I'm making the Marvel Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 53 Mysterious Theft

Quentin Baker took a deep, tense breath. He sat in the car, his heart pounding, feeling nauseous and wanting to vomit.

Yesterday, I actually stood up to Kingpin and demanded a two-hundred-dollar raise! I even stood up for Mr. Dimitri! Good heavens, Quentin Baker actually said those things!

"Take a deep breath, Baker, take a deep breath. You can do it, you can handle it, you even had Kingpin, this is just a small test."

Sitting in the car, Quentin took a deep breath, while Aaron Davis, who was driving in the front seat, was already used to the kid's dramatic antics. After parking the car at the designated location, he turned to Quentin, who was still trying to reassure himself, and said, "We're here. Uh, Mysterio, time to get to work. Get out of here as soon as possible."

"Huh? Oh!" Quentin picked up his fish tank head and asked fearfully, "Is time really that urgent?"

"Uh, no, this parking lot costs five dollars an hour. If you finish quickly, I'll pay less for parking."

Quentin looked at his helmet, took a deep breath, and then hurriedly put it on. In an instant, a set of green armor that didn't exist at all and a purple cape behind him appeared on his body, and Quentin, no, Mysterio's aura suddenly became calm and confident.

"Mr. Aaron, please rest for a moment, I'll be right back."

Aaron nodded, then leaned back in his chair, opened his phone, and started watching last week's Saturday night show. Mysterio opened the car door, concealed himself, closed the door, and left the underground parking lot—he was invisible at that moment, and no one could see him.

His target was the building not far from the parking lot, Osborn Technologies. Otto Octavia provided Kingpin with another list. Unlike the thriller where they robbed a bank, this time everything was at Osborn Technologies, so they needed to operate stealthily. Otto would handle all the security systems, while Mysterio's job was simply to steal the items.

Just as Mysterio infiltrated Osborn Technologies, Norman Osborn was explaining a new project to Jonathan Drew, Jessica Drew's father and later the main person in charge of the mutant spider research.

"The progress of the Savage Force Project should not be limited to arthropods such as spiders and scorpions. The large gap between their genomes and those of humans is likely the reason why we have been unable to advance it."

Norman Osborne was, to some extent, a scientist, so he was able to chat with Jonathan, albeit with limited knowledge. However, after a moment's hesitation, the latter honestly revealed his true thoughts: "My research on genes outside of arthropods isn't very deep, Mr. Osborne. But I know someone, Curtis Connorson, who is my junior in the field. He researches the use of reptile regenerative genes to repair the human body, which might be of help."

Norman glanced at Jonathan with some surprise, then, as if recalling something, he remembered. He had seen a similar research project before, but Osborn Technologies hadn't invested in it; in fact, none of the known biotech giants had invested in that project.

After all, a few years ago, apart from the U.S. military's "Savage Force" project, almost everyone believed that transplanting animal genes into humans was impossible. Even Norman Osborn, who was in charge of the project, thought it was impossible. He only took on the project to secure funding.

However, Spider-Man and his swarm of spiders proved that while mass-producing super soldiers was impossible, creating a super soldier like Spider-Man was not impossible for a specific genetic sequence. This led him to increase investment in the "Savage Force" project and also made the US military realize the possibility of success, increasing their investment in Osborn Technologies.

"...Isn't he researching gene transplantation, not gene modification?"

"There's not much difference, Mr. Osborn. Besides, isn't a self-healing super soldier more appealing?"

Jonathan clearly knew how to persuade Osborn, and Norman nodded and smiled, tacitly agreeing to the proposal. Jonathan, who had secured investment for his junior colleague, also breathed a sigh of relief. Neither of them noticed that an invisible person had actually passed by them.

"A scorpion..."

Mysterio didn't know why Otto had his eye on a radiation-modified scorpion, but he still stole it, put it in a specially made safe, and took it away. After all, according to Otto, this thing was just a freebie; what he really needed was a composite material, something that would leave Spider-Man helpless.

Under the cover of illusion, the theft of Scorpion was not discovered until long after Mysterio had left. By then, Mysterio had already reached Osborn Technologies' warehouse, affixed a modified Osborn Technologies employee card to the access control, and waited for Otto to open the door.

Inside was a complete set of leather fabric with a metallic sheen. The mysterious figure asked in a low voice, curiously, "What is this?"

"Metallic bionic skin, an unbreakable bionic structure, but it's so heavy that no one can bear its weight. But if someone is strong enough to wear it, I assure you, that person can go toe-to-toe with the Hulk, let alone Spider-Man."

"How am I supposed to carry something so heavy?"

"Freeze a small piece with the liquid nitrogen I gave you and then cut it off. We don't need the entire bionic skin, just a small sample will suffice."

Mysterio did as instructed, took his loot, and headed for the door. Soon, the theft alarm blared throughout Osborn Technologies. He manipulated the surroundings, making himself unnoticed by anyone, and made his way through unimpeded. He returned to his car, where Aaron, still watching the Saturday night show, was laughing happily until Mysterio suddenly deactivated his invisibility and let out a deep, confident voice.

"It's all done, everything went smoothly."

"My God! You startled me." Startled, Aaron nearly dropped his phone. He shook his head, looking at Mysterio in the rearview mirror, who refused to take off his helmet: "Can't you just show up normally?"

"That's not Mysterio's style. Let's go."

Aaron shrugged helplessly, but at that moment, his phone rang. He then started cursing at his subordinates on the other end of the line.

"Didn't find it? What do you mean the NYPD is here and you still haven't found it? Come back."

"Something happened?"

"The chameleon's face is gone. Someone took that thing before we and S.H.I.E.L.D. did," Aaron said, then couldn't help but curse again, before shaking his head. "Having that thing is like having a new face."