"Hello, Mr. Jack. I'm Ross. I happened to overhear your conversation with Stark just now, so forgive my asking, but are you really researching the Super Soldier Serum?"
General Ross clearly couldn't stop thinking about the Super Soldier Serum. The moment he and Chen Changsheng found themselves alone, he went straight to the point and asked about the matter he cared about most.
"Of course, General Ross. My company has already made considerable progress in researching the Super Soldier Serum. Just look at those Bio-Tyrants—they're byproducts of enhanced-soldier research, but they still have tremendous potential for practical use." Chen Changsheng spoke to General Ross with complete confidence.
All right, Chen Changsheng was indeed extremely confident. As far as he was concerned, enhancing the human body was as easy as blinking. The reason he had gone through so many preliminaries was merely to make everything look more natural.
After chatting with General Ross for a while longer about topics that interested him, Chen Changsheng's professional knowledge left General Ross utterly stunned. Chen Changsheng's confident, composed manner made General Ross even more convinced that Chen Changsheng was the person who could create the Super Soldier Serum for him.
It was no wonder General Ross was so certain. The abilities displayed by the Bio-Tyrants were simply too astonishing. Their extraordinary self-healing, extraordinary learning ability, and extraordinary physical strength all made them seem more like super soldiers than Captain America did. Their only real flaw was probably their appearance. But who cared if a weapon of war was a little ugly?
After arranging a time to visit the Umbrella Corporation laboratory with General Ross, Chen Changsheng officially concluded this weapons demonstration tour. Sometimes, making people interested was far more important than immediately reaching an agreement.
The military bigwigs were spending America's enormous military budget, so they naturally weren't stingy. They placed an order for the Umbrella Corporation's Bio-Tyrants, intending to test whether they were useful or not before making further plans after putting them into service.
This also counted as securing a major order for the Umbrella Corporation. The moment Chen Changsheng returned to Umbrella Tower in New York, he summoned the newly hired department heads and held a discussion with them. After making plans for the Umbrella Corporation's next stage of development, Chen Changsheng prepared to return to school and continue his plain, uneventful high school life.
Chen Changsheng firmly believed that professional matters should be left to professional personnel. At this point, he still wasn't familiar enough with this world, so it was better to wait for now.
Chen Changsheng held the Umbrella Corporation's core technologies in his hands. If those temporarily recruited executives left him, they would probably be worthless. Therefore, Chen Changsheng believed that they wouldn't do anything they shouldn't.
After returning to Midtown High, the first familiar face Chen Changsheng saw was Peter Parker once again. Peter had already taken off his thick glasses. He seemed much taller and stronger, and, more importantly, much more handsome. Although he was still rather youthful, the changes were obvious to the naked eye.
In Chen Changsheng's perception, Peter now possessed strength far beyond that of an ordinary person. According to General Ross's standards, Peter should be comparable to Captain America in certain aspects.
With his hands itching to test Peter's strength, Chen Changsheng couldn't help giving it a try. Spider-Man's childhood motto, "With great power comes great responsibility," had won over who knew how many fans. Chen Changsheng also wanted to test just how great Peter's power really was.
Chen Changsheng quietly walked up behind Peter and lightly tapped him. He controlled his speed perfectly—not much faster than an ordinary person, but right at the limits of what an ordinary person could manage.
Just as he had expected, Peter seemed to possess foresight. With a sidestep, he dodged Chen Changsheng's reaching hand. Peter quickly turned around and, upon seeing that it was Chen Changsheng, happily greeted him.
"Jack, are you also helping prepare for Mary Jane's birthday party?" Peter asked Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng had no idea that today was the meeting to prepare for Mary Jane's birthday, nor did he know that Mary Jane was about to hold a birthday party at school. But none of that stopped him from joining in as an uninvited guest. Life was meant to be enjoyed, and Chen Changsheng was enthusiastic about savoring every moment of it.
