Whatever," Gwen said helplessly.
Dr. Connors' assistant, Mr. Khan, an Indian man sent by the Osborn Corporation to monitor Dr. Connors, was calling Gwen. She had her own work to do and no time to bother with Parker.
Gwen turned and left, a clear look of annoyance on her face.
Li Kang raised his hand and tapped Parker on the back of the head. "Are you an idiot? Such a beautiful woman, who is clearly interested in you, and you don't go spend time with her? Why are you following me?"
"I just want to see what you're trying to do, whether you're really a spy. If you're truly trying to steal Osborn Corporation's research secrets, I will never let you off the hook," Parker said with firm eyes.
"Are you crazy?!" Li Kang couldn't understand Parker's way of thinking at all. "Since you want to follow me, then come on. Anyway, what I said is true. To monitor someone who just helped you, and give up a beautiful woman like Gwen, I've never seen an idiot like you in my life."
Seeing Gwen and Mr. Khan talking about something, Li Kang walked over, smiled at Gwen, and brushed past Mr. Khan.
There was no direct passage between the building and the B2 warehouse. To get to B2, one had to go through the underground passage outside the building, where there was a special checkpoint. In the passage, infrared cameras were watching every so often, and any object with body temperature would be monitored.
Therefore, to enter B2 and find the warehouse director's office, the best way was to first go to B1. Once there, although it would still require some effort, Li Kang had his own methods to find a breakthrough from that point.
However, as soon as they entered the elevator, an unexpected situation occurred. Pressing the B1 button triggered a system prompt: "The area you wish to access requires company authorization."
No matter how many times he pressed it, it was no use. Li Kang pondered for a moment, then took out Mr. Khan's ID card and lightly swiped it on the card reader. After the system scanned the card a few times, it mechanically stated, "Authorization verified. Thank you for your cooperation."
"How did Mr. Khan's ID card end up with you?" Parker asked in surprise.
Li Kang patted Parker's cheek and said, "Of course I swiped it. How idiotic are you to ask such a silly question? Did you think he gave it to me?"
Parker suddenly remembered that when Li Kang greeted Gwen, he seemed to have accidentally brushed against Mr. Khan. It turned out his intention was to steal the ID card. He swallowed, realizing he might now be an accomplice to theft. It seemed the longer he was with Li Kang, the more illegal things he did. Parker was already regretting why he hadn't stayed with Gwen earlier.
The elevator started moving, heading to floor B1.
B1 was a small biological testing ground, where non-hazardous biological experiments requiring long-term observation to yield results were conducted. Access to this area required authorization at the company supervisor level or higher.
So, it was empty and deserted; no one ever came here.
Li Kang took out a piece of chalk and drew a mark of the Eye of Solomon on the ground. He then drew a complex magic circle around the Eye of Solomon. Li Kang stood on the Eye of Solomon and clapped his hands forcefully. The magic circle emitted a faint light, and then the entire floor became transparent, as if Li Kang and Parker were floating in mid-air.
"Wow! Is… is this the power of magic?" Parker's mouth hung open in excitement. He had grown up listening to stories of wizards, and he never expected to see real magic today, which was even more amazing than in fairy tales.
Looking down, the Osborn Corporation's underground warehouse was vast, as large as a football field. Many workers, driving forklifts, were stacking goods. These were chemical agents or scientific machinery, and many were vaccines or drug samples to be sent to factories.
In a corner, there was a separate room. Inside, a large, fat man was sitting in front of a computer, reviewing documents. The doorplate read "Director's Office." This was Li Kang's destination.
Li Kang took out a small brass bell and handed it to Parker. "I'll go into the director's office to download data in a moment. You erase the magic circle and keep watch for me. If you encounter any problems, ring the bell three times. If the danger is cleared, ring it twice. If there are no problems, ring it once. Understand?"
Parker nodded and put away the brass bell.
Li Kang put on the Mystic Ring, a key used by sorcerers to open dimensional portals, capable of opening gateways to any desired location. Li Kang drew circles in the air, and soon opened a circular portal, spinning like fireworks. The other side of the portal was surprisingly behind the warehouse director.
"Incredible," Parker said, looking at the portal with awe.
"Shhh…" Li Kang quickly covered Parker's mouth. Fortunately, the warehouse director was fully engrossed in his computer and didn't notice the commotion behind him.
He stepped into the passage, crossing over to stand behind the warehouse director. He pulled out some black dust from his pocket and blew it at the director. The warehouse director yawned and fell asleep on his computer.
"What did you do to him?" Parker asked worriedly.
"It's just a nightmare spell; he'll be fine soon," Li Kang lied casually.
Under a Nightmare Spell, the soul is cast into the Nightmare Dimension, the domain of the Nightmare Lord. The Nightmare Lord is a great pervert, and if the duration is too long, it can cause permanent damage to the warehouse director's soul. The reason for using this spell is its quick effect and discreet application, without fear of detection. This is the most authentic black magic.
Li Kang moved the warehouse director's head, plugged the USB drive into the computer. There were too many files on the computer, and it would take some effort to find the information from the fifteenth of this month.
The portal closed before Parker's eyes. He looked at the vast and complex magic circle, not knowing how to erase it. There was no mop around, so he had no choice but to take off his clothes and lie on the ground, wiping away the dust from the magic circle.
