Spider Prelude

The next morning, Midtown High's entrance was bustling once again. Lin Hai, Gwen, Harry, and Peter walked into campus side by side, sunlight falling across their shoulders as a new semester officially began.

None of them knew that their sophomore year would bring adventures even more tumultuous and magnificent than the Green Goblin incident.

During the second week after school began, Gwen found Lin Hai at lunch, excitement gleaming in her blue eyes.

"Lin Hai, I have something to tell you." She lowered her voice, though no one around them seemed particularly interested in their conversation. "Professor Curt Connors, the chief scientist of Osborn Group, chose me to be his intern assistant."

Lin Hai's chopsticks paused slightly. As a transmigrator, he already knew about this, though he did not know exactly when Gwen had become Professor Connors's intern assistant.

At the same time, he knew something else: now that Gwen had become Professor Connors's assistant, Peter was not far from becoming Spider-Man.

"Congratulations." He smiled sincerely. "Professor Connors is a doctorate holder with dual degrees. Becoming his intern assistant is a rare opportunity."

Gwen nodded, but then frowned slightly. "His research direction is a little aggressive, though. He seems determined to apply animals' regenerative abilities to human limb regeneration, and he's even made breakthrough progress in animal testing."

Lin Hai knew why, and he had met the professor during his first trip to Missouri.

Lin Hai pondered for a moment. "You know I have some business ties with Osborn Group. I met him before. Before becoming Osborn Group's chief scientist, Professor Connors was a military doctor. He lost his right arm on the battlefield.

"That was why he left the battlefield. He hoped to use his knowledge to regenerate his right arm, not only for himself, but also for other disabled people with missing limbs. He is someone worthy of respect."

Gwen looked at him in surprise. "Professor Connors has a story like that?"

"Yes. But from what I understand, Cross-Species Gene Fusion is extremely risky, especially when it involves highly evolved creatures like reptiles. Years ago, Professor Connors was nearly successful, but external factors kept delaying the experiment until now." Lin Hai was referring to the research Professor Connors had conducted with Peter's father.

Peter's father had obtained the key formula for resolving gene fusion, but apparently because the news had leaked, the formula remained hidden in the briefcase he left Peter. While it stayed unknown to the world, it also brought murder upon Peter's parents.

It was hard to say who had done it, and even if he knew, it would not mean much. Lin Hai therefore did not mention the information hidden behind it all.

Gwen sighed. "No wonder Professor Connors is so persistent. He was only one step away from success."

Lin Hai said no more and merely patted her shoulder lightly. "Since you're his assistant, maybe you can help him find a safer method sooner. You're Gwen, Midtown High's top student."

Gwen smiled a little sheepishly. "I'm still just a student, but... I hope so."

A week later, Peter learned that Gwen had gotten an internship at Osborn Group and immediately pestered her to take him on a tour.

"Please, Gwen! It's Osborn Group's biology lab!" Peter clasped his hands together, his eyes behind his glasses shining with pleading. "I promise I won't touch anything!"

Since Peter was only Harry and Lin Hai's friend, he had no connection to Osborn Group. Thus, although Peter and Gwen had visited Harry's private laboratory in Osborn Tower, they had never entered one of Osborn Group's official laboratories.

Now that Gwen had become Professor Connors's intern assistant, that meant Peter was the only one in their group of four who had not visited an official Osborn Group laboratory.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "You made the same promise in the chemistry lab last time, and you ended up blowing up three test tubes."

"That was an accident!" Peter argued. "Besides, Lin Hai will be there this time. He can keep an eye on me!"

Lin Hai had been packing his bag. He looked up at that. "Me?"

"Yeah! Come with us! Please, boss, satisfy nerdy Peter's curiosity~" Peter threw an arm around his shoulders.

Gwen looked at Lin Hai, then sighed helplessly. "Fine. But Peter, you have to strictly follow the lab rules."

"Awesome! Love you guys! I mean, Lin, love you!" Seeing Gwen narrow her eyes, Peter chose to rephrase his words.

Lin Hai did not know whether Peter had found the briefcase his father had left for him, nor did he ask specifically, because he had no way to explain how he knew about it.

Judging by Peter's desperate desire to visit Osborn Group's laboratory, Lin Hai guessed that Peter had probably found the briefcase. In that case, he also needed to prepare to enter the Spider-Man origin story he had been looking forward to.

Saturday, Osborn Tower.

"This is so cool... even cooler than Harry's private lab!" Peter murmured, his eyes wide as a child who had wandered into a candy store.

Osborn Group's biology laboratory was even more advanced than Peter had imagined. Fully sealed experimental chambers lined both sides of the transparent sterile corridor. All kinds of precision instruments gleamed with cold light, researchers in white coats hurried past, and the air was filled with the scent of disinfectant and electronic equipment.

Gwen led them through several security doors before stopping outside a laboratory marked "Cross-Species Gene Research." Through the glass wall, they could see a tall man with an empty right sleeve intently peering into a microscope. This was clearly Professor Curt Connors.

Gwen knocked on the door. Connors looked up, and upon seeing the three of them, he smiled warmly. "Ah, Gwen, and Lin. We haven't seen each other since Missouri. You know Gwen too? And this is?"

Professor Connors was not particularly handsome, but he possessed a soldier's resolve and a scholar's refinement. He spoke gently as well. That was most people's first impression of him.

"Hello, Professor Connors. It has indeed been a long time." Lin Hai stepped forward and shook Connors's hand.

Gwen explained to Connors, "This is Peter. He's very interested in the biotechnology field you research, so he asked us to bring him here for a look. We're all Harry's classmates. Peter has been to Osborn Tower before, but he's never been here."

Peter immediately stepped forward and shook Connors's hand. "Professor! I've read your papers on limb regeneration, especially the section on applying reptilian telomerase. It was absolutely brilliant!"

Connors clearly appreciated Peter's enthusiasm. Smiling, he patted Peter on the shoulder. "It's rare for a young person to have such a thirst for knowledge. Come, let me show you our latest research results."

He led the three of them to a sealed incubation chamber. Inside was a white mouse whose hind leg had been severed, but a small section of pink new tissue had already grown from the stump.

"This is the preliminary result of the Lizard Serum," Connors said, unable to hide the pride in his voice. "We successfully activated a mammal's regenerative ability."

Lin Hai carefully observed the mouse. Through his perception of Life Force, he could sense that the mouse's cellular activity was abnormally vigorous—perhaps even excessively violent.

This was no surprise, because in the original story, the mouse injected with the regenerative agent had eventually become unusually violent and highly aggressive.

"This is unbelievable!" Peter nearly pressed his face against the glass. "If this technology matures, it could really let amputees grow back their limbs!"

"In theory, yes." Connors nodded, then sighed. "But it's still unstable at the moment. The test subjects' cell division sometimes gets out of control."

Gwen added, "That's why we're adjusting the gene sequence, trying to find a more stable expression method."

After a moment of silence, Lin Hai suddenly asked, "Professor, have you considered that this serum might affect the user's neurotransmitter system? Reptilian brain structures differ greatly from those of mammals. Forcibly fusing them could trigger unpredictable side effects."

Connors froze for a moment, then became thoughtful. "That's a very interesting point... I hadn't considered that. I'll have the team pay attention to that direction."