Chapter 81: How a Bad Friend Is Made

Inside the studio.

Director: "Props, you're fired! How could you bring the Shadowless Sword? This thing’s an epic!"

Props Master: "Director, I’m sorry! I’ve got an eighty-year-old mother at home and…"

Screenwriter: "For the sake of the plot, let’s just go with it."

Lotus: "You’re ruthless—I’ve lost big!"

Luke: "Heh heh heh, how about we switch?"

...

For the sake of Spider-Sense, Luke made up his mind.

He would make Peter Parker become Spider-Man eight years ahead of schedule!

It was no easy task.

To turn Peter Parker into the real spider kid, he had to find a way for Peter Parker to be bitten by a spider.

For that, he needed to recall every detailed piece of information about Spider-Man's origin.

Everything was stored in his mind, since the event hadn’t happened yet.

But many details were lost to him.

Luke tapped his head: "This body’s brain capacity is a bit small."

He deeply suspected that his forgetfulness lately was the fault of this body.

After more than a year in this world, the memories from his previous life—after watching over a dozen Marvel movies—were growing increasingly blurry.

He could remember the key plot points well enough, but the smaller details were fuzzy.

For example, he remembered clearly that Spider-Man was born during his high school years, bitten by a genetically modified spider during some extracurricular activity, and then gained his powers.

But he forgot exactly where it happened.

Two hazy, entirely different memories swirled in his mind.

One version had Peter Parker bitten indoors while visiting some exhibition.

The other was even vaguer—he seemed to recall seeing a version where Peter Parker was bitten outdoors, in some grass, by a spider that had escaped from a lab.

Which was Marvel canon?

He’d never read the comics. He remembered Spider-Man’s first appearance in the Avengers movies was in "Captain America 3: Civil War," by which time Peter Parker was already grown, already Spider-Man.

The film never explained exactly how he was bitten.

Luke was confused.

To turn seven-year-old Peter Parker into Spider-Man now, he needed to recreate the correct process, to find the critical point.

He vaguely remembered even the part of Peter Parker’s body bitten by the spider had two versions...

One was his hand, the other his neck.

That only added to his confusion.

His memories were a jumble.

"Mm... mm... mm..." Luke sat there, his tiny hands clutching his head, brows furrowed in frustration, eyes locked on Lotus in the aquarium opposite, swimming for a long while in the sea of his distant memories.

Lotus: "Oh dear, we’re doomed."

...

The next day, at school.

For once, Luke didn’t nap in class. He kept holding his head, staring at the blackboard, deep in thought.

The teachers were so amazed they exclaimed the sun must be rising in the west—Mr. Nelson was actually paying attention! Feeling honored, the teacher lectured even more energetically.

When class ended, Luke immediately ran out, went to the next classroom, and called out Peter Parker.

"Hey, buddy! What’s up?" Peter Parker threw out his little fist, bumping Luke’s, his face shining with a bright smile.

Luke draped an arm around the little spider’s neck. The two tiny boys walked down the corridor, found a quiet spot, and began their deep conversation.

On the way, American kids stepped aside, whether boys or girls.

Luke was infamous in this elementary school as "Luke the Big Demon King." He’d beaten the three-member "Violent Bird Gang" single-handedly more than once, striking fear through the entire Dawson Elementary student body!

The Violent Bird Gang was the group who’d cornered Peter Parker in the broom closet, only to be punched into submission by Luke.

After that, the three became much more well-behaved. Whenever they saw Luke at school, they kept their distance.

But kids are forgetful.

Over the past six months, the little black boy had grown a lot—his height shot up to nearly five feet, clearly benefitting from good nutrition and his racial advantage.

Compared to Luke, who was still just over a meter tall, his seven years spent in an orphanage left him malnourished and frail, as if they belonged to entirely different stages of childhood.

One day, the little black boy suddenly realized the height difference between them and regained his confidence.

So, one afternoon, the Violent Bird Gang was once again beaten so badly they couldn’t sit straight. After that, they behaved themselves for a long while.

...

"Buddy, your mom and dad have been away on business for so long—still not back?" Luke asked, pulling Peter Parker aside. The two squatted side by side in the corner.

"Uncle Ben and Aunt May said my parents are overseas, both busy with work," Peter Parker replied, sounding a little downcast.

He hadn’t seen his parents for two years. Ever since they left that night, leaving him with Uncle Ben and Aunt May, they never came back.

Luke thought for a moment and asked, "I remember you said your parents were Richard Parker and Mary Parker?"

"That’s right, buddy," Peter Parker nodded. "Why do you ask?"

Luke shrugged: "Just got curious."

"Hey, buddy, what plans for the weekend? Want to go again… you know..." Peter Parker stood excitedly, waving his arms and miming sword-slashing motions.

That night, after Uncle Ben took him home from the scene, he saw the news on TV—giant apostle mechas battling Iron Man.

Peter Parker was thrilled. He was the only one in the world who knew the apostle’s true identity: his best friend!

Little Parker had no clue that his best friend was scheming to get him bitten by a spider.

"Richard Parker and Mary Parker..."

Luke furrowed his brow. "Come to think of it, the little spider’s status is unusual. Both parents were undercover agents for S.H.I.E.L.D. Especially his father, Richard Parker, a genetic biology PhD, who developed spider venom. Later, it was a spider carrying this venom that bit Peter Parker."

At this point, Peter Parker’s parents had already been dead for two years—never to return.

Luke felt sorry for the kid, but that was Peter Parker’s fate. Nothing more to say.

The cause lay in Peter Parker’s father inventing spider venom that could improve human genes, attracting dangerous attention.

Luke realized this was the key issue.

"Since the spider is only a carrier for the venom, there shouldn’t have been just one person injected with spider venom. There must have been other test subjects. So why is there only one Spider-Man?"

Luke habitually stroked his chin. "The crucial factor for Spider-Man’s emergence—could it be genes?"

He nodded.

Working backwards from the outcome, it was clear: only Peter Parker, after being injected with the spider venom, stabilized genetically. Others probably died or turned into monsters—failures, in any case.

"That’s it—the fundamental reason Spider-Man exists is because Peter Parker carries an innate gene," Luke snapped his fingers. "After all, it was his father who developed the venom. He must have tweaked it!"

Suddenly enlightened, Luke knew where to begin.