Countdown

"Dilos, have you been awake all night?"

Early in the morning, Dr. Connors couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed as he watched Dilos walk into the lab with two heavy dark circles under his eyes.

"I thought you knew that a healthy body is the capital required to sustain long-term research."

"Yes, I know. And research cannot be rushed; trying to force results often leads to the opposite effect." Dilos's expression was somewhat awkward. Seeing Dr. Connors's slightly angry look and sensing he was about to say more, Dilos quickly walked over to the simulator, cutting him off.

"But I succeeded, Doctor! I found the right decay rate algorithm!"

"Oh." Dr. Connors initially replied with a simple word, not immediately grasping what had happened. It wasn't until two or three seconds later that he suddenly looked up, staring straight at Dilos as he asked:

"What did you just say?!"

To this, a smile tugged at the corner of Dilos's mouth. "I said..."

As he spoke, he walked quickly to the simulator, input the decay rate algorithm, and used the digital simulation controls to feed a viable lizard regeneration gene implantation method—which he had previously derived using the machine—into the biological digital simulation device containing a severed-limb mouse.

"Waiting... Experiment successful. Implantation method accepted. Limb regeneration complete. Vital organs stable. Blood pressure stable."

As the simulator's prompt sounded, the severed-limb mouse displayed on the biological digital simulation device had grown back its limb, showing absolutely no signs of negative side effects.

"It really succeeded." Dr. Connors looked at the data on the screen, his expression slightly dazed. It took a long while for him to come back to his senses, and when he looked at the weary Dilos, his voice carried a suppressed excitement.

"Incredible. How did you do it?"

"Well..." Dilos bared his teeth and gave an embarrassed smile. "When I was constantly failing, I got a bit frustrated and just scribbled something down randomly. I didn't expect it to be right. As for the specific step-by-step derivation, I'm not even sure myself."

Dilos thought for a moment and decided to keep the research notes from Richard Parker's notebook a secret. This included everything he had done overnight; to prevent Dr. Connors from discovering his activities, he had even stolen the genetic materials and experimental spiders from the zoo and other locations. He had gone to great lengths to use his abilities to hypnotize and control those large felines for that purpose.

Not only that, he had also wiped the research logs and security camera footage from the night. After all, what he had done was, in the end, somewhat illicit.

Dr. Connors looked at Dilos, his eyes filled with an indescribable excitement.

"Thank you."

Over a decade of day-and-night, painstaking research had brought him nothing but endless hope, alongside the despair of countless failures. If not for the conviction that kept supporting him, he would have given up long ago. Now that his dream had finally been realized, it was impossible not to be moved.

If it weren't for the long-standing willpower that had sustained him, Dr. Connors might have burst into tears right then and there.

Even so, it took a long time for Dr. Connors to recover. He looked at the dark circles under Dilos's eyes and couldn't help but sigh.

"You should rest for two days. Since the research has reached this stage, you can afford to relax a bit."

Dilos nodded and handed a slip of paper to Dr. Connors, on which the decay rate algorithm derived by Richard Parker was written.

"There are still many simulation tests to be run for this algorithm regarding lizard gene implantation. I know you're eager to create the serum and start reptile experiments immediately, but I suggest we simulate all the implantation methods first. There might be even more viable options; after all, having more implementable methods is beneficial for the research, right?"

"Alright." Dr. Connors nodded. He watched Dilos turn and leave, shaking his head with a helpless smile, unsure if he felt more resigned or happy.

"Richard, it seems we are both getting old. This is the era of the young."

Back in his room, Dilos took several specialized spider-rearing containers out of the packages he had recently purchased. He used his telepathy to directly control the spiders' minds, keeping them from moving, and placed them one by one into the small enclosures.

Even though these spiders had begun to mutate, their solitary nature remained unchanged. The reason they had been able to stay together in a container without incident before was mainly because Dilos had controlled them, and the atomized serum had left them too weak to move.

Once they regained their strength, it was entirely possible they would begin to kill each other. After all, besides insects, a spider's daily diet included its own kind. Therefore, taking precautions at this stage was for the best.

And it didn't end there; the serum had not yet fully integrated into the spiders' bodies. In three or four days, once they had fully assimilated the serum, Dilos would have to move them to sturdier containers. Given the animal genes he had introduced, once these spiders fully mutated, a mere glass container would never be able to hold them.

But that still wasn't the end. Once they fully mutated, he would need to have them mate to breed a perfect second generation of mutated spiders that had fully integrated with the serum. Once they reached that stage, he would only need to wait for the second generation to mature before he could extract their venom to create the serum.

Once that spider serum was injected into his body, it would bind tightly with his cells. Dilos would need to find a safe place to endure the transformation phase; regardless of anything else, that stage was inherently vulnerable.

Adding all these things together, it would take at least a month to finish. But the results would be worth the wait!

Just think, the mutated spiders that Richard Parker had bred using cross-species genetic implantation technology were only intended to grant the human body super-healing abilities, yet he hadn't expected that such healing would bring about such profound changes to the human body.

Now, Dilos had improved upon that foundation by adding more and stronger genetic data from other organisms. This would ensure that the resulting super-spiders would have enhanced capabilities in every aspect: immense strength, reflexes, durability, extreme self-healing... and finally, the legendary spider-sense!

Clinging to these expectations, Dilos drifted into a deep, exhausted sleep.