Just as his clothes wiped a gap in the magic circle's ring, the floor suddenly stopped being transparent and reverted to its original marble surface. Parker scratched his head, "Magic is truly amazing."
After wiping away the magic circle, with nothing else to do, Parker's curiosity got the better of him. He explored the biotechnical displays in B1, which he had only ever seen on television. He stopped in front of a platform for mass-producing spider silk. The silk produced by these spiders was incredibly tough; even a container the size of a ballpoint pen could hold thousands of meters of it.
Each strand of spider silk can withstand fifty kilograms of weight. It is a key technology developed by the Osborn Corporation, and a previous generation of the product is already on the market. As soon as this product was released, it immediately became a bestseller.
These genetically modified spiders are just one product of the Osborn Corporation.
"Ding!" A soft sound came from the elevator's direction. Oh no, someone was coming!
Parker was startled. He used Mr. Khan's ID card to swipe open the door in front of him and slipped inside, sideways.
The elevator doors opened immediately afterwards, revealing Dr. Connors' assistant, Mr. Khan.
"If Dr. Connors' experiment doesn't make any more progress, Mr. Osborn will kill me! Damn it, nothing is going right today, and I even lost my ID card, damn it!" Mr. Khan, who always maintained a cold expression in front of others, was now fuming with exasperation behind closed doors.
Mr. Osborn's physical condition was worsening, reaching a point where he needed assistance to walk. However, Dr. Connors, who was leading the treatment for Mr. Osborn's genetic disease, had run into an experimental bottleneck. Mr. Khan was caught in the middle, unable to please anyone.
Only a very small number of people knew that the entire Osborn Corporation, instead of pursuing the highly lucrative arms trade, was wholeheartedly dedicated to biotechnology research. Their motives were not as noble as the outside world believed.
The founder of the Osborn Corporation, Norman Osborn, was already terminally ill and wouldn't live much longer. The Osborn family's genetic code had serious defects; once family members reached forty years old, a terrible genetic disease would erupt, and they would live at most until fifty, enduring unimaginable torment during that time.
However, the severity of this genetic disease was increasing, and each generation of the Osborn family had a shorter lifespan. Norman Osborn had already developed the illness before he was forty this year, and his son, Harry Osborn, was expected to develop it even earlier, likely within three years.
Dr. Connors' research was aimed at curing this genetic disease of the Osborn family; otherwise, the Osborn family would disappear from the face of the Earth.
Just a month ago, S.H.I.E.L.D. salvaged a spacecraft from the Arctic seabed, dating back to World War II. Inside, they found the famous war hero from WWII, Steve Rogers, though he was more widely known by another name: Captain America.
After Captain America was salvaged, he still showed vital signs. Because Osborn Corporation was the most authoritative company in the biotechnology field, the task of reviving Captain America was given to Osborn Corporation.
Norman Osborn keenly sensed that this was an excellent opportunity. Captain America was the most famous American war hero of World War II, who had fought a desperate battle against the Nazi organization Hydra. He was also the only successful super-soldier modified by the Super Soldier Serum. Perhaps the Super Soldier Serum could be isolated from his body.
With this serum, he believed it would definitely be able to cure the Osborn family's genetic disease.
The corporation perfectly completed its mission. After a week of diligent adjustments, they successfully revived Captain America. Through a series of tasks, including blood sample collection and vital sign measurements, they secretly gathered information about Captain America and illicitly transported out two blood samples.
On the fifteenth of this month, Osborn Corporation successfully extracted the Super Soldier Serum from Captain America's blood sample. However, the experimental results were very poor; the serum seemed to have serious defects and required extensive experimentation to find and improve those flaws. Osborn Corporation decided to transport this serum to a biological testing ground in the desert.
However, this Super Soldier Serum sample was ambushed by a group of robbers while being transported to the biological testing ground. The robbers were heavily armed, the truck driver was killed on the spot, the escort convoy was severely damaged, and the Super Soldier Serum sample was also stolen.
But then, bad news came from the lab: another serum extracted from Captain America had even greater flaws. The test subjects became strange, schizophrenic, and highly aggressive. It was currently unsuitable for human trials.
So, now the only hope for curing Osborn rested with Dr. Connors. Dr. Connors' recent research subject was the American lizard, and Mr. Khan came daily to observe the progress of the experiment.
Parker stood in the room, not daring to breathe. Before him, on a huge platform, countless spiders were producing silk. The efficiency of these spiders was astonishing, and the platform was like a giant spindle, precisely collecting the silk produced by the spiders.
Outside, Mr. Khan looked at the lizards with disappointment. Dr. Connors' potion had no effect at all. He shook his head and returned to the elevator, dejected.
"If this doesn't work, I'll just have to force human trials," Mr. Khan sighed, pressing the button for the top floor, where Mr. Osborn resided.
With the crisis averted, Parker's attention was drawn to the spider silk. This tiny, transparent silk could surprisingly bear fifty kilograms of weight—thousands of times a spider's own weight. He couldn't help but lean closer and lightly touched a single strand of silk. Unexpectedly, this triggered a chain reaction, and countless spiders jumped from the silk onto Parker's head.
"Ow! That really hurts!" A spider bit Parker's hand, and the wound immediately swelled and turned red. He quickly opened the door and rushed out. These damn spiders must be poisonous; a burning sensation spread from the wound.