Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 5975 - 4994: Forward Yueke, Forward (12)

Peter nodded and said, "I trust Thor’s character. But as long as the concept of his omnipotence exists in people’s minds, people will question whether he can restrain himself. He must also be aware of this and be more cautious and restrained."

"Actually, this is also one of Iron Man’s goals," Shiller said. "He wants to shake Thor’s prestige and can only start from this aspect. He’s like a madman yelling ’Thor is watching us, Thor will kill us, Thor will use his omnipotent power to persecute each one of us.’ At that time, not many might believe him, but once Thor makes a mistake, people will take Iron Man’s words as gospel, thinking he’s not mad, just saw the truth in advance."

"By then, he can stand in the spotlight again," Peter crossed his arms and sighed, "Maybe even become the leader of the rebel army."

"That’s exactly his plan," Shiller said, "First pretend to be mad, evade judgment, manipulate public opinion, force Thor, patiently wait for Thor to make a mistake, then turn evil into good at one stroke, transforming into the human hero against the evil god."

"Oh my," Peter said, "What do we do about this? I can’t think of any way to crack it. Thor will have a hard time not making a mistake, won’t he?"

"The first step is to let Iron Man successfully retire," Shiller looked at Peter and said, "That’s why I would deliberately cooperate with him."

"And why’s that? Can’t we expose him directly?"

"Then he’d be immediately sent to Jotunheim, and Jotunheim still has Reed. With those two together, it’s hard to say if Thor can handle them."

"Oh, there’s that too," Peter patted his head, agreeing with Shiller’s reasoning. If they expose him now, Iron Man would be judged immediately, and if it’s not a death sentence, he’ll probably end up in Jotunheim. Put those two together, and how does the cosmos survive?

"You’re right, Professor," Peter nodded vigorously, "We can’t expose him. Otherwise, with Thor and Carter’s temper, they’d already be on their way to Jotunheim... Oh, no, not that slow, they’d likely have already dug their way to the Antimatter Universe."

"And even if you stop him this time, he’ll find another way," Shiller shook his head and said, "The hidden danger is always there, there is no thousand-day defense against thieves."

Peter thought for a moment and then said, "I think we should prepare early. Maybe we can contact Pepper, she’s the one who knows Tony the best, she should be able to help."

Shiller shook his head and said, "Pepper chose to leave and got married quickly because she anticipated this day. She doesn’t want anyone to think there’s any possibility of old feelings rekindling with Tony Stark, or that Tony has any chance with her, just to avoid anyone seeking her out in this situation."

"She’s had it tough," Peter sighed deeply, "I heard her husband was injured before. I don’t want to speculate maliciously, but I am a bit worried, maybe it’s..."

"Tony wouldn’t be so foolish," Shiller said, "Anything he tries would certainly be discovered by Pepper, no need to take that risk."

"True," Peter nodded.

Just as he was about to continue speaking, there came a knock at the door. Peter went over to open it and let out a scream. Shiller also startled and quickly went over.

Outside stood a bat.

It wasn’t an exaggeration; it was really a bat. And not the Batman kind of bat, but one with pointed ears hanging upside down in a cave, enlarged several dozen times and standing on the ground.

After experiencing so much, not many things can shock Peter Parker, but this bat definitely counted as one. Because bats, especially wild bats, are one of the least pleasant mammals to look at. Beautiful bats are scarce—magnified dozens of times and still nice-looking simply do not exist.

Shiller recognized it. This was actually Man-Bat. He had bad luck—originally a zoologist, he turned into a half-man, half-bat monster after injecting serum. But this guy couldn’t be considered a super villain, at most an anti-hero, and later joined the Justice League Dark.

His experience was somewhat similar to Doctor Connors. The drugs developed were intended to treat physical defects but ended up turning them into animal-like monsters. No wonder Natasha asked if he was afraid of bats. Shiller wasn’t, but Peter was clearly impacted.

Shiller stepped forward and shook hands with Man-Bat, "Hello, Dr. Langstone. Agent Romanoff has briefed us, thank you for coming to stand watch for us."

Langstone seemed stunned. He opened his mouth and then said, "What did you call me?"

"Dr. Langstone, I’ve heard your name in other universes. You don’t like the title ’doctor’?" Shiller acted very understandingly, because indeed, some PhD holders don’t particularly like the title, or some prefer the title ’professor’ after becoming one.

"It’s nothing, I’m just..." Langstone pursed his lips tightly, and on that bat face, some grievance could actually be seen, "It’s been a long time since anyone called me that."

Shiller didn’t continue the topic and instead said, "It’s still early, would you come in for a drink?"

"Will you let me in?" Langstone said, "But I might..."

At this time, Peter had also recovered, and he said directly, "Sorry, I used to be Spider-Man, and I’m a bit afraid of bats. It’s a kind of physiological fear as a spider. Oh, I’m not talking about nature, we have a group of opponents called Morlun, they are..."

"Of course, I know," Langstone said. "I’m a zoologist. There are few bats that prey on spiders because most bats rely on echo location, and they are more interested in flying insects that are constantly moving, while silent spiders are hard to notice. On the contrary, there are more examples of large spiders preying on bats..."

