"Good morning, Curt. I brought a friend along, hope you don't mind." Dr. Jonathan Drew, using a single visitor's pass, brought Peter into the Super Soldier Program center at the Oscorp corporate headquarters. Unlike other US military Super Soldier programs, the "Savage Strength" project was very high-profile and openly advertised.
After all, it was essentially just a scheme for Oscorp to fleece the Pentagon for investment.
"That depends on who the person is, Jonathan."
Dr. Connors clearly seemed pleased with the "guest" Jonathan had brought. "You must be Peter Parker. You look a lot like Professor Richard. I've heard about you, and honestly, I agree that you're the best candidate to inherit the professor's research findings."
He was probably referring to the radiation-mutated spider that Richard Parker had been researching, but Peter hadn't deliberately gotten bitten; it was a total accident. He had even thought at one point that Gwen was going to be the one bitten.
"Hello, Dr. Connors." Peter shook the hand of Connors, who only had his left hand. Peter was a little curious; prosthetic technology in the 616 universe wasn't primitive, and even setting aside the god-tier tech, there was no need for Connors to leave one sleeve empty.
"This is to remind me that I am disabled, so that I have the motivation to complete my research," Connors noticed Peter's confusion. He then led the two into the lab. The lab had changed drastically since Peter's last visit. There were hardly any arthropods or similar creatures to be seen, replaced instead by a large number of higher animals.
Peter saw a massive tank containing a swarm of electric eels. These eels were continuously discharging electricity, which was then absorbed and stored by a device inside the aquarium.
"These are genetically programmed Voltaic Electric Eels. The voltage they can reach exceeds three thousand, which is four times their original peak value," Connors explained when he saw Peter looking at the eels. "My work is currently still in the stage of genetically programming animals to alter their inherent abilities."
"So, human trials haven't been initiated yet?"
"We've only conducted theoretical research, and the progress on human trials is not even as far as Jonathan's spiders. If we were to start human trials now, I could practically guarantee the clinical subject would die instantly."
Connors delivered some good news: this tank of electric eels, which could potentially create "Electro," did not possess the ability for bio-modification. Peter then toured a few other facilities. It was evident that unlike Richard Parker and Jonathan, who favored spiders, Connors preferred reptiles and fish.
"Come on, let me show you something good."
Connors smiled and led Peter and Jonathan to a climate-controlled chamber, looking at the lizard crawling inside. "Lizards, geckos, and other reptiles have the ability to regenerate their tails. I extracted their genes and modified them. Take a look."
As he spoke, he activated a laser cutting device. The laser sliced through half of the lizard's body and cauterized the wound. Both Peter and Jonathan could see the lizard was barely alive, but in just a few seconds, new flesh was regrowing, pushing out the charred surface, and regenerating completely.
"I have spread its regenerative capacity throughout its entire body! This is a tremendous leap in science! Imagine if we could transfer the genes of this lizard to humans; human disability would no longer be a problem."
"This is the project I have poured my heart and soul into, and it's where I've made the most progress."
In fact, as far as Peter knew, the US military had similar research underway, but they were working on the genes of mutants with healing factors like Wolverine, rather than starting with animals. However, he decided not to mention this to Connors and instead asked another question: "So, has this project also not moved to further experimentation?"
Connors' expression immediately became complex. He then led Jonathan and Peter into another laboratory. Here, Peter saw Lizard-Men—oh, wait, Lizard-Monkeys.
Small, bipedal lizards with all their hair gone, or perhaps monkeys with lizard skin, were displaying an astonishing urge to attack. They were trying to strike anyone they saw, thankfully protected by tempered glass. Peter now understood Connors' progress: he finally wasn't causing the genetically modified lizards to instantly kill the test subjects, but they were still being turned into lizard monsters.
"If their strength can be greatly enhanced, combined with their regenerative ability, the US military might order a batch of your lizards."
Jonathan said it half-jokingly, but Connors sighed at the remark. "Perhaps, but I don't hold out much hope. As things stand, the Lizard-Monkeys' intelligence has regressed significantly, while their brain activity has increased. The US military can't create Super Soldiers with these. They can only create a horde of rampaging Lizard-Men—a bit like DC's Killer Croc, but without the brains."
Evidently, a large number of scientists are introverts who read comics.
"Can it be reversed?"
Looking at the monkey plastered against the glass, trying to hit him, Peter asked the question he cared about most. Connors didn't immediately grasp Peter's question and quickly asked, "What?"
"I'm asking if there's any way to reverse this genetic modification, to turn it back into a monkey."
Both scientists fell into contemplation upon being asked this question. After careful thought, Connors first restated the effect of the lizard serum: "Based on the current process, the serum introduces entirely new genetic material, embeds it into the DNA, and accelerates cell division, thereby rapidly achieving full cellular transformation..."
"And if we could bring the original genes back, or rather, revert the altered genes."
"Then it can be done." Connors suddenly had an epiphany and answered Jonathan's question: "Yes, theoretically, as long as a blood sample of the test subject from before the serum injection exists, it would be possible to restore it. And we wouldn't have to worry about rejection. That's a brilliant idea, Peter! If we can apply this principle in conjunction with the effects of the Super Soldier Serum, we could actually create a cure for diseases by replacing a patient's current disease sequence with the DNA sequence from when they were healthy."
"And if the US military ever needs to turn them back from monsters, there's a way."
Norman Osborn walked into the lab, smiling, and extended his hand to Peter. "Welcome to Oscorp, Peter."
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The new novel has dropped! Don't miss out—start reading today.
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The Only Player in the Marvel World
For a prize of ten million dollars, Du Mu is trying to clear a large-scale virtual game called "The Marvel World".
Unbeknownst to him, when the game started, he had already transmigrated into the real Marvel Universe, becoming the only player in this world.
Nick Fury: Du Mu is an excellent agent, he just doesn't like to follow orders. Every time I give a mission, he skips it.
Tony Stark: I don't know what happened, that day I teamed up with Du Mu, and when I came back, I was left with only one pair of underwear.
Banner: My situation is exactly the opposite of yours, only my underwear was stolen. I got so angry I transformed into the Hulk, and I was on the front page of every major news outlet that very night.
Thor: Du Mu said he had already maxed out his Justice Value to 1000, then he picked up my Mjölnir and ran off.
...
Facing the complaints of a group of superheroes, Du Mu calmly states: "These are all operations allowed by the game. If you have a problem, go talk to the game planner."