Capítulo 137: Chapter 137
"What's going on? I sense a lot of danger underground," Gwen looked at Mark and held his hand a little tighter. Even though she had become significantly stronger in individual combat, when she was with Mark, she couldn't help but show her vulnerable side.
Mark squinted his eyes, and invisible quantum fluctuations spread out into the distance. Combined with the feedback from his Spider-Sense, he quickly "saw" the source of those menacing auras.
It was a group of lizard-like humanoids, similar in size to regular humans, and they were standing upright. There were approximately a thousand of them, scattered throughout the city's sewers.
Mark immediately realized the situation. There indeed was a kingdom of lizard people beneath New York City. The appearance of these lizard people was also thanks to Dr. Connors.
Before conducting his research on neogenic technology, Dr. Connors had combined his DNA with lizard DNA and injected it into his body. The experiment had failed, and he had turned into a lizard-like humanoid.
Angry at his transformation, he had flushed the failed experiment results into the sewer. The lizards in the sewers had consumed those materials, gradually evolving into a new species: the lizard people.
These lizard people considered Dr. Connors, or rather the transformed Lizard Doctor, to be their father and believed he should be their king. They hoped that Lizard Doctor would lead them to defeat humans and become the rulers of the world.
Driven by this ambition, they had kidnapped Dr. Connors and Mary Jane. Afterward, Lizard Doctor transformed temporarily into a rational version and helped Mary Jane escape. Then, he turned back into the true Lizard Doctor and captured 94-Spider.
In the end, it was Mary Jane and Dr. Connors' wife, who risked their lives to detonate a genetic bomb specifically designed to target these lizard creatures, causing them to revert to their lizard state.
Mark had no favorable opinions of these ambitious lizard people. The only one he felt somewhat sorry for, as seen in the original story, was a lizard girl named "Gila." Gila was the only one among the lizard people who remained conscious, kind, and devoid of violent tendencies. She was responsible for the final assist that enabled the genetic bomb to detonate successfully. Otherwise, 94-Spider, Mary Jane, and Margaret Connors would have all died.
"Gwen, would you be interested in accompanying me to see the so-called Lizard People Kingdom?" Mark extended the invitation to Gwen.
Gwen playfully rolled her eyes, saying, "Other people's boyfriends take their girlfriends to see plays or visit amusement parks, and here you are taking your girlfriend into the dirty sewers to see disgusting lizard people."
Mark grinned awkwardly, "Uh, how about I take you back home first?"
Gwen lightly patted him, "Are you serious?"
Mark hurriedly clarified, "No, no, no. What I meant was, Miss Stacy, would you be willing to accompany me to see the rare lizard people?"
Gwen chuckled, "With your charm, why not? Let's go!"
"Wait, let's find two more people first," Mark stopped Gwen.
Well, despite saying not to, his body was so eager that he couldn't wait.
Several streets away, in 94-Spider's home.
94-Spider had silently sneaked in through the window and was about to take off his clothes to rest a bit and make a few bottles of web fluid when a portal opened in his room.
94-Spider was startled but soon realized it was one of Mark's methods.
He sighed, "Mr. Mark, can't you respect my privacy?"
Mark chuckled and scolded, "What are you being shy about? Hurry up and get ready; we're preparing to leave."
"Prepare to leave? Where are we going?" 94-Spider pulled down his half-raised shirt and asked.
Mark replied, "I found a lizard people kingdom in the sewers. They are planning to overthrow human domination over the Earth. Are you not interested? If you're not, I can leave."
94-Spider was taken aback, "What? A lizard people kingdom? Is it the kind I'm thinking of?"
Mark nodded and confirmed his thoughts, "It's exactly what you're thinking. They can be considered the 'offspring' created entirely by Dr. Connors. While individually they are not as powerful as the mutated Lizard Doctor, there are an enormous number of them."
"Are there like dozens of them?" 94-Spider's face showed a horrified expression.
He could already picture dozens of Lizard Doctors standing before him. One Lizard Doctor was more than capable of beating him.
And if this number multiplied several dozen times...
"It's a good thing I've become even more powerful," 94-Spider thought, feeling grateful to Mark for granting him greater abilities.
However, Mark shook his head, "Dozens? You're way too optimistic."
