In the Umbrella Corporation's laboratory, Dr. Otto slowly regained consciousness. The moment he woke, Dr. Otto let out a shrill scream, as if he were enduring tremendous agony.
At that moment, five scenes appeared in Otto's mind. They were images seen from five different perspectives.
It was like someone who could only look at one screen suddenly being forced to watch five screens at once without being allowed to divide his attention... The sensation of his mind being torn apart was enough to drive anyone mad.
For a while, Dr. Otto couldn't adapt to his current condition. The less he could adapt, the angrier he became. Finally, Dr. Otto let out a furious roar. As his roar rang out, the mechanical arms behind him spread wide with force, as if trying to vent the anger that filled him.
Only then did Otto notice what he looked like now—a monster with four mechanical arms growing from his back. Dr. Otto let out an even more miserable scream.
After venting his emotions for a while, Dr. Otto, who was alone, gradually calmed down. Once he had settled down, Otto thought of his wife. Before the explosion, his wife had been standing right at the front, very close to him. Considering how violent the explosion had been, she must have died.
The thought of his wife's death filled Otto with grief. Suddenly, Otto began talking to himself. After a long stretch of soft muttering, Otto seemed to recover some of his spirit. In low spirits, he walked out of the laboratory and left Umbrella Tower alone.
Watching through the monitors as her husband came back from the dead, flew into a rage, and finally left the hospital in disgrace, Dr. Otto's wife had no idea what she should do.
She had witnessed her husband turning into a monster with her own eyes. For a moment, she couldn't accept it either.
After hesitating for a while, Otto's wife, Rosemary, was about to call out to Otto, but by then, his figure had already vanished into the distant night.
Rosemary turned her pleading gaze toward Chen Changsheng. Looking into the distance, Chen Changsheng said softly, "Perhaps Dr. Otto wants some time alone right now."
Rosemary froze for a moment, then lowered her head, seemingly lost in thought.
In the night, Otto staggered aimlessly to the site where he had conducted the Nuclear Fusion experiment that day. Looking at the laboratory that had been reduced to ruins, Otto remembered his former dream: completing the Nuclear Fusion experiment so that technology could better serve humanity.
Now that his wife was dead, what else was worth living for? Perhaps only the dream he had once pursued.
His experiment had failed, and he had even turned into a monster. Surely no company would ever be willing to invest in him again.
But the experiment had clearly been on the verge of success. He had only failed because of a few accidents.
The more Otto recalled, the angrier he became. Finally, a bewitching voice rang out in his mind. It was the voice of the artificial intelligence.
Under the mechanical arms' intelligent guidance, Dr. Otto decided to conduct the Nuclear Fusion experiment again by himself.
But how was he supposed to complete his experiment? Otto didn't have a single cent on him. There was no way he could buy the expensive equipment and raw materials he needed.
The voice in his mind spoke again, patiently and persuasively guiding Dr. Otto. In the end, Dr. Otto decided to pull off something big: rob a bank vault to get enough money to complete his experiment. Once he fulfilled his dream, he would go to heaven to find his wife.
Just as Doctor Octopus was planning how to rob a bank, Peter officially began his mutual battle of love and hatred with Green Goblin.
After an unexpected incident, Norman Osborn learned Spider-Man's true identity. He was Peter Parker, his son's good friend, his son's romantic rival, and Spider-Man—the person who had ruined his plans time and again.
With old and new grudges combined, Green Goblin made his appearance that very night. He rushed to Peter's home and began destroying everything. Fortunately, the NYPD arrived in time and forced Green Goblin to retreat.
In the end, Peter's only relative, Aunt May, was seriously injured and sent to the city hospital.
Looking at Aunt May lying in the hospital bed, Peter thought of Uncle Ben. Back then, his own actions had caused such terrible consequences. Could the same thing happen to Aunt May now?
"No! I absolutely won't allow another one of my loved ones to leave me!" Peter roared inwardly, and something within him gradually began to change.
Naturally, Green Goblin wasn't going to let Spider-Man off so easily. Later, he set another trap and lured Spider-Man into it. But villains always died because they talked too much. Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, was killed by Spider-Man instead.
Peter finally learned that the Green Goblin who had caused destruction everywhere and killed countless people was actually the father of his good friend Harry—the rather polite middle-aged man.
Peter had once imagined what his father might be like, and the father in his imagination had looked just like Norman. But now, Peter felt as if his dream had shattered.
When Peter brought Norman Osborn's body back to his home, Harry happened to see him. Thus, the grudge between the second Green Goblin and Spider-Man was born.
The hatred of a slain father could never be reconciled.
Aunt May's hospitalization cost a great deal of money every day. The savings of Peter's family were almost completely exhausted within just a few days.
