Join the Glorious Evolution

The next day, in the Queens sewers, there was a hidden, cramped workshop beside a drainage ditch.

"Drip, drip..."

In the quiet, frigid surroundings, two hulking Lizardmen with green skin all over their bodies were concocting serum inside the workshop. Dim lighting illuminated rows upon rows of green potions on the shelves.

The muscular, ferocious-looking Lizardman was Professor Connors, while the slightly leaner and more agile one was Peter Parker.

After giving up on recruiting Merlin, the two of them had hidden in the dark sewers and set up a temporary workshop, continuously producing Lizard Serum in preparation for their final plan.

"Ding! Ding!" Suddenly, a phone ringtone sounded simultaneously in the silent sewers, making the two men turn to look at each other before glancing at the phones on the nearby table.

The previously quiet phones, their screens black, had both lit up.

Connors walked over and picked up his phone with his huge palm to take a look.

"R-Star?" He was somewhat surprised to see an unfamiliar app on his phone, then looked toward Peter. Peter also picked up his phone with two fingers and showed him that it had the same app.

His cold vertical pupils narrowed as he stared at the app icon on the screen for a long while, his mind racing.

The fact that the other party could remotely install an app on his phone meant they could also determine their location.

Had they already been exposed?

But that did not seem right. If their location had already been determined, there was no need to install an app on their phones.

Besides, it was no easy task to find their signal in the dark, deep sewers.

Just as he was thinking, Peter had already tapped open the app.

[Lizard Evolution Mission...]

[Humans originated roughly seven million years ago. About seven million years ago, Sahelanthropus appeared. Around six million years ago, Orrorin appeared. Around 5.8 million years ago, Ardipithecus appeared...]

[Around 200,000 years ago, Homo sapiens appeared.]

[Since then, humanity has passed through the Stone Age, the Iron Age... and arrived at the current Information Age. Over that long span of time, technology has continuously advanced, yet humanity itself seems to have remained in place.]

[But the appearance of Lizardmen seems to herald the arrival of an opportunity for human evolution.]

[To guide humanity's evolution, it needs the guidance of great figures from history.]

[Come, join the glorious evolution!]

[Mission: Follow the instructions to obtain materials and create six Canary Devices. Install them in Manhattan District, Queens, Brooklyn District... Central Park.]

[Lizard Rise!]

[Accept mission?]

Connors and Peter Parker stared at the mission statement on the phone, their cold blood seeming to boil at that moment.

Evolution, great historical figures, rise...

Every word seemed to strike directly at their heartstrings, making their tails sway involuntarily.

Connors and Peter reluctantly tore their gazes away from the phone and looked at each other. Each could see a trace of temptation in the other's eyes.

"Professor Connors..." Peter asked, "What do you think? Should we continue with the original plan?"

Their original plan had merely been to use the Canary Device at the top of Osborn Industrial Building to disperse Lizard Serum into the air, allowing people in the surrounding blocks to undergo evolution before expanding into other districts.

But now, someone could provide them with materials, create more devices, and cover the entirety of Apple City.

Connors did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned back to study the mission on the phone.

The sudden appearance of a mysterious app and a mission that perfectly aligned with their ideas gave them an unreal feeling, as if a giant hand were controlling something behind the scenes.

"Let's observe it a little longer. Peter, go back to school tomorrow and see whether this mysterious software has suddenly appeared in society recently."

"I'll also find a way to trace it through the computer."

Although the mission tempted them greatly, it had appeared too abruptly. He did not dare accept it right away and wanted to learn more first.

They had spent too long in the sewers and were about to lose touch with the world above.

"I think we should accept it. This is exactly what we want to do. Why not give it a try?" Peter voiced his opinion.

"I know, but it's best to know what we're dealing with." Connors actually wanted to tap confirm as well, but he could not shake his unease.

Although the Lizard Serum had drastically changed his temperament, he still retained his basic reason.

"Alright."

Hell's Kitchen, Merlin's Custom Shop.

Merlin sat in front of the computer and watched for a long time. Seeing that they had not accepted the mission, he was somewhat surprised.

"Becoming lizards hasn't completely muddled their brains!"

He was not in much of a hurry about it and instead began expanding the platform's coverage.

The Hell's Kitchen area had already stabilized, and basic production was no problem. Only some more technically demanding items still needed to be manufactured by Merlin himself.

When the time came, he could just put them in the Shop as limited editions. It was not much of an issue.

After all, only limited editions could demonstrate the value of special vehicles and weapons.

Besides, in the early stages, only wealthy people and rich second-generation heirs could afford them.

Once the platform expanded into other districts and the player count stabilized, Professor Connors's Canary Devices should be nearly finished as well.

"Phew... Done!" After an unknown amount of time, Merlin let out a long breath and pressed the Enter key. The edited program was sent across all of Apple City through the R Star Subsystem.

After finishing all that, Merlin started browsing recent news.

[A police chase unfolded on Broadway.]

[An F22 Raptor fighter jet was suspected of passing over Apple City.]

[A mysterious attack was suspected beneath the power plant bridge.]

"Hm?" Merlin, who had been lounging lazily on the sofa in search of entertaining news, immediately sat upright when he saw this.

He then opened the news footage. The first image showed the chase on Broadway.

He enlarged the blurry surveillance footage, and when he saw what was inside the police car, his eyes widened.

"Holy shit, Transformers?" Although he had heard in his previous life about Marvel crossing over with Transformers, and Iron Man even having an Anti-Transformer Armor, he had not expected the world he arrived in to actually have Transformers.

Still uncertain, he continued examining the footage frame by frame. In the end, he simply hacked into the police surveillance system to view all footage related to the two vehicles.

But soon, he seemed to spot something unexpected. He immediately rewound the footage and paused it.

"What is this?"

In the footage, a sexy woman was speeding down a secluded street on a modified Ducati motorcycle, and the bike she was riding was exactly identical to his Ducati.