章節 4: Finally a superhuman?Ant.

Saturday, 11 am

"20, 21, 25… Huff…" I cursed as I struggled to even do 30 push-ups. Damn it, Peter Parker's body is so weak without Spider-Man's powers.

I wiped my sweat away with a towel, feeling the pain in my body, exhaustion, and the lack of strength to even walk—feeling every muscle screaming.

"If I knew bodybuilding was going to drain my strength, I should have just gotten superpowers" I panted, wiping the sweat again and getting up, ready to leave.

By the way, I got permission from May to go to the gym—she was shocked, but I was adamant about it, so she finally agreed. Oh, and I decided to get the strength of an ant because I'm going to start school on Monday. I hate getting bullied, no matter if it's the old world of mine or this one.

In Peter's memories of bullying, it's even worse—uff… but I'm not Peter… Hmp. My eyes turned cold just thinking about getting payback. I can't stand bullying.

I walked out of the gym and into New York's ever-busy streets. Woah. I looked around, finding the road filled with cars as the sun shone hard on us. "Damn… Let's search for an abandoned place for gene fusion."

Recently, I learned about so many different kinds of special ants and their abilities, but sadly, I don't know where to get them or buy them. That's why I just picked ants from the house.

While walking with a bag containing some ants in an inbox, I found an abandoned warehouse. I entered it and found it very spacious.

"Hmm… it's much better, though a very open place…but it's good for current uses." I put the bag down and took out the box with the ant I caught at home. It was the black and red ant.

The red ant was for its bite and toxicity, while the black was for its strength—specifically, little black ants can lift to 50 times their weight.

After that, the system:

—[PROTOTYPE EVOLUTIONARY SYSTEM]—

—[ONLINE]—

—[APPRAISAL]—

—[MERGE]—

[SLOT-1]+[SLOTt-2]=?

—[INVENTORY]—

I opened the merge feature and found two slots for merging. I picked up the two ants and tried to command my system with a thought to merge these two ants.

Suddenly, a blue glow covered the ants, and I saw a screen light up in front of my eyes as I used the appraisal.

—[King Ant (new species): Known for its aggressive nature and a hive mind that controls soldier ants. Its bite is filled with toxic formic acid, capable of paralyzing enemies for hours and causing intense pain. It can lift between 30-60 times its weight.]—

"Woah…damn…I just created a new species," I exclaimed, looking at the details and finding the King Ant trying to bite me with its fangs. Before I could trigger the next merge, I held my breath, knowing it was going to merge with my DNA as a secondary base.

The blue glow again covered the ant, and after it disappeared, I held my breath for the expected pain as it felt like millions of ants were crawling on my skin. My heart beat faster than ever, feeling my blood rushing through my veins, and my old DNA was getting overwritten by the new DNA.

The heat, along with a little pain, receded, and my vision got blurred as I leaned back against the wall, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes.

"Hah… it was weird. At least I didn't have to suffer through the pain like those cultivation novels I read," I chuckled, looking down to see my t-shirt wet and too tight for my current physique.

'Hmm?… I feel like… I'm very energetic.' I thought as I tried to lift myself from the ground with a little push but ended up getting 1 meter off the ground.

"Woah…what the…" I landed back on the ground, feeling like I could run for hours. It was like I had infinite stamina or energy, but it was wrong—I was just stronger than humans.

Murmurs… what's with these voices? I heard whispers and the sound of cars rushing by on the streets, and I could feel my eyes becoming sharper. I could spot dust and other insects smaller than ants from a mile away. Another power! Inside, my heart was excited as I finally had superpowers.

"There's still a strength check…I remember the original Peter could lift and press 10 tons easily," I muttered to myself as I looked around and found some big old iron rods used for building construction.

I walked over and tried to lift one, thinking it would be heavy, but it felt like nothing. I lifted it easily, feeling like I could lift more heavy rods—maybe this metal rod was around 1 ton.

Let me see if I can press it… taking a deep breath, I gripped the iron rods and put pressure on it slowly until it made a big dent in the hard iron.

"Hah… I guess it's enough for now—2-3 tons of strength—peak human capabilities?" I wondered to myself as I took off my torn t-shirt and looked down at my chest. It got a little wider, my stomach tight with muscles, not quite abs but close to it. I now had an athletic body.

I needed to experiment with my powers and control so I wouldn't hurt May or my friends. I mumbled to myself as I changed into a new set of clothes.

I jumped on top of the warehouse easily. "Woah… it feels awesome, jumping like ninjas…" I laughed as I started running, taking big strides from the top of the houses. I almost stumbled, but my quick reflexes helped me avoid falling onto the ground.

"I can be faster…" Adrenaline rushed into my veins as I increased my speed using my newfound strength and agility.

While running at what wasn't even top speed, it still felt like I could run for hours—a perk of huge stamina with super strength.

Soon, I found myself in my bedroom around 5 pm, looking into the mirror at my evolved form—my body.

"Hmm?.. Why do I have two mini bumps on my forehead?" I was confused when I touched the mini bump, which looked like an antenna or something. "I hope I don't become some monster… I hate my body changing."

Annoyed, I examined my body closely. Then, I felt myself connected to some tiny ants across the house.

I could hear and see everything they were saying. "Woah… it's a good thing to spy…" I smirked, realizing I had a powerful ability to spy on my future enemies.

I tried to talk but couldn't, so I started commanding instead. The ants listened. Hive mind… I got the idea that I could control a group of ants, but it would be taxing on my mental strength if I tried to control it for hours.

I also needed to practice and experiment with my new powers. With a thought, I pulled back the antennae inside my head and took a seat at my study table, starting to write down the basic powers on paper:

—Superhuman strength—can lift 2-4 tons

—Superhuman speed—faster than any human? Because I'm beyond?

—Enhanced vision—

—Enhanced senses—

—The ability to climb walls—

—Ant control?—

"Hah… these are the basic requirements to be superhuman. I gotta train… maybe I should find a martial artist to train?" I remember in a series, there was a famous dojo in New York.

Chikara Dojo, run by Colleen Wing—or The Hand in Secret—is a group of ninjas who worshipped a demon for immortality.

After checking the list of powers, I ripped the page into pieces and threw it in the dustbin. 'Well, I have to control my strength before I break something.' I closed my eyes, took deep breaths, tried to feel relaxed, and used a little bit of strength.

Yes, I had to use a little bit of strength… but it was kind of hard to control. Suddenly, I felt a presence, or my senses picked up, and I heard the door getting knocked. "Well, it seems Aunt May is back," I chuckled, thinking about the beautiful lady as I went downstairs to open the door.