An Expected Surprise

After the gathering ended, Gwen paid no mind to Peter and Harry's teasing expressions. Using the excuse of discussing unfinished coursework, she stayed behind to help Lin Hai clean up the traces of their get-together.

Watching Lin Hai clean the backyard, a complicated look flashed through Gwen's eyes. She looked at him. "Now you finally don't have to charge ahead alone."

Lin Hai paused slightly, then understood that Gwen was referring to the Mexican gang and Green Goblin incidents, when he had always been on the most dangerous front line. He smiled softly. "Yeah. With Peter helping, things will be much easier from now on."

"Do you really think Peter can help?"

Lin Hai stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "You're worried?"

"It's not that I don't trust him." Gwen pressed her lips together. "It's just that Peter is so naive and impulsive. If he really faces danger in the future, he might rush to the front. That could put both of you in unexpected danger."

Lin Hai fell silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I'll keep an eye on him."

Gwen stared at his profile and suddenly said, "I've noticed that you don't seem surprised that Peter mutated into what he is now after being bitten by that spider. Am I right?"

A girl's intuition could indeed be this unreasonable sometimes. Lin Hai neither denied it nor saw any reason to.

"Why?" Gwen became even more curious.

"Because some things are destined to happen. All we can do is steer them in a better direction." Lin Hai lifted his head, his gaze profound.

In the Main Universe, Peter becoming Spider-Man was somewhat like Barry Allen becoming the Flash in the neighboring DC universe. Both were inevitable events. If they failed to become the identities they were meant to be, then this Main Universe, along with the other parallel universes, would face enormous problems.

Gwen did not press further, but her eyes had already said everything. She would not let Lin Hai bear everything alone.

Meanwhile, Harry, who had returned to Osborn Tower, sat alone in the top-floor office belonging to the Osborn family, staring out at New York's nightscape.

"My father's armor and enhancement drugs... perhaps..."

Envy flashed through him only briefly, replaced by an eager ambition. If Peter and Lin Hai could both possess extraordinary powers, then why should Harry Osborn be content with being ordinary?

A week later, Peter rushed excitedly into the Chen-Style Chinese Medicine Clinic, holding up a metal wrist device.

"It worked!" he shouted, strapping the device onto his wrist and aiming it at the backyard wall—

"Whoosh—snap!"

A white, sticky strand shot out and firmly adhered to the wall. Peter gave it a hard tug, launching himself into the air before landing steadily in the corner.

"Wow!" Gwen exclaimed. "You really turned organic spider silk into a launchable device?"

"Chemically synthesized spider silk. It was one of my father's research projects, and I saw related information at the Osborn Group before." Peter proudly adjusted the wrist device. "But I improved the formula, combining it with high-tensile polymers. It can support the weight of a sedan!"

Harry leaned in for a closer look. "How did you solve the energy issue?"

"Compressed gas canisters." Peter pointed at the small container on the side of the wrist device. "Each refill can fire around two hundred times."

Lin Hai stood nearby with his arms folded, a smile at the corner of his lips. "Looks like Spider-Man's standard gear is complete."

"Spider-Man?" Peter blinked.

"You need a codename, don't you?" Lin Hai shrugged. "What, did you want to call yourself 'Flying Peter'?"

Everyone burst into laughter, but Peter stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Spider-Man, huh? It sounds pretty good."

Just as Peter was gradually mastering his abilities, Professor Curt Connors was staring through a microscope in the Osborn Group's underground laboratory, fanatic light gleaming in his one eye.

"Richard's formula perfectly solved the genetic rejection problem!" He trembled as he picked up a test tube containing green liquid. "The Lizard Serum is finally more or less complete."

The liquid in the test tube glowed green beneath the lights, wriggling faintly as though it possessed life.

Connors looked at his empty right sleeve, his expression gradually hardening with resolve.

"It's time to prepare for human testing."

At night in New York, neon lights bled into hazy halos through the damp air. Peter and his Uncle Ben had just left the supermarket, carrying the ingredients Aunt May had asked them to buy.

"Peter, you've seemed a little absent-minded lately." Ben carried a shopping bag and glanced at him from the side. "Has school been putting too much pressure on you?"

"Huh? Oh, no... I've just hit a snag with an experiment recently." Peter came back to himself and instinctively touched the Web Shooters on his wrist. He had been perfecting the device lately, and the bursts of inspiration that came to him from time to time often left him looking distracted.

Just then, a commotion broke out at the street corner.

"Hand over the money! Now!" A hooded man held a knife to an elderly woman's waist while roughly yanking at her bag with his other hand.

Ben abruptly stopped walking.

"Peter, call the police." He spoke quietly, stuffing the shopping bags into Peter's hands before walking toward the robber without hesitation.

"Hey! Buddy, calm down!" Ben raised both hands, his voice steady. "How much money could this lady possibly have? This isn't worth it."

The robber spun around, pointing the knife at Uncle Ben. "Mind your own business, old man!"

Peter's heart nearly stopped for a second. He saw the robber's other hand reaching into his pocket.

A gun!

Peter's long training with Lin Hai made his body faster than his thoughts. Instinctively, he knew what he could do.

"Whoosh—!"

A strand of webbing shot precisely at the robber's wrist, knocking the gun aside just as it was drawn. "Bang!" The bullet struck the ground, scattering gravel. Peter flicked his wrist, and the webbing stuck to the gun and yanked it back. At the same time, he shot forward like an arrow.

"What the fuck!!" Before the robber could react, a sweeping kick knocked him to the ground. Peter immediately bound his hands and feet with webbing, then smacked him onto a fire hydrant by the roadside.

The entire process took less than five seconds.

The elderly woman collapsed onto the ground. Ben Parker remained where he was, his eyes fixed on Peter. More accurately, they were fixed on Peter's wrist, where the metallic gleam of the Web Shooters could faintly be seen.

Not long afterward, a police car that had been patrolling nearby approached with its sirens blaring.

"We need to go," Peter said quietly, quickly pulling Uncle Ben away from the scene. "It'll be hard to explain all this to the police."

Still shaken by what he had witnessed, Uncle Ben was quiet on the way home. Peter did not know what to say either, so he could only remain silent as well.

It was not until they were almost at the front door that Uncle Ben suddenly spoke.

"You absolutely can't let Aunt May find out about this, understand, Peter?"

Peter's throat tightened. "Yeah... okay. I understand."

Aunt May was making hot cocoa in the kitchen. Hearing the door open, she poked her head out. "Why did you take so long? Did you get the milk?"

"We did." Uncle Ben's voice returned to its usual gentleness. "We ran into a neighbor and chatted for a bit."

Peter lowered his head and hurried upstairs. "I'm going to do my homework first!"

After closing his bedroom door, he sat on the bed, staring at the Web Shooters on his wrist as his mind went blank.

Knowing a little martial arts was easy enough to explain. He could say it was the result of martial arts training with Lin Hai. But he had no idea how to explain the Web Shooters and his overly agile fighting skills to Uncle Ben.