The Mutation Brought by "Red Moon"

The days that followed were uneventful. Lin Hai still went to school during the day on weekdays and helped out at his master's clinic and medicinal plant shop at night.

Three weeks later.

Harry brought good news: Osborn Enterprises had approved the future heir's request, allowing Lin Hai and Harry to research the special plant they had mentioned before. The condition was that the two had to be together; neither could be alone in Osborn's laboratory.

To put it bluntly, Osborn Enterprises still did not trust Lin Hai's abilities. Out of consideration for Harry, they were only letting Lin Hai take a stab at it for fun. Even then, Harry still had to be present throughout the process, lest something happen in the lab that should not.

Lin Hai understood. As one of the few major corporations in New York, it was only natural that Osborn Enterprises did not take him seriously. He was not some overpowered chosen one whom everyone would immediately bow to.

Thus, Lin Hai and Harry agreed to go to Osborn Enterprises that weekend.

Soon, Saturday arrived. Lin Hai first went to the clinic and medicinal plant shop to finish the day's work. After explaining the situation to his master, he set off for Osborn Tower.

Lin Hai and Harry were already quite familiar with each other, so they skipped the unnecessary pleasantries. Harry led Lin Hai to a small private laboratory at Osborn Enterprises.

Only after Harry introduced the place did Lin Hai learn that this was essentially Harry's personal laboratory. Osborn Enterprises' large laboratories were where the company's researchers worked.

This small lab had been built during the early years of Osborn Enterprises. Due to its cramped space and incomplete equipment, it had been abandoned for a long time and was only maintained occasionally.

After Harry transferred back to New York from his Swiss boarding school, his father, Norman Osborn, gave this small laboratory to Harry so he could conduct little experiments by himself whenever he was bored.

Harry opened the laboratory's coded door and invited Lin Hai inside. At a glance, Lin Hai spotted the "Red Moon" he had seen before, a flower that looked somewhat like a Blood Orchid.

Lin Hai quickly walked to the experiment table and stared through the specialized glass cover at the bewitching red flower inside.

The first time he had come into contact with it, this flower called "Red Moon" had made the energy inside him feel something akin to hunger. Through contact with its leaf, it had also sent a strand of energy into his body.

Now, he had finally received formal permission from Osborn Enterprises to come into deeper contact with it and study it.

"I still don't understand. With Osborn Enterprises' research capabilities, why haven't you been able to decipher this plant's composition after three years?" Lin Hai asked Harry beside him.

Harry pushed up his goggles. Under the laboratory's blue light, his hair gleamed with a metallic sheen. "We actually did decipher it. We've extracted more than forty compounds from this type of special plant, twelve of which have never been recorded by the scientific community.

"But the crucial problem is that once the active ingredients leave the living plant, they break down into ordinary proteins within five seconds. We can't make effective use of them. As you Huaxia people put it, they're like chicken ribs—tasteless to eat, but a shame to throw away." He pointed at a set of flickering molecular structures on the display.

Lin Hai fell into thought. This was indeed similar to the Blood Orchid.

Blood Orchids could not be preserved for long either. If they were not used within a short time, the substances inside that could extend a person's life would completely dissipate. Could all special plants rich in Life Energy be like this?

"Where did your father find it?" Lin Hai asked Harry. This point concerned him. If they knew where the plant grew, they should be able to make more discoveries.

Harry's expression was both indifferent and helpless. "In a deep forest in Missouri. The exact coordinates are considered a trade secret. I asked my father, but he wouldn't tell me."

As he spoke, he handed Lin Hai a pair of gloves. "Put these on. You only touched its leaves last time, so that was fine. But if you touch its pollen, your heart will stop beating within five minutes."

Lin Hai took the gloves but did not put them on immediately. Even through the glass, he could sense the plant's energy fluctuations, like a restrained flame—scorching and wild. It formed a stark contrast to the gentle, springwater-like Life Energy within him, yet the two were strangely drawn to each other.

"I want to touch it directly," Lin Hai suddenly said.

Harry frowned. "Are you crazy? You could die!"

But Lin Hai insisted, "I'll be careful. If only the pollen is poisonous, then it won't be a problem. I'll only touch the petals. Some plant characteristics require special methods for me to determine."

Harry hesitated for a moment before finally sighing. "Five minutes. Stop immediately if you feel any discomfort."

As he walked toward the control panel, he said, "I'll activate the emergency detoxification protocol, and if anything goes wrong with you, I'll pull you away."

The glass cover slowly rose. Lin Hai took a deep breath and slowly held his palm ten centimeters above the flower. The energy fluctuations coming from "Red Moon" and the hunger emanating from within him constantly disrupted his senses.

The instant he touched it, a torrential surge of scorching energy rushed straight up his arm. Lin Hai gritted his teeth and felt this force collide violently with the gentle Life Energy and attribute-less energy in his dantian.

Unlike the thin thread from last time, this energy was like a burst dam. It washed from his arm to his dantian, then finally into every meridian throughout his body.

"Lin! Your hand!" Harry cried out.

Lin Hai lowered his head and saw spiderweb-like red patterns emerge beneath the skin of his right hand, spreading toward his elbow at a visible speed. The agonizing pain was like countless red-hot steel needles piercing his marrow, yet his fingers seemed glued to the flower, unable to pull away.

"Hang on! The antidote is coming!" Thinking Lin Hai had been poisoned, Harry immediately hit the emergency button. A piercing alarm rang through the laboratory.

