6: Chapter 6 The Spider's Prototype

Even the notoriously harsh Daily Bugle could not smear him as a criminal in the face of the fact that he had saved a large number of soldiers.

The report even used the word "hero" once, describing how shocking it was for an ordinary person to dare to face a monster, and eyewitnesses at the scene even compared that battle to a duel between "David and Goliath."

Zhu Xia curled his lips.

It seemed that this time, Spider-Man's start would not be treated as a city threat.

After eating a healthy breakfast, he and Mary Jane took the bus to Midtown High.

The campus was bustling with noise, with students gathered in groups of twos and threes.

Zhu Xia brought Mary Jane through the crowded hallway, introducing her to the ecology of the place.

"Welcome to Midtown High." Zhu Xia pointed to the groups of students, "There are jocks, cheerleaders, tech geeks, nerds, dancers, drama freaks, freaks, and misfits like me who are too smart to be a normal nerd, but not cool enough to be a hipster."

"I think I can fit in quickly." Mary Jane smiled confidently.

"You definitely can, little frog."

"Please don't call me that."

"No."

"I didn't even learn to croak like a frog."

"Still no."

The two were bickering as they walked into the classroom for their first period.

As soon as they entered, Flash Thompson's harsh voice rang out.

"Yo, everyone look! The little punk Parker is back!"

Flash's sidekick Kong chimed in: "What's wrong, Parker? Finally recovered from the energy of being bitten by a spider?"

Zhu Xia sneered inwardly; it was truly a classic case of school bullying.

Just as Flash was about to act up, his gaze suddenly landed on Mary Jane.

He immediately swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and his expression instantly became fawning: "Wow..."

Mary Jane leaned over to Zhu Xia's ear and whispered: "Are they usually like this?"

Zhu Xia shrugged: "They usually only target me. I suspect Flash actually has a crush on me, but he's just afraid to admit he's gay."

Flash suddenly came back to his senses, his face flushed red as he roared: "What?! Listen here, Parker, I am not gay!"

Zack, a gay student in the class, chimed in: "What's wrong with being gay?"

"N-nothing! I'm just saying I'm not!" Flash retorted, stuttering.

Zhu Xia couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him; he put down his backpack and stretched his neck.

To hide his embarrassment, Flash turned stiffly to Mary Jane: "Ahem, new here?"

"Yes, I'm Mary Jane. Nice to meet you." Mary Jane smiled politely.

"Hey, Mary Jane, I'm Flash, and this is Kong. If you need any help at school, just find us, anything at all." Flash winked and batted his eyes.

Zhu Xia gagged theatrically: "It's truly amazing, Flash, you have taken the art of courtship to the extreme."

"None of your business, Parker!" Flash said, furious with shame.

"It's not my business, please continue, you are showing your charm to the new girl."

"Shut up, Parker!"

"Alright, Tiger, don't make it too hard for him." Mary Jane teased.

Zhu Xia rolled his eyes and said nothing more.

At this moment, cheerleader Liz Allan came over and sized up Mary Jane: "Where are you from?"

"I'm from the north, recently moved here to live with my aunt." Mary Jane responded calmly.

"What do you usually like?" another cheerleader, Crystal, asked.

"Fashion, singing, theater, that sort of thing."

"Oh! Did you see the new Chanel collection? It's amazing!"

"I did, but I don't like their perfume, the scent is too strong."

"Right! I think so too!" Liz's eyes lit up as if she had found a kindred spirit.

Zhu Xia watched from the sidelines with cold eyes.

Mary Jane was like a fish in water, instantly hitting it off with so-called school idols like Flash and Liz.

"Wait, how do you know Parker?" Liz glanced at Zhu Xia with disgust.

"Oh, he's my neighbor." Mary Jane explained.

"I see. Hey, Mary Jane, sit with us during the break, we'll show you around."

"Thanks, but Peter has already promised—"

"Parker?" Flash sneered, "That loser can't even find the bathroom!"

"I certainly know, Flash, after all, you've dunked my head in the toilet and flushed quite a few times." Zhu Xia retorted coldly.

Mary Jane's eyes widened: "He what?"

Flash's face turned livid, and he lowered his voice to threaten: "Don't ruin this for me, Parker, or next time I won't flush before I dunk you."

Zhu Xia raised an eyebrow: "Are you threatening me?"

"And what if I am?"

Zhu Xia looked down at him and sneered: "I'd like to see what you can do to me."

