Chapter 17: The Performance Begins

The commotion inside the hospital room was so loud that it drew the attention of the doctors and nurses passing by outside. However, when they hurriedly pushed the door open and looked inside, all they saw were spiders crawling chaotically across the floor.

Those who aren’t afraid of spiders might find it hard to understand. But for those with entomophobia, a room overrun with spiders like this could easily cause an instant heart attack.

"Bang!"

As soon as the door opened, two people at the entrance fainted smoothly and without hesitation.

Aunt May and Uncle Ben were frantically brushing spiders off Peter’s body. Hearing the noise at the door, they turned their heads and sighed deeply when they saw the scene.

They both had a feeling: after all the trouble Xu Wang had caused, Peter probably couldn’t stay in that ward any longer.

Sure enough, after they finally managed to clear the room of spiders, the hospital director appeared at the door with a scowl.

Fortunately, Peter’s injuries weren’t too severe. Discharge it was.

Xu Wang, the instigator, stood nearby with a cheerful smile, happily enjoying the spectacle. He showed no concern over Peter being forced to leave the hospital.

Uncle Ben glanced at Xu Wang in frustration and headache. Only because he and Aunt May had good tempers hadn’t they already come to blows with Xu Wang. Of course, if they could have just taken Xu Wang out for good, that would have been even better. That was exactly what Xu Wang had hoped for.

After some effort, they helped Peter onto Xu Wang’s Land Rover. Looking at the dense spider bite marks covering Peter’s body, Uncle Ben looked thoughtfully at Xu Wang. “Can you give me an explanation?”

“Of course!” Xu Wang replied from the driver’s seat as he started the car and began to explain. “Those spiders are mutated ones developed by Osborne. After Peter was bitten, his genes began to rearrange, and soon he’ll gain spider-like superpowers.”

“Mutation decay rate algorithm?!” Peter’s mind was already clouded from the bites, but hearing Xu Wang’s words, he quickly recalled the experiment he’d done with Dr. Connors earlier that day.

Uncle Ben ignored Peter. He didn’t know much about such scientific matters, but he understood the underlying meaning in Xu Wang’s words.

“So, you caught those mutated dragonflies from the Union Corporation too?” Uncle Ben asked, more confirming than inquiring.

“Yes,” Xu Wang answered without hesitation. Since Uncle Ben had asked, he decided to be straightforward.

“Why do this?” Uncle Ben pressed on. What benefit did Xu Wang gain by going to such lengths to help them acquire superpowers?

Xu Wang’s face suddenly turned sorrowful. His lips trembled slightly, and a tear slid down his cheek.

“Because you are truly good people,” he said. “These powers are far too great. Rather than letting them fall into the wrong hands, I’d rather entrust them to you.”

“I believe these powers can only be used to protect humanity when they’re in your hands.”

“Uncle Ben, I suppose you already know — the first time I came to your home, I had animal bite marks on me too. I wanted to gain superpowers and become a hero, but fate clearly wasn’t on my side. I failed; I wasn’t worthy.”

“Although I’m resentful, this is all I can do now.”

Xu Wang spoke at length, gripping his thigh tightly with his left hand to suppress a smile.

He had already planned his exit strategy — he was putting on a performance.

Uncle Ben had some lingering resentment toward Xu Wang, but sitting in the car listening to his confession, he fell silent.

Just as he was about to say something comforting, he saw Xu Wang discreetly applying eye drops to make his “crying” more convincing.

In an instant, Uncle Ben’s sympathy evaporated.

Caught off guard, Uncle Ben noticed Xu Wang’s twitching, upward-curving mouth — he couldn’t hold back a smile.

Only Peter, whose mind was still fogged, was oblivious.

Xu Wang’s performance wasn’t over yet. He continued, “Maybe you don’t believe me, but in the future, many supervillains will appear that ordinary people cannot handle.”

“There will be goblins riding flying skateboards, alien creatures cloaked in darkness, lizard men with powerful regenerative abilities, men who can absorb others’ life force, and many more terrifying monsters.”

“If equal power is not used to fight them, the entire world will become their plaything — something I refuse to see.”

When Xu Wang finished, silence fell again in the car.

Uncle Ben pushed aside his strange feelings. Had this been a day earlier, they might have dismissed Xu Wang’s words. But now was different.

Only a few hours ago, Uncle Ben had encountered that monster who could absorb life force. Unfortunately, the creature escaped on a flying chair, and Uncle Ben couldn’t catch him.

Listening to Xu Wang mention lizard men, Peter immediately thought of Dr. Connors.

Dr. Connors was currently researching the perfect transfer of lizard genes into the human body.

If real lizard men appeared, it would surely mean something had gone wrong with Dr. Connors’s experiments.

Peter wanted to keep thinking, but his head grew heavier and heavier from the spider bites.

Eventually, he slipped into unconsciousness.

When he woke up again, it was already the next morning.

Peter was now back home. But as soon as he opened his eyes, he was shocked.

Xu Wang, Uncle Ben, and Aunt May were all standing by his bedside, staring at him without blinking.

“Ah!”

Peter was so startled he jumped up from the bed instinctively, flipped mid-air, and clung to the ceiling like a giant spider.

Aunt May’s mouth dropped open in surprise at this astonishing display.

Although Xu Wang had openly shared much about superpowers with them the night before, and even Uncle Ben had demonstrated his abilities personally, seeing Peter transformed like this still surprised Aunt May.

In the original story, Peter had kept his Spider-Man identity from Aunt May to avoid worrying her. But now Uncle Ben was alive and well, even having gained powers before Peter, so Aunt May had Uncle Ben to comfort her.

One’s adaptability was far stronger than he had imagined.

Looking at Peter’s bewildered face on the ceiling, Xu Wang clapped his hands and said, “Congratulations! The surgery was a success; you’re officially a girl now.”

“Ah?!” Peter was so shocked he fell from the ceiling and dashed into the bathroom at lightning speed.

After some time, Peter emerged with a lingering look of fear.

He glared at Xu Wang in reproach. “You’re going to scare me to death one day.”

Xu Wang just smiled without replying.

Uncle Ben, sitting nearby, looked seriously at Peter and placed a drawing in front of him.

It was a classic hand-drawn Spider-Man in red and blue — a sketch Xu Wang had made the day before.

“Peter, interested in giving it a try?”