Not long afterward, a middle-aged professor with only one arm walked into the laboratory.
“Class, today’s experiment is the synthesis and decomposition of biological proteins…”
Dr.
Curt Connors casually glanced around the room before immediately locking onto Charlie Parker in the corner.
After all, every other student was already looking at him.
“Charlie Parker.
Good.
You actually showed up.”
To Charlie’s surprise, Connors didn’t seem the slightest bit upset about his recent absences.
Instead, he looked genuinely pleased.
“Everyone,” the professor announced, “Charlie and I have discussed this project quite a bit over chat over the past few days.
His insights into biology have been far beyond what I expected, and he’s also exceptionally knowledgeable in mechanical engineering.
If you have questions in either field, don’t hesitate to ask him.”
The classroom immediately erupted with even stranger looks.
“That’s right, Professor.
Charlie’s not just smart—his selfies are pretty impressive too.”
“Haha!
I heard he harassed dozens of female students at the same time.”
“And every single one of them blocked him.”
“Crazy Charlie!”
The room filled with laughter and chatter.
Connors frowned.
“Quiet.”
The classroom instantly fell silent.
He then turned to Charlie.
“Come see me after class.”
“Yes, Professor.”
Charlie nodded.
He could already guess that Norman had spent plenty of time discussing research with Connors.
Harry leaned over from the next table.
“Don’t forget tonight’s basketball game.”
Charlie covered his face.
“I don’t even play basketball.”
Harry rolled his eyes.
“I’m not asking you to play.
You told me to invite Gwen from sophomore Class Two.
Don’t tell me you forgot.”
Charlie: “…”
Seriously…
Even after dying, that villain is still pushing the plot forward.
Now that’s commitment.
The class soon shifted into Connors’ demonstration.
“Today’s biological protein is spider silk from the Black Widow spider.
By combining silk proteins with various materials in different ratios, we can produce webbing with entirely different properties.”
Although Dr.
Connors only had one arm, a basic laboratory demonstration like this posed no challenge for him.
He didn’t even need an assistant.
Meanwhile, Charlie ignored the provided Black Widow spider silk.
Instead, he squeezed out a tiny strand of his own webbing from his wrist as a sample.
Mixing it with a high-strength resin at a one-to-one ratio, he began experimenting.
Soon, he produced a web sample with lower tensile strength but significantly greater adhesion that was also much harder to dissolve.
Charlie’s natural webbing was already incredibly sticky.
It normally dissolved on its own after three hours.
Its toughness was respectable…
But it still couldn’t compare to the webbing created by other Spider-Men.
The bigger problem was that whenever he became hungry or physically weakened, his body stopped producing spider silk altogether.
That was a dangerous weakness.
So he wanted to create artificial web fluid instead.
That way, he wouldn’t suddenly run out of webs during a critical moment.
Peter Parker had managed to invent practical artificial web fluid in an astonishingly short amount of time.
The guy was an undeniable genius.
Charlie…
Wasn’t.
At least not in this field.
Compared to other Spider-Men, he still had a long way to go.
When the one-to-one ratio failed to produce satisfactory results, he adjusted the proportions and continued experimenting.
Unfortunately…
By the end of class, his progress remained minimal.
Ten minutes later, Charlie followed Professor Connors into his private laboratory.
“Charlie.”
Connors gestured excitedly toward a green lizard inside a large terrarium.
“This is the Lizard Gene Project I mentioned before.”
His eyes were filled with enthusiasm.
“Thanks to the suggestions you gave me, the data for my regenerative gene serum has become much more complete.
On top of that, Oscorp has approved additional funding.
Before long, I’ll be moving into the live testing phase.”
Charlie frowned.
“Live testing?”
“You mean…
human trials?”
“Of course not.”
Connors laughed.
“Human experimentation is strictly prohibited.
We’ll be using laboratory mice.”
“I hope so…”
An uneasy feeling settled into Charlie’s heart.
In the Marvel Universe…
Curt Connors’ regeneration serum was practically destined to fail.
