Osborn Industries.
It was now midday on Ron's second day back in Queens, New York. After the mutant incident came to a close, Ron's life returned to normal.
As usual, Ron didn't go back to Empire State University but instead headed straight to his laboratory at Osborn Industries.
Ron walked into the hallway and saw Peter Parker approaching from the other direction, so he went up to greet him.
"Hey, Peter, you're here too."
"Oh, Ron, you're actually at Osborn Industries! Where have you been these past few days? You didn't even tell me?"
Peter Parker saw Ron, excitedly walked up to him, playfully punched him, and said with a laugh.
"Nothing much, I went to a friend's place. He needed my help with something," Ron said with a smile, simplifying his trip to the X-Mansion.
"Could it be…" Peter's eyes lit up. "Ron, did your friend ask you to deal with some big villain?"
"You're overthinking it, Peter. He's a principal. I just went to his school to be a temporary teacher for a few days, nothing else," Ron retorted to Peter, then smiled. "Peter, you've been pretty cool lately! I've seen it in the news—Spider-Man has appeared many times to punish various criminal forces and save countless people in danger. Peter, I have high hopes for you!"
"Uh…" Hearing Ron's words, Peter awkwardly scratched his head. "Ron, don't make fun of me. My reputation is nowhere near as big as your Skywalker title. There are still many of your fans online who want to see you appear again. In fact, two days ago, your fans even had a big argument over whether you should be called Skywalker or Flying Hero. After a fierce war of words, the Skywalker faction finally won. Ron, don't you think you're amazing?"
"Skywalker?" Ron's expression became strange. He remembered that title; it was given to him after he dealt with Abomination and the Hulk. He hadn't expected the title's fame to have grown so much.
Ron didn't care. After chatting with Peter for a few more minutes, he lost interest in continuing the conversation.
"Alright, Peter, if there's nothing else, I'm leaving. I haven't been back in a long time, so I need to check on my lab."
"Okay, Ron, I knew you couldn't bear to leave your lab. I'm leaving too; Dr. Connors's research has made some progress these past two days, and I still need to be his assistant!"
Peter waved his hand and bid Ron farewell.
After leaving, Peter arrived at the laboratory where he was interning.
There were already three people in the lab: the chief doctor, Curt Connors, Gwen Stacy, who was also an intern assistant, and a company electrician named Max.
Earlier that morning, there had been some minor issues with the lab's electrical circuits, and Max was called in to help repair them. Looking at the smile on Max's face, the electrical problem in the lab seemed to be resolved.
Max packed up his tools and walked over to Curt Connors, who was engrossed in his research.
"Alright, Dr. Connors, the lab's circuits just had some poor contact. I think I've fixed them, so you can use them with confidence."
"Mm!" Connors didn't even turn his head, simply replied to Max, and then returned to his research.
Max wanted to say something more but didn't know how to start. The light in his eyes dimmed, and he walked out of the lab.
"Hey, Max, you're amazing! I remember I only notified you at ten, and you've fixed it by noon. That was really fast!"
Peter waved at Max, giving him a friendly smile.
"Yeah, Peter, I knew you'd praise me, hehe!"
Max felt happy hearing Peter's words, and his mood improved significantly.
"Alright, you keep busy. I have work to do here too. See you, Max."
Peter's smile widened. Max wasn't particularly well-liked at Osborn Industries, and Peter wanted to encourage him more to help him become more cheerful.
Max nodded vigorously. After watching Peter leave, he finally exited the lab.
Dr. Connors was very serious during his research, leaving Gwen Stacy aside, clearly not wanting her help.
Peter understood Dr. Connors, so he didn't go to him but instead approached Gwen Stacy.
"Gwen, you're so diligent, you even arrived earlier than me. By the way, how's Dr. Connors's research progressing? Has it been successful?"
"There should have been quite a bit of progress. He's currently sorting out the new developments, so we shouldn't disturb him easily."
Gwen Stacy put a finger to her lips and whispered softly.
Peter also lowered his voice. "Okay, I understand, Gwen…"
This was a crucial stage in Dr. Connors's research. His limb regeneration technology had already passed the animal testing phase some time ago. If he could further control the drug's efficacy and move to human trials, it would undoubtedly be a huge breakthrough!
As a member of Empire State University, if Connors's research succeeded, he could add this achievement to his resume, which would greatly help his future development.
"Peter, bring a bottle of the mouse-dosage regeneration serum. I need to conduct another experiment now."
At this moment, Dr. Connors, who was deep in research, called out, giving Peter instructions.
"Yes, Dr. Connors," Peter quickly responded, reluctantly moving his gaze away from Gwen.
Peter noticed that Dr. Connors seemed very anxious today. Sometimes, if Peter was even slightly slow, Dr. Connors would reprimand him.
Peter felt a little upset, but for Gwen and for his future development, he maintained a good attitude and continued to assist Dr. Connors.
However, perhaps because he was truly having a bad day, an accident happened, and Peter made another serious mistake, for which Dr. Connors severely scolded him.
"Peter, can't you be more serious? Where did all the things I taught you go? Huh? How could you still get it wrong? Get out! I don't need you anymore, you idiot…"
"Dr. Connors, I…"
Peter wanted to retort, but Dr. Connors ignored him, directly yelling at him to leave the lab. Even Gwen suffered with him, also being kicked out by Dr. Connors.
Seeing Gwen's aggrieved face, Peter suppressed his own dissatisfaction and began to comfort her.
"Gwen, Dr. Connors didn't mean it. He must be in a very bad mood today…"
With Peter's comfort, Gwen's mood improved. She pursed her lips, then actively took Peter's hand, a smile appearing on her face.
"Mm, it's good to have you, Peter. Let's go out for a walk and relax."
"Uh… Re… Really?" Peter was stunned. He had initially worried that Gwen would blame him for also being kicked out by Dr. Connors. Instead, he unexpectedly benefited from the misfortune and could now get closer to Gwen.
In an instant, Peter immediately discarded all his previous dissatisfaction and felt grateful to Dr. Connors.
After Peter and Gwen left, Connors, still in the lab, slumped into a chair, his mood incredibly complex.
Just a short while ago, a project manager from Osborn Industries had come to tell him that he had to successfully complete his limb regeneration technology research within the next few days. Otherwise, he would lose his job at Osborn Industries and incur a huge debt.
He couldn't possibly repay that debt. If he were truly kicked out, his family would be ruined.
His house and car would be mortgaged, his life would be restricted, and even his wife and son might choose to leave him because of the debt he owed.
He couldn't bear the consequences, and he couldn't imagine that tragic life ahead!
He first looked at his severed arm, his expression becoming incredibly ferocious.
After a long while, he suddenly looked at the regeneration reagent on the table, then directly grabbed one of the bottles and roughly shoved it into his pocket!