Suddenly, Stark reflected on their conversation with Doctor Connors in the lab, he recalled: "Peter was bitten by a spider, and we still haven't figured out what impact that bite has had on him."
"On the surface, his strength has increased, his thinking has become more active, and he has acquired spider-sense. Could there be other effects as well?"
"Like what?" Shiller inquired.
"Jarvis, help me pull up information on spider habits. Let me see... Wait, it's August now, right? Good heavens, look at this!"
Stark pressed a button on his arm and a projection appeared mid-air. Shiller and Steve moved to his side and looked at the projection which read:
"Many spiders breed during the hottest period of summer. Around August or September, male spiders will spin their webs earlier and perform courtship rituals, while female spiders will..."
The three exchanged glances. Shiller and Steve both looked at Stark. Shiller commented, "Don't tell me, Peter also has a mating period like spiders?"
"But it really looks like it, doesn't it?" Stark became more convinced of his theory as he spoke, "He is performing stunts in the New York sky, which could be a kind of courtship dance. Also, he keeps spinning webs all over the New York sky, which could also be a way for male spiders to showcase their mating prowess..."
Steve held his forehead and exclaimed, "This is absurd. He was just bitten by a spider. How could he..."
Stark snorted, "Peter always takes your side, but you never really cared about him. Haven't you ever observed his fighting stances? They are very spider-like."
As he spoke, Stark pressed the button again, and the projection switched to showing scenes of Peter in combat. Some were from surveillance footage of him defending justice in New York, and others were from when Peter sparred with Stark in his mecha.
The current Peter had completely abandoned his inexperienced combat style. No longer did he run and jump around throwing punches at his enemies. It was clear that whether he was dodging or striking, he had a methodology.
The only issue was, his combat style did not belong to any known classification of martial arts in the world. It was more like he had created a new martial art. He often moved on all fours, hugging the ground, then leaping high. Sometimes he would quietly crawl onto his enemy's head and suddenly jump down, choking them.
Compared to human combat techniques, it looked more like a beast's, or rather, a spider's.
"Over the past two years, I've been tracking his growth," Stark pressed another button on his arm. The screen started playing scenes of Peter. Stark continued, "In the beginning, Peter's strength and speed were not as exaggerated as they are now. At most, he was about as powerful as you."
Stark turned his head to look at Steve, who shrugged but did not argue. Then, Stark continued, "But as he gets closer to becoming an adult, his speed, strength, and reaction abilities are becoming increasingly exaggerated."
"I've tested him with the mecha, but I failed to find his strength's upper limit because the mecha materials could not withstand it. In other words, our current materials technology cannot produce anything that can withstand his physical strength, which is actually terrifying."
"Furthermore, his reaction speed. This part should have been the easiest to test for a limit, but I found out later that if he is in a good state and his attention is concentrated enough, his reactions seem more like precognition."
"How far in advance he can sense danger is impossible to test because each test only breaks the previous record. Without a doubt, while Peter's mind is growing at a similar rate, his physical strength has not increased nearly as fast," Stark concluded.
"He's a good kid." Steve spoke somewhat nostalgically, "I've been alive for many years and have met many people, and he's definitely one of the best. I trust that he can utilize these powers well..."
"The problem now is, where is this anomaly coming from?" Shiller pondered with furrowed brows, "I think we should avoid provoking him for now. A person in an excited state can easily develop aggressiveness. If Spider Man really lost control, that would be troublesome..."
"But without him cooperating for a physical exam, how can we figure out why he suddenly became so excited?" Stark asked.
"I think we can consult with people who have experience in this area. For example..." Shiller took out his phone. After dialing, he said to the other end, "Doctor Connors, we need your help..."
Ten minutes later, Shiller, Stark, and Steve appeared before Connors. Connors was still busy with his paper. Without looking up, he stated, "First off, I've never been bitten by a lizard."
"But you're also a practitioner of animal gene modification, don't you..."
"I don't." Connors sighed, stood up and said, "The key point of animal gene modification experiments is to eliminate those aspects that are not beneficial to the human race and only take the advantages."
"For example, I carry out lizard modification experiments primarily because lizards have the ability to regenerate limbs, just like what you're seeing right now..." Connors rolled up his sleeve. Stark was surprised to find that a large part of his amputated arm had grown back and looked no different from his original arm.
"Because I don't want the previous accident to happen again, the experiment is advancing quite conservatively. If I proceeded with the most efficient method, I should already have a complete arm," Connors' tone was flat, without any fluctuation. But everyone understood what this meant — once the experiment was complete, humans would no longer be troubled by limb amputations.
"If those parts that are harmful to humans cannot be eliminated, then the consequences would be like my previous uncontrollable state. You would see a cold-blooded animal covered in scales, without humanity, only beastliness. That's not what I want. That's why I keep trying to perfect this."
"In other words, your mutation was strictly selected and controlled." Stark understood Connors' concept, "This further corroborates my previous thought. Peter's bite was completely random, without any experimental control. So he might not have only inherited the good parts of the spider's abilities, he may have also inherited some of the beastliness."
"But don't you think his beastly state seems a bit too mild?" Steve asked, "I remember you said before, when Connors became the Lizard, he destroyed half of your building."
"Could it be because Peter is too good? Maybe the wildest thing he can think of doing is just performing stunts in the New York sky and covering New York with webs," Shiller proposed an idea.
Stark and Steve exchanged glances. They found this too absurd. But upon further thought, it didn't seem impossible for Peter.
"Well, it seems Dr. Connors can't provide any advice. Let's move on to the next one," Shiller said.
"Next one? Who else?" Stark asked with some confusion.
Ten minutes later, Natasha's angry roar echoed through the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound:
"I am not a spider!!!!!"