Chapter 16: The Lizard Crisis

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s sluggish awareness regarding Lynn’s affairs did not affect him in the slightest. He remained committed to staying out of the public eye; disposing of the Purple Man the first time had already been a dangerous enough maneuver. Fortunately, there were no lingering repercussions.

Lynn took a detour through Brooklyn, changed his clothes entirely at a random location, and then slowly made his way back to Daken Tower. Although the process took some time, it was without any major hitches. S.H.I.E.L.D. did not detect him.

When Lynn returned to Daken Tower, it was already late at night. Connors had been transported to the laboratory on the fifth basement level, where he was now thoroughly restrained. Vampires clearly possessed their own unique understanding of restraints. The devices, crafted by this particular vampire, were so effective that the lizard-form Connors could not break free; the black magic inscriptions etched upon them seemed to continuously sap the subject's physical strength, keeping him in a perpetual state of lethargy.

"Interesting. Why have I never seen this before?"

"Because it was sealed away, Dr. Sidis. This is a restraint I just had brought in from outside."

Maria explained from the side. It was a device obtained from Nosferatu. Lynn seemed to recall something—when he had probed Maria’s memories, there had indeed been a faint impression of it.

"Is that one of the Blood Covenants?"

Maria was initially shocked, as she had never spoken to Lynn about the Blood Covenants. However, she quickly realized that when Lynn’s psionic tentacles had toyed with her brain, he must have extracted a significant amount of necessary information. It was not entirely incomprehensible that he would know of their existence.

"Yes, Dr. Sidis. One of the Six Blood Covenants."

"Interesting. Daken doesn't seem to be considered part of their covenant? Is your clan truly that pathetic?"

"We are half-blood servants; we are merely the weakest of several groups of servants."

Lynn could naturally guess as much. Daken, to put it bluntly, controlled nothing more than service industries intended for entertainment. Even if they secretly funneled living humans to the Blood Covenant, it was clearly not a position of any great importance, and they lacked any real foundation.

"Do you consider yourself a half-blood as well?"

"I've heard that the leaders of those Blood Covenants have lived for over two hundred years and pride themselves on being descendants of Atlantis. In their eyes, perhaps everyone else is a half-blood."

Maria seemed to have no respect for the Blood Covenant, even though she herself was a high-ranking vampire.

"Keep a close eye on Connors and continue organizing the initial setup of the laboratory. Hmm, I have other matters to attend to."

Connors was currently confined by metal reinforced with black magic; these tools used to control vampires appeared to be quite effective.

"Dr. Sidis, I..."

Maria seemed to want to say something, but hindered by the persona Lynn always projected, she didn't know how to begin. When dealing with Daken, she could use a coy voice, pair it with sexy outfits, and add two or three low-level vampire beauties for amusement. She could get most of her requests granted in bed or in the hallways. But facing Lynn—she couldn't imagine this somber-faced man with ruthless methods ever sporting a lecherous expression.

"You’ve performed well recently. What do you want to say?"

With Lynn’s permission, Maria finally dared to speak.

"What you said... about those things..."

Lynn didn't need her to finish; he knew exactly what she wanted to ask. The depths of this female vampire's heart were filled with various hedonistic thoughts, and a vampire's body must have brought many inconveniences. Through the remodeling modulation of Inseam and the exploration of his own mutant abilities, Lynn could basically eliminate the intuitive effects of vampirism on the genetic and dark magical levels. As for whether these vampires were still vampires, Lynn couldn't really say.

Lynn did not answer Maria’s question directly, merely smiling as he said, "A mission. Get it done, and I will help you reclaim the sunlight. The lizard-man before you is Curtis Connors, the former head of genetic engineering at Oscorp. Find his daughter and wife, investigate their past, and bring me a report. It’s not difficult, is it?"

After speaking, Lynn left the underground laboratory under construction. The biochemical reaction zone was already being built, and Lynn’s equipment had been moved to the top floor of the building, which had been transformed into a small, fully equipped laboratory. With white floor tiles, a clean environment, and stable electricity and water, it was far better than his previous lab.

When he entered, he saw Jessica looking at the bioreactor, appearing quite interested in the lab.

"What? Is my little friend interested in learning some knowledge that might come in handy here later?"