"Are there hundreds?" 94-Spider widened his eyes, his hands frozen in place.
"No, it's thousands," Mark explained. "To be more precise, there are about 3,700 of them. Of course, there might be some I didn't detect. After all, the sewer network in this city is vast. I spent only a few seconds searching, so it's not surprising if I missed some corners."
"Thousands!!!" 94-Spider's whole body seemed to turn to stone. He stood there with a pale face, looking dazed.
He didn't doubt Mark's words; he was shocked by the information Mark had revealed through his words.
Thousands of lizard people with more significant strength, swifter speed, and nearly as much intelligence as humans. This was enough to trigger a full-scale war!
Many smaller countries might not even muster such numbers for their entire military!
"What should we do?" 94-Spider was a bit confused at first. However, he quickly looked at Mark and said, "Mr. Mark, since you've come to me proactively, do you have a solution to deal with them? By the way, Dr. Connors! Maybe we can use Dr. Connors' knowledge of the lizard people's genetics to create a counter-genetic weapon and find the right opportunity to eliminate them all at once?"
This time, Mark was the one who felt surprised. He knew that finding Dr. Connors was due to his knowledge of the original plot, and he knew that Dr. Connors had a specific weapon in mind, which wasn't meant to deal with these lizard people – he didn't even know they existed. Mark had merely predicted the possibility of a failed experiment turning him into a monster and left a genetic bomb that could kill his mutated self.
However, 94-Spider was unaware of this. It was quite impressive how he quickly found the most likely solution even in a panic situation. His logical reasoning and clear thinking demonstrated his leadership qualities, earning him the title of the "Spider-Man with Leadership Qualities" as Madame Web would later call him. (A/N: Can't remember the exact words.)
This level-headedness under pressure was indeed his unique character trait, something that Mark needed to learn.
"Are you ready yet? If you're done, let's go find Dr. Connors together," Mark didn't explain much and got straight to the point.
"Wait, I need to replenish my web fluid first," 94-Spider's hand movements accelerated.
Gwen commented from the side, "Don't you think your web fluid is too fragile? It snaps so easily."
94-Spider felt a bit embarrassed, "This is the web fluid I've spent a long time researching. It's sometimes not very durable, but most of the time, it's reliable."
"Well, in fact, after Mr. Mark enhanced my strength, I think I should be able to produce more robust web fluid, but unfortunately, I don't have the time to do it now."
As 94-Spider spoke, he admitted the weakness of his original web fluid. In truth, he had wanted to replace his web fluid for a long time, but the new web fluids he had developed were not as good as the one he was using. At most, he could add some new substances to his web fluid solution to give it some special properties, such as the quick solidifier used against Hydro-Man.
However, after being strengthened by Mark, he felt a certain sensation in his mind. It was as if following this feeling would allow him to create stronger web fluid!
Mark looked at 94-Spider with a smile and said, "Actually, there's no rush. The brains of these lizard people are still evolving, and they're probably still in the process of building their strength. You can take some more time to prepare."
"Is that so?" 94-Spider paused for a moment when he heard that.
Then he shook his head and said, "Let's deal with the danger first. My original web fluid may be a bit weaker, but it's sufficient. The new web fluid can wait."
"Alright, it's up to you," Mark shrugged and said, indifferent.
Afterward, Mark and Gwen waited for about half an hour, and 94-Spider finally prepared six vials of web fluid solution. He loaded two vials directly into his web shooters and kept the remaining four on his person for quick replacement.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
"Then let's go."
Saying that, Mark opened a portal to the New Genetics Research Institute.
On the other side of the portal, there appeared the figure of a middle-aged man wearing a white lab coat. His left arm was intact, but his right hand was only half there. Clearly, he was Curt Connors, also known as the "Lizard."
However, in this world, Dr. Connors was mostly in a normal state, and he rarely transformed into the mad Lizard. He was highly knowledgeable, and his new genetic technology was the product of multiple eras. It could be said that even without Spider-Man, a significant portion of the story in this version had a direct or indirect connection to him.
"This is... spatial teleportation? Quantum travel? Dimensional wave superstring jumping?" Connors turned to look at Mark and the others, as well as the still-open portal behind them, and started rattling off a string of scientific terms.
°°°
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