Lin Hai could no longer hear Harry's voice. His consciousness was pulled into a strange space—an endless sea of flowers swayed in the wind, each bloom a beating life form that released ancient, primal energy.

At the center of the flower field stood a massive bud like an emperor. Its roots plunged deep underground, seemingly connected to something even greater and more ancient.

"Lin!" Harry's voice pulled him back to reality. Two researchers in protective suits were trying to pull him away, but the "Red Moon" clung tightly to his palm as though it were alive.

"Get back!" Lin Hai's voice seemed squeezed through clenched teeth.

He closed his eyes and circulated the energy within him with all his strength. Rather than resisting, he guided that violent vitality through the meridians traversed by the attribute-less energy generated deep within his mind whenever he practiced Tai Chi.

The red patterns slowed their spread and began intertwining with the green energy already inside him, forming a strange balance.

Five minutes later, the suction suddenly vanished. Lin Hai staggered backward and was caught by Harry.

"Red Moon" looked unchanged on the surface, but he knew everything was different. The plant's energy had transferred into his body.

"Are you okay? The medical team is right outside," Harry asked worriedly.

Lin Hai waved a hand and looked down at his right arm. The red patterns were fading, but a faint glow seemed to flow beneath his skin. He felt fuller and stronger than ever, as if every cell had been injected with new vitality.

"Unbelievable! It doesn't just contain toxins. Its body is filled with pure Life Energy, thousands or even tens of thousands of times greater than that of ordinary plants," Lin Hai murmured.

Harry had the others leave the laboratory, then lowered his voice and asked, "Is this your 'special method'? Absorbing plant energy?"

After witnessing that scene before his eyes, it was not strange that Harry had figured some things out.

Since Harry had seen through it, Lin Hai had nothing to hide. Peter and his master already knew, and more people would know in the future. He did not mind familiar people learning about his abilities.

So Lin Hai nodded. "You guessed part of it right. We'll talk more later with Peter there. Right now, the urgent matter is..."

Lin Hai looked toward "Red Moon." "This 'Red Moon' should not exist within the evolutionary system of nature. Plants on Earth would never evolve into this under normal circumstances."

Harry's expression grew complicated. "My father said something similar." He hesitated before saying, "Lin, if you can truly interpret this plant, maybe you can do my father a huge favor."

Lin Hai keenly noticed the shadow that flashed through Harry's eyes when he mentioned his father.

Norman Osborn was also Marvel's popular villain, the Green Goblin—the genius scientist driven mad by the enhancement serum he had developed himself.

Although he was still only the head of Osborn Enterprises, the seeds of tragedy had already been planted. It was not just the human enhancement serum that would turn Norman Osborn into the Green Goblin, but also a hereditary strange disease within the Osborn family's bloodline.

"I need more samples. Plants of the same origin, data on their growing environment, all relevant information," Lin Hai said.

Harry nodded. "Starting tomorrow, you'll have Level Two access to my private laboratory. But today..."

He pointed at Lin Hai's right arm. "Do you want to go to the medical department for a full checkup first? I don't want to have to explain to Peter tomorrow why his friend is missing an arm."

Lin Hai smiled. "Don't forget that my master is a doctor. I'll just go back and have him examine me."

He did not mind familiar friends knowing about him, but if he went to Osborn's medical department for a full-body examination, his physical information would be practically exposed to the public.

At the same time, Lin Hai silently remained on guard. The increase in ability brought about by contacting "Red Moon" was immense, but the presence within that energy also unsettled him.

After resting briefly with Harry's company, Lin Hai left Osborn Tower and returned to the clinic.

"Master!" Lin Hai called out the moment he entered the clinic.

Chen Bing was sitting at his desk. Seeing the somewhat boisterous Lin Hai, he rolled his eyes. "What, did you turn into a monkey after visiting Osborn Tower?"

"Hehe, my mistake, my mistake. I was just in a rush to come back because I needed something from you." Lin Hai scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed. What had happened today had indeed left him excited. At sixteen, Lin Hai still could not achieve the supposed ability to hide all joy and anger from his face.

"Go on. What is it?"

"I'd like Master to take a look at my body. There was a small accident at Osborn's laboratory, but it's not a big problem. I want Master to confirm whether my physical condition is normal." Lin Hai straightened his expression and briefly told Chen Bing what had happened.

"Quick, quick, quick! Lie down! Why are you talking so much nonsense? Hurry up!" There was a trace of anxiety in Chen Bing's voice. Lin Hai was his eldest disciple, and after spending so much time together, Chen Bing had come to treat him like his own nephew.

Although Lin Hai swore that there was nothing seriously wrong with him, everyone knew there was a kind of cold called "Mom thinks you're cold," and a kind of hunger called "Grandma thinks you're hungry." Chen Bing also thought something was wrong with Lin Hai.

Chen Bing used every skill he knew from traditional Chinese medicine on Lin Hai—observation, listening and smelling, questioning, pulse-taking, bone-setting, acupuncture, and more. Only after finally confirming that Lin Hai's body truly had no problems did he smack him on the back in irritation. "Get up. There really isn't anything wrong with you. Your body is even stronger than before. Stay away from dangerous things when you can. A wise man does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Protecting yourself is the proper path."

Lin Hai bared his teeth as he rubbed his back. "Okay, okay, Master, don't worry. I'll definitely stay far away from dangerous things from now on. Rest assured."