Using a specially selected Dragon Tooth Blade from Strange, Peter successfully severed Otto's four mechanical arms. Venom then extracted the unconscious symbiote from his body and tossed it aside. Otto didn't lose consciousness, but losing both his tentacles and the symbiote clearly exceeded his expectations. He roared in anger, "Damn you, Spider-Man! None of this would have happened if you hadn't interfered..."
"Your revenge has hurt too many innocent people, Otto. You need to rest." Peter sealed Doctor Octopus's mouth with a web-shot. "I hope you'll voluntarily share what you know about the Erskine Serum. Otherwise, we'll have to bring in a telepath to deal with you."
After webbing up the now four-limbed, tentacle-less Otto to the ground, Peter left messages for the NYPD and Black Cat to monitor the situation. He then charged towards the huge hole created by the Lizard, dropping down to aim for the large pit.
"Can you find the way he went?"
Peter asked the question, and his body instantly shifted to Venom's control. Venom's probing tongue sensed the air and headed in the direction the Lizard had fled. He continued to move until he reached a junction of several sewers where all the sewage flowed vertically down a single drain. Venom didn't jump down; he simply squatted, looking at the area.
"The scent interference is too strong. I can't tell where he went next. Did he jump down? Or did he take another path?"
Venom seemed to be asking himself. When the Lizard reached this point, the scent of blood from his wound had completely vanished. This could only mean one thing: for the Lizard, his massive injuries had fully healed.
Peter sighed helplessly.
Osborn Industries' Savage Strength Laboratory was a key monitoring project for the Avengers. Surveillance of the potential for the Lizard transformation had never stopped. The Avengers possessed a "Potential Villain List" that Reed had brought back from the Wasteland Universe, aimed at non-intrusive monitoring of anyone who became a villain in that alternate world.
Whenever he began to pursue supernatural power or equipment, Jarvis would immediately respond.
[I don't think it's your fault. Osborn didn't force him, and he had no intention of injecting the serum into himself. Besides, it's been over an hour since closing time; no one could have known he would still be at the company checking the equipment at past eleven o'clock at night.]
"We need to find him; the biggest problem is finding him."
When it was clear that chasing after him further was pointless, Venom exchanged control with Peter and, at the same time, asked curiously.
[Speaking of which, why do you think he'd go looking for his wife and children?]
"Dr. Connors once said that lizards that undergo the transformation believe themselves to be a separate species, no longer just lizards. Furthermore, their intelligence seems to have taken a huge leap. When individuals are scarce, they feel lonely. So, Connors will very likely go looking for his immediate family."
[Or grab a few girls off the street. Sorry, I'm kidding.]
"That reproduction speed is too slow. Even if he really planned to do that, leaving aside the size difference, he'd probably commit suicide due to loneliness, just like the lizards in the lab, before the child was even born. Unless..."
[Unless what?]
"Nothing, I just thought of a few things."
Peter took a deep breath. He thought of a Spider-Man work where the Lizard was the villain: The Amazing Spider-Man. In the latter half of the movie, the Lizard's goal was also to create more of his kind. He designed a special fog device to spread the Lizard serum, attempting to infect everyone in New York. Would Connors do the same?
Connors' intelligence was undoubtedly retained. He was still choosing not to eat people, but Peter couldn't guess how long that would last.
He returned the way he came, climbing out of the sewer exit. By now, the NYPD had arrived. He saw Captain George Stacy—or rather, Inspector now—still choosing to be on the front lines, helping to escort the dangerous Doctor Octopus into a police car. Peter felt a moment of disorientation, sitting on the ground as fragments of thought flashed through his mind until Felicia Hardy pulled him back to reality.
"Are you okay?"
"How are things with the Avengers?"
"They've already gone to monitor and protect Connors' wife and son. You look unwell. What's wrong?"
"I was just thinking about what Connors might do." Peter stood up, looking at the dim moon above. "I'm familiar with Connors' research. He said his modified lizards seek out more of their kind, or else they seek suicide."
"So, we have to start monitoring the missing women population?"
Though she couldn't see the face beneath the mask, Felicia Hardy felt Peter Parker give her an utterly speechless stare.
"It's possible, since Connors was injected with the Super-Soldier Serum and his reptilian nature was enhanced, but that's unlikely." Peter offered his hypothesis. "The most probable thing is that he'll go off to develop a device that can spread the Lizard Serum in a cloud or fog. That way, he can spread the Lizard Serum throughout New York City very quickly."
"Where would he get a lab?"
"The sewer. New York's sewer system is large enough and concealed enough. Equipment isn't a concern; the only material he needs is his own blood. I could assemble a fog-diffusion device with the junk in my uncle's garage, and he doesn't need to do any experiments; he just needs to purify the serum."
The Lizard's goal is to create more of his kind, not to create the Super-Soldier Serum, so he wouldn't need complex materials.
Felicia listened to Peter, then suddenly realized he was incredibly calm. She seemed to understand something. "And you... already have a solution?"
Peter did have a solution.
Earlier, Peter had discussed the reversal of the Lizard Serum with Dr. Connors and Dr. Jonathan (Chapter 230). If they could obtain a serum sample from Dr. Connors before his mutation, they could create a neutralizing serum to restore him. Of course, that would take some time.
Aside from that...
Peter rubbed his brow. This task was best handled by himself and Dr. Jonathan; they had the easiest access. The other option was Beast of the X-Men, but Osborn might not allow outsiders into Osborn Industries' core labs.
"I have a way to create the neutralizing serum, but it will take some time. Besides that, we also need to find a way to flush the Lizard out. If we can capture him before he creates the serum, we won't have to prepare for a worst-case scenario."
But capturing the Lizard from the labyrinthine New York sewers would be a monumental task...
"If we're going to catch a giant lizard, why don't we hire a professional hunter?"
Felicia's words struck Peter. Peter looked at Felicia, paused for a moment, and then realized. Right. New York currently had one of the world's best hunters. If Connors' reptilian side was severely enhanced, his behavior would be closer to that of a beast. Wouldn't the solution be to find a powerful hunter to hunt the beast?
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