This inevitably left him a bit disappointed.
He really wanted a "kindred spirit." He was desperate for one.
"Yeah, I wasn't in New York."
"But I think I saw Spider-Man in the video footage."
Ronan deliberately paused, not mentioning Peter Parker's identity.
He knew his own phone wasn't being tapped.
He had already used some technological means to ensure that; otherwise, the Ancient One wouldn't have allowed him to keep it.
As for Peter's phone, Ronan wasn't sure.
With the American government's shady habits, you could never be too sure.
"Uh..."
"Yeah, Spider-Man was there."
"But it didn't look like he managed to save many people."
Peter Parker seemed to recall something and didn't reveal his true identity.
"Peter, you shouldn't think like that."
"I'm actually a big Spider-Man fan!"
"I've always thought he's done a great job, that he really lives up to being New York's friendly neighborhood hero."
"At least from what I see, he's doing a much better job than that arrogant Tony Stark."
"Oh, right, also an anxiety-riddled, cocky boy."
Ronan curled his lips, clearly more supportive of Peter Parker.
In his past life, people used to say that Peter Parker became arrogant after gaining his powers, leading to a series of unfortunate events.
Including what happened to his relatives and his girlfriend.
But in fact, the mistakes Tony Stark made were much worse than Peter Parker's.
And Tony was twice, maybe three times, Peter's age.
So just from this point, there was no doubt that Peter Parker wasn't really immature.
"Really?"
Peter asked excitedly.
Cough, cough, cough.
"Of course."
"Tony Stark may have the entire Stark Industries at his disposal, but even he can't protect that many people."
"But Spider-Man, he's from the neighborhood, and he's protecting the community."
"I think he's doing ten thousand times better than Tony Stark!"
Ronan gave Peter Parker a thumbs-up over the phone.
This wasn't entirely flattery—after all, Peter Parker was always more of a people's hero.
At least in that regard, Peter did much better than Tony Stark.
"You're too kind..."
"Oh, I mean, as a Spider-Man fan, I think he's still got a ways to go."
"Mr. Stark is still the more powerful one."
"And also, I'm... HOLY SHIT!"
"MR. STARK HAS BLOWN UP!"