Chapter 344: The Osborn Genetic Disease
Silas Parker sized up Felicia without restraint.
Feeling Silas's aggressive gaze, Felicia didn't back down. She puffed out her chest and tilted her high, elegant neck proudly.
"Isn't it obvious?" Silas's gaze finally settled just below Felicia's neck.
Felicia looked down and instantly understood what he meant. Far from feeling shy, she felt a surge of pleasant surprise. At the very least, it meant Silas was paying attention to her. (If Silas knew her thoughts, he would have said: No, it's just that they are far too prominent.)
Felicia hung her half-mask on her waist, swaying her hips as she approached Silas. She sat naturally on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"You know, right now, I could snap your neck with one twist," Felicia said, baring her two canine teeth in a mock-ferocious threat.
Silas remained fearless. "Oh? Why don't you try it?" He knew she wouldn't do it, and more importantly, it wouldn't actually hurt him.
"You... are so boring," Felicia whispered, leaning into his ear and exhaling warm air. Silas placed his hands on her slender, soft waist, letting them slide down slightly.
Just as the atmosphere was heating up—
"Sigh..." Silas let out a small sigh and stopped his movements. He waved a hand and said, "You should go."
"Why?" Felicia felt a flash of annoyance at the sudden interruption.
However, she soon heard the sound of approaching footsteps outside the door. She immediately fell silent, snapped her mask back onto her face, and planted a quick, fiery kiss on Silas's lips.
"I'll be back next time!" With that, Felicia leaped out the window with the agility of a cat and vanished.
Click!
"Silas." Peter pushed the door open just as Felicia disappeared.
Silas tapped his fingers on the desk, feeling incredibly irritated. Returning right at this moment... you timed that perfectly, didn't you, Peter? A Shadow Ninja stationed outside had already messaged him before Peter even reached the stairs.
"What's wrong?" Peter asked, seeing Silas's grumpy expression.
"Nothing." Silas rubbed his temples. "What do you want?"
Peter sensed Silas was being weird, but couldn't put his finger on why. He sat on the bed and said, "I'm planning to go to Oscorp. In the notes my father left behind, I found some things regarding the company."
"Like what?" Silas asked.
"Oscorp seems to be developing anti-aging genes." Peter sniffed the air suddenly. "Silas, did you spray perfume in here? Why does it smell so nice? I want some of that too."
"I didn't. Keep talking, don't get distracted," Silas said crossly.
Peter brushed it off; Silas was often moody. "In that decay rate formula notebook, there were some mentions of Oscorp." He went to the other room and brought the notebook back. He had wanted to discuss this with Silas for days but hadn't found the time.
"I found this." Peter opened the notebook and handed it to Silas.
On the page, amidst the dry formulas, were a few lines written by Richard Parker:
"This is a curse. We have tried many times, but we still cannot change it. He wants to use these immature results prematurely. But we know it is impossible. I have decided to look for the cause within myself, recalculating the decay rate formula using my own DNA."
"I went through their journals, but there was no mention of this specific experiment. These two sentences are the only clue," Peter said. He had looked through Richard and Mary's diaries, but they only recorded daily life. There was nothing about Oscorp or their work there.
"So you want to go to Oscorp and see for yourself?" Silas looked up.
"Yes. I want to know what our parents were actually doing back then," Peter nodded.
Silas closed the notebook. "You came in here just for this?"
"Yeah, why else?" Peter asked, confused.
Silas tried to stay calm. "Fine. It's bedtime. You can leave now."
"Bedtime? It's not even ten—"
Before Peter could finish, Silas grabbed his left arm and flung him toward the wall. A shadow portal snapped open on the wall, and Peter was dumped directly into his own room before the portal vanished.
"Time for sleep," Silas muttered. He lay on the bed and initiated astral projection. Tonight, he was going to continue learning from Big Black.
On the Other Side
After leaving Silas's room, Felicia navigated the buildings, looking for a target. "Honestly..." she thought, still feeling "fired up" from the interrupted moment. She needed to steal some jewels to calm down.
She eventually stopped in front of a high-end jewelry store. "Those look beautiful." Her eyes lit up with greed.
Unknown to her, a phantom figure was floating behind her. It was Silas. He had decided to see what she was up to before heading to the Shadow Kingdom. He had marked her shadow with a coordinate, making it easy to follow her.
Going to steal jewels again, I see, Silas thought. He decided to stay and watch her skills.
Felicia checked the grappling hook on her wrist. Like Peter's web-shooters, it could retract and pull, allowing her to swing through the city. Her mask also had infrared night vision.
"Done." She fired the hook, pulled herself to the roof of the jewelry store, and slipped in through a ventilation shaft.
As a soul, Silas didn't need such measures. He drifted through the walls and watched her move across the ceiling rafters with feline grace.
"So pretty." Felicia spotted a heart-shaped gemstone. Seeing no one around, she flipped down, landed silently, and flipped the light switch. As the room brightened, the jewels sparkled.
"So cool." She reached the blue sapphire. Despite the security cameras, she wasn't worried—she was masked. She extended her sharp claws, swiped the glass, and it shattered into dust. Her suit wasn't just for show; the gloves had retractable claws.
She rubbed the sapphire against her cheek before stuffing it into a black pouch on her belt. Like a woman shopping at a mall, she casually picked out several more gems. Finally, she left her "Black Cat" signature on the counter and gave the camera a middle finger before departing.
Are these jewels really that great? Silas wondered. To him, they were worthless; Parker Industries earned hundreds of times the value of those gems in a single day. He stopped following her and returned to the Shadow Kingdom.
The Shadow Kingdom
The symbiotes, having been "re-educated" by Silas's potions, were now incredibly well-behaved, terrified of being set on fire.
"Master," Big Black said, approaching Silas. He was currently covered by the Carnage symbiote, testing if the Shadow Ninjas were compatible hosts.
"How does it feel?" Silas asked.
Big Black shook his head. "No effect. And Carnage says if they stay in our bodies too long, they'll die."
"Yes, Master," Carnage added, manifesting his red, jagged head. Although he didn't strictly know what Big Black was saying, he could sense Silas's presence through Big Black's thoughts.
"Likely because the Shadow Ninjas are magical constructs," Silas mused. He decided that next time, he would test the symbiotes on his pets—Kha'Zix, Black Tiger Ah Fu, or the Six-Eyed Demon Spider—to see the reaction.
The Next Morning
"Morning," Peter said, already at the table eating breakfast.
Silas was surprised. "Why are you up so early?" Peter hadn't slept well the night before; Silas assumed he'd sleep in.
"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy," Peter smiled.
Silas sat down and stirred his milk and cereal.
"Are you going to Oscorp today?" Silas asked, taking a bite of his cereal.
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