6
Chapter 6: Lemon Sea Bass
Actually...
Locke didn't want to stay for dinner.
But refusing Gwen's invitation was difficult.
However, as he sat at the dining table with Sheriff George Stacy glaring at him from across the table, Locke regretted his decision a little. Didn't Gwen say that George was very busy today?
"Locke, here you go."
"Thank you, ma'am."
Locke took the plate handed to him by the smiling Helen and thanked her.
Generally, Locke was very polite. Though he was an orphan in this life, he wasn't in his previous one. The manners from his previous life carried over.
"You're welcome."
Helen smiled. "And don't call me ma'am. Just call me Helen. You are the first male classmate Gwen has brought home."
Gwen, seated across from her two younger brothers, was speechless. "Mom."
She was just in good spirits.
Helen laughed and said to Locke, "I hope you can get used to it."
Locke looked at the perch on his plate.
This...
This was the legendary lemon sea bass.
He was eating it the day after arriving in New York?
Even Spider-Man didn't get such treatment.
"Cough, cough!"
George, sitting across from him, coughed with obvious discomfort. "So, Locke, where are you from?"
Gwen frowned. "Dad."
Locke was an orphan, so asking such questions was like exposing Locke's scars.
Locke smiled at Gwen and then answered George, "Texas."
He'd woken up in Texas, after all.
He was a Lone Star State member.
George took a bite of lemon sea bass. "Then you know about the Sin Hunter?"
"Dad..."
"Yes."
Locke opened the perch and smiled. "I'm afraid there's no one in Texas who doesn't know him."
Of course, he knew who the Sin Hunter was.
No one would associate him, a sixteen-year-old, with the famous crime hunter. According to the FBI profile, the crime hunter was a middle-aged man between twenty-five and thirty-five years old.
He was only sixteen.
A cute age.
George was just making conversation. He had to find something to talk about. Otherwise, would he just watch this guy come in and take his precious daughter away?
How impossible.
George asked, "What do you think of the Sin Hunter?"
Locke shrugged without hesitation. "Murderer."
George's eyes lit up as he looked at Locke.
Good.
Locke said, "Though many say he's a dark judge, killing is killing. It can't be justified, even if it's the wicked."
George nodded, and for some reason, he suddenly didn't dislike Locke as much.
Locke truly believed that.
But...
He also believed in one thing.
When the law fails to deliver justice to the victim, from that moment on, vigilante justice becomes justifiable.
But Locke didn't say this.
He was invited to dinner by Gwen, not to start a debate.
Locke wasn't that foolish.
Going against George would only embarrass Gwen, who had invited him, and make George and Helen feel that Gwen had poor judgment in friends and lacked basic politeness.
Opinions could be discussed privately.
But not at the dinner table.
Though this lemon sea bass looked quite exotic...
The taste was delicious.
Throughout the meal, George asked various questions, and Locke answered them generously.
His answers were concise.
At the very least, judging by Helen's expression and George's increasingly softened demeanor, it was clear that Locke had reversed their initial impression of him.
Especially after Gwen mentioned Locke's test results from the previous day.
---
**Gwen's Room**
After Locke and Gwen finished their homework, Locke prepared to leave.
The daily tasks were done, and he needed to complete his night tasks.
He planned to do two tonight.
"Thanks."
After packing his backpack, Locke said to Gwen, "Thank you, Gwen."
"..."
Gwen was a little exasperated. "You've said thank you too many times."
In just two days, Gwen could swear she'd heard more thanks from Locke than she had the entire previous semester.
He must have had a tough childhood.
Gwen seriously suspected this. Otherwise, why would Locke be so thankful all the time?
Locke smiled. "Politeness should never be too little, right?"
Gwen raised an eyebrow and looked at Locke. "So, you're always polite but not necessarily sincere?"
Locke looked at Gwen.
So sharp.
Gwen recalled the dinner conversation and looked at Locke. "I think the Sin Hunter is pretty good."
Locke raised an eyebrow.
Is this a trap?
"I've seen reports about the Texas crime hunter. Without the crime hunter, many villains wouldn't face the punishment they deserve."
"Is that so?"
"Isn't it?"
Gwen crossed her arms. "Do you really think the Sin Hunter is a murderer?"
Locke's answer was the same as at dinner, but with more detail. "Legally speaking, he is a murderer."
"And non-legally?"
"..."
Locke thought for a moment. "Then he's not on good terms with good people."
Indeed, he wasn't a good person.
Locke knew himself well. He didn't intend to be a good person. In the Marvel universe, being a good person often meant meeting an untimely end.
Like the Stacy family, whose lives were ruined because of Spider-Man.
George Stacy died because of Spider-Man.
Gwen also died because of Spider-Man.
That's the fate of good people in the Marvel Universe.
Anyway, if anyone wanted to be a good person, Locke wouldn't stop them. But he didn't plan to be one.
"I should go."
Locke smiled at Gwen, took his backpack, and left the room.
Gwen snapped out of her thoughts. "I'll walk you out."
Out of politeness.
In the living room.
Locke thanked George and Helen, who were watching TV. "Mr. Stacy, Mrs. Stacy, thank you for the invitation. The lemon sea bass was delicious. Thank you. I'll be going now."
Gwen said to George and Helen, "Mom, I'll walk him down."
---
Downstairs.
Locke took out his car key and pressed it. The vehicle across the street beeped twice.
Gwen and Locke walked to the car together. "See you tomorrow."
Locke opened the car door and prepared to get in. "See you tomorrow."
At that moment...
Locke's ears twitched. He raised an eyebrow and looked up at the dark sky.
Gwen asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
The next second...
Locke's expression changed. He grabbed Gwen and quickly crossed the road.
Behind them.
Boom!
...