Peter had no idea that Adrian Toomes, the future "Vulture," had been chased away by Norman, nor did he know that "Kraven the Hunter" from Russia had arrived in New York. For him, it was a leisurely October—as relaxed as could be.
"According to old NYPD files on Kingpin's arrest, Fisk Industries' cash flow, and the Avengers' archive system, we can pretty much confirm that the natural history museum Fisk sponsors is a transit hub and money laundering center for illegally smuggled wildlife products. Fisk uses various methods to package these smuggled goods as centuries-old art pieces and then sells them to people who want to buy them."
Harry's voice came through Peter's earpiece. This was the Spider-Squad's first mission since establishing their base. Harry and Amadeus would provide remote support, while Peter handled the fieldwork. Their goal was to stop a series of asset transfers and money-laundering operations that Kingpin had initiated after his imprisonment. After being jailed, Fisk's organization was inevitably contracting, and in the process, many previously untraceable illegal businesses were being exposed. Since the NYPD couldn't keep up with Fisk's corporate schemes, Spider-Man was there to lend a hand.
Peter activated his stealth mode and crept into the museum. The main goal was to find evidence that the art pieces were not historical artifacts but luxury goods, preferably ledgers or transaction records. Fisk Tower was still devoid of any useful information, and because of Fisk's self-surrender and his cooperation with the police, they had no reason to search the building.
"I'm in."
Stealth mode didn't hide his voice, so Peter chose to crawl along the ceiling to avoid making a sound. It was past ten at night. He was theoretically supposed to be in bed, but in reality, he was out fighting crime as Spider-Man.
"Alright, according to the museum's blueprints submitted to the city, you should be headed to..."
"Wait, there's someone in the museum."
Peter's sudden message startled Harry. Someone at this hour? Who would be in the museum at this time? Were they about to witness a shady deal in progress?
Unfortunately, it didn't look like it.
Peter lay motionless on the ceiling, waiting for the person to get closer. It was a Slavic man in a business suit, but surprisingly, his English had no Slavic accent; it was fluent American English.
"Is this a West African craft?"
Standing in front of an ivory artifact in a display case, the guest asked with a smile. The docent smiled back. "Yes, Mr. Kravinoff. This is a craft from the Ghana region of West Africa, and it depicts the great epic of Anansi, the spider god, bringing stories to mankind."
Damn it, Anansi is still after me.
Peter muttered an insult about Anansi under his breath and scanned the man's face with his lenses for data analysis. Harry's team then provided a name that shocked Peter.
"This guy is named Sergei Kravinoff. He's a Russian Duma member. A big shot. He grew up in New York until he returned to Russia at 18. He's 39 now."
Kraven the Hunter! What's he doing here?
Realizing that another Spider-Man villain had appeared, Peter stayed silent, watching Kraven from dozens of meters away. Harry, meanwhile, pulled up more information about him. "Wait, he's also a member of a hunting club and is called the greatest hunter of the 21st century. He's gone deep into Africa to hunt all kinds of beasts alone, which often gets him complaints from animal rights organizations. But he's a Russian."
Russia didn't have as many NGOs, so it was logical for him to be here.
"Hey, Peter, we might have found a smuggling route here. A hunter who frequently goes to West Africa to hunt animals, and illegal, expensive animal artifacts..."
"Yeah, I know, but we don't have any evidence."
Amadeus, who had been quietly monitoring the data, couldn't help but add, "Then why wouldn't Kingpin just smuggle directly from Africa?"
"He's the buyer."
Peter didn't dwell on that point. He watched as Kraven asked the docent about a rhino horn artifact before quietly leaving. Now wasn't the time to figure out the relationship between Kraven and Kingpin. He also had no intention of starting a fight here; the more important thing was to find evidence of Fisk's crimes.
So Peter slipped into the air ducts, heading toward a more hidden office.
Meanwhile, Kraven, who was listening to the docent, heard some subtle movements. He frowned and listened carefully for a moment. The docent asked in confusion, "Mr. Kravinoff?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Please continue."
Peter moved forward and soon discovered a secret room that wasn't on the blueprints. The problem now was how to open it. The room wasn't connected to the air ducts, so Peter quickly thought of a solution before dropping into a nearby office.
"What's the situation outside?"
"I've hacked into their surveillance system." Amadeus finished the job in a flash. Harry took over the monitoring screen and observed. "No staff nearby, Peter. Can you open it?"
"Haha, it wouldn't be hard to just smash the wall, but that defeats the purpose of stealth." Peter muttered to himself as he looked for a way into the secret room. If there was a secret room, there must be a way to enter from the adjacent room. Peter scanned the area for any hidden mechanisms or entrances.
"There are no electrical facilities nearby, so the mechanism to open this room must be very simple. It has to be simple, yet something others wouldn't think of..."
Peter scanned the entire office and his eyes landed on the chair. The position of the desk chair seemed a bit odd. Normally, a chair would be pushed back when someone stood up, and it wouldn't be left in this position if it was put away.
The chair in front of the desk looked like it was deliberately positioned for someone to sit in. Peter moved the chair, and the wall beside it rotated open. He walked into the secret room, where he found a list of recent transactions.
"This is way too easy."