Spider-Man Origin

At that moment, Lin Hai noticed Peter's conflicted expression. Taking advantage of Professor Connors recording experimental data, he moved closer and asked, "What's on your mind?"

"Um... yeah. My father and Professor Connors were colleagues, so... I want to ask Professor Connors whether he knows anything about my father, but it feels a little presumptuous. Lin, give me some advice."

It was clear that Peter was truly torn.

By then, Lin Hai had more or less figured out what was going on. In other words, Peter had found something his father had left behind.

He then said to Peter, "Peter, be bolder. Professor Connors is a gentle man. If your father really was his colleague, then as the son of an old friend, I'm sure Professor Connors would be more than willing to answer your questions."

After listening to Lin Hai's advice, Peter gathered his courage, approached Professor Connors, and explained his doubts.

"Richard's son?" Connors studied Peter, his gaze complicated and filled with nostalgia and regret. "Your father was a genius. It's a pity..."

Connors was referring to Richard Parker and his wife, Peter's parents, who had died in a plane crash.

After so many years, Peter had buried that sorrow and longing deep in his heart. Now, another matter weighed on his mind, and so he pressed, "What was his research about?"

Connors pondered for a moment before ultimately deciding to take the three of them deeper into the laboratory.

"My field is lizard gene regeneration technology. I hope to make severed limbs regenerate, because of my right arm, as you can see," Connors explained.

"And your father, Richard, Peter, focused more on enhancing biological genes. He hoped to strengthen the human body through cross-species gene splicing."

During the tour, Peter's attention was drawn to a laboratory marked "Arthropod Research Area." Through the glass, he saw breeding tanks containing all kinds of spiders. One spider in particular stood out, dark red all over with golden patterns across its back.

"That's..."

Peter's heartbeat quickened. He guessed that it might be connected to his father, and sure enough—

"Oh, that was an experimental specimen your father cultivated back then," Connors said casually. "This special spider possesses an extremely strong ability to adapt to its environment. But because of your father... anyway, after the project was terminated, we kept the sample.

"Tests showed that Richard had enhanced all sorts of its abilities, but its genes seemed to have developed some kind of restriction as a result. They couldn't be applied to other organisms. Still, since it counted as a successful case, we didn't interfere with it much and simply kept it here."

Peter's heart pounded. This was one of the few opportunities he had to come into contact with something his father had left behind. So, while Professor Connors was called away for an emergency meeting, Peter slipped into that laboratory when no one was paying attention.

But Lin Hai clearly wasn't included among those people. He knew what would happen today, so he had kept part of his attention on Peter the whole time.

"Just taking a look..." Peter reassured himself.

Perhaps because this laboratory was only used to breed spiders, and because its owner, Richard Parker, was already dead, the Osborn Group didn't consider it an important area. Peter used the access card hanging around his neck to open the door, then pushed it open and entered.

Peter walked toward the special spider and leaned in for a closer look. The spider in the breeding tank seemed to sense something and suddenly became active.

Just then, Peter's hand touched the tank's lid. Overwhelmed by emotion, he failed to notice that he had used a little too much strength, pushing the lid open enough to leave a gap.

"Hiss!"

A sharp, piercing pain shot through the back of his hand. Peter jerked his hand back and found that the spider had bitten him before quickly vanishing into a corner of the breeding tank.

"Oh no..."

He hurriedly covered the wound, but aside from a faint burning sensation, nothing seemed unusual.

"Peter?" Lin Hai's voice suddenly came from the doorway.

Peter jumped in fright and turned to see Lin Hai leaning against the doorframe with an inscrutable expression.

"Uh... I was just curious about my father's research..." Peter said with an awkward laugh.

Lin Hai did not expose him. He merely gave him a meaningful look. "Be careful. Some things... can change your life when you least expect it."

Lin Hai had witnessed the entire iconic scene from the side. That spider was likely the only special breed Richard Parker had cultivated using his own genes. Therefore, its genes could not fuse with those of any species outside the Parker Family.

When Peter approached the spider, it used its special sensing ability to recognize the person it had been waiting for all along. Under fate's arrangement, the spider completed its mission, passing all of its genes and the Spider-Totem to Peter. Having completed its mission, it would soon die. When the Osborn Group found its corpse, they would only assume it had died naturally and dispose of it completely.

Peter did not pay much attention to the deeper meaning in Lin Hai's words. It was not until he parted ways with Lin Hai and Gwen and boarded the subway home that he noticed something strange.

The dizziness and exhaustion flooding his mind made him doze off on the subway. When Peter woke up, he found that his senses had suddenly become extraordinarily sharp. The train's vibrations, the passengers' breathing, even the footsteps of rats in the distance all reached his ears with perfect clarity.

"What's going on..."

He covered his ears, but the noise only grew louder.

Worse still, his fingers had stuck to the subway handrail beside him.

"What the fuck?!" With a slight tug, he ripped the entire stainless-steel handrail off. The surrounding passengers stared at him in horror.

"Sorry! This thing is just terrible quality!" As Peter awkwardly tossed the handrail aside, it struck a punk standing nearby.

After tearing off the punk's clothes with his hands, knocking him unconscious with swift reactions and immense, uncontrollable strength, and even clinging to the subway ceiling in the process, Peter fled from the train at the next station as though escaping for his life.

Because he had fallen asleep on the subway, Peter got home much later than usual. His uncle and aunt were both waiting for him in the living room, but Peter was dizzy, hungry, exhausted, and shaken by everything that had happened on the train. He truly had no energy to explain much.

After brushing off his uncle and aunt, he headed straight for the refrigerator. He grabbed a huge pile of high-calorie food—cheese, mozzarella, Italian meatballs, and more—then returned to his upstairs room. Peter felt like he could eat a whole cow right then!

Ben Parker and Aunt May stood in the living room, looking at each other in bewilderment. Even though Peter had previously told them that he was working out with a friend named Lin Hai, he had never been able to eat this much before, especially—

"If I saw that right, he took an entire plate of Italian meatballs. There were four huge meatballs! Besides, I don't think anyone could possibly eat all that." Ben Parker, looking utterly confused, had not realized that he had casually said something disastrous.

Aunt May, whose trigger word had been activated by Ben Parker's remark, instantly went from confused to expressionless. "Oh? No one can eat all that? Ben, is that what you really think?

"If you couldn't eat it, you should have told me from the beginning! Instead of letting me cook for you for decades and only saying it now! If you'd told me earlier, I definitely wouldn't have objected to you finding a girl who could make Italian meatballs you could actually eat!"

Only then did Ben Parker realize what a colossal mess he had made. Who cared what Peter was eating now? If he did not placate May, this family would fall apart by dawn!