The harsh ringing of a phone echoed through the chilly streets.
Pulling out his phone, Peter frowned and looked at the caller ID.
Just as he had expected, it was Gwen.
There was no one else who would call at such a godforsaken hour.
Sighing helplessly, he answered the call.
"Gwen?"
"It's me, Peter. Don't tell me I just woke you up from a sound sleep and you're pissed off."
"It's twenty past midnight, so what do you think?"
Peter said bluntly.
"Uh... well, okay, I apologize. I admit it, I did this on purpose this time. You know, if you say certain things at a normal time, they sound kind of weird... like late-night television. Whatever the networks don't dare broadcast during the day, they put in that slot."
On the other end of the phone, Gwen's tone sounded a little strange.
"So... you want to talk to me about sex and violence?"
Peter asked her suspiciously.
Gwen on the other end was instantly struck speechless.
After dozens of seconds of silence, she replied, "Ahem... of course not. I mean, the spring dance is coming up soon. Would you mind being my date?"
"A date... huh?"
Hearing her invite him to be her date, he paused for a moment and was about to refuse when he suddenly looked up and saw someone walking toward him from the other end of the street.
*Clack! Clack! Clack!*
Heavy footsteps echoed through the street.
"Wait...!"
Peter said into the phone, then focused his gaze on the menacing man walking toward him.
The burly white man was wearing an earpiece, seemingly talking to someone.
The two "lunatics" talking on their phones in the rain drew closer and exchanged a glance.
"I've got something to do, Gwen. I'll talk to you later."
Peter said to Gwen and hung up.
The white man's hawk-like gaze locked onto him, and then shifted to the bag in Peter's hand. He spoke into his earpiece, "The target who ransacked the laundromat has been found."
"Are you talking to me?"
Peter looked at him, his expression unchanged.
"Of course not."
The burly man wore a sneer at the corner of his mouth as he said, "Do you know whose stuff you messed with?"
"Of course. Your partner asked me the exact same question once, and he ended up meeting God. Do you want to go see him?"
Peter's slightly raspy voice came from beneath his Spider Mask.
"On the contrary, I'm going to send you to see God—just not right now."
After threatening Peter, the white man lowered his head and spoke into the earpiece, "The target is wearing a black spider-pattern mask, about five feet nine inches tall, and estimated to be around twenty years old."
It seemed he was reporting Peter's information to the other end of the communicator.
With that, he slowly took off his jacket, revealing taut, explosive muscles.
What was most astonishing were his arms; not only were the muscles freakishly bulky, but their length was alarming.
"I've heard of plenty of petty thieves on this street. Some are hopelessly foolish, and some are insatiably greedy, but without exception, they all die horribly!"
The big man stared at Peter, pronouncing each word clearly.
"Hah!"
The next instant, he let out a roar, and the clothes on his arms instantly ripped apart.
Then, right before Peter's eyes, his arms transformed into barbs-toothed arm-blades.
Mantis-like arm-blades shimmered with a chilling aura in the night.
The barbed sections were sharp bone spurs, terrifying in shape.
The blades were deformations of the bone structure, and their texture looked somewhat like metal.
"You're a Mutant?"
Peter frowned as he asked.
"Not a complete idiot then. Hughie the Mantis—remember my name."
The Mutant Hughie's tone was dripping with murder. "Now hand over the money, and maybe I'll let you die painlessly!"
"Sorry, I refuse. So I'll just have to make you die instead!"
Peter shook his head.
The moment his voice fell, black Webbing shot from his wrist, instantly aiming for the other's face.
*Bang!*
Caught off guard, Hughie covered his face and cried out in pain.
Fortunately, apart from lightning-fast speed and astonishingly sharp arm-blades, his physical defense was quite decent.
With a roar, he ripped the black, sticky substance off his face and lunged rapidly toward Peter.
From Peter's hand, alienated cells generated a whip-like weapon and lashed it at his opponent.
The moment the "whip" touched Hughie, Hughie counterattacked, swinging his mantis-like blade forward.
And in the middle of the swing, the arm-blade instantly accelerated.
*Slash!*
The arm-blade sliced right through the whip-like weapon generated by Peter's body.
"During the swing... it can accelerate?"
Peter frowned.
The next second, the Mutant had already rushed forward brandishing his arm-blades.
*Bang!*
Peter's right hand mutated into a black shield, blocking the Mutant's attack.
But the sharpness of the arm-blades exceeded his imagination.
The shield instantly shattered, and his body was blown backward by the immense force.
The moment he was knocked back, taking advantage of the Mutant's momentary relaxation, Peter extended mutated Webbing from his arm to wrap around the other's arm.
The "black Webbing" sprouted black-and-red tentacles.
Like something with a mind of its own, it greedily devoured his arm.
The black-and-red tentacles wriggled frantically, sucking away the Mutant's flesh and blood, blooming like black-and-red roses across his body.
The arm-blades, which had been incomparably sharp and astonishingly fast, were instantly sucked completely dry.
Shocked and terrified, Hughie let out a miserable howl.
While retreating, he frantically clawed at the writhing black-and-red tentacles clinging to his body.
With all his might, Hughie finally tore away the entity devouring his flesh and blood.
However, his entire arm was already completely gone.
Before he could even celebrate his narrow escape, the writhing black-and-red tentacles wrapped tightly around his neck the very next second.
"Fuck!"
Having lost his arms, the pathetic Mutant could only be reduced to prey.
Under the sucking and churning of the tentacles, his body rapidly turned into a puddle of blood, which was then entirely absorbed by the Blacklight Virus.
The entire assimilation process took less than three seconds.
After absorbing the target, Peter felt no discomfort whatsoever.
A surge of energy filled his body, and the thrill of power spread through him.
At the same time, a mottled and obscure memory flooded into his mind.
The influx of memories belonging to the devoured Mutant was accompanied by a slight stinging sensation.
After the discomfort subsided, he briefly scanned the other's memories and shook his head.
"What an absolute scumbag!"
Pulling off the Spider Mask from his face and shifting his thoughts, his body immediately began to change.
The black-and-red virus squirmed, covering his body, and by the time the alienated cells retreated, he had completely transformed into Hughie's appearance.