Jessica’s mood clearly lifted upon seeing Lynn. She immediately darted to his side; possessing super speed, she barely controlled her pace this time.

"I was just wondering how that big glass cabinet lets you turn out those big monsters."

"Big monsters? Hmm, I actually don't think they qualify as big monsters."

"But what are you doing here?"

"The room here is a bit too luxurious; I don't really like it. This lab feels more comfortable to me."

Lynn roughly understood why she didn't like the room Kara had arranged for her. He patted the girl's head and said, "It's fine. Once I finish dealing with some things, we’ll leave here. For now, wait for me to finish my work."

As he spoke, he took out the biological concoction Connors had finished. The laboratory was well-equipped, enough for him to analyze how Connors’ creation worked.

"What is that?"

"A limb regeneration serum."

"It doesn't look like it to me. This thing feels more like some kind of virus, just like those in horror movies."

"A virus? No. But from your perspective, it’s indeed something similar. It’s a mutagenic recombinator that uses a series of complex reactions to update an organism's genes, though the method is not mature."

As he spoke, Lynn began to lecture Jessica incessantly, one technical term after another spilling out. He simultaneously manipulated the laboratory equipment to analyze Dr. Connors' results while trying to educate Jessica. However, Jessica clearly had no talent for scientific research; under Lynn’s barrage of terms like a rapid-fire gun, her eyelids began to droop, and she soon started to nod off.

Lynn shook his head helplessly and tapped her lightly on the head.

"Sleepy?"

"A little."

"If you're sleepy, go to bed. Don't sleep here. What I'm analyzing right now is very dangerous; it's not exactly safe."

"Mm, I know. But Lynn, aren't you sleepy? Ever since I first met you, I don't think I've ever seen you sleep."

Lynn naturally wouldn't tell her that he didn't need to sleep at all. Because of his mutant abilities, his brain could maintain twenty-four-hour operation, and his entire body felt absolutely no fatigue.

"Is it possible that I don't need to sleep?"

"Your superpower is not needing to sleep? That’s actually pretty great. Doesn't that mean you get to live eight hours more than a normal person every day?"

"What, do you want to live eight hours more every day too?"

"No, no, I'll pass. Lynn, I'd rather go to sleep; I think sleeping is quite comfortable."

As she spoke, Jessica walked toward the laboratory door with a grin, incidentally closing it for Lynn, leaving him alone in the lab.

After Jessica left, Lynn quickly returned to his previous state, continuing to analyze Connors’ serum. However, it was unlikely there would be results anytime soon. Lynn looked at the three vials of serum before him, and he had some ideas of his own. He pulled one out and notified Kara, who was nearby, via telepathy. The distance was close enough for him to perceive her.

Before long, Kara arrived.

"Doctor, did you call for me?"

"How is Connors?"

"There is almost no possibility of him escaping."

"Go and extract some of his tissue; I have a use for it."

"I'll go do it right away."

After arranging the task for Kara, Lynn looked at Tom in the bioreactor and decided to use this vampire one last time.

———

A few days later, in the morning, Lynn was taking Jessica to look at houses in a place on the outskirts of New York. It was quite remote, and the local law and order were not good, so the property prices were quite cheap.

"Mr. Sidis, the security here is actually quite good. Both state police and city police patrol the area, gang members don't like to come here, and the community environment is warm and pleasant. Moreover, such a detached villa with a yard for only two hundred thousand dollars is a very rare opportunity here."

Ignoring the middleman who was spouting nonsense, Lynn already knew that several previous owners of this house had died in gang shootouts. The security in the Ebony Street district was likely worse than that of Hell's Kitchen.

"That should be about right..."

"Hmm? Mr. Sidis? Are you planning to buy it?"

Lynn glanced at the middleman and said unhurriedly, "One hundred thousand dollars. If you don't agree, the roof of this house still has bullet holes that haven't been repaired, the floorboards are full of the smell of gunpowder, and my daughter just dug up a leg bone from the flower bed outside. If you don't agree, I’ll call the police and then notify the Daily Bugle. By then, I guarantee your house won't even sell for ten thousand dollars."

Just as Lynn was speaking, Jessica had already dug up a full set of human bones from the flower bed and placed them together. A few ribs were missing, but it was close enough. After finishing, Jessica waved at Lynn, who was standing by the window.

