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"My brother, how do you dare to say anything? Can you really talk about your 'work' directly?"
Gwen had been saved by Ryan in a bloody manner, and after that, she had fallen hopelessly in love with him.
So she naturally knew that when Ryan spoke of cleaning up underground "pests," he didn't mean literal insects, but the pests among humanity!
However, Dr. Connors clearly didn't think in that direction, his gaze holding a hint of pity for Ryan:
"So it's research on pests, that is indeed quite good..."
"In today's human society, after industrial pollution, pests are indeed becoming harder to clear. If a genius like you were to devote himself to such research, you might truly make a huge contribution to the work of clearing pests for all of humanity..."
"It's just a pity. I always feel that with your talent, it's a bit of a waste to only be involved in pest control research..."
Kingpin's Fisk Enterprises is outwardly a conscientious enterprise primarily focused on charity and public welfare, so Ryan saying he's in the field of pest control is actually quite reasonable.
Except for Gwen, who was in the know, no one, including Peter, suspected anything.
Ryan replied nonchalantly, "It's not about the scale of the task; with great power comes great responsibility."
"I believe my abilities are better suited for cleaning up pests, so I did it. There's no such thing as a waste."
The three of them were stunned for a moment, each having their own realizations about Ryan's words.
Dr. Connors felt ashamed, not expecting that at his age, he hadn't seen things as clearly as a young man in his early twenties.
Peter looked full of admiration, thinking to himself that as expected of the cousin he had looked up to since childhood, his ideological awareness was much higher than that of ordinary people!
Finally, Gwen's eyes were filled with even more admiration as she looked at Ryan!
Truly the man she had decided she must win over!
Intelligent, brave, powerful, low-key, indifferent to fame and fortune, existing in the darkness while his heart is in the light—it seemed every beautiful quality in the world could be found in this man!
Even his perfect, model-like face seemed to be the most insignificant trait in front of these noble qualities!
"He's so outstanding, I love him so much!"
Looking at the positive gazes from the three of them, Ryan fell silent.
Did he say something incredible?
Didn't he just borrow a famous line from his old man's iconic scene?
Seeing the three of them staring at him, Ryan said helplessly, "Aren't we going to visit Dr. Connors' lab? Or do you plan to just stare at me until the interns arrive?"
The three of them snapped back to their senses upon hearing this.
Dr. Connors had completely dropped his elder persona and invited Ryan in the tone of an equal:
"Mr. Parker, please follow me. It is an honor to have you visit my laboratory."
Saying this, he led the way to his lab.
The three of them looked at each other and followed.
After disinfection, they entered Dr. Connors' private laboratory.
Although the laboratory wasn't very large, it was fully equipped, and all the scientific research equipment was the latest on the market.
Some were even biological research equipment unique to Osborn Enterprises that couldn't even be bought elsewhere.
Dr. Connors first introduced his various past research results to Ryan and Peter.
Under Ryan and Peter's praise, Dr. Connors introduced the project everyone was most interested in and that he was currently tackling: the cross-species lizard gene regeneration serum project.
Connors looked at the few white mice that had failed and died in the test box, his expression a bit despondent:
"I have successfully completed countless cross-species research experiments in biology, but this lizard regeneration serum research project, which I most hope to succeed in, has stuck me for a full ten years, leaving me forever at the final step, unable to succeed..."
"The outside world says I'm a modern Darwin in cross-species genetics, but only I know that compared to those true geniuses among humans, I'm always one step short, and this one step is a chasm I can never cross..."
"If anyone can be called the modern Darwin of cross-species genetics, there's probably only one person. If he were still here, perhaps this final algorithm would have been solved long ago..."
Ryan's eyes narrowed; he had already guessed who the "he" Dr. Connors was talking about was.
And it wasn't just Ryan who guessed this; Peter, who was beside him, did too.
The smile on Peter's face slowly disappeared, and his voice became low as he spoke to Dr. Connors: "The person you mentioned is..."
"That's right..." Dr. Connors answered Peter with a hint of guilt in his eyes before Peter could finish: "It's your father, Richard Parker..."
Although Gwen didn't mention Peter's surname when introducing him, she did introduce Ryan's surname when she introduced him.
As for Ryan, Dr. Connors had some understanding; he had known two years ago that Ryan was the nephew of his former genius colleague.
Since Peter called Ryan cousin, his identity naturally didn't need to be explicitly stated; Dr. Connors already knew.
Therefore, upon learning Ryan's identity, the look in Dr. Connors' eyes as he looked at the two brothers was so complex.
A thought flashed by, and Dr. Connors continued:
"Peter, actually, this research was originally carried out by me and your father, Richard..."
"And with Richard's wisdom, I believe he would have been fully capable of completing this regeneration research that could benefit countless humans!"
"But unfortunately, in the final stages of this project, the flight your father was on unfortunately crashed, leaving this algorithm to haunt me for ten years..."
"Sorry, Peter. I was your father's colleague and friend, yet I haven't visited you once in all these years because I hated..."
"I hated that Richard left at the critical moment of the regeneration research; I hated that he made me lose the chance to become whole again..."
"But it wasn't until Ryan's words today that I was woken up. With great power comes great responsibility. I didn't have that ability, yet I delusionaly tried to complete a responsibility beyond my capacity, and blamed it all on your father. I really feel very ashamed..."
"I'm sorry, Peter..."
With Dr. Connors' final apology, Peter's fists clenched tightly, his whole body trembling slightly.
"It seemed to be in anger, yet also in sadness..."