From Peter Parker's words, Chen Changsheng learned that the upcoming birthday party for Mary Jane was being organized by Harry Osborn, the young heir of the Osborn Group.
Chen Changsheng glanced at Peter Parker, who was excitedly preparing to contribute to Mary Jane's birthday party, and couldn't help being filled with question marks. Peter, don't tell me you think your good friend Harry is throwing this birthday party for someone else just to help you pick up girls?
While at school, Chen Changsheng also noticed some clues. It seemed that Mary Jane, Peter, and Harry were caught in a strange love triangle. Even Chen Changsheng couldn't help calling the tangled relationship fascinating.
How should he put it? Love was a ray of light, and it was making you panic with how green it was... If Peter wanted his life to go smoothly, he really needed to wear a little green on his head.
Looking at Peter Parker, who was smiling happily, Chen Changsheng patted him on the shoulder. He really didn't want to disturb this naive boy's beautiful dream.
What if Peter saw something he shouldn't at tomorrow's birthday party? Let's observe a few minutes of silence for poor, kind Peter first.
Mary Jane truly deserved to be called the belle of Midtown High. Her birthday party hadn't even begun, yet the preparation meeting alone had already attracted a large number of students from the school to help.
Several rich second-generation students surrounded Harry and Mary Jane, offering all kinds of congratulations. The moment Peter saw Mary Jane, he happily walked over and said, "Hi, Mary Jane. Happy birthday in advance."
Of course, many others were saying the same thing at the same time. Mary Jane clearly hadn't noticed Peter's congratulations among the crowd.
Peter was still very happy after offering his birthday wishes. He was pushed along with the crowd until he ended up beside Chen Changsheng, waiting for Mary Jane to have some free time and notice him.
But that was obviously wishful thinking. As the main character of the event, Mary Jane was busy dealing with a constant stream of people. Someone inconspicuous in the corner would probably be difficult for her to notice.
While eating various snacks and chatting with Chen Changsheng about their recent lives, Peter saw Helen Zhao and Gwen, the two top-student best friends, walking toward them.
The two beautiful young high school girls should normally have attracted many boys' attention. But with the halo of academic excellence surrounding them, they often made some boys feel inferior and retreat from a distance.
With the top students joining them, the topic naturally began to drift. They had originally been discussing Mary Jane's birthday party, but after Gwen and Helen Zhao arrived, the conversation gradually shifted toward which universities they would attend in the future.
If searching by the book's title didn't work, try searching by the author. Maybe the title had simply been changed!
As top students, Gwen and Helen Zhao naturally had countless prestigious universities offering them scholarships and begging them to enroll. Sometimes it wasn't only schools choosing students; students chose schools too!
Although Chen Changsheng wasn't a top student, many universities had also begged him to attend, simply because everyone wore the cloak known as genius.
But once too many universities came asking, a new problem arose: choosing which one to attend was always difficult. Well, ordinary people would never have the chance to understand the troubles of top students...
When the topic reached this point, Peter, who was also a top student, finally perked up and cut in, "I was thinking about going to MIT, but that city is too far from here. I don't want to move too far away from Uncle Ben and Aunt May..."
Before Peter could finish, he noticed that the two girls weren't looking at him at all. Instead, they were staring fixedly at Chen Changsheng, so his voice gradually faded. At the same time, he secretly resented the unfairness of fate. Chen Changsheng already had two girls favoring him, so why couldn't Mary Jane see him?
Noticing Gwen and Helen Zhao's gazes, Chen Changsheng also felt a little awkward. After all, spending so long in an ambiguous relationship with the two of them was bound to cause some problems.
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment, then tossed the question back to them. "Where do you two want to go? I don't mind. As long as we can stay together."
Everyone present, including Peter, fell into a strange silence.
Was that even something a human would say?
After a moment of silence, Chen Changsheng stiffly changed the subject to ease the awkward atmosphere. "What are you planning to give Mary Jane tomorrow?"