The middleman’s face shifted between different shades for a while. He soon made a phone call and then stopped arguing.

"When do we sign the contract?"

"Right now."

This haunted house welcomed a new tenant, while Manhattan, New York, was about to welcome an uninvited guest.

On a fairly ordinary morning, Peter Parker was preparing to go see MJ. While watching the morning news on TV, he was tearing at the toast Aunt May had toasted for him. However, after eating only a couple of bites, Peter couldn't eat anymore.

"Connors?"

The morning news on TV was showing a helicopter view, and Connors’ figure was running across the camera. The Lizard-man moved nimbly between buildings. The surrounding crowd gasped repeatedly, occasionally taking pictures with their phones, observing the giant lizard monster before their eyes.

"Damn it, I have to get there."

Peter recognized at a glance what was in Connors’ hand: an industrial-grade atomizer. In an instant, he judged what Connors intended to do.

"Aunt May! I'm going out; I have a date with MJ!"

"Remember to come back early."

Aunt May just walked out of the kitchen, only to find Peter heading upstairs. She thought Peter was going to change his clothes. After waiting for a while, she found that Peter hadn't come down, so she carried the milk upstairs.

"Peter? What are you doing?"

There was no sign of Peter Parker in the room.

"Peter?"

Aunt May looked thoughtfully at the open window and picked up Peter’s milk to drink. "Next time, I must tell him not to run out through the window. Hmm, I should eat it with toast, and maybe add some apple jam and blueberry jam."

Peter flew through the air, reaching Manhattan in just ten minutes. By this time, Connors was in a standoff with the New York City Police. The submachine guns in their hands spat fire, sending bullets into Connors’ body, but most were blocked by his hard scales. The bullets that managed to pierce the soft scales and enter Connors’ body had absolutely no effect. In just a few seconds, they were expelled by Connors’ regenerative process, falling to the ground with a clinking sound.

"Damn it, light weapons are ineffective against him! We need support, repeat, we need support!"

Connors pulled two long canisters from the large pack on his back and threw them out. The moment they touched the ground, the two canisters began to spray the greenish mist frantically. After that, he paid no more attention to the police and leaped directly, climbing onto a New York skyscraper again while constantly throwing those biochemical bombs.

Under the influence of the inhaled atomized concoction, those unfortunate enough to inhale it began to undergo inexplicable transformations. Scales grew rapidly on their bodies, and the hair on their skin began to fall off. They all started to transform into the shape of lizard-men.

Connors didn't care about his actions at all, scattering his technological crystallization along the way while advancing toward the Oscorp building. His goal was extremely clear: to trigger a crisis at Oscorp that would shake all of New York.

"Lynn, that on TV isn't a movie, is it?"

"Hmm? Naturally not."

Jessica hadn't directly seen Lynn transporting Dr. Connors, so she didn't know that the Lizard-man and Connors were the same person.

"Doesn't it say there? New York Central News."

"Ah... a lizard monster in New York?" Jessica was surprised at first, then she frowned thoughtfully, pressed her lips to Lynn’s ear, and whispered, "This wasn't caused by you, was it?"

Lynn turned his head, smiled at Jessica, and continued, "Guess?"

"I guess it probably was you."

She jumped over the sofa, hugged her legs, sat next to Lynn, and said worriedly, "Won't someone get hurt? I mean, it’s tearing those buildings apart."

"No. It was precisely to prevent someone from being unlucky enough to be collateral damage by what Connors unleashed that I had him scatter my improved lizard-serum as he advanced."

Just as Lynn was watching the news with Jessica, the streets of New York were already filled with lizard-men running everywhere. They broke into shops, ate all the food inside, and then rampaged on the spot, chasing police officers and passersby who hadn't been affected. They would pounce on them, lick them, tear their clothes, or smash cars to pieces.

But in any case, these lizard-men influenced by Connors, although full of vitality, seemed... to have no aggressiveness or bloodthirsty desire.

As the situation spiraled out of control, the news began to show a large amount of pixelation. Lynn and Jessica watched the news like this. Jessica wanted to see the subsequent developments, while Lynn was waiting for a hero to appear.