Chapter 5
The Birth of Spider-Man
"A temporary pass? Why bother with that? My face is Osborn's most effective pass!"
Seeing that Riley had already spoken, and knowing that there was no hope for him today, Harry could only pull his hand away from Peter's shoulder to show his disappointment and resentment at Peter's foolish confession. At the same time, when Riley asked him, he stood tall and confidently replied.
"Just follow me in. I want to see which fool dares to stop you."
"I was just worried about troubling you too much; we can't have you following us around all the time, can we?"
"Go away, why are you being so polite with your buddies? If I hadn't known you guys would be coming today, I wouldn't have come to the company... Those old men, they just spend all their time in the lab, I'm so tired of them, only you bookworms would be interested."
"Haha, then I'm relieved. After Peter's business is finished, do you want to come back with us? Mom hasn't seen you in a while, and lately she's been constantly on her phone, nagging me. She says you look thinner in those recent photos, you must not be eating properly, and we need to give you some extra nutrition."
"How...how could that be! I've just been working out lately...okay, okay, don't look at me like that. You can't hide anything from Aunt Mei. Your eyesight is sharper than my own mother's. Well then, I'll reluctantly go with you."
"Oh dear, is that so difficult? Then I won't trouble you. I'll call home right now and tell you you're not coming home tonight. Could you save your apple pie for me?"
"You dare—!!!"
"Hahaha!"
Amidst their bickering and arguing, the group, led by Harry, quickly passed through the security system on the first floor and officially entered Osborne Company.
By the time they arrived at Dr. Connors' lab, everyone had put away their playful thoughts and looked incredibly well-behaved and obedient.
Upon seeing this, Dr. Connors, who was waiting there, nodded slightly and showed a satisfied smile.
Then he began to speak eloquently, introducing his laboratory to everyone, and with a hint of testing in his mind, he would occasionally throw out a few difficult questions for everyone to answer.
Unfortunately, this kind of dialogue between geniuses is clearly not suitable for an ordinary academic high-achiever like Riley.
Especially those equations that are clearly self-explanatory when separated, but become like a book of cryptic texts when put together, leaving Riley utterly bewildered.
Therefore, as the academic atmosphere intensified, Riley took a step back, giving Peter and Gwen more space to enjoy this rare opportunity.
Of course, Riley had anticipated this situation of being completely unable to join the conversation.
The reason he insisted on following Peter to visit Dr. Connors was entirely to wait for an opportunity.
That pivotal moment that transformed the weak, bookish Peter Parker into the famous Spider-Man.
It's important to understand that their fathers were brothers. As Peter's cousin, Riley and Peter certainly shared many genetic similarities.
So theoretically, if the mutated spider that turned Peter into Spider-Man bit Riley, it should also grant Riley Spider-Man's superpowers.
Of course, considering that cross-species gene fusion experiments have so far had a zero survival rate, Peter's success was practically a miracle...
Riley, who was bitten by the same mutated spider, may also die suddenly due to his body's instinctive rejection.
Even if he manages to succeed by sheer luck, he still has to constantly worry that the spider-like genes might suppress the human genes, causing Riley to become a humanoid spider, a terrifying monster who has lost his mind.
This was nothing short of a high-stakes gamble with lives at stake.
Unfortunately, Riley had no other choice.
Ultimately, even though Riley's system allows for gradual improvement of physical abilities through points redemption, it doesn't mean that all physical abilities can be improved.
The speed at which it can be improved is far too slow.
Just reaching Captain America's level would take an unknown amount of time.
Not to mention, pure physical strength is simply not enough in the Marvel Universe, where superpowered beings are everywhere.
To survive peacefully and protect those around you in the seemingly peaceful but actually perilous Marvel universe, you must possess the power to defend yourself.
So Riley had no choice but to gamble.
As for those side effects...
If you manage to survive by sheer luck, you'll always find a way to cope, won't you?
Despite his seemingly calm demeanor, Riley was actually quite anxious and had even prepared his will. He chatted with the idle Harry while keeping a close eye on Peter's movements.
Then he saw a brightly colored spider hanging from the ceiling, slowly approaching Peter.
Knowing he couldn't miss this opportunity, Riley quickly stepped forward and grabbed the spider in his hand before anyone else noticed.
After the startled spider instinctively bit Riley's palm.
Riley, enduring the pain and pretending nothing had happened, slightly adjusted his posture and released his grip, placing the spider into Peter's collar.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he took a few steps back and returned to Harry's side. He witnessed Peter suddenly shudder and howl in pain.
Riley finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He then quietly left Osborn under the pretext of running errands for his mother, May Parker, to buy groceries. After many twists and turns, he hid deep in a deserted alley.
Riley, whose body temperature rose sharply due to the body's immune system's instinctive rejection and whose consciousness had become somewhat blurred, leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to sit.
Then, amidst the excruciating, bone-crushing pain, Riley had to use his last bit of strength to tightly cover his mouth, preventing himself from letting out a heart-wrenching scream and attracting unnecessary attention when the pain became unbearable.
As Riley feared, due to genetic differences, Riley's body was not supposed to be able to withstand the mutation reaction of this gene fusion.
Fortunately, Riley's enhanced physical strength, thanks to the system, unexpectedly compensated for this deficiency.
And so, amidst the alternating sensations of hot and cold and the constant, intense pain, an unknown amount of time passed...
When Riley, drenched in sweat and feeling as if his bones were about to fall apart, felt the pain gradually subside and stood up again.
Riley was pleasantly surprised to find that not only his own body, but also his body became noticeably lighter and more agile during the slightest activity.
Even eyes that had become somewhat nearsighted from studying hard became much clearer when looking at the world.
This filled Riley with elation, and he tried to reach out and press his hand against the wall behind him.
Then, unsurprisingly, without any climbing aids, Riley easily climbed to the top floor of the building as if it were flat ground!
This proves that Riley, like his cousin Peter, has now acquired the superpowers of Spider-Man!