Flash gritted his teeth: "See you at the park after school today."

Hearing this, the original plot immediately surfaced in Zhu Xia's mind.

In the Ultimate Universe, Peter Parker beat up Flash at the park and even broke his arm.

As a result, Flash's parents took Uncle Ben and Aunt May directly to court, suing for a huge sum of money, which plunged the Parker family into a serious financial crisis.

Zhu Xia would never repeat such a stupid mistake that caused more harm than good.

"Sorry, big guy." Zhu Xia said in a flat tone, "I'm not interested in playing with you. And I don't need to."

"You asshole—"

"Quiet! Class has started!" The teacher walked into the classroom, interrupting Flash's roar, "Including you, Mr. Thompson."

Flash glared viciously at Zhu Xia: "We'll settle this next time."

Zhu Xia responded with a mocking look. Next time? There would be no next time.

"Come on, Mary Jane, sit with us!" Liz enthusiastically pulled Mary Jane to the back row.

Mary Jane seemed to want to say something, but was forcibly pulled away by Liz, and Zhu Xia was left alone again.

He sighed and sat in his seat. English class, zero interest.

After class, just as Zhu Xia wanted to talk to Mary Jane, she had already been surrounded by Liz and the others and went to the next class.

Zhu Xia shrugged indifferently and turned to walk toward the advanced chemistry lab.

In chemistry class, the teacher's dry explanation made Zhu Xia sleepy.

It wasn't until the end of the lesson that the teacher mentioned the structure of graphite chains and how changing the structure could affect its tensile strength.

Zhu Xia's eyes lit up. Graphite chain structure!

If this molecular arrangement could be introduced into the Webbing formula, perhaps it could significantly increase the toughness of the Webbing!

For the next few classes, Zhu Xia was completely in a daze.

The teachers didn't bother with him either; after all, everyone knew that Peter Parker was a genius who could get full marks without listening in class.

At lunchtime, Zhu Xia sat alone at a table in the corner of the cafeteria, right next to the trash can.

He took a bite of the tuna sandwich Aunt May had made and pondered to himself.

With Peter's IQ, he could jump grades to university at any time, so why insist on staying in high school to suffer?

The answer was simple: loneliness.

Peter was afraid that after leaving this familiar environment, he would still be isolated in university.

Rather than facing unknown loneliness, it was better to stay in a known hell.

Just as he was thinking, Mary Jane and her new friends walked into the cafeteria, chatting and laughing.

Mary Jane didn't even look at him.

A hint of bitterness welled up in Zhu Xia's heart.

Was this girl really so realistic?

Could the eye contact from the previous few weeks just have been a way for her to pass the time?

Just then, a boy dressed in designer clothes with an exquisite hairstyle walked over.

Harry Osborn.

He didn't need Peter's memories at all; Zhu Xia recognized this future Green Goblin at a glance.

"Harry!" Liz greeted enthusiastically, "Come sit! Meet the new girl!"

Harry grinned and sat down right next to Mary Jane, close enough to be somewhat ambiguous: "Nice to meet you, I'm Harry Osborn."

Mary Jane blushed: "H-hello, I'm Mary Jane."

Liz chimed in from the side: "Be careful, Osborn, she seems to have fallen for you already!"

"Liz!" Mary Jane was so embarrassed her face turned red.

Harry laughed: "I don't mind, being liked by such a cute girl is a huge boost to my self-esteem."

Looking at this glaring scene, the last bit of favor Zhu Xia had for Mary Jane instantly vanished.

He stuffed the rest of the sandwich into his mouth, got up, and left without even looking back.

The sound of Mary Jane's bell-like laughter came from behind, only making him feel incredibly ironic.

Walking in the hallway, Zhu Xia felt irritable.

He was surrounded by idiots.

After possessing Peter's high IQ, he felt even more that these peers were ridiculously childish.

If he wanted to find friends to communicate with on equal terms, he would probably have to go talk to Tony Stark.

No wonder Peter Parker always suppressed himself; if he didn't suppress it, he would have been driven crazy by this group of shallow people long ago.

Zhu Xia walked into the empty chemistry lab; this used to be Peter's sanctuary to avoid Flash, but now it had become his private laboratory.

He took out his notebook and began to incorporate the graphite chain structure into the Webbing formula.

He spent the entire afternoon in the laboratory.

After school, history class.

Mary Jane was still chatting and laughing with her friends.

