Chapter 4: Human or Monster?

"Damn it, is she crazy?"

Dell Ami was going crazy.

He was about to catch Gwen Stacy, but she dared to be so bold, jumping directly to the rooftop next door.

If it weren't for the guy who suddenly intervened and grabbed her hand, she might have fallen to her death.

"Damn it! This crazy girl will get herself killed one day!"

Listening to the faint siren in the distance, despite his inner reluctance, he could only retreat with his men.

Failing to complete the task assigned by the boss made his mood even worse.

"Thud!"

Feet landing on the damp street, Dell and his men tried to leave along the secluded route.

Under the dim streetlights, only the sound of their hurried footsteps could be heard.

"Clack! Clack! Clack!"

At the end of the alley, there was suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps.

In Dell's line of sight, a dark figure was gradually approaching him.

Like a hunter lurking in the darkness, it exuded a wild and dangerous aura.

Peter stopped, standing under the flickering streetlight due to years of neglect, facing Dell and his several henchmen.

The flickering streetlight illuminated his face, creating a contrasting effect of light and shadow.

Sensing the danger, Dell looked cautiously at Peter.

"It's you. You're the guy who saved that girl earlier!"

He quickly recognized Peter as the guy who appeared on the rooftop.

Signaling his men to prepare, he looked at Peter with suspicion. "Are you here to avenge that girl?"

"No."

Peter shook his head expressionlessly.

He wasn't the kind of person who went around solving problems for others.

The reason he was here was to unleash the almost consuming desire to kill.

And to check the extent to which his body had been affected by the alien genes.

"What are you guys? Gangsters? Or seeking revenge?"

Peter hadn't finished his sentence when he shook his head, "Forget it, I don't want to know."

"Damn it! Who do you think you are? Stop pretending!"

Dell cursed and immediately pulled out his dagger from his waist.

He wanted to shed some blood from this big-mouthed jerk!

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, the henchman closest to Peter was hit in the chest, emitting a painful groan before falling to the ground.

Before the others could react, Peter swiftly turned and kicked another guy in the waist.

With lightning-fast movements and ruthless actions, he quickly gained the upper hand against this group of henchmen.

The dull sound of bodies colliding and painful groans echoed in the alley.

One henchman who snuck behind Peter, holding a knife, attempted to launch a surprise attack.

But to his surprise, Peter suddenly turned around and grabbed the knife.

Blood flowed from the knife, dripping onto the henchman's arm.

It felt as if it was being burned by flames, immediately transmitting the sensation of pain from his arm along his nerves to his brain.

With a scream, he immediately let go of the knife and stepped back.

Suppressing the pain, he looked at his arm.

Where the burning blood flowed, it seemed as if it had been scorched by sulfuric acid or some other compound, emitting wisps of hot air, with the flesh mangled and ghastly.

The sudden scene stunned Dell and his men.

Peter frowned, looking at the bleeding wound in his palm.

As he suspected, his blood, like the alien, had acquired some corrosive properties.

"Hiss!"

Taking a deep breath, Dell looked at Peter with shock and unease.

What kind of monster was this guy?

Why was his blood so strange?!

At this moment, Peter was unaware of what Dell and the others were thinking. He clenched his fist, casting his gaze on the uncertain crowd.

In the next moment, he swiftly moved forward, like a predatory beast hunting its prey.

"Bang!"

The henchman whose arm was burned took a blow to the chest from Peter, emitting a painful groan before being slammed like a baseball into the wall.

Dust fell from the wall!

Before the others could react, Peter's body moved like lightning, appearing in front of another henchman.

Spinning and twisting his waist, he kicked out his right leg like a whip.

The henchman's shoulder blade widened in pain, then he fell heavily to the ground, kicking up a lot of dust.

With unbelievable strength and speed, Peter dealt with the lackeys, standing in front of Dell.

Without waiting for the other's reaction, Peter grabbed Dell by the neck and lifted him up.

Dell's throat emitted a hoarse "gurgle" sound, his hands and feet flailing wildly, his eyes bulging like corks about to pop out of a champagne bottle.

Grabbing Dell by the throat, Peter felt an infinite desire for slaughter rising from the depths of his being, primal impulses taking over his mind.

At the same time, the hunger that had been suppressed by him gradually rose.

Before his eyes, it seemed like there was incredibly delicious flesh and blood, just a bite away to satisfy his hunger.

Feeling Dell's trembling under his grip, Peter squeezed even harder.

In his blurred vision, he saw a horrifying scene that chilled him to the bone.

Peter suddenly opened his mouth wide, revealing a grimace of numerous sharp teeth, saliva dripping incessantly, looking incredibly menacing.

But this change happened in just an instant, and Peter soon returned to normal.

So quickly that Dell thought he might be hallucinating.

"You... you monster."

Dell struggled to squeeze out a few words from his mouth.

"Snap!"

The next moment, his throat was crushed by Peter.

Dell, devoid of life, fell heavily to the ground.

Having dealt with all of Dell's henchmen, Peter stood in place, glanced at the corpses, then reached for his own cheek.

Was his body undergoing some kind of transformation just now?

The influence of the alien genes seemed more severe than he had imagined.

Ripley, the clone of the main character in the Alien series, had her genes mixed with the alien's, making her a "superwoman" like himself.

However, unlike himself, her mind showed no abnormalities, while his mind was being influenced by the most primitive desires of the alien.

If he didn't remove the alien embryo from his body soon, he didn't know if he would eventually turn into a monster like the alien.

"Not being influenced by conscience, remorse, and moral thoughts," a killing machine, although possibly the most perfect "organism," was never what he pursued.

Despite being cold, selfish, and inhumane, fundamentally, he had always regarded himself as human.

Looking up at the night sky in the distance, Peter shook his head and turned away.

As he walked out of the alley, a police car from the New York City Police Department whizzed by, its neon-colored sirens emitting a dazzling light.

"Buzz!"

His phone vibrated.

Peter took out his phone and saw a text message from Gwen.

"Peter, I've arrived at the New York Police Department, everything's safe! Thank you for your timely help tonight. If it weren't for you, I might have been languishing in the hospital with disinfectant or formaldehyde."

"No need to thank me. Who were those guys?"

Peter texted Gwen back.

"Dad said they might be members of the Hand."

...