Given Connors’ obsession with restoring his missing arm, Charlie knew there was no chance of persuading him to abandon the project.
But because of Norman’s involvement…
The research had clearly advanced much faster than it should have.
Which meant…
The birth of the Lizard was probably much closer than expected.
Whether it was Norman or Professor Connors…
Before their gene serums changed them, both had been genuinely kind people.
Charlie hadn’t been able to stop Norman from becoming the Green Goblin.
But Connors…
There was still time.
Charlie knew he wasn’t capable of helping perfect the serum.
The only thing he could do was secretly find ways to delay the project’s progress.
The conversation continued for quite a while.
Connors enthusiastically discussed one biological theory after another.
But Charlie wasn’t Norman.
His knowledge of biology wasn’t anywhere near that level.
To avoid exposing himself, he simply nodded from time to time and occasionally agreed, all while quietly thinking about how to interfere with the research later.
Half an hour later, Charlie finally left the laboratory.
Harry was already waiting outside.
“I can’t believe you’re actually this amazing.”
He casually draped an arm around Charlie’s shoulders.
“Even Professor Connors likes you, and he’s famous for being impossible to get along with.
How did I never realize you’re a genius?”
Charlie shrugged.
“When you’re friends with someone as rich as you, no matter how talented I am, I’ll always be overshadowed by your money.”
Harry burst into laughter.
“You’re right.”
“But I don’t think you’ll regret it.”
His smile slowly faded.
“Still…”
“A lot has happened at the company lately.”
“My father hasn’t told me anything, but I have a feeling Oscorp might go bankrupt.”
He forced a bitter smile.
“I might not have money anymore.”
Beep!
Beep!
Harry’s phone suddenly rang.
The moment he answered it, his face turned deathly pale.
“What?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
He looked toward Charlie.
“Charlie, something’s happened.
You’ll have to go to the basketball game without me.”
“I have to leave.”
Without another word, Harry sprinted toward the parking lot.
Charlie didn’t immediately follow.
Instead, he quietly headed up to the rooftop.
With a tap on the spider emblem across his chest, his nanotech suit flowed over his body.
He leaped from the roof and swung away.
He already knew why Harry was in such a hurry.
ROAR!
A sports car sped out of the university grounds.
Half an hour later…
Harry rushed into his family’s mansion.
Without slowing down, he burst into his father’s bedroom.
The moment he looked at the bed…
He froze.
A cold corpse lay motionless there.
The body was covered in horrific gashes that crisscrossed every inch of skin.
Its chest had been brutally torn open.
A massive bloody hole sat where the heart should have been.
The sight was horrifying.
“W-What…”
Harry stared blankly.
He slowly walked to the bedside.
Then all the strength drained from his body.
He collapsed onto the floor, trembling uncontrollably.
“Father…”
He looked toward the butler, John.
His bloodshot eyes shook violently.
His only remaining family…
Was gone.
Memories of his father flooded through his mind one after another.
His heart felt like it was being crushed.
The room was swallowed by grief.
John lowered his head solemnly.
“Yes…”
“Mr.
Osborn is dead.”
“A mysterious person contacted me and told me where to retrieve the body.”
“When I arrived…”
“I found Norman’s corpse.”
He then pointed toward a battered suit of green armor lying in the corner.
“And I also found…”
“The Green Goblin’s armor.”
Harry’s body shook.
“So…”
“The Green Goblin killed my father?”
John slowly shook his head.
“No.”
“The truth is…”
“Your father was the Green Goblin.”
“What?!”
Harry’s grief instantly gave way to disbelief.
“That’s impossible!”
“My father couldn’t have been the Green Goblin!”
“He would never bomb his own company!”
His furious roar echoed throughout the mansion.
Meanwhile…
Spider-Man quietly slipped into the estate unnoticed.
Holding the green key Norman had left behind, Charlie carefully searched for a hidden entrance somewhere inside the mansion.
He hadn’t given the key to Harry.
Not yet.
If Norman had left behind an incomplete version of the Goblin serum…
Harry’s fate would be even more tragic.
(End of Chapter)