The final bell rang, and she ran to Zhu Xia's side as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, Peter!" Mary Jane shouted excitedly, "This was definitely the best first day I've ever had! I didn't expect to make so many friends who like me! Liz is so nice, you really should see how well we get along!"

Zhu Xia nodded expressionlessly: "I'm glad you made friends, I told you there was nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, you're right. By the way, I learned about the school's drama program, there are three performances a year! I have to try out for the December play, what do you think?"

"Give it a try, starting with a bit part isn't bad either." Zhu Xia said perfunctorily.

Along the way, Mary Jane was chattering away, showing off her new life.

Zhu Xia watched coldly, and the sense of alienation in his heart grew heavier.

At the fork in the road, Mary Jane asked: "Hey, Peter, want to come over to my place? Aunt Anna might have baked cookies."

"No, I'm tired." Zhu Xia refused directly, "The aftereffects of yesterday only kicked in today, I'm going to sleep. See you tomorrow."

Mary Jane was stunned for a moment: "Are you okay? You sound very drained."

"I said, I'm just tired. Don't worry, I'll be fine tomorrow."

Zhu Xia waved his hand, turned, walked into his front door, and closed it heavily.

"Peter? How was school?" Aunt May asked from the kitchen.

"Pretty good. I'm going to the Underground Room, call me if you need anything."

Zhu Xia threw his backpack on the workbench and went straight down to the Underground Room.

He took out his notebook and started synthesizing the new Webbing serum.

He was completely immersed in the experiment all night.

This new formula was extremely sensitive to pressure.

The more pressure it endured, the harder it became.

Zhu Xia conducted multiple tests and successfully formulated three types of Webbing with different hardness: one was a weak-adhesive Webbing like glue, one was a strong Webbing as hard as concrete, and another was a balanced type that was somewhere in between, possessing both elasticity and tensile strength.

Time passed without him knowing.

Aunt May came downstairs to ask what he wanted for dinner, but he hurriedly hid the formula and said offhandedly that he had no appetite.

It wasn't until two in the morning that Zhu Xia finished all the tests and drew the design for the second-generation Web-shooters.

The new Web-shooters were more powerful, but manufacturing would take time.

He lay on the bed, but had no desire to sleep.

Outside the window, the quiet suburbs were pitch black, while the distant Manhattan was ablaze with lights, as if it were calling to him.

He couldn't go directly to the city center, but staying at home was also a waste of time.

Zhu Xia changed into dark clothes, pushed the window open, jumped out lightly, and landed perfectly.

He started jogging, but soon, he became curious about the limits of this body.

He exerted force suddenly.

The surrounding houses instantly turned into afterimages.

Zhu Xia found himself running extremely fast, with a speed definitely exceeding thirty kilometers per hour, possibly even higher!

Considering that both he in his previous life and Peter had never received professional track and field training, this speed was simply incredible.

He ran out of the suburbs all the way to an abandoned train station a few blocks away.

Peter used to come here often when doing explosion experiments.

That high wall used to be Peter's nightmare, but now, Zhu Xia only needed a light jump to easily vault over it.

There was a huge, rusted hangar in the yard, overgrown with weeds.

It was remote and dilapidated here, so much so that even homeless people didn't want to come.

Zhu Xia walked to the door of the hangar, grabbed the rusted iron door with both hands, and exerted force with his arms.

Accompanied by the harsh sound of metal friction, the heavy door was pushed open by him by sheer force.

The hangar was piled with abandoned machinery.

In the corner were scattered iron rails of varying lengths, some two or three meters, some tens of meters.

There was also an abandoned train carriage, iron chains hung from the ceiling, and an old generator nearby.

This place was simply the perfect secret Base.

Zhu Xia walked to a three-meter-long iron rail, held both ends with his hands, took a deep breath, and suddenly lifted it upward.

To his surprise, this heavy metal beam was steadily lifted over his head by him.

He threw the iron rail onto the ground, making a huge roar.

This thing weighed at least five hundred pounds!

He could actually lift it directly over his head!

If he underwent systematic strength training, what terrifying potential could this body burst out?

However, he couldn't train to become a bodybuilder.

Spider-Man's positioning was more like a gymnast than a gladiator, just like Nightwing, emphasizing both agility and technique.

Wait.

A flash of inspiration suddenly crossed Zhu Xia's mind.

Who were the two most popular characters in Marvel and DC?