Although Langstone’s appearance was somewhat startling, his way of speaking was rather scholarly, akin to that of a typical academic. Peter was intrigued since, having been Spider-Man before, he indeed had a keen interest in zoology.

"To be honest, I considered pursuing a Ph.D. in zoology, especially in the study of arthropods..."

When it comes to academics, there’s nothing to fear. Peter invited Langstone inside, and they both sat in chairs. Peter even fetched a few cans of beer, and they began discussing the habits of arthropods.

Shiller was just quietly listening on the side, considering Langstone’s academic level to be quite good. After all, not everyone can inject themselves and turn half into a bat. This serum may indeed have certain defects, but like the Lizard Serum, it also has great development potential.

Turning into something resembling a bat in appearance is indeed a bit hard to accept, but what if you had the abilities of a bat? For instance, sonic location, flying, and it could even be used like night vision potion.

Back then, what Doctor Lizard made with his potion—aside from the side effects—were all advantages. Even if there was a side effect of growing scales if overdosed, it didn’t stop tons being consumed annually. Now it’s essentially a must-have for security units and armies worldwide; this is truly a lifesaver compared to any painkiller.

Thinking along those lines, Shiller pondered why there wasn’t a Man-Bat in his universe. After all, this universe was also in a very early stage, and Dr. Langstone had already become like this. So why wasn’t there one similar in his universe?

During a pause in their conversation, Shiller timely asked, "Sorry, Doctor, may I ask about your current condition..."

Previous interactions assured Langstone of their lack of malice, so he merely sighed lightly and said, "Let’s call it an experimental accident. I’ve always had hearing issues, so I wanted to develop a serum to benefit the deaf. I extracted bat genes for this. The first half of the research went smoothly, but when it came to experimental ethics, there was an issue, prohibiting tests on mammals."

"I trusted my abilities and wasn’t willing to give up, so I injected myself with the serum. The result was that I did indeed restore my hearing—or should I say, I can now use bat sonar to perceive sound—but I also ended up like this."

Langstone smiled bitterly, "But then, I was already being discriminated against, so it doesn’t matter much more."

Peter felt a mix of emotions. Had Langstone not said that last line, he might have thought this doctor was overconfident. Certain ethical reviews are necessary, especially those involving animal experiments. If a scientist disregards animal welfare and recklessly conducts experiments, the risks and chances of things going wrong will increase greatly, with Langstone as an example.

However, Peter was also inclined to believe that Dr. Langstone might have been under significant real-world pressure. For someone deaf, achieving such accomplishments is exceedingly difficult, and he might have been too eager to shed the identity of being disabled, leading to this tragedy.

The Amazing Spider-Man, of course, was also familiar with Doctor Lizard and his war injuries and lost arm, which Peter deeply regretted. But that’s the reality. Mad scientists are indeed too dangerous, and ethical reviews might stop them from injecting others, but not from injecting themselves. Thinking of how many super villains and superheroes are the result of such injections gives Peter headaches.

"I know you might think I made a mountain out of a molehill, but I truly couldn’t stand living without hearing anything, unable to communicate with anyone."

"Especially after the New Earth Alliance was established and several laboratories were set up, there were many important projects distributed. Yet, I couldn’t get a single one. There were concerns about whether I could deliver results in a limited time, and some suspected I was only placed in a lab to promote disabled welfare."

"I couldn’t accept being treated that way. As long as I could restore my hearing, anything would be worth it. So even if I ended up like this, I accepted it, at least now I’m part of the Rebirth Alliance."

Shiller understood that the emergence of the Man-Bat was possibly rushed. Since Langstone missed so many opportunities in the lab, he had to expedite his own research, leading to an unfortunate experimental failure.

"In fact, whether one’s appearance is ugly also depends on comparison," Shiller suddenly spoke up. "A friend of mine, who regressed into an ancestor gene and turned into a crocodile, lived in the sewers for years. But now he runs a moving and renovation company and has become very successful. Even his brand uses his self-portrait, and people affectionately call him the Crocodile Boss..."

Shiller wasn’t sure if this universe had Killer Croc, but it seemed unlikely. The timeline was too early, besides—the earliest batch of villains should not have emerged yet.

Langstone was stunned, "Aren’t others afraid of him? Don’t they think he’s ugly?"

"Appearance is the most noticeable but also the easiest to overlook," Peter unexpectedly said, "When first meeting, people easily notice the beauty of one’s appearance. But when you’ve done good deeds, the ugly’s appearance is the easiest for people to overlook. Every reader knows Quasimodo didn’t look good, but it doesn’t prevent the Bell Tower Monster from being beloved because people understood he had a heart of gold, right?"

"To tell you the truth," Shiller added, "In my universe, Dr. Langstone is likely still troubled by hearing issues and hasn’t injected any serum. If a serum with fewer side effects could be developed, wouldn’t that mean saving yourself in another space-time?"

Langstone’s eyes gradually brightened.