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Ch. 203 The Lizard Professor and the Octopus Doctor
🕑 Added 2023-12-12 16:00:08 +0000 UTCAfter arriving at the office, Peter nodded in admiration at Russell and then placed his backpack aside before sitting down obediently.
As Russell looked at the still-not-quite-adult Peter, he couldn't help but reminisce about the time he had convinced Peter to become his intern at school. Even though this had happened more than half a year ago, it now felt like a distant memory.
"How have you been lately?" Russell was the first to speak.
"I've been doing great!" Peter replied earnestly.
"You've been with me for a while now, and I'm curious, how do you view superheroes?" Russell continued.
"Superheroes are awesome! If I had superpowers, I'd choose to be a superhero, just like you!" Peter said, his admiration for Russell evident.
"Don't follow my example; I'm not a good person," Russell said seriously. While he maintained the image of a superhero in public, he didn't consider himself a genuinely good person. If being a good person were rated on a scale of 80, Russell doubted he would even score a 60. He was aware of his own flaws and moral ambiguity.
Peter looked at Russell with confusion, not understanding why Russell would say he wasn't a good person.
Russell didn't intend to explain further and continued, "If you had the opportunity to gain extraordinary abilities right now, would you accept them?"
Peter, a smart young man, found it challenging to keep up with Russell's thoughts. After a few moments of contemplation, he replied, "If it's normal superpowers, I'd probably accept them. But if it's something like Mr. Thing or Mr. Hulk's powers, I wouldn't like that. I don't want to become like them."
Peter might not be a girl, but as an underage high school student, he cared about his image.
"Don't worry; it's not The Thing or Hulk's type of superpower; it's more like Spider-Woman's abilities," Russell said with a smile.
"In that case, I would definitely accept it. I've always thought Spider-Woman needed a male hero with the same powers. If there was a male hero with abilities like Spider-Woman's, they could simply be called 'Spider-Man!'" Peter said with great enthusiasm.
"If I asked you to become this 'Spider-Man,' would you be willing?" Russell inquired.
"Of course, I'd be willing!" Peter responded without hesitation.
What Peter didn't realize was that Russell wasn't joking. He genuinely intended to make him the new Spider-Man.
Originally, Russell had planned to extract Gwen's blood and reverse-engineer the spider serum to have Peter injected with it, turning him into Spider-Man. However, after becoming intimate with Gwen, he abandoned this plan. Even though Gwen wouldn't mind providing a blood sample, Russell didn't want to treat his girlfriend as an experimental subject.
So, he decided to let events unfold naturally. If Peter encountered the destined radioactive spider that would grant him powers, it would be perfect. If, by the time Peter graduated from high school, that spider hadn't bitten him, Russell would consider helping him out.
However, after learning that Norman Osborn wanted to have a private conversation with him, Russell decided to expedite his plan to help Peter. He had no idea where Peter's destined radioactive spider was at the moment—whether it had been accidentally squashed or was lost due to its poor sense of direction. However, he knew that the Osborn Corporation already had some so-called "super-spiders."
Although the corporate spies couldn't determine whether these super-spiders were genetically modified and fused spiders from the old Spider-Man universe or cross-species genetic experiments from the Amazing Spider-Man universe, it didn't matter to Russell.
In addition to investigating the Osborn Corporation for super-spiders, Russell also assigned a private detective to gather detailed information about Peter's parents. Although Peter's parents were scientists, they had no connection to the Osborn Corporation. In this world, Peter's parents hadn't received funding from the Osborn Corporation, and there was no scenario where they fled with their research.
The world's Norman Osborn was also free from any hereditary disease and was exceptionally healthy. He was even planning to run for the next Mayor of New York.
Though Peter's parents had no connection to the Osborn Corporation, Peter and Harry Osborn remained close friends. However, they hadn't seen each other for many years since Harry was sent to an expensive private school by Norman Osborn.
Now, regarding the super-spiders: the ones from the Osborn Corporation weren't developed by Peter's parents, which meant they might not necessarily be a perfect genetic match for Peter. There was a chance Peter could die if he were bitten by one of these spiders due to genetic incompatibility. However, Russell wasn't too concerned about that. He had the means to heal Peter if anything went wrong.
As long as he was present, the chances of Peter encountering any problems were quite slim.
"Sir, do you really have a way to make me become Spider-Man?" Peter asked excitedly.
"I can't say it's a hundred percent certain, but if everything goes as planned, it should be possible," Russell replied calmly. While Spider-Man's superpowers might seem impressive to ordinary people, they were relatively ordinary to Russell. Even before receiving his evolution reward "The Marvelous Superman," Gwen was no longer his match. After obtaining this reward, the gap between him and Gwen had grown even wider.
Although the gender difference would create a power gap between Peter and Gwen, Gwen had been Spider-Woman for several years. Even with superpowers, Peter wouldn't catch up to her in a short time. For Russell, helping Peter become Spider-Man was more about fulfilling a small personal wish of bringing Spider-Man under his wing.
