Chapter Twenty-One: The Anti-Gene Serum

What Michael needs is to overcome the hurdle in his heart—an essential step in the journey of growing up.

“I still believe I’m not wrong. All I ever wanted was a healthy body, and to live well,” he said. “If I could be like Tony, have a big company, and spend my nights with an endless stream of women, that would be even better.”

Keisha replied, “Sex is merely a base desire. After living for thousands of years, you’ll find such thoughts childish and laughable.”

“Whatever. I’m just an ordinary guy. All I want in life is to have money to spend, and women to date.”

Keisha sighed, “It seems you’re not ready to become a god. Life is long; you’ll get used to it.”

“I never wanted to be a god in the first place. Whatever, I’m off to school.”

Michael picked up his freshly laundered clothes and headed out.

As soon as he set foot on campus, he spotted Gwen sitting in a sunlit spot, reading a book.

“No wonder she’s a top student—she never lets a single moment for studying slip away,” Michael thought as he walked over.

“You’re here,” Gwen looked up.

“Yeah. Your clothes—you left them at my place last night.”

“Thank you. They smell so nice! Did you wash them?”

“I did.”

Gwen smiled, glancing at him. “I always thought boys were messy.”

“Maybe I’m an exception.”

Peter happened to pass by, catching that last sentence. He glanced at the clothes—Gwen’s usual outfit. Michael’s words filled in the rest.

So, Gwen must have visited Michael’s place, had some fun, got her clothes dirty, and left them there. That must be all—nothing else happened.

Absolutely nothing.

Peter couldn’t bear it; he hurried away and returned to the classroom. But all morning, he kept watching Michael and Gwen, checking for any subtle changes between them.

When class ended, Michael—who usually left alone—walked out with Gwen. More shocking still, they got into the same car.

Peter stared at this, dazed, wandering off in a stupor. He kept asking himself, “Why did I need to check again?”

“Hey, Peter?”

“Hi, Mary Jane.”

The girl with glasses ran over. “Are you free this afternoon?”

“I think I am.”

“Could you come to my place and help me take some photos?”

“Of course. It would be my pleasure.”

...

Michael and Gwen arrived at the company and found Dr. Connors’s laboratory.

“It looks like no one’s been here in a long time,” Gwen observed, studying the surroundings.

“I guess Dr. Connors gave everyone else the day off.”

They went to the first floor, fetched a spare key, and unlocked the lab door.

“Careful,” Gwen said, shoving Michael aside and kicking a shadowy figure away.

A gigantic rat tumbled across the floor—its body massive, its skin green, and claws sharp like a lizard’s.

“Oh, it really is Dr. Connors’s fault,” Michael muttered.

Gwen fired webs at the rat in quick succession, but it dodged each shot.

“Damn,” she grumbled with annoyance.

“Try rapid-fire mode,” Michael suggested.

With his reminder, Gwen quickly switched to rapid-fire, unleashing a dozen webs in a flash and pinning the rat to the floor.

She prepared to finish it off, but Michael stopped her. “We have plenty of time. Why not use it for an experiment?”

“All right.”

Soon, the two had prepared several vials of serum. Their anti-gene serum was blue, clearly different from Dr. Connors’s formula.

In the Marvel movies, there’s an amusing detail: toxic or problematic serums are always green. Blue serums, by contrast, are generally safe—the serum used on Captain America, for instance, was blue, as is Tony’s arc reactor, while the Hulk’s raging mutation is green. Thor has no green, but Loki’s attire is rich with it. Other villains like the Lizard, the Green Goblin, and even Sandman, who appears in green clothes, fit this motif. Among heroes, only Hulk and Captain Marvel have green costumes; otherwise, it’s rare.

After injecting the serum into the mutant rat, it quickly reverted to a normal white mouse. To be sure, Michael watched it for several hours before finally disposing of the mouse.

All animals used in such experiments must be disposed of as medical waste, to prevent any accidents.

“I’ll take a vial to Dr. Connors. He must have a hideout in the sewers. Can you take the rest to the hospital?” Michael asked.

Seeing Gwen’s excitement, he knew she couldn’t be dissuaded. “All right. But be careful.”

“I will,” Gwen promised.

She dashed to the changing room to switch into her Spider suit, only to realize she’d already quit and no longer had a locker there. She hurried back to Michael, clothes in hand.

“Keep these safe for me. I’ll come back for them tonight.”

“Fine,” Michael agreed, taking her clothes, feeling a flush of excitement. No wonder everyone loved to cosplay Spider-Man—this suit really was something.

Gwen leapt out the window, opened a manhole cover, and disappeared underground.

Michael closed the window, then turned to the equipment, retrieving samples of bat blood, Gwen’s blood, and Lizard blood. Using the machine, he began synthesizing the second-generation serum.

Unlike the first generation, the second-generation serum had already been filtered through a human body, making it more suitable for transplantation and reducing side effects.

Of the three, Gwen’s serum was the most perfect; the other two still had serious side effects.

In addition to the standard serum, Michael prepared matching anti-gene serums for emergencies. Finally, he packed the vials he needed into a case and set out for the hospital.

Just as he left the company, he turned back.

He made his way to the rooftop, where a transmission tower—the largest Canary device to date—stood.

Michael loaded a vial of anti-gene serum for Lizard mutations into the device.

“This will be Plan B. If Dr. Connors climbs to the rooftop, I can use the computer to launch the anti-gene serum directly.”

After finishing, Michael headed to the hospital and found the ward where the infected officers were being held.

The room was guarded, so Michael couldn’t see inside. Based on the dosage they had inhaled, he guessed they had temporarily reverted to human form, but would eventually transform back into lizard people as time went on.

“Michael, what brings you here?” George approached him.

“This is the anti-gene serum. It can cure them.”

George gazed at Michael, his expression complicated.

“Tell me—this has nothing to do with you, right?”