Although the change of topic was extremely forced, Helen Zhao decided to forgive Chen Changsheng for being quick-witted enough to give her an opening. "I'm planning to give Mary Jane a set of cosmetics. She should like it."
"I have a signed photo of a Broadway Theater star. I'm planning to give it to Mary Jane. I heard she wants to become a Broadway star someday, so it should make her very happy," Gwen added.
"Then I'll give Mary Jane an exquisite fruit basket," Chen Changsheng said as he followed along with the lively atmosphere.
But that single sentence caused another silence to descend over the group. After all, fruit baskets from the mysterious East had already become widely known.
Their price was far beyond what ordinary people could accept, and yet they sold incredibly well. Every fruit basket sold caused the working masses to cry out about the evil capitalists. The problem was that the person selling the fruit baskets was actually a classmate right beside them...
Peter, standing nearby, couldn't help feeling his heart sink. He had always wanted to attend Mary Jane's birthday party, but he had never considered what birthday present to give her. More importantly, Peter's family wasn't wealthy, so he didn't have enough money to buy an expensive gift.
After anxiously thinking for a while, Peter remembered his body, which had suddenly become incredibly strong. An audacious idea immediately sprang into his mind. Why not go to the underground boxing ring mentioned in the newspaper and fight a match for a reward of 3,000 US Dollars?
That way, he would only need to fight one match to earn enough money to buy Mary Jane a suitable birthday present. Perhaps that would make Mary Jane look at him in a better light.
After a while, Mary Jane was still busy talking with the steady stream of students arriving, so the group decided to leave separately for the time being.
As usual, Chen Changsheng invited Gwen and Helen Zhao to eat with him, while Peter hurried away to carry out his plan.
After returning home, Peter Parker hurriedly found the newspaper article he had read before. He memorized the address, didn't say goodbye to Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and rushed toward the place mentioned in the newspaper.
Uncle Ben noticed Peter leaving in such a hurry. Feeling uneasy, he decided to follow secretly and see whether something had happened to Peter.
However, Peter had already been enhanced, so Uncle Ben naturally couldn't keep up with him. After leaving the house, Uncle Ben could only catch sight of Peter's departing back and the general direction he had taken.
Fighting in an underground boxing match was completely like fighting a child for Peter now. There was no need to pay attention to technique; a few simple punches easily knocked out his opponent.
This directly made the spectators beneath the ring start cursing and shouting that the fight was fixed. Faced with this situation, the venue's manager was drenched in sweat. Those who came to watch underground fights were no good people, and things couldn't continue like this. While calming the audience, he also began to resent Peter and instructed the staff not to give that kid his reward.
After knocking out his opponent, Peter excitedly ran to the prize counter to collect his winnings. However, the person responsible for paying him had already received the manager's instructions. The 3,000 US Dollar prize he should have received was directly reduced to 100.
Peter was left completely bewildered and could only cry out about how treacherous people were. He tried to play the victim and say that he really needed the money, but the manager easily dismissed the young man with a single sentence: "What does that have to do with me?"
Just as Peter was preparing to leave, a masked robber rushed into the office. He pressed a gun against the head of the employee who had just dealt with Peter, grabbed a large bag of cash, and ran past Peter toward the street outside.
Peter watched the entire thing without trying to stop him. He was even somewhat gleeful, because he was still brooding over the manager deducting his prize money. Ignoring the employee's furious shouting, Peter happily turned and left. However, young Peter wouldn't be happy for much longer.
Holding 100 US Dollars, Peter walked home in low spirits. Suddenly, he heard a gunshot. At the same time, an inexplicable feeling of panic rose in his heart, as if something related to him had happened.
Looking at the crowd rapidly gathering ahead, Peter ran over. He had a feeling that someone very close to him was in there.
After struggling to push through the crowd, Peter saw his beloved Uncle Ben lying in a pool of blood, already on the verge of death.
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