The next morning, early.
Peter, who was actually Zhang Tong, set off for school.
The Blacklight Virus had not yet begun to flare up, and even after infection, there was a certain incubation period. During incubation, contagiousness was limited, so he only needed to stay away from ordinary people and avoid bodily fluid contact.
Outside the gates of Midtown High School, countless teenagers brimming with hormones had gathered. Amidst the clamor and noise, Peter walked down the corridor toward the classroom in his memory.
"Hey, catch!"
A girl suddenly handed him a flyer, smiled at him, and walked away.
Peter looked down in surprise at the flyer that had appeared in his hand.
"Spring Formal: A slow dance like death, heavy metal as powerful as hail! Performing live: The Dead Faces!"
The words leaped into his view. At the bottom of the promotional flyer was a drawing of a black skull, giving it a strong death-rock vibe.
As Peter stared at the Spring Formal flyer in his hand, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Peter?"
"?"
Turning around, he found a blonde girl standing before him. Based on the memories left behind by his predecessor, Peter deduced that the girl with the expressive, lively eyes in front of him must be Gwen Stacy.
Seeing the flyer in Peter's hand, Gwen helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead. "Oh god! Betty is actually handing out flyers like this! I never agreed to her using that name!"
Gwen and Betty were both band members, and she was utterly speechless about her teammate unilaterally renaming the band.
"The Dead Faces?"
Peter shrugged. "Not bad."
He did not want to interact too much with the Spider-Woman before him, so he gave a perfunctory reply and prepared to turn and leave.
Not noticing anything unusual about her good friend, Gwen muttered, "Not bad? Even if I approved on the surface, my fists wouldn't agree!"
Taking a couple of steps forward, Gwen tried to wrap her arms around Peter's. But Peter, as though he had eyes in the back of his head, sidestepped and dodged Gwen's "sneak attack."
Gwen reached out and grabbed empty air, looking somewhat dazed.
Ever since she was bitten by a spider at the radiological exhibition, she had acquired miraculous abilities. Danger perception, adhesion in her fingers and toes, a spider's multiplied speed and strength... These abilities made her physical fitness far surpass that of an ordinary person. Although it was an unintentional move, how could Peter possibly have dodged it?
Gwen fell into deep self-doubt.
Could it be... that her spider powers were degenerating?
Ignoring Gwen, who was standing there in a daze, Peter continued walking toward his classroom. But soon, another uninvited guest blocked his path.
"Whoosh!"
A whistle tore through the air as a basketball hurtled straight toward him!
Had it been the old Peter, his face would certainly have made intimate contact with the basketball. But Zhang Tong had spent years fighting infected individuals in the world of Prototype, long since forging reaction times far exceeding those of ordinary people.
"Thud!"
In a flash, he caught the basketball with one hand.
"Whoa! Shot missed, zero points!"
A raspy, booming voice came from the other end of the corridor.
Frowning, Peter lowered the basketball and saw a bulky guy walking toward him, flanked by a few others. Seeing the malicious grin on the guy's face, he was clearly looking for trouble.
"Nice catch, Peter. I thought I'd get at least six points!"
The big guy taunted Peter.
"Jimmy Cobbs?"
Peter asked him expressionlessly.
His predecessor had been a "nerd" who was constantly bullied at school, and the "Jimmy Cobbs" before him seemed to be one of the people who most enjoyed bullying Peter Parker.
"What? Is this your first time learning my name, or do you, sissy, want to go a few rounds with me? Stop joking. Next time, wear a dress, or maybe tie it in a ponytail like your uncle; then maybe I'll be willing to fight you."
As soon as Jimmy's arrogant words finished, his surrounding lackeys burst into loud laughter.
Peter frowned.
Suddenly!
A violent emotion surged from deep within his heart, and the blood in his veins began to grow scalding hot, as if some switch had been flipped.
With a "thud," he reached out and, with lightning speed, grabbed the other guy's neck, lifting him straight up into the air.
A powerful force welled up inside him, and a bloodthirsty desire was born from the bottom of his heart.
"Consume him! Consume him!"
A garbled murmur whispered in his mind like a demon.
Holding Jimmy by the neck, Peter instantly realized that the Blacklight Virus inside him had flared up.
The Blacklight Virus hadn't infected him into a zombie; instead, it had made him a "Runner" who retained self-awareness and acquired superpower abilities—just like that man in the black hood!
The Blacklight Virus could accelerate evolution, incorporate superior genes to modify the body, and increase cellular activity. This meant the host could evolve by consuming and fusing with other creatures.
In the world of Prototype, the hooded man had consumed countless Blackwatch agents and prime infected to ultimately become an immortal existence.
Right now, he could strengthen his strength by consuming the other person. These demon-like "whispers" and the bloodthirsty desire were simply the signals of his cells craving evolution.
On the other side, the people in the corridor, a dazed Gwen, and Jimmy's underlings were all utterly stunned to see the once feeble Peter suddenly grab Jimmy by the throat with one hand and lift him into the air!
"Gasp... cough, cough...!"
As for the victim—Jimmy, whose face was flushed and whose throat burned with intense pain—besides physical agony, he felt an overwhelming sense of psychological humiliation.
No matter what, he could never have imagined that the guy he used to bully would suddenly snap and lift him into the air as if he were catching a chick. Though startled by Peter's strength, he felt mostly venomous hatred inside.
"Thump!"
The next second, amidst everyone's dumbfounded expressions, Peter let go of his hand, leaving the other's body to crash heavily onto the floor.
A surviving Jimmy couldn't care less about the pain of his body hitting the ground; clutching his throat with his hand, he gasped heavily for air.
"Consider yourself lucky today, or else you'd be losing more than just a few breaths of fresh air."
Glancing coldly at the guy, Peter turned and walked away.
He chose to walk away not because kindness suppressed the bloodthirsty desire in his heart. If morality was a "luxury item," the original Peter Parker might have been a billionaire, but his current self was a thorough pauper.
The only reason he let the guy off was because he felt that killing someone in broad daylight would be a bit troublesome.
In the corridor, Gwen snapped out of her daze, glanced at the groaning Jimmy on the ground, and immediately hurried after Peter.
"How did you do that?"
Gwen caught up and asked curiously.
"What?"
"Peter, you're not the type to play dumb. Just now, you lifted Jimmy—that big guy—with just one hand!"
Gwen felt that today's Peter was making himself harder and harder to understand.
"In the eyes of certain people, that sort of thing is just a common, everyday occurrence, isn't it?"
After dropping that pointed remark to Gwen, Peter entered the classroom.
Having shaken off Gwen, his high school life finally returned to normal for the time being.
The day passed uneventfully.
In the afternoon, when school let out, Peter walked out of the classroom and inadvertently caught sight of Jimmy.
After being infected by the Blacklight Virus, his vision was not only exceptionally clear, but he could also sense other infected individuals. In his line of sight, countless black wisps were emanating from Jimmy's body.
Countless ink-black threads radiated outward from within him, spreading toward the surroundings.
"This guy... got infected by me? He seemed to touch my wound—was it back then?"
Staring at Jimmy's retreating figure, Peter furrowed his brows, a thoughtful expression rising on his face.