Chapter 11
Old Man's Antique Shop
Incidentally, having obtained so much material from Osborn, Riley wouldn't forget to prepare a little surprise for his good friend Harry, who had secretly gotten preferential treatment.
While making these two suits, Riley also designed one for Harry using the same approach.
Of course, considering that Harry is a powerful and wealthy young man, he doesn't need to fight the villains at close range.
The nanosuit that Riley prepared for Harry had most of its combat functions removed.
Only the most basic functions that can best ensure Harry's personal safety and improve his user experience are retained, such as night vision, thermal imaging scanning, waterproofing, fireproofing, bulletproofing, gas protection, communication devices, constant temperature system, and separate oxygen supply system.
In addition, at Harry's suggestion, the nanosuit prepared for him can also change its style at will according to Harry's wishes.
As for Riley and Peter's suits, why don't they have this cool feature...?
Because each change in the garment's appearance requires scrambling and rearranging the nanomachines, each change expends a significant amount of energy.
This forced Riley, whose energy budget was already limited and who had to prioritize combat practicality, to settle for a less desirable option: adopting a pre-set, fixed transformation template to minimize the energy consumption of the nanosuit during activation.
In other words, once worn, it will transform into either the classic red and blue Spider-Man suit or a black suit designed primarily in black, inspired by the Symbiote suit.
After the three nanosuits were completed, and Harry's suit was handed to the eagerly awaiting Harry, they were finished.
With the time to be late for class fast approaching, Riley carefully put the classic red and blue battle suit he had prepared for Peter into his pocket for safekeeping.
Then, after leaving Osborn and disappearing into a secluded alley, he excitedly and carefully affixed the spider tag with the black suit to his chest.
Then, following the pre-set activation method, simply tap the spider label twice rhythmically.
The nanobots, which are difficult to see with the naked eye and are stored inside, will quickly emerge and faithfully follow the planned route.
In just a few breaths, the black suit was perfectly fitted and "dressed" Riley, completely concealing Riley's true appearance!
After briefly stretching his limbs and getting used to the experience of wearing the battle suit, Riley, who no longer needed to cover his face with a paper bag while swinging back and forth in the city, raised his hand and launched spider webs, swinging rapidly between buildings, heading straight towards Midtown High School.
But, just as Riley was looking at the school, which was only one street away...
The system panel, which had been passively waiting for Riley to call it, popped up on its own for the first time since the beginning of the transmigration.
New mission:
Stop the mafia gang from vandalizing the antique shop.
Time limit remaining: 10 minutes.
Task completion reward: 500 points.
These few simple lines, taken apart, seem to offer nothing of note to Riley other than the generous points reward.
But the combination of the Mafia and the antique shop made Riley's expression suddenly become subtle...
"Antique shop, the Mafia... Hmm... Is it the antique shop I'm thinking of? But according to the setting, even if it's a fictional city, they should be in San Francisco, at least 4,700 kilometers away from New York City. Only ten minutes... I guess I'm overthinking it?"
As he talked to himself, Riley was filled with interest, whether it was the points reward that far exceeded the daily sign-in reward or the truth hidden behind the task.
Therefore, even though it would only take another ten seconds or so to enter the campus, Riley still found a tall building nearby and stopped leaning against the wall.
Using the suit's communication function, she made a phone call to Peter and asked him to ask for leave for her.
They decisively changed their swing direction and continued to move forward quickly in the direction indicated by the mission tracking.
A few moments later, amidst the towering skyscrapers of New York City, I saw an old antique shop that stood out starkly against its surroundings. The sign read "Daddy's Antique Shop" in simple, crude traditional Chinese characters, paired with machine-translated English, forming a bilingual sign.
Riley finally dared to conclude that this sudden mission was indeed related to one of his childhood idols.
After a moment's thought, Riley first found a secluded spot, removed his battle suit, and revealed his true form.
Then, he jogged all the way to the antique shop, took a deep breath, turned the doorknob, carefully opened a crack, and peeked inside cautiously.
"What is it, Dad?"
"Come here, give Dad a hug."
Meanwhile, the archaeologist, who was practicing his skills on the second floor of the antique shop, jumped down from the second floor with a backflip that was extremely inconsistent with the frail image of a "scholar" after being called by a smiling, kind and gentle old man with white hair.
But this impressive performance did not earn the archaeologist a warm hug.
Instead, once they got close enough, the old man, who instantly put on a stern face like a Sichuan opera mask-changer, flicked their forehead without mercy.
"Awoo!"
"You didn't make coffee for Dad this morning! How many times have I told you, Dad's old bones need coffee to keep him going! Do you want to shorten Dad's life? No! Then go make Dad some coffee right now!"
"Huh? Oh, okay..."
"There's one more thing. The university called you; they want you to translate some classical Chinese texts."
"Okay, I'll be there in a bit."
"There's one more thing. I can't understand the inscription on this shield. But I vaguely remember it being a very ancient script. Dad needs to go to the back of the shop and look through his notebook. In the meantime, you'll be responsible for watching the shop for Dad and greeting customers, like this little kid at the door."
"Uh, okay, I'll do it now..."
"There's one more thing. This is Xiaoyu, your niece. She's moving in with you for a year, so you'll have to take good care of her."
"Oh, I see... wait, Dad, what did you just say?!"
As the old man and the young man chatted back and forth, seemingly performing a duet, Riley, who was not only captivated by the spectacle but also convinced that he had been discovered long ago based on the old man's words, walked confidently into the shop.
The archaeologist, who was completely bewildered by the old man's repeated "there's one more thing," finally turned around and rushed to the little girl with a sour face, who seemed particularly aloof and difficult to get along with, and made a sharp, explosive sound.
"When did I get a niece?!"