Chapter 34: Join the Glorious Evolution

Dr. Connors struggled hard, but the spider silk wrapped around him layer by layer, making it impossible for him to break free for the time being. 

Peter hung from a strand of webbing and slowly lowered himself until he was above Dr. Connors. 

"Dr. Connors?" 

He tried to awaken the human part of Dr. Connors' conscience.

"Roar!"

However, what responded was an unkind roar.

To prevent Dr. Connors from suffocating, Peter specially left his nose and mouth as vents.

Seeing this, Peter stretched out his hands and rapidly fired two more weblines, sealing Dr. Connors' mouth shut. 

Only two large nostril vents were left for him to breathe through.

"I'm sorry, doctor. I was going to leave your mouth open, but you're too loud and your breath stinks. Does this lizard serum have the side effect of causing bad breath? If so, I don't recommend taking it. It's disgusting. Or maybe you can bring a toothbrush and brush your teeth. What flavor toothpaste do you like? Mint?"

Peter idly trash-talked the irate Dr. Connors to vent some tension and attempt to distract him - his enhanced senses allowed him to gather information from the doctor's reactions.

Dr. Connors heard it and was annoyed, but with his mouth sealed, he was nearly suffocated from the inability to vent.

Peter didn't care about that.

Not all of his banter was nonsense. The back-and-forth allowed him to release stress while harassing and distracting his foe. His keen perception ensured he didn't become distracted himself.

Tear!

At a certain moment, a tearing sound suddenly came from Dr. Connors' body.

The taut webbing wrapped around him was suddenly ripped open.

Peter was slightly stunned, not understanding how Dr. Connors did it.

In that instant, the coiled Dr. Connors sprang free, shedding the webs as he stood up.

Only then did Peter notice a long lizard tail had fallen to the ground.

Looking at Dr. Connors' bare backside again, he suddenly realized - 

It was "tail autotomy for survival"!

At certain fracture points on a lizard's tail, they can disconnect and shed the tail by contracting and squeezing the tail muscles in an emergency. The severed tail retains nerves and can continue moving for a while to distract predators, while the lizard escapes.

Peter hadn't expected that the man-made Dr. Connors, this massive lizard, would actually have such an ability!

Originally, Peter's webbing had Dr. Connors fully restrained, but by shedding his tail, it deformed the structure enough to break free from his bonds.

What a clever ploy!

The irrational Dr. Connors couldn't have planned that himself.

"Dr. Connors?" Peter called out tentatively as he deftly avoided the reptilian man's attacks.

"Spider," Dr. Connors stopped his assault and stood in the passage, looking up at Peter while tearing off the remaining webbing. 

"Doctor, are you awake now?" Peter was a little surprised. He had thought Dr. Connors became so aggressive due to the influence of the serum.

After all, the doctor himself had interacted with Gwen and seemed a very good person.

"Ah, Spider, it seems you are a being like me," Dr. Connors looked Peter over and said.

Peter heard the normal conversation and felt Dr. Connors' mania had reduced a lot, which helped him stay calmer.

However, he didn't come down or move away. He just found the arcing section connecting the ceiling and ground and pressed his back against the wall.

"Dr. Connors, how did you become like this? Can you change back?" Peter asked.

"You know me?" Dr. Connors asked back.

Peter responded calmly, "Of course, you're a top figure in the field of cross-species genetic biology and a well-known researcher for Oscorp. Anyone with knowledge of that should know you."

He wouldn't be easily tricked by Dr. Connors.

Dr. Connors' eyes were fixed on Peter, as if trying to glimpse his true identity under the mask.

"Oscorp? Ha!" Dr. Connors sneered, "Don't mention them to me! If not for Oscorp, I wouldn't be like this. No, I should thank them. They're the reason I've become my perfect self!"

Peter frowned slightly, feeling his earlier judgment may have been premature. 

This Dr. Connors' mental state was clearly not quite right.

"Little spider, for the sake of us both being great biological evolvers, I won't hold the past against you. From now on, you live your life, and I will complete my great mission!" Dr. Connors said, turning to walk down a passage.

"Great mission?" Peter became increasingly aware that something was wrong, his spider-sense beating violently again. "Sorry, let me ask one more thing, what is this 'great mission' you mentioned?"

Dr. Connors said without looking back, "I want to turn New York into a Lizard Island, and have everyone join this glorious evolution!"

"Uh, are you possessed by the Venom symbiote or something?" Peter was speechless, reminded of a certain villainous group's goal.

Clearly, Dr. Connors had never played that video game and didn't understand Peter's quip. "Venom? You mean that guy from the planet Klyntar?"

"Huh?" Peter was slightly dazed as he fell off the wall. At the same time, he rapidly fired webbing from both hands, sticking to and gripping Dr. Connors' hands tightly. "I don't know who you're talking about, but Doctor, I can't let you turn people into lizard-men!"

Dr. Connors was pulled by Peter's immense strength, leaving him struggling to move forward.

He turned and roared, "Spider-pest, why are you stopping me? I'm benefiting everyone!" 

"Benefiting everyone? But they don't want that!" Peter wrapped the weblines around his hands twice, pulling hard. "Besides, if everyone around me turns into a big lizard with bad breath, wow, could I even live?"

"In that case, I'll kill you!" Dr. Connors suddenly spun around and charged at Peter.

From the standoff to this sudden one-sided tug-of-war, Peter was caught off guard. His body retreated repeatedly until his back hit the wall.

Dr. Connors threw a punch at him.

Peter nimbly dodged, then bounced up to cling to the top of a pipe, rapidly crawling down its length. 

The two connected weblines unwittingly encircled Dr. Connors, binding him.

(End of chapter)