Chapter 48: Successful Development of the Anti-Gene Serum

At Oscorp Industries, inside a laboratory, Peter stood alone at a workbench, wearing a white lab coat and focusing intently on his task.

On the bench in front of him were the regenerative gene serum and five vials of a purple liquid. In Peter's hand was another vial of the same purple serum.

Before him sat a rabbit—a rabbit that had previously been injected with the regenerative gene serum.

Although Dr. Connors' lab had been shut down, Oscorp's influence made it easy for Peter to bring this rabbit from the lab.

The purple serum in Peter's hand was the anti-gene serum, reverse-engineered by Peter using Dr. Connors' decay formula.

"As long as I can remove the lizard's regenerative gene from the rabbit, I can cure Dr. Connors of the lizard gene," Peter thought to himself, praying silently for success as he injected the anti-gene serum into the rabbit.

Not long after the injection, the rabbit began to tremble violently. Peter watched the rabbit's reactions closely, his palms sweating with tension.

He continued to pray, "Please, let this work. Please, let this work!"

After a moment of trembling, the parts of the rabbit's body that had regenerated began to wither, like dying plants, and then shed like dead fur.

"It worked! With this anti-gene serum, I can definitely turn Dr. Connors back into a human!" Peter exclaimed, jumping up from his seat in excitement.

Now, all he needed to do was find Dr. Connors.

"My goodness, Peter. You really are a genius."

Norman Osborn had entered the lab at some point and had witnessed Peter's experiment from start to finish. Even someone as proud as Norman couldn't help but praise Peter after seeing the results. From this moment on, Norman truly began to see Peter in a different light.

Hearing Norman's voice, Peter turned around to greet him. "Uncle Norman, sorry—I didn't notice you came in."

Norman waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine. I didn't want to interrupt you because you were so absorbed in your experiment."

"I came to give you some information on Connors."

"You know where Dr. Connors is?" Peter asked excitedly. Now that the anti-gene serum was ready, finding Dr. Connors would resolve everything.

"Not just me. Every detective in New York City knows where he is right now," Norman said. "But none of them know he's Connors."

A sense of dread filled Peter's heart. "What happened?"

"Last night, several detectives were attacked by Connors, but Spider-Woman intervened and saved them. This morning, nearly every detective in New York City has been deployed to seal off every sewer entrance in Queens."

Peter's heart skipped a beat. Queens!

"How are Uncle Ben and Aunt May? Are they okay?" Peter asked, panic rising in his voice.

Norman gestured for Peter to calm down. "Relax, they're fine. As of now, no one has been hurt."

"Good. If Dr. Connors were to hurt or kill anyone, this situation would be beyond repair," Peter sighed with relief before continuing. "Uncle Norman, I need to go find Dr. Connors."

He quickly gathered the regenerative gene serum and the newly developed anti-gene serum from the table.

"Thank you for letting me use your lab, Uncle Norman. All the research reports are on the desk. I'll leave them to you."

Norman nodded. "Good luck, kid. If you make it back safely, come find me again. I've got a very important research project, and with your help, we could surpass Howard…"

Peter frowned. Howard Stark! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the foremost scientist of modern times.

Surpass him… What exactly was Norman planning to research?

This successfully piqued Peter's curiosity, but there were more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. As Peter was about to leave, Norman decided to offer him one last bit of assistance.

"Wait a moment, Peter."

"Is there something else, Uncle Norman?"

"It would take too long if you go on foot. Let me drive you there. Besides, I know of a place that leads to the sewers where you won't be seen by those pesky detectives."

Twenty minutes later, they arrived in front of an abandoned factory.

Norman parked the car near the entrance. Not far inside the main gate, there was a small sewer manhole cover. More importantly, this place was not far from Queens.

How does he know about such a hidden place? Peter wondered.

Noticing Peter's confusion, Norman explained, "This is an old Oscorp facility that was abandoned. Hardly anyone comes here anymore."

"You don't need to go through the manhole, and you don't have the tools to pry it open anyway. Go further inside; there's a warehouse door. Behind it, there's a passage that leads straight into the sewers. It was originally built for waste disposal."

Norman handed Peter a somewhat old and worn key. Peter took the key, thanked Norman again, and got out of the car.

As Peter walked towards the abandoned factory, Norman called out one last time, "Good luck, Peter! I hope one day we can work together…"

That last sentence trailed off, almost too soft to be heard. Whether Peter heard it or not didn't matter much anymore. Norman turned back to his car and drove off.

---

In the sewers, George and his team stood frozen at a corner, staring at a gruesome sight: piles of bones, and two mangled bodies covered in flies. The smell was unbearable.

Several of the less seasoned detectives leaned against the wall, vomiting from the horror before them. The more experienced officers forced themselves to check the scene despite their disgust.

One of them came back to George and reported, "Chief, it looks like some kind of animal did this. The wounds on the bodies are jagged and uneven, and it looks like the flesh was torn right off them. There are also disorganized footprints all around the scene, and bite marks on the bodies."

George took a deep breath and said, "It looks like we're getting closer to his lair. Everyone, stay alert and watch your surroundings."

The team continued to press forward cautiously.

Not long after they left, Gwen silently swung through the tunnels, sticking close to the walls. With Red Queen tracking the detectives' radio signals, Gwen had little fear of losing them in this maze-like underground labyrinth.

When Gwen reached the same corner and saw the horrifying scene, her stomach churned with nausea.

She whispered to herself, "Dr. Connors... was this all your doing...?"

...