With no savings left, Aunt May could only go to the bank with Peter to mortgage the house they lived in, hoping to ease their current financial hardship. Aunt May couldn't go out to earn money, while Peter was attending college and badly needed money. The two of them had no choice but to sell the house for cash.
Inside the bank, Aunt May was discussing with a bank employee how to mortgage her house. Just then, Dr. Otto entered from outside, controlling his mechanical arms.
Without exchanging a word with anyone, Otto walked straight toward the bank vault. Since Dr. Otto's appearance was so strange, no one stopped him for a moment.
After all, with four mechanical arms growing from his back, he looked to an ordinary person like someone who might be insane—or perhaps someone performing some kind of avant-garde art.
Ignoring the gazes of the onlookers, Dr. Otto drove his mechanical arms viciously into the bank vault's thick security door. Under the tremendous pulling force of the mechanical arms, the massive door was torn right out of its frame, leaving a huge hole.
Otto used his mechanical arms to pull out several bags of gold coins from the opening and prepared to leave. The entire robbery had taken less than two minutes. Clearly, Dr. Otto had made thorough preparations.
Before the ordinary people could react, Otto was already preparing to flee amid the blaring alarm.
When the alarm sounded, the crowd finally realized what had happened. The bank lobby immediately descended into chaos, with screams ringing out from time to time.
"Peter..." Aunt May was frightened by the vicious-looking Dr. Otto and instinctively sought help from the person closest to her.
But to Aunt May's disappointment, her nephew had vanished. The bank employee who had just been assisting Aunt May added insult to injury at the perfect moment. "Ma'am, your nephew certainly ran fast..."
The instant Doctor Octopus broke into the bank vault, Peter sensed that something was wrong. Although his life wasn't in danger and Aunt May was right beside him, his responsibility as a superhero still drove Peter to transform into Spider-Man and stop the crime.
Otto's five independent fields of vision made it impossible to sneak up on him. With just one bag of gold coins, he smashed the Spider-Man who was stealthily approaching down from the roof.
The moment the bag struck Peter, the full sack of gold coins burst open. Shimmering gold coins scattered across the floor, their dazzling brilliance drawing everyone's attention.
The bank employee who had been handling Aunt May's paperwork gradually developed coin-shaped eyes. His hand slowly reached out, preparing to slip one of the gold coins in front of him into his pocket. Aunt May smacked his hand away with her cane and said, "That doesn't belong to you."
Peter had been through so much that his skills had improved considerably. With the artificial intelligence assisting him, Dr. Otto's combat ability was also extremely powerful. For a time, the two fought to a standstill.
Just as Peter and Dr. Otto were locked in a fierce battle, a woman's figure entered the bank accompanied by a squad of armed personnel in black suits. That woman was Otto's wife, Rosemary. She shouted at Otto in the middle of the fight, "Stop!"
Dr. Otto heard the familiar voice and looked toward the newcomers. When he saw that it was his wife, his movements against Spider-Man gradually slowed.
After putting some distance between himself and Spider-Man, Otto took a careful look at his wife. It turned out that she hadn't died after all. Delighted, Otto embraced his wife, completely ignoring the fact that the scene had been in utter chaos just moments earlier.
Spider-Man hung upside down from the ceiling as he watched the scene, feeling completely at a loss. He didn't know whether he should continue stopping this criminal.
The Umbrella Corporation employees who had arrived with Otto's wife expertly sealed off the area and collected the gold coins scattered across the floor.
The police who had rushed to the NYPD after receiving the news told the ordinary people at the scene that this was merely a bank-robbery drill, a test of the NYPD's ability to respond to emergencies. They told the citizens present not to panic.
The justice-loving young Spider-Man clearly couldn't accept this explanation. He stared blankly as Dr. Otto, who had just been trying to rob a bank, was taken away by Umbrella Corporation employees, while the police cleaned up after the criminal. His entire worldview felt as if it had collapsed.
Only afterward did the bewildered Spider-Man quietly return to Aunt May's side and apologize to her.
Naturally, Aunt May didn't think badly of her nephew. She felt that Peter's departure had only been the cowardice of youth, something she could forgive. Besides, he was her own nephew, after all.
Peter's young mind was now filled with another trace of doubt. Had that really been a drill? That man had clearly been robbing the bank. Why was everyone saying it was only an exercise?
Aunt May had lived for decades and saw the confusion in her nephew's heart at a glance. After all, Dr. Otto had looked so fierce just now that there was no way anyone could see it as a mere drill.
She comforted Peter, saying, "Peter, there are many things in this world that we can't understand. But all we need to do is be the best versions of ourselves. The future doesn't always turn out the way we imagine, but we can still make our lives better than the future we expect."
After hearing Aunt May's words, Peter felt somewhat more relaxed as well. He nodded and prepared to set aside his